Crisis of the Holy See

"A Median God?" Sean's expression shifted. Although Median Gods were as common as dirt in the later stages of the original story's Infernal Realm, in a material plane, the power of a Median God was the absolute pinnacle of existence.

"Yes. My father has a good relationship with a god-level expert in the Radiant Church, and he knows quite a lot," Leilia said. "Previously, whether it was the Radiant Church, the Dark Church, or other religious sects, while they all had god-level experts, everyone was just a Lowgod. Our Radiant Church had the highest number of Lowgods, so we held the most power. But now that a Median God has appeared on the side of the Dark Church, everything is completely different."

"I see. So that is the crisis the Church is facing." Sean nodded; he finally understood what was going on.

In the original story, nine Grand Perfection experts fought over the Sovereign's artifact, the Red Diamond, in the Aokaren material plane. The strongest beings in the entire Aokaren material plane were merely a few Median Gods; there wasn't a single Highgod. Median Gods were essentially the peak of a material plane.

Of course, the Yulan material plane was special. Perhaps because of Linley, the child of destiny, the experts there were ridiculously powerful. It had experts like Beirut, Linley, Bebe, Olivier, and Odin, as well as beings like Qinghuo, who was only a step away from Grand Perfection.

Judging by the number of material planes and the number of Seven-Star Fiend-level experts in the Higher Planes, the probability of a native Seven-Star expert appearing in a material plane was almost zero. In fact, the difficulty of becoming a Highgod in a material plane was immense. Such an existence, if they went to a Higher Plane to cultivate, would conservatively be at the Six-Star level.

The Zhongyuan Continent had never had a Median God before, but now that one had suddenly appeared, the Church that dominated the continent would directly face the threat of this Median God. After all, no god would ever give up on the power of faith, which was almost the only way to assist cultivation in a material plane.

"Right now, the entire Church, all its god-level experts, and most of its Saint-level experts are gathered in Shengyue City. They are forbidden from leaving, all to defend our headquarters to the death," Leilia said.

"Will this Median God from the Dark Church come directly to attack Shengyue City?" Sean asked with concern. Even as a transmigrator, he had lived here for many years, had made friends, and had grown fond of this place; naturally, he didn't want to see it run red with blood. Most importantly, in a battle between god-level experts, even a stray bit of energy could easily kill a Saint-level expert, let alone him.

"I don't know. Even the god-level experts in our Church don't know how large the gap is between them and a Median God. We can only hope that by joining forces, they can hold them off," Leilia said.

"That sounds difficult," Sean said, frowning.

Based on the general situation known from the original story, a Median God's divine power was ten times that of a Lowgod, and their divine domain was also stronger. As for Profound Mysteries, they should have a deeper understanding, though it also depended on whether they were high-level or low-level mysteries. They would be stronger in that regard as well. As for the fusion of Profound Mysteries, the possibility was almost zero; natives of a material plane likely lacked that level of insight.

Overall, the gap was simply too large. Unless the Radiant Church had enough Lowgods to win through sheer numbers, but a Median God could move, roam, and snipe—that was an unsolvable situation. In particular, a Median God's divine sense had a greater range and their speed was faster, while a Lowgod's divine sense could not detect a hidden Median God. If a Median God were to launch a sneak attack, every strike would be fatal.

"You don't need to worry too much. The Church is using secret techniques to communicate with the Radiant God Plane. Perhaps the Radiant God Plane will send experts down," Leilia said.

"We can't count on that. Why did you come to tell me so much today?" Sean shook his head helplessly and asked.

Relying on a God Plane? Unless it was the early days of the birth of Sovereigns, when every Sovereign valued the power of faith, Sovereigns wouldn't care about such trivial matters. And without the interference of a Sovereign, how could those Highgods possibly spend the wealth of a lifetime of a Seven-Star Fiend just to visit a material plane?

However, no one in the material plane knew about these things.

"It was my father who asked me to pass this on to you," Leilia said. "The internal consensus of the Church is to have those of us who haven't reached the Saint-level yet, but possess high talent, leave Shengyue City first to take refuge. If Shengyue City is fine, then that's naturally for the best; we can treat our departure as training. If something happens, we will be the last bit of hope for rebuilding the Radiant Church in the future."

"Can't the Church retreat?" Sean asked after a moment of thought. In the original Coiling Dragon, the Radiant Church was also attacked by god-level experts, but it survived by ceding its territory. If it hadn't run into Linley, it probably wouldn't have been wiped out.

"I don't know about that, and it's not something we should worry about," Leilia said. "How about it? Shall we leave together?"

"When are we leaving?" Sean nodded and asked. The affairs of god-level experts were indeed not something he should be questioning right now. If it weren't for his good relationship with Leilia, he probably wouldn't have known about these things in advance. Of course, given the talent he had displayed, if there was an evacuation plan, he would certainly be on the list.

"We can't leave just yet," Leilia said. "People like us have a bit of a reputation in Shengyue City. If a few of us go missing, no one will notice, but if we all vanish, the Dark Church's spies might find out. I estimate that the god-level expert from the Dark Church who broke through to Median God won't arrive that quickly. My father said they would definitely send us out in advance. Besides, leaving now might not be as safe as staying in the Holy City."

"That's true. If we leave now, we'll just be targets," Sean agreed. They were all quite famous; if they left without any Saint-level experts by their sides, they would be even more vulnerable. The Dark Church could probably slaughter them by sending just one Saint-level expert.

"I'm telling you this so you can be prepared. If the worst-case scenario really happens, we will likely be hunted down, so we must be even more united," Leilia said with great concern.

"Indeed, there's no other way," Sean said, equally worried. Once the Radiant Church was destroyed, they, the former pride of the heavens, would become the primary targets for assassination. Especially with the existence of the Higher Planes, if that Median God wanted to leave the material plane, they would certainly wash away all future threats in blood.

"Let's leave it at that for now. This is an interspatial ring. It's not very large, but it can hold a room's worth of supplies. It's for you," Leilia said, tossing a ring over.

"Many thanks," Sean said gratefully. With an interspatial ring, things would be much more convenient. Not to mention anything else, he could store enough food inside and then hide in some remote corner, which would significantly increase his safety.

"Don't mention it. We might have to flee together in the future, after all," Leilia said with a smile.