Everyone was in the same city, and all the divine-level experts could communicate with their divine sense. The other divine-level experts had naturally known about Sean's arrival long before he showed up.
"Sean." Mi Piaozheng was very warm when he saw Sean. The several other Lowgods were just as cordial, greeting him one by one.
"Mi Piaozheng, everyone." Sean nodded in greeting toward the group, though he only paid much attention to four of them.
He already knew that among the eleven Lowgods in the Radiant Church, only four had become gods independently. The others had become gods by refining divine sparks.
It was much the same with the other religious sects and even the divine-level experts in the oceans beyond the Zhongyuan Continent. More than half of all divine-level experts had become gods by refining divine sparks.
Sean thought more highly of those who had become gods independently. In a Material Plane, anyone who could become a god on their own had tremendous willpower and deserved at least a little respect.
"Come, have a seat," Mi Piaozheng said with a smile, pointing the way.
They were gathered around a round table with no head seat. That seemed to suggest that the divine-level experts of the Radiant Church had never had a hierarchy among themselves.
That made sense. They were all Lowgods, and even if there was a difference between those who had refined divine sparks and those who had become gods independently, it usually wasn't obvious.
In the original story, the War God had become a god by refining a divine spark, while the High Priest had become one independently. Even before Linley was born, neither of them could do anything to the other.
After everyone sat down, Mi Piaozheng took the lead. "Sean, on behalf of the Radiant Church, I want to thank you for your help. Without it, if Huoqi's Radiant Magic Array had been broken in that battle, we might have escaped, but we would probably have had to flee to the Higher Planes or the Divine Planes.
"The entire Church would have been wiped out, and none of our family or friends would likely have made it out alive."
Divine-level experts had families and friends, even disciples. They weren't emotionless beings who stood above everyone else. That was the main reason they had protected the Church so fiercely.
"You're too kind. I was only doing what I should," Sean said with a smile. "The Church helped raise me when I was young, and I have friends here, too."
"Good! Then we welcome you as one of our own," Mipiaozhen said with a hearty laugh.
"Of course." Sean nodded, then asked, "Is there something else you all wanted to discuss today?"
"There is," Mipiaozhen replied. "We need to ask you for a favor."
"Is it about dealing with Patrick?"
"It has something to do with him," Mi Piaozheng said. "Although we now have eleven divine-level experts, we can only stay together. If we split up, Patrick could easily ambush us. You know we can't sense his divine sense."
"So what do you have in mind?" Sean asked with a nod.
A Lowgod couldn't detect the divine sense of a Middlegod. Even three Sovereign Artifacts, a full set, and a Super Divine Beast couldn't change that.
In other words, even if Patrick were in Qingyue City right now, they wouldn't know.
Unless he came very close to Sean, who could sense something amiss nearby through his Darkness Laws.
Everyone present other than Sean would probably be unable to withstand a Middlegod's ambush. Who wouldn't be afraid of that?
Even Sean didn't want to live under that threat indefinitely. He wanted to resolve the problem soon so he could gather Power of Faith without hindrance.
"If Patrick wants to run, it'll be very difficult for us to surround and kill him. But if we had more divine-level experts, we might have a chance," Mi Piaozheng said.
Eleven Lowgods certainly weren't afraid of a single Middlegod in a head-on battle. But if the Middlegod was clever and kept moving around to launch ambushes, it would be a disaster for the Lowgods.
If their side had more people, they would have a better chance of surrounding Patrick when he appeared.
"You mean you want the Lowgod Spark I have?" Sean immediately understood what they were getting at.
"That's right. But we won't ask for it for free. Over the years, we've accumulated a great many treasures, including Soul Golden Beads. We can trade those for it," Mi Piaozheng said.
"Soul Golden Beads? Those are useful. I'm willing to trade, but I also need Power of Faith," Sean said after a pause.
In the Higher Planes, Soul Golden Beads were worth far more than Lowgod Sparks, perhaps because there were so many Lowgods there.
After all, even the weakest beings in the Higher Planes were at the Saint level. With such a suitable environment, there were naturally more Lowgods, making Lowgod Sparks easier to obtain.
In the Material Plane, Lowgods were exceedingly rare and harder to kill. Soul Golden Beads were different. Once a Lowgod who cultivated the Laws of Death appeared, they could launch a "Dark Calamity" and refine Soul Golden Beads. With no other divine-level experts to stop them, they could obtain a great many.
Fortunately, the immense cost of traveling between planes prevented this price difference from being exploited. Otherwise, who knew how many Material Planes would have fallen victim?
Perhaps this was one way the Overlords protected the Material Planes.
Since Lowgod Sparks were more valuable in the Material Plane, Sean naturally wanted to negotiate. Besides, he already had more than ten Amethysts, and with a Soul-Protecting Sovereign Artifact, Amethysts and Soul Golden Beads made no difference to him.
"Power of Faith?" Mi Piaozheng wasn't surprised. "It's only right that you receive some territory after becoming a divine-level expert. And you saved the entire Church, so I'll arrange for you to receive territory with enough land and people for them to believe in you."
"Territory? Is there any left?" Sean asked.
"Of course. The Radiant Church's territory is vast. It's only been a little over ten years, and the Darkness Church doesn't actually have the means to take over all of it. Patrick's main goal was to kill us," Mi Piaozheng said with a smile. "Across the Zhongyuan Continent, nearly all the territory we held before is still under our control, apart from a few places.
"But if something happened to us, they wouldn't be able to hold on to it for long. The Darkness Church has suffered heavy losses, so they're even less capable of taking it over now. Patrick may be powerful, but he's only one person. How could he possibly manage such a vast territory?"
"That's true." Sean nodded. "But I'm asking for more than that. I want all the Power of Faith the Radiant Church currently has."
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