Result

It was an unwritten rule on the Yulan Continent that Saint Realm experts did not participate in the mundane wars between nations.

Under normal circumstances, everyone abided by it, though there were naturally exceptions.

For example, when both sides harbored an irreconcilable hatred and there was no room for compromise.

Or during the Day of Destruction, when not only Saint Realm experts but even God Realm magical beasts took action.

However, ever since capturing Fenlai City, the magical beast side had stopped deploying Saint Realm magical beasts.

In the battle at the Hess Kingdom's border, the Saint Realm experts of both the magical beast side and the Holy See had tacitly refrained from acting.

"What are these three Saint Realm magical beasts trying to do? Have they grown tired of failing to break through and decided to act personally?" Liewen frowned. If Saint Realm magical beasts attacked, Hess City's walls would not be able to withstand them.

Saint Realm magical beasts were usually somewhat stronger than human Saint Realm experts. Even a magical beast that had only just entered the Saint Realm required a human at the Saint Realm Peak to contend with it.

As the three Saint Realm magical beasts appeared, six streaks of white light shot out from Hess City.

Liewen looked closely. The white light came from angels radiating gentle holy light, each with four pristine white wings.

"So these are the descended angels?"

This was Liewen's first time seeing angels from the Radiant Church.

The Radiant Church searched everywhere for those with pure souls in order to offer them to the Lord of Light and create angels.

On the Plane of Light, where the Lord of Light resided, there was an Angel Rebirth Pool. Once the countless pure souls offered up by Material Planes such as the Yulan Continent entered the Angel Rebirth Pool, they would transform into angels.

The lowest-ranked angels were Two-Winged Angels, equivalent to the Saint Realm Early Stage.

The highest-ranked angels were Twelve-Winged God Angels, terrifying existences even among Highgods.

The purer the soul, the stronger the angel created through rebirth would be.

Linley's mother had been offered up by the Radiant Church and reborn as a Twelve-Winged Angel.

All six angels appearing in Hess City had four wings, equivalent to the Saint Realm Middle Stage.

For angels to descend, they required physical vessels. The stronger the vessel, the more power an angel could exert.

An angel descending into a body at the sixth level could only display 9th-level combat power. If it ignored the body's limits and forcibly assumed angel form, it could also display its original strength, but the body would collapse before long.

These six angels had all appeared in Four-Winged Angel form, indicating that their current bodies were at least at the seventh level. Only then could they withstand the power needed to display Saint Realm strength.

The six Four-Winged Angels streaked through the sky and faced the three Saint Realm magical beasts from afar.

The Radiant Church has deployed angels. It seems they are determined to hold Hess City against the beast tide, Liewen thought.

Angels were humanoid weapons. Once they were born from the Angel Rebirth Pool, they lost all their memories and obeyed the Lord of Light completely, without selfish desires.

When angels descended upon the Yulan Continent, they naturally obeyed the Radiant Church.

Human Saint Realm experts might hesitate or waver when facing powerful Saint Realm magical beasts, but angels would not. If the Radiant Church ordered them to defend Hess City to the death, then even if they died, they would not retreat.

The appearance of the angels demonstrated the Radiant Church's resolve to defend the city.

Angels truly were very useful tools, but they also had a serious flaw. After rebirth, an angel's strength would never improve. If it began as a Four-Winged Angel, it would remain a Four-Winged Angel forever.

Therefore, in the Radiant Church's eyes, Saint Realm angels were still less valuable than human Saint Realm experts who had the potential to advance.

The Saint Realm experts of both sides faced off in the air, seemingly communicating about something.

Standing on the ground, Liewen could not hear them clearly. He only saw the white light emanating from the six Four-Winged Angels suddenly connect, forming a hexagram.

"This is the Angel Battle Formation!" Liewen recognized it.

This was a famous combined attack formation from the original work. Formed by six people, it greatly enhanced both the offense and defense of everyone within the formation.

Many experts within the Radiant Church also knew this combined attack formation.

Previously, the six elite executors of the Religious Inquisition who had besieged Linley and Bebe had relied on this combined attack formation to leave Linley and Bebe helpless, ultimately causing Doehring Cowart to sacrifice himself to save Linley.

When the Angel Battle Formation was deployed by angels, it was far more terrifying than when it was used by those six elite executors.

In a simple one-on-one fight, a Four-Winged Angel was no match for a Saint Realm magical beast. But after forming the Angel Battle Formation, the angels were in no way inferior to the three Saint Realm magical beasts.

As Liewen watched the streaks of white light connecting the six angels, a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind.

"Light... rays of light... that's it!"

Liewen's eyes lit up. He had been wondering whether there was a better way to use the Profundity of Purification.

Now, as he watched the Angel Battle Formation, he had an idea.

When Liewen used the Profundity of Purification, he always released light in all directions, covering a full three hundred and sixty degrees. He could only control the area covered by the light.

But light could refract. When sunlight passed through a convex lens, it converged, gathering at a single point.

If I can converge all the light of the Profundity of Purification at one point, its power will definitely increase greatly. I'll also be able to freely control the direction of attack instead of only launching indiscriminate attacks.

Liewen stood there in a daze as all kinds of ideas continuously sprang into his mind. He entered a state of enlightenment.

He could no longer feel time passing. Acting on instinct, he began testing his ideas, white light radiating from his body.

It was the Profundity of Purification.

But this time, it was different from before. The light began to converge, eventually turning into 256 rays.

The rays shot in every direction. Liewen tried to control them and gather them in one direction, but failed.

Liewen's expression changed as he broke free from his state of enlightenment, and all the rays vanished.

Recalling everything that had just happened, Liewen was very excited. Although he had ultimately failed to gather all the rays in a single direction, he had already found the path for cultivating the Profundity of Purification.

Above Hess City, the three Saint Realm magical beasts and the six Four-Winged Angels ultimately did not clash. The two sides seemed to have reached an agreement and retreated separately.

This wave of attacks from the magical beast side was also declared over.

However, the magical beasts did not give up. Half a month later, they returned in force.

The Radiant Church's army defended Hess City once again.

One month later... two months later...

Over the course of half a year, the magical beast side launched several attacks, all of which ended in defeat.

In the end, they seemed to understand that without Saint Realm or even God Realm experts taking action, they could not seize any more territory from the Holy Union.

The sea-like horde of magical beasts outside Hess City slowly retreated.

Seeing this, the Radiant Church soldiers standing atop Hess City's walls erupted in thunderous cheers.

Many had tears in their eyes.

Although they had repelled the magical beasts' attacks several times over the past half year, their casualties had also been devastating.

More than half of the Radiant Church's four elite knight orders had been lost. Without thirty or forty years, they would be unable to recover their former strength.

The number of other soldiers who had died was even more staggering.

They had survived, but many of their brothers and friends had died beneath the claws of magical beasts.

For half a year, their nerves had been constantly strained. Now that they saw the magical beasts retreat, they could finally relax.

Another half year passed. Once it became clear that the magical beasts truly would not attack again, the refugees gradually returned, and Hess City slowly regained its former liveliness.