The Two Great Churches

While Leian and the others were chatting, a conversation was also taking place on a nameless small island in the sea between the Nansen Continent and the Chiyan Continent.

"Vittel, if I remember correctly, tomorrow is the day Jiadeliya holds the competition for her named disciples. Why aren't you taking this opportunity to go and build some rapport, and instead, why did you ask to meet me?"

On the edge of the island, atop a cliff overlooking the sea, a middle-aged man wearing cream-colored robes and possessing a kind face looked out at the ocean and asked with a faint smile.

At this moment, not far from the middle-aged man, a young man in black robes stood with his hands behind his back, facing the sea.

If Jiadeliya and the others were here, they would certainly recognize these two; the middle-aged man was none other than the Radiant Pope Palmer, and the black-robed youth was the Dark Pope Vittel.

At this time, Vittel responded with an expressionless face:

"Palmer, there is no need for such pointless probing. With the intelligence capabilities of your Radiant Church, I do not believe that the incident from a hundred years ago could have been hidden from you."

As soon as his words fell, the middle-aged man named Palmer laughed heartily:

"You flatter me. When it comes to deployments on the Youquan Continent, our Radiant Church is far inferior to your Dark Church. You were even able to find the Undead Saint Archmage who had been in seclusion for many years; I am impressed!"

Although Palmer's words sounded like praise, the mockery in his tone could not be concealed. Vittel let out a cold snort and did not respond.

During that operation to capture the Undead Saint Archmage Colin, he had dispatched nearly twenty Saint Realm experts at once. He had thought it was a sure success, never expecting that he had underestimated the strength of the Undead Saint Archmage.

In the end, not only did it end in failure, but he also offended the Goddess of Dark Night Jiadeliya, causing the barely mended relationship between the two sides to shatter completely.

Under these circumstances, how could he possibly have the gall to visit Jiadeliya?

Seeing Vittel's face as dark as water, Palmer chuckled and did not continue to provoke him, instead bringing the conversation back to the main point:

"Speak, why did you ask to meet me?"

After a moment of silence, Vittel asked slowly:

"How much do you know about that Leian who became a god not long ago?"

Mentioning Leian, Palmer put away his smile, his expression finally turning serious:

"Not much. I am sure you know everything I know. Of course, his background is very simple, so that is not important. What is important is that becoming a god in a hundred years, and doing so through the Destruction Rule—this guy is definitely a genius, no doubt about it."

Regarding Palmer's answer, Vittel seemed somewhat dissatisfied and said coldly:

"I am not asking about that. Do you think I cannot see his talent for myself? It is precisely because his talent is so high that he poses a greater threat to us.

"We went to great lengths to trick those lower gods into leaving earlier; I do not want our plan to fail in the end because of this Leian!"

Palmer spread his hands and replied with a helpless tone:

"I am aware of what you are saying, but how can one clearly explain something like becoming a god? If it really doesn't work out, we can only continue to wait."

Before he could finish, Vittel suddenly cursed:

"Wait, wait, wait! I have already waited for one hundred thousand years. If I keep waiting like this, I might as well just go venture into the divine planes."

Facing the furious Vittel, a trace of disdain flashed in Palmer's eyes, and he asked in a flat tone:

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Vittel seemed to have been waiting for this question; his angry expression vanished in an instant, and he said slowly:

"That Leian has just become a god, and he chose to become a god externally. I am sure you are aware of the drawbacks of having a split soul; that is his weakness!"

Upon hearing this, Palmer's expression changed instantly, and he asked in surprise:

"You want to kill him?"

"This is an opportunity!"

After pondering for a while, Palmer slowly shook his head and said:

"The Destruction Rule is best at combat; there is little hope of killing him. Even if we could succeed, there is only one godhead. How would we divide it?"

Speaking of this, he turned his head to look at Vittel and said with a half-smile:

"Of course, if you are willing to act alone, I will not stop you. If you truly kill Leian and the plan succeeds, I will be satisfied with just the Yulan Continent, and the remaining Elven Continent and Youquan Continent will all belong to you."

Hearing this, Vittel let out a cold snort, his figure soared directly into the air, and he flew toward the Nansen Continent without saying another word.

On the cliff top, Palmer watched Vittel's figure disappear rapidly into the horizon. A strange smile suddenly appeared on his face, and then his figure flashed and vanished as well.

Youquan Mountain Range, Palace of the Goddess of Dark Night

Leian looked at the Elven King Kyle and asked curiously: "I wonder how much Mr. Kyle knows about other god-level beings?"

Among those present, Kyle had been a god the longest, so he must know more about god-level beings than the others.

At this, the Elven King Kyle smiled and said:

"Besides us, there are four other god-level experts on this plane. I am sure you have heard of the Dark Pope Vittel and the Radiant Pope Palmer, Leian.

"The former is also a dark lower god, and the latter is a radiant lower god. These two became gods even earlier than I did, having taken over as popes about one hundred and twenty thousand years ago."

In the era when the two great churches each controlled a continent, one could not serve as pope unless they were a god-level expert.

Speaking of this, Kyle's expression turned solemn. After a moment of hesitation, he finally said softly:

"These two are not on the same path as us. It would be best for you to be careful if you encounter them in the future, Leian."

"Oh?"

Leian raised an eyebrow, his face full of curiosity as he asked, "Could Mr. Kyle elaborate on that?"

In truth, Leian didn't need Kyle to remind him; he could already see that the relationship between these two popes and the Goddess of Dark Night and her companions was far from cordial.

To say nothing else, the fact that these two were the only ones among the behind-the-scenes controllers of the five continents who hadn't shown up was enough to speak volumes.

However, before Kyle could speak, Andrew cut in:

"Let me explain. In reality, all the conflict boils down to one thing—faith!"

As he spoke, Andrew detailed the conflicts arising from faith. Leian listened intently, cross-referencing the information with the memories in his mind, and quickly grasped the underlying reasons.

Setting aside the wars over faith between the Chief Gods in the early years, once the Chief Gods stopped valuing faith, the faith of each material plane gradually returned to the native gods of that specific plane.

It is common knowledge that the power of faith can strengthen the soul, but where there is profit, there is bound to be conflict. According to Andrew's account, a great war had erupted in the Yulan Plane long ago precisely because of faith.

Legend has it that the war was incredibly brutal; not only did countless ordinary people perish, but several god-level experts also fell, making it a truly pyrrhic victory.

Therefore, ever since then, the god-level experts of the five continents had established a pact:

If one wished to seek the power of faith, they could only proselytize on the continent where they were born!

It is well known that becoming a god in a material plane is extremely difficult. Sometimes, a continent might not produce a single god for over ten thousand years.

Thus, in many cases, a single god-level expert would enjoy the faith of an entire continent exclusively, which was actually sufficient for a low-level god.

In this way, the entire plane gradually settled into a state of stability.

However, in the eyes of the two great churches, this pact was a constraint on their expansion. Consequently, over the years, the two great churches had been plotting to seize the other three continents.

And the root cause of this actually lay in the ultimate goal of the two great churches' proselytizing:

What the two great churches wanted was not just faith, but pure souls!