Midgod

The two major churches' collection of pure souls and powerful bodies was no secret in the eyes of other god-level experts.

They even knew that after the two churches sacrificed pure souls to the Lord of Light and the Lord of Darkness, they could receive rewards from them, such as divine-descended angels.

Of course, Andrew and the others knew what happened but not why. They did not know why the Lord of Light and the Lord of Darkness needed pure souls; they merely looked down on such practices somewhat.

Leian knew the reason, but he did not explain it.

In truth, the reason the Chief Gods of those two factions needed pure souls was because they possessed a wondrous artifact of heaven and earth known as the Angel Rebirth Pool.

As long as a pure soul was placed within the Angel Rebirth Pool, it could be transformed into a powerful humanoid weapon: an angel.

Such angels ranged from two-winged and four-winged angels... all the way to twelve-winged angels, for a total of six ranks. The first three ranks were called the lower three ranks of angels, while the latter three were known as the upper three ranks.

Generally speaking, the purer the soul, the higher the rank of angel it could be transformed into, and the stronger it would be.

Among them, even the weakest twelve-winged angels were at the level of Seven-Star Demons. Some could even rival prefect lords of the Supreme Planes.

These powerful and loyal humanoid weapons were immensely useful even to the lofty Chief Gods—for example, in Plane Wars.

In his memories, Orloff, the Sovereign of Fate, had relied on the powerful angels of the light faction to win ten Plane Wars in a row, allowing the seven Chief Gods of the fate faction to receive an additional reward of Will power.

Of course, such powerful angels generally referred to the upper three ranks. Because the lower three ranks were not particularly strong, they were usually distributed as rewards to various material planes—the so-called divine-descended angels.

From all this, it was clear just how important pure souls were to the two major churches—or rather, to the Chief Gods of those two factions.

However, pure souls were not cabbages that could be found everywhere. If the two major churches wanted more pure souls, they could only seize greater territory and more humans.

Under such circumstances, it was hardly surprising that the two major churches coveted the other three continents.

And that covetousness would naturally provoke hostility from the other god-level experts. This was also why Andrew said that they were not on the same path as the two popes.

After explaining the secrets of the two major churches, Andrew looked at the thoughtful Leian and joked, "What, are you worried that the two major churches will launch a war against the other continents?"

Leian suddenly snapped back to his senses and smiled faintly. "No. I was just curious. The two popes are already god-level experts, so why are they still so loyal to their churches?"

Although the two major churches spread faith for the Chief Gods of their respective factions, as popes, they could actually skim off twenty to thirty percent of the power of faith for themselves.

According to Andrew, the two popes had become gods more than a hundred thousand years ago. By now, the power of faith should have been of little use to them.

As for the rewards for sacrificing pure souls, they should not have held much appeal for god-level experts either.

With that being the case, Leian truly could not understand why the two popes still single-mindedly sought to expand their territories.

Andrew shook his head. "Who can truly understand the human heart?"

He smacked his lips and continued, "Forget it. Let's not talk about them. Let's talk about the remaining two god-level experts instead."

At that point, Andrew gave a light cough, and his expression suddenly turned serious.

"The last two god-level experts are no simple figures, because both of them are Midgods. They are Lord Wigan, the plane guardian, and Lord Beirut, the master of the Dark Forest."

Leian had little interest in the plane guardian, but the moment he heard the name "Beirut," he immediately perked up.

Leian was not surprised in the slightest by Beirut's strength as a Midgod. He even felt that Beirut might already be a Highgod, and Andrew simply did not know it.

After all, Beirut's talent had never been poor. Leian vaguely remembered that before Beirut became a Chief God, he had been able to smash apart a Chief God's projected clone with the strength of a Seven-Star Demon. He had been stronger than even ordinary prefect lords.

With such talent, after seven hundred thousand years of hard cultivation, becoming a Highgod was not impossible.

Andrew did not know what Leian was thinking. He first explained what a "plane guardian" was before continuing:

"Lord Wigan is a lightning-style Midgod. He has served as plane guardian for more than a million years, though I am not sure exactly how long.

"As for Lord Beirut, I know a little about him. Lord Beirut became a god around seven hundred thousand years ago, and he cultivates the Laws of Darkness as well.

"Neither of these two lords likes liveliness. Lord Beirut, for instance, has spent all these years in secluded cultivation and has scarcely left the Dark Forest. Lord Wigan has likewise remained on the Arctic Icecap and rarely visits the five continents."

As he spoke, a trace of regret appeared on Andrew's face. As someone who loved battle, he would have been more than willing to experience the strength of a Midgod. Unfortunately, when he considered the temperaments of those two lords, he had no choice but to abandon the thought.

After all, Andrew was no fool. Disturbing someone who disliked company would only provoke their displeasure. If either of them developed killing intent, he would undoubtedly die.

Leian had originally intended to ask about Beirut, but after hearing Andrew say this, he thought Andrew probably knew only a limited amount. At the very least, he had not revealed Beirut's identity as a divine beast. Leian did not know whether Andrew was unaware of it or simply did not dare mention it casually.

With that in mind, he gave up on probing further and decided that someday, he would personally visit the Dark Forest.

Setting that matter aside, Leian put on a puzzled expression and said:

"Our Yulan Plane has a long history. There should be more god-level experts than just us, right? Listening to you mention the plane guardian earlier, could it be that they have all left?"

Andrew smiled.

"That's right. This material plane may be boundlessly vast to ordinary people, but for god-level experts like us, flying from east to west takes less than a day. After wandering around for tens of thousands of years, it is inevitable to grow bored and develop the desire to leave.

"Speaking of which, Leian, you were rather unlucky. If you had been born two thousand years earlier, you could have met several more god-level friends.

"Putting distant matters aside, two thousand years ago alone, six god-level experts and more than twenty Saint Realm peak experts left the five continents all at once."

"More than twenty Saint Realm peak experts?"

Leian stared at Andrew with a stunned expression. He did not find it strange for god-level experts to leave, but more than twenty Saint Realm peak experts leaving at once was truly beyond his expectations.

Yet after considering it carefully, it made sense. Those people were not like Leian, who clearly understood the cruelty of the Supreme Planes. If those Saint Realm peak experts had been unable to break through for several thousand, or even ten thousand years, it was understandable that they would choose to take a gamble in the Supreme Planes.

Just like Elvis's ancestor, Joyce. Leian remembered that their family genealogy recorded how Joyce had gone to the Supreme Planes with friends in order to seek a breakthrough.

And that had happened just over two thousand years ago.

Andrew did not know what Leian was thinking. Seeing his expression, Andrew assumed that Leian was shocked by the number of people who had left and immediately explained:

"More people did leave that time than usual, but the main reason was that most of them had good relationships with the departing god-level experts. Those god-level experts also promised that after reaching the Supreme Planes, they would look after them when appropriate. That was why so many left at once."

At that, Andrew chuckled.

"In fact, if no one had been available to take over my position, I might have left with them that time as well."

The moment Leian heard that, he thought, You were fortunate you didn't go. With your talent—you still hadn't broken through to Midgod after forty thousand years of godhood—you would most likely have become cannon fodder delivering divine sparks.

A few days ago, the temperature had reached twenty degrees, but today it suddenly dropped below zero. It felt awful.