Sanctuary Hegemony in the God Realm

"Wilbur!!"

"Come out!"

While lost in thought, a faint, ethereal voice drifted in from outside. Wilbur's hand, which had been caressing his maid, paused, and his expression turned vigilant.

"Who is it?"

Wilbur's figure flickered and vanished from the room, reappearing outside a pavilion within the imperial palace after a few leaps.

At this moment, a figure in black robes sat in the center of the pavilion by the lake.

Wilbur scrutinized the unfamiliar black-robed figure, comparing Lynn's face against every Saint-level expert he knew, only to find that none matched.

He was an unfamiliar Saint-level expert, and a powerful one at that; Wilbur hadn't even noticed him until he spoke after breaking into the palace.

Although Wilbur's talent wasn't high, he had lived for over ten thousand years just like the Celestial God, and he had comprehended a sliver of the Laws of Fire. Combined with the low-level divine artifact weapon crafted for him by the Celestial God, his strength was close to that of a second-tier Saint.

As long as it wasn't a peak-level Saint, Wilbur feared no one, not even the two Popes. Therefore, despite not recognizing Lynn, he didn't panic. Confident in his own strength, he questioned coldly.

"Who are you? To dare trespass into my empire's palace—could it be that you are from one of the two Churches!"

"An ordinary person, Lynn." Lynn's expression was indifferent as he sat on the stone chair, pouring himself a cup of tea unhurriedly.

"I have come this time to have your Zhongyuan Empire do something for me."

"What a joke!!" Hearing Lynn's words, Wilbur let out an angry laugh.

His aura surged violently, and he glared at Lynn with a hostile expression.

"What do you take this empire for, and what do you take us imperial Saints for? You think you can make us do your bidding with a single sentence? Have you lost your..."

Bang!!

Before Wilbur could finish his sentence, Lynn flipped his hand, and a blood-stained head was tossed toward Wilbur.

It was none other than the Pope of Light, Abraham.

"..."

Wilbur caught the head, his expression shifting rapidly.

It was over; he had spoken too soon. At this moment, Wilbur really missed his grandfather.

Lynn sipped his tea calmly.

"Submit or... die."

...Zhongyuan Empire, Central Palace.

Inside the magnificent Golden Throne Hall, Lynn sat upon the dragon throne.

"Lord Lynn, the orders have been relayed. The vanguard will arrive at Rivas Province by tomorrow morning at the latest to search for the whereabouts of Lord Kasa."

"The focus is Rivas Province, but do not overlook other places," Lynn stated.

"Yes!" Choba, the current Emperor of the Zhongyuan Empire, nodded respectfully.

By the time Choba looked up again, Lynn had already vanished from the dragon throne.

In the side hall, eleven imperial Saints, led by Wilbur, were waiting.

"Are these all the Saints the empire has left?" Lynn suddenly appeared in the hall, looking at the group before him with a puzzled expression.

Of the three great empires, even the Roland Empire, which was established the latest, had existed for over 5,000 years.

As for the oldest, the Zhongyuan Empire, its history spanned over ten thousand years. Eleven Saints was a pitifully small number, completely unworthy of the empire's heritage.

Hearing the confusion in Lynn's voice, Wilbur stepped forward to explain:

"The empire originally had more Saints than this, but... thirty-four years ago, when my grandfather, the Celestial God, headed to the Supreme God Realm, many Saints also decided to go to the God Realm to venture out and compete for dominance."

"The other two empires are much the same; altogether, nearly a hundred Saints have left." As Wilbur said this, his expression was filled with melancholy, and he cast a subtle glance at Lynn.

If not for the mass exodus of imperial Saints to the Supreme God Realm, how would the two Churches have dared to act so brazenly, and how would this mysterious Saint before him have dared to storm the palace?

Decades ago, the Zhongyuan Empire alone boasted fifty Saints.

There were several second-tier Saints among them, and by joining forces, they had no fear of peak-level Saints.

If Lynn had attacked back then, he wouldn't even have been able to enter the palace; he would have been blocked outside the imperial city.

"...Perhaps I should have followed my grandfather to the Supreme God Realm back then."

Three low-level gods leading a hundred Saints to compete for dominance in the Supreme God Realm???

Was this still Chinese? Lynn felt that these words sounded incredibly foreign coming from Wilbur's mouth.

"Are you all that brave? Just a Saint and you dare to head to the Supreme God Realm?" Lynn's tone was strange.

Wilbur was stunned, then spoke as if it were a matter of course.

"Isn't it normal for Saints to head to the Supreme God Realm?"

"For ten thousand years, aside from the three great deities who went to the Supreme God Realm in their divine forms, everyone else who went was a Saint."

"There are even many who went and returned. To my knowledge, a thousand years ago, a Saint-level black dragon went to the Supreme God Realm and returned as a low-level god in just forty or fifty years!"

What! Sanctuary-level experts can travel to the Supreme God Realm and return in just a few decades, and that's considered normal??

Hearing Wilbur's words, Lynn frowned.

Could it be that the point in time I transmigrated to is the dawn of the world, when Sanctuary-level experts could survive in the God Realm and travel back and forth at will?

But that doesn't add up; if it were truly the dawn of the world, there shouldn't be any Sovereign Gods or plane guardians sent by them.

The Church of Light and the Church of Darkness shouldn't exist either.

"Something is wrong, something is definitely fishy here; someone must be pulling the strings."

Lynn grew vigilant in his heart, though he didn't reveal a single trace of it on his face.

"The priority is still to find Kasa. Notify me if there is any news."

"Giddyup! Giddyup!"

While Lynn was storming the Zhongyuan Empire, on a desolate official road outside Rivas Province.

A massive troop clad in black armor and black robes was galloping rapidly along the road.

At the rear of the procession, inside a rather bumpy carriage, Kasa, his hands and feet bound by chains and his body wrapped in Anti-Magic Stone, opened his eyes in a daze.

"Where am I?"

Kasa's memory was still stuck on the moment before he lost consciousness: he had run out of Qingli City, and while passing a mountain range with his cousin, everything suddenly went black, and he lost awareness.

"Right, Brother!" Kasa hurriedly scanned his surroundings.

He discovered his cousin lying unconscious nearby.

"Wake up, wake up!"

Kasa kicked his cousin with his feet, quickly rousing him.

After doing this, Kasa finally took a look around.

"Those two seem to have woken up."

Noticing the movement inside the carriage, the black-clad soldier driving the carriage spoke to a guard beside him.

The soldier used his spear to lift the curtain, casting a cold, indifferent glance at Kasa and his cousin inside.

"Behave yourselves, or else... that person will be your fate."

The soldier pointed his finger toward the front of the procession, at a gaunt corpse held high on a long spear.

It was an incredibly gruesome corpse, stripped of its skin, revealing only dark brown flesh. It was covered in countless wounds of all sizes, with raw, upturned flesh, and one could only vaguely identify it as a human body.

"Ugh..."

Seeing this corpse, even Kasa, who had already experienced the cruelty of war, couldn't help but retch.

"Who are you people? Where are you taking us?" Compared to Kasa, although his cousin's face was also pale, he managed to steady himself and avoid losing his composure.

"Shut up!" The black-clad soldier was ruthless and brief; without hesitation, he swung his spear, slamming it into Kasa's cousin.

"Ah!"