"This..." Annie looked troubled. After hesitating for a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, "The Association has no rule against divulging intelligence. I can tell you, but this matter involves a secret. You must promise not to leak it."
"I'm very tight-lipped. I absolutely won't reveal it to anyone." Zhang Yuanqing gave his word.
Having received his promise, Annie nodded. She lifted her glass and took a sip before saying:
"The First District and the Second District opened at different times. The First District opened in 1882, thirty years earlier than the Second District."
Though he did not know why Annie had brought this up, Zhang Yuanqing still nodded cooperatively. "1882, during the Second Industrial Revolution."
The designations First District and Second District were based on when they had opened.
Annie said, "Thirty years was enough time for a group of powerful Spirit Realm Walkers to emerge, as well as an unimaginably powerful organization. At that time, the strongest Spirit Realm Walker organization in the world was the Church in Europe."
"The Church?" Zhang Yuanqing straightened up, his expression shifting from casual to serious.
He had never heard of the "Church."
"Yes, the Church." Annie nodded slightly. "At the time, nearly all of the most powerful Orderly Profession practitioners were members of the Church, and their leader, the Pope, was the world's first demigod. It was an era crowded with heroes, and an era when the Church ruled the entire world of Spirit Realm Walkers. Evil organizations could only lurk among gangs, hide on farms, and build their influence among the working class. They had no way to meddle in high society, because the Church crushed them so thoroughly they could barely breathe. Orderly Profession practitioners unwilling to be ruled by the Church could only become bounty hunters, but