Chapter 595: The New God

“King? Savior?”

Wu Ming was taken aback, then burst into laughter. “Possible? Me?”

“Everything is possible, especially for you who inherited the legacy of the Conqueror King!”

declared the Archbishop solemnly.

“So you know everything after all!”

Wu Ming’s expression turned serious. “Indeed, I do have the ambition to unify the Fengying Plains, but so what? Does the Church intend to invest in me?”

“Precisely. I represent the entire Church, ready to invest in and support your unification of the entire Fengying Plains!”

affirmed the Archbishop.

“Why?”

Wu Ming turned his head, staring at the Archbishop with an exasperated expression. “Just because of a prophecy?”

“That is not a prophecy, but a truth of a certain day in the future!”

The Archbishop smiled slightly. “Do you know where our Lord originally came from? In fact, our Church is also a product of the ancient Pentarchs’ Covenant, established as preparation for uniting against the serpent in the future. Do you understand now?”

“Then the one who established you was… the Uncrowned King? The Great Sage?”

Wu Ming voiced his judgment. Such a long-term plan might only have been possible for the legendary Great Sage in history.

“Correct!”

The Archbishop nodded.

“The god you worship… could it be the Great Sage?”

Wu Ming suddenly thought of the inheritance of the people’s power he had just obtained. If modified slightly, it could also be a fine divine method.

“No!”

The Archbishop’s expression was solemn as he answered definitively. “The Great Sage saw the people’s need for a spiritual refuge, so he chose the image of the Lord, which represents truth and nothingness, but is merely a symbol! Although the Sage established the canon, he never demanded anyone’s worship, instead letting people seek their own salvation… When we pray to God, we are actually praying to ourselves. This is the true meaning of all the faceless divine statues!”

With reverence, he continued, “This is a secret passed down orally among our Church’s upper echelons. The great Sage passed away peacefully at the end of his life. He did not ascend to godhood because he wished to complete a perfect life as an ordinary mortal.”

“This doesn’t fit the rules!”

Wu Ming complained inwardly, “In countless previous novels, the God of Light and monotheistic religions are mostly portrayed as antagonists. Why is there one suddenly acting so noble? The tone just doesn’t feel right!”

“Wait a moment!”

He suddenly recalled something different. “Then how about several divine revelations in your Church’s history, and that Saint Gabriel?”

“That is also the true god, our Lord…”

Strangely, the Archbishop’s lips curved into a bitter smile. “Although the Great Sage’s original intention was good, in this world, there are indeed fewer wise people and more ignorant ones!”

“The wise worship our Lord merely as a faith in themselves, saving themselves, but more fools actually entrust their faith to that abstract Lord, a divine symbol…”

Wu Ming immediately understood. Human faith and offerings are the most incredible things in the world.

Even a clay statue, when worshipped enough, can become a human Dao deity. How much more so for a symbolic figure with a complete doctrine and clear organization?

Therefore, over a long time, that symbol, originally only a representation, actually responded after absorbing sufficient faith power, as if a new god had been born!

At the moment the divine revelation descended, the upper echelons of the Church must have felt extremely devastated.

Moreover, even a newly born god would instinctively seek more, thus issuing divine revelations demanding the Church’s expansion, which was only natural.

Naturally, not everyone in the Church was a saint; there were ordinary people and those greedy for profit. The emergence of a new god was precisely the perfect opportunity for them to seize power, thus causing chaos.

Internal struggles like this were often more dreadful and terrifying than external wars.

At its most intense, even a saint like Gabriel emerged!

Fortunately, the laws of this world strongly rejected arcane supernatural forces. Although Gabriel dominated temporarily, he eventually failed, not even becoming the Pope, dying in obscurity, with the truth behind it all being quite intriguing.

In short, after experiencing the new god’s counterattack, the Church’s upper echelons barely managed to maintain control, quietly waiting for the day to fulfill their mission.

Although these were merely Wu Ming’s speculations, they probably weren’t far from the truth.

Obviously unaware of Wu Ming’s inner thoughts, the Archbishop continued, “You have obtained the Proof of Kingship, possessing the legitimacy to rule the Fengying Plains. Moreover, to unite the entire continent and confront the impending disaster, we need a wise and benevolent king. I believe you are very suitable!”

“So you really… know everything.”

Wu Ming was silent for a moment.

“So, what is your choice?”

The Archbishop looked at Wu Ming expectantly. “To conquer the entire Fengying Plains, you need our help!”

“Of course I know that!”

Although he had quietly developed for several years and was confident in defeating Count Lanshan and Viscount Garcia in one fell swoop, conquest was easy, but effective rule was the hardest.

A sect deeply rooted in the local area, with a long history and strong vitality, naturally met his governance needs.

However, cooperation between ecclesiastical and royal power, although beneficial in the short term, would bring many drawbacks in the future.

Wu Ming thought and finally replied, “But you must agree to several conditions from me!”

“Please speak!”

The Archbishop extended his right hand.

“You must preach that I am the reincarnation of your Lord, descending into the mortal world to obtain the throne! I will grant you the right to preach in my future territory, but the canon must be approved by me, and the faces on the statues in the churches must be changed to resemble me!”

Wu Ming quickly finished these thunderous conditions and immediately saw the stunned Archbishop.

Fortunately, this Church was not originally composed of fanatics, otherwise the Archbishop would now only have declared Wu Ming an eternal enemy of the Church, determined to destroy him physically and spiritually.

“You want… to become a god?”

The Archbishop stared at Wu Ming in disbelief.

“I just want to ensure that power remains in my hands in the future!”

Wu Ming looked at the Archbishop. “Don’t you want the sleeping new god to awaken in the future and seize power from you? If not, then you must support me, erasing it from the source!”

As a Divine Emperor of the Dao and a sixth-level Immortal, Wu Ming was very familiar with the divine warfare methods within the Dao.

Many deities had abilities like immortality, undying existence, and the persistence of their incense offerings and thoughts. The only way to completely kill them was to start from the root of faith, making the entire universe lose their belief.

Thus, unless they could directly communicate with the origin and obtain the world’s position of ancient gods, other deities would slowly perish and fade into the river of history.

Since the new god was merely a symbol, Wu Ming now intended to take the most fundamental approach—replacing that abstract concept with himself.

In fact, he wanted to seize the faith and make it his own accumulation.

“This… I need to think carefully!”

The Archbishop frowned, and this very expression immediately let Wu Ming know that the Church was not omniscient.

At least, regarding the matter of the inheritance of the people’s power, they were completely in the dark.

“We can only modify the statues; active promotion is impossible! This violates our canon!”

Whether it was the effect of the words about erasing the new god or not, the Archbishop gritted his teeth. “Furthermore, you cannot arbitrarily modify our doctrines, nor can you interfere in the appointment of personnel within our Church!”

“So then, you are agreeing!”

Wu Ming’s heart almost laughed out loud, though his face showed nothing. “Regarding Church matters, I still appreciate that old saying, ‘Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.'”

“Very well!”

The Archbishop nodded. “From today onwards, the Church will fully support you in obtaining the entire Fengying Plains!”

“This is for our cause!”

Wu Ming didn’t know why, but suddenly in his mind appeared scenes of holy warriors holding swords in one hand and canons in the other, like a holy war, which was unexpectedly impressive.

“Since that’s settled, Sir William! I have several messages to convey to you!”

After establishing their mutually beneficial yet sinister pact, with a foundation of shared interests, they were practically allies now. The Archbishop immediately gave Wu Ming several crucial messages. “Count Lanshan has issued a mobilization order. The Second Lion-Tiger War has already begun!”

In the Church’s view, Count Lanshan was old and lacked ambition, while Viscount Garcia was too rash.

Of course, the most critical point was that neither of them was the person prophesied by the Great Sage, nor had they obtained the Proof of Kingship of Taler!

Therefore, for the Church, the outbreak of conflict between these two could only be good news, not bad.

However, for Wu Ming, it might not necessarily be so.

“Before I departed, the Church followers from the Taku Mountains brought me news… an emissary under Count Lanshan has already arrived at your territory. It seems Lady Amylia is struggling to cope!”

Once the war began, a continuous supply of money, food, and soldiers would obviously be very important.

Count Lanshan naturally would not allow the Karos territory to remain outside his control, but sending an emissary was somewhat unexpected for Wu Ming.

After all, the legitimate ruler of the territory himself was absent. Relying solely on Amylia and a few others, they might easily show weakness in front of legitimate nobles.

In this era, if a lord was absent from his fief for too long, he would be considered derelict in duty, possibly facing the revocation of his title.

Unfortunately, this inheritance was even more crucial to his future plans. Between two evils, he had to choose the lesser one, so he had no choice but to come.

Now, it was time to pay the price for his previous rash actions.

Rushing back to his territory as quickly as possible might be a good idea?