Chapter 457: Aftermath and Prologue

What kind of dream Ji Jue has behind him is not mentioned for now.

But suddenly overnight, in the entire Huangliang, everyone felt that a nightmare was chasing their butts.

No way, it's too scary.

Nothing happened, and the Central City of such a large diocese was inexplicably struck by divine punishment!

Even as early as a month ago, their Archbishop was shouting every day about "thriving," but before they could flourish and compete, the process wasn't even followed, and all the high-level members were gone, one-third of the people in the city were gone, and they were all cast into the abyss.

Even all of them were sentenced to eternal burning, with no chance of release.

The remaining two-thirds didn't want to be better, all were demoted to sinners, slave laborers for a hundred years to repay the sin of blasphemy and impurity.

The first reaction of everyone who heard it was to report to the church that the dog thing in front of them was farting, alarmist, how could such an outrageous thing happen, but after careful confirmation, in the face of iron-like facts, they had already started sweating...

What the hell. What exactly happened? How did the Heavenly City suddenly start turning with a sniper rifle?

At the same time, a severe reprimand stamped with the seal of the Heavenly City Pope had been sent to every cathedral and every Chief Priest in the West, South, and North dioceses.

The letter angrily criticized the phenomenon of laziness that had appeared in the sect in recent years and

the large number of members who did not respect divine matters and neglected the holy light, so that blasphemous acts appeared repeatedly, and the wind of depravity spread uncontrollably, to the point where the situation had deteriorated to the current level. From today on, all cathedrals must carry out self-inspection and self-correction, report regularly, and if there is any negligence or violation, they will be severely punished!

The minimum is fifty years of hard labor.

As for the beginning and end of the Eastern Diocese, an explanation was also made in the announcement—Saint Idra, in an investigation, discovered that the high-level members of the entire Eastern Diocese had completely fallen, not only neglecting divine matters, tarnishing the sacred, but also publicly performing a large number of blasphemous rituals in the cathedrals, and even intending to intercept faith, compare themselves to gods, and split the sect.

Their fallen acts made the merciful Holy God shed tears.

Thus, the Saint performed thunderous deeds, pruning all the tumors and hidden dangers to maintain the purity of the sect. Because of this merit and honor, he was rewarded by the Holy God, promoted to the attendant under the seat, and from then on transcended the mortal world, ascended to the Heavenly Kingdom, and lived forever. From now on, all cathedrals must erect his holy image next to the Holy God's emblem.

The rebuilt Eastern Diocese will also be crowned with his name to show magnanimity and grace to this land that was once fallen.

Afterward, a new Saint was selected and crowned in the Heavenly City...

In short, there was a small problem, but it doesn't matter, don't be afraid, everyone, it's just a temporary adjustment.

Our Divine Kingdom is thriving!

Anyway, it sounded quite like that, and there was no second media in this world, so Ji Jue naturally couldn't stand up and refute that you were farting.

Under the absolute right to speak and public credibility, the chaos stabilized rapidly.

Even, the blasphemous acts of the Eastern Diocese and the ultimate punishment suffered stimulated the motivation and faith of other dioceses, who all used their strength to suckle, and the faith gap that was expected was hard-pressed to be filled by the fanaticism of the massive believers!

The asceticism and performance that were wonderful and colorful were truly eye-opening.

Under this wave of severe rectification, a large number of bottom-ranked Chief Priests were eliminated, and the believers who took office with piety became even more firm.

Besides that, the defensive strength of all dioceses and important institutions was also strengthened as never before. A large number of angel legions descended from the Heavenly City to the mortal world. These walking miracles further stimulated the fanaticism and faith of the believers, and at the same time, maximized the elimination of Ji Jue and their ideas of taking advantage of the fire and fishing in troubled waters.

One after another, resistance camps were uprooted, one after another, heretics were tied to the pyre in public trials... Under the full operation of this faith machine of the sect, the stability of the entire world went up a level, and even Ji Jue couldn't show his face.

No way, now the Heavenly City didn't know what was activated, observing the entire Huangliang dream twenty-four hours a day. After a ding, it started self-aiming.

Once Ji Jue walked out of the cracks and showed his head, he would be met with massive siege and self-detonation attacks regardless of the cost.

The first time Ji Jue thought it was an accident, the second time he already felt something was wrong, and the third time he already understood that he was

completely targeted by the sect, with at least three Saints on standby every day, ready to go on the field to defend against him.

Thanks to the existence of the Rabbit Hole, otherwise, he didn't know how much he would suffer.

But after several times in a row, when Ji Jue went to Bao Dacai to get goods again, he was opposed by the old guy—everything must leave traces, and the Rabbit Hole is not omnipotent.

"Have you noticed that these few times, every time they gathered a large army, large-scale siege and blockade, but there were not many moves when they did it?"

Ji Jue realized: "Are you saying they are specifically guiding our people to use the Rabbit Hole?"

"Exactly."

Bao Dacai sighed, patting the cloth bag that had already shown cracks: "The essence of the Rabbit Hole is also a kind of elf, guiding people to freely cross the dream, imitating the supreme Heavenly Craft of that piece of Eternal Gate. In this Huangliang, although the effect has been enhanced, at the same time, it is not without ways to target it.

If I'm not mistaken, now the Heavenly City already has someone or something else specifically watching. Every time the Rabbit Hole appears, it will leave traces.

If this continues, I'm afraid that one day when they completely master the relevant traces, it is possible to directly ban it like a BUG.

By then, everyone will be miserable."

Ji Jue thought for a long time: "How many more times can it be used?"

"If it wasn't discovered on the spot, it would be about eight or nine times. If it's being watched again... " The old guy pondered for a moment: "Three, no, to be safe, two times is the most."

"I understand."

Ji Jue nodded, without thinking: "Then keep using it. Don't give it to me. Since I'm targeted, let others replace me."

Bao Dacai was stunned for a moment, but didn't scold Ji Jue for not cherishing the opportunity at all, but instead curious: "Who do you plan to throw the work to?"

"Yeah, who?"

Ji Jue's palm swept across the camp randomly, ignoring Yan Fei who was eager to try, and finally, pointed at a confused face:

"Just you."

"—Me?"

Yu Shu, who was working as a mason, was blank, pointing at his own face, confused.

Yan Fei was also anxious: "Why! Clearly I am much stronger than him!"

"Besides fighting when you're angry and hot-headed, what else can you do?" Ji Jue was amused, asking straightforwardly: "Contact other resistance camps? Sneak into the diocese to build safe houses and underground organizations? Even communicate with church people, or incite believers? Can you do it?

Alright, stop pulling your face, there are still things for you to do later, besides, you're gone, who will take over the guard work?"

"Me? Me?"

Yan Fei, who had just pulled his face, was instantly overjoyed, his invisible tail wagging: "Also, right, right, I'm going to protect Mr. Ji's safety..."

So, it's too easy to handle children!

"Me? Me?"

Yu Shu complained in his stomach while sweating profusely.

"Otherwise, give it to Sister Wen? It's hard to imagine Sister Wen doing these things."

Ji Jue scratched his head, and by the way, CUE-d the former camp leader who was soaking in the wine jar every day after the supplies were abundant.

If she were really allowed to do diplomacy and underground work, it's hard to imagine that everyone would break up on the first day, and the underground supply point would be destroyed on the second day.

"Except for you, there aren't many people who can do this work, right? Take your work experience in the Chongguang Sect and use it in reverse, isn't that it? After all, organizational ability and action ability are not lacking, and communication ability is not bad. Although combat power is a bit poor, you can make up for it with equipment. Alright, stop shirking, it's you."

After Ji Jue threw the work away, without waiting for him to object again, he looked at the old guy: "Free?"

"Ah, people are old..." Bao Dacai was still preparing to slack off habitually, but seeing Ji Jue's dangerous eyes, his tone changed: "Old people have a lot of free time, what's the matter?"

"Borrow the workshop, besides that, there is one more thing to talk to you about." Ji Jue walked toward the chicken-foot house, "Just take it as a display of strange alchemy, old guy, let me see your limit!"

Bao Dacai's expression twitched, finally understanding why sometimes when he saw this dog thing Ji Jue, his fists would itch.

Throwing work at people is exactly the same as the Great Commander of Nirvana!

The old man's dirty words were almost unable to hold back.

But he could be sure that if he didn't satisfy Ji Jue's request, then this dog thing Ji Jue would definitely find a way to give

And so, he had no choice but to follow along helplessly.

When awake, he works overtime for Nirvana; when asleep, he works for you, Factory Manager Ji, and still has to work overtime, damn it.

That really let me enjoy myself!

Following Ji Jue's disappearance, the cultists who had been watching day and night seemed to gradually relax, but while the relaxation was on the surface, they were becoming increasingly tense in secret.

It's just a pity that their fishing skills weren't up to par; no matter how they baited the hook, this dog of a person never showed his face.

Logically speaking, the resistance camp should have ceased all activities.

Yet the Instrument of the Heavenly Eye issued warnings from time to time, and traces of the rabbit hole's existence appeared every few days.

And within every diocese, the magic-modified versions of the Holy Seal began once again to

flood...

Even among the ten great sins listed by the cult, the crime of abusing the Holy Seal and distorting divine grace was still hanging on the gallows, but once a person has taken a shortcut, it is very difficult to return to the right path.

Especially... when the cult itself could no longer distinguish the difference between the faith offered through ascetic prayer and the results of an automatic prayer machine.

No matter how strictly they guarded such secrets and how they publicized their dangers, it remained difficult to prohibit.

Fanatics were, after all, a minority, and no matter how many pious believers there were, it still could not hide the remaining rotten wood and dung...

There was no help for it; as the foundation for this Dream of Yellow Millet, the source of its countless souls was uneven.

In the Thousand Islands, the Central Lands, and even the wilderness of the Federation and the Empire, one couldn't say it was a dance of demons, but one could only say everyone had their own unique skills. Everyone was already in a state of living while waiting to die, dabbling in every bad habit; to say everyone was mean, low, and rotten to the core was a bit of a stereotype, but to say they were kind and compassionate would be talking in one's sleep with eyes closed.

The "stubborn people" cultivated in poor mountains and treacherous waters perhaps just never had the chance to be good people, but there were even more who were simply accustomed to rotting away or habitually finding the simplest way to solve problems.

Laziness is a human root; no matter how hard the indoctrination, it is ultimately difficult to solve, let alone such crude brainwashing.

Perhaps out of fear of the cult's power, perhaps out of weariness for the day-after-day monotony, countless believers who were already tired of it now repeated their prayers every day,

just to ensure their survival at a minimum level; not being thrown into the Limbo was considered a success.

Even if the Realm of Ultimate Bliss was placed right in front of them and they were told about delayed gratification, those who could actually do it were still a minority.

Before, everyone had no choice, but now they just wanted an easy prayer... although they couldn't go and tell the High Priest, could I not know whether this Holy Seal is easy to use or not?

What's more, behind the scenes, there was Ji Jue's cost-free "buy one get one free," and he even made public the production methods and simple alternative tricks for this thing...

There was simply no need to take action personally.

Little booklets along with free Holy Seal experience kits began to appear in every diocese in a flood, and some people had even started to innovate after their initial successes.

Angelic remnants are hard to find? No problem, we have affordable substitutes—the remains of those Faceless Ones who went mad from prayer work just as well!

There are too many of these things; after so many years, which sanctuary doesn't have a hundred or so to decorate the facade? If a strand of hair is missing from the remains, who would notice?

So much so that when the cult cracked down on the gangs producing the blasphemous Holy Seals, they discovered that the Faceless Ones in one sanctuary had almost been plucked bald!

The many priests of the Doctrine Department didn't know how many times they had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage; they couldn't catch them all, and some sanctuary High Priests even feigned ignorance when they knew believers were using the Holy Seals.

After all, everyone has performance quotas to meet!

As long as it doesn't get too out of hand, getting by is enough.

But the chain reaction this brought about had already left all the investigators overwhelmed... the evil consequences had already begun to manifest.

A tiny Holy Seal was like a magnifying glass, inducing believers to start paying attention to everything they had once taken for granted.

The moment a concept like "cost-effectiveness" was mixed into faith, all sacred meaning would be completely unrecognizable under the deconstruction of utilitarianism.

Even if fanatical believers could remain unmoved and pious believers could still persist day after day, when they noticed others could easily and leisurely enjoy their time while they themselves had to spend a large amount of time every day in agonizing meditation, how could a sense of disparity not arise in their hearts?

Furthermore, there was no need to use the Holy Seal; when a person started to think about whether there was any meaning in persisting in the monotony every day, this act of weighing and wavering was already enough to become an inducement for "falling."

So much so that, after various conflicts and contradictions, an invisible storm had gradually risen within the cult.

The cause lay in a completely ordinary report.

————A believer with a psychological imbalance complained to the High Priest that their companion was secretly using a fallen Holy Seal. The Doctrine Department dispatched personnel to investigate and found the accusation to be groundless, but the accused subsequently viewed the reporter as a protector, becoming even more furious and reporting the matter to the Archbishop over the High Priest's head. After the matter escalated, it created a mess, and it finally ended with the reporting believer being given a stern warning.

But the ripples generated by this were growing larger and larger.

Because the number of report letters received by the Doctrine Department was increasing.

More and more people began to suspect that those around them were using the Holy Seal, questioning

whether the other party was pious.

Some were based on hearsay, some had solid evidence, and others... were simply malicious speculation.

One deacon was reported by a colleague, and a fallen Holy Seal was found in their residence, but they could not explain its origin. Even though it was later confirmed to be a frame-up and false accusation, they still suffered prolonged torture and interrogation, their faith was shaken, and at the same time, they lost a crucial promotion opportunity.

And the report letters kept increasing, more and more.

When a product reaches the hands of consumers, its usage is likely no longer up to the manufacturer—for example, when everyone discovered that besides being an artifact for slacking off, this thing was also a precious opportunity to frame others or even get rid of an eyesore... the matter became uncontrollable.

With the end of the rectification movement, the various dioceses did not usher in peace, because immediately following it, a vigorous witch-hunt began!

But the more they hunted witches, the more witches there were; it was truly strange!

The contradictions and conflicts once hidden beneath peace and smiles surfaced rapidly under the intensification of the Holy Seal, gradually evolving into a life-or-death struggle.

As for the experience, one could only say it was disgusting, disgusting to the core!

The Doctrine Department was about to vomit.

Because they had handled so many reports that they were instead viewed by more and more people as eyesores and neurotic villains, but if they left it alone, the work they used to deal with heretics today would be used on themselves tomorrow.

The change in the situation was like rising ice water, starting to make everyone unable to breathe, cold to the bone, yet fearful of the warmth of the stake, suffering repeatedly, wandering constantly.

And in the repeated accusations and arrests, more and more believers began to think once again.

The meaning of faith and the price of faith.

A single rat dropping was fouling the entire soup at a visible speed, and the brilliant, magnificent dream was gradually deteriorating under the shadow of the spreading Stagnation...

And as the initiator of all this, the mastermind behind the scenes, Ji Jue suddenly felt that his previous understanding of Stagnation was also too shallow.

Sometimes, decay is not an external cause, and stagnation is not the result of evil creation.

This terrifying and strange power might have already existed, only no one noticed it; it only needed a pair of eyes capable of seeing them, and a pair of palms capable of guiding them...

"It's getting more and more interesting."

In the camp's workshop, Ji Jue lowered his head to look through the summary of messages sent by Yu Shu step by step, smiled, threw them into the furnace fire, and stared at the rising flames.

Inside the stone cauldron, a bubbling sound arose, emitting an alluring fragrance.

And the original owner of this place, already wearing a gas mask, had hidden in the corner; Bao Dacai complained in a muffled voice: "It's a real pity you didn't go to the Profound Abyss!"

"Who's to say it isn't?"

Ji Jue tapped his knees with his fingers, waiting indifferently.

It would be soon.

The heat was about to be achieved...

That day, urgent intelligence from the Crusade Legion was sent to the Heavenly City above the clouds, arrived at the Papal Court, and finally, through the transmission of the Cardinals, reached the Pope.

It included one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

And a "corpse."