Chapter 326: The Secret of Briver Island

Today?

The Great Mother paused after hearing this, reminding him: "It's only eight o'clock tonight; it's not tomorrow yet."

Wu Chang nodded. "Yes, so we still have four hours."

The Great Mother fell silent. Only four hours remained before the enemy appeared—wasn't it too hasty to begin discussing cooperation now?

Yet Wu Chang's next words made the time for her decision even more urgent.

Wu Chang pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time.

"Archbishop Gilman has already sunk into the Blind Abyss for two minutes, Great Mother. You wouldn't want your most faithful believer's will to shatter, would you?"

The Great Mother clenched her fists. Not only had he proposed an alliance on the spot, but he was also threatening and coercing her—this damned mortal, did he think he had her completely cornered?

The Great Mother was desperate, but as a Mid-tier Deity, she had witnessed countless storms across the Faith Realms; she knew that the more anxious one becomes, the less one should allow oneself to be led by the opponent's pace.

"You came to me because you learned this information and realized you cannot handle the Lord of the Deep Ocean alone—you seek my aid, correct?"

Wu Chang gave no clear answer. "You may think so."

The Great Mother asked: "What benefit can I gain?"

Wu Chang feigned thoughtfulness, hesitating for over ten seconds—just as the Great Mother was about to realize he was deliberately stalling—he spoke:

"What do you want?"

The Great Mother felt her temperature rising. If you're going to ask me, then what the hell are you thinking about?

"I demand the right to proselytize on Briver Island."

Wu Chang looked at her in confusion.

"Great Mother, I fully trust in our mutual wisdom—some matters are better laid bare. You don't seriously believe that if I allow you to preach, the islanders will worship you, do you?"

Wu Chang's tone held no mockery or scorn, yet to the Great Mother's ears, it was sharper than any insult.

This mortal actually believed that she, a true Deity, could not compete in faith with the puppet she herself had created.

It enraged her—but even more so, she agreed with him.

Lies don't wound; truth is the sharp blade.

The fall of the Augre State Church must be due to the clergy's lack of effort.

She gritted her teeth and said:

"The believers I seek to win are not the original inhabitants of Briver Island."

"As we previously agreed, King Augre has already granted Briver Island as a fief to Gilman. We will not interfere with the island's original residents or their existing territories—but we will expand the island's landmass, relocating more people from the interior."

"For the new settlers, let us compete fairly, each side on equal footing—how does that sound?"

Wu Chang sneered. The Great Mother played her cards too well—the abacus beads had practically flown into his face.

If he agreed, the Augre State Church could reclaim land from the sea and flood the island with fanatical immigrants, overwhelming Aileen's followers in number.

According to his and Aileen's earlier estimates, Briver Island greatly amplified the growth of faith power—so the Great Mother could use this tactic to seize the lion's share of the island's benefits.

If the immigrant race possessed inherent aggressive traits in their genetics, within just a few years, even if she did nothing else, the original islanders would be diluted and assimilated.

Just as the former High Furnace Rooster had become the High Furnace Black Chicken.

Wu Chang saw through her intentions, yet he still smiled and said:

"Agreed—as long as you guarantee no interference with the lives of Briver Island's original inhabitants, I support free competition."

He loved free competition—so long as freedom was the premise, and no rules forbade mutual harm, he would agree to any demand the Great Mother made.

In his original plan, after dealing with the Lord of the Deep Ocean, he intended to go to the Augre Kingdom and compete freely with the Augre State Church anyway.

Just as the Yongguang Sect and the Xinyuzhou Sect competed freely in Gao Mu.

The scent of freedom was sweet—but the bloodstains would be heavy.

Seeing Wu Chang accept the first condition, the Great Mother continued:

"Beyond the free proselytizing zone on Briver Island, I also demand a share of the spoils. After defeating the Lord of the Deep Ocean, any unclaimed treasures in the sea belong to whoever finds them."

Wu Chang nodded. "Reasonable."

The Great Mother regarded Wu Chang with suspicion. Based on her understanding of this mortal, she had expected resistance—especially regarding the right to proselytize and expand the island.

Before stating her terms, she had prepared compromises: limits on expansion area, specific numbers of relocated people, even offering to personally deify Aileen.

But to her surprise, Wu Chang accepted every demand without hesitation, without a single counteroffer.

No—this damned bastard was mocking her, deliberately stalling to break Gilman's will, wasn't he?

The Great Mother's expression darkened. "You agree so readily now—can you convince that puppet?"

Wu Chang twisted his elbow. The Great Mother instinctively narrowed her eyes and raised her hands, ready to cover her nose.

This time, Wu Chang didn't actually move his elbow. He wore a false smile and corrected: "She's not a puppet. Her name is Aileen."

The Great Mother reluctantly said: "Fine. Can you speak for Aileen?"

Wu Chang nodded. "Of course."

The Great Mother pressed: "Even a divine covenant forged from faith power—you can sign it?"

Wu Chang shrugged, bowed slightly, and performed a gentleman's bow.

Before him, the Golden Kingdom opened a passage, and Aileen stepped out slowly.

"His will fully represents mine. As long as every word in the terms remains unchanged, I can sign the divine covenant with you right now."

Wu Chang added beside her: "I could have brought the Holy Maiden into the battle at any time—but I didn't, to show my goodwill."

The Great Mother's cheek twitched. Gilman, locked away, felt none of your "goodwill."

Yet as Wu Chang said, if his intent was to attack, he could have brought Aileen in long ago.

Seeing his sincerity, the Great Mother dismissed her doubts—but another thought arose.

If he wasn't mocking her, why did he agree so easily? Was their situation far more dire than it seemed? Had she offered too little?

The Great Mother regretted it—but remembering Gilman still imprisoned in the Blind Abyss, she decided he was still useful, and wasted no more time, immediately instructing Aileen how to use faith power as a catalyst, combined with holy magic, to form a divine covenant.

Divine Pact is a special contract that can only be used if both parties possess divinity; once signed, the signatories cannot renounce it, or they will suffer backlash from vow power.

Minor consequences include realm regression; severe ones result in shattered divinity, requiring reconsolidation.

Such heavy consequences preserve the last shred of trust between gods.

The Divine Pact quickly solidified, but before signing, Wu Chang suddenly blocked Ailin and turned to the Grand Mother Superior, saying:

"Cooperation is mutually beneficial, Your Grand Mother Superior. You just proposed two demands—we now propose two of our own, which I believe are entirely reasonable."

The Grand Mother Superior frowned slightly, but seeing the already-formed Divine Pact and thinking of Briever Island about to be hers, she urged: "What demands do you have?"

Wu Chang smiled and said: "Our demands are simple. First, during cooperation, we require full information sharing—regarding the secrets of Briever Island and intelligence on the Orgre Kingdom, we must know them."

The Grand Mother Superior had no wish to agree, but reasoned that once the Divine Pact was signed, Briever Island would eventually be hers; revealing the secrets wouldn't matter, so she replied:

"Agreed."

Wu Chang said: "Second, during cooperation, Your Grand Mother Superior must personally guide Saintess Ailin's cultivation, teach her how to wield divine power, and during instruction, you must not refuse to answer, conceal knowledge, omit or distort information, or harbor ill intent."

Displeasure flashed in the Grand Mother Superior's eyes—Ailin's body was provided by her; the sacred scar for condensing divinity was hers.

She had taken her possession, yet now demanded to be treated as an instruction manual, teaching the other how to use her own creation—this demand was excessive.

But if she refused now, all prior agreements would be void; for the sake of Briever Island, she gritted her teeth and accepted.

Let you enjoy this moment now—there will be time for your tears later.

"Agreed."

As Wu Chang's demands were recorded into the Divine Pact, Ailin and the Grand Mother Superior signed the contract—the Divine Pact took effect.

With the Divine Pact complete, both sides exhaled in relief.

The Grand Mother Superior believed Briever Island was already in her grasp, and felt a surge of satisfaction.

Wu Chang, meanwhile, rejoiced at securing Ailin a cheap teacher and gaining another high-level expendable to probe the remnants of the evil god.

Both sides were extremely cautious about signing the Divine Pact, yet neither mentioned one clause: during the contract's duration, neither party may harm the other.

As if they all deeply trusted each other's character, believing the other would never strike at an ally.

Though both harbored ulterior motives, they were still allies now, and could not afford to offend each other too deeply.

Wu Chang dissolved the Golden Kingdom and released Archbishop Gilman.

Archbishop Gilman, reappearing, had lost all his former elegance and composure—he was drenched from head to toe, his robe and hair clinging to his face, looking utterly disheveled.

More disheveled than his appearance was his demeanor.

Merely a few minutes for Archbishop Gilman, trapped in the Blind Abyss, felt like months.

During that time, the Blind Abyss had shattered his mental defenses; his senses had not fully returned, his eyes dimmed, his body trembled in panic, and he repeatedly pounded his own skull, shouting:

"Stop! Be silent!"

Seeing this, the Grand Mother Superior ignited a white flame in her hand, placed it upon Gilman's forehead, and whispered:

"Lost child, the Holy Flame shall guide your path."

Under the glow of the Holy Flame, Gilman's fear gradually subsided, his furrowed brow relaxed, he ceased pounding his head, and sank into deep sleep.

The Grand Mother Superior raised her head, ready to rebuke Wu Chang—but Wu Chang spoke first:

"Oh, poor Archbishop Gilman. Your Grand Mother Superior, had you not held such hostility toward us, had you sat down for a proper discussion, he would not have suffered this torment."

The Grand Mother Superior choked on her breath, her face flushing red.

She could not defeat this damned mortal, and arguing with him would only lower her dignity—so she pretended not to hear Wu Chang, summoning two members of the State Church Knights to take Gilman away to rest.

After sending Gilman off, with no believers present, the Grand Mother Superior no longer needed to maintain her image of compassion and mercy.

Her gentle gaze turned cold; her benevolent, serene aura became forbidding. "Less than four hours remain until today ends. Rather than waste time on empty words, let us discuss strategies against the Lord of the Deep."

Wu Chang did not deny the Grand Mother Superior's words; he went with the flow and said:

"Your Grand Mother Superior, you and the Lord of the Deep both seek to seize Briever Island—what secret does this island hold that so fascinates you both?"

The Grand Mother Superior knew Wu Chang would ask this; she did not answer directly, but instead used a space-like ability to retrieve a complex, large alchemical apparatus.

The apparatus's core was a bottle, its mouth engraved with a mystical array capable of absorbing ambient magical energy.

Below the bottle's belly, ten or more hollow copper tubes were evenly spaced, each ending at a balance enclosed in a glass cover.

Wu Chang had seen a similar balance in Ebert's memories—it measured not physical mass, but the "mass" of elements.

The Grand Mother Superior said: "This apparatus is called the Element Separator. I discovered it in a hidden laboratory beneath Jemeyin—it holds the secret of Briever Island."

As the apparatus activated, white light flickered at the bottle's mouth; after roughly ten minutes, the magic energy absorbed reached the separation threshold.

Water, fire, earth, wind, light, darkness, and other elements separated through the tubes, each falling into the elemental balance—each displayed identical, perfectly equal mass.

Ailin gasped in astonishment: "Absolute elemental balance?!"

Wu Chang was equally startled, then scratched his head and asked: "What is absolute elemental balance?"

The Grand Mother Superior gave him a look of disdain and explained:

"Normally, elemental concentrations in a realm are uneven; different regions have varying elemental ratios. For example, near the sea, water element should far exceed others."

"In regions without clear elemental affinity, elements appear irregular or are missing. If the air contains more than fifteen elements, and each separated element's mass is identical, the location is deemed absolutely balanced—indicating it is the origin point of elemental creation, the center of the realm."

Wu Chang nodded vaguely, pressing: "So?"

The Grand Mother Superior said: "By mastering the center of the realm through special means, one can control the entire realm. If a faith imprint is branded upon the realm's center, that faith will be recognized by the realm itself, gaining legitimacy unmatched by any other religion."

"It allows absorption of unclaimed blind faith energy from the realm, and compels all believers to instinctively draw near—harvesting faith becomes tenfold more efficient."

The Grand Mother Superior's words reminded Wu Chang of the unnaturally rapid growth of the Miracle Tree.

The "nourishment" suddenly appearing within the Miracle Tree was likely blind faith energy drawn from the realm's center.

Here, the Grand Mother Superior sneered:

"That's why Jemeyin feared I'd discover it—he built churches but dared not let the islanders worship me, even dared not fully carve my statue's face."

"Moreover, he used some special method to draw in vast amounts of water element, superficially disrupting the island's absolute elemental balance, hiding this secret from everyone but himself."

"His method of drawing water element was highly sophisticated—not something a mortal could devise. I previously couldn't fathom how he learned it; now I see—he must have long conspired with the Lord of the Deep."

Based on the golden flying fish and the spies the deep-sea race had planted in Bluff, Wu Chang had already guessed that Count Jermaine had deep ties with the deep-sea race. The information the Holy Mother brought had thoroughly confirmed this guess.

Seeing that Wu Chang said nothing, the Holy Mother spoke:

"Regarding the secrets of Bluff Island, everything I have discovered has already been told to you. There's not much time left, we should hurry up…"

Wu Chang cut the Holy Mother off and said:

"Right, we don't have much time. Your Holiness the Holy Mother, you should follow the divine covenant and teach Aileen to cultivate."

"Aileen, study well under Her Holiness the Holy Mother. It's not easy to find a good teacher, especially a good teacher who follows the divine path and shares your affinity."

"You've recently hit a bottleneck and don't know how to advance to a Principality Angel, right? Quickly tell all your difficulties to Her Holiness the Holy Mother. Also, regarding the application of divine power, that suit of armor of Her Holiness the Holy Mother looks quite nice—ask if you can learn it."

"With the divine covenant in place, she has no choice; she will definitely teach you well."

Holy Mother:?

No way. In at most three hours, the Lord of the Deep Sea will arrive. Is now the time for me to coach this puppet in her cultivation?

Coordination? Tactics? Special abilities? Mutual communication?

She looked at Aileen, her gaze full of incomprehension. Mortals have bad brains, but you've already become a deity—must you be just as foolish as him?

Feeling the Holy Mother's gaze, Aileen immediately replied:

"I'm ready. We can begin at any time."

The Holy Mother felt her breathing quicken, unsure whether it was because of Aileen and Wu Chang, or because this puppet's service life was about to expire.

She asked helplessly:

"Aren't we supposed to be cooperating against the Lord of the Deep Sea? Don't we need to work out a plan in advance?"

Wu Chang waved his hand and said: "What's there to discuss? Just charge in and be done with it. Aileen's studies come first."

The Holy Mother sighed. Even though she was unwilling, with the divine covenant in place she could not refuse, and could only follow Wu Chang and Aileen into the Cathedral of Eternal Light to teach Aileen her cultivation.

Three hours passed in a flash. Looking at Aileen, whose control over divine power grew increasingly proficient and who was separated from the Principality Angel realm by only a thin sheet of paper, the Holy Mother felt a bit numb.

When she had added clauses to the divine covenant, she had thought it would only be a few simple pointers, giving Aileen a direction.

She hadn't expected that the clauses they had written in truly required her to go all out, to the point that even with a great enemy at hand they couldn't be bothered.

Not a single minute of the three hours was wasted—all of it was used to impart insights to Aileen and answer her questions. If Aileen couldn't learn, she would even have to demonstrate hands-on.

Only now did the Holy Mother realize how devilishly clever the limiting clauses Wu Chang had added were: "must not refuse to answer, must not hold back, must not delete, distort, or deliberately mislead, must not harbor evil intentions."

This made it impossible for her to hold back, or to plant hidden traps for Aileen.

The fact that he could consider things so thoroughly was enough to show that human had used this trick to trap others plenty of times.

With only the final ten minutes left before the end of today, the private tutoring session arranged for Aileen finally concluded.

This wasn't because Wu Chang had given the Holy Mother a break between classes, but because the weather over the sea had changed.

The weather tonight was fine; there were no clouds in the sky to block the view, and one could see the starry sky at a glance.

Just now, the quiet starry sky had shifted. The starlight across the heavens changed at a subtle but perceptible speed, and an unsettling aura came on the sea breeze.

The stars were about to return to their positions.

(End of this chapter)