Chapter 346: The True Goal of the Light Society

As old friends, Christine and Yu Na did not stand on ceremony with Wu Chang at all.

They had not only established a new stronghold in Wanghai City, but even the believers who had escaped the disaster had moved here.

In the hidden small chapel, five or six Apocalypse believers were praying, begging for the mercy of the gods.

Wu Chang frowned subconsciously; in Ailin's Divine Kingdom, prayers begging to Christine gave him the feeling that his house had been burgled.

But thinking that this house was something he had picked up from the other party, he let them be.

The believers in the chapel who were not praying saw Yu Na and stopped their work, bowing to salute her:

"Greetings, Arch-Bishop."

Yu Na nodded slightly and said:

"You all go tidy up the altar; I have important matters to consult with the deity."

Wu Chang asked in a low voice: "When I came last time, you were still a Bishop; you got promoted so quickly?"

Yu Na had nothing to hide and replied:

"I have participated in the construction of multiple church strongholds. With my qualifications and performance, I was not far from the position of Arch-Bishop anyway. Yan Xin, who was originally responsible for the Wanghai area, was promoted to the Reason Realm, vacating the position, so I naturally rose to Arch-Bishop."

Yan Xin—Wu Chang remembered this name; it was Yu Na's former superior.

When she was surrounded by the Administration and received no warning, she had called him by his full name when holding him accountable.

Wu Chang asked doubtfully: "The World Instance is imminent; isn't it a bit rushed for the original Arch-Bishop to choose to promote at this juncture?"

The World Instance is a rare opportunity for all players in the Desolate Realm; so many mid-level players would fight for it even at the cost of their lives, which is enough to show the importance of the World Instance.

The combat power of an Apocalypse Arch-Bishop is definitely top-tier in the Desolate Realm; for such an existence, the gains from entering the World Instance would certainly not be poor.

Yu Na said indifferently:

"Not rushed. The Lord told Yan Xin that the danger of this World Instance is far more terrifying than what is revealed on the surface; he would not survive it."

"Yan Xin is cautious by nature and unwilling to take risks, so he chose to promote early to avoid this crisis."

Wu Chang narrowed his eyes after hearing this. He knew that the Apocalypse could not be unaware of the conspiracy the Light Society was plotting in the Reason Realm, which had united the Tranquility Sect and the Bliss Church.

If Christine could make such a judgment, she must know something about the upcoming World Instance.

He and Yu Na waited outside for over ten minutes, and only after the ordinary believers finished tidying the altar did the two enter.

The layout of the chapel was the same as in Wanming City; passing through the outer chapel, they entered the altar at the center of the stronghold.

The scale of the altar was also the same as the Wanming City stronghold he had visited before.

But the Wanming City stronghold was a detached clubhouse, while this one was a restaurant opened on a commercial street.

The construction difficulty of the two was vastly different.

It must be said that the Apocalypse is worthy of being one of the three great evil god cults; to be able to dig out such a large space underground and quietly build a chapel while braving the searches of the Wanghai Branch, it is no wonder the four major organizations have never been able to wipe them out completely.

Having been promoted to Arch-Bishop, Yu Na now possessed the authority to communicate directly with the True God.

Under her operation, a cross-border communication ritual condensed on the altar.

A female light projection, wearing a long robe and a spiral-shaped pointed hood, appeared above the altar.

"We meet again, Your Excellency Peace."

Wu Chang bowed slightly and responded: "Greetings, Your Eminence Christine."

Christine's projection paced on the altar; she sniffed a few times and said:

"I smell the scent of a large-scale Divine Kingdom, and hmm, the scent of a Pillar of the Divine Kingdom as well."

"It has only been a month, and you are already capable of this in the Desolate Realm; this truly surprises me."

A look of helplessness appeared on Wu Chang's face; this woman's sense of smell was still as sharp as before.

Last time, she had only sniffed the "Research Report on Miracles and Vows" to smell Ailin's aura, locking onto his relationship with Ailin and discovering that they had snatched her Divine Kingdom.

This time, coming to Wanghai City, she had sniffed out the progress of the Divine Kingdom directly without any medium.

He said modestly: "In the eyes of Your Eminence Christine, we are just playing around; it counts for nothing."

Christine smiled and said:

"I heard that after you met me last time, you caused quite a stir in the middle layer. Not only did you snatch a Pillar of the Present World from those little fellows who fancy themselves gods, but you also made that Mother of Desire suffer a great loss."

"I am beginning to believe that perhaps you really do have the ability to change fate."

Wu Chang remained calm, but said with a pointed tone:

"I just cannot stand people being high and mighty, easily deciding the fates of others."

Christine retorted:

"Since you and that little girl with the aura of light can condense a large-scale Divine Kingdom, the planes connected to the Divine Kingdom are clearly no fewer than three."

"You control three planes; to the humans in those planes, your status is high and mighty, and your actions also decide their fates."

"Then, what is the essential difference between you and those people you cannot stand?"

Wu Chang thought for a moment and replied: "The difference is probably that I respect my opponents enough; I don't touch what I don't eat."

Christine asked curiously: "What does that mean?"

Wu Chang said: "If I want something, I will directly move to snatch it. In the Abyss Game, might is right; there is nothing wrong with that."

"Snatching is snatching, fighting is fighting; it is open and aboveboard, no need for cover."

He snorted coldly, a look of disdain in his eyes, and continued:

"But there are some people who, relying on their strength, like to toy with human hearts to highlight how unique and transcendent they are."

"They use the name of gods and the excuse of fate to trample and torture the weak, stripping them of their dignity and making them willingly accept their fate and offer up everything."

"The more high and mighty they are, and the more they think they can hold everything in the palm of their hands, the more I want to grab them by the hair, drag them off their thrones, and slap their faces hard."

Christine seemed to realize something and said: "You are on the side of the weak and cannot stand their arrogance?"

Wu Chang shook his head in denial: "No, I do not represent anyone, nor do I fight for anyone. My actions are entirely out of my own personal interests."

"Just like how Your Eminence Christine is always said to love bringing chaos to people."

Christine denied: "Bringing chaos is what Laiman likes to do. You have stolen part of His authority, so you should know that better than anyone."

"However, from my perspective, I quite like your interests."

Her phantom looked at Wu Chang and said with regret:

"Originally, I wanted to persuade you to join the Apocalypse again when we met this time, but you have already established a large-scale Divine Kingdom and even constructed a Pillar of the Divine Kingdom; I suppose you no longer care for the conditions I offer."

Wu Chang smiled: "My answer from last time still stands. If one day I reach the third layer of the Abyss, perhaps we can cooperate."

Christine did not continue this topic but asked:

"What is your purpose in taking the initiative to see me this time?"

Wu Chang rubbed his hands and said with a fawning expression:

"Your Eminence Christine should have already sensed what I am thinking. As a small figure in the Desolate Realm, appearing at such a time, what I am concerned about is nothing more than the World Instance."

Christine said with interest:

"But I cannot guess what you want to ask."

Wu Chang said: "I went to the Reason Realm a few days ago and happened to pick up some intelligence."

"The Reason Realm has undergone a drastic change recently. The Evolution Faction of the four major organizations has united with the Light Society to drive out the Order Faction, controlling the Reason Realm on the surface."

"They are not satisfied with this; they seem to have united with the Tranquility Sect and the Bliss Church, attempting to interfere with the World Instance from the Reason Realm to achieve some ulterior motives."

He paused, looked at Christine, and said:

"With the Apocalypse's intelligence capabilities, you should have sensed this conspiracy of the major organizations."

"Among the major forces in the Reason Realm, besides the Order Faction of the four major organizations, only the members of the Apocalypse did not join them. I thought it must be that Your Eminence Christine is unwilling to associate with them, and perhaps I could get some intelligence from you."

The conspiracy the Light Society is currently carrying out involves various forces, but not the Apocalypse.

To put it nicely, it is that the Apocalypse is unwilling to associate with them.

To put it bluntly, it is that they were excluded and subjected to American-style bullying.

If not for the fear of angering Christine, Wu Chang would have wanted to do a street dance in front of her and say:

"Hey, listen up, we have prepared a super cool plan for the World Instance in ten days, and all the top-tier major organizations are participating, but guess who didn't get an invitation."

"It's you~"

Christine said in surprise:

"You have mastered quite a bit of intelligence, even being able to find out about such a secret conspiracy of theirs."

"You possess such means, yet you remain in the Desolate Realm to compete with others; it is simply cheating."

Wu Chang was unhappy hearing this. What does that mean? If you really count it, he has only joined the Abyss Game for a hundred-plus days; who is competing unfairly with whom?

Christine did not wait for Wu Chang to refute and continued: "I do know some news about the Reason Realm."

"But what is in it for me to tell you?"

The unhappiness on Wu Chang's face instantly dissipated, replaced by a fawning expression as he said:

"Didn't I just use my Divine Kingdom to shelter your believers? Aren't we friends who help each other? Bringing up benefits makes our relationship distant."

Christine smiled and said:

"You could very well report to the four major organizations that the Apocalypse has established a stronghold in your Divine Kingdom and see if they care more about a small stronghold or a large-scale Divine Kingdom."

Wu Chang grinned, realizing that getting something for nothing was not that easy, and could only settle for second best:

"Since you can bring it up, there must be something you need me to do. As long as it is not excessive, we can discuss it."

With the World Instance approaching, every one of his items has an important role; as long as he is not asked to hand them over, he can accept helping out in exchange for intelligence.

Christine was waiting for this answer and said immediately:

"Very well, my request is simple and entirely within your capabilities."

"I trust your reputation; I can tell you the intelligence first, and then have you complete my task."

Getting the intelligence first and helping later sounded very cost-effective, but from a certain perspective, this also meant that the task Christine had for him was not easy.

She was afraid he would go back on his word after hearing it, so she stated the intelligence first to seal off his retreat.

However, as long as the scope was limited to the Desolate Realm, he had nothing to fear.

"Since that is the case, I shall respectfully comply. Your Excellency Christine, regarding the plan of the Light Society, I wish to know the full picture."

When Christine told him the intelligence about the Pillars of the Present World, he had once asked her what the purpose of that group of people who destroyed the Pillars of the Present World was.

Christine did not say, using the excuse that the fate of the Desolate Realm was already sealed and she was afraid he would die because of it.

Now that he already knew the people who originally destroyed the Pillars of the Present World were precisely the Light Society and the Evolutionists of the Rational Realm, with things having developed to this point, Christine should have no reason to hide it from him anymore.

Christine walked slowly on the altar, seemingly pondering what should be said and what should not.

A few minutes later, she spoke slowly:

"If you had stayed in the Abyss longer and walked around the Rational Realm more, you would have been able to guess the Light Society's plan without me telling you."

"Before I tell you the Light Society's plan, I need to ask you a question first: in your mind, what is a Pillar of the Present World?"

Upon hearing the question, Wu Chang felt a sense of absurdity for the first time.

After all, when he and Christine first met, it was he who asked Christine what a Pillar of the Present World was.

His understanding of the Pillars of the Present World was initially learned entirely from Christine.

At that time, Christine told him that the Pillars of the Present World were instances that failed when ascension was about to succeed; they were stuck in the middle layer, unable to be cleared and unable to go out of control.

Yet, meeting again, the other party asked him in return what a Pillar of the Present World was.

To this day, he had seen many Pillars of the Present World, and even the instances connected within large Divine Kingdoms were basically all Pillars of the Present World.

Yet his understanding of the Pillars of the Present World did not differ qualitatively from what Christine had told him that day.

Pondering the potential deeper meaning, he said slowly:

"In my view, a Pillar of the Present World is not something that cannot be cleared or cannot go out of control. The essence of its existence is the proliferation of the transcendent."

"So-called plane ascension, in my view, is the transcendent influence in the area where the instance is located going out of control, with the transcendent power within the area extending to the whole world, leading to the proliferation of the transcendent."

"If the transcendent phenomenon is compressed within a limited area, the plane will not ascend; if the transcendent is allowed to spread throughout the entire plane, then the Pillar of the Present World can ascend at any time."

This was the realization he had about the Pillars of the Present World after witnessing plane ascensions many times and seeing the birth of the Pillars of the Present World.

The essential difference between the Desolate Realm and the Rational Realm lies not only in the gap in top-tier combat power—many bosses of A-rank instances in the Desolate Realm are even more powerful than the bosses of the simplest instances in the Rational Realm.

It also lies in the popularization of the transcendent.

In the Desolate Realm, transcendent abilities only exist in the hands of a few, and the vast majority of people do not know the concept of the transcendent.

When transcendent power gathers and forms a popularization of the transcendent in a certain area, that area is very likely to form an instance space.

This is also the reason why the instance areas of the Desolate Realm are far smaller than those of the Rational Realm, and as the instance level increases, the instance area also increases accordingly.

Taking the instances Wu Chang has experienced as an example, in the Anthem Company, the instance area was the entire Welldo City; Protomatter Armaments and disqualified monsters were mostly gathered in this area.

When Schultz transformed into an artificial god, attempting to use the artificial god to expand the transcendent range to the whole world and connect all humans in the world together, the plane began to ascend.

When Schultz's plan failed, the plane ascension failed.

But the concept and spark of the transcendent had already been sown by him to the whole world; people's cognition had changed and could not be reversed, so it became a Pillar of the Present World.

In the Quiet Town instance, when the Lost Continent rose from the seabed and the Lord of the Deep Sea attempted to control the faith of the whole world, it led to plane ascension.

The reappearance of the Lost Continent and the Deep Sea Fishmen's attacks on humans played the same role as Schultz did initially: both expanded local transcendence to the entire plane.

But what was expanded was only cognition, not transcendence in the true sense, and thus a Pillar of the Present World was forged.

Ailin frequently manifested miracles before people in the Gao Mu Kingdom, revealing divine traces many times through the Pillar of the Divine Kingdom, which also fits this situation.

Having grasped the reason for the formation of the Pillars of the Present World, the corresponding method to destroy the Pillars of the Present World becomes obvious.

Severing the source of the transcendent can destroy a Pillar of the Present World.

For example, in the Underground Shelter, the source of the transcendent did not come from the Mother of Desire, but from the technological mysticism created by He Yun; this was the true source of the transcendent capable of changing the entire plane.

Therefore, the goal of the helmeted man who attempted to destroy the Pillar of the Present World was to thoroughly kill He Yun and make that technology disappear.

And Mercury, who attempted to maintain the Pillar of the Present World, used a contract to trap He Yun in a cycle in the world, making it so the technology might leak at any time, yet the technology leaking was also unlikely.

Christine nodded after hearing this, very satisfied with Wu Chang's answer.

She said: "I can see that after not seeing you for a period of time, your understanding of the Abyss and the essence of the transcendent is already much deeper than before."

"But perhaps it is because your gaze looks too far that your attention is only focused on how to look further, limited within the plane where the Pillar of the Present World is located."

Wu Chang vaguely sensed something, but he could not be sure, and asked:

"Your Excellency Christine, then how should I adjust my perspective?"

Christine looked at Wu Chang and said:

"The group you call Abyss game players possesses many abilities that we cannot master."

"Among them is a type of ability that you should have already possessed when you seized the Pillar of the Present World. If I remember correctly, that ability is called Temporary Administrator Permission."

"Isn't the existence of that permission meant to let your perspective detach from the plane itself and observe everything from the macro perspective of the Abyss?"

Wu Chang recalled the Temporary Administrator perspective and everything he saw in the middle layer; combined with Christine's previous foreshadowing, an ominous feeling appeared in his mind.

"I don't understand."

"No, you already understand," Christine said in a tone that saw through everything.

"The Pillar of the Present World, why is its name called a pillar? What is it supporting?"

"If the pillar of a house is damaged, what changes will occur between the floors of the entire house?"

"Now recall the question you asked me before and tell me, what is the purpose of that group of people who destroyed the Pillars of the Present World?"

(End of chapter)