Chapter 321: Eye of Truth (Pseudo)

“Pilgrims, ahead lies the holy city of humanity, the place where the Right Eye of God transformed into light, the dwelling of the noblest Witch, Natasha III. Please follow me, kowtowing with every step as we advance toward the Holy City.”

Among the group of pilgrims, Ace quietly blended in.

Ten days later, the noblest Witch Natasha III announced that she had listened to the oracle of the Prophet and reorganized the entire Witch sacrificial system. The Witch sacrificial system of the Supreme God Ai was renamed the Supreme Church. Female clergy in the church were called Nuns, and male clergy were called Priests.

Both men and women could hold holy office in the church. The noblest Witch of the church was renamed the Saintess Pope, followed by Purple-Robed Cardinals, then Regional Bishops, Bishops, and Priests.

Such reforms did not cause much of a stir. The kingdoms were still immersed in strife, with mutual conflicts intensifying daily. Because of the unified faith, the disputes between lords could not be unscrupulous; they had to occupy the moral high ground of faith.

Simply put, in the wars between different kingdoms under the feudal system, most excuses for war within the faith were based on inheritance rights and conflicting claims.

Unprovoked forceful attacks would be met with collective attacks from surrounding lords.

Three months later, a scholar named Ace became an advisor to the Saintess Pope Natasha III. Natasha III seemed to trust him deeply, which caused some dissatisfaction among high-ranking clergy.

Following Scholar Ace’s suggestion, Natasha III established the Heresy Inquisition Tribunal and the Heresy Inquisition Knights directly under it, selecting true righteous men and King-Chosen Warriors to join.

Six months later, the Heresy Inquisition Tribunal announced three criteria for heresy.

First, failure to keep precepts and faith; second, belief in false gods; third, blasphemy against the True God.

Anyone who violated these three rules would be excommunicated by the church.

Humans expelled from the church by excommunicated could be legally plundered of everything by anyone—their property seized, their wives and daughters taken.

If it was a lord, other lords could use excommunication as an excuse to attack and seize his territory.

This declaration was published in July, thus it was called the “July Declaration.”

Even within the church, there were many doubts and dissatisfaction regarding this declaration. Natasha III suppressed dissidents within the church with a tough attitude and iron-fisted means.

The Heresy Inquisition Knights directly arrested dissidents within the church, announced that they had violated the first rule—failure to observe precepts and faith—and sent them to the stake.

In the following months, the kingdoms expressed a cautious attitude towards this, without directly voicing any opinions. In April of the following year, a prince of a kingdom successfully usurped power and seized the throne, only to be declared excommunicated by the church.

One month after the excommunication order was issued, three surrounding countries successively responded to the order, besieged the country, supported a legitimate heir to inherit the kingdom, and demanded territory from the new king as reward.

From this moment on, the power of the church’s excommunication order began to show. In the following three years, with the excommunication order in one hand and the Knights in the other, the church gradually established supreme authority. Priests went deep into every market town, leading believers in worship and prayer, and the atmosphere of faith grew stronger day by day.

The lords and nobles were at a disadvantage in their wrestling with the church. Some lords took risks and gathered desperadoes to assassinate the Grand Inquisitor of the Heresy Inquisition Tribunal, Ace, and the Saintess Pope Natasha III.

Eventually, Ace died from his injuries, and the Pope escaped with serious injuries. After that, the church reacted violently to this. A large number of Inquisition Knights were dispatched to be stationed in various human kingdoms to investigate the masterminds behind the scenes.

Finally, a new tradition was formed. The Heresy Inquisition Knights obtained territories gifted by lords in every human kingdom, becoming states within states, and the power of the church surged.

Ace watched all these changes with satisfaction. No one dared to openly believe in ancestor Heroes or spirits as deities anymore. All believers prayed and repented weekly under the leadership of church priests. Divinity related to Dream and Manifestation Divine Authorities had already appeared within the Divine Clone.

Another twenty years passed in the Pocket World, inside the Divine Kingdom.

Ace’s Divine Clone used the Divine Fire of desire to calcine the faith of believers, sorting out the condensed Divinity bit by bit. The dreamlike Divinity, seeming both void and real, was constantly condensing.

“Finally.. i waited until this day,” Ace’s eyes were a bit blurry. This large mass of Dream Divinity was so charming, so brilliant and varied.

“But, it’s still a little short. If it doesn’t become a Divine Authority for a day, I can’t communicate with the Pocket World rules and manifest Level 2 Runes!”

The cowlick on Ace’s head swayed, and with a poof, it turned into a chubby doll sitting on Ace’s head, nodding incessantly and saying:

“This entire small world is a degraded imitation of the Main World, containing a very complete degradation of rules. There are signs of artificial creation, but these artificial signs are already very dim. It seems the person who created this small world back then has forgotten this place.”

Listening to the Spirit of the Book, Ace continued, “Since the field is barren and abandoned, and we helped weed and fertilize it, it is reasonable to harvest some crops.”

Ace had not been idle for more than twenty years. After advancing to Level 2 Life, the level of his perception and observation had significantly improved, although he could not analyze the mysteries contained in many of the Spirit of the Book’s abilities.

But he could have the Spirit of the Book degrade its abilities to observe the Level 2 Runes within. Based on the Level 2 Runes such as Deconstruction of the Unknown, Reality Piercing, Material Identification, and Spell Deduction analyzed from the Spirit of the Book’s abilities, Ace created the 3-Ring Spell: Eye of Truth (Pseudo).

Activating this Spell could greatly strengthen the understanding and deconstruction of the internal structure of Runes and deduce their possible uses. This Spell was also applicable to Wonders with a Mystery Level no higher than Level 3.

Ace activated the 3-Ring Spell “Eye of Truth (Pseudo).” His eyes were densely covered with layers of Rune deconstruction, appearing deep and mysterious. It was a pair of eyes that people dared not look directly at, and also a pair of eyes that made people want to flee.

Under the gaze of these eyes, existences below Level 3 Life had no secrets. In the Pocket World, all Divine Authorities had no secrets from Ace either. As long as there was enough time, the secrets within could be analyzed.

After the Divine Clone condensed the last trace of Dream Divinity, he nodded and said to Ace:

“The weight of Divinity is sufficient. What we lack is a catalyst. I will issue an oracle ordering humans all over the world to hold sacrificial rites. Humans are the protagonists of this small world and are favored by the world. By virtue of their sacrificial rites, they will inevitably trigger the Human Tribal Qi, which will then interact with the World Origin, obtaining the Dream Divine Authority!”

The next day, the Saintess Pope Natasha III, who had already stepped into old age, saw that majestic and huge figure in her dream and listened to the ravings of God.

The whispers lasted for nearly a week. Almost all the high-level church officials above the rank of Purple-Robed Cardinal dreamed of that majestic figure. They jointly convened the Supreme Joint Meeting of the Church and announced the oracle!

“Hold the Dream Sacrificial Rite!”

(End of this chapter)

Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com