Salving stood about ten li ahead of the Ancient Evil Ox, his brow furrowed, his face utterly obscured by a sheath of Holy Light. He held a persistent feeling that Gu Yechen must be someone he knew, yet his memory stubbornly refused to yield anyone matching Gu Yechen’s build, demeanor, or voice.

Gu Yechen watched Salving’s confused expression, unable to restrain a booming laugh. “Your Majesty Salving? You were quite fortunate when Davirmus was destroyed!”

Salving flinched violently, shouting fiercely, “Who are you?”

Shaking his head, Gu Yechen offered no answer. Instead, he flicked his longsword, scattering a great swath of silver starlight, the tip aimed coldly at Salving. “The situation in your domain is dire, yet you still choose to wade into this mess? Those dark creatures have already established camps on your soil, and your people groan under their grasp. And here you are, leading the Star Alliance Coalition to persecute the ‘devout followers’ of ‘My Lord’ upon ‘My Lord’s’ territory. Is this the conduct of a competent Emperor?”

With a cold snort, Salving glanced back at the high-ranking officials from the various six-star civilizations standing behind him. Except for the annihilated Polaris Empire, the royalty of the other twenty-five six-star civilizations had dispatched elite forces. Nearly a hundred peak experts at the Planetary level restored Salving’s confidence.

He said coldly, “Once we eliminate you, the Coalition will clear out those invading dark creatures from our Viking Empire.”

As he spoke, Salving’s head lifted high. Full of assurance, he stared at Gu Yechen and suddenly commanded sharply, “Let us strike together!”

Four members of the Viking Imperial family, each possessing the early-stage power of a Celestial Immortal (Tian Xian), followed closely behind Salving, lunging toward Gu Yechen. Five streaks of jade-green sword light shot out, trailing hundred-zhang-long arcs of radiance.

Gu Yechen held his longsword across his chest, uttering a low, solemn exhortation: “For the glory of My Lord!”

Accompanying his cry, a massive influx of pure Yang energy surged from the Sun Profound Pearl (Tai Yang Xuan Zhu) into his Seed of Sacred Power. With a sharp chime, tens of thousands of light spears, thick as a man’s arm and a hundred meters long, erupted from the massive silver cross suspended behind him. These spears, trailing a sky full of silver light-rain, charged towards the five green sword beams. The spears descended like rain, their momentum like crashing thunder and lightning. As soon as the beams met the spears, they vibrated violently. Thousands of light spears were shattered by the sword beams, yet the beams themselves were tossed off course, like small boats in a tempest by the onslaught of the spears.

The dense stream of silver light flowed forward like the surging tide of the Qiantang River, becoming a magnificent torrent. The five green sword beams writhed and struggled within the silver flow, their brilliance gradually smothered.

Salving and the others felt a violent tremor as their sword lights were ensnared by the spears, their own bodies subjected to the backlash. Before they could recall their swords or summon other artifacts, the light spears descended like a deluge. The energy of each spear alone equaled the full power of a peak Void Realm (Xu Jing) cultivator. For a Celestial Immortal, enduring a hundred or eighty such blows might be manageable. But the sheer number and density were overwhelming; hundreds of spears slammed into them every second. Salving and the others could not withstand it!

The four clansmen behind Salving were the first to suffer. Possessing only early-stage Celestial Immortal cultivation—and those barely having crossed the threshold—their strength was perhaps only ten to twenty times greater than a peak Void Realm cultivator. Under the bombardment of thousands of light spears, and lacking protective magical artifacts, their physical bodies endured the assault until their immortal energy was instantly drained. What followed was skin torn from flesh and bone cracked, sending them spiraling backward, blood jetting from their seven orifices.

Following this, Gu Yechen let out a cold snort, and the frequency of the light spear emission suddenly increased tenfold, while their size increased threefold. The piercing power increased by at least ten times.

Now even Salving struggled to hold on. He managed to summon a small, pale-blue bowl, about the size of his fist, which released a gentle wave of water to shield him. But Gu Yechen saw through it instantly. This bowl was meant to hold pure water (Yi Qi Qing Shui)—an auxiliary artifact used by ancient immortals for cultivating spiritual teas and herbs. Salving using such an auxiliary item for defense was akin to draping two banana leaves over his head as a roof.

With a slight shift of thought, a wisp of Yin energy (Tai Yin Zhi Qi) escaped. The pure water released by the small bowl instantly disintegrated with a loud splash, spraying into countless droplets. Dozens of light spears, as thick as thighs, consecutively struck Salving’s chest. Salving let out a scream; his ribs caved inward by a full three cun in a perfect line. He spat out a mouthful of blood that traveled over ten li, then covered his chest and fled. Salving’s cultivation technique was unremarkable, but his art of escape was astonishingly fast. Before Gu Yechen’s follow-up attacks could land, Salving had already bolted far away.

Witnessing Gu Yechen’s overwhelming might, the high-ranking officials from the various six-star civilizations exchanged glances, simultaneously cried out, and turned to flee. To fight Gu Yechen to the death? They had no such inclination!

Three Death Star Ships materialized out of thin air behind the retreating officials, and hundreds of White Wing-class warships ghosted into existence. All vessels had finished charging and immediately launched their full-power attacks on Gu Yechen. Hundreds of blinding black beams tore through the air, instantly shattering the light spears Gu Yechen had unleashed.

Gu Yechen’s eyes narrowed as he formulated a new plan. Suddenly, he sensed an overwhelmingly powerful light force surging aggressively through the void toward him. He flapped the wings on his back, narrowly evading the devastating bombardment from the Death Star Ships. Grasping his longsword hilt with both hands, he slashed fiercely forward. A high-pitched battle cry, accompanied by mental waves spreading out from Gu Yechen, swept across the space spanning hundreds of thousands of li: Glory, loyalty, sacrifice—under my sword, all heretics shall face the final judgment!

With that single cut, a magnificent, colossal silver barrier, a thousand meters long, shot forth from the blade, clashing head-on with the beams fired by the main cannons of the three Death Star Ships. The combined attack power of the three ships was equivalent to the combined strike of three early-stage Celestial Immortals. Gu Yechen’s sword strike was only just strong enough to match an early-stage Celestial Immortal. Consequently, the silver barrier shattered, and the black beams, still retaining momentum, struck Gu Yechen hard.

With a tremendous explosion, just as the rapidly approaching Hatan Ruin rushed forward, the silver armor covering Gu Yechen was blasted to tatters. He coughed up great gulps of blood and was sent flying backward hundreds of li by the blow. Not only was his armor pulverized, but a large patch of flesh on his chest was blown away, and several ribs showed signs of comminuted fracture.

Gu Yechen’s Profound Yellow Indestructible Body (Xuan Huang Bu Mie Ti) technique had reached the peak level of a Celestial Immortal. For a strike from a Golden Immortal (Jin Xian) to inflict such damage—even a small fraction of one—indicated how much vital energy he would need to expend just to mend the damage that was already inflicted upon him. He utilized the Haotian Pagoda’s assistance to reverse the flow of true energy within his body, causing the collision and annihilation of the Yin and Yang energies, which resulted in this terrifying wound. If one observed closely, the wound on his chest was clearly an outward-blasting injury, not an inward collapse from an external strike.

However, Gu Yechen’s reaction was swift. After injuring himself, he gripped the sword hilt tightly and slammed it hard against his chest, instantly driving the mass of mangled flesh and bone inward, forcing the wound to collapse into his chest cavity. Only then did the injury resemble what one would expect from a heavy artillery blast.

Hatan Ruin stared with wide, horrified eyes. He glanced swiftly at the three Death Star Ships and muttered in a low voice, “What terrifying weapons! Their full-power strike is even stronger than my own!”

He beat his wings hard behind him, and Hatan Ruin shot forward, reaching Gu Yechen in an instant. He grabbed Gu Yechen, then folded his body, transforming into a silver meteor that plummeted toward the surface of Paradise Star. Hatan Ruin’s flight speed was near that of light, yet it was silent. As he pierced the atmosphere of Paradise Star, he did not even create a sonic boom. He carried Gu Yechen to a hilltop, rapidly shrunk his form, and hovered quietly before the injured figure.

Gu Yechen coughed up blood continuously. He closed his eyes, feigning unconsciousness, while mumbling under his breath, “Brothers, destroy those damnable heretics!”

Hatan Ruin nodded with satisfaction. He carefully analyzed the aura emanating from Gu Yechen: indeed, it was an unusually pure and concentrated Holy Power, an aggregate of extremely refined Light energy. It was sacred and majestic, brimming with vitality, life force, and terrifying heat—the purest Holy Power Hatan Ruin had encountered in hundreds of thousands of years.

He extended a finger, and a beam of silver light bathed Gu Yechen. The wound on his chest began to heal rapidly. Hatan Ruin turned and looked around, nodding repeatedly with growing satisfaction. Within his sight, there were at least three hundred churches, large and small, scattered across a thousand li. The silver crosses atop them emitted a faint radiance, warding off the surrounding darkness. Hatan Ruin had good vision; he discerned details on the churches—the marks on the wall bricks and the creeping moss indicated that these structures held considerable history.

Blinking, Hatan Ruin shot faint silver light from his eyes toward the surrounding void. To his anger and regret, he saw vast amounts of pale-golden power of faith (Xin Yang Zhi Li) diffusing through the air. However, this power merely swirled aimlessly in the void before gradually ascending high into the sky, where the celestial winds scattered it into nothingness.

From within those churches, large quantities of the power of faith were also emanating. Judging by both the quantity and quality of this power, it was quite substantial. Based on Hatan Ruin’s years of experience absorbing the power of faith, each church contained about a thousand fanatical believers to generate such pure and concentrated energy.

Taking a surprised, deep breath, Hatan Ruin cursed under his breath, “Damn it, Morphe and Hammer are dead, and the faith power contributed by their followers isn't being collected. What a waste! So many fanatics—a precious treasure!” He licked his lips and then muttered, “Good. This planet is now my direct territory. I like this place, I like it very much!”

Clicking his tongue, two peculiar silver talismans flashed in Hatan Ruin’s eyes. He stuck out his tongue and licked his lips fiercely, then mumbled something unintelligible, “Excellent. This is a backup of Morphe’s mental fluctuations. This language is interesting. Hmm, to communicate with the believers, it is best to use their tongue; it fosters better affinity.”

“Uh.” Gu Yechen’s body suddenly moved. He opened his eyes slightly, looking somewhat bewilderedly at Hatan Ruin floating before him.

Hatan Ruin made no attempt to conceal his admiration. He gazed gently at Gu Yechen, considering what rank to assign him in his Legion of Seraphim (Li Shi Jun Tuan).

Gu Yechen stared dazedly at Hatan Ruin. After a long pause, he asked weakly, “Am I dead? Is this Heaven? Are you the angel who has come to greet me, sir?”

Hatan Ruin shook his head. He spoke with majesty, “No, child, you are not dead. I arrived in time to save you. Losing a believer like you would be a painful loss. I am Hatan Ruin, the Ninth Seraph (Di Jiu Li Tian Shi). I have been commanded to come here to investigate certain matters and punish those who deserve it.”

“The Ninth Seraph Hatan Ruin?” Gu Yechen frowned, his voice turning cold. “I apologize, sir, I do not know your name!”

Hatan Ruin nodded with increasing appreciation. He displayed a rare, gentle smile. “Yes, you do not know my name. But others can fake their words, not the source of my power. Feel my power, child!” A brilliant silver light spread from Hatan Ruin’s chest, enveloping Gu Yechen entirely.

If Holy Light was a pool of scalding hot water, then the silver Holy Power possessed by Hatan Ruin was a sharp blade compressed from that hot water—more scorching, more severe, and containing far more power of Light. But regardless of how Hatan Ruin’s Holy Power manifested, its source was identical to the Holy Power within Gu Yechen.

Gu Yechen jumped up with delight, holding his longsword, and executed a perfect knight’s salute toward Hatan Ruin. “Honorable Sir, I apologize for my earlier impoliteness—”

Hatan Ruin was about to express his magnanimity when he suddenly sensed a wave of faith power emanating from Gu Yechen—a power that filled him with utter awe.

Vast, pure, and inexhaustible, like a river in high flood, the power of faith surged into Hatan Ruin’s body. In Hatan Ruin’s vision, this power shone with the brilliant luster of molten gold—so intensely hot, so vibrant, so utterly pristine. The intensity of the faith power radiating from Gu Yechen was comparable to the power supplied by a hundred thousand fanatical believers!

The Seraphim judged their believers by the intensity and purity of their faith power. Gu Yechen’s offering was flawless in both aspects. If the faith power of a fanatic was a gold bar mixed with significant impurities, Gu Yechen’s was a mountain of gold with a purity of nine nines. Absorbing the power flowing from Gu Yechen, Hatan Ruin felt that his own power, stagnant for tens of thousands of years, had experienced the slightest stir of growth!

Without the slightest hesitation, Hatan Ruin slapped his palm onto Gu Yechen’s shoulder and roared, “Tenth Seraph! I am creating a Vice Legion Commander position—are you willing to take the role?”

Gu Yechen stared at Hatan Ruin in utter bewilderment. What was wrong with this fellow? Offering such a high position upon first meeting? He had merely converted his mental power using Mohe’s mental force transformation method to mimic the faith power emitted by those believers, refined and purified it with the Haotian Pagoda, and actively projected it into Hatan Ruin. And in return, he was offered a Vice Legion Commander role? However, Gu Yechen reacted instantly. He immediately dropped to one knee and shouted, “I obey your command, Lord Hatan Ruin!”

Hatan Ruin laughed heartily. Sensing the endless stream of faith power pouring from Gu Yechen into his own body, his mood instantly elevated.

For someone at Hatan Ruin’s level, advancement required either receiving an immense volume of faith power from a large number of believers, or obtaining faith power of superior quality, allowing a quantitative change to trigger a qualitative one, or a qualitative change to trigger quantitative growth. Ordinary faith power held little significance for him anymore.

Despite his status, he possessed a sizable domain with nearly a hundred billion believers across a dozen planets providing faith power. However, roughly thirty percent of what he absorbed had to be surrendered to their Progenitor. The remaining seventy percent was insufficient to promote his further evolution. Developing new faith territories inevitably led to territorial conflicts with other clansmen—a strictly forbidden action under Angelic race regulations.

Unable to acquire more faith power in quantity, he had to focus on quality. The faith power Gu Yechen provided, though minuscule relative to Hatan Ruin’s total power, carried the significance of a single silver atom replacing an iron atom within a massive steel mountain. Though small, it was a fundamental change.

After absorbing Gu Yechen’s faith power for only a short time, Hatan Ruin perceived this subtle, miraculous change occurring in his own power. To his immense joy, he discovered that the Holy Power that had undergone this change now possessed the exact same energetic attributes as the energy of a higher-tier Upper Angel! Hatan Ruin’s cultivation, stagnant for tens of thousands of years, suddenly saw the dawn of brilliance!

At this moment, Gu Yechen sat in Hatan Ruin’s mind like the rarest treasure. He resolved immediately to secure Gu Yechen’s absolute loyalty! Only veteran angels like him understood the value of a high-level believer; Gu Yechen’s current use to Hatan Ruin was comparable to an immortal pill for a Qi Refining cultivator.

Just as he was contemplating how to make Gu Yechen utterly devoted to him as his sole believer, a sudden gust of wind swept in from the side. Peng Hua, flapping two fleshy wings, trailed a faint white light as he hurtled toward them. The corpse and evil auras that once shrouded Peng Hua had vanished completely. Now, he was enveloped by an aura of Holy Power—weak, perhaps, but undeniably pure! Still far from Hatan Ruin, Peng Hua shouted loudly, “Chief Adjudicator, what happened to you?”

Hatan Ruin looked at Peng Hua in surprise. Sensing the pure Holy Power aura on him, he nodded with satisfaction.

“Oh? I didn’t expect this faith territory to be a multi-species habitation? Very good, this is excellent. Different species provide faith power with subtle variances, which will better stimulate the evolution of my power. This is much better than my own faith wasteland, which only has a single species of believer.”

While Hatan Ruin was rejoicing over Peng Hua’s appearance, Peng Hua suddenly crashed onto the ground about a hundred meters from him. He slammed his knees heavily onto the mountain rock, using the momentum of his dive to slide forward, prostrating himself all the way to Hatan Ruin. Peng Hua’s bones were solid; his legs carved two deep grooves into the ground, and he skidded forward through sparks and smoke until he reached Hatan Ruin, ecstatically throwing his arms around Hatan Ruin’s legs.

“Heavens, am I dreaming? Looking at your refined bearing, your magnanimous demeanor, your authoritative presence, your awe-inspiring aura—you, you are—”

Hatan Ruin looked at Peng Hua, this strangely zealous young man, wondering if he too was a fanatic.

Nodding vigorously, Hatan Ruin stated gravely, “I am Hatan Ruin, the Ninth Seraph, commanded to lead the Ninth Seraph Legion here to investigate certain matters.”

Peng Hua’s face contorted exaggeratedly. Then, tears of blood streamed down his face. Under Hatan Ruin’s shocked gaze, Peng Hua wiped the bloody tears onto Hatan Ruin’s pristine white robe. He wailed loudly, “Lord Hatan Ruin, you must bring justice for us! Wuwuwu, we have suffered so much; we have been hoping for your salvation!”

Hatan Ruin was shaking with excitement, his face twisted in shock.

A powerful wave of faith power erupted from Peng Hua’s body, transforming into a golden torrent that rushed into Hatan Ruin. Although this faith power was not as pure as Gu Yechen’s—lacking a slight edge in refinement—its quantity was at least ten times greater than Gu Yechen’s! Peng Hua alone was equivalent to the faith power provided by at least a million ordinary fanatics!

Hatan Ruin felt an indescribable comfort course through him. Being immersed in such a potent wave of faith power at such close range felt like a monkey soaking in a hot spring on a snowy day. Every pore opened, and every cell floated in ecstasy, completely forgetting whether they were in heaven or on earth.

Even though Hatanluyin governed a Holy Land boasting over ten billion followers, after hundreds of thousands of years of meticulous cultivation, the number of zealots among those billions barely reached ten million. Peng Hua alone provided a surge of faith power equivalent to what one-tenth of Hatanluyin’s entire Holy Land’s zealots could supply!

Devout followers, so devout—how could they be this devoted?

Hatanluyin’s hands hung awkwardly; he could sense the immense power that Peng Hua possessed, a strength unlike any his previous followers had offered.

The more powerful the individual, the greater the faith power they could yield; this was a known theorem among all members of the Angel race. Yet, how many Heavenly Immortal-level masters did Hatanluyin have in his own Holy Land? Not a single one. The natives of Hatanluyin’s domain were a race unsuited for cultivation, their spiritual strength notably frail.

Gazing upon the kneeling figures of Gu Xichen and Peng Hua before him, Hatanluyin was so overwhelmed with emotion he nearly wept.

The presence of these two formidable individuals proved that their lineage possessed the potential for cultivation. They could grow ever stronger, thus providing Hatanluyin with more, purer faith power. Hatanluyin even resolved that if the twelve Archangels who accompanied him dared to foolishly contest him for dominion over this Holy Land’s faith, he wouldn’t hesitate to petition for a faith arena battle within the Angel race—a true contest for ownership of this realm.

Just as Hatanluyin considered, with a mix of excitement and anxiety, how to manage the immediate situation, Banruo and the Mohe brothers shot forward like twin beams of light.

Like Peng Hua, Banruo and Mohe also rushed toward Hatanluyin with intense excitement. Two torrents of faith power, each carrying a faint trace of extra-territorial energy, surged into Hatanluyin’s body like a raging tide. Because of that minuscule trace of external energy, the brothers’ faith power stimulated Hatanluyin’s original essence more than a hundredfold. Hatanluyin immediately perceived that a small portion of his core essence had completely evolved, transforming entirely into a higher-tier Holy Power.

Hatanluyin’s eyes turned crimson. This was such a fertile Holy Land! Morphe, the one who previously managed this place, must have been a damned fool. He possessed such an excellent source of faith and yet allowed himself to be killed! Before his demise, he was only a weak Archangel; he truly disgraced the Angel race!

But, wait—Hatanluyin suddenly recalled the might of the three Death Star Dreadnoughts he had sensed earlier. If the Death Star Dreadnoughts were the ones responsible, then Morphe being killed was entirely logical!

Hatanluyin’s expression darkened as he pointed toward the pitch-black sky—due to the excessive concentration of Star Alliance warships, no natural light had been visible on Heaven Star for a long time.

“What is the meaning of this? Why have those heretics above surrounded this place?”

Gu Xichen bowed deeply to Hatanluyin, his voice low as he spoke, “Honorable Lord Hatanluyin, please listen to the suffering of your believers!”

“Bah-bah-bah-bah,” a string of words poured from Gu Xichen’s mouth. This narrative was one they had all synchronized beforehand, drafted by senior scribes from the Earth Federation’s propaganda department as a standard text. Everyone had memorized this standard text; every detail corresponded perfectly, without the slightest flaw. In Gu Xichen’s recounting, the believers of Heaven Star and the Thirteen Connected Stars had formed a massive colonial fleet, venturing in all directions to proclaim the glory of the Heavenly Lord across the universe. They encountered a collective of civilizations called the Star Alliance. The colonial fleet began preaching the Heavenly Lord’s doctrine there, developing new followers.

Hatanluyin nodded repeatedly, approvingly. “Well done! When you possess strength, you must guide more lost lambs back into the embrace of the Progenitor. Continue.”

The initial movements of the colonial fleet were successful. At first, the fleet only made contact with lower-tier civilizations, such as one-star, two-star, or at most, three-star existences. With the power of the Church of Light, they easily subdued these civilizations. They used the sword to teach the native inhabitants of those planets obedience, and they used the Holy Scripture to instill faith, thereby inducting those ignorant natives into the great family of the Church.

Clapping his hands forcefully, Hatanluyin exclaimed loudly in admiration, “Exactly right! Those benighted wretches must be taught a harsh lesson! Chop off the heads of the obstinate with the sword, and teach them true faith with the scriptures. Go on, I am very interested in your experiences.”

Hatanluyin’s eyes darted around rapidly. In Gu Xichen’s account just now, he casually mentioned conquering a dozen planets here and subjugating a hundred planets there. He began pondering the sheer size of the territory controlled by this Star Alliance. Hatanluyin himself was considered a mid-level leader within the Angel race, yet his domain only spanned a dozen or so planets yielding faith. The planets Gu Xichen had just mentioned numbered at least four thousand.

Four thousand faith-yielding planets? Hatanluyin licked his lips repeatedly in excitement. Marvelous! Not even the highest-ranking Seraphim in the Angel race commanded such an extensive number of Holy Lands.

As proselytization deepened, the colonial fleet gradually encountered the Star Alliance’s higher-tier civilizations. The initial preaching went smoothly. Although these advanced civilizations possessed their own faiths—some four-star and five-star civilizations worshipped various nature deities, such as gods of thunder, wind, or rain—through the efforts of the preaching army, a portion of these civilizations also came to believe in the Heavenly Lord.

Nodding deeply, Hatanluyin sneered dismissively, “Nature deities? What are those weak nature spirits? I have personally slain no fewer than one hundred thousand nature spirits! Before the edge of our swords, the feeble nature spirits had only two choices: submission or death. You have done splendidly. Stealing believers from those nature spirits aligns perfectly with my wishes.”

Gu Xichen sighed, just as he was about to continue his narrative, when Daoist Little Zhang and Daoist Zhengyi, along with a contingent of disciples from the Nine Nether Dao, Kunlun Dao Sect, and Zhongnan lineage, rushed over. They were clad either in Holy Light Armor or the robes of priests, each person wreathed in an undeniable Holy Light. Following another chaotic display, dozens of new, potent streams of faith power surged into Hatanluyin’s body. Of course, the cultivation levels of Daoist Little Zhang and the others were far below those of Gu Xichen and the others; their faith power was neither as strong nor as pure, but it was still enough to rival the faith power provided by several hundred to a few thousand ordinary zealots.

Hatanluyin’s mouth began to twitch. He decided: if those twelve Archangels who followed him dared to contest him for this Holy Land—perhaps by secretly violating a tribal decree and eliminating all twelve of them—it shouldn't cause much trouble, as there was already someone to take the blame here, right?

Gu Xichen was unaware of Hatanluyin’s petty scheming and resumed recounting their “miserable experiences.”

Everything had progressed wonderfully. The four-star civilizations generally possessed one administrative planet each, while the five-star civilizations controlled anywhere from a dozen to several hundred administrative planets. The Star Alliance comprised hundreds of thousands of four-star and five-star civilizations.

At this point, Hatanluyin sharply interrupted Gu Xichen, his eyes blazing like those of a starving cat spotting prey, his voice sharp with alarm, “What did you say? They possess... hundreds of thousands of civilizations? And each civilization possesses dozens to hundreds of administrative planets?”

Gu Xichen shot a stern look at Banruo. Banruo immediately pulled a storage card and a data reader from his pocket. These contained the data Gu Xichen had previously compiled on the Star Alliance. On the light screen, information about the Star Alliance civilizations flashed rapidly. Hatanluyin stared fixedly at the screen, murmuring in a low voice, “Keep talking!”

Suddenly, Hatanluyin looked up toward the sky, let out a strange laugh, and then returned his attention to the light screen.

During the proselytization of the Star Alliance’s four-star and five-star civilizations, complications arose. Because the strength of the Church of Light was comparatively weak, although the process was relatively smooth, even minor setbacks caused significant losses to the Church’s core personnel. After dozens of small disturbances, the Church managed to establish a stable diocese within the Star Alliance—a jurisdiction covering seventeen star fields and tens of thousands of planets—but the priests sent for evangelism had suffered nearly total attrition.

To proclaim the Lord’s glory, His Majesty Gu Yu Ru, the current Pope of the Church, drew upon the core strength of the Church, dispatching it all to the newly established diocese.

Hatanluyin quickly browsed the Star Alliance data while nodding. “Correct. A new diocese requires strong military force for suppression; that is my experience.”

The Church dispatched over ninety percent of its Knights and priests to the new diocese. However, before they could familiarize themselves with the local conditions, disaster struck.

The six-star civilizations of the Star Alliance launched a coordinated attack on the diocese. They deployed massive armies to ruthlessly slaughter the believers. The Church’s missionaries could not stand idly by while defenseless believers were massacred. Thus, under the call of the current Pope, the Church’s army launched a counter-offensive against the Star Alliance’s six-star civilizations and succeeded in utterly annihilating one of them—the Polaris Empire! Annihilated, not merely defeated or routed, but completely destroyed! Hundreds of star fields, hundreds of thousands of administrative planets, and countless citizens of the entire nation were slain!

“Well done!” Hatanluyin roared with astonished applause, praising, “Well done! That is precisely how it must be done! Failure to become our followers is a capital offense; the fact that they dared to slay our believers means they deserved even more to be killed! Um, what happened next? Since you managed to eliminate a six-star civilization!”

Gu Xichen lowered his head, his face etched with sorrow. He spoke in a low voice, “The puppet masters behind the Star Alliance intervened! A powerful organization called the Elder Council appeared! We were absolutely no match for them! Twenty billion troops of the Church were annihilated; only a scant few survivors managed to escape with spoils of war. All the weapons we currently use were taken from them.”

Banruo appropriately inserted another storage card into the reader, and the data Gu Xichen had organized concerning the Star Alliance rapidly appeared before Hatanluyin.

Hatanluyin’s expression grew grim, especially when the scene of the descendants of the Elder Council transforming appeared on the light screen; his expression became particularly ferocious. He muttered to himself, “This will be a protracted war, an unprecedented, massive conflict! But victory will surely belong to us!”

Clenching his fist tightly, Hatanluyin sneered softly, “This war begins here.”

The light screen flickered, and the image of the three-headed colossal demon dragon, Mo Tuo Longgen, appeared. Hatanluyin’s face grew even more solemn as he stared at Mo Tuo Longgen on the screen, coldly saying, “An original existence of this sort! The Progenitor will be very pleased. This trapped creature will become the Progenitor’s finest sacrifice. Oh, once the Progenitor merges with its power, the Progenitor will surpass everything.”

The sound of beating wings echoed from the sky as twelve Archangels, their forms shrunken to near-human size, floated down languidly. Even from a distance, one Archangel called out with a smile, “Lord Hatanluyin, is this the devout believer? Hmm, with your personal intervention, he is indeed safe. My heavens…”

The twelve Archangels gasped simultaneously, their eyes fixed on Hatanluyin! As high-ranking angels of the same race, Hatanluyin’s transformation was impossible to conceal from them—dozens of streams of dazzling, golden faith power were continuously pouring into Hatanluyin’s body. In both quality and quantity, it was astonishing! Such a massive flow of faith power was being supplied by a mere handful of individuals!

The Archangels ground their teeth in envy. Why had they slowed their pace earlier? Why hadn't they kept pace with Hatanluyin? Heavens, such excellent believers were actually subdued by Hatanluyin!

After glancing at Gu Xichen and the others with mingled shock and envy, the Archangels looked around their surroundings, and their eyes nearly leaped from their sockets. The air was thick with such rich faith power! So many colorful cathedrals, so many zealots—this was truly a luscious piece of faith territory!

After Gu Xichen led his group in saluting the twelve Archangels, he continued recounting the full sequence of events.

Hatanluyin watched with satisfaction as the faith power of Gu Xichen and the others continued to flow steadfastly toward him, showing no tendency to drift toward the Archangels. He smiled contentedly.

Ever since the Elder Council appeared, the Star Alliance’s combat power had increased exponentially. The Church army was pushed back in continuous retreat, and their newly established diocese was completely destroyed. All believers and non-believers within the jurisdiction were massacred. The remaining missionaries of the Church fled back to Heaven Star, and the Elder Council’s fleet pursued them.

At this point, Gu Xichen straightened his chest and declared in a low, powerful voice, “As the Grand Inquisitor of the Church, I was commanded by the Pope to remain on Heaven Star to resist the heretics’ attack!”

Pointing toward the sky, Gu Xichen smiled bitterly, “If not for the true descent of you Lords, Heaven Star might not have lasted more than a few days.”

Hatanluyin spoke in a low tone, “Very good. Now that we are here, those heretics will receive the most severe punishment. Gentlemen, I believe a small-scale Final Judgment would be an excellent idea. Only a Final Judgment can cleanse their dirty, defiled, and degenerate souls and save them from the rule of these evil beings!”

He stabbed forcefully at the light screen with his finger, Hatanluyin’s icy gaze sweeping across the twelve Archangels.