Above The Sky
Chapter 477 - 477 447 The Spirit of God Above the Earth 23

477: Chapter 447: The Spirit of God Above the Earth (2/3) 477: Chapter 447: The Spirit of God Above the Earth (2/3) “Hello, new church member; my name is Ian, and you can call me a guide, a frontrunner, or an alchemist, whichever you prefer,”

The white-haired youth, having removed his helmet, nodded with a smile to the slightly wide-eyed mountain villager, who blinked and responded with a goofy grin, “My name is Pansha…

successor to the Elder of the Avod Tribe.

Since you know my grandfather, I won’t say more.”

Ian turned his head to look at the Elven Scholar and the Purple Maple Knight who had already been restrained, “Anfa, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“The appearance of the Purple Maple is my fault; it is a disagreement within our Canaan Moore Elves.”

Anfa paid Ian a gesture of gratitude, which Ian returned, then asked, “What do we do next?

Kill her, or…

do you take her back?”

“She still has value—and the Purple Maple is smart, isn’t she?

She chose to leave right from the start,” Anfa hesitated slightly but insisted, “In consideration of her not attacking you, could you spare her life?”

Ian looked with interest at the Elven Knight restrained by Anfa.

He, of course, knew that the Purple Maple had no interest in him from the start; she was primarily here to track down information related to Anfa.

Or, rather, she had matters to discuss with Anfa.

For this reason, she didn’t mind taking the blame for the Magnetic Light Knight; after all, she could just return to Canaan Moore and never come to South Ridge again.

But the blame couldn’t be too great.

So, upon realizing that her own strength far exceeded her expectations, the Purple Maple left cleanly, without muddying the waters.

It was a smart choice, and it saved her life.

Moreover, she also got her wish—to meet Anfa, albeit perhaps not in the way she hoped, but the outcome was the same.

“It’s up to you.

You captured her,”

Ian lifted his head, put his helmet back on, and said indifferently, “Thanks for your help, otherwise the Magnetic Light by himself could have put me in a tough fight, and two of them…

I would have had to flee all the way, revealing the power of the Dragon Blood organ in front of others.”

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked toward the site of the previous battle.

Anfa and Pansha followed behind Ian, as the youth explained to them, “Indeed, the power of the Magnetic Light is strong, but he underestimated the explosive force of my Dragonization organ.”

“He probably wanted to employ a special technique to enhance his own strength and defeat me in one fell swoop, but I saw through his weakness and turned it around, using my Dragonization organ to take him down.”

That was the official statement, and both of them listened in silence.

As for whether it was true or not, they did not care.

Moreover, what Ian said was consistent with the aftermath of the battle they had seen previously—there was nothing to question.

It was at this moment that Ian suddenly changed the subject.

“By the way, Anfa.”

The youth turned his head slightly and asked softly, “The Dragon Worship Cult…

does it really have a god?”

In an instant, both Anfa and Pansha simultaneously looked up at Ian, one with a look of astonishment and one full of confusion.

A thought crossed his mind, and red inscriptions wrapped around the Purple Maple Knight’s head flickered, sealing off her hearing, then he slowly asked, “Why do you suddenly ask…

this question?”

“Because Magnetic Light just mentioned the topic,” Ian replied without hesitation, passing the buck to the dead man, “Pleading for divine power…

After he said that, his strength suddenly increased, but that also created weaknesses, giving me the chance for a fatal strike.”

“I think, with so many religious factions in this world, having gods is quite normal, right?

So, does our Dragon Worship Cult have one?”

Ian’s tone carried genuine puzzlement, clearly disturbed by Magnetic Light’s statement.

Anfa was silent for a moment, his eyebrows slightly creased as if pondering something.

“Do you know about the Worm Nest?” The Elven Scholar suddenly mentioned another topic, and Ian, who had almost become the overlord of the Seeker Swarm, smiled and took over, “I’ve heard of it…

It is said that the alien insects in the Canaan Moore Forests are a type of Worm Nest life.”

“From what I know, it is a powerful eusocial life form community.”

“Hmm,” Anfa’s brows relaxed, and he explained, “That’s right.

Some individually intelligent members of the alien insects call the queen of their nest ‘god’.”

“And the Crystal Dragons of the Abyssal Sea also refer to their Dragon King as the ‘Primordial God’.”

“Furthermore, the successive Khans of the Azure Sky Royal Court are considered gods who walk the Human Realm by some Demihuman tribes…

the Fiery Flame Land also has a similar tradition, the Fiery Flame Kings claim to be descendants of the gods, with divine essence in their blood.”

“The Empire is no exception; your emperors always proclaim themselves to be the Sun or the Dual Moons, representatives of the celestial light.”

Dressed as a scholar, the elegant Elven Scholar, Anfa, detailed to Ian the definitions of ‘god’ on the Terra Continent atop the hills of the Golden Plains, answering the youth’s questions as thoroughly as possible, like a teacher lecturing in a classroom.

“In summary,”

Finally, Anfa concluded, “Kings of the Fifth Energy Level, in those remote and primitive areas, are sufficient to be worshiped as ‘Gods’.

If we must put it that way, then the Dragon Worship Cult once had ‘Gods’.”

The information revealed in that statement was considerable, causing Ian to nod and listen attentively.

The Elves also paid attention to Ian’s expression, slowly saying, “But the only forces that can truly endow divine powers are the Four Great Orthodox Churches…

Apart from the Four Great Orthodox Churches, no other power can completely master this force.”

Anfa turned his head to look at the quietly listening white-haired youth, and he advised, “Of course, just on the surface, our ignorance does not mean non-existence—understand that different civilizations, different cultures, and regions have different definitions of God and divine powers.”

“For instance, in the City of Knowledge, the act of imparting knowledge itself is no different from bestowing divine power, equally sacred and inviolable—similarly, in some regions, high-grade Bloodline True Forms can also be considered a legacy of divine power.”

“But if the Magnetic Light Knights were truly granted some kind of immediate power, some kind of Divine Arts, it means they are members of some mysterious sect—followers of false gods, seekers of evil power.”

Anfa stressed, “In the eyes of the Four Great Orthodox Churches, their existence is even more ‘evil’ than us followers of the Dragon Worship Cult.”

“If that’s the case, your killing him might even be considered a significant deed.”

After all, ultimately, the existence of Ancient Dragons has nothing to do with evil or good since they never need humans’ faith or worship; their power stems from blood or from the knowledge derived from their study.

This is the difference.

“So that’s it…” Ian nodded slowly, though he did not receive a definitive answer, Anfa’s response indeed resolved many of his doubts and revealed deeper secrets of the Terra Continent to him.

Gods…

or rather, false gods, actually do exist.

The youth still remembered what Teacher Hiliad had said to him before passing away.

The existence of the Silver Chip would bring various strong enemies to him.

—Monarchs of the land, envoys of deities in the human realm, generals of great armies, rulers of this world.

There were certainly many Monarchs, he had seen Generals, and now this envoy of a deity…

“Interesting.”

He mused inwardly, “No wonder these guys have some secret connection; are they members of the same sect, perhaps?”

“Just don’t know what kind of sect it is, and who their leader and their ‘God’ are.”

Ian wasn’t worried that killing the Night Snake and the Magnetic Light Knight would make the mysterious sect do anything to him.

In the end, they were a hidden sect lurking in the darkness, a force that needed to keep a low profile, not even comparable to the Dragon Worship Cult.

After all, if the Dragon Worship Cult wished to recruit people, they would actually have many willing to join—Ancient Dragons’ blood, with the power to shake heaven and earth and affect nature, was much more straightforward than some elusive deity.

As for the Four Great Orthodox Churches…

Ian thought of the White Mist Bishop who could use multiple kinds of Spirit Energy, and the Spiritual Tool Church clergy capable of passing on their memories.

They were practically with God, having no need to be granted any divine power.

At this moment, they had also arrived where Ian and the Magnetic Light Knight had previously battled.

Next to the stone forest, traces of battle were everywhere—cuts from Magnetic Sand, the sweep of storms, acidic erosion, toxic vapor… Even the Plains Stone Trees with bark tough as armor were billowing black smoke under the blaze of flames, not to mention the ground covered with ice and streaming water, which made the wind blowing from a distance carry a biting chill.

And right at the center of this battlefield, a charred, humanoid figure, hardly distinguishable in detail, lay silently on the ground.

“I’m sorry, both of you,”

Ian turned his head looking apologetically, “I might need to ask for your help to clean up the traces of the battlefield—I’ll pay you, using alchemical potions as compensation!”

“We should naturally help each other,” Anfa said, maintaining his usual serious tone, while Pansha’s eyes widened looking at the battle scars, mostly catalyzed by Alchemical Potions.

He swallowed and slapped his chest enthusiastically, promising, “Guaranteed no traces left—but what about this corpse?”

“It doesn’t have to be completely traceless; leaving a bit behind is fine,”

After thinking it over, Ian nodded and said, “As for the corpse, collect it later; I’ll throw it into the Nine Spirals Abyss.”

“I’m sure the magical beasts there will take care of all issues.”

The night over the Golden Plains was still long.

Meanwhile, far away in the Imperial Capital, a figure opened their eyes.