Chapter 156: The Breaking of Balance

The celebration banquet concluded in a warm and uplifting atmosphere. Afterward, Link sought out those who had not made an appearance, offering them individual words of praise and recognition.

Those individuals had not skipped the banquet out of arrogance, but rather because they harbored no interest in fame and fortune and felt unaccustomed to such fervent atmospheres. They were nonetheless deeply pleased and moved by Link’s commendation, as it signaled that their deeds had been truly acknowledged.

Not everyone felt the same way, however. At the very least, Mercury Lamp felt little joy upon receiving Link’s praise; her heart was filled solely with shame and self-reproach, and her eyes welled with tears.

"I am sorry, Father. I had originally intended to defeat that intruder, but in the end, I nearly lost my life. If Miss Asmita had not arrived in time, I probably would never have seen you again—Father, am I truly so useless?"

How could Link ever say yes? He hurriedly set about comforting his precious daughter. He had learned of Mercury Lamp’s solo attempt to block the enemy early on. Upon discovering that she had actually held her own for a while against Billy, a peak seventh-tier powerhouse, he had been both immensely astonished and left with lingering fear. Fortunately, Mercury Lamp had emerged unharmed; otherwise, he would have had no idea how to explain himself to "the child's mother"—a figure whom he certainly could not afford to provoke.

Moreover, Link genuinely adored Mercury Lamp and wished her no harm. When he first learned of the incident, he had indeed felt a touch of anger, but the moment he saw her pitiful, self-reproachful expression, his anger completely vanished.

Such a fine child—who could ever bear to blame her? After all, the only reason Mercury Lamp had rushed off to intercept the enemy was to win his praise and bring him a little joy.

After a round of comforting and gentle persuasion, Link finally managed to soothe Mercury Lamp. Yet, as adorable as she was, she shared Alya's stubborn streak. Although she had been calmed, she declared that she would henceforth train diligently, and should she ever encounter a similar situation again, she would never disappoint Link.

Though Mercury Lamp was a doll, she possessed her own unique method of cultivation. Before she came to the mortal realm, Alice had imparted those secret arts to her. Through persistent practice, she would be able to slowly elevate her strength. Thus, Link was not surprised by her desire to grow stronger, nor did he offer any grand advice other than telling her not to overexert herself. If she encountered an enemy far superior to her in strength, she should never push her limits; instead, she should either retreat immediately or join forces with others. In short, being unable to defeat an opponent was entirely acceptable, but being unable to defeat them while stubbornly holding her ground was strictly forbidden.

The good girl Mercury Lamp firmly etched every word of Link's advice into her memory, which at last taught her lacking common sense how to preserve her own life.

Speaking of combat prowess, the battle records of the two Gold Saints genuinely astounded him. Initially, Link had assumed that the two Gold Saints would need to unite with other experts within the church to defeat the Billy brothers. He had never imagined that they would each eliminate a Billy brother in single combat, and both had emerged without a single injury.

It must be known that although the Gold Saints were formidable, the two of them were still far from reaching their peak, having only just begun to harness their full potential. Saga had just awakened the Seventh Sense, and his cultivation was still at the early seventh-tier. Yet, amplified by the Gold Cloth, the power of his golden combat techniques bordered on the eighth-tier, possessing the special effect of shattering stars. This made it impossible even for the bald-headed Libi to withstand his full-strength strike, ultimately reducing the enemy to dust.

Asmita’s cultivation was even more extraordinary. Strictly speaking, she had not yet awakened the Seventh Sense, having merely touched the threshold of it. However, her congenital blindness made her other senses exceptionally acute, and coupled with her possession of the Elemental Saint Body, her Sixth Sense was vastly superior to that of ordinary Saints. Yet, this was not the primary reason she had instantly slain Billy. The true cause lay in the special effects bestowed by the Virgo Gold Cloth, which allowed her to continuously accumulate her Cosmos while meditating in seated Zen, and then unleash it all at once during battle, momentarily expanding her Cosmos to the intensity of the Seventh Sense.

A seventh-tier Cosmos, combined with the mental-assault gold technique "Six Paths of Samsara," was the reason Asmita had managed to secure an instantaneous victory over Billy. She had grown quite exhausted following the outburst, which was why she had returned to the Chamber of Meditation without a wasted word to resume her Zen practice.

Therefore, in terms of raw cultivation, Asmita was actually slightly weaker than the current Saga; it was merely the unique nature of Virgo that made her aura and air of mystery appear even more profound.

Naturally, when it came to growth potential and future prospects, Asmita and Saga were virtually on par. The Gold Cloths produced by the system made no distinction in strength, as all twelve Gold Cloths belonged to the same tier. Moreover, after the system used divine power to reshape their physical bodies, both of their potentials had been maximized, leaving neither with any inherent advantage. How their ultimate achievements would pan out would still depend entirely on their own acquired efforts.

With the commendations successfully concluded, Link turned his attention to his intense and bustling post-war duties. Although the war had ended, Link's workload had only increased. A myriad of varied problems left him feeling overwhelmed, to the point where he wished he could split himself in two.

Even with everyone exerting themselves, Link still felt a shortage of manpower. He now fully understood why entrepreneurs on Earth treated their female employees like men, their male employees like dogs, and themselves like robots; when things got truly busy, it left one without even a shred of time to rest.

Fortunately, the Father God Church’s feat of obliterating the Berserker God Temple in a mere month had sent shocks of awe and wariness through the other churches, leaving no one eager to jump out and pick a fight, which saved Link a great deal of trouble. Before long, news of the Gold Saints spread far and wide, making people even less daring to provoke the Father God Church. After all, within the Red Moon Province, a church openly possessing seventh-tier powerhouses undoubtedly belonged to the very pinnacle of the power pyramid.

Come to think of it, the recent behavior of the several major churches was somewhat peculiar. Upon learning that the Berserker God Temple had been wiped out and that the War God Church had merged into the Father God Church, they did not react like the small and medium-sized churches, which panicked and either openly or covertly condemned the bloody actions of the Father God Church. Instead, they maintained a heavy silence, as if observing something.

Anyone with intelligence could see that the major churches were waiting for Count Lothar’s reaction. With such a massive event having occurred, Count Lothar should not have remained entirely inactive, even if he was a devout believer of the Father God.

Yet, after waiting for a period, apart from issuing a verbal "reprimand" regarding the methods of the Father God Church, Count Lothar took no practical action. He continued business as usual, and even his covert supply lines of support sent secretly to the Father God Church never ceased—though Count Lothar’s assistance to the Father God Church was cleverly concealed, it had still been discovered by a few discerning individuals.

Faced with this situation, the major churches could no longer sit still. Since the official authorities refused to interfere with the overbearing actions of the Father God Church, the so-called rules were declared null and void. Even if they emulated the Father God Church and took action, the authorities would have no grounds to intervene, because the primary culprit, the Father God Church, was still thriving. To deal with them, one first had to resolve the Father God Church to make any logical sense. Consequently, the major churches launched successive moves, beginning to annex surrounding churches through both soft and hard tactics. The turbulent religious era of the Red Moon Province thus officially began.

In an instant, blood stained the religious circles of the Red Moon Province. With official restraints lifted, the religious sphere, which had enjoyed "peace" for many years, cast off all pretenses. Waving banners of vengeance and the purification of heretics, various factions began to eradicate rival churches and devour their neighbors. Small churches trembled in fear, never knowing if they would be swallowed by neighboring wolves and tigers by the next day. Medium and large churches attacked and slandered one another in attempts mutual assimilation, while the five major churches began to crush other factions with absolute strength. Powers that they had previously kept hidden now began to surface, the most typical example being that the five major churches, much like the Father God Church, brought forth at least one seventh-tier powerhouse as their public face.

This caused a massive uproar among countless people. Many who had been slow to realize the truth finally understood that when the major churches previously claimed to possess only sixth or even fifth-tier powerhouses, it had merely been a facade to deceive the public—or to put the authorities at ease. Given their foundations, which were far deeper than those of the Starry Kingdom, how could they possibly possess so little strength? It was simply unexpected that seventh-tier powerhouses were among them. This showed that while seventh-tier powerhouses were rare, they were not quite as capable of single-handedly sweeping through the entire Red Moon Province as people had imagined.

The successive maneuvers of the major churches struck terror into the hearts of the small and medium-sized churches within the Red Moon Province. Many factions lost nearly all will to resist; unlike the Father God Church, they lacked seventh-tier powerhouses presiding over them. Facing major churches equipped with seventh-tier experts, how could they possibly be matches? Furthermore, having absorbed the Berserker God Temple and the War God Church, the strength of the Father God Church was now second only to the five churches that possessed Supreme Pontiffs. It would hardly come as a surprise if Link were to self-proclaim himself Pontiff at any moment.

In truth, Link deeply desired the title of Pontiff. This was not merely a matter of prestige; it represented the true hallmark of the Father God Church officially becoming a major church, capable of attracting even more talented individuals who were currently standing on the sidelines and watching. Moreover, Count Lothar had already dropped hints that if Link wished to become Pontiff, he could do so at any time.

Yet, despite its vast power, the Father God Church was currently not stable enough; it was like a tower built in the air. The other major churches with Pontiffs were still observing the situation. If he were to self-proclaim himself Pontiff right now, it would very likely provoke the wrath of the other major churches and invite a joint siege. Even with the Father God Church brimming with experts, it would still struggle to withstand a coordinated assault from multiple major churches.

Therefore, Link had to wait. In six months at most, once he had digested and stabilized his current territories, he would declare himself Pontiff. By that time, even if the major churches joined forces, he would have nothing to fear.

The religious conflict in the Red Moon Province acted like a fuse, beginning to spread to other provinces. In just a single month, churches in numerous other provinces began annexing one another. Although some regional governments enacted measures to intervene, they proved powerless to stem the overarching trend. With official authorities weakened and the kingdom preoccupied with its own survival, the disruption of the balance within the religious world and the onset of a new round of expansion had become an inevitable historical momentum that no one could block. Aside from a few provinces governed by powerful lords and the imperial center, the religious spheres everywhere else plunged into a bloody storm.

As the instigator of the tempest, the Father God Church had, through over a month of strenuous effort, gradually digested its newly conquered territories. Over seventy percent of the churches and monasteries now had resident personnel stationed within them; a brand-new batch of Paladins and Apocalypse Knights had completed their training; the nursing homes and orphanages were sheltering vast numbers of people; and the student recruitment work for the First Academy of Divine Grace had also concluded, with the inaugural cohort of six hundred students poised to step into the halls of talent cultivation.