"Ascension to godhood? He is a Sixteen-winged Fallen Angel, is he not already a god?"
"Wang Lan, you are unaware of something. A god isn't truly a god until they've acquired divine authority and mastery over divine laws. Currently, Lucifer possesses divine power, but he's not yet a true god. He cannot decree laws with his words, control the natural order of heaven and earth, or manipulate the changing of seasons. Nor can he destroy or create worlds with a single utterance."
"A god can destroy worlds with a single word?" Wang Lan asked, shocked.
"Certainly. For instance, the Mother of the Earth, Gaia, can initiate earthquakes and volcanic eruptions with just a thought. The Sea Emperor can summon the seas to flood the land, and the god of weather can make it deep winter all year round. This is divine authority. Although Lucifer can shatter the earth and cause quakes with his fist, he cannot command the heavens and the earth."
"Then we must prevent Lucifer from finding the location of Heaven all the more."
BOOM—
A loud explosion suddenly erupted, shaking the entire divine domain intensely. Wang Lan vanished the moment the explosion occurred. When he reappeared in the void, he saw a silhouette disappearing into a vortex.
"Lucifer!" Wang Lan roared furiously, throwing a punch towards the fading figure in the sky, rippling the void with severe distortions. A few black feathers fell from the sky, disappearing without a trace upon reaching the ground.
"Wang Lan, did you see someone?" Yulia reacted slower than Wang Lan; by the time she emerged, Lucifer had already vanished.
"It was Lucifer," Wang Lan said gravely.
"Lucifer! What is he doing in the Holy Territory? Or... has he been hiding in the Holy Territory all along, and only left because the Archbishop of Thunder was brought to justice?"
"I don't know…"
"Wang Lan, Yulia, come quickly."
The Pope's voice rang out, originating from the second palace within the Holy Territory. In a flash, the two appeared in the sky above the Bishop of Mercy's palace. The palace itself had now vanished.
Apart from a dozen or so remaining stone columns that told Wang Lan a splendid palace had once stood here, everything else was gone.
In the center of where the palace had been, a pool of glaring bloodstains lay like rose petals on a jade plate.
Wang Lan and Yulia descended from the sky. The scene before them caused their pupils to shrink violently. A feeling of rage surged from the depths of their hearts, rushing to their minds.
The Bishop of Charity knelt on the ground, hands joined in prayer, but her chest was torn open, a horrific penetrating wound where her heart should have been.
"Lucifer, you bastard—I will tear you into a thousand pieces—" A Cardinal Bishop's forehead throbbed with veins, his voice a furious roar through gritted teeth.
"Why did Lucifer kill the Bishop of Charity?" Wang Lan's voice sounded, capturing the attention of all the Bishops present.
"God's Country is the main sanctuary of the Heaven God Sect," the new Archbishop of Light spoke quietly. "Lucifer, as a traitor to Heaven, has always been our enemy. Is it really surprising that he would kill one of us?"
"But why the Bishop of Charity? And why arrange her body as if in prayer?"
"Wang Lan," Yulia suddenly pulled on Wang Lan's sleeve. "Our cultivation techniques in the Heaven God Sect are inherited from the Ancient Heavenly God Sect, and they differ somewhat from those of ordinary Star Martial Warriors. In addition to cultivating Star Palaces, we also condense Spirit Essence in our hearts."
"The Spirit Essence shares the same properties as the Star Palace and is the source of our sacred Star Power. The light attribute is very rare. However, there is plenty in God's Country, mainly because for most of us, the light attribute isn't awakened innately but developed through later cultivation."
"It seems Lucifer is already planning to wage direct war against God's Country. Today he killed the Bishop of Charity; perhaps we will be next," another Cardinal Bishop said with a worried expression.
"What's there to fear? If he dares to come, we fight him to the death!"
"Fight? How do we fight? The Bishop of Charity was killed by him, and our Holy Star Palace Array now has a gap. With Lucifer's strength, our chances of victory are not great."
"Have no fear," Wang Lan's voice rose. "Lady Hou Tu has passed down a technique to me, one capable of slaying Lucifer. If Lucifer appears before me, he is as good as dead. It's just that Lucifer is too cunning and slippery to face me directly."
Upon hearing Wang Lan's words, surprise and delight replaced the worried expressions on the faces of the Cardinal Bishops. "That's excellent! All Twelve Bishops will be on call twenty-four hours a day. Should Lucifer dare to come again, we'll risk our lives to stop him. Although we might not be his match, we're confident we can hold him off."
Lucifer's successful ambush of the Bishop of Charity was mainly due to the Holy Territory's lack of vigilance. No one had expected Lucifer to dare infiltrate the Holy Territory and carry out such a dishonorable ambush.
Previously, Lucifer maintained the dignity befitting a god. Even though he was arrogant and an enemy to the entire world, he always descended with the bearing of a hero, openly declaring war on humanity. Even when humans launched nuclear missiles at him, he could have dodged but chose to take them head-on.
But now, perhaps as a result of becoming a Fallen Angel, Lucifer had completely discarded his dignity. As a deity, he stooped to ambushing a mortal. This was undoubtedly a disgrace to all gods.
「The night passed peacefully.」
Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu got up and washed.
"Good morning." Yulia, who had probably been up for quite a while, walked towards them from a corner of the garden.
"Good morning. You went to bed so late last night; how did you get up so early?" Jiang Xinyu replied with a smile.
"Don't you know that Star Martial Warriors don't need to sleep?" Yulia asked with a look of surprise.
Jiang Xinyu's face stiffened, and she turned her head to give Wang Lan a sidelong glance.
Star Martial Warriors do need sleep. However, as their Star Martial Art levels rise, their need for sleep gradually diminishes. By the time they reach the Star Sea Realm, they can practically sustain themselves with Star Power. Star Martial Warriors of the Star Sea Realm seldom choose to sleep; they use that time to refine their Star Power instead.
But Wang Lan seemed to never need to polish his Star Power, as he would make sure to sleep every night. Ever since she started accompanying Wang Lan, they would exercise and then go to sleep every night. Gradually, Jiang Xinyu had even forgotten that those in the Star Sea Realm didn't need to rest at all.
"Seeing how good your relationship is, when are you two getting married?"
"That… we haven't planned it yet. Probably in another year or two."
"Really? When you do get married, how about I become Xinyu's bridesmaid?"
"The Saintess of God's Country as my bridesmaid? I'd probably be the most prestigious bride in the whole world then. Has anyone in history ever had such an honor?"
"It's not about status. We're friends, aren't we?"
"Of course! It's a deal then. You better not stand me up when the time comes."
While they were talking, a streak of light suddenly flew swiftly towards the Palace of the Saintess. Wang Lan looked up as the light quickly descended, revealing the figure of the Judgement Bishop.
"Saintess, Wang Lan, something terrible has happened! The Archbishop of Thunder is dead."
"Who? The Archbishop of Thunder? Wasn't he rescued by Lucifer? How could he have died?"
"He was found in a hotel on the outskirts of the city."
"Let's go and take a look," Wang Lan said quickly.
The Judgement Bishop immediately led the way, and the four of them cut through the sky towards their destination. As they descended, they saw the area around the hotel had already been cleared by Holy Knights.
"My lords, this way, please."
Wang Lan followed the Judgement Bishop into the hotel. The Pope and several Cardinal Bishops had already arrived and were standing silently in the room. A pungent smell of blood still lingered in the air. The Archbishop of Thunder was kneeling naked in the room; though only one hand remained, it was stubbornly fixed in a praying gesture.
His chest bore a horrific penetrating wound, and his heart had long vanished.
"Just like how the Bishop of Charity died. Is this Lucifer's doing?"
"But why would Lucifer kill the Archbishop of Thunder? If killing the Bishop of Charity was his way of declaring war on us, then why kill the Archbishop of Thunder? Hadn't the Archbishop of Thunder already offered his soul to Lucifer?"
Wang Lan moved closer to the Archbishop of Thunder. The Archbishop knelt with his head tilted back, eyes wide open, his facial expression frozen in the complex state it held before death.
"Looking at it this way, Lucifer didn't kill the Bishop of Charity to eliminate dissenters or declare war on God's Country," Wang Lan straightened up and spoke slowly. "Look at the expression on the Archbishop of Thunder's face. There isn't the slightest hint of fear or anger from being killed. His face is filled with excitement."
"To still be excited after having your heart torn out? Either he's a madman, or it satisfied his goals. I remember the Archbishop of Thunder saying he had offered his soul to Lucifer; even in death, his soul would follow Lucifer. To him, death was not the end."
"Are you saying that Lucifer needed the Archbishop of Thunder's heart, and that the Archbishop of Thunder's heart, like the Bishop of Charity's, is useful to Lucifer?" Yulia asked quickly.
"I'm afraid it's not just the hearts of these two Bishops, but those of all the Cardinal Bishops. This is bad. We need to gather all the Cardinal Bishops immediately—Lucifer intends to take them down one by one!" Wang Lan commanded urgently.
The Pope immediately took out his phone and sent orders to the other Bishops.
Soon, the rest of the Bishops arrived. None had been attacked by Lucifer, much to Wang Lan's relief.
Not one was missing.
"From now on, no Cardinal Bishop is allowed to act alone or move more than one kilometer away from me. Otherwise, if Lucifer tries to assassinate you, I won't be able to stop him in time."
Wang Lan's commands were as authoritative as the Pope's, and with their lives at stake, none of the Bishops objected.
Afterwards, the group left the hotel and returned to the Holy Territory, activating the Array of Holy Light to operate around the clock. Two Cardinal Bishops had already had their hearts removed. No one knew who the next target might be.
That day, Wang Lan's nerves were stretched taut. Lucifer had endured a strike from Lady Hou Tu, but Wang Lan hadn't seen what became of him. However, from Lady Hou Tu's implications, it seemed Lucifer was seriously injured. It was unknown whether his cultivation realm had fallen or not.
「Another day passed without incident.」
The next morning, the first thing Wang Lan did was to check if all the Bishops in their respective palaces were safe. After confirming that no one had been attacked, Wang Lan let out a long sigh of relief.
「Close to noon,」 Yulia suddenly rushed in from outside. Seeing Yulia's distressed state, Wang Lan's heart immediately tightened.
It can't be, can it? Don't tell me a Bishop was really attacked by Lucifer?
"I just received news from Rosch Country. Yesterday afternoon, the State Preceptor of Rosch Country, a Star Soul Realm expert, was attacked by a mysterious assailant. According to eyewitness descriptions, the attacker was likely Lucifer."
"The battle between the two grew more intense as they moved further away. Rosch Country quickly organized elite warriors to provide reinforcement. However, by the time they found the State Preceptor, he was already dead. His body was posed in a state of prayer, his heart removed."
"Was that State Preceptor also practicing the cultivation techniques of God's Country?" Wang Lan asked urgently.
"No! He was like most Star Martial Warriors."
"This is strange. What exactly is Lucifer trying to do? His target isn't just God's Country. Does he intend to kill all human experts through assassination? He doesn't dare to come after me, so he picks off the weaker ones instead? Does he have no shame?"
Jiang Xinyu looked at Wang Lan oddly; perhaps he was the only one who dared to call a Star Soul Realm expert a weakling.
