"Yulia, you were actually released from the Raw Jade? No wonder you're from the Golden Clan!" Jiang Xinyu exclaimed in astonishment.
"Raw Jade can reduce a person's metabolic rate to its lowest point. Back then, when King Jiangshan was on the brink of death, he sealed himself inside Raw Jade, and his state of death immediately ceased. Six hundred years later, he was unsealed to live another life. Yulia might very well be the last bloodline of the Golden Clan, sealed in Raw Jade a very, very long time ago. Moreover, she shares an extremely close relationship with the Heaven God Sect. Perhaps you might indeed be the true savior."
"What does that string of numbers represent?" the Pope interjected.
"This... I'm afraid no one knows for the time being. This string of numbers appears chaotic, yet the previous Pope discovered the legendary Papacy, found the Genesis Bible, and located Yulia, seemingly guided by something. This guidance, not by coincidence, arrived at that specific time. I suspect it was a certain trigger."
At this, the Pope's expression suddenly changed. "The Genesis Bible! Why would the Genesis Bible left by the previous Pope be fake? He clearly found the Genesis Bible and successfully summoned Heaven with it!"
"That only suggests one thing: the fake Genesis Bible was made by the previous Pope himself, and the real one was hidden by him. The only place he could have hidden the real Genesis Bible..."
Wang Lan's gaze once again fell on that diary page.
This speculation wasn't unfounded. The legendary church had appeared, yet the previous Pope kept its existence a closely guarded secret. Why? The current Papacy was built by successors. Although it resembles the legendary church, it's not the original. Finding the original church and the Genesis Bible, announcing his legitimacy, inheriting the traditions of the Ancient Heavenly God Sectโanyone in his position would have publicized these achievements, promoted them extensively, and moved the Papacy into the legendary church. But the previous Pope didn't. He chose to conceal it. Why? He must have discovered some secrets. And now, with a fake Genesis Bible placed in the current Papacy, where could the real one be hidden? Wang Lan could only think of that legendary church.
"Let's go search for this legendary church. Perhaps the previous Pope left us some clues," Wang Lan suggested.
The four immediately set off, secretly following the route recorded in the diary. They soon arrived at the location where the previous Pope had discovered the spatial rift.
The Rhine River had once been contaminated by industry. However, through the efforts of several generations, it had been restored to its former clear, green state. Moreover, God's Country strictly forbade anyone to bathe in the Rhine River or even touch its waters.
But where there's a policy, there's a workaround. The Holy River bathhouses drew water from the Rhine River for bathing, using pumps to extract the Holy Water, thereby not violating the Papacy's tenets.
At this moment, the banks of the Rhine River were covered in a riot of colorful flowers. The tender green grass, watered by the river, looked especially vibrant.
However, the spatial rift recorded in the previous Pope's diary was nowhere to be found. This didn't deter Wang Lan. His tightly closed eyes snapped open, his pupils instantly turning blood-red. Within them, a black pinwheel spun slowly.
Under the Divine Might Kaleidoscope, not even the slightest spatial fluctuation could escape his notice.
"As expected!" Wang Lan used his Divine Might to bend space. The collision of two spaces created a distortion, and in the void, golden runes flickered in and out of existence.
"This is a Sealing Divine Skill!" the Pope exclaimed, quickly channeling Star Power and forming hand seals. Although his strength was far less than his predecessor's, the essential skills a Pope must master were not to be taken lightly.
As the Pope formed the seals, the runes in the void began to react to his guidance.
"Only now do I understand! The previous Pope had me observe a series of hand seals without explaining anything, just telling me to memorize the sequence. Now I realize those seals were the password for the Sealing Divine Skill he cast!" the Pope explained as he unraveled his predecessor's Sealing Divine Skill.
When the last part of the Sealing Divine Skill was lifted, the Different Dimensional Space suddenly burst open. Blinding Divine Light of Brightness spilled out from the rift, illuminating the world before them.
Wang Lan glanced at the other three. "Old rules. I'll go in first. If there's danger, I'll retreat immediately. If I don't come out, then you follow."
With those words, Wang Lan's form drifted up and slowly entered the spatial rift. After a few seconds, when Wang Lan didn't reappear, the others followed him into the rift one by one.
Once inside, what they saw shocked them as never before. It wasn't that this legendary church was so incredibly grand, but that the entire structure glowed with light.
In the distance, the space was pitch black, like a deep, starry sky. Before Wang Lan's group lay a straight flight of steps. At the top stood a palace, identical in style to the fourteen palaces in the Holy Territory, only larger.
But that wasn't the main issue. The real question was: how was this constructed?
Below their feet was the void. The entire legendary church seemed to be built within the infinite cosmos.
How could this be possible?
However, the four of them were accustomed to great wonders and possessed the mental fortitude to withstand this sight. They stepped onto the staircase and moved quickly, arriving at the first palace in the blink of an eye.
There were no traps or trials. They all easily passed through the first palace to the second, then continued along the steps until they reached the fourteenth palace: the Pope's Palace.
The Divine Light of Brightness within the Pope's Palace was even more brilliant than elsewhere. The four arrived at its center, where fragments of the Raw Jade still lay. Looking at them, Yulia felt as if she were witnessing the moment she broke free.
It felt a bit strange, making Yulia feel as though she had been hatched from an egg.
"The Genesis Bible!" The Pope's face lit up with joy as he looked at the Genesis Bible on the table. He rushed towards it and reached out to take it.
A dazzling Divine Light of Brightness flared, and a powerful shockwave instantly struck him. The Pope felt his entire body tremble as the immense force flung him away.
"AHHโ"
The Pope rolled dozens of meters before stopping. He stood up as if nothing was wrong, awkwardly patting non-existent dust off his clothes.
"I'm fine. The Genesis Bible merely rejected me; it didn't harm me." The Pope approached the Genesis Bible again and piously clasped his hands in prayer.
Wang Lan couldn't understand the exact words of the prayer, but the gist seemed to be that he, as the current Pope and rightful leader of the Heaven God Sect, was fully qualified to possess the Genesis Bible.
After completing the prayer, the Pope tentatively reached out his hand again.
THWACK!
This time, the Pope wasn't blasted away completely, but his hand was sharply deflected. Clearly, the Genesis Bible wasn't convinced.
Wang Lan said, "I've heard that divine artifacts have spirits and can only be obtained by those destined for them. Since Yulia was born from the Raw Jade, and the Genesis Bible was found with her, Yulia, you should try."
"But Yulia is the Saintess, not the Pope. The Genesis Bible is meant to be wielded by the Pope," the Pope said, sounding aggrieved. "The Saintess wields the Holy Grail; even without being in the Star Soul Realm, she can achieve Star Soul Realm-level power with it."
This is a divine artifact, after all. Who wouldn't want it?
Since the Mythical Era, tradition held that the Saintess wielded the Holy Grail and the Pope wielded the Genesis Bible. But after the Genesis Bible was lost, the Pope couldn't seize control of the Holy Grail from the Saintess. Instead, it became a shared responsibility.
Before the previous Pope passed away, he completely entrusted control of the Holy Grail to the Saintess, leaving the Genesis Bible solely to the current Pope. But that Genesis Bible was a fake! Now the real Genesis Bible is right in front of me, and it doesn't even acknowledge me. Am I such a failure as a Pope?
Then, an even more mortifying scene for the Pope unfolded. Yulia reached out and effortlessly touched the Genesis Bible. It immediately radiated a blinding Divine Light of Brightness before transforming into a stream of light that shot into Yulia's forehead between her brows.
Why didn't you resist at all? Not only did it not resist, it practically threw itself at her! The Pope watched, his eyes turning red with envy.
With a gentle gesture from Yulia, the Genesis Bible reappeared in her hands. She opened it; it was identical to the one kept in the Papacy's collection.
Wang Lan had browsed through the Genesis Bible during his visit to the Papacy. It chronicled the birth of God and other significant events from the Mythical Era.
The latter part of the Genesis Bible was known as The Book of Revelation. Legend said it contained prophecies, detailing every major event across the three realms since the dawn of creation.
Events like mass extinctions, the great flood and Noah's Ark, and so on. But Wang Lan never believed in such prophecies. They could very well have been added by later editors. Even if the Genesis Bible was a legendary artifact passed down from the Mythical Era, its contents might not be prophecies but records. Perhaps when an event occurred that was significant enough to be noted, the Bible automatically recorded it. Later, people might discover these records and, assuming the Bible was ancient, declare them prophecies.
On the last page of the Genesis Bible, however, was a set of numbersโthe same ones inscribed on the gold plate beside it.
RUMBLE!
Suddenly, the Pope's Palace began to shake violently. The expressions of Wang Lan and the others changed drastically as they hurriedly darted out of the palace.
The Pope's Palace continued to tremble. It wasn't just the palace; the entire legendary Papacy was quaking.
As the tremors continued, cracks started to appear on the columns of the Pope's Palace. Chunks of stone fell, kicking up clouds of dust.
"This is bad! The Papacy is collapsing! We need to leave quickly!" Wang Lan shouted.
Before Wang Lan could even finish his words, he grabbed Jiang Xinyu and dashed towards the exit. The Pope and Yulia didn't dare hesitate and quickly followed.
The shaking of the Papacy grew more violent. The fourteen palaces began to collapse one after another. Fortunately, the four of them had high Cultivation Levels and moved swiftly. The steps behind them broke off section by section, tumbling into the endless abyss.
Before all the steps shattered, Wang Lan and his group reached the exit. Without a moment's hesitation, they burst out of the Different Dimensional Space.
They looked back at the exit. It was twisting violently and, after a few seconds, collapsed completely with a BANG.
No wonder there's a saying: if you run fast enough, danger can't catch up to you. The Different Dimensional Space had suddenly disintegrated, yet the four of them had managed to escape. How fortunate!
