Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After subjugating Brown’s soul using the Soul Tampering Technique, not only did Yang Ling’s Soul Energy increase drastically, he also successfully obtained his memories, gaining knowledge of a few of the secrets within the Church.

The Church had massive influence. Other than the Bishops in the hierarchy, there were also organizations such as the Pope’s Judgement Court, Ascetics and Guardian Knights. The Templar was the most mysterious area and had the most strength, and were split into the Outer Templars and the Inner Templars. Over the millennia, they had always been independent from the main quarters of the Church. Even the Pope himself could not directly command the powerful fighters within the Templar. The Outer Templars were responsible for the communication between the Templar and the main quarters of the Church, as well as dealing with a few troublesome matters from the Pope; The powerful fighters from the Inner Templar would only show their faces if there was something the Outer Templars could not deal with.

The members of the Outer Templar all had abilities at least at Domain Expert, or they had talent and abilities far greater than that of an average person’s in a specialized field. However, if compared to the powerful fighters in the Inner Templar, their abilities were basically night and day apart. According to Brown’s memories, every fighter in the Inner Templar had abilities at least at the peak of Domain Expert. Every one of them could demolish a territory or duchy, their abilities terrifying.

An ordinary Inner Templar already had alarming abilities, while the Nine Great Elders of the Inner Templar had abilities far beyond the imagination of an average person. Some of them had trained for thousands upon thousands of years at the peak of Domain Expert, while some others had long stepped into divine-level. According to Brown’s memories, these Nine Great Elders is the main reason as to how the Church could continue to stand tall over the millennia, holding their own against major factions such as the Sect of the Fire God and the Golden Lion family.

“Divine-level Templars, it looks like we have indeed encountered grave trouble this time around!” After understanding the true strength of the Church, Yang Ling shook his head bitterly.

According to Brown’s memories, these people had already relayed the news of this mission back to the Church and had exaggerated how powerful and hateful Elder Brent and himself was by fabricating some details. If Yang Ling’s guess was right, the powerful fighters from the Inner Templar of the Church would soon come knocking on his door.

Elder Brent was extremely powerful, having stepped into divine-level over eight thousand years ago. However, after being trapped in the Burning Fire Restriction for thousands of years, he had already exhausted most of his Divine Power. How would he be able to deal with the Church in the future if they set a few Divine-level Experts to kill him?

Do I ask for help from the God of Swords of the Bellimore family, or the teacher of Elder Faern, the God of Fire?

After deliberating it for a moment, Yang Ling shook his head in frustration, tossing out this impractical thought. Even though he had a good relationship with Casia and Elder Faern, how could he ask the ancient ancestors of their family to help him deal with the influential Church?

Power determines everything!

After understanding how serious the situation is, Yang Ling looked coldly at the corpses of Brown and Odombra, then quickly left with his men, prepared to discuss the situation with Elder Brent to see if he had any good ideas.

Even though the speed of his cultivation was fast, it was clearly impossible for him to face off against a Divine-level Expert within a short span of time. Even though he could tame a large number of Magical Beasts, he would not be able to deal with the Divine-level Experts of the Church no matter how many Magical Beasts he had at his disposal, unless they were Divine-level Magical Beasts.

If even Elder Brent had no way to deal with them, then he might have no choice but to prepare for this early. He had to guarantee the safety of Sofia, Alice and Yuna no matter what!

Sprinting at full speed, Yang Ling soon led the group back to the temporary campsite at the second level of the underground tomb, successfully locating Elder Brent who was savoring his wine. After understanding what was going on, the mermaid Evelyn by the side felt incredibly worried for Yang Ling, while Elder Brent’s expression turned grim.

“Yang Ling, is your information accurate, there are still about nine Divine-level Experts on the Church’s side?” After recovering from his shock, Elder Brent stared tightly at Yang Ling.

People at divine-level were further split into low, mid and high levels. With every advancement in level, their abilities grew perhaps by several dozen times, or even several hundred times. Even a Low-level Deity that has been training for tens of thousands of years could kill a powerful fighter who had just stepped into divine-level in a second, much less a Mid-level Deity. If Yang Ling’s information was correct in that there were several Divine-level Experts who have been training for tens of thousands of years or longer in the Church, then the situation was extremely dire.

Over the centuries, he had always been trapped within the Burning Fire Restriction and was unable to absorb the energy from the outside world. Even though he had understood a little more about the laws governing the wind element, his Divine Power had already mostly been exhausted by the Natural Spirit Fire, his overall abilities deteriorating instead of advancing. On the Tailun Continent, because the density of the Magical Elements in the air is too low, the speed in which he could regain his Divine Power was extremely slow. It was clearly not possible for him to recover the Divine Power he had at his peak within a short period of time. If the Divine-level Experts of the Church were to join forces and charge in, the outcome would be disastrous!

“Elder Brent, there is definitely no problems with the information. The strength that the Church is hiding can only be higher than what we already know!” Seeing Elder Brent’s grave and stern expression, Yang Ling’s heart sank further. If even he had no way of getting out of this predicament, a true disaster might soon hit the Magical Beast Territory!

“Your Lordship, if… If you are willing, you can stay in the territory of the Siattu Sea Tribe for a period of time!” After deliberating for a moment, the mermaid Evelyn continued, “No matter how powerful the Church is, they might not dare easily take action in the territory of the sea tribes. As long as I can successfully obtain the Staff of Life, I can convince my father to give you an island to stay on. You will be able to stay there as long as you like!”

Sea tribe?

With the reminder of the mermaid Evelyn, Yang Ling had a thought. Thousands of years ago, the sea tribes were at loggerheads with the Church, who was the leader of the allied human forces back then, both parties suffering from heavy casualties. Even though he did not know how powerful the fighters of the sea tribes were, they must definitely have their strengths, having been able to force a ceasefire with the arrogant Church. If he truly could not deal with the situation, sending the weak and elderly people of the Magical Beast Territory overseas to tide over the situation was not a bad idea.

“The sea tribe, they had several powerful fighters back then. However, so many years have passed, I do not know if those old creatures are still in this dimension!” Elder Brent raised his eyebrow, remembering a few of his good friends from the past, “Yang Ling, you need not be too worried. After leaving the underground tomb, I’ll immediately contact a few of my good friends from the past. If they are still on this dimension, we do not have to fear even if the powerful fighters of the Church joined forces to attack us!”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Elder!” Yang Ling forced a smile. Even though he saw a glimmer of hope, he still made preparations for the worst-case scenario in his heart.

After leaving the underground tomb, he had to set up powerful restrictions at the fastest speed possible, focusing his defences on the manor in Jaboli and the Wissen Castle in order to guarantee the safety of Sofia, Yuna and the rest. In this world, other than myself, there might not be a person who could easily dispel an ancient restriction. Even if he could not defend against the attacks of the Divine-level Experts from the Church, he could at least buy time for the rest of the people to retreat. In fact, he might even be able to deal a heavy blow to those people from the Church using the restrictions.

There’s hope if there’s life!

Even if the Magical Beast Territory was to be completely destroyed by the Church, he could one day lead a million Magical Beasts and return for revenge if given enough time. If one year was not enough, then he’ll take two years, ten years… One day, he would be able to reach the level of Soul Wizard, or even Wizard Deity, and be able to tame powerful Divine-level Magical Beasts. When that time comes, it would be the time for him to exact revenge on the Church and uproot the arrogant Church once and for all; When that time comes, he was going to build a million Flame Punishment Pillars on the Tailun Continent, tie every Templar, every Bishop, onto the pillars and burn them alive.

After discussing the next step of the plan with the group, Yang Ling left quickly, choosing a small dilapidated valley and sat down within it, seizing the time to train. Faced with the powerful Church, he felt an unprecedented amount of pressure, as well as a powerful motivation. The thought of rapidly improving his abilities was more intense now than he had ever felt in the past!

“A high-level Divine Wizard can deal with the peak Domain Experts in this world. Perhaps, he might have a way of dispelling the Deity’s Domain of a Divine-level Experts, slice their throat with one slash and subjugate their souls if he advanced to become a Soul Wizard!” Looking at the ferocious crystal skull in his left hand, then looking at the sharp Blood Elf Dagger in his right hand, Yang Ling let out a grunt. He sat cross-legged on the group, absorbing every ounce of energy he could!

The steles recorded a vast amount of Wizard Techniques, their variety endless. He could control the mysterious soul, as well as absorb most of the energy in this world, converting the energy into Wizard Power using his Wizard Core. The Church was extremely powerful, but if he was given enough time, Yang Ling believed that he would one day be able to crush the haughty Pope under his foot.

The legacies of the great Wizards from ancient times gave him the confidence to deal with any difficulties and challenges!

After resting for a full day at the second level of the underground tomb, Stuart led the Golden Knights and entered the third level first, while the various major factions such as the Dark Association and Bellimore family followed closely behind. The troops and adventurers who had been fortunate enough to survive followed tightly behind them. Yang Ling was no exception, following behind the various major factions together with the mermaid Evelyn and her group.

After taking a full eighty-one turns and passing through a long inclined hill, the people cautiously arrived at the third level, to the place where the Pharaohs were rumored to have been buried. What surprised them was that the entire third level was a vast, level plaza, enveloped in a thick layer of ash. There were no terrifying guards like the Burning Fire Elves, nor were there low-level undead creatures like zombies or mummies.

There were no living creatures other than statues of evil demons that instilled fear in the hearts of many in the entire vast plaza, the surroundings extremely silent! Even though the statues were also covered in a thick layer of ash, their outlines were still very clear, making them incredibly lifelike.

“My God, what are those, could they be the fabled Long-haired Evil Demon?”

“No, they are wielding scythes, they should be the legendary Great Evil Demon!”

…

After recovering from their shock, the people present shouted in fear as they saw the merciless-looking statues. With the situation unclear, the people looked at each other, no one daring to be the first to step onto the eerie plaza. The second level of the underground tomb was already that terrifying, the third level would naturally be even more perilous. Even though they did not know how scary the statues in the plaza was for the time being, no one dared to act recklessly.

There were many statues in the plaza, but they can be classified into eight categories. There were Great Evil Demons who were wielding giant scythes and stepping in flames; Giant dragons baring their fangs with a wingspan of over a hundred meters; Yakshas with bare bodies and a merciless gaze…

Could this be the Eight Demigods described in the Buddhist scriptures?

Looking at the ferocious statues, Yang Ling instinctively felt an intense sense of threat. He turned around and instructed the Corpse Wizard King to set up a Magical Teleportation Formation nearby as a precaution. In the eyes of the group, these were the so-called eight kinds of Evil Demons that hailed from the Demonic Plane; However, in his eyes, they were basically the Eight Demigods that included terrifying Yakshas and Ashuras, which had immense battle capabilities in the teachings of Buddhism!