Chapter 1 Though He Guessed, He Didn't Expect This

Despite Li Cheng颐's best efforts to guess what had happened on Tom's side, he truly hadn't anticipated this.

The two were all lovey-dovey in the house, putting on a sweet and intimate display that left Li Cheng颐 speechless.

To think the first Human-Faced Primordial Spirit Sword would be on the verge of completion under such circumstances.

Finding himself at a loss for words, he Shadow Flashed back to the agency, deciding against dwelling on it and instead focusing his attention on exploring and studying the Shadow Dragon Prison.

Having confirmed that Payne and the others had entered the dead angle to avoid something, targeting his search for relevant information became much easier.

Once truly focused, Li Cheng颐 also obtained various historical records and books from Wen Lin, the local municipal official.

After several days of searching, he finally discovered a faint clue.

It was a sunny midday, and the blazing sun outside had driven the temperature up to nearly forty degrees Celsius.

Inside the agency, Li Cheng颐 held a history book obtained from Wen Lin, frowning as he carefully read through it.

It was a book resembling a translated interpretation of mythological hymns, compiled by a scholar with extensive research on the Venus Federation.

It rarely mentioned the unusual traces left behind after the excavation of relics from over five thousand years ago.

It also vaguely pointed out why Anze, as the pasture of the gods, was so coveted by all the deities.

Although its population was large, its importance shouldn't have been so significant.

This was also what Li Cheng颐 found perplexing.

'Buduna, do you know what happened in Anze five thousand years ago?' Seeing this, Li Cheng颐 looked up at the gemstone dragon, who was sprawled out in the office, listlessly sleeping.

She had nothing to do now, and after venturing out, she discovered that the Theocracy and the Church were everywhere, forcing her to slink back here, relying on Li Cheng颐's protection.

This Gold-level powerhouse had chosen to temporarily conceal herself when facing the vast power of the Theocracy and the Church.

"Five thousand years ago? I was still young then, but I heard my grandfather say that Anze seemed to have been struck by an extremely terrifying disaster," Buduna replied.

"Disaster? What kind of nature?"

"Um... it was said to be a disaster that could completely mutate humans and creatures, turning them into terrifying and evil monsters. Anyone who stood on this land would be contaminated and transformed by a power originating from the shadows."

Buduna respectfully added, "However, this contamination can be purified. After purification, the contamination becomes an excellent resource for strengthening power, capable of amplifying and enhancing the strength of any creature."

"Is that so?" Li Cheng颐 asked, surprised.

When he first heard the beginning, he thought it was his own Extreme Evil Prime Soil contaminating the area, but upon hearing the rest, he realized it was completely different.

The Extreme Evil Prime Soil was irreversible and didn't originate from the shadows.

So, this should be another kind of power.

"What happened afterward?" he continued to ask.

"Afterward, the Dark God Sect emerged, with several deities merging into one, becoming the supreme god in charge of darkness. Powerful divine power rained down, absorbing the remaining disaster power. Later, the Dark God Sect was also wiped out, and Anze became the situation it is today."

In recent days, Buduna had also gained a clearer understanding of the current state of Anze.

She had a good grasp of the distribution of the Sunlight Council, the Church, and the Theocracy.

"So, now, I mean in modern times, is it possible for that kind of disaster to erupt again?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

Otherwise, he couldn't understand why Payne would hide in the even more dangerous Shadow Dragon Prison.

"It's possible, but many secrets are in the hands of the Theocracy. Without a high enough rank, we can't determine the details," Buduna shook her head.

"..." Li Cheng颐 fell silent, carefully pondering his next plans.

The reason he had been so eager to investigate this kind of information recently was that he himself had faintly sensed the approach of some kind of change.

He had basically figured out the layers of Anze, and next, he would try to contact powerhouses above Gold-level to see how strong they were and to dig up hidden information.

He made an immediate decision.

Demigods and deities, he would contact them all.

Gold-level practitioners already possessed some strength, posing a level of trouble to him equivalent to Seal Ring level powerhouses, but compared to Seal Rings, they had a significant weakness in terms of speed.

'If the strength of the demigods and deities isn't too great, then I might as well take action to completely unify this place, investigate the hidden secrets, and then whether it's used as a temporary base or a logistics base for summoning Evil Flower buildings, there will be a place to prepare.'

The effects of the Evil Flower buildings were unknown, and he didn't want to place them on Earth-Moon, where there were even more unknown secrets. Placing them here might be just right.

But to do all of this, he still needed to get a clear picture of the situation.

Li Cheng颐 had a feeling that he hadn't escaped the entanglement of the dead angle, but rather that ordinary dead angles could no longer pull him, so the cycle had automatically lengthened.

In this situation, once he felt the pull of a dead angle, it would mean that the dead angle capable of pulling him was extremely threatening.

That would definitely be a dangerous level far exceeding all previous dead angles.

So, he had to prepare for it. And Bai La... that mysterious force was formidable and also needed to be prepared for in advance.

Sitting in his seat, Li Cheng颐 increasingly felt that ruling the entire Anze and using the resources of a world to prepare, enhancing the Flower Scale Armor to the extreme, and strengthening the Flower Language ability to its peak, was what he should be doing most.

Buduna, who was beside him, glanced at him unconsciously, and suddenly felt a chill in her heart for no reason.

"Buduna, do you know the overall structure of a church? Does every church have a demigod above the bishop?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"That's not the case. Generally, only medium-sized churches have demigods. In the various countries of Anze, almost all medium-sized churches are members of the Sunlight Council," Buduna quickly replied.

"How strong is a demigod?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"Much stronger than my previous strength. They possess divinity, giving them strong resistance to many powers, weakening the damage inflicted on them. Moreover, demigods have their own innate abilities, which are often extremely effective, even unreasonable in some cases," Buduna said.

"I understand... shall we go and see for ourselves?" Li Cheng颐 nodded.

This world needed a new master.

He had a faint feeling in his heart.

"That's easy. There's only one lone demigod nearby, Melo Green-Sea, the Archbishop of the Druid Church in the Cals Mountains within the Federation. He's a Mountain Giant by birth and very old. I thought he was dead before, but after coming out and wandering around, I found that he's still alive."

"The Druid Church? Didn't this church disappear long ago?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"They don't have many members or believers anymore. They believe in the natural forces of survival of the fittest, their faith is extremely loose, their cohesion is poor, they live in seclusion, and their temperament is indifferent, with extremely low demand for social groups, so it's common for them to become increasingly desolate," Buduna nodded.

"Alright, then let's go take a look," Li Cheng颐 stood up, his heart full of anticipation.

He needed a baseline judgment of the power of a demigod, so he could measure his strength's level of positioning in this world.

"Yes."

With a flash of black light, the two disappeared from the office at the same time.

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Cals Mountains.

This large mountain range, stretching for thousands of miles, had already been cultivated in many areas by humans, with the periphery arranged as parks, mining areas, hunting areas, and so on.

Beyond the dangerous warning network was a more primitive sea of trees and forests.

Towering trees tens of meters high and vines as thick as arms were everywhere.

Boulders the size of trucks were piled one after another.

Trees, giant rocks, and vines were the main scenery here.

With continuous flashes of black light, deep in the forest, a silver-haired man in a black tailored trench coat, accompanied by a fiery hot, green-haired, green-skirted beauty, appeared among the trees.

"Is this the place?" Li Cheng颐 asked, turning his head.

"Yes, Master. Every giant rock here is an eye that can be controlled by the demigod Melo. But he's still sleeping now. The Mountain Giant clan likes to sleep and rest for long periods, often sleeping for decades or even hundreds of years," Buduna said in a deep voice.

"Very good, do you know how to wake him up?" Li Cheng颐 said.

"It's simple." Buduna took a step forward, her body slowly floating into the air, and in her somewhat sharp dragon eyes, a pure green light suddenly lit up.

She opened her mouth and took a deep breath.

Hiss!!!

A huge airflow appeared out of thin air, and a large amount of grass, rocks, soil, and small trees in front of her were pulled by the airflow, shrinking and flying into her mouth.

Her big mouth was like a bottomless abyss, constantly swallowing the massive amount of debris flying from outside.

The rustling wind stirred the sea of trees, creating a roaring sound like ocean waves.

One second.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

Soon, a subtle vibration slowly came from under Li Cheng颐's feet.

His expression moved slightly, and he gently floated into the air to avoid losing his footing.

Then, he looked down and forward.

Poof.

In front of him, a large area of forest floor suddenly pierced out from the ground with a giant hand composed of gray rock.

The giant hand was three or four meters wide and more than ten meters long, appearing extremely thick and strong.

It stretched out from the ground and pressed down hard on the ground to one side, using the leverage to pull out more of its body.

Amidst the noise of countless clods of earth being scattered, a gray stone man about thirty meters tall appeared in front of Li Cheng颐 and Buduna.

The stone man was composed of gray-white boulders, with no face on its head, covered with moss and roots, and in the center of its torso was a clear face of a human old man, watching them.

A thirty-meter-tall stone giant might be very conspicuous elsewhere, but here, surrounded by giant trees tens or hundreds of meters tall, it didn't seem so abrupt.

The stone giant lowered its head, watching Buduna, then looking at Li Cheng颐.

"A gemstone dragon? Very rare. And a human? Do you have business with me?"

His voice was sharp and noisy, as if mixed with a large amount of wind, rustling leaves, and the sound of streams hitting rocks.

"Sorry, I just wanted to test how powerful a demigod is." Li Cheng颐 bowed slightly. "If I've disturbed your sleep, I'll be gentle later."

"Heh... another ignorant fool. Knowing that I'm a demigod, you still dare to challenge me alone. Compared to those fools I've devoured, you're not only more foolish, but also more pathetic."

The demigod Melo mocked.

Li Cheng颐 looked at the huge creature in front of him, his eyes moving down to look at Buduna.

"You go try it, don't unfold your complete form."