Time gradually passed, and Chen Shu actually stayed at the alliance stronghold for a while, which was a good opportunity to organize resources and relax his mood.
Because of Old Qiao, the people of the alliance were quite enthusiastic towards him, and almost all requests were met, except for those involving finances.
Chen Shu's only task was to have the little spirit use "Resurrection of Death" to quickly restore Old Qiao's combat power.
As for Dali, she was constantly poring over the alliance's recipe books. As a major country, the culinary arts were quite prosperous, with many top-tier recipes. In peacetime, these would be absolute secrets, but in times of chaos, people didn't value them as much.
Besides eating and drinking daily, Chen Shu also gained a lot of information from Old Qiao, the most important of which was the combat distribution of the "Demon's Lair," as China might have to face them in the future.
Besides the three Beast Emperors who had appeared, the "Demon's Lair" also housed a Purple Moon Great Fiend and a Beast Emperor who disliked conflict. A total of five legendary creatures, which was why the "Demon's Lair" was the second most dangerous异空间 in the world!
A month passed in a flash.
"Actually, the 'Demon's Lair' isn't too dangerous, not as much as your 'Dragon Abyss'." Old Qiao sat with Chen Shu on top of the black tower, overlooking the entire stronghold, chatting idly.
"That Purple Moon Great Fiend has some mental issues, sometimes lucid, sometimes confused. If you don't provoke it, there's no big problem." Old Qiao analyzed rationally. "As for the other Beast Emperor, it dislikes conflict and wishes to live in seclusion. It won't appear unless absolutely necessary."
Chen Shu asked, "Then how did the Free Alliance get breached?"
"The culprits were the Church of Salvation and the Shark Emperor!" Old Qiao sighed, "At that time, the alliance was attacked from all sides, and the Church of Salvation was causing trouble within the alliance. It was incredibly difficult." He recalled that period, feeling utterly powerless, only able to do his best to delay the alliance's demise.
"By the way, Old Qiao, the Church of Salvation seems to have some issues." Chen Shu seemed to recall something and said, "Didn't I cause a big melee that day? I saw the contracted spirit of an archbishop gnawing on another king-level contracted spirit..."
In a short while, Chen Shu described the scene from that day. Although his main objective at the time was to seize resources, he had still kept this matter in mind.
"You're saying that monkey's aura kept growing stronger as it gnawed?" Old Qiao's brows furrowed, and he said, "No... that's impossible..."
"It's true." Chen Shu's gaze was firm as he replied, "And the Pope of the Church is already semi-legendary. At that time, there were even two top-tier experts at King Level Three. According to my analysis, the Church shouldn't be this strong, right?"
"Two King Level Threes... they had crazily hunted high-level beast tamers of the alliance that day..." Old Qiao suddenly stood up, looking towards the sky, and muttered, "Could it really be them?!"
"Who?" Chen Shu's expression shifted, realizing Old Qiao might know something.
"A top force that once flashed and disappeared..." Old Qiao's expression turned solemn as he said, "People have long forgotten them; perhaps only us four old guys still remember."
Chen Shu remained silent, listening intently, realizing he might be about to learn the origin of the Church of Salvation.
"Over eight hundred years ago..." Old Qiao's eyes showed a hint of reminiscence, saying, "It had been over a hundred years since the spiritual energy had recovered, but the situation was still volatile. Fierce beasts frequently broke through the defenses and rampaged through human cities, especially in smaller and medium-sized settlements."
"And while humans were in a great war with fierce beasts, a group of beast tamers of unknown origin attacked their own countrymen."
"They weren't after wealth; their sole target was the contracted spirits of beast tamers!"
"Shortly thereafter, led by a legendary powerhouse, they established a new national force, calling themselves the 'Mandate of Heaven Ancient Kingdom'!"
"Mandate of Heaven Ancient Kingdom?" Chen Shu was slightly taken aback. Was this the predecessor of the Church of Salvation...?
"But by hunting humans, they naturally drew the围剿 of various forces!"
"At that time, humanity was not only in internal conflict but also had to fight a great war against fierce beasts. The situation was extremely chaotic," Old Qiao recalled the past and slowly said, "But as the war progressed, we gradually fell into a disadvantage, while the people of the Mandate of Heaven Ancient Kingdom grew stronger, even able to contend with our four great nations single-handedly!"
"And soon after, their earth-shattering secret was finally exposed!" Old Qiao's face still showed a hint of shock, saying, "Their contracted spirits could actually devour the contracted spirits of others, thereby achieving incredibly rapid evolution! Not only did it advance the strength of their contracted spirits, but it could also feed back to humans, allowing their own beast tamer levels to increase rapidly."
"This, this was the fundamental reason for the rise of the Mandate of Heaven Ancient Kingdom!"
"!" Chen Shu's heart trembled, and his eyes also showed disbelief.
"This is practically a cult, isn't it?" For a moment, Chen Shu was... filled with excitement...
"Such an ability is truly damned!" He licked his lips and exclaimed, "And I don't even have it?!"
"???" Old Qiao's mouth twitched, and he even felt a sense of relief: luckily, this guy didn't have this ability... Otherwise, wouldn't the whole world be in chaos?
"At that time, the Mandate of Heaven Ancient Kingdom was undoubtedly the number one force on Blue Star; even our four great nations found them hard to deal with!" Old Qiao sighed, "The Mandate of Heaven Ancient Kingdom had become a cancer to humanity. To us, they were even more threatening than fierce beasts!"
"But when heaven wants a thing to perish, it must first make it mad!"
"Their unbridled hunting of their own countrymen finally led your grandfather to take action!"
"Grandfather?" Chen Shu was slightly taken aback, having a vague guess.
"He made a decisive decision at that time, directly abandoning the Dragon Abyss he was suppressing and charging into the interior of the Mandate of Heaven Ancient Kingdom alone!"
"The legendary figures of the ancient kingdom naturally engaged him in a life-or-death battle!"
"We intended to provide support, but he adamantly refused, telling us to guard our respective异空间s to prevent the complete fall of Blue Star."
"No one witnessed that battle firsthand, but the entire world saw a strange scene: blood rain falling from the sky! Everyone witnessed firsthand the contracted spirits of the ancient kingdom's old ghosts falling one after another!"
"In the end, your grandfather from China achieved victory!"
"The legendary beast tamer of the ancient kingdom perished, and the rest naturally lost their ability to resist. At that time, major forces on Blue Star launched an unprecedented encirclement operation, determined to utterly annihilate the Mandate of Heaven Ancient Kingdom."
"We thought they had perished, but we never expected that the current Church of Salvation would be the remnants of the ancient kingdom..." Old Qiao sighed, but his heart didn't fluctuate much. Even knowing this, he was powerless, as even his own alliance was on the verge of collapse.
"Grandfather directly killed a legendary? That strong?!" Chen Shu's focus was on his grandfather's combat power.
"It wasn't without a price." Old Qiao shook his head and said, "At that time, his contracted spirits were mostly injured, and more importantly, the Dragon Abyss was lost!"
"Lost?"
"That year, your Dragon Slaying Platform initiated its first muster!" Old Qiao's face showed reminiscence as he slowly said, "Not only did China's powerhouses participate in resisting the Dragon Abyss, but our major national forces also sent reinforcements, as it was a consequence of fighting the Mandate of Heaven Ancient Kingdom that led to the loss of the Dragon Abyss."
"It was also because of that battle that he established his status as the number one powerhouse on Blue Star!"