'Rampant activity... and highly compatible with North Wu culture?'
Inside the passenger cabin of the cruise ship, Dorothy couldn't help but show a look of confusion when she saw Beverly's response on the """wen hai hang zhi""" before her. She hadn't expected a Shining Light Church otherworld to be highly compatible with North Wu's traditional culture? Could they have some connection with the First Dynasty?
"What kind of organization is this so-called Savior Descends Faction? What connection do they have with North Africa?" Dorothy continued to write her questions on the pages of the """wen hai hang zhi""", and after a short while, Beverly replied almost instantly.
"The Savior Descends Faction can be considered one of the most powerful branches among the Shining Light Church's otherworld faiths. Unlike the mainstream Three Saints Faction centered around Holy Mountain, the Savior Descends Faction does not acknowledge that the Radiant Savior split into the Radiant Three Saints, nor did He grant the Three Saints the right to oversee all beings in His place. In the theory of the Savior Descends Faction, the Radiant Savior remains the supreme and exalted being in this world. He is the only true God, the only Save the World, and no one can replace Him.
"In the rhetoric of the Savior Descends Faction, they claim that the Three Saints are false demons, evil beings who deceive all beings by borrowing the name of the Save the World. The Holy Mountain Three Saints Faction are the lackeys of demons. They proclaim that one day the Radiant Savior will once again descend to the mortal realm, Save the World by descending, and at that time, the false Three Saints and their followers will be destroyed. Believers who truly believe in Him without being deceived will receive true Save the World and enter His heavenly kingdom. This is the origin of the name Savior Descends Faction. Because this faith is very compatible with North Africa's original traditional faith, it has a great influence in North Wu."
Beverly's handwriting appeared on Dorothy's book pages like this. Looking at the handwriting before her, Dorothy couldn't help but have many thoughts in her mind.
'They don't recognize the Three Saints, only the Save the World. Goodness, I didn't expect the difference between the Savior Descends Faction and the mainstream Shining Light Church faith to be quite large. The difference is so great that it can actually be called a heresy. An otherworld existence that fundamentally violates the Three Saints doctrine can be said to be a mortal enemy of Holy Mountain.'
Dorothy thought this in her heart, but at this time, she still had some questions. Holding these questions, she picked up her pen again and wrote on the pages of the """wen hai hang zhi""".
"I probably know what the Savior Descends Faction is, but you said that this denomination is compatible with North Wu's traditional faith. Wasn't North Wu the territory of the First Dynasty before? According to my research, the people there should all believe in something like the Judge of Heaven, something of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment). How does the Radiant Savior's Light faith fit with 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment)?"
Dorothy wrote her questions on the pages, and after a short while, more of Beverly's printed handwriting appeared on the """wen hai hang zhi""", explaining the relationship between North Africa and the Savior Descends Faction to Dorothy. Her answer surprised Dorothy.
"Who said it's compatible with the faith of the Judge of Heaven? The First Dynasty and the Judge of Heaven were matters of the Second Epoch. They have been gone for almost seven thousand years now, with an entire Third Epoch in between. Do you still think anyone in North Africa remembers the traditions of the Judge of Heaven and the First Dynasty? They are just a bunch of departed souls and ruins buried under the yellow sand.
"The traditional North Africa faith I'm referring to is another faith existence named True Shining Lord."
"True Shining Lord, what is that?" Seeing another inexplicable divine name appear in Beverly's response, Dorothy wrote her confused reply, and Beverly quickly replied as well.
"True Shining Lord, or rather, Lord of True Radiance, this is a faith that was widely spread in North Africa during the first few hundred years of this epoch. In this faith, this True Shining Lord is the only supreme God in heaven and on earth, the source of the Light that Saves the World, the master of everything. He is a deity widely believed in North Africa and had a strong influence in North Wu at the beginning of this century, being a genuine secular religion at the time.
"When the Shining Light Church spread from the Main Continent to North Africa, due to the Shining Light Church's aggressive missionary tactics, the True Shining Lord faith in North Wu united to resist the Shining Light Church's invasion. Eventually, several fierce holy wars erupted between the two sides.
"During the holy wars, although the Shining Light Church held the advantage, it also suffered heavy casualties. To reduce the cost, the Shining Light Church adopted another method to spread its faith in North Wu. That was to incorporate the True Shining Lord faith into the Shining Light Church system, making the True Shining Lord overlap with the Radiant Savior, declaring to the North Wu people that the True Shining Lord is the Radiant Savior, and their God is also our God. They also promised that the original clergy of the True Shining Lord, as long as they converted to the Shining Light Church, could maintain their original status. They could still carry out their original priestly duties in North Wu, only needing to declare that they believed in the True Shining Lord's new title, the Radiant Savior."
Beverly's handwriting quickly appeared before Dorothy's eyes. Looking at Beverly's responses, Dorothy was stunned. She clearly hadn't expected the Church to perform such an operation when spreading its faith in North Africa. This method had a similar effect to her own way of teaching Natsuki to feign conversion and disguise his faith. The difference was that the True Shining Lord faith was much stronger than Natsuki's, strong enough to force the early Shining Light Church to make certain concessions, prompting the Shining Light Church to propose the method of faith overlap, while Natsuki could only do it sneakily.
"The Shining Light Church actually made concessions... It's incredible. But could the True Shining Lord faith accept such concessions?" Dorothy continued to write on the page like this, and Beverly immediately responded.
"Of course. You might not know that the overlap between the True Shining Lord and the Shining Light Church Lord is very high. The Shining Light Church and the True Shining Lord saint church are very similar in all aspects, and are even extraordinary inheritances of the Light. It was not difficult at all for them to merge. After the Shining Light Church proposed the concession measures, the True Shining Lord saint church accepted them not long after. Following that, the True Shining Lord saint church merged into the Shining Light Church while maintaining a high degree of autonomy, using the title True Shining Lord as another name for the Radiant Savior. The entire North Africa region was included in the Shining Light Church's faith area."
Looking at Beverly's response, Dorothy slightly furrowed her brows, and then continued to write.
"You said that the True Shining Lord saint church and the Shining Light Church... have many similarities, and both are even inheritances of the Light? Why would something like this happen? What is the origin of this True Shining Lord saint church? Why is its connection with the Shining Light Church so close?" Dorothy continued to ask Beverly, but this time Beverly's response couldn't explain things clearly.
"About that... I'm not too sure. The only thing I can tell you now is that the connection between the True Shining Lord saint church and the Shining Light Church should be traceable back to the Third Epoch, which is often referred to as the Empire Epoch in the hidden world. Although various religions flourished in the Empire at that time, the most powerful was the Empire's state religion, which revered the Empire Emperor as God.
"During the Third Epoch, the entire Main Continent and North Africa were under the rule of the Empire. This means that North Wu and the Main Continent were both under the influence of the Empire's state religion during the Third Epoch. And both the Shining Light Church and the True Shining Lord saint church seem to have connections with the Empire's state religion. Perhaps they are both branches of the Empire's state religion after the end of the epoch. So, maybe it's true that the Shining Light Church says the Radiant Savior and the True Shining Lord are essentially one God~"
Beverly's printed handwriting quickly appeared before Dorothy's eyes. Looking at the handwriting before her, which seemed to contain a lot of information, Dorothy couldn't help but freeze in place, her mind filled with thoughts.
'Third Epoch Empire... Empire's state religion... This means that the True Shining Lord saint church and the Shining Light Church are very likely continuations of the Empire's state religion in the Fourth Epoch? Is that why the Shining Light Church was able to merge with the True Shining Lord saint church?'
'If I remember correctly, the Empire was established by the Light King at the end of the Second Era, when the Light King and his allies won the divine war called the Battle of Dawn. The beginning of the Third Era seems to be when the Light King established the Empire. This means that the Empire's state religion, which worships the Emperor of the Empire, is essentially worshipping the Light King. And the Light King is the god of 'Light', so the Empire's state religion is naturally the Church of 'Light'. The later Shining Light Church and True Shining Lord Church are also of 'Light'.
'Does this sameness mean that the Radiant Savior, the True Shining Lord, are, in the final analysis, actually the Light King? Is the current Radiant Savior precisely the former Emperor of the Empire?'
Sitting in her seat in the cabin, Dorothy looked at Beverly's words on the page and mused inwardly. Then she picked up her pen and immediately wrote her question on the page.
"Light King, True Shining Lord, Radiant Savior, are they essentially one deity?"
"Ah... I'm not too sure about that. After all, I'm not a scholar who specializes in the secrets of deities; I'm just a construct. If you're interested in their relationship, you should research it yourself. What's certain is that although their specific relationship isn't clear, the connection between them is definitely huge. It's not impossible to say they are the same being~ This kind of statement actually has a market among some researchers of hidden history. Most people who have a slight understanding of hidden history tend to think this way."
Beverly's response continued to appear on the page before Dorothy. Looking at Beverly's words, Dorothy breathed a sigh of relief and no longer dwelled on the relationship between the Light King and the True Shining Lord. Instead, she picked up her pen again and wrote on the page.
"Alright, now I roughly understand the relationship between the True Shining Lord Church and the Shining Light Church. So how does this relate to the Savior Descends Faction being active in North Wu?"
"Of course, there's a deep connection. I don't know if you've noticed that the True Shining Lord Church exclusively venerates the True Shining Lord. Believers consider the True Shining Lord to be the supreme being in the world and do not have the concept of avatars. The mainstream of the Shining Light Church, however, is the Three Saints doctrine, which states that the Radiant Savior handed over all his responsibilities to the Three Saints and retreated to the Sun Palace. This caused a deviation from the original True Shining Lord Church.
"After the general restoration of the True Shining Lord Church, the Shining Light Church began promoting its Three Saints doctrine throughout North Africa. However, because many Church organizations in North Wu were incorporated from the True Shining Lord Church and had higher independence, and because the faith of the True Shining Lord was more deeply rooted in North Wu.
"Therefore, while the Three Saints doctrine was being promoted in North Wu, the worship of the Radiant Savior after the merger of North Wu and the True Shining Lord did not weaken as much as it did on the Main Continent. To this day, although the faith of the Light Three Saints is also widely spread in North Wu, the faith of the Radiant Savior still has a strong influence in North Wu and has not weakened to the extent it has on the Main Continent. Furthermore, there are even those who dislike the Three Saints and only recognize the Save the World, which has given the Savior Descends Faction fertile ground for development in North Wu. Many countries in North Wu show signs of Savior Descends Faction activity, and Adus, which is currently experiencing civil unrest, is one example.
"The root cause of the civil unrest in Adus is the decay of the Baruk Dynasty. Many powerful nations on the Main Continent, such as Farano, Prit, and Iweig, have stronger influence over Adus. Under their puppets, the Baruk Dynasty endlessly betrayed national interests and suppressed its own people, coupled with its high level of corruption. Civil unrest then occurred. However, this civil unrest now appears to have been exploited by the Savior Descends Faction. The leaders of the rebels used the influence of the Savior Descends Faction to gather support and even sought extraordinary assistance from them. With the help of the Savior Descends Faction, this rebellion is much larger in scale than previous civil unrest in Adus, and they even successfully captured the capital. But it is also because the rebellion used the power of the Savior Descends Faction that they were targeted by the Church.
"Currently, the nobles of the Baruk Dynasty, with the support of other countries on the Main Continent, have written to the Church requesting military intervention. Normally, the current Church would directly deploy troops, but unusually, this time they actually sent a special envoy delegation to prepare to alleviate the conflicts in Adus? This was unexpected by most forces observing the situation in Adus. No one knows the purpose of the Church doing this; it's not their usual style of doing things~ I guess maybe there's some internal conflict, perhaps the result of some political struggle."
Beverly's information appeared clearly and in detail on the page before Dorothy. Looking at the writing before her, Dorothy roughly understood the complexity of the situation in Adus.
Church, Savior Descends Faction, rebels, old nobles of the Baruk Dynasty... There are many forces involved. Dorothy knew at a glance that Vanya's trip this time would likely be extremely dangerous.
'I originally thought that making Vanya a 'flower vase' in the eyes of the Church's upper echelons would keep her away from danger. Now it seems I was a bit naive. In the eyes of those in power, even a 'flower vase' is a piece on the board, and it must play its role when needed... It seems I should try to travel with Vanya on this trip.'
Looking at Beverly's words before her, Dorothy thought this in her heart. Immediately, she wrote a response.
"I think I understand the situation in North Wu now. Thank you for the information. With so much information, how much are you planning to charge?"
"Oh... what price? What I just told you is almost 'public' information in the hidden world of North Wu. You're an old customer; charging for such public information would be too awkward."
'Your dad charged like this back then; he wanted to make a profit from any information...'
Looking at Beverly's response, Dorothy thought to herself. She then considered how much business she had done with the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild and even helped them take down a Dark Gold Society stronghold. By rights, she should have been upgraded to a VIP customer. It was only right to save VIPs some small fees.
As Dorothy was thinking this and preparing to end her communication with Beverly, a question suddenly occurred to her. So she picked up her pen and asked again.
"Oh, right, you mentioned before... the Shining Light Church initially had a holy war with the True Shining Lord Church. Since the two Churches first fought and later ended with a merger of divine worship, did neither the Radiant Savior nor the True Shining Lord issue any divine oracles during this process?"
Dorothy wrote this. If the Radiant Savior and the True Shining Lord were truly one god, wouldn't issuing a divine oracle beforehand avoid losses if two groups of his followers were fighting? If they were not one god, then during the faith merger, the True Shining Lord should have issued a divine oracle to clarify and resist. One should know that the merger was centered around the Radiant Savior, which was equivalent to handing over his own faith to others.
The fact is, neither side seemed to have any divine oracles. Whether it was the Radiant Savior or the True Shining Lord, they seemed to not exist. No matter how the believers on both sides interpreted them, they had no opinion. This is somewhat incredible in a world where true gods exist.
Dorothy wrote her question, and not long after, Beverly also wrote her answer.
"I don't know. The divine oracles of the Shining Light Church are strictly confidential within the Church itself. Only Cardinals can know them; they are never publicly announced. But as far as I know, during this holy war at the beginning of the Fourth Era, there seems to be no record of any direct divine intervention. The True Shining Lord Church also doesn't seem to have received any divine oracles."