225: Chapter 225 The Last Trump Card

"Th-this... how is this possible?!"

After witnessing this scene, Xiang Hao's handsome face, usually filled with masculine vigor, was instantly filled with endless shock and horror!

He had witnessed with his own eyes the invincible Divine Might of Gao Feng's 'Law-Breaking Blade,' which could move heaven and earth and cause ghosts to weep!

He knew very well how terrifying the power contained within that seemingly casual strike from his mysterious Emperor, Your Majesty, truly was!

Even though he had now long broken through to the realm of Martial Saint, he would never dare to take that overbearing strike head-on!

Yet, this terrifying strike, capable of severing divine punishment, could not even cause the slightest ripple when facing that seemingly unremarkable milky-white barrier!

What exactly was that milky-white barrier?!

How monstrous was its defensive power?!

Gao Feng's brows were also tightly locked together.

He could clearly feel that the source of the milky-white Holy Light barrier seemed to be tightly connected to the pious Power Of Faith of hundreds of millions of believers across the entire Taixi Empire!

In other words, wanting to break this barrier was equivalent to confronting the entire Taixi Empire, as well as the incomparably vast Power Of Faith of those hundreds of millions of believers head-on!

With his current strength, which was merely at the Peak of Martial Saint, he could not even shake it in the slightest!

Was this truly the final trump card of the Taixi Empire, this ancient theocratic Empire with a Legacy spanning thousands of years?!

On the third night, while the million-strong army of the Wu Dynasty was blocked outside the Fanting Holy Capital by that indestructible milky-white Holy Light barrier, caught in an unprecedented, anxious, and helpless stalemate, Gao Feng was sitting alone in his commander's tent, closing his eyes to rest and thinking of a way to crack that turtle shell.

Suddenly, a cold voice, full of endless age and majesty, and devoid of any human emotion, sounded directly in the deepest part of his mind without any warning!

The voice was so grand, so ethereal!

It seemed to come from above the Nine Heavens, and it seemed to come from below the Nine Underworlds!

It ignored all spatial distance and all physical defenses, acting directly upon his Divine Soul!

"Eastern Mortal Emperor."

"Your strength exceeds my expectations."

"Stop here."

"Return to your East."

"I can allow your existence."

Although the voice carried no emotional fluctuations, it contained a terrifying Law capable of making things happen just by speaking, much like the Heavenly Dao!

With just that one sentence, it made Gao Feng's powerful Divine Soul, which he had long since cultivated to be incomparably tough and far superior to other Martial Artists of the same rank, feel bursts of intense, needle-pricking pain!

"Pfft—!!!"

Gao Feng suddenly opened his eyes!

Without thinking, he immediately spat out a mouthful of scalding blood!

On his handsome face, which had always been as calm as an ancient well, for the first time appeared an expression of deep horror and disbelief from the depths of his Soul!

He suddenly raised his head and, with an unprecedentedly solemn gaze, stared fixedly at the golden Fanting Holy Capital in the distance, which was still emitting a soft, milky-white, holy halo in the quiet night!

His heart could not help but beat wildly at this moment!

He knew!

He finally knew!

That milky-white Holy Light barrier was not the true final trump card of the Taixi Empire!

That mysterious existence hiding in the deepest part of the Fanting Holy Capital, the one who had just used Divine Thought to communicate with him!

That was the true guardian of this ancient theocratic Empire!

That was their greatest reliance in daring to launch a war against the powerful Wu Dynasty!

That legendary existence who had been asleep for nearly a thousand years and had long been forgotten by the world!

"The Saint"!

He had awakened!

Just a single Divine Thought transmission across a vast spatial distance was enough to injure the Divine Soul of a top expert who had already stood at the Peak of Martial Saint!

Then, how terrifying must his true strength be?!

Gao Feng slowly extended his right hand and wiped away the trace of crimson blood from the corner of his mouth.

In his deep eyes, there was not the slightest bit of fear or retreat.

On the contrary, a blazing Battle Intent, burning like a raging fire and filled with endless madness and desire for a challenge, was slowly rising!

He understood.

The battle that would follow would be the most difficult and dangerous battle he had faced since coming to this world!

It would also be the final battle that would determine the ultimate fate of two different civilizations!

The night was as deep as a huge, heavy black curtain, tightly shrouding the entire Western continent, which had long been soaked in endless blood and fire.

The Fanting Holy Capital, this city that never sleeps, golden and still emitting a soft and holy milky-white halo in the quiet night, was now plunged into an unprecedented, eerie, deathly silence.

In the very center of the city, the magnificent golden Saint Peter's Basilica, which stood like a towering sacred mountain, was brightly lit.

An old man with white hair and beard, wearing a gorgeous white papal robe embroidered with complex golden patterns and a triple tiara symbolizing the highest authority of the Church of Light, was standing alone quietly under the huge statue of the god of light made of pure gold.

He was the supreme leader of this generation of the Church of Light, the Taixi Pope—Benedict XVI, revered by hundreds of millions of believers as the "spokesman of God on earth."

At this moment, this uncrowned king of the Western spiritual world, who once could decide the rise and fall of a kingdom with a single word and make countless living beings tremble with a single burst of anger, had a face covered in deep wrinkles that was filled with an indelible, deep weariness and desolation.

His muddy eyes, which were once full of wisdom and majesty, had also become dim and lusterless, like two candles in the wind about to be extinguished completely.

He slowly raised his head and looked up at the huge, hundred-zhang-tall statue of the god of light in front of him, whose face was full of endless majesty and compassion, with a gaze full of complexity and confusion. His lips moved slightly, and he let out a murmur full of bitterness and unwillingness that only he could hear.

"Great, omnipotent god of light..."

"Your most pious servant, Benedict XVI, prays to you here."

"Please tell me, what exactly did we do wrong?"

"Why must you bring down such a terrifying disaster to punish your most loyal subjects?"

"Why must you watch helplessly as those barbaric heretics from the East trample upon your sacred Empire with their dirty, blood-stained iron hooves?"

"Why must you turn a deaf ear to the most pious prayers and wails of your hundreds of millions of believers?"

His voice was hoarse and dry, filled with a deep sorrow and powerlessness like a hero at the end of his road.

Nine years of bloody war had already dragged this once arrogant and massive theocratic Empire into an abyss of destruction from which there was no return.

Tens of millions of the most pious believers had died tragically under the ruthless crushing of the steel torrent from the East.

One after another, cities that were once prosperous and flourishing had been reduced to scorched ruins full of death and wailing in the baptism of terrifying artillery fire that could destroy heaven and earth.

Now, the black Dragon flag representing destruction and ominousness had been planted across the entire territory of the Empire, and their troops were approaching their last holy city!

The situation was lost!

Benedict XVI knew this in his heart better than anyone else.

He knew that relying solely on the Holy Light protective barrier condensed from the Power Of Faith, it was impossible to stop the footsteps of that Eastern Emperor who was as terrifying as a demon god.

The shattering of the barrier was just a matter of time.

And once the barrier shattered, what awaited them would be an unprecedented, most cruel massacre and destruction!

He slowly closed his tired eyes, and two lines of muddy old tears finally could no longer be suppressed and slowly slid down from the corners of his eyes, which were covered in deep gullies.

"God, since you have already abandoned your most pious subjects."

"Then do not blame your most humble servant for using that forbidden power."

When the last drop of scalding tears, filled with despair and unwillingness, dripped onto the cold golden floor tiles and splashed a tiny, insignificant water flower, the muddy, lusterless eyes of Benedict XVI suddenly ignited with two balls of pale white flames filled with endless madness and determination!

He turned around abruptly, no longer looking at the huge statue of the god of light to whom he had dedicated his entire life's faith.

The golden scepter in his hand, symbolizing the highest authority of the Pope, slammed heavily onto the ground!

"Pass on my order!"

His hoarse voice, amplified by the sound-amplification array, instantly spread to every corner of the Fanting Holy Capital!

"All non-combatant personnel must immediately leave the Holy Capital through the secret teleportation array within the city!"

"All Temple Guards must immediately return to their respective combat posts!"

"Prepare to welcome the final miracle of our Lord!"

Following his order, which was filled with endless majesty and determination, the entire golden Holy City, which had been deathly silent, instantly began to operate slowly like a precision machine that had been fully wound.

Countless ordinary people, who had long been tortured by the shadows of war and were sallow and emaciated, with withered spirits, were organized by those solemn-faced officials. Dragging their families and with faces full of sorrow, they flocked to the huge teleportation arrays located throughout the city that had already been activated and were emitting faint spatial fluctuations.

They looked back three times with every step at this golden holy city where they had lived their whole lives and which they had long regarded as their spiritual home, their eyes filled with endless sadness and reluctance.

But they dared not disobey in the slightest.

Because that was the oracle issued personally by His Majesty the Pope.

And unlike those ordinary people full of sadness and reluctance, the 300,000 Temple Guards, wearing gorgeous silver-white full-body heavy armor, holding sharp knight lances, and carrying huge cross-shaped holy shields on their backs, after hearing the oracle of His Majesty the Pope, their faces were not filled with the slightest fear or panic.

On the contrary, a morbid flush, filled with endless fanaticism and piety, suddenly surged onto their young and handsome faces!

"A miracle! It's a miracle!"

"Pope, Your Majesty is going to personally reveal the supreme miracle of our Lord to us!"

"Praise our Lord! Praise Pope, Your Majesty!"

"To be able to witness the descent of a miracle with our own eyes! To be able to offer up our humble lives and Souls for the glory of our Lord! This is the greatest honor of our lives!"

Each and every one of them seemed as if they had been injected with the most violent stimulants; their eyes were bloodshot as they let out bursts of roars filled with endless fanaticism and excitement!

Then, they quickly returned to their respective battle stations, like cold statues without any emotion, quietly waiting for the final descent of that so-called "miracle."

Pope Benedict XVI, who had issued that final order, walked alone slowly behind the massive statue of the god of light.

He extended his aged right hand, which had long since become like withered tree bark, and tapped the cold golden wall a few times in accordance with an incomparably complex and ancient mysterious pattern.

"Rumble—!!!"

The next moment, a dull, thunderous roar suddenly erupted!

The massive statue of the god of light, standing a hundred zhang tall and crafted from pure gold, slowly moved to the sides, revealing a bottomless black downward staircase that exuded an aura of endless cold and dampness.

Benedict XVI did not hesitate in the slightest.

Holding an ancient lantern that emitted a faint Holy Light, he walked step by step into the forbidden sanctuary filled with endless darkness and the unknown.

It was an incomparably long, downward-spiraling stone staircase.

Carved on both sides of the staircase were countless ancient murals that had long since blurred, filled with an indescribable aura of eeriness and evil.

The scenes depicted on those murals were no longer the sacred deeds of the god of light, filled with majesty and mercy.

Instead, they were scenes of forbidden rituals filled with blood and cruelty, using the flesh and Souls of countless living beings as sacrifices.

The air was permeated with a thick, almost indelible scent of blood, filled with the aura of decay and death, making one feel nauseous.

Benedict XVI, however, turned a blind eye to the terrifying environment around him, which would have driven anyone with a weak mind into total madness.

He just walked downward step by step, expressionless.

He did not know how long he had been walking.

When the solid sensation returned to his feet, it announced that he had finally reached the end of this forbidden staircase.

An incomparably vast underground cavern appeared before him.

Inscribed on the entire floor of the cavern was a massive, eerie magic circle composed of countless blood-red mysterious runes filled with an aura of evil and distortion.

And in the very center of that magic circle, there quietly rested a massive crystal coffin made entirely of a strange, unknown crystal that emitted a faint, seven-colored halo.

Through the crystal-clear walls of the coffin, one could vaguely see a mysterious figure with a tall stature lying quietly inside, though their specific features were unclear.

A vast, majestic, and terrifying pressure, filled with an indescribable aura of antiquity and vicissitudes, slowly emanated from that massive crystal coffin, making the entire underground space become incomparably heavy and oppressive.

Benedict XVI slowly walked to the front of that massive crystal coffin.

Then, he threw away the lantern and scepter in his hands and slowly knelt down.

He pressed his forehead deeply against the cold, evil-aura-filled blood-red magic circle, and with a voice filled with endless piety and fanaticism, began to chant an ancient sacrificial incantation that had long been listed as the highest taboo by the Church of Light.

"With my flesh and blood as the lure!"

As his resolute voice fell, his already withered and aged body began to rapidly shrivel and weather at a speed visible to the naked eye!

In just a few breaths of time, his entire being had completely turned into a handful of grayish-white ashes filled with the aura of death, scattering onto the massive blood-red magic circle!

However, his Soul had transformed into an incomparably brilliant golden sphere of light, quietly floating in mid-air!

"With the Souls of three hundred thousand Temple Guards as the sacrifice!"

The golden Soul sphere of light once again emitted a voice filled with endless majesty and vastness!

As this final sacrificial incantation was completed, the three hundred thousand Temple Guards across the entire Fanting Holy Capital, who had been waiting for a long time at their respective battle stations, suddenly broke into eerie smiles of endless relief and happiness on their fanatical and pious faces!

Immediately following this, wisps of pure white Soul fire, emitting a gentle and sacred aura, silently rose from their crowns, which had long been completely occupied by fanatical faith!

Three hundred thousand wisps of pure white Soul fire!

After rising into mid-air, they seemed to be drawn by some mysterious force, quickly converging into an incomparably spectacular, massive white torrent of light composed of the purest Soul power!

After circling over the Fanting Holy Capital, that white torrent of light suddenly dove, forcefully piercing through the thick barrier of the earth, and surged madly toward the forbidden sanctuary located beneath the Holy Capital!

"Boom—!!!"

When that incomparably massive white torrent of light, gathered from the Soul power of three hundred thousand of the most pious fanatics, completely fused with the golden sphere of light formed by Pope Benedict XVI's Soul and poured entirely into the massive crystal coffin, the entire underground forbidden sanctuary began to shake violently!

The heavy lid of that massive crystal coffin, which had been sleeping for nearly a thousand years, slowly opened!

A terrifying energy storm, even more horrific, vast, and filled with a sacred, inviolable majesty than before, swept wildly out from the opened crystal coffin like the most terrifying world-destroying tsunami!

A mysterious figure, radiating a gentle, milky-white sacred halo throughout their body, whose specific features were unclear but gave one the feeling of facing the entire world, slowly sat up from the crystal coffin.

He was the true guardian of the Church of Light, who had briefly recovered to his Peak state after absorbing the entire Soul power of Pope Benedict XVI and those three hundred thousand Temple Guards!

That legendary existence who had slept for nearly a thousand years and had long been forgotten by the world!

"The Saint"!

He slowly stood up from the crystal coffin.

Then, he took a light step forward.

With just this simple step, his figure instantly vanished from the underground forbidden sanctuary, which had already begun to collapse and shatter inch by inch because it could not withstand his terrifying pressure.

When he appeared again, he had already arrived above the cloudless Fanting Holy Capital.

He floated quietly in mid-air, like a white sun radiating endless light and heat, looking down with a gaze devoid of any human emotion, filled with endless indifference and coldness, at the vast iron torrent of the Wu Dynasty below, which resembled a black ocean of death.

He just watched quietly, as if admiring a group of humble ants struggling to survive.

After a long while, he slowly opened his mouth and, in a flat tone devoid of any worldly aura, spoke the first sentence after his awakening.

"In this place, there shall be no steel."

A simple six words.

There was no earth-shattering, terrifying might.

Nor was there any world-destroying, brilliant divine light.

However, when these six words were slowly uttered from the mouth of that mysterious figure, who radiated a gentle, milky-white sacred halo and whose features were unclear, the entire world seemed to have been pressed with a bizarre pause button at that moment.

Time seemed to have been completely solidified.

Space seemed to have been completely frozen.

Immediately following this, an even more inconceivable and spine-chillingly terrifying scene occurred!

"Click... Crackle... Rustle..."

An incomparably eerie sound of subtle shattering, filled with an indescribable aura of decay and ruin, sounded without warning from the vast Wu Dynasty army formation, which resembled a black ocean of death!

At first, the sound was very faint, like silkworms gnawing on mulberry leaves.

But very quickly, the sound became increasingly dense and loud!

Eventually, it converged into a terrifying roar that made one's scalp tingle, like the most horrific desert storm sweeping madly across the entire world!

An elite heavy-armored infantryman standing at the very front of the army formation suddenly flashed a look of confusion and puzzlement in his tiger eyes, which were filled with vigilance and Killing Intent.

He subconsciously lowered his head and looked at the heavy horse-chopping saber in his hand, crafted from hundred-refined steel, which had accompanied him for nine full years and had long since drunk its fill of countless enemies' blood.

Then, he saw the most terrifying and desperate scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life!

He saw that the beloved war saber in his hand, which once could cut iron like mud and was indestructible, now appeared like a fragile rock that had been weathered in the desert for thousands of years, with fine cracks visible to the naked eye appearing on its surface!

Immediately after, those cracks spread madly in all directions across the entire blade at an incomparably terrifying speed!

"No... No! My blade!"

The heavy-armored infantryman let out a shrill scream filled with horror and disbelief!

He wanted to use his hands to stop all of this from happening!

However, it was all too late.

"Clatter—!!!"

An incomparably crisp sound of shattering rang out!

The heavy horse-chopping saber completely shattered and disintegrated in his hands, turning into a handful of black, cold iron sand filled with the aura of death, which slowly flowed down through his fingers, which were trembling violently from extreme fear, and scattered onto the cold ground!