The Holy See's Treasury

"You don't believe in gods?" Catherine countered. "Sure I do. I believe in God, the Buddha, the Jade Emperor, and all the gods and Buddhas in the heavens. Before my parents died in a forced demolition, our family used to visit temples and burn incense all the time," Zhang Yuanqing said casually. "Doesn't hurt to believe." He unconsciously mimicked Zhai Cai's tone, making himself sound thoroughly punchable. Catherine leaned back languidly against the chair, smiling with the superiority of a veteran looking at a rookie. "It's understandable for mortals not to believe in gods, but a group like ours shouldn't doubt their existence. You're a peak Saint who has entered the Spirit Realm many times; you should have been exposed to plenty of information inaccessible to low-level walkers." *I've been exposed to plenty of information, but the number of times I've entered the Spirit Realm really isn't that high...* Maintaining a cool, detached listening posture, Zhang Yuanqing listened as Catherine spoke with easy confidence: "Have you never wondered who created the Spirit Realm? Have you never wondered what rank lies above demigod? 'Demigod'—from the very name, you should be able to deduce it. If gods didn't exist, where would the term 'demigod' even come from?" Zhang Yuanqing feigned deep thought, then nodded. "Makes sense. So where are the gods? In the Spirit Realm?" Catherine shook her head. "No one knows where the gods are. The sanctuaries where they dwell are beyond mortal exploration." "So a god gave you a revelation to wipe out the Holy See? If gods are omnipotent, why would they need to borrow your hands? If a god created the Spirit Realm, then all the spirit realm walkers across the world are merely playthings in their palm. Why bother destroying the Holy See?" Zhang Yuanqing fished for information. "Because gods cannot descend to the mortal realm. That is why they have the favored ones walking the earth punish heretics on their behalf." Catherine lifted her chin, her face glowing with fervent reverence, looking proud of her identity as a "favored one." *Gods cannot descend to the mortal world?* Zhang Yuanqing gleaned two rather crucial pieces of intelligence: first, administrator-level beings existed within the Spirit Realm, which were the "gods" Catherine referred to; second, these gods were trapped in the Spirit Realm, unable to enter reality. Weighing his words, he asked, "Can I interpret it this way: your so-called god belongs to our freedom faction. Does that mean the orthodox faction has gods too?" "No!" Catherine whispered. "The orthodox faction has no gods. Otherwise, why would the Holy See have fallen a century ago?" *This...* Catherine's words made Zhang Yuanqing's heart sink. *The orthodox faction has no gods? Right, I remember the President saying that during the ancient 'virus invasion,' the last administrator, Empress Wa, perished.* *In other words, the orthodox faction truly has no gods left... But if the orthodox faction has no gods, then who is Haotian, the one mentioned in the Heaven-Worship Set?* Zhang Yuanqing grew quietly vigilant, wondering if this "Haotian" could be an alt persona of some evil god. *Throughout history, it seems only the First Emperor ever communed with Haotian—and then the First Emperor was done for, the Great Qin dynasty collapsing within two generations. Holy crap. Once I gather the complete Heaven-Worship Set in the future, I can't just commune with Haotian; I need to investigate the First Emperor first.* "I don't really care about matters concerning gods. I only want to know what treasures are in the Pope's relics." Zhang Yuanqing badly wanted to keep asking, but he didn't dare show too much curiosity on the topic of gods, worried that the Dominators watching behind the surveillance cameras might suspect something. "At its peak, the Holy See had three demigods! The Pope, the Cardinal, and the Paladin who led the order of knights. According to the forebears of the Covenant of Freedom, before the Pope fell in battle, he extracted the source powers of the Cardinal and the Paladin, sealed them away, and sent them into the Holy See's treasury. After the Pope died, the Holy Plate vanished for over a century until we recently found it," Catherine explained. "This is also why no demigod has ever emerged in the Knight class." *The source powers of the Cardinal and the Paladin? They must be administrator authorities for orthodox classes, just like the Taiyin Origin...* Zhang Yuanqing's spirits soared, filled with excitement and longing. Previously, he had assumed that over a century ago, when the Spirit Realm had just emerged, spirit realm walkers were few in number and low in level, still in the exploratory pioneering stage. Even though the Holy See was the strongest organization of its era, it had probably just been a starter village. In the Holy See's treasury, at most there would be a few Dominator-grade items, or perhaps one or two Saint-stage rule-based items—or maybe none at all. Who would have thought it actually contained administrator authorities! Making his eyes gleam with greed, Zhang Yuanqing asked, "Have you found that knight yet?! Any news on the whereabouts of the other two Holy Plates?" Catherine nodded. "That knight has been found, but we can't touch him for now." "Why?" "He's hiding in Winnie Berrent's house." *Huh? The sole-heir knight knows Winnie? Hiding in the Chief Prosecutor's home—pretty clever.* Zhang Yuanqing clicked his tongue inwardly and listened as Catherine continued: "As for the other two Holy Plates, we've been investigating Huo Zhengkui's past. After screening through everything, we found a clue to one Holy Plate: Huo Zhengkui once donated a bronze artifact called the 'Zhou Ji Phoenix Zun' to China, and not long ago, Fu Qingyang, a rising figure in the Five Elements Alliance, personally visited the Capital City Museum to inspect it. "If a Holy Plate fragment was hidden inside that bronze artifact, then unfortunately, Fu Qingyang has likely beaten us to it. What we can't understand is: how did he find the Zhou Ji Phoenix Zun ahead of time?" As she said this, Catherine's eyes held deep meaning as she stared fixedly at Zhang Yuanqing. *The Covenant of Freedom really has far-reaching influence. As expected, there are Covenant of Freedom members inside the Five Elements Alliance too. From Catherine's tone, she's somewhat suspicious of me on this matter...* A chill ran through Zhang Yuanqing's heart. After pondering for a few seconds, he let out a deliberate sigh. "I understand!" Catherine was startled. "What do you understand?" "I understand how Fu Qingyang managed to investigate that artifact before us," Zhang Yuanqing said coldly. "That Xiaoyao Sword Immortal is a member of the Five Elements Alliance. He passed the information to Fu Qingyang." Catherine knitted her brows in thought for a moment, then gasped in realization. "Now I understand!" Having multiple alts certainly had its perks—you could shift the blame onto whoever you wanted! Zhang Yuanqing's scapegoating was well-founded: Xiaoyao Sword Immortal was also in the know and hailed from the Second District. Although there was no proof that Xiaoyao Sword Immortal was an official member, with New York in turmoil, it was completely plausible that the Five Elements Alliance had secretly sent an operative over to gather intelligence and carry out classified missions. Presumably, Catherine had realized this. "I'll have someone keep an eye on Xiaoyao Sword Immortal. You don't need to worry about the Holy Plate fragments for now. Due to Julian's death, tensions between Heaven's Punishment and us have escalated, and things will be very volatile in the near future. We need your abilities, so lay low for now and await orders," Catherine said. *This is sidelining me from the Holy Plate mission for now. The Hunter Guild wants to control a Holy Plate and take back the initiative from me...* Zhang Yuanqing did not object. He said, "When there are no missions, I'll check my phone once every night. If there is a mission, notify me in advance." With that, under Catherine's resentful gaze, he activated Dream Traverse and departed without hesitation. Zhang Yuanqing shuttled continuously through dreams, not returning immediately to Heaven's Punishment. Instead, he traveled from Kings County to neighboring Queens, picked a random hotel, and slipped into an unoccupied suite. Sitting down at the desk, he sent a message to the President: *Mission accomplished. I'm now an insider of the Covenant of Freedom. My handler is Catherine. Also, I've gathered some intelligence.* After sending the message, he began counting in his head. Ten seconds later, a man wearing poop-yellow pajamas appeared in the suite, donning a silver mask over messy, tousled hair. "You really can locate me," Zhang Yuanqing snorted. "No shit. I sealed that heart of yours. Even if you went to the moon, I could still pinpoint you," the President retorted before adding, "Cut the pointless chatter and get down to business." Zhang Yuanqing then recounted the intelligence he had gathered from Catherine. "The Holy See's treasury actually holds administrator authorities? Fantastic news! Marvelous news!" The President paced back and forth in the room with excitement. For someone at his level, only administrator authorities could stir up such excitement. Once his excitement subsided, he calmed down. "Logically speaking, I should put all our efforts into searching for the Holy Plate fragments to assemble the Holy Plate as quickly as possible. But if we do that, the Covenant of Freedom will realize that we're always one step ahead of them. You managed to brush off the Fu Qingyang matter with Xiaoyao Sword Immortal, but that kind of excuse won't work a second time. Once the Covenant of Freedom becomes suspicious of you, your undercover mission will be in jeopardy." "An undercover mission isn't as important as administrator authorities, is it?" "Yet you are more important than administrator authorities—you are the Lord of the Sun we are backing." The President pondered for a few seconds and said, "The Hunter Guild doesn't want Master Tongtian participating in the search for the fragments anymore... In that case, let your Jumang persona handle the Holy Plate fragments."