Chapter 608: Results

After talking with Lord for nearly three hours, Li Mochen saw off the visiting sun god Apollo five hours later.

It is worth mentioning that the latter was under the watch of the Radiant Lord the entire time. Yet the Greek and Roman sun god did not care at all; his words were elegant, and he communicated with Li Mochen in an artistic manner. Unlike the God of Desire and Temptation, whose every word was full of allure making it hard to think calmly, Li Mochen felt more relaxed when talking with him, and the atmosphere between them was much friendlier.

This deity ruled over the sun, light, prophecy, and music, and was also the god of medicine, disaster relief, and the protector of human civilization, migration, and navigation.

Compared to the Radiant Lord, this one's 'light' was much gentler, but presumably for this reason, he ultimately lost the struggle for light to the Radiant Lord, who was once known as 'Horus'.

However, Li Mochen still declined the invitations from both to join their pantheons, only reaching agreements with them to suspend all conflicts and not interfere with each other's actions without affecting their respective interests. But none of these were put in writing, nor were any binding contracts signed; they were merely verbal agreements.

As Li Mochen watched the incarnation of Apollo manifesting in the human world depart, Anthony Braden's encrypted communication signal connected to the magic tower.

Li Mochen did not refuse, and then Anthony's figure manifested beside him.

"I saw Apollo and Lord. What did you talk about? Let me guess—you've become a hot commodity now, haven't you? They want to win you over?"

"You guessed right, Anthony."

Li Mochen nodded: "They both want to bring me into their pantheons, and both offered the position of deputy god-king."

"Wow!"

Anthony exclaimed in surprise: "But I'm not surprised. With your current base of believers and your divine potential, you're worth it. And now we do have the ability to tip the scales in battle, don't we? But if I'm not mistaken, we must also pay a price? I want to know what specific conditions they offered."

"As for conditions, Odin's side was more sincere. He was willing to let me govern 'Fate' and give Angela the status of 'Lord of the Underworld.' The Aesir pantheon also has better credibility, but I would have to give up War and Equality. Zeus's side was more friendly; he was willing to let me govern Fate and Equality, and let Angela control Dreams, but I would have to give up the Underworld and War."

Li Mochen concealed nothing from his ally: "But no matter which side, they insisted on having your Machinery and Industry, Worker Protector divine duties, or making you a subordinate god to one of them. And even Odin demanded that I cede part of the Underworld."

It must be noted that 'Worker Protector' was a divine duty Anthony had recently acquired; his ally's divine nature was growing at an astonishing rate.

Anthony's face twitched, and he gave a bitter smile: "I guess you didn't agree to them, did you?"

"Of course!"

Li Mochen laughed: "I refused them, only reaching a non-binding agreement. Next, I will sit back and watch all their actions in the Bright World, and they will maintain respect toward us—a sort of ceasefire agreement. Of course, this is under the condition that American society is not too greatly affected. I cannot sit by while they massacre our believers and destroy our financial resources."

"I foresee that this agreement will be short-lived."

Anthony also burst into laughter: "The Statue of Liberty wouldn't like this either, but it doesn't matter. If she wants us to go to war with these god-kings, she has to pay something."

Then his expression turned serious: "Amo, besides joining these pantheons, I think you have another option: create a new pantheon. There are many powerful native gods in this world, but they all have inherent weaknesses and cannot become the ruler of a pantheon. The Radiant Lord originally had such qualifications, but He was unwilling to let others share His radiance. And now, some people are willing to gather under your banner."

"Specifically?"

Li Mochen had actually already grasped this situation; over the past few dozen days, gods had been testing his attitude.

Li Mochen paid them no attention. He was unwilling to be the spearhead for these people, and he still lacked the ability to contend with those god-kings and pseudo-god-kings. Nor did he have enough strength to fight the Radiant Lord's angelic legions, Odin's Einherjar, or the thousands of giants and demigods of Olympus.

These gods simply wanted to find a big shot to stick up for them in the upcoming divine conflicts.

"I won't mention the others, just two key figures: the sea goddess Thetis and Hela!"

Anthony read surprise from Li Mochen's face: "The former demands that you take revenge on Zeus for her, while Hela hopes you will help her free her brother. They don't even need you to take actual action; just a promise from you, Amo, and they are willing to serve you as their lord."

This time it was Li Mochen's turn to twitch his lips. Neither of these two was someone he could afford to provoke.

So Li Mochen shook his head without hesitation: "I don't have that ability now, Anthony. Besides, a wise man from the ancient Eastern kingdom once said, 'Store up grain, build high walls, and delay claiming kingship.' Establishing a pantheon is indeed an option, but we need time, Anthony. We don't yet have the strength to support it."

"You're right. I was too impatient."

Anthony nodded while spreading his hands: "But you have to forgive me. I sense a crisis, Amo—a strong crisis."

In this battle, he had been badly beaten by Hephaestus—and that was just an incarnation of the 'God of Fire, Forging, Craftsmanship, and Artisans.'

And in the Aesir pantheon, there was another powerful god of forging and knowledge, 'Vili.'

...

After ending the communication with Anthony, Li Mochen looked again at the 'Divine Sky Luck Purple Gold Pagoda' manifested before him, a gleam of surprise in his eyes.

Just as he had expected, when the merit light of the 'Divine Sky Luck Purple Gold Pagoda' increased to thirty million strands, they merged into one, forming a second strand of merit purple qi.

After that, the multicolored light on the 'Divine Sky Luck Purple Gold Pagoda' increased by nearly seventeen million strands, but it was still far from the requirement for forming merit purple qi.

Li Mochen unhesitatingly absorbed that strand of purple qi from the pagoda into his body, and then felt his physique, divine power, strength, and divinity all greatly enhanced again, each by about twenty percent.

At this moment, Li Mochen began to try to separate and mobilize the two strands of merit purple qi that had merged into his body, concentrating them on his divine authority.

He wanted to test whether these two strands of merit purple qi could elevate his Fate, Time, and War divine authorities to the level of 'Pseudo-Truth.' Only at this rank could he qualify to contend with those powerful major gods.

Li Mochen had started this experiment five or six days ago. Merit purple qi did have a strengthening effect, but one strand was far from enough.

After about ten minutes, disappointment appeared on Li Mochen's face. Merit purple qi was indeed useful, but just these two strands were not enough to push him through the door of 'Pseudo-Truth.'

This was related to Li Mochen's own relatively weak foundation. Whether it was War, Time, or Fate, he had reached the 'Ultimate' realm through shortcuts. Especially the latter, where he had also used the power of the 'Divine Wish Stone,' and could only reach the Ultimate level in the Bright World.

Thus, the distance between him and 'Pseudo-Truth' was far greater than Li Mochen himself had imagined, and it was definitely not something that these two strands of merit purple qi could bridge.

But if he couldn't bring about a qualitative change in his divine authority, Li Mochen might as well continue using them to strengthen his physique, divine power, and divinity—the returns would be greater.

Sighing with regret, Li Mochen was already considering how to obtain more merit to condense the next strand of merit purple qi.

However, he soon discovered another benefit of merit purple qi. About two hours later, while studying the 'Fate' method, Li Mochen felt that his inspiration and wisdom were unusually sharp and clear, and his comprehension greatly increased.

Without even using the 'Divine Sky Luck Purple Gold Pagoda' to make a wish, the difficulties that had once troubled and hindered him were all resolved in an instant.

If his original intelligence allowed him to infer three things from one, now he could infer nine. Previously, he could understand ten from one; now, it was no exaggeration to say he could understand a hundred from one. He could see the big from the small and draw analogies.

Li Mochen then tried to comprehend divine authorities like Vitality, Youth, and Beauty, and found that in these lower-level authorities, his progress was even faster, at least ten times the previous rate.

Li Mochen was greatly encouraged. Half a month ago, he had thought about settling down for a while to sort himself out, understand himself, and take a further step toward the root on the existing basis.

Especially during his apotheosis, he had seen many things at the root of the world that needed careful experience, insight, and study.

But the Magic Goddess's early action had interrupted his original plan.

Now, these two strands of merit purple qi came just in time. They might not directly elevate his Fate, Time, and War divine authorities to the Pseudo-Truth level, but they could help him step by step along these paths.

So Li Mochen's greatest wish now was for the Bright World to remain peaceful over the next year. Even a step back, it would be fine if the Rising Sun and Light Demon Alliance could stay out of it.

Li Mochen needed time, so the coming year was crucial for him.

...

The day after the magic net was completed, the market capitalization of America's three major stock exchanges began to surge wildly. In just one night, the total market cap increased by twelve percent.

This was because the American stock market had fallen too sharply before. The news, first released by the Rising Sun Media Group, that World No. 3 was about to collide with this world had triggered a half-month continuous decline and six circuit breakers in the American stock market. Everyone was panicked, worried that this would lead to world destruction and trigger a global financial tsunami.

So when the news of the magic net's completion appeared on major newspaper pages, the American stock market immediately saw a rapid rebound.

"Actually, we could have pushed the Nasdaq index below 3,500 points."

In Atlanta, Nanette Drew reported to Li Mochen with a tone full of disdain: "People don't know that the completion of the magic net won't help their situation after the world collision. When they face large-scale earthquakes and tsunamis, the magic net's role is extremely limited, and it might even become an obstacle. Some people want to pacify these sheep, but I think our media needs to explain this to them."

"That's enough, Nanette."

Li Mochen smiled bitterly: "We are only warning people to prepare before that day comes, not to trigger a worldwide panic. That would benefit no one. Besides, we have already gotten what we wanted."

During this period, the market caps of several targets the Rising Sun Group planned to acquire had plummeted to about seventy-five percent of their previous values.

It was expected that the subsequent rebound would not increase their market caps much.

Correspondingly, the stock market crash had already created a large number of bankrupt people in this country. Li Mochen did not want to see this financial storm develop to a destructive level.

Nanette frowned: "But our people are too optimistic. I know their nature. Now all media are promoting the magic net, praising the Magic Goddess, saying the government is taking action, boasting about the 'Magic Tower' defense system they built to withstand the upcoming crisis. But these are all lies. They will definitely be fooled and then forget about the disaster coming in a year. Even if we take a step back, we need to stimulate public opinion to make the government invest more effort and funds in disaster relief."

"You're right."

Li Mochen fell into deep thought: "How about this, Nanette? You can promote it to a mild degree in our media, but there's a prerequisite: it must not trigger large-scale panic again. You should understand, Nanette, sometimes the loss of order is more terrifying than large-scale disasters. Also, I will try to resolve this disaster and prevent the future from developing into the worst-case scenario."

This was just a small episode in Li Mochen's handling of company affairs. By now, he had devoted most of his energy to personal cultivation and that of Angela and others.

Regarding the management of the company and the church, Li Mochen had mostly delegated it entirely to his two chosen ones, Nanette and Eliza. Only the preparations for the war a year later remained within his purview, and the several materials companies and machinery equipment manufacturing companies that the Rising Sun Group planned to acquire were related to their future layout.

At the same time, the merit light on the 'Divine Sky Luck Purple Gold Pagoda' was being consumed rapidly.

Li Mochen had to simultaneously bear the cultivation costs for himself, Angela, Hazel, and Robert, accelerating their process of comprehending divine authority.

And half a month later, with the return of the battleship 'Odro,' Li Mochen's assistance list would also include Moon Rabbit and Dragon Vein.

Thus, the fifteen million strands of merit qi on the 'Divine Sky Luck Purple Gold Pagoda' were far from enough. In less than two months, they had consumed nearly seven million strands.

This was despite the continuous influx of multicolored light. Over the past two months, Li Mochen had participated in repairing the Primordial Void World, helping build the magic net, and the American Underworld. His daily income of merit had reached as high as one hundred and twenty thousand strands.

Especially the latter, which accounted for nearly half of all merit sources. Although the Underworld did not bring him a large amount of merit light immediately after its completion, the subsequent influx from it was quite substantial.

This was related to the significant expansion of the 'Underworld' territory. Previously, this realm of the dead only covered Pittsburgh, but now its radius had reached three thousand kilometers, with a vast area attracting souls from the entire Great Lakes region.

The major churches and gods of America had begun cooperating with Angela. The souls of their believers would first go to Angela's underworld 'Oduin,' and then pass through the channels they established to the divine kingdoms of the respective gods.

Before this, the gods of America could only accomplish this through the Radiant Lord's 'Heaven,' and the Radiant Church often used this matter to coerce the gods, even suppressing them wantonly. Even the Statue of Liberty was constrained by this.

Thus, this underworld named after the Dragon Lich Ancestor 'Oduin' received feedback and support from many gods. They did not mind who controlled the underworld; they only hoped to see it grow and resist the Radiant Lord while maintaining cooperation with the gods.

So the borders around 'Twilight Dragon City' were constantly expanding, bringing Li Mochen substantial gains.

But even though Li Mochen's daily merit accumulation had reached one hundred and twenty thousand strands, it was still far from enough for his use.

This was because Li Mochen wanted too much. He wanted Angela to master the Ultimate 'Death,' Ultimate 'Soul Mastery,' and Ultimate 'Dreams' within a year, truly controlling that underworld; he wanted Robert's 'Wind' and 'Battle Wind' to reach High level, and then acquire Intermediate 'Flame' and 'Thunder,' making him a truly capable assistant; he also wanted Hazel and Dragon Vein to grow to at least the level of contending with powerful gods.

And Moon Rabbit must master the Ultimate 'Earth' and 'Earth Element' divine authorities, becoming a law god of the earth.

This matter was especially important. It was precisely the method he had promised Nanette to mitigate the future disaster: a powerful earth goddess belonging to America, doing her utmost to protect densely populated cities from disasters like earthquakes.

Li Mochen did not trust Gaia, nor did he believe in Rhea, and even less in Frigg and Sif. He preferred to rely on his own power to secure his territory.

He believed that the major pantheons, including the Aesir, would likewise not accept the expansion of these two earth mother goddesses' power in America, so this was also a rare opportunity.

However, this required a prerequisite: the Moon Goddess Rabbit's understanding of earth and soil must reach the ultimate level or above, or she must wield a powerful mythical artifact related to the earth.

Thus, after the Moon Goddess Rabbit arrived, four-tenths of the merit Li Mochen consumed daily was spent on her. As a moon rabbit, she had great talent in earth-related matters, but her current mastery of the earth divine authority was only at the intermediate level, and her comprehensive earth divine authority had not even begun.

This meant that their time ahead would be extremely tight. There was also a huge shortfall in merit.

Li Mochen was already planning his next source of merit and began to covet all mythical artifacts in the world that could enhance earth power.

Fortunately, the others were all highly talented. With the help of the 'Crown of Sorrow,' Angela had elevated both her 'Soul Master' and 'Dream' divine authorities to the high level, and soon after, raised her two main divine positions to divine rank ten.

That is to say, with the amplification of her divine rank, her divine authority power could already reach the ultimate level—this was not enough for Angela to contend with the old-school death gods and underworld kings, but it allowed her underworld to continue expanding and further harvest faith from the mortal world.

Roberta was even more rapid in her progress. The blood-eyed maid's 'Wind' and 'Battle Wind' had both reached the threshold of high divine authority, and she had additionally mastered 'Rage' and 'Thunder'—she had exceptional talent in combat.

This saved Li Mochen a great deal of merit, giving him an extra three to five months to accumulate power.

Li Mochen's own progress was also quite good. Four months after the magic network was completed, he was still struggling forward on the paths of fate, time, and war. However, he had achieved success in body refinement, raising his ancient god rank to nine, granting him a high-level ancient god rank.

Moreover, his progress in magic was also considerable; several forbidden spells had been elevated to level thirty-nine.

The power of spells at this level was on par with that of a high god of divine rank ten. The power of forbidden spells was even greater—they were forces capable of directly killing a high god upon a direct hit.

Especially the two innate spells, 'Ice Dragon Armor' and 'Sun Spear,' combined with the forbidden spells 'Ice Absolute Annihilation' and 'Doomsday Meteor' to derive the variants 'Ice Dragon Annihilation' and 'Sun Doomsday,' as well as 'Matter Annihilation' based on positive and negative energy—all had power far exceeding normal forbidden spells. In terms of 'Matter Annihilation,' its power was 1.5 times that of 'Robespierre,' the latter known as the World Destroyer, yet he lost to Li Mochen in this his most adept forbidden spell.

Also, the divine authority of 'Equality' had been elevated by Li Mochen to the high level—truly high, without relying on any external force.

The construction of the magic tower had stopped three months ago, ultimately halting at twenty-seven floors.

The significance of 'Fate's Domain' to Li Mochen was unquestionable; in a way, it was even more important than mythical artifacts.

The mage tower still played a very important role in the divine domain stage. According to Einstein's calculations, every eight floors of the magic tower could be equivalent to one divine rank, and this remained true even after the high god stage.

Additionally, 'Fate's Domain' could elevate the many forbidden spells Li Mochen mastered by three levels, to forty-two; its internal mana pool could provide Li Mochen with abundant energy and magical power—a total of 216 highest-level mana pools, which could almost equal the total divine power provided by his current 1.2 billion followers!

Li Mochen naturally hoped to build this magic tower as high as possible. But before his apotheosis, he had only managed to deduce the subsequent construction blueprints of 'Fate's Domain' up to the twenty-seventh floor. To increase it further, he would have to spend a great deal of time and merit on calculations. He was currently working on this, but it would take at least two months to produce results.

The deduction of each floor after the twenty-fourth floor of the magic tower was extremely difficult. Even talents like 'Consulius' and 'Paracelsus' would need decades or even centuries to complete.

That Li Mochen, while multitasking, could complete the blueprints for the twenty-eighth floor in just a few months was a speed that would leave any mage dumbfounded and filled with envy.

These achievements also gave Li Mochen a bit more confidence.

The targets he had set his sights on included 'Typhon,' who had nearly killed Zeus; the legendary creation of Ahura (the supreme god of Zoroastrianism), the 'Behemoth' that devoured a thousand mountains daily; and the 'World Serpent Jörmungandr.'

The Scarlet Dragon Armor needed new power, and these monsters, at least at the main god level, could help him contend with the gods. Their remains were also excellent materials for forging mythical artifacts.

Yet none of these three targets was simple.

'Typhon' was an existence Zeus could not kill; the Radiant Lord could only seal the 'Behemoth'; and the 'World Serpent Jörmungandr' needed no mention. The Aesir had tried countless ways to seal his brother Fenrir, and Odin, while Jörmungandr was still young, threw him into the bottomless deep sea surrounding the mortal world, trapped by his own weight and the pressure of the sea. However, after thousands of years, this serpent's body had grown to an unparalleled size, coiling around the sea several times and encircling the entire light world.

They were all born by the will of this world's heaven and earth, and each had its own destiny. Before their destiny was fulfilled, it was difficult for outsiders to destroy them. The root will of this world would allow them to reassemble their souls and be resurrected.

Only Li Mochen's ultimate 'Fate' could allow him to kill them in a unique way. He could find a way to replace their destiny, thereby gaining the right to kill Typhon or the World Serpent Jörmungandr.

This would deepen Li Mochen's connection to this world and bring some unknown consequences, but it would also serve as a protective charm, preventing him from suffering a catastrophic defeat in the upcoming divine war.

The only problem now was how to kill these three targets without the gods' knowledge.

The power Li Mochen most wanted was naturally that of the 'World Serpent Jörmungandr'; the 'Mandala Bracelet' was too useful, so useful that he desperately craved Jörmungandr's authentic ability.

But considering all the consequences, the Behemoth was the most suitable, as it bore the least destiny and would bring the least future trouble.

However, after collecting extensive data and spending two months formulating a battle plan, Li Mochen ultimately felt despair.

'Typhon' had already connected its hundred serpent heads to all the volcanoes in this world; at the moment of its death, all these volcanoes would erupt simultaneously.

The 'Behemoth' had swallowed countless substances since its birth; its unparalleled weight had affected the timeline of the light world for thousands of years. Once the Behemoth died, it would cause chaos in the timeline of the entire light world, killing no less than three hundred million people.

As for the World Serpent Jörmungandr, killing it would cause earthquakes worldwide. Without waiting for the impact of 'World Three' in a few months, most cities in this world would be destroyed by earthquakes.

Additionally, it had two siblings, the 'Wolf Fenrir' and 'Hel'—all formidable beings whose combat power could rank among the quasi-god-king level.

Li Mochen realized that the reason they had survived until now was not solely due to 'destiny.'

Just as Li Mochen was about to abandon this plan, time had reached six months after the magic network's completion, October of the year 3997 of the Light Calendar. The merit accumulated on the 'Divine Fortune Purple Gold Tower' was only two million strands.

To make matters worse, in mid-October, Atlanta welcomed a peculiar guest: the blind lady Yvette Loren. She was a powerful demigod mage, and she also held an identity that Li Mochen could not ignore—the Chosen of the Goddess of Liberty and the chief archbishop of the Church of the Goddess of Liberty.

According to the principle of equal status, the one who received Yvette was Eliza, who also served as a cardinal in the Church of Fate.

After a five-hour private meeting with Yvette, Eliza came to Li Mochen's mage tower with an unusually grave expression.

"She said she brought the will of the Goddess of Liberty!"

Eliza spoke in a helpless tone: "Her tone was very strong. She said the goddess hoped you would step forward to stop the invasion of foreign gods. As the largest church in America, the Church of Fate must bear the corresponding responsibility. She also conveyed a message from the Goddess of Liberty: 'It was not to let you sit idly by in this divine war that I did not prevent your apotheosis or Angela's. If you still decide to stand by, I will take measures.'"

Li Mochen frowned deeply. Just from Eliza's words, he could tell that the blind lady's tone must have been very strong.

At that moment, he received a communication signal from Anthony.

"The Goddess of Liberty's people have approached you, right?"

Anthony said with a helpless expression: "If so, I have to let you know that she also sent someone to me. She said that in this war, no god in America has the right to stand aloof. According to the Liberty archbishop, between us, it's either friends or enemies."

"That tough?"

Belinda Harris, a subordinate god summoned by Li Mochen to the meeting, was taken aback, then said thoughtfully: "I thought she would be pleased with the current situation. Has Her Highness become unable to sit still?"

"If we join the conflict, she would only be happier!"

Anthony glanced at her sideways, then looked at Li Mochen: "We may not be able to stand by, A-Mo."

At this moment, Li Mochen was gazing thoughtfully at a world map before him.

The entire world was now vastly different from six months ago. The returning gods were extending their influence and reach into every aspect of mortal life.

In America, the South Coast and Great Lakes region controlled by the Wiltons were still relatively calm. However, whether from the intelligence director of the Rising Sun Group, Clark Banfield, or 'First Source' Paracelsus, the information gathered to Li Mochen revealed countless undercurrents colliding and entangling in the shadows of this area.

Beyond this region, the situation was even more turbulent.

Several data points illustrated just how dire the situation in the light world had become.

In just September of the year 3997 of the Light Calendar, that is, last month, as many as seven gods had fallen.

Across America, gunfights had surged from three hundred times a day to three thousand two hundred times, the vast majority involving extra-legal forces. Additionally, there were over three hundred murders daily related to demons, devils, or other extraterrestrial beings. The daily death toll exceeded thirty thousand.

If not for the restrictions imposed by the magic network on magical professionals and supernatural beings after its completion, these figures would be even more terrifying.

This had caused institutions like the FBI and CIA to triple in size over the past six months, with federal funds heavily tilted toward them. Yet even so, it was still insufficient to cope with the escalating security incidents nationwide.

During this period, Li Mochen had also formed three new divine positions: 'Destruction' at divine rank eleven, 'Precision' at divine rank seven, and 'Protector of the Faithful' at divine rank nine.

The first two were related to his war god divine position; his followers in the military had strong needs in these areas. 'Destruction' was a composite divine position, and Li Mochen's current mastery of intermediate 'Destruction,' high 'Annihilation,' ultimate 'Piercing,' and high 'Armor Penetration' divine authorities could provide strong support for this position.

As for 'Precision,' it was what distinguished Li Mochen as a 'War God' from the likes of Ares and was also indispensable in modern thermal weapon warfare.

In fact, it was not only Li Mochen who was vying for the faith of soldiers, but also ancient hunting gods like 'Artemis.'

However, both 'Destruction' and 'Precision' were related to the recent surge in wars and conflicts.

The primordial force of war was boiling and surging worldwide, and with its help, Li Mochen's subordinate Garcia Ferren had recently been elevated to divine rank six, becoming a medium god.

Similarly, 'Protector of the Faithful' stemmed from the yearning of the faithful. The ongoing turmoil had generated a strong demand in this area among believers. The priest team of the Church of Fate currently had to handle over two hundred incidents related to the safety of the faithful every day.

Thus, Li Mochen did not become the patron of programmers as he had envisioned, but instead became the 'Protector of the Faithful.' This was also a composite divine authority, involving concepts such as 'Shelter,' 'Guardianship,' 'Protection,' and 'Purification.'

This should have put great pressure on Li Mochen's divinity, but fortunately, his ancient god rank had grown considerably, and with the enhancement of the merit purple aura, there was still plenty of room.

Thanks to this, although Li Mochen's number of followers had stopped growing at 1.73 billion, the subsequent decline was minimal, almost imperceptible on the surface. And 'Fate Lord' was already the second largest faith in the light world after the Radiant Lord.

Limited to America, his number of followers even exceeded that of the old and new churches of the Radiant Lord. The number of cardinals had also increased to thirty-two, initially meeting the personnel needs for maintaining church operations. However, there were few strong individuals; besides Eliza, only two could bear Li Mochen's weak god-level divine power, both from the Wiltons clan.

The Rising Sun and Light Demon Alliance had also developed quite well over the past six months, with commercial expansion somewhat resembling 'profiting from national calamity.' Although their market value had dropped significantly, the actual power they controlled had grown enormously. Profits had declined, but most of it was consumed by their own security forces.

The number of demigod-level combatants they directly or indirectly controlled had reached 250, and legends numbered as high as 2,700. Additionally, the 'Odro' was in the process of selecting 'suitors' for its thousand demigod armors, with 120 already operational.

Even the 'Storm Troops' at the 'god-level' had reached fifty-four members, thanks to the mass production of demigod-level biological armors.

Legend-level strongmen, paired with demigod-level biological armors and the 'Crusaders' manufactured by Light Demon Industries based on 'Light Demon No. 5' and Moshlar technology, possessed strength not inferior to most weak gods, and their team combat capability was even superior.

This was also the most powerful and elite force under Li Mochen, aside from the dragon and mage units of 'Fate's Domain.'

At this point, the Rising Sun-Light Demon Alliance appeared immensely powerful on paper and possessed deep war potential. However, Li Mochen was keenly aware that this was only because the Olympians, Zoroastrian gods (fire worshipers), and others were consciously avoiding his sphere of influence.

Once they decided to engage in conflict, Li Mochen predicted that the meager assets he and Anthony had accumulated would quickly be consumed in war. The seemingly exaggerated number of followers of the church would also dwindle significantly in a short time.