Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

On the central avenue of Silver Moon City, a bustling crowd gathered together.

On both sides of the street, the long street under the night sky was illuminated by the ever-burning magic lights, and there was a long queue that could not be seen at the end. Nearly half of the residents in the entire city went out of their homes today to bid farewell to the last of the "city builders" of that year.

After all, except for Nuo, those who escaped from the flood with him had already died. Although some of them had achieved some achievements on the extraordinary road, they were not truly gifted. So in the face of hundreds of years, they were naturally buried in the soil and only lived in people's memories.

According to the tradition that is said to have been passed down from the golden age, the residents of Silver Moon City erected a stone tablet for each deceased person and engraved some deeds about their lives on it. They were buried in a cemetery near Xingluo Lake, and a temple was built there with the three angels in charge of the afterlife as the main priests.

People commemorate the existence of these ancestors, after all, everyone in Silver Moon City is their descendant. And today, it is the turn of their last member.

An era is about to end, and from now on, the city will open a new page. As an ordinary member of the city, Connius looked at the crowded crowd and couldn't help curling his lips.

Tens of thousands of people, maybe hundreds of thousands of people - forgive him for not understanding arithmetic, after all, in this era, even wizards rarely understand this.

Experience, tradition and a flash of inspiration are the mainstream now, and calculation is just an auxiliary tool. Moreover, even if he understands, Connius doesn't think he can calculate how many people there are here with his eyes.

This is the largest human city in the world. Although the people of Silver Moon City have not seen other cities, they all believe this.

"Oh, I told you a long time ago that the city will be very crowded today - even the central avenue is like this. Even if we squeeze all the way through, we can't see the great prophet."

Walking under the tall [Silver Gate], Connius couldn't help complaining.

There are currently three portals running through the central avenue of Silvermoon City, named after humans from three different eras, but according to the prior plan, a total of seven layers can be built.

The remaining four will be used to commemorate some major events in the future, such as the fourth portal currently under construction - [Enoch's Gate]. In short, it means 'a portal named after the great prophet Enoch'.

"At this time, the people surrounding the great prophet are all big shots, De'o, do you know what big shots are? They are those who can decide the laws of Silvermoon City, or those who can call the wind and rain by their own strength. Obviously, we are not that kind of people."

"I know, but at least we can see the remains of the great prophet being taken out of the temple and sent to the cemetery. If we are luckier, we may even see the legendary angels."

The girl called De'o continued to work hard to get through the crowd, turning a deaf ear to Connius's complaints. However, her body obviously couldn't squeeze through others, so the young man had no choice but to follow.

He actually didn't quite understand that no matter what kind of person he was in life, he would be nothing more than a corpse after death. It was boring to spend a whole night just to look at a dead body.

With this time, he would rather practice swordsmanship twice more, hoping to be recognized as "will-reaching" by the priests of the temple in the future. At that time, he can integrate the "curse characteristics" and become a prepared temple guard.

The priests of the temple often said that only faith in God can strengthen one's will and be safe and sound when fighting against the mental impact of the "curse characteristics", but Connius knew that this was not the case. Maybe faith is indeed useful, but honing swordsmanship and physical fitness can also temper the spirit, and compared to the illusory piety, he still prefers things that can be seen and touched.

Of course, this does not mean that he is a non-believer. No matter who it is, there are basically no non-believers among the residents of Silver Moon City.

"Deo, who do you think will be the next pope after the great prophet dies?"

"This matter has been delayed for a long time, and now it's time to have a result."

Connios asked casually while extending his hand to protect the girl who had a vague affection for him and squeezed forward.

Compared to him, Deo was a standard devout believer. Not only did he know the scriptures by heart, but he also kept an eye on those big figures who had nothing to do with them. After a few visits, he became more familiar with them.

This was not common in Silver Moon City - in fact, even in the human society of later generations, the majority of citizens could call out the names and positions of more than ten leaders of their country, especially in this classical era.

"I know what you are thinking, Connie."

Glancing at Connios in front of him, Deo stroked her long brown hair. She saw what he was thinking at a glance, but she didn't think it could be realized.

"Sir Damian has always advocated external expansion, allowing Silvermoon City to occupy a wider area. If he becomes the next Pope, he will definitely relax the number of places for the Temple Guards. But there is no point in taking shortcuts. If you rely on this method to pass the selection, even if you succeed, you will only be at the bottom."

"And to be honest, everyone doesn't really support that Sir's proposal. You know why."

Yes, Cornios knows why, because this is Silver Moon City, a city protected by a mysterious lock arranged by the Lord of the Demon Network himself. It has spring all year round, a natural bay as a good harbor, and no shortage of food and resources. There is no better place to live than this.

In contrast, the residents of Silver Moon City have all heard of the outside world to some extent. It is said that it is wild and dangerous, and has a very different climate - no one has seen the former, but the latter is still reflected today. As long as you compare the heavy snow that has not yet melted outside and the warm city, everyone will know what to choose.

In this case, Lord Damian's proposition is not widely recognized. After all, the residents of Silvermoon City cannot figure out why they should leave this god-given city and choose to face the wind, snow and suffering.

"Don't say that, De'er. I'm actually still sure that I can pass the test, but it's more secure that no one will hate me. And to be honest, don't you think we have too many people?"

Explaining with a smile, Cornius looked at the crowded crowd around him.

For humans in this era, it is actually difficult for them to imagine a city with a population of more than one million people. After all, throughout ancient history, cities with large populations in the classical era were all the capitals of powerful empires or the core of a territory.

They rely on a steady stream of water or land transportation to support their operations, devouring supplies from all over the place day and night. Once they are separated from these, their existence will be difficult to maintain, but Silver Moon City does not need these.

They have a magical presence and they don't need anywhere else to feed them. Under this kind of wanton extraordinary power, all problems are no problem. Even if there is only one city, it can still be self-sufficient.

"But our population will become more and more, De'er. Although I am not one of those 'big people' and I don't know how many people there are in this city, but it is definitely a number that I can't imagine."

“One day we will fill up here and have to go out – since it is destined to happen, why not do it earlier?”

"Then since you are destined to eat two meals a day, why don't you eat all your food in one meal?"

Qing snorted, and Deer stabbed a little. In front of her, Cornius just smiled indifferently.

They had had similar arguments several times, but in the final analysis, the two of them were just peeking in. Although Khaos did not have this idiom, there were still similar proverbs. Neither of them knew how many things there were in this city. People don't know what it's like in the wilderness, so Cornius doesn't want to quarrel with Deo over this trivial matter.

The brief exchange ended, and the two continued to shuttle through the crowded crowd. Time passed slowly, and when the silver moon hung in the middle of the sky, they finally came to a place where they could barely see the temple gate.

The sea cliff where the temple was built was also overcrowded at the moment, but about a hundred meters away from the temple, there seemed to be an invisible line, cutting off the huge crowd. Cornius didn't know whether it was the big men in the temple who used some means, or whether people stopped spontaneously, but he still preferred the latter.

None of the residents of Silvermoon City would dare to mess around there, and those beings who can control the wind and rain are unlikely to exert their power at the entrance of the temple.

"That's it, I can't do anything further."

He spread his hands helplessly. Cornius was not a strong warrior after all, so he didn't think he could continue to push forward. Seeing this, De'er nodded. She was obviously very aware of the other party's disadvantages.

"Then let's go here, Connie. It is written in the church scriptures that all life in the world will return to the kingdom of the Lord after death and be judged according to their abilities in life. Although I don't know how the great prophet will be evaluated, but I guess no one can match it.”

Waving his fist, Deou looked into the distance at the closed temple.

The original meaning of "pope" is to refer to an older person, a person worthy of respect, and even means "father" in some places. Therefore, the church in Silvermoon City uses this title to describe God's highest spokesperson in the world. This is also one of the titles given to Zainuo.

But for most people, they still prefer to call him the 'Great Prophet', because in the church scriptures, it is he who recognized the gods walking on earth, and then accepted the divine revelation and headed eastward, in this starry sky. Cities were built in places. There are even some rumors that Nuo even foresaw the great flood in his dream - this paragraph was not included in the scriptures because he denied it himself. However, Deo feels that one day in the future, it will be added to the newly revised scriptures. This section above.

“No matter what, may you find peace in the kingdom of the Lord.”

Reciting silently in his heart, De'er closed his eyes slightly.

Beside her, there were more people with their eyes closed, praying for the departing saint.

…

"Ahem——"

"Everyone, sit down, I don't care about this, and you don't need to pay attention to these formalities in front of a dead man."

In the vast temple, Nuo was sitting in his wheelchair as he had been many years ago.

Although it is said to be inside a temple, it is actually not a place where gods are worshiped. This building complex that wraps up the entire sea cliff is no longer what it was hundreds of years ago. Except for the temple at the core, buildings with different purposes have sprung up around it.

So in the center of the hall, which is usually used for meetings, the church's high-ranking officials are gathering here. They look at the man in the wheelchair with sadness. Although Nuo's face is the same as before, everyone present can feel the decay that penetrates his body.

Although most of them are users of divine arts, their bodies have also acquired some extraordinary characteristics under the high concentration of holy power for many years. No one can fail to recognize the feeling that life is about to come to an end.

"Don't look at me like that, cough cough, everyone has to die, it's just a matter of time. I'm not here to see you feel sad for me, let me hurry up and arrange the last things."

With a cough in his voice, Nuo smiled and looked around.

A generation of time is not enough for an organization to decay, not to mention that this is an era of divine manifestation. So he can proudly declare that everyone present is a devout believer and has extraordinary abilities. Even if they disagree, they are just for the sake of making the future of Silver Moon City better and spreading the Lord's faith.

But a true wise man will always see further. Although Nuo never thought of himself as a wise man or a prophet, he learned a lot from the destruction of the bronze man. So facing the eyes of everyone, he said his first "last words".

"I still have a lot to say... but one thing is the most important, that is, starting from myself, the church is not allowed to have an immortal pope."

Nuo's voice was neither hurried nor slow as he stroked the armrest of the wheelchair.

"Life belongs to the world, and the soul belongs to our Lord. Those who are unwilling to return to the Lord's arms should naturally not become His spokesperson on earth."