203: change

According to Kui Fang's experience, the simplest and most direct way to foster faith in a secret realm is to directly bestow power, secret techniques, or treasures upon believers in the name of a “deity.”

However, with Xu Yan and his Little Spider's current strength, which is only Monarch Rank Mid-grade, it's fine when facing targets whose strength levels are lower than theirs; they can directly bestow power upon them.

But when bestowing power upon believers whose strength is higher than theirs, it becomes quite difficult to prevent them from discovering the anomaly in strength and rank between the two, while also maintaining the powerful and majestic image of a “deity.”

In Kui Fang's estimation, in such a situation, Xu Yan would either rely on his abilities as a Monarch Rank Breeder to convert the power he intended to bestow into various spirit food and potions for rapid strength enhancement, or he would seek help from himself or other elders.

However, Xu Yan did not operate as he had anticipated. Instead of investing any power or resources, he opted for various secret techniques and knowledge.

As for secret techniques, those used by the “mature” cults on Blue Star and recorded in the Third Academy library are either extremely typical or extremely special, and highly practical. Although it seemed a bit early, it was still within Kui Fang's expectations.

What truly surprised and astonished Kui Fang was the knowledge Xu Yan invested into the secret realm below.

Religious studies, pyramid scheme psychology, economics—besides the first item, which was still within a normal range, the latter two were not something a newcomer, who was just starting to deal with churches and proselytizing, could easily think of.

Without investing any power or material resources throughout the entire process, that knowledge alone was enough to stir up endless chaos and bloodshed in the secret realm below, which lacked corresponding development and perfected theories.

And this kid in front of him, from getting authorization to opening the Third Academy's electronic library, to entering those keywords into the search bar, the whole process took no more than two or three minutes. There was no thought involved at all; it was as if he had already anticipated and planned everything in his heart.

This performance, along with his previous descriptions of the philosophy of life at the Third Academy, would be praised as a “good prospect” even among their demonic cultivators.

And what were the evaluations given to this kid by the people at the Third Academy? Pure? Benevolent? Soft-hearted?

These evaluations are outrageous!

Thinking this, even though he had been rejected once before, Kui Fang couldn't help but invite Xu Yan again.

"Xu Yan, are you really not considering joining us? Your personality is truly very suitable for this path, and the resources will definitely be much more than what you have now."

Xu Yan shook his head again, refusing Kui Fang's invitation.

"I apologize, Senior Kui Fang, but I feel that my current path is very smooth, and I have no intention of changing direction."

Hearing the expected refusal, Kui Fang said nothing more and quietly watched the changes in the secret realm below with Xu Yan.

After Xu Yan invested secret techniques and knowledge into the secret realm, the entire realm seemed to go into fast-forward, rapidly advancing.

Those believers in the secret realm, after obtaining the secret techniques bestowed by Xu Yan, had their combat power greatly enhanced. They could also borrow power from the “sun and moon” to strengthen themselves further, thus gaining the ability and qualification to fight back and come into the open.

Relying on various knowledge gained from Xu Yan, the leaders and high-ranking members of those churches began various attempts. Some attempts succeeded, others failed; those who failed directly brought about their own demise, while the successful ones achieved new developments.

Powerful churches, like the three with Monarch Rank Limit existences, after obtaining secret arts, and relying on these secret arts and the power of the “sun and moon,” saw their strength increase from ordinary members to the strongest at Monarch Rank Limit, gaining the power to fight many opponents at once.

Before other forces could react, they used a blitzkrieg to eliminate a top-tier force in the area and withstood the combined targeting and probing of the remaining top forces. They then took over the original position of that force, gaining the qualification to operate and proselytize openly.

After that, the two churches naturally transitioned from operating in the shadows to openly, gaining the right to spread their faith in that region. Then, relying on various methods of suggestion, hypnosis, and brainwashing from pyramid scheme psychology, they rapidly developed and began to annex other forces in the region.

By the time Zhu Yan completed the assimilation and devouring of the “moon,” two regions had already fallen completely under the control of those two churches, continuously providing a large amount of faith power to Zhu Yan. The remaining region was merely a matter of time.

The weaker ones also used various economic and psychological methods to stir up trouble among the major forces, causing conflicts between them, and extracting large profits. In this process, they gradually infiltrated and replaced the middle and lower-level personnel of the forces in that region through various means, slowly eroding the various forces in the respective areas from the bottom up.

Overall, most of the churches that have survived to this day are now thriving, and it seems only a matter of time before the entire secret realm is transformed into Zhu Yan's faith kingdom.

And Zhu Yan, in the sky, after successfully devouring and assimilating the “moon,” simultaneously absorbed the power of both the “sun” and “moon” planets.

Although only the purest essence was taken, and the rate of her strength increase was strictly controlled for stability, Zhu Yan's rank still rose to Monarch Rank 8. This was even after a portion of her power was transferred into the Shadowlight Realm.

As her rank increased, although the two faith puppet bodies were still in the process of condensing, their information could already be roughly seen within the contract between Zhu Yan and Xu Yan.

Form: Sun-Devouring Spider, Moon-Wielding/Devouring Spider

Rank: Monarch Rank 3 (continuously increasing)

Attribute: Sun, Moon

Bloodline Rank: Quasi-Overlord

Innate Talent: Sun Devouring/Moon Devouring

Quantity Devoured: Sun (1), Moon (1)