Aside from the God of Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, which only rose in the Fourth Epoch, the foundations of the other Orthodox Churches, even if slightly inferior to the Church of Evernight, wouldn't be too far off.... Aaron pinched his brow, silently assessing the Church of the God of Combat's losses after losing 0-02.
Suddenly, he felt something, and his gaze lifted through the ethereal Darkness to see the gently trembling Nation of Disorder.
Amidst the swirling dark-gold mist, a miniature, somewhat insubstantial continent, centered around the Abyss of Ferrying, appeared within his nascent Divine Kingdom, clearly being the Balam Empire rebuilt by Azik.
This continent, which almost occupied a quarter of the entire East Balam, was like the most solid anchor, making the entire virtual Divine Kingdom increasingly complete.
Feeling the synchronized feedback from the depths of his Spirit Body, a smile appeared on Aaron's face, and he moved his gaze in a good mood.
The first anchor point for advancing to "Hand of Order" had already met his expectations. With the support of this anchor point, the "Balam Empire" in the Divine Kingdom would likely withstand the baptism of the world's rules during the advancement and successfully evolve into the entire Southern Continent.
According to his interpretation of the "Blasphemy Slate" and the knowledge gained from the fragments of the Night Emperor's Divine Kingdom, Aaron clearly understood that the process of digesting the "Hand of Order" Beyonder characteristic was essentially a continuous expansion of the nascent Divine Kingdom, allowing its fusion with the corresponding real-world area to constantly enlarge.
While anchoring himself so as not to be assimilated by the world's rules, he allowed his own Order to embed itself into the world's underlying rules, transitioning from an executor of Order to Order itself in the true sense.
Looking at "Moon City" suspended in the Five Seas and Osel, the capital of East Tucker County, Aaron pondered for a moment before glancing at Dabomachie, who already knew about the anomaly in East Balam, and pointed to the "0-21" Ring of Mysteries, speaking calmly:
"I'd like to temporarily borrow this Sealed Artifact."
The High Priest of Moon City, Nim, had already advanced to Sequence 3 "Horror Bishop" and could perfectly wield the power of this Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, mobilizing the remaining Dark Night divine power from the Forsaken Land of the Gods to gain the Blessing of Concealment, masking the anomalies Moon City would exhibit during Aaron's advancement.
If not for the special identity of "Mother of the Sky," even with the current status of the Nation of Disorder, Aaron wouldn't have been able to send it to the Forsaken Land of the Gods without alarming the True Creator. Otherwise, he would have preferred the more secure 0-17.
Damaging an embedded anchor point was an irreparable injury for any "Hand of Order." The example before Aaron was that of the Castiya family's member.
The Battle of the Violated Oath over six hundred years ago not only caused the division of Feynapotter, a dominant power in the Northern Continent, but more crucially, the Southern Continent colonies, originally belonging to Feynapotter, were divided among various nations during the chaos.
The anchor point, or more accurately, the most important nascent Divine Kingdom for advancing to "Justiciar," was severely damaged as a result. Divinity overwhelmed humanity, inevitably accelerating the process of assimilation by the rules.
But the underlying rules of this world were inherently chaotic and mad, and the Castiya family's "Hand of Order" had not reappeared for six hundred years because of this.
As a heretic in the mouths of "Celestial Worthy" and "God Almighty," Aaron knew that his uniqueness was not just in integrating the Nation of Disorder, but in having a soul that was unique throughout the entire universe.
He was a true visitor from another world; his soul did not originate from the "Primordial One" and would not face the inevitable resurgence of the most fundamental Primordial imprint in his soul once he reached a certain level, unlike the Ancient Sun God.
However, this did not mean that the erosion of rules had no effect on him. Moon City, as the first fully manifested city within the nascent Divine Kingdom, was of self-evident importance.
Without asking about the purpose of borrowing 0-21, the Pope's pale hand emerged from her religious robes. This peculiar world, existing in the gap between dream and reality, trembled gently. On one of the altars within it, Darkness surged like a tide, enveloping a dark, ancient ring.
The next second, a sense of weightlessness struck. Aaron quickly broke free from the daze, realizing he had left the dream, and also saw the Ring of Mysteries floating before him, emitting a serene aura, seemingly illusory yet real.
"Praise the Goddess!"
Aaron watched the Ring of Mysteries voluntarily disappear into the Dark Night imprint, drew a Crimson Moon on his chest, and prayed softly.
-----------------
As a seasoned "Dreamwalker," Audrey no longer needed self-hypnosis to remain conscious in dreams, and could also generally determine the approximate level of creature whose dream she was about to enter, avoiding danger.
It was precisely because of this that she was somewhat surprised to find that all the dreams she experienced this time were at the demigod level, and the last bit of "Dreamwalker" Beyonder characteristic was rapidly digested during this process.
Her emerald, gem-like eyes became even brighter, clear and luminous. Audrey pursed her lips, skillfully pushing open the Door symbolizing the dream passage as before, her expression immediately turning somewhat surprised.
What greeted her eyes were Tarot cards scattered all over the ground, all "Wheel of Fortune" cards!
A baby wrapped in silver silk idly tossed the Tarot cards in his hand, grumbling discontentedly:
"Don't worry, if that Pope hadn't allowed it, even as a mere projection, I wouldn't be able to appear here."
Audrey's expression relaxed slightly, and she followed up with a curious question:
"It's been a long time, Mr. President. Do you know where this is?"
Will Auceptin snorted, his chubby hand propping up his not-so-obvious chin, and after a moment's thought, replied:
"To put it simply, this is a world formed by solidifying, preserving, and aggregating the residual dreams of the Archbishops who were qualified to be buried in the Church of the Evernight Goddess over the long epochs of the Church of Evernight, through a certain special authority."
"Compared to the uncontrollable and extremely dangerous dream world of the War of the Gods ruins, this place is indeed more suitable for you to digest the Beyonder characteristic."
No wonder there are so many demigod-level dreams.... Audrey nodded with a hint of realization. Before she could continue to ask what this Serpent of Fate wanted with her, Aaron's familiar voice came to her ears:
"He's here for me...."
Seeing the true owner arrive, Will Auceptin immediately complained:
"Last time, to help you, I've been hiding in the River of Fate until now. How could I have any extra power to seal 'Die of Probability'?"
"But you, you just disappeared? If I hadn't felt Audrey's fate shift and activated the mark I left, I wouldn't know when I could contact you."
Aaron, who had specifically entered the dream after being reminded by Dabomachie, coughed. He had been staying in Foggy Town before, and normal methods indeed couldn't reach him. At this moment, it was difficult to explain, so he just spoke slowly:
"Sorry, but fate is not my strong suit. Um, what can I do for you?"
A cunning smile flashed and disappeared. Will Auceptin's small face became serious as he added:
"You can send Bernadette to the River of Fate. I will transfer 'Die of Probability' to her."