Chapter 11 Turning the Enemy to a Surrender
After securing their positions around the portal, the Holy Terra Empire did not rush into a full-scale attack, but instead adopted a more cautious strategy: divide and conquer, defeating them one by one.
Bai Zhe knew that conquering an unfamiliar world required more than just force. He also needed to undermine the enemy's will to resist from within in order to minimize casualties and lay the foundation for future rule.
Therefore, at Bai Zhe's behest, the Holy Terra Empire began sending spies into the Green Forest world.
These spies were all priests of the Cult of Life in disguise. They were masters of transformation, able to change their appearance to resemble wood elves, and even mimic their aura perfectly.
They also received special training, learning the language, culture, and customs of the wood elves in order to better integrate into the local society.
These priests, disguised as wood elves, secretly infiltrated various tribes in the Green Forest world to carry out their mission: to spread the faith of the Cult of Life, to turn wood elves who were dissatisfied with the status quo against their own, and to prepare for the next move of the Holy Terra Empire.
...
Red River Tribe is a small wood elf tribe located on the edge of the Bloodfang Tribe's territory.
In the previous battle, the Red River tribe was forced to participate in the attack on the Holy Terra Empire's army, suffering heavy losses. Many young wood elf warriors were wounded in the battle, but the tribe's priests and elders used their limited medical resources on the higher-ranking warriors, ignoring the ordinary wounded.
Zagu, a young warrior of the Red River tribe, was slashed on the arm by the tusks of a Titan mammoth during battle. The wound was so deep that the bone was visible, and blood flowed continuously.
He lay on the ground, groaning in pain, his eyes filled with despair. He knew that without timely treatment, his wounds would become infected, and he would eventually die.
Just then, a strange wood elf walked up to him.
This wood elf looked very young, wearing a tattered animal skin coat, and had a kind smile on his face.
"You are injured," the strange wood elf said in fluent wood elf language. "Let me help you."
As he spoke, he reached out and pressed his hand on Zagu's wound.
A warm, green energy surged from the strange wood elf's hand and flowed into Zaku's body.
Zagu felt a tingling sensation coming from the wound, the pain quickly subsided, and the wound began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"This…this is…" Zagu looked at the unfamiliar wood elf in surprise, his eyes filled with doubt.
He had never seen such miraculous healing magic. Even the most powerful priest in the tribe could not heal wounds so quickly.
"This is the power of the God of Existence," the strange wood elf said with a smile. "I am a priest of the Church of Life, and I have come here to spread the gospel of the God of Existence."
"God of Existence? Cult of Life?" Zagu had never heard of these terms before.
"The God of Existence is the creator of life and the guardian of the world," the strange wood elf patiently explained. "He teaches us to revere life, love peace, and oppose oppression and exploitation."
"The Church of Life believes that all life is equal, whether it is wood spirits, humans, animals, or plants, and should enjoy the same rights."
"Everyone is equal…" Zagu murmured to himself.
The concept was so foreign to him, yet so appealing.
In the society of the wood elves, there is a strict hierarchy, and the lower elves suffer from oppression and exploitation, having no rights whatsoever.
The idea of "equality for all" promoted by the Life Sect was like a ray of dawn, shining into Zagu's dark inner world.
"But…those black goats…" Zaku recalled the ugly and terrifying monsters he had seen before, "They looked so evil…"
"Child, you've been deceived by appearances." The strange elf's expression turned serious. "We poor people are like this, just like you impoverished lower-class elves. Aren't you also less attractive than the upper-class elves? Lower-class wood elves don't have fancy clothes, well-maintained skin, or any awareness of body management. They also have to work every day, so they are generally ugly and wretched. You should know that appearance is often proportional to wealth. Black goats were also oppressed lower classes in their original world, but that doesn't mean they are evil. They are just... poorer."
He pointed to his tattered animal skin coat: "Just like me, although I may look unremarkable, I have a kind heart."
Zaku stared speechlessly at the unfamiliar elf before him, utterly unable to reconcile those ferocious black goats with "kindness" and "poverty." However, considering the elf had healed him, Zaku decided to continue listening to its theories.
"Join us, child," the strange elf continued to persuade. "Join the Cult of Life, and you will gain true freedom and equality. Together we will overthrow those oppressors and build a beautiful world without exploitation or oppression."
Zaku remained silent.
Looking into the sincere eyes of the strange elf, his heart began to waver.
Although he didn't know much about the Cult of Life, he was already fed up with the cruel hierarchical system of Wood Elf society. He longed for change, for a better future.
"I...I'm willing to join, but I need to be assessed first, in case you do anything wrong..."
"Good! From this day forward, you are a member of the Church of Life!" the strange elf said happily. "Come, join me in praising the God of Existence!"
As he spoke, he led Zagu to begin praying to the God of Preservation.
...
Examples like Zaku are constantly unfolding in various tribes throughout the Green Forest world.
The priests of the Life Cult quickly attracted a large number of believers by using their wisdom and eloquence, as well as the powerful healing magic of the God of Existence.
They focused on the lower-class elves who were dissatisfied with the status quo, preaching the doctrines of the Life Cult to them and promising them a better future.
Under the influence of the Cult of Life, a small number of Wood Elves gradually began to think, and they began to rebel against the chiefs and nobles who oppressed them, demanding more rights and freedom.
However, Bai Zhe soon discovered a problem: the faith power provided by these wood elves was far less than that of the human believers in the world of gods.
Even a devout wood elf believer can only provide one-fifth, or even less, of the faith power that a human believer provides each day.
At first, Bai Zhe thought that the wood elves were not devout enough, or that the teachings of the Life Cult had deviated during their spread.
But after a period of observation and research, he finally discovered the root of the problem: the world energy level.
The Green Forest World is merely a small plane, while the World of Gods is a large plane. The difference between the two is not only in area and population, but more importantly, in the energy level of the worlds themselves.
World energy level can be understood as the strength of the energy and laws inherent in the world itself. The higher the world energy level, the higher the upper limit that beings within the world can reach, and the stronger the power of faith they can generate.
The World of Gods, as a vast world, possesses an energy level far exceeding that of the Green Forest World. In the World of Gods, humans can cultivate powerful battle qi and magic, and even attain godhood; while in the Green Forest World, even the most powerful wood elves cannot break through to the point of weak divine power.
This difference in energy level also directly affects the generation of faith power.
To put it simply, the human believers in the world of gods are like a high-powered generator, while the wood elf believers in the world of Green Forest are like a low-powered generator. The energy they produce is naturally incomparable.
"I see." Bai Zhe suddenly realized, "The difference in world energy levels leads to the gap in faith power. It seems that in order to obtain more faith power, we must conquer more worlds, especially those intermediate worlds with higher energy levels."
However, Bai Zhe was not discouraged by this. On the contrary, he became even more determined to invade other worlds.
"The Green Forest World is just a small world, providing limited faith power. But this is just the beginning. I also have the Space Magic Divine Spark, which allows me to travel to more worlds, occupy more planes, and acquire more faith power."
Ambition gleamed in Bai Zhe's eyes. He had already set his sights on the vast void, where countless worlds awaited his conquest.
"Green Forest World is just my first stepping stone; my goal is the stars and the sea!"
In Bai Zhe's view, the gains and losses of the Green Forest world were no longer so important. What he valued more was the world's worth as a springboard and the valuable cross-world combat experience it provided, which prepared him for conquering other worlds in the future.
He decided to temporarily refrain from interfering in the war in the Green Forest world, allowing the Holy Terra Empire to develop on its own. He believed that with its immense civilizational advantages and continuous replenishment, the Holy Terra Empire would eventually be able to conquer this world.
Bai Zhe, on the other hand, devoted his energy to the study of spatial magic. He wanted to master the mysteries of spatial magic as soon as possible in order to find his next target for invasion.
The stones from other mountains can be used to polish jade. Although a small plane is weak, it is the best training ground before invading a larger medium-sized plane.