Only God

Xilan had been active on the land for over twenty years.

He had still not stopped moving.

Those scholars who once followed Belvan as their leader had now returned to their homelands. The Path of Divine Creation had since spread to all corners of the world, like a storm sweeping across the heavens and earth, constantly churning up wave after wave.

Whenever new things came into this world, they would disrupt the existing balance. Once the balance was disrupted, friction and disputes followed.

Sometimes, some people even wished that new things would not appear.

But the world was not static, new things had to be born, and what people could do was to prepare for their arrival.

The arrival of the Path of Divine Creation followed the same principle.

With the spread of the Path of Divine Creation, desire, greed, evil, and other acts of wrongdoing emerged in abundance. At the same time, goodness, acts of kindness, and justice also shone brightly. Countless people yearned for that power which disrupted balance, while others sought desperately to avoid it.

What Xilan could do was to act according to God's will and try to alleviate the suffering of people.

Over these twenty years, he had quelled dozens of conflicts that had arisen because of the Path of Divine Creation.

Some of them stopped fighting when the wars reached their fiercest point, while others were prevented before the sparks of war could even land on the ground.

During this process, there were one or two incidents that made a deep impression on Xilan.

One of them originated from a kingdom that embraced the True Religion as the state religion.

As soon as the Path of Divine Creation arrived there, it swept through the entire kingdom, greatly enhancing its power.

Given the intense contradictions and complex relationships among the nobles within the country, once they gained the power of the Path of Divine Creation, they became restless and aspired to use force to resolve their differences. In order to ease the conflicts and secure support from his vassals, the King decided to conquer the lands of the heretics, extend the kingdom's territories, and establish great achievements.

The King's decision not only gained the support of the nobles but also received the endorsement of the local Church. The Archbishop of the country cited scriptures and described the King's conquests as acts of justice.

"This is a just cause. Little do we know how many True Believers are persecuted on the land of the heretics, just like the persecution suffered by the Three-eyed Ape People in history.

We raise our swords and shields to aim our swords at the enemy and to protect the safety of True Believers."

The Archbishop thus refuted the priests who opposed the war.

With even the Archbishop supporting the war, from top to bottom within the local Church, few priests opposed the war. In one of the King's meetings with the nobles, "Support God's cause with military force!" became the prevailing slogan.

"Support God's cause with military force!", coupled with the call of the King and the backing of the Archbishop, whether materially or spiritually, the kingdom's nobles had no further concerns. Countless people donned armor and mounted their horses, joining the preparations for war.

All awaited the waving of the banner; people were ready to set foot on the land of the heretics.

And Xilan, he appeared in this kingdom as a foreigner.

He came in the guise of an envoy from the King of the heretics, so initially, those within the Palace did not know his identity and treated him as a heretic.

The King received him with the courtesy due to an envoy, though his words were disdainful, the war had not yet erupted, and they had not completely turned against each other.

"Why have you come? Envoy of the King of the heretics, what do you seek in our land? It cannot be peace, can it?"

The King asked from his throne.

The vassals around turned their eyes towards Xilan, muttering about his attire. Fashionable lords mocked Xilan's simple dress, looking like a serf, while the knights who valued martial prowess discussed Xilan's lean frame, lacking the robustness of legendary foreign warriors. The nobles and priests loyal to the Church fervently ridiculed the deities of the heretics.

"I am an envoy of King Nuca Bulu, not of the King of the heretics."

Xilan corrected them.

To those in the Palace, this seemed as if a savage insisted on not being savage.

The King smiled and asked,

"What difference does it make? The King of the heretics we speak of refers to Nuca Bulu."

Hearing the King's tone, the surrounding vassals could not help but laugh. They looked at Xilan together, relishing his earnest tone, and their laughter grew even louder.

"To my knowledge, there is no belief called 'heretics.'

On the land you consider the heretics', there live all kinds of people. Some worship the Agricultural God, some worship the Seasonal God, some worship the Wine God, and some even worship the Death God. Of course, many also follow the Lord and are True Believers. Do you intend to label all of them as heretics too?"

Xilan corrected again.

The King was dismissive, glancing at the Archbishop, who immediately spoke,

"We take up arms to protect the True Believers, to save them from the ravages of the heretics.

We are well aware that those people worship a variety of deities, but to us, they are heretics.

And in their eyes, we, the True Believers, are also heretics. It's quite fair, isn't it?"

The Archbishop's explanation received everyone's approval, and even the King nodded continuously in agreement.

True Believers were considered heretics by the followers of other faiths, so if True Believers saw them as heretics, what was wrong with that? It was perfectly fair.