Quadruple split.

Chapter 2804 The Paradox of the Priests

Chapter 2804 The Paradox of the Priests
"Eh?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Chen's eyes widened immediately, and she hesitated before asking, "Um, Sister Margaret, what you just said was... bypassing 'faith'?"

That's the second sentence.

Margaret nodded slightly, reminding her, "The previous sentence is 'reinterpreting the so-called power of faith'."

The girl, whose mind seemed to have gone blank, stared at the other person and said very honestly, "I didn't understand."

"Hmm, I can probably guess, but it's okay. It's better not to understand than to pretend to understand."

Margaret chuckled softly, then said gently, "Speaking of which, Wangyu, have you noticed that the number of legendary-ranked individuals on the divine arts side is clearly abnormal, whether it's the sects in your Holy Church Alliance or our sects that, although not in the alliance, still believe in the 'True God'?"

"I hadn't noticed that before..."

Yu Chen scratched his cheek sheepishly, then hesitated for a moment before whispering, "But isn't Sister Xia Lian a legend of the Divine Arts faction? And His Majesty Tifilo too..."

"Luke's ability to become a legend has absolutely nothing to do with whether he studied divine magic. With his talent, whether he is a clergyman or any other profession, including but not limited to warriors, thieves, mages, rangers, and warlocks, he can create a legend as long as he studies it."

Margaret gently interrupted Yu Chen, shaking her head and saying, "He was able to become the Pope of the Dawn Cult, and he was able to become a legend as a clergyman of the Dawn Cult, simply because he is Luke Tefiro. In this relationship, the Dawn Cult has always been the one who benefits, because Luke may not need the Dawn Cult, but as it stands now... the Dawn Cult has greatly benefited from having Luke."

"oh oh!"

Yu Chen nodded vigorously, her tone admiring but not particularly surprised. After all, she already knew from Xia Lian just how terrifyingly gifted the previous Pope Luke Tefero was, so she wasn't surprised at all by Margaret's words. She simply continued to listen attentively to her teacher's 'lecture'.

"As for Xia Lian and Zhu Ye, ah..."

Margaret sneered and said in a very unfriendly tone, "That second-rate trash was able to break through the epic bottleneck only because Tiffilo kept helping her!"

Yu Chen shrank her neck, opened her mouth twice, but in the end she didn't dare to speak.

"Do you think I said that because I have a personal prejudice against that small-chested, brainless idiot?"

Margaret gave a cold snort and said in a deep voice, "Unfortunately, that's the truth. You should know that Luca spent a few years at the Battle Sisters' Academy, right?"

Yu Chen nodded obediently and replied softly, "Yes, I know that."

"Then you should also know that Xia Lian Zhuye once went by the alias Shamar and, as an ordinary nun, kept an eye on Luca by his side. Ha, as if that could help Luca correct his mind and body and increase his strength."

Margaret stared gloomily at the dazzling darkness in the distance and said coldly, "But the problem is that even Luca, who was still a teenager at the time, had a talent that that old woman could not match. In fact, apart from not having enough power foundation, Luca could crush that idiot Xia Lian in every aspect of divine magic. Absolute crushing."

Although she had heard about the story of Tiffilo and Sharon studying together at the Battle Convent when they were young, Yu Chen, who had never heard of the story from other perspectives, asked with sparkling eyes, "And then?"

"To put it simply, whether it's understanding divine magic, understanding faith, or understanding the essence of the concept of 'dawn,' Tefero far surpasses Sharian. And as a clergyman, if one wants to go further on the foundation of epics, one must interpret one's own faith with 'one's own understanding,' and this..."

Margaret narrowed her eyes slightly and said seriously, "And this is really too difficult for us clergy. In fact, the so-called 'one's own understanding' and 'faith' are a paradox. And to resolve this paradox, in principle, one cannot rely on anyone other than oneself, not even God."

Yu Chen was startled and quickly asked, "Even a god can't? I remember the goddess often chatted with Sister Xia Lian, so why can't she...?"

"No."

Margaret interrupted Yu Chen decisively, saying solemnly, "I can tell you with certainty that neither 'veteran' clergy who have already stepped into the legendary rank, nor 'gods' who know better than anyone what the right gods are, can help anyone cross that threshold. If they dare to do so, it will only backfire."

Knowing very well that Margaret was giving her a serious lecture, Yu Chen cooperated by asking, "Why is that?"

"Didn't I already tell you the answer?"

Margaret winked playfully and smiled, "If you want to go further, you must interpret faith with your own understanding. In other words, even if you only follow the advice or hints of other legends and dissect faith without acquiring any substantial knowledge, you are still following the path of being influenced by others. Therefore, even those clergy who have worked hard to enter the legendary ranks would never give such unorthodox advice."

Following Margaret's train of thought, Yu Chen pursed her lips and asked, "Then, what about God?"

"God is even less suitable, dear."

Margaret shook her finger and explained seriously, "Think about it carefully. The prerequisite for a breakthrough is to give a 'completely new' interpretation of faith. So what can be described as 'completely new'? Do you know?"

Yu Chen immediately shook her head vigorously, saying repeatedly, "I don't know."

"I do not know either."

Under Yu Chen's astonished gaze, Margaret raised the corners of her mouth and said leisurely, "Because this is an infinitely divergent process, as long as it is not too unconventional, it has the potential to become one of the countless correct answers. However, although the correct answer has unparalleled possibilities, there is only one 'wrong answer'."

Yu Chen looked at Margaret curiously and asked, "What is it?"

"It's a 'hint from God'."

Margaret extended an index finger and said seriously, "As objects of faith, deities theoretically possess the 'right to interpret' everything associated with their beliefs. Don't be confused yet. Think about it carefully. For such beings, any word they utter will have a considerable impact. If we consider the idealistic views unique to clergy, then any breakthrough they make will be seen as 'authorized' by the goddess, rather than 'their own.' Do you understand now?"

As Yu Chen pondered, he slowly nodded: "In other words, if we can't find our own path, then clergy who are more inclined towards spellcasting may never be able to break through to the legendary rank in our lifetime. Under this premise, neither gods nor pioneers like His Holiness Tifilo can directly help others. Moreover, such 'help' can even become a hindrance, locking away others'... uh, possibility of breaking through to the legendary rank?"

“You can be more confident, darling.”

Margaret smiled at Yu Chen and praised, "Very insightful and accurate." "Hehe, it's probably because Hei Fan often tells me very logical things, so my reactions have gradually become faster."

Yu Chen smiled sweetly and continued, "The reason why so few of us spellcasting clergy can advance to the legendary rank is because this path of advancement not only requires sufficient talent, but also requires us to forge our own path. However, precisely because we are 'clergy,' it is difficult for us to break free from the established belief system, which leads to many people being stuck at the epic rank and unable to advance further in the face of this 'paradox'?"

“That’s absolutely right, but I hope you don’t keep trying to take credit for that young man. To be honest, at least for now, I don’t really like him.”

Margaret said it casually, then continued, "In fact, you can understand it as everyone who can become a 'Pope' having the talent to advance to the legendary rank, but the reality is that very few popes can actually break through this paradox. This is mainly because most popes come from the spellcaster path. As for popes who follow the paladin path... for example, His Holiness Tychus Furson of the Justice Church, his process of advancing to the legendary rank was very easy."

Yu Chen nodded slightly, then asked curiously, "What about Sister Xia Lian? Although she's very good at hitting people with the cross, she should be a spellcaster-type priest like us, right? And Sister Margaret, you just said that others can't guide her in this kind of thing, so how exactly does she..."

"Because Luke is not an ordinary person. Even in his youth, his understanding of divine magic, faith, and deities was far beyond what ordinary people could achieve. Moreover, he was so unconventional that the doctrines of the Dawn Cult could not restrain or control him at all."

Margaret smiled proudly, then quickly suppressed the smile, her voice turning cold as she said, "It is precisely because of this that he was able to subtly and continuously guide Xia Lian to unconsciously find a shortcut that avoids all the 'paradoxes' yet still leads to the destination, creating the most terrifying legendary saintess in the Dawn Cult's history of over a dozen centuries, possessing both seniority and strength."

"Uh……"

Although she had known for a long time that Tiffilo was an extraordinary being, Yu Chen pursed her lips and whispered, "Is...is this really real?" This was the first time she had truly grasped the immense power of the previous Pope.

"That's obviously unrealistic, but Luca Tefiro is a man who's good at making 'miracles' commonplace and worthless."

Margaret blinked her eyes, which seemed to sparkle with light, but her tone suddenly turned bitter: "Of course, even someone like him has unattainable desires, which I think are just outdated and foolish stubbornness, but... perhaps he was jealous of so-called fate, and fell in love with such a fool, and turned himself into an even more foolish fool."

Yu Chen swallowed hard and said cautiously, "Well, I've heard a little about His Majesty Tifilo and Sister Xia Lian... So His Majesty really only... because of the difference in lifespan..."

"Only when he was at his wits' end could he think of becoming an immortal being who could spend countless years with that stupid woman."

Margaret sighed and gritted her teeth, saying, "But this is clearly not difficult for him at all."

Yu Chen, who had always thought that the 'theory of lifespan' was almost an unsolvable problem, was immediately stunned and asked blankly, "Isn't this difficult?"

“That depends on the person, my dear. Perhaps for ordinary people, extending their lifespan is indeed not easy, but that person is Luca Tifero. As long as he is willing to pay a little price, or make that fool Xia Lian pay a little price, he can realize his long-cherished wish.”

Margaret sneered, saying with a hint of disappointment, "But he's so stingy. He wants his soul to be pure, his body to be clean, his existence to be real, and for Sharon to live a long and healthy life. He always wants everything, always wants to hold everything in his own hands, always wants the world to revolve around him. But the truth is... those ridiculous insistences only resulted in a pitiful end in his old age. And if things continue like this, Sharon Bamboo Leaf is destined to live a life filled with regret for Luke's ridiculous insistence."

After listening, Yu Chen suddenly paused for a moment before asking, "Um, Sister Margaret, do you actually really like...?"

"Of course I like Luca. It's never been a secret. Elefise knows, Sharon knows, Her Majesty Ambrose knows, the Goddess of Dawn knows, the Goddess of Darkness knows, and Luca himself knows."

The Dark Saintess, who rarely showed her emotions, clenched her fists tightly and gritted her teeth, saying, "But I can do without him. Even if I can't be as forgiving as Alice, I can give up having him. But what's the use? Even if I give up, he still messes things up, all because of those foolish insistences! He's clearly the person in this world furthest from the word 'foolish'!"

“That’s not what I meant, Sister Margaret.”

Yu Chen shook her head, and after a brief silence, she said softly, "What I want to ask is, do you... actually like Sister Xia Lian as well?"

……

After that, there was a long silence that lasted for two minutes.

"she……"

Finally, the Dark Night Saintess, who had always harbored immense hostility towards Xia Lian Zhuye, averted her gaze and let out a sigh that seemed to drain all her strength—

"She used to be my best friend."

"I think I can sense something..."

"So, why did you ask that?"

"Well, actually, there's no reason."

"For no reason?"

“I just think that if I say this, Sister Margaret, you can feel a little more at ease.”

"……Honey."

"Ok?"

"Those who are too understanding often miss out on happiness."

"Eh?"

"If your shameless Black Vajra priest has taken over your heart, you will eventually become a scumbag like Luke."

"..."