World version update

Chapter 300 Invitation
In Orank, deep within the royal palace, in a quiet room prepared specifically for Lu Yan.

The air seemed to still retain the chaotic Daoist aura that had dissipated during the ascension, vaguely revealing a phantom image of an emperor who combined the order of the divine court with the pollution of the past.

Even though it was just a wisp of residual energy, it still distorted the space-time within the quiet room, and the chaotic cause and effect made it impossible for anyone to deduce its information.

In the center of the quiet room, Lu Yan closed his eyes and remained as calm as an abyss, fully absorbing the massive flow of information and insights brought about by his advancement.

Although Lu Yan forcibly suppressed the pollution and chaos belonging to the old corpses at the final moment of the Dharma Form's formation using the Divine Court and the Underworld, he still could not completely erase the connection with the old corpses.

However, for Lu Yan, this level of connection may not be entirely a bad thing.

Lu Yan knew perfectly well that the seven awakening gods would never allow him, an outsider, to lay a finger on the ancient corpses above the stars; a storm was brewing.

However, Lu Yan also knew that it was better to solidify his foundation than to rush into a hasty response. Only by quickly and thoroughly mastering the newly acquired power and transforming it into real confidence could he have enough leverage in the upcoming confrontation with the seven major righteous churches.

The heavy door of the quiet room, engraved with isolation runes, slid open slowly with a barely audible click of a mechanism, and a slender and elegant figure stepped in.

The newcomer was Elizabeth, who wore a dark velvet dress that was both practical and luxurious. Her face was as serene and beautiful as ever, but deep within her azure eyes lay a hint of undisguised solemnity.

The moment Lu Yan completed his promotion, he gave orders to Elizabeth.

After receiving Lu Yan's orders, Elizabeth, the nominal queen, used all the resources of the royal family and herself to keep a close eye on the seven major orthodox churches.

Especially the Church of the God of Steam, which is located in Orank, is under the surveillance of the royal intelligence.

Their arrival at this moment clearly indicates that they have made an important discovery.

She stopped a few steps away from Lu Yan, curtsied slightly, and performed an impeccable courtly bow, her voice soft yet clear:
"Your Majesty, according to information sent back by royal spies, there have been unusual movements in all seven major orthodox churches since yesterday."

The Church of the Seven Gods secretly gathered a large number of core believers in cathedrals across the country, and they went deep into the churches to chant hymns day and night, seemingly to carry out some kind of large-scale ceremony.

Because this matter involves the core believers of various churches, security is extremely tight, and specific details cannot be obtained at this time.

She paused, then added, "In addition, just yesterday afternoon, Sieg III, the current Pope of the Steam Cult, was briefly missing for several hours."

Based on the energy fluctuations and guard movements observed by our agents stationed around the Vatican, we infer that he most likely entered the legendary hidden temple, a place supposedly accessible only to the Pope and clergy of Sequence Two or higher.

"A hidden temple?"

Lu Yan slowly withdrew from his deep cultivation state, lifting his eyelids to reveal a pair of deep, starry eyes, in which a hint of barely perceptible curiosity flashed.

His understanding of this world comes mostly from informational sources, and his knowledge of these places involving the core secrets of the gods is not comprehensive.

"Yes! It is the Hidden Temple!"

Elizabeth nodded firmly, her voice carrying a hint of solemnity, "According to the ancient records in the royal archives, the Hidden Temple is the residence and core of power of the angel kings of the major orthodox churches."

The Church's official explanation is that while the gods are waging an eternal war against extraterrestrial demons from their celestial abodes, only the First-Order Angel King can bear a portion of the divine will and represent the gods in handling important matters on earth.

At this point, Elizabeth paused slightly, and a barely perceptible hint of sarcasm flashed across her beautiful eyes.

"However, this is just a rhetoric used by the church to appease believers. In the true records passed down through generations of the royal family, the so-called King of Angels is more like a vessel and tool for the gods to descend to earth."

Her voice lowered, carrying a hint of historical weight and coldness:
"Legend has it that before the Seven Gods ascended to godhood, the current Angel Kings were also powerful and secretive beings who competed with them for faith and the position of the true god. They also controlled a powerful and unique authority, and their strength was almost no less than that of the Seven Gods before they ascended to godhood."

Unfortunately, the Seven Gods ultimately prevailed and successfully seized the divine positions.

The defeated angel kings were not completely annihilated, but were forcibly assimilated by the victors with immense divine power, stripped of their independent will, and their unique authority was distorted and transformed, ultimately becoming tools for the true god to descend and bear his will.

As Elizabeth was recounting these thrilling ancient secrets in a low voice, her gaze inadvertently swept over the quiet room in front of Lu Yan.

However, in the next moment, her gaze seemed to be drawn to something, suddenly fixing on an obsidian counter in the corner of the quiet room, used to display items.

His pupils trembled violently in an instant!

On the smooth, mirror-like black countertop, something had silently appeared out of nowhere: an invitation card, its entire surface gleaming with a platinum hue and radiating a mysterious aura.

"What is this?" Elizabeth's voice rose involuntarily, filled with disbelief and astonishment, and even a hint of barely perceptible fear.

Only now, Lu Yan, who was immersed in pondering the information about the King of Angels, followed Elizabeth's gaze and noticed the invitation that had suddenly appeared.

He raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly, but his expression didn't change much.

Lu Yan slowly stretched out his hand and beckoned from a distance. The platinum invitation card, as if drawn by an invisible thread, floated lightly into his palm.

It feels slightly cool to the touch, and its texture is neither gold nor jade, yet it carries a sense of weight as if it carries some kind of rule.

The invitation cover had no text, only seven intricate emblems representing the seven major orthodox churches, outlined in shimmering gold thread.

The overall design is extremely luxurious, yet it exudes an indescribable sense of mystery and majesty.

“Since my advancement, I have been consolidating my cultivation in this quiet room, my divine sense covering both inside and outside, without a moment’s relaxation.” Lu Yan stroked the smooth cover of the invitation, his voice low and scrutinizing. “You… never noticed when such an invitation appeared here?”

In his mind, a vast divine thought at the Nascent Soul level was instantly activated, countless fragments of information flickered, and time seemed to flow backward in his consciousness.

Every energy fluctuation and the trajectory of every speck of dust in the quiet room over the past few hours was observed and traced back.

However, what startled him was that even with his current perception and deductive abilities, comparable to a Nascent Soul Dao Lord, he was completely unable to detect how the invitation had appeared here.

It's as if it was born out of thin air, or rather, it descended directly to this location from another dimension or another point in time!

"Is this a demonstration by the Church of the Seven Gods?" Lu Yan's eyes held a hint of amusement.

"I'm afraid it's more than just a demonstration." Elizabeth stared at the invitation in Lu Yan's hand, as if recalling something extremely terrible.

She forcibly suppressed the intense shock in her heart and the fear that came from the depths of her soul, and explained with a slight tremor in her voice: "Your Majesty, the origin of this invitation that appeared out of nowhere seems to be mentioned in the oldest secret records of the royal family."

"Oh?" Lu Yan raised his eyes and looked curiously at Elizabeth, whose face was somewhat pale.

"Among the seven major righteous churches, the Church of the Goddess of Night holds a level zero sealed artifact that is listed as the highest level of taboo." Elizabeth's voice was extremely low, as if she was afraid that some being would hear it. "It is called the Invitation to the Underworld Banquet."

The moment the words fell, a dark aura seemed to rise in the quiet room, and the faint murmurs seemed to come from the legendary underworld, full of eeriness and death.

High-ranking sealed artifacts inherently carry information representing the bizarre and chaotic; even ordinary people who merely recite the name of a sealed artifact may suffer calamity.

However, in this secluded and quiet room, the eerie scene before them lasted only for a fleeting moment before being distorted and obliterated by the illusory image of the Emperor and the aura of the past.

Elizabeth seemed oblivious to the momentary unease and continued speaking as if nothing had happened:
"According to records, the person who possesses this level zero sealed artifact can ignore distance, space, and any extraordinary protection, and send an invitation from the underworld to a being whose true name is known."

Those who receive the invitation must travel to the legendary, long-vanished realm of death, existing only in the cracks of the rules, on a specific night three days later, to attend a banquet hosted by a mysterious being.

"Once you receive an invitation, it becomes an almost absolute rule."

No living being, whether mortal or a hidden being, can disobey the invitation.

If the invitee fails to arrive in the underworld within three days, their soul will be directly devoured and completely annihilated by the ancient and eerie underworld.

However, as a price, the person who sent the invitation to the Underworld banquet must also travel to the Underworld to attend, facing equally great risks.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and continued, "The invitation to the Underworld Banquet has two characteristics that are almost at the level of laws."

The first is what I just mentioned: the inviolable and mandatory rules of the underworld. Once you receive an invitation but refuse to go, the only result is death and annihilation.

The second characteristic is that no one can detect how the invitation arrived.

Nothing can trace its origins or prevent its emergence.

Some speculate that the invitation itself did not originate from our spacetime, but from a higher dimension or an ancient era that has long been annihilated, which is why it can disregard the rules and protections of this world.

Similarly, some believe that the invitation itself represents a special kind of causality. Once the sender determines the desired outcome, the cause and effect are already locked, and even those wielding hidden power cannot interfere with the cause before the effect manifests.

Her gaze was fixed on the platinum invitation in Lu Yan's hand, and her voice carried an uncontrollable tremor: "The strange way this invitation appeared in Your Majesty's hand is so similar to the invitation to the banquet in the underworld recorded in the records."

It is highly likely that the Church of the Seven Gods used some means to imitate or even modify the rules of that level zero sealed artifact.

However, as the Church of the Night's highest taboo, the invitation to the Underworld Banquet is something that only a handful of beings throughout the history of the seven major churches possess the qualifications and ability to access and modify its rules.

Moreover, the invitation did not bear the emblem of the Church of the Night alone, but rather the common emblem of the seven major orthodox churches.

By the end, Elizabeth's voice had become so low it sounded like a dream, and the fear within it was almost overflowing.

The answer to the question of who can simultaneously mobilize the power of the seven major churches and who has the ability to modify the rules of level zero sealed artifacts is already obvious.

"Then it can only be..." Her lips trembled slightly as she finally uttered the names that represented the highest beings in this world.

"The seven archangels! Even the awakening gods have personally intervened!"

Although Elizabeth knew of the existence of the Underworld and the Emperor of Fengdu, the information she had was extremely limited.

In her conjecture, although the Underworld is an outsider, at this stage it only touches the interests of the Steam God Cult. Even if there are external probing attempts, they should only be limited to the Steam God Cult's influence.

With the strength of the Underworld and Lu Yan, they should be able to easily handle the Steam God Cult alone.

But she never expected that the moment the Church of the Seven Gods made a move, it was the Angel King and the seven righteous gods, who were suspected of awakening, who personally took action and even used precious level zero sealed artifacts.

This tactic, and the hostility it concealed, filled her with deep fear.

As Elizabeth recounted her story, Lu Yan also sensed that as he accepted the invitation, an unknown cause and effect began to bind him to the future.

"Three days later, at the Steam Cathedral, ascend the Tower of God."

Various thoughts surfaced in Lu Yan's mind: if Lu Yan disobeyed this invitation, he would be targeted by some strange rule.

This bizarre rule seems to originate from the special remnants of ancient corpses.

"Everything in this world comes from the remains of the past. Ordinary ranks and status have no effect before these remains. That's why even those of extremely high rank who refuse the invitation from the underworld are devoured by the strange entity. Is this the truth behind this level zero sealed artifact?"

Lu Yan glanced at the invitation, not even bothering to open it. He knew very well that this was a test from the seven archangel kings, who wanted to use the invitation to find out his background.

"It seems that the previous hype has been effective. Before the seven great gods have fully awakened, even the King of Angels is wary of the existence of the Underworld."

This invitation, however, is far too stingy.

Lu Yan shook his head slightly, and behind him, the majestic and mysterious image of the Emperor quietly appeared.

With the activation of his supreme divine power of manipulating creation, the strict divine order of the Divine Court was woven into a brush in the Emperor's Dharma Image, which then slowly landed on the invitation.

The bizarre rules reversed, and the platinum invitation transformed into a magnificent black gold color. The words on it seemed to be engraved with the truth of the Great Dao. Then, the black gold invitation was divided into seven, and they fell into the hidden temples of the seven major righteous churches.

The moment the invitation entered the hidden temple, countless hands grasped it, and words resembling the Great Dao appeared within the temple.

"In the name of the Underworld, we invite the seven angel kings to the Temple of the Yellow Springs for a discussion!"

(End of this chapter)