supreme deity

Chapter 737: Holy Lightning
Fang Junhao looked calm, seemingly without any emotional fluctuations, but his heart was in turmoil.

When the Ming King ascended the throne a year ago, all the middle and high-level leaders of the sect felt that the church was about to collapse.

A Ming Wang with an unknown identity and weak cultivation, and a regent deputy leader who acts radically and is feared by the demons, plus the joint encirclement and suppression by the four great dynasties and Central Continent, have made even a strong-willed fighter like Fang Junhao feel pessimistic.

But the fact is that over the past year, the Invincible Dharma King has been invincible in the Beisheng Diocese, repeatedly defeating the encirclement and suppression efforts of Beisheng and Zhongzhou. Not only has he stabilized the Beisheng Diocese, but in the past four months, he has also expanded the territory and population of believers in the Beisheng Diocese.

This "Ming Wang" proposed the underground farm plan, which opened up a new path for the Church of Light and saved the Church's deteriorating finances.

Even the two deputy leaders, Wan Yan and Wan Lei, and their dioceses were able to hold on despite the attacks from the Wei and Liao kingdoms thanks to the continuous financial support from the Divine Religion.

Last year, the income of the Divine Religion reached 3200 million taels of divine gold. Although this figure is pitifully small compared to the four great dynasties and Central Continent, after all, the Song Dynasty's Star Port now has a daily tax revenue of more than 400 million taels of divine gold.

But they do not need to pay salaries to the lower-level priests and divine guards. These devout believers serve the religion purely for their faith. They can support themselves by farming, collecting herbs, running shops, or making a living with their skills.

Therefore, these 3200 million taels of divine gold can allow the Divine Religion to do many things.

And just as Xiao Xingyi said, the greatest wealth gained from the Divine Cult's underground farm plan is these 800 million priests.

They can enter the main altar to visualize the holy thunder and fire, and thus study the teachings of light in depth and practice the way of light.

In the future, these people will be the cornerstone of the Church of Light and the seeds for spreading light.

At this time, everyone in the Church of Light felt that the Church of Light had recovered from its decades of decline and began to prosper.

Therefore, Fang Junhao also did not want to see the conflict between the Ming King and the Regent, which would ruin the good situation of the Divine Religion.

"So Brother Fang should understand that everyone in the Divine Cult, including Wan Lei Yuanjun and me, hopes to further expand the underground farm."

The Envoy of Wisdom, Xiao Xingyi, gazed at the scenery ahead with admiration, his words tinged with sarcasm: "The Vice-Regent wants to purchase a hundred starships. How will this benefit our Divine Religion? Given our Divine Religion's situation, it's already difficult to deal with the Five Continents Evil God. Why would we want to provoke the Extraterritorial Demons?"
"The Regent knows that the Heavenly Demons' ban on sales is due to her. This year, the Divine Cult has spent at least five million taels of divine gold on purchasing Heavenly Demon supplies! Furthermore, the medicinal herbs and minerals produced in the major dioceses are now piled up like mountains, making them difficult to sell. Even if they can be sold, they are sold at 70% or even 50% of the market price! Doesn't the Regent know that her further expansion of the starship fleet will make the Heavenly Demons even more vigilant? Does the Regent really want to lead us into the Heavenly Demon's homeland?"

Fang Junhao frowned after hearing Xiao Xingyi's barrage of questions. "The Regent purchased the starship because he doesn't want our sect's lifeblood to be controlled by the extraterritorial demons. These demons are not of our kind, and their hearts must be different. How can we not be vigilant and on guard? With the starships in our hands, we can trade independently without relying on the extraterritorial demons' starships and channels. In the future, we can be at the mercy of the invaders wherever they come."

Xiao Xingyi shook his head slightly, the sneer in his eyes growing stronger. "Then, may I ask, Divine Envoy Fang, how much has the Regent Vice-Cult Leader's starship fleet earned this year?"

Fang Junhao was speechless after hearing this.

The Regent's starship fleet did do some trade with the help of Fang Junhao, but the profit was very small. If the cost of purchasing the starships was taken into account, the overall calculation was actually a loss.

"As far as I know, the starship fleet's revenue is increasing by 30% every month. You know, in interstellar trade, the more ships there are, the greater the profit. Furthermore, the Vice Regent presides over the Southern Province Diocese. Faced with the encirclement and suppression of the Central Continent Merchant Alliance fleet, he places particular importance on the control of the sea and air."

Fang Junhao's words were obviously lacking in confidence: "The Regent has farsightedness and foresight, which is unmatched by ordinary people. She has devoted all her efforts to building a starship fleet for a reason, but we just don't know the reason.

Moreover, the Regent presided over the Beisheng Campaign, winning numerous battles and protecting the Beisheng Diocese and the surrounding Xiangtang 300 million believers. This is the true hard work and great merit. Without the Regent, our Divine Religion would have collapsed long ago."

Xiao Xingyi sneered at this: "So the Divine Cult should invest tens of millions of divine gold in buying useless starships just to reward him for his contribution? If His Majesty the Ming King firmly refuses, what will the Regent do? Will she lead several Dharma Kings and many Red Clothes under her wing to rebel against the Divine Cult? Is Envoy Fang also prepared to follow the Regent?"

Fang Junhao's expression was cold, and his voice was icy. "It's not that serious. Divine Envoy Xiao, you're overthinking it. But it seems Divine Envoy Xiao has already returned to His Majesty Ming Wang."

He realized that the reason why Xiao Xingyi took the initiative to ask for orders to receive him on behalf of the Tianxiang Divine Envoy was perhaps because he really wanted to negotiate on behalf of Wanlei Yuanjun, but his main purpose was to persuade him on behalf of Ming Wang and to show his goodwill to His Majesty Ming Wang.

"Looking at His Majesty Ming Wang's deeds over the past year, he is naturally majestic, possessing both civil and military prowess, benevolent and wise. He is truly another holy lord after our seven generations of leaders!"

Xiao Xingyi's expression was filled with excitement, and he made no secret of his admiration and respect for the Ming King. "I, Xiao, will do my utmost to assist His Majesty the Ming King and help him recreate the glorious era of the Divine Religion, just as it was four hundred years ago."

Fang Junhao's emotions were mixed. He wondered how Ming Wang's reputation within the Divine Religion had risen to such a high level. Even someone as conceited and proud as Xiao Xingyi had become a Ming Wang supporter.

If you look into it, Ming Wang hasn't done much in the past year. He just preaches the sutras and sits on the altar every day.

Although he proposed the underground farm plan, the main executors were the God Messenger Shancai, the God Messenger Tianxiang and the Dharma King Protector. His Majesty Mingwang actually rarely interfered in the actual operations.

Then there's the Tianzhou Battle eight months ago, which was shrouded in mystery and was unknown whether it was real or fake.

When Fang Junhao thought of this, his eyes couldn't help but narrow slightly.

There are numerous legends surrounding the Battle of Tianzhou. One version claims that the Ming King personally intervened, not only burning Elder Wanxin to death but also killing Wei Jingtong, the Emperor Taizong of Wei. It's also said that the Dharma King, along with the Divine Envoy Tianxiang and a red-robed High Priest named Huangquan Gui, fought a fierce battle against Elder Wanxin, demonstrating strength approaching that of a seasoned Divine Envoy.
Fang Junhao felt that this version of the rumor was the most absurd.

His Majesty the Prince of Ming is only at the seventh realm, how could he possibly kill Elder Wanxin and Emperor Taizong of Wei, Wei Jingtong?

As for the Dharma King who protects the religion, you should know that the two deputy leaders of the religion, Wan Lei and Wan Yan, are only at the level of divine messengers, close to senior divine messengers.

That Huang Quangui, with his body in the eighth realm, was among the candidates for the divine envoy. But before this, Fang Junhao had never heard of such an outstanding person in the sect.

Even though he saw some scattered video footage afterwards, he still found it hard to believe.

After all, Tianmo’s so-called AI technology is extremely advanced and can forge all kinds of images and videos, making it difficult to tell whether they are true or false.

However, it is a fact that after the Tianzhou War, the White-browed Dharma King took the initiative to go to the headquarters and apologize to the Judgment Temple. Afterwards, the Tianzhou Diocese fell into the control of Huang Quangui, a close confidant of His Majesty the Ming King.

Not long ago, this person even joined the ranks of deputy Dharma Kings together with Skull Equipment Heavenly Lord Li Guchan and Hundred Winged Sword King Situ Leng.

In fact, Fang Junhao also deeply recognized His Majesty the King of Wisdom.

This wise king was far more outstanding than Fang Junhao had expected. He educated his followers with scriptures and virtues. Over the past year, he had established a high reputation quietly and subtly, thus intimidating the Three Pillars, Five Envoys, and Seven Kings and controlling the Divine Religion both inside and outside.

He also had no difficulty in handling government affairs, and the world was governed by him without any effort.

However, Fang Junhao was also worried about the division of the Divine Religion.

After the invincible Dharma King Li Weiliang became regent, he fought in the Beisheng Diocese for a year and became more and more powerful.

He has many experts and strong generals under his command, and has become the most powerful vassal state within the Divine Religion.

There are also such vassal states as Wan Lei, Wan Yan, and smaller ones such as the Divine Power King Niu Tao, the War Heaven King Fei Yi, and even Fang Junhao himself.

This is a problem left over from the Church of Light. It is not the fault of the King of Light, but if it is not handled properly, it may cause the church to fall apart.

Therefore, we should wait and discuss with the Ming King to see if we can find a way to appease the regent and maintain the current situation.

He looked thoughtfully at Xiao Xingyi beside him: "Brother Xiao, are you sure that the income of the Divine Cult can really reach 5400 million taels of divine gold next year?"

"Without a doubt!"

Xiao Xingyi smiled casually, "But Brother Fang is wrong. This is just the farm's income. If you add in the other income of the Divine Religion, it will already reach 80 million taels. If we can follow His Majesty the King of Light's plan to expand the Brilliant Altar and build another one at the same time, it will not be difficult to break through 200 million Divine Gold next year. However, the prerequisite is that we can temporarily postpone the Regent's starship purchase plan-"

At this time, the two of them had already entered the main altar. Fang Junhao was shocked again when he saw the dazzling and pure light in the direction of the glorious altar.

He looked from afar and found that the Ming Wang was not sitting on the altar today, but the holy white flame on the altar still rushed up to a huge height of nine feet, emitting infinite bright light. Not only was the momentum magnificent, Fang Junhao clearly felt that this divine fire was clean, even purer, even better than a hundred years ago.

Fang Junhao then thought that there were not only 800 million priests gathered around this main altar, but also the families of these priests and the nearly 2000 million members of the religious army.

With so many devout believers gathered together, the atmosphere of this magnificent altar is naturally different.

Fang Junhao frowned, thinking that this altar really needed to be expanded.

Looking at the power of the divine fire, it was clearly restricted by the altar and could not reach its peak.

In the past, the seven generations of leaders refined this object, perhaps due to the lack of materials, or perhaps because they had considered the current situation of the Divine Religion. Therefore, this magnificent altar could not withstand the devout prayers of the 28 million believers outside the main altar, as well as their pure wills and thoughts.

At this time, Fang Junhao heard hundreds of thousands of priests singing hymns around the temple.

"The holy thunder blazes, the calamity fires burn brightly. Have pity on us, the people of this world, for we are filled with sorrow and worry. The world is full of misfortunes, and the devil's dust is everywhere. The heaven and earth are filthy, and the air is foul. Thousands of disasters and calamities are everywhere, and all kinds of diseases are spreading. What joy is there in life, and what pain is there in death?
Therefore, the Lord of Light descends upon the world, purging the darkness of the nine heavens, extinguishing the turbidity of the nine earths, and renewing all things; the resplendent holy thunder opens the way for all things, awakening my clear nature and enlightening my heart; the bright calamity fire unleashes the source of all transformations, cleansing my broken body, and eliminating evil for good—I advise you to refrain from all evil, practice all good, purify your mind, and be the light of all things!

Fang Junhao frowned immediately, feeling that the hymns of these priests were very different from the previous versions.

(End of this chapter)