A man among dragons, building a mysterious ancient church.

Chapter 4 The Old Church
Xu Lie floats in a huge, unmanned factory.

This factory is extremely intelligent. Apart from Xu Lie, there is no other living being in it, yet the factory can carry out production in an orderly manner.

Countless oddly shaped production lines operate fully automatically, with all machines engaged in production, processing, refining, disposal, and recycling, creating a closed loop.

In the otherwise perfectly orderly factory, Xu Lie unexpectedly discovered something out of place.

There was a huge, grayish-yellow gear stuck in the middle of dozens of production lines, running at a rough and relentless constant speed.

Out of place with the work of dozens of production lines, each turn of the gray-yellow gears brings varying degrees of distortion, damage, and destruction to different production lines.

In the distance, there are chaotic-colored gears and deep red gears, squeezing and destroying different production lines.

Looking further into the distance, there are enormous, pure black gears, hollow in the middle yet filled with books, surrounded by twisted, irregularly shaped gears...

These mismatched gears are forcibly inserted into the middle of various assembly lines, and every time the factory operates and the gears collide, they are damaging each other.

Gradually, Xu Lie began to have headaches. Every time the gears scraped against the production line, his head would ache, and soon, Xu Lie would be awakened by the pain.

Above the gray fog, countless enormous stone pillars supported a magnificent palace with a hollow center. At the top of an ancient bronze table sat Xu Lie's clone.

To make it easier to distinguish him, Xu Lie has given him a new name – Bao Lie.

Bao Lie propped his elbows on the table, rested his chin on the back of his hand, and looked at the real body with great interest: "Awake? Did you find anything interesting in your dream divination?"

"I also have the ability of a codebreaker, so perhaps I can be of help."

Xu Lie subconsciously raised his hand to touch his temples. His head no longer hurt: "No need. It was a very simple dream. Deciphering it is no problem at all."

"It's probably because the nine source substances are incompatible with the Dragon Clan's universe, yet they were forcibly fused together, which is why the source substances continue to be restless."

Xu Lie had prayed six times in a row, creating six clones, which almost drained his spiritual energy, leaving his soul so weak that he was listless.

He decided to retreat to the Source Castle and take a nap. Before falling asleep, he used dream divination, a form of mysticism, to try and figure out the reason for the restlessness of the nine source elements.

Even without becoming a deciphering scholar or gaining enhanced observation and deduction abilities, such a straightforward dream is enough to explain a lot.

Xu Lie's spirits lifted. He had deciphered the scholar's magic potion and was surprised to find that he had digested one-fifth of it because he had sensed the truth behind the agitation of the nine source substances.

Seeing that the main body fell silent as he spoke, Bao Lie pondered the meaning behind the dream: "According to what you said..."

"Won't that cause problems sooner or later? Either the nine source substances won't be able to withstand it, or the Dragon Clan universe won't be able to withstand it."

"I always felt that, regardless of whether it was the former or the latter, we would not have a good ending."

Xu Lie agreed wholeheartedly: "Therefore, we must solve this problem. We need people to mediate the conflict between the source matter and the universe."

Bao Lie, unable to support his chin with the back of his hand, half-lying on the bronze table with his head pressing against his arm: "Then, good luck to the main body."

"Our clones can't control the source essence right now; at most, they can only keep it quiet."

How to resolve the conflict between the source matter and the universe?

This thing is clearly not something a Sequence 7 clone could get involved in.

Even if the main body becomes a god and can create clones at the Sequence 1 level, it might still be difficult to handle.

Xu Lie glanced at Bao Lie, not wanting to say anything. Oh well, this was his own clone; cursing him was the same as cursing himself.

To resolve the conflict between the source matter and the universe, at least a true god would be needed, right?

Sequence 1 probably can't get involved.

Where is he going to find nine true gods?
Even if you brought out all four so-called monarchs and their eight brothers and sisters, you still couldn't gather them all. Besides, the Dragon Kings wouldn't trust Xu Lie; at most, they'd treat it as a joke and then kill him.

If the dragons don't work, what about humans?
That must be even harder, right?

As for Xu Lie becoming a god himself and then figuring out how to achieve it? He was also worried that he would go insane. Achieving true godhood through nine paths on his own might drive him even crazier than the ancient gods of the mysterious world.

"After much thought, it's more appropriate to let others become gods as well." Xu Lie finally concluded.

Bao Lie looked at Xu Lie in disbelief: "Are you serious about the main body?"

It's no wonder he was so surprised and suspicious. As an avatar that was closer to the original mind, Bao Lie was well aware of Xu Lie's selfish motives.

Xu Lie naturally also had the mindset of a time traveler, hoping to keep his cheat ability a complete secret and not let anyone know about it.

I would prefer to have exclusive access to my cheat abilities in this world, using them only myself and not sharing them with others.

That's why Borg had this question.

Xu Lie seemed more like the master of the place than Bao Lie, who sat at the head of the long table. He unconsciously tapped the table with his right index finger: "When faced with two evils, choose the lesser one."

"Having exclusive control of the Mysterious System is a wonderful thing. Who would want to share it if they could unlock its full potential all by themselves?"

"But the problem we face is that if you don't share, there is a possibility that bigger problems will erupt in the future, which could even endanger yourself and the whole world."

Forrell couldn't refute it, but then he thought, what does this have to do with him?
If the sky is going to fall, it's the main body that has to hold it up. What does it have to do with his tiny clone?
Bao Lie nodded vigorously in support: "As expected of the original body, he can make such a decisive choice."

Xu Lie's face, which was no longer sickly from a good night's sleep, also showed a hint of confidence: "Actually, when you think about it carefully, it's not that bad."

"If I can be the first to completely master the nine source substances, then there won't be any problem, right?"

Even if you teach someone to become a god, at most you'll have them come and work for you, mediating conflicts between the source matter and the universe, and preventing the source matter from being completely taken away.

Bao Lie blinked, feeling somewhat strange. He thought, "Will he train a true god to replace me and guard Yuanbao in the future?"

No, why is my mood suddenly so strange? Is this considered being arrogant?
In the end, Bao Lie didn't say anything that would ruin the atmosphere of the discussion: "If it's a true god, shouldn't we prepare in advance?"

"As believers who serve as anchors, we certainly can't be lacking. You're also going to start a church?"

"Yes, I've already thought of a name: The Church of the Old Days." Xu Lie was currently in the Source Castle, and his mind was not disturbed by the agitation of the Source Matter, so it was working very fast.

"The world is destined to end. To safely weather the catastrophe of the Black King's resurgence, salvation can be achieved simply by believing in the Church of the Old Days. What do you say?"

Doesn't that sound amazing?

Forrell's expression was tense. "What world are we in? Why is there always an apocalypse?"

"Also, you mispronounced one word."

Seeing the puzzled look in Bao Lie's eyes, Xu Lie corrected him: "It's not that I want to start a church, but that you start a church."

They need to grow themselves, familiarize themselves with and control the source matter, and also engage in religion, recruit people into the religion, and teach others to become gods.

Amidst a series of busy tasks and immense pressure, Xu Lie decided to continue creating clones.

The main body is responsible for growth and controlling the source matter; the rest, of course, is left to the clones.

"You are truly a newborn being."

(End of this chapter)