I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

Ji Tian looked down at the shadow apostle in the pit, who was smashed and dazed, and did not continue to attack.

The other person's statement, "I'm also a spy sent by the church," did indeed pique his interest.

If what this person says is true, then the church's reach is much longer than he imagines; if it's false, we might as well listen to what kind of nonsense he can come up with.

Ji Tian crouched down, looking the Shadow Apostle in the eye. "There are many ways to make sure you're not lying. You can choose: let me search your soul, or confess voluntarily? After searching your soul, you'll at best suffer from memory confusion, and at worst become an idiot. I don't care, you choose."

The Shadow Apostle's face paled slightly. He struggled to sit up, panting, his voice hoarse: "I'll talk... don't search my soul! I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"Whose side are you on?"

The Shadow Apostle swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on Ji Tian's face, fearing he might attack at any moment. "I am a high-ranking agent of the Holy City Cathedral, codenamed 'Shadow Nail.' Three years ago, I was ordered to infiltrate the Order of Light and eventually joined the Shadow Apostle faction."

Ji Tian didn't reply, he just looked at him.

The Shadow Apostle, thinking he didn't believe him, hurriedly said, "I have evidence! In my Nightmare Warhorse's saddlebag is a Holy Light Emblem, personally bestowed by the Archbishop of the Cathedral. It bears his magical mark; you can see for yourself!"

Ji Tian nodded, beckoned to the saddlebag on the ground, and sure enough, he found the holy emblem wrapped in the [Seven Pages Book - Fragment], its aura sealed away.

He took the pages from the book, tossed the badge to the other person, and said, "Continue."

"Shadownail" took the holy symbol, breathed a sigh of relief, gathered his thoughts, and began to explain:

"The church discovered the so-called Order of Light very early on. At first, it was just considered an ordinary heretical cult, and it was cracked down on several times. Each time, a number of strongholds were wiped out and a number of leaders were killed."

"But before long, new strongholds will emerge, and new leaders will take over. No matter how hard you try, you can't get rid of them all."

He kept his eyes fixed on Ji Tian as he spoke, confirming that the other party seemed to genuinely have the ability to verify whether he was lying. Not daring to conceal anything, he continued:

"Later, the church discovered that the core of this cult was the 'Apostles.' They possessed a sacred object called the 'Book of Seven Pages'—no, it should be called an evil object."

"That thing is said to be a fragment left behind by an ancient mad god who tried to tamper with reality. It can leverage reality through a 'reasonable narrative,' and the apostles have used it to make a comeback time and time again."

Ji Tian nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.

"What troubled the church even more was that these seven apostles were independent of each other, and even their hiding places were different. Even if one was captured, the other six would not be exposed."

"Moreover, they all share a common goal—to launch a large-scale sacrifice in the capital, using everyone in the capital as a price to forcibly elevate themselves to demigod status."

Ji Tian interrupted at the opportune moment, "Since the Church knows, why didn't they remind the Kingdom?"

The undercover agent sent by the church simply shook his head. "I'm just a spy and don't know if the church's higher-ups have told the royal family about this... However, if I were the church's cardinal stationed in the capital, I would never have told them about this."

Ji Tian became interested upon hearing this. "Oh? What do you mean?"

"The Church wants to find out how someone at the level of a mere Archmage can cross the insurmountable barriers of Archmage and Legendary Archmage and directly become a demigod. If this really exists and the kingdom knows the specific process, it's hard to guarantee that a city won't be 'accidentally sacrificed' every few years."

"Secondly, the leader of the cult has not yet shown himself, and no one knows whether he possesses something more powerful and mysterious than the [Seven Pages Book]. Taking action rashly would only alert the enemy, and it would also be inconvenient to cooperate with the royal family."

I understand. The church wants to obtain the method to ascend to demigod status on its own, and also wants to keep the treasure for itself.

The world is not black and white; kingdoms and churches cannot be entirely composed of good or bad people. Therefore, Ji Tian has never hesitated to assume the worst about other forces. "So you were sent to be a spy?"

Seeing that the other party did not express any opinion, the Shadow Apostle guessed that the other party was probably a hidden powerhouse from the academy. "Yes, I spent three years climbing up from the bottom of the cult step by step."

"At the cardinal's behest, I deliberately exposed some church information to gain his trust, and then helped the former Shadow Apostle solve a problem, which is why he accepted me as his disciple. After his 'accidental death,' I naturally inherited his fragments and title."

Ji Tian was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Have you met the leader of the order?"

The Shadow Apostle nodded, then shook his head, his expression becoming somewhat strange.

"I've seen it. They even cooperated with the cardinals who possessed the holy relics to capture them twice. After the relics searched their memories, the captured 'leaders' were found to be ordinary people who had been implanted with specific memories. They all believed that they were the real leaders and would only appear at specific times and places to communicate with the apostles."

Ji Tian frowned slightly as he recalled the fragments of memories he had obtained from the apostles he had killed during the Soul Search:

The leader's face is different in each memory; there are men and women, old and young, and even their temperaments are completely different.

A leader who will always hide behind the scenes?

Ji Tian didn't press the matter of the leader further, instead changing the subject: "You've been undercover for three years, and with the church as your backing, you must know quite a bit about the other apostles. Tell me, what's the specific situation of those apostles I haven't dealt with?"

The Shadow Apostle paused slightly, then subconsciously asked, "How many did you take care of?"

"Three: Thousand Faces, Demon Sword, and Illusion. They're all dead, and the fragments are in my hands."

The Shadow Apostle shuddered upon hearing this, and when he looked at Ji Tianshi again, the fear in his eyes deepened.

He took a deep breath and began to introduce the remaining apostles:

"The Cursed Apostle is an old man, whose exact age is unknown, but he has lived for at least a hundred years. He is the strongest of the seven apostles, and is said to be at the level of a Grand Magister."

"He was not as flamboyant as the other apostles and never took the initiative to act. The Church believed that he was very likely the true leader of the Order of Light."

Ji Tian nodded, signaling him to continue.

"The Apostle of Light... His identity is somewhat special. We suspect he is of noble birth, and may even be a member of a powerful family. His influence is behind all the small factories, workshops, and shops that the Order owns in the capital and the North."

"He doesn't show his face directly, but the actual controllers of all his businesses are his people. He is ruthless and extremely cautious, never leaving any evidence against him."

Ji Tian recalled the refugees and factories he had seen on the official road a few days ago. It turned out that there was a religious group behind these industries. "Go on."

"The most dangerous one is the 'Slaughter Apostle.' He is very powerful and has severely injured many other apostles. Half of the apostles in the order have been replaced by their disciples as new apostles because of this. Fortunately, he is not interested in things like the 'Book of Seven Pages,' which require writing, otherwise, probably half of them would fall into his hands..."

"Wait a minute," Ji Tian interrupted, "If the Slaughter Apostle likes killing so much, why didn't he come when I had the followers spread the message this morning?"

Ji Tian was actually wondering whether the "Demon Sword Apostle" or the "Slaughter Apostle" would come first, but he didn't expect the latter to be so patient.

Is he really a combat genius? The kind who's rough around the edges but meticulous at heart?

However, the words of the "Shadow Apostle" next interrupted this thought.

"Um... I think that with the intelligence of the 'Killing Apostle,' they would probably kill them without waiting for anyone to warn them."

"..."