Chapter 93

No one knew what Negriss talked about with the World Tree after his second return. Anyway, after coming back, he would laugh to himself from time to time when he was alone.

Of course, he had discussed the content of the negotiations with Ang, but Ang only heard about planting trees, oh, I see.

Trees were being planted continuously. To grow more crops on the ground, everyone in the Abyss of Rest was mobilized. Their enthusiasm was high, and they kept experimenting with various optimal arrangements, using the fewest trees to block the most wind and protect the most land.

The World Tree was moved back and forth. If it were ordinary saplings, they would have been tortured to death, but the World Tree was very resilient and wouldn't die no matter how many times it was moved.

If Ang were present, a quick death aura would allow a crop to grow, and the World Tree would firmly take root and flourish. After that, normal planting would suffice.

If Ang were not around, people would be more cunning. They would bring over some sod in the morning, and by the afternoon, it would take root, and by the evening, it would grow very lush.

In addition, there were some tender vine crops. After a few days of planting, they would tightly wrap around the World Tree. Other trees might be strangled to death, but the World Tree particularly enjoyed it, the tighter the better.

It didn't fear a lack of water or competition for nutrients from other crops. The more other plants thrived, the more it thrived. These characteristics that defied common sense made it difficult for ordinary farmers to grow them well, but those who had never farmed before adapted to these traits more quickly.

Soon, around the Demon Valley, there appeared patches of green oases. As the World Tree grew, the area it protected expanded, gradually connecting into a larger area.

The World Tree, which thrived despite rough treatment, would make the elves, who carefully tended to their small trees, which withered and drooped, feel very frustrated.

The elves had asked Negriss how to tend to the World Tree. Negriss, who had already received great benefits from the World Tree, was not stingy with advice and directly told them: plant it casually.

Plant it casually? Isn't it because it couldn't be grown that they came to ask you? And casually? I, Kaelandar, a great druid, am I a casual person?

The elves thought Negriss was fooling them, so they tended to the trees even more meticulously, weeding, watering, and catching pests. They even placed one of the trees in a dust-free barrier for strict protection.

Since they were on the wrong path, it naturally had no effect, so they came to ask Negriss again.

Negriss was puzzled: "Plant it casually, how can it die?"

Angry, the elves were even more hesitant to plant it casually, so the one in the dust-free barrier died.

This made the elves panic. Negriss had already sold them all five World Tree saplings, and if they died, they couldn't buy them again.

They hurriedly came to Negriss again, their tone much gentler, but their words had a hint of complaint.

Negriss laughed: "I've already said to plant it casually. Don't water or fertilize it. Just sprinkle some grass seeds around its roots. When the grass grows, it will live."

"Impossible, we've taken such good care of it, and it still withered. Sprinkling grass seeds to compete for nutrients will only make it die faster," Negriss's suggestion was met with opposition from most of the elves.

In the end, Geralde said, "We've tried everything. Choose one and do it. I'm tired."

Reluctantly, they followed the advice. They said it was casual, but a group of elves still watched it every day. When a small bird landed and pecked at the bark, their hearts trembled. When some insect eggs floated over, their hearts trembled. When the grass grew and a vine sprouted, their hearts trembled even more.

In this state of constant anxiety, all the other World Trees died, but this one survived.

"It's alive, right? It's good that it's alive. If it didn't survive, I would have preferred to refund your money. It's too tiring. You can kill this tree, I'm impressed," Negriss sighed deeply.

...

Antony left the church office through a long secret passage and walked along a familiar path toward the secret chamber.

Antony had walked this path for many years. Since becoming an archbishop, he had secretly built several bases to conduct activities that could not be carried out in the church.

The location of the bases needed to be not too close to the church, otherwise, they would be closely monitored, but they also couldn't be too far, as it would take too much time to travel back and forth.

However, the safest way was to use a teleportation array, but the large teleportation array in the church was used by too many people, making it inconvenient.

Antony was planning to build a private teleportation array in his office. If successful, it would be much more convenient to travel, and no one would know where you teleported to once the array was closed.

However, this involved security issues and faced strong opposition from many people. The success rate was not high, as the Church of Light was not under his control alone. He had many enemies, including two who were particularly against him, even interfering in matters of his diocese.

There were two archbishops in the human diocese, Antony and Nicholas, plus the archbishop of the Fallen Land diocese. These three archbishops were the top candidates for the next pope.

As the current pope aged, the possibility of his passing increased, and the competition among the three archbishops intensified.

However, the main competition was between the other two archbishops. Antony wished to distance himself from the competition. He had already had a chance to become pope before, and had to fake his death to escape. He never thought that after several decades, he would face the same situation again.

Antony really wished he could grab those two by the ears and shout: I don't want to be pope.

Unfortunately, even if he did, no one would believe him. If he didn't want to be pope, why was his diocese developing so well?

Why were the people in his diocese living in peace and prosperity? Why did he have such good relations with the rulers of the countries in his diocese? Why was the integrity of the clergy so high? Are you trying to perform well to become the next pope?

Antony found it hard to explain.

On the surface, he was a vigorous archbishop in his sixties, but in reality, he was a centuries-old undead with extensive political experience, having reincarnated as a black knight and a human multiple times. In terms of governance, he was ten times better than the other two, even with his eyes closed.

No matter the situation, he had corresponding solutions, and he was ruthless and sharp-eyed. Lie detection magic was not as effective as his eyes.

For example, in disaster relief, other dioceses would make a big fuss, calling on believers to donate, and then sending the donations to the disaster area with great fanfare. They would distribute the supplies, which had been mostly consumed during transportation, to the victims, reaping waves of faith and filling their pockets, while the number of deaths was ignored.

Antony did not do this. He would call on believers to donate, and use the donations to hire mercenaries and merchants to transport supplies to the disaster area.

He would then organize the victims to help themselves and restore production, using the output from the restored production to repay the donations. He would then print thank-you letters and medals to distribute to the donors.

The donations would be given as subsidies to the priests and deacons who organized the disaster relief, meaning that the donations would circulate from the believers to the clergy, benefiting everyone, and the victims would receive aid.

The donors would receive praise and gratitude, feeling very satisfied. The merchants and mercenaries would complete their tasks and receive rewards, reducing transportation costs. The victims would receive food and supplies, survive, and rebuild their homes and restore production.

The clergy would receive subsidies and the gratitude of the victims, feeling that their work was sacred and valuable.

The only drawback was that it could not quickly and massively harvest faith.

But this was exactly Antony's intention. He did not want to harvest faith for the Church of Light. In other aspects, he also adhered to this principle, doing things quietly whenever possible.

However, after decades of consistent effort, he discovered a problem. Because he handled things so well, the population in his diocese continued to grow.

There had been no wars or famines for years, and the believers lived in peace and prosperity. The countries were friendly and harmonious, and the races were equal. For example, a minotaur distributing flyers to attract people to the faith, which would be impossible in other dioceses, was a common sight in his diocese.

This led to a strange situation. Although there was no large-scale harvest of faith, the number of believers in his diocese steadily increased, and their faith was firm and strong, with the highest total contributions.

Thus, his reputation grew day by day, and the calls for him to become the next pope became stronger, leaving Antony feeling helpless.

He was not the type to let disasters, wars, and famines spread unchecked. If he encountered such situations again, he would still handle them quickly. Wouldn't this mean that the better he did, the higher his reputation would be? Would he have to fake his death again?

Sighing, he wondered, is there no way to do good deeds without anyone knowing?

Returning to the secret base, as soon as his hand touched the doorknob, Antony instantly felt something was wrong, his hair standing on end.

The thick wooden door exploded, splinters flying everywhere. At the same time, a solid sword beam burst through the door, aiming straight for Antony's head.

"High-level Sword Saint!?" Antony was startled.

High-level Sword Saints were rare, and any one of them was a famous powerhouse on the continent. Now one was trying to assassinate him?

As a cardinal, Antony himself was a powerful mage, and he was at a disadvantage in close combat with a swordsman, let alone a High-level Sword Saint who could transform his aura into a sword. Even an Archmage would likely face a grim fate if ambushed by a Sword Saint at such close range.

However, Antony was undaunted. He raised his hands, tearing his long sleeves, revealing his wrist armor.

It was a thick wrist armor that covered his entire forearm. The sword beam struck it, and with a loud clang, it was deflected.

"God says: My fists are invincible," Antony declared, punching out.

The High-level Sword Saint, who had launched the ambush, widened his eyes in shock: "Holy Aura!? Divine Word!? Aren't you an archbishop? Why do you use aura?"