"Wang Hai'an? What's going on?"
As soon as he saw the name, Zhang Chen's expression instantly darkened.
This guy, who had been causing trouble in the walled city while he was away, hadn't he swapped consciousness with the Underworld Mushroom and the bugs later?!
If it weren't for the Underworld Mushroom, how could he have turned back into a human?!
"This... this I don't know either..."
"Logically speaking, it should indeed be just a bug!"
"Even if I transformed into a spirit body with you, the consciousness swap has become a fact, and it doesn't require any energy maintenance!"
The clone of the Underworld Mushroom on Zhang Chen communicated with him through consciousness.
"That's strange... where did he come from?"
Zhang Chen frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly, as if he had realized something, he quickly began to check the page in the book that described Wang Hai'an.
The facial features basically matched his memory, except that they were greatly beautified.
Things like a robust build, imposing presence, and extraordinary demeanor...
Soon, he found the key: Wang Hai'an was wearing a red ring on his hand.
"Wang Hai'an with the red ring? No wonder there's a statue of Lin Qingsong in the city..."
"Presumably, Lin Qingsong with the red ring must have been a prominent figure among the survivors of that era!"
Zhang Chen nodded.
Lin Qingsong with the green ring hadn't even had a chance to make a name for himself before Zhang Chen took him down.
Lin Qingsong with the yellow ring had been crippled by the Supreme Being and was living in hiding within the Empress's world.
The only one who could have achieved something was Lin Qingsong with the red ring.
But... didn't the powerhouses with the red ring perish in the battle against the Supreme Being?!
Could it be that... the battle against the ancient evil god didn't refer to the Flourishing Dynasty, but to that battle between the red ring and the gold ring?!
Thinking of this, Zhang Chen quickly flipped through a few pages.
As expected, although normal battles took place in the walled city, the spider monsters mentioned – that is, the Spider Queen – summoned Frost Spiders and Poison Blood Spiders.
This was precisely the spider race from Sheila's Covenant!
The entire record, apart from a few skills that were real, the rest of the combat process and results were completely fabricated.
Because according to the normal historical progression, the red ring was no match for the gold ring at all, and was easily crushed, with all its powerhouses annihilated.
Finally, the Supreme Being abandoned the walled city and established the Supreme City alone.
But here it stated that Lin Qingsong, leading the people with the dark red ring, defeated the Supreme Being and Sheila in an over-level battle, but their side also suffered heavy losses, resulting in a mutual defeat.
Under these circumstances, the Dark Queen seized the opportunity to rise, initiating nearly a century of brutal rule over human civilization.
"Who exactly is this Dark Queen?"
Zhang Chen flipped through the entire Dark Queen chapter, but her name was not recorded, only referred to as the Dark Queen.
Moreover, the information recorded here was also pieced together.
The battle where the dark red ring resisted the gold ring, for instance, was an event from ancient times, something even Zhang Chen hadn't experienced.
Yet, it was recorded here.
After the establishment of the Flourishing Dynasty, it had gone through so much, expanding its territory and establishing safe towns for many survivors, but this was not mentioned at all. It skipped at least over a decade and jumped straight to the rise of the Dark Queen.
Then followed the downfall of the True God Cult, which had flourished for over a hundred years.
"This history is truly unbearable, what nonsense is written!"
Zhang Chen said with a frown.
"As expected! It seems the True God also discovered that history has been tampered with!"
"I believe it's necessary to restore the true history and clear the True God Cult's name!"
"The accusations of our True God Cult monopolizing power, corruption, and so on, might not be true either."
"It's possible that because the True God Cult was at its peak and threatened the interests of too many people, they were framed with such charges!"
Tang Xueyao said indignantly.
"It's highly likely, but before clarifying those things, I need to obtain more pink crystals."
"The energy from this small amount of pink crystal is only enough for me to maintain my physical form; it's difficult to exert my full strength."
"As for the truth of history, it's very simple; as long as we find Wang Hai'an's descendants, there are many ways to uncover the truth."
Zhang Chen gently patted Tang Xueyao's shoulder, signaling her not to be angry.
"Okay, I'll listen to the True God!"
"For the next plan, I'd like to request the True God to tell me the locations of the pink crystals you sense. I will go and retrieve them one by one!"
"As long as we have the crystals, the True God can fully awaken. Once you awaken, we will have nothing to fear."
Tang Xueyao nodded submissively.
"Mm!"
Zhang Chen nodded with satisfaction. Although Tang Xueyao was naive, she was not foolish.
She knew that he was the strongest combat force. As long as he was present, the True God Cult could grow rapidly, and any powerful enemy would be instantly destroyed.
"The next pink crystal closest to here is in River Valley City. Let's go there!"
Zhang Chen pointed to a small city on the map.
"Yes, True God. I will assemble the troops now and head for River Valley City!"
"Also... I need a troop to relieve Rock City. After all, this is something I promised. Our True God Cult's principles are love for all and tolerance. I don't want to see those people die!"
Tang Xueyao asked meekly.
"That's fine. We don't need many people to find the pink crystals; just the two of us will suffice!"
"To relieve Rock City, you can have the Underworld Mushroom take some people. It's not a difficult task."
"Leave more troops to guard Qingsong City."
"Since it's now territory of the True God Cult, we cannot let the enemy take it away easily."
Zhang Chen said.
"Understood. I'll make the arrangements now!"
Tang Xueyao jumped up happily and skipped away.
After leaving, she immediately regained her composed demeanor, walking with slow steps, occasionally smiling and greeting the believers she met...
An hour later, Qingsong City was left under the command of Goen with 4,000 city guards.
The Underworld Mushroom, with 1,000 soldiers, was sent to support Rock City.
Zhang Chen and Tang Xueyao then headed for River Valley City.
Meanwhile, the news of Qingsong City's fall had already reached the Emperor of the Empire.
Emperor Lin Zongzhi immediately convened a meeting with his ministers to formulate countermeasures.
"It seems the heretical cult of the True God is making a comeback, and it appears to be quite significant!"
"They managed to capture the important town of Qingsong City so easily, with 5,000 defending soldiers collectively defecting. Everyone, let's discuss how to deal with this."
Lin Zongzhi, sitting in the main seat, asked with a look of worry.
"Isn't this simple? Just lead the troops to retake Qingsong City!"
"A mere five thousand defending soldiers. I request Your Majesty to grant me 5,000 troops, and you'll see how easily I can defeat those rabble!"
A bearded general said confidently.
His confidence stemmed from two reasons: first, he was a powerhouse at the eighth level of the Hua Ling Realm, and no one in Qingsong City could match him; second, he had informants within the city, so he knew himself and the enemy.
In his opinion, this credit was like a gift.