Chapter 176 Turning the Barbarians into Demons

The bitterness in the Holy Church faded away in an instant, from beginning to end. Outside the church, the priests struggled to climb out of the fire, congratulating each other on not being turned into human firewood. Then, they turned around, holding various half-broken religious artifacts, and cautiously entered the silent Holy Church, only to find Ji Xiang alone.

"Real person, where is the devil?"

A young priest asked, puzzled. He looked around but couldn't find the figure of the fire demon. The other priests around him also looked around nervously, fearing that the fire demon was lurking somewhere in the cathedral.

Of course, the young priest had another guess he didn't voice, but he sought confirmation from Ji Xiang—

"Could it be that the devil was subdued by you? We just saw a burst of holy light here..."

"Ah, yes, it has already been subdued by me. I gained some insights from studying the scriptures borrowed from you. In a moment of luck, I managed to cast this spell. The devil was easily obliterated by that light."

Ji Xiang lied through his teeth, but the priests believed it without a doubt, because the burst of holy light was too dazzling, and Ji Xiang was the only one left in the Holy Church at the time.

In addition, they knew that Ji Xiang was one of those standing at the pinnacle of the Eastern soil's Daoist religion, equivalent to a cardinal in terms of status. It was very reasonable for him to be able to comprehend their Heavenly Lord's scriptures, or to be chosen by the Heavenly Lord as a new proxy.

God needs devout believers, and even if this believer was originally a heretic, God would generously embrace him.

The young priests thought so in their hearts, as they were still pure in their belief that spreading the faith was simply spreading goodness.

However, the older priests felt a storm brewing in their hearts.

They retreated backward, then lowered their heads and talked to each other:

"The Heavenly Lord from the West has chosen his proxy in the Far East, then what are we?"

"We followed the missionaries across the ocean to this place, in order to spread the glory of the Lord, so that we ourselves could gain a lofty status, wealth, glory, knowledge, wisdom. Are these easily attainable things going to drift away from us?"

Originally, these priests did want to win over Ji Xiang, even to the extent, according to the old priest who was still emitting smoke and remained unconscious, of pulling the leading figure of this religion into the Catholic camp, so that Catholicism could flourish in the Ming Dynasty, after all, having an official powerhouse to promote them.

But...

But this kind of wooing and conversion was only limited to the extent that the other party "would not be blessed by the Heavenly Lord himself." Or rather, the priests had never thought that a leading figure of a heretical religion would be so favored by their own God, even granted the power of "holy light," as if making the other party his proxy in the Far East.

Then what were these people?

Were they brave pioneers who worked hard to spread the faith, or were they cannon fodder who didn't matter if they died in the ocean?

"Perhaps God has his own ideas."

An older priest's brow was furrowed with gloom:

"But our status will plummet. Our interpretation of the scriptures comes from the teachings of the various bishops, but if the 'Apostle of God' comes to the world, and is also a Far Easterner, can he really fully understand the essence of our teachings?"

But no matter how they discussed, there would be no result, because the owner of this church was Matteo Ricci, not them, the priests who had come to Shun Tian from Portuguese Macau.

Ji Xiang communicated with those young priests, while his ears twitched slightly, already hearing the whispers of the older priests. When the two sides' eyes met, these priests lowered their heads and dared not raise them, showing great respect to Ji Xiang.

"The final right of interpretation of foreign Western religions has fallen into the hands of a Far Easterner, which will hinder the spread of religion by missionaries. This result is not bad."

It was an unexpected benefit, and Ji Xiang was very satisfied with it.

Just imagine, when a missionary or fanatic is spreading doctrine, if he, as an "Apostle," goes to refute it, and the other party uses the Bible as a basis for defense, then he can directly display the holy light "bestowed" by "Christ the Heavenly Lord."

From the mouths of these priests, he learned that having the identity of an "Apostle" makes any explanation of doctrine pale and powerless. Only what the Apostle says is the true "divine decree."

Perhaps they never thought that a person of a foreign religion would take away the right to interpret their own doctrine.

This absurd feeling was like Buddhism explaining Daoist scriptures, like strategists explaining agricultural classics, like Shinto explaining the White Lotus sect, absurd and comical.

The young priests, on the other hand, had slightly simpler minds. They thought they had come here, across the ocean, for a noble ideal, to spread truth, goodness, and beauty. It was also from the mouths of these young priests that Ji Xiang was able to learn about the situation of St. Paul's College.

It was the missionary's main base in the Far East, the first place where monotheism was stationed, and it was home to many missionaries. However, according to the descriptions of these young priests, there did not seem to be any Western priests of the "Apostle" level.

"The proxy of Christ the Heavenly Lord is also called a proxy. Apostle is a title of respect. If they can also use holy light, their rank is obviously above that of a missionary."

"Perhaps, even higher than those regional bishops."

The young priests told Ji Xiang that in the Curia, cardinals were not necessarily apostles, but apostles must be one of the cardinals, which made Ji Xiang somewhat puzzled.

Whether it was the Three Teachings or the Fangshi, they had many proxies because there were various factions within them fighting each other. There was no need to say more about the Three Teachings. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism all had various factions, and each faction had proxies in the human world. Among the Fangshi, there were also the Qin Fangshi, such as Xu Fu, and the Han Fangshi represented by Dongfang Shuo. Later, there was also the Wei and Jin Fangshi group, at least three categories.

However, monotheism, with Christ the Heavenly Lord as the supreme and only God, if he sent out proxies, how could there be a situation where multiple proxies gathered together?

Ji Xiang asked about the reason in detail.

Soon, a learned young priest excitedly said:

"Although it is said that the Lord bestows power upon the apostles, it is said that this massive blessing has only just begun to rise in the past two hundred years."

"About two hundred years ago, a large-scale war of death was set off by rats. The gods of the old era had not appeared for a hundred years. Four dark shadows rode warhorses from the end of the earth to attack. All of Europa was shrouded in darkness and clouds. Rats gnawed at everything that could survive, crows stood on rotting corpses and howled, bird-beaked doctors in black walked through the streets and alleys, and the air was filled with dust and unknown gases. People touched by rats would soon rot and die, and the number of wandering souls was greater than the number of living people."

"At that time, the corrupt former Curia, holding the Bible, declared to the world that the ancestors of human beings were Adam and Eve. Because they violated God's ban and stole the forbidden fruit of Paradise, they committed a great sin, and from then on, sin descended upon the world. Everything we are experiencing is to repay the sins of our ancestors."

"They sold a bond, measured its value in money, and gave it to the buyer to atone for the sins of the world."

"But more and more people died, and sins could never be repaid, so people began to attack the former Curia and tear up the indulgences. Just as the great chaos broke out, the Lord descended."

"After this terrible conquest, the Lord cast a concerned gaze upon us."

"The main purpose is to revitalize the corrupt and dark Curia, to eliminate all sins, wars, plagues, and famines from the earth, so God began to frequently give us, and give all the living people on the earth, the enlightenment of wisdom."

"The Lord sent countless angels down to the human world, just as it is said in the Bible, that angels will descend when believers are in trouble, and unlike the shapes of angels in the Old Testament, who were portrayed as strange and grotesque, the angels who descended to the human world were all handsome and mighty."

"Florence is the city that the Lord paid the most attention to, without exception. The revolution began here, and a new era set sail. Devils were suppressed and crushed here, miracles were displayed here, and wisdom took root and sprouted here, growing into towering trees in two hundred years."

The old gods who had disappeared for a hundred years.

The outbreak of the Black Death.

The arrival of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The Reformation.

The Renaissance.

Ji Xiang now understood the cause of all this, but he did not relax in his heart. Instead, his expression became somewhat solemn.

The Heavenly Heart Realm personally displaying miracles meant that Christ the Heavenly Lord could directly interfere with the human world!

Moreover, before this, according to the young priest's description, the chaos and corruption of the former Curia had lasted for a long time, at least for more than a hundred years. Such a large window period, without any gods showing their power.

Until the appearance of this "Christ the Heavenly Lord."

Although Christianity had existed since ancient times, this suddenly appearing "Christ the Heavenly Lord" did not look like the "Christ" of the old era at all.

"Could it be the same situation as Longhu Mountain? The power of Ancestral Celestial Master turned into a divine tablet, and the Celestial Masters of all generations sacrificed with their vows... until a Heavenly Heart Realm existence appeared two hundred years ago and completely assimilated the power of Christ, and regarded himself as the true body of Christ."

"Moreover, the devils of Florence were suppressed. When the fire demon appeared, he said that this was not Florence..."

Ji Xiang felt more and more that the appearance of this Christ the Heavenly Lord was very strange, and all the changes he had brought were precisely the "Renaissance."

In this plane, it was driven by a Heavenly Heart Realm, reforming religion and expanding outwards. In addition to preaching and colonization, there may be other purposes.

Ji Xiang faced the learned priest and asked again:

"Then, what kind of power did the angels have in the beginning? Can they show 'miracles' at any time and any place?"

The learned priest was very excited when he talked about this topic:

"Missionaries need to spread the Lord's faith and glory. Miracles can only be performed with believers, because there is an agreement between God and man. Angels are messengers of God, and apostles are apostles of angels and the Lord, so the miracles performed by apostles are not simply called miracles, but 'miraculous authority'."

"That is, designate something and let it appear in the same state as described. For example, if an apostle says to a sinner, 'A person who deceives the Lord is guilty, and that person will die,' then that sinner will really fall to the ground and die."

Ji Xiang's pupils contracted slightly.

This... isn't this the divine power of speaking the law?

How could an apostle have such great power? Isn't this the level of mortals? Earth Immortals generally cannot do this kind of thing.

Is it because of the "Heavenly Heart blessing"?

"Is this power given to the apostles by God?"

"Yes, the source of all the apostle's authority comes from the Lord. They believe in the Lord with a devout heart, and the Lord gives them the authority to describe all things."

The learned priest said piously, then continued to emphasize:

"But the authority of angels is even stronger than this. If the authority of apostles is limited to 'describing' a single existence, then the authority of angels can expand and implement this description into a wide range of the world, that is, describe and embody multiple existences."

"For example, if an angel says that mountains will move by themselves, the sea will be calm, and the plague will subside within three days, their words follow some kind of law in the world, and even if the probability of this law occurring is very small, under the orders of the angels, it will become the greatest and realize it."

The words of this priest made the other priests involuntarily look at him and express their surprise:

"I have never heard of this kind of thing!"

"Father Pondi, where did you see these things?"

The other priests were very surprised. They were even a little embarrassed at this time, after all, they did not even know some of their own things very comprehensively.

"This is normal. His Holiness the Pope will not put some classics on the surface for you to teach, and it is useless for you to know these things. As for me, I am just very interested in this."

Ji Xiang understood the abilities of these angels, and could not help but look at the *Zhenwu Ershang Shu* in his hand.

The ability of the *Zhenwu Ershang Shu* seemed to be quite restrained against these angels and apostles. After all, it changed the state of the other party's existence. If the power was borrowed from Christ the Heavenly Lord, it would be over by directly covering it with the *Zhenwu Ershang Shu* and preventing the other party from borrowing it.

But...

What if there was more than one angel and apostle, and his reserve of vows was not enough?

"Need... to build more temples."

This was a good idea, but not an easy thing to do. In the Ming Dynasty, building a temple for a certain person or god on a large scale required the approval of the Forbidden City. Even in Nanhai, where Dharma teachings were prosperous, the only god jointly respected by all Dharma teachings, and also awarded by the Forbidden City... was only the Heavenly Concubine Mazu.

Ji Xiang could not help but put his idea on the young missionaries in front of him.

When it comes to preaching, this group of Western priests can obviously be well utilized.

Monotheism can be spread.

Can monodevilism also be spread?

It was just how to influence their classics, which still had to start with St. Paul's College. The scriptures and canons used by these priests all flowed out from there.

So at this time, the "Heart Demon Inversion Technique" should be used—

Transform the barbarians into demons!