In Kanjur, inside the territory of twin blades, a huge mansion stood tall. The twin-blades were heretics and so, there was no way that they could legally own land. But might was right. Both of the blades were ultimate heavenly experts or rank-4 ascendants. The territory they occupied was much less compared to the price one would have to pay to slay the brothers. Thus, this was a safe haven for many heretics. But now, the entire situation was extremely tense. It was evident from the expressions of all the people in the city. People were greatly worried. An ultimate heavenly expert was like the pillar that held the heavens. With their absence, any of the churches could launch a crusade and end the entire heretic city. Earlier, the city had two powerful ultimate heavenly experts but now, there was only one wounded expert remaining. Morgan's insanity had put the lives of all heretics here at risk. If a moderate church crusaded, they might live as slaves or worse. But if a radical church came, it would be the end.
At this time, Michael entered the mansion in disguise along with Ambrose and Denise. The cardinal who had been following Michael stood far away, not going too close under Michael's illusion. After Michael entered, he went through several layers of security to finally meet the rank-4 ascendant and master of the place - Roger.
> Roger : So you are the brat who has been chosen by the Lord. You should know that I don't like the Lord that much. If not for him, my ancestors and his peers would have ruled the plane and I would not have been in this desperate situation.
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> Michael : I know. There is no reason for you to not hate the Lord. You can hate him all you want but I would advise you to listen to me. After all, I have come in as your saving grace.
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> Roger : Brat! You think that just because I am injured I can't kill you?
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> Michael : You want to make all the churches your mortal enemy? Don't show me the arrogance of an Ultimate Heavenly expert. Where I am from, the people of your calibre are nothing special!
Michael's words caused Roger's eyes to shine. It seemed to confirm many hypotheses in his mind. Michael scoffed at his reaction and said:
> Michael : There is no need to deduce anything. I can tell you all you want to know. I am also a chosen of evil gods. The place I come from, there are many gods. We call them divinities. This plane is nothing special as the cultivators here are capped at your level. But in my hometown, there are many cultivators who have broken into the next level and many who have even become divinities, or what you might call gods. The god that created this plane is nowhere to be found. He may already be dead or he may have left in the myriad worlds. The essence is that he doesn't care about this place. Now, this world is only a training ground for the evil gods' chosen ones and all of you are a part of the game. Now, are you prepared to discuss my proposal?
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> Roger (after staying quiet for a long time) : Tell me, why should I believe you? If you can give me proof, I will accept your conditions.
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> Michael : Before that, you should listen to the proposal. I am here as a representative of the Church of Mercy. The church's proposal is that you join our team of enforcers. In return, we will hunt Morgan and protect you. But you will have to bind your soul to church.
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> Roger : Don't try to confuse me brat! If you are here as a representative of the Church of Mercy, why did you tell me about your identity?
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> Michael : Smart! This is the church's proposal and not mine. I am here as a chosen of the evil gods. I am playing a game with other chosen and have to eliminate them. But others are strong as well and there are many who are even stronger than me. What I want you for is to help me in eliminating them. I will be staying in this world for a long time and conquer it with time. At that point, you will be able to escape this world and go outside with me. You will not only obtain the social status that someone of your cultivation should get, you will also find the path to further realms of cultivation. What do you say?
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> Roger : Why should I not go over to other evil gods' chosen and make a partnership with them?
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> Michael : You will not get the chance. I will make sure that the church ends you before then.
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> Roger (releasing his aura) : Arrogant brat! Do you really think that you can escape me?
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> Michael : Yes, of course. Why else would I dare to come here?
As Michael said this, he ignited all his power. His aura emerged and rose all the way to the rank-3 ascendant level. He ignited his will manifestation, dao tree and all his techniques. He even borrowed some of the grand-momentum, and his presence reached earth-shattering power. But that was not all, his power kept on increasing! Soon, it increased by another level. Now, he was as strong as a strong rank-3 ascendant. Denise was currently casting more and more buff spells on him and his power level was still increasing. Roger understood that he was in a tough situation.
Roger: This brat is telling the truth. Given his strength, he was no threat to him but now that I am severely injured, he could still escape. If only I had a few more days of recovery, I would not be in this terrible situation! This guy has grasped the perfect timing. He only needs to escape. Later, the popes of Church of Mercy would all come over and hang my head on this mansion!
Considering the situation, he subdued his aura. Anyone who had cultivated to his level was not an ordinary person. He could easily see through the situation and acted appropriately. As long as one's strength was limited, one would need to restrain themselves!
> Roger : Very well! I can see that you have come prepared. I don't think that I have any other option. Give me the enchanted stone. I will place the seal myself.
Saying so, Roger took the enchanted stone from Michael. This stone contained the engraved seal that would then be imprinted on Roger's soul. This was not a simple soul seal on the surface but it went all the way to the inner sphere, affecting the conscient. Therefore, it was necessary for this to be done voluntarily. If the target resisted, the sealing would not take place. This was because the psychic path was absent in this world and subduing conscients was not known. The other end of the seal was engraved on an artefact that was in possession of the council of popes. After one engraved the seal, the other party could injure them fatally if they wanted. It was enough to send the one bearing the seal into an extended coma or death.
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Roger imprinted the seal into his soul. After the sealing process was complete, he looked over to Michael. He did not say anything but Michael understood. Currently, Roger had only accepted the Church's proposal to save his life. Now, even if the other churches launched a crusade, they would have to retreat in the name of Church of Mercy. But this didn't mean he would follow Michael's orders. Given his strength, even cardinals would not have the authority to order him, let alone Michael. But Michael had already thought about this. He closed his eyes and his soul emerged from his body. Without waiting for anyone, he directly shattered the mark of Lord that was placed on his soul. The backlash caused his soul to be rammed back into his body. The shockwave caused him to spurt a mouthful of blood. But soon, his life laws activated and he recovered in the next few moments. Even his soul's injuries were healed.
> Michael : As you can see, I have this trump card that allows me to undo soul seals. If you follow my orders for the time that I am here, I will impart this secret technique to you in the future. Then, not only would you be free from the church, you will also be able to explore the myriad planes. This is your only escape method as none of the other chosen ones have this ability. I hope that you will make the correct decision.
Saying so, Michael brought out another sealing stone and re-branded his soul with Lord's mark. Roger was left stunned for a long time. But he ultimately sighed and agreed to Michael's conditions.
Roger: This brat is definitely not an easy opponent. Not only does he have formidable strength, but is also very intelligent and shrewd. He knew exactly what I wanted and so, he directly showed me the thing that would have the most impact on me. Very well, I can obey him for the time being. Besides, my soul seal is not exactly in his hands but in the Church's hands. Thus, in our relationship, I am the one who holds the initiative.
Afterwards, Michael emerged from the mansion with Ambrose and Denise. He bade them goodbye and met up with the cardinal who had followed him before going back.
The entire plan had gone smoothly!
The plan started when Michael had been making enquiries about the plane. In the first set of information that he had obtained from the Sect, he had already marked Morgan. This person was someone who practised a demonic technique and it was susceptible to insanity. Though the chances were not prominent as long as one was careful, there was a risk for the cultivator to fall into insanity. But, the risk of insanity was much lower than practising many forbidden techniques and so, it would not have classified as a forbidden technique either. But Michael had started brewing his plan since then. He had used many tries to finally put Morgan under his illusion. While it took him almost 2 years to succeed, he did succeed. And then, he planted Morgan's insanity!
'Illusion' was an incredibly fine technique from Wisdom emperor's legacy. In one day, he had managed to control two demi-ascendants. Thus, with a few days of exposure disguised as a heretic, he managed to get access to the mind of rank-4 ascendant as well. He only had to repeatedly brand his soul and break the seal. What did this test look for? It was one's ability! After planting Morgan's insanity, he had both the brothers-in-arms fight. But he had made sure to buff Morgan significantly with Denise's spells. This would not have been possible if Morgan was sane but his perception was distorted by Michael. Thus, the plan succeeded and Roger ended up being hurt badly. Then Michael moved the Church of Mercy before others and forced Roger to have a soul-bind with the church. He also 'showed' Roger how he broke a soul seal. But Roger did not know that Michael could do so because he was a psychic who had already reached self-command. Even other psychics would face difficulty in doing what Michael just did. Michael did not bind Roger's soul to himself because he did not want to make the other party wary. Now that Roger had agreed to his conditions, they would do many raids together. That would be enough time to put the rank-4 ascendant into a subtle illusion. He would be able to manipulate Roger to a large extent. Michael had been in control from beginning to end! He was scheming against the twin blades, the church of mercy as well as the entire world and the other candidates at the same time! Through his single scheme, he had managed to win it all!
The next day, the news about Roger surrendering to the Church of Mercy made its way out causing waves in the entire plane. But it did not stop there! The next day, the council of popes of the Church of Mercy proclaimed that Morgan of twin blades had gone insane due to cultivation deviation and that the Church was going to launch a grand crusade against him. This caused another huge wave. It took a week for the insane heretic to be hunted. Michael's contributions were noted down and his fame and influence increased by leaps and bounds. Now, Michael was seen as a hero in the plane.
But while Michael had managed to firmly establish himself, the others were not stuck either. There were many who had formed their own footholds and passed the test. Many decided to join under the remaining rank-4 heretics. There were a total of 12 rank-4 ascendants among the heretics, though the multitude of churches made it so that they could only be suppressed. Kanjur was a very strong secondary plane and had produced multiple rank-4 ascendants. Had the plane been in contact law ocean, it would have definitely produced upper-ascendants and would have stepped up becoming a primary plane. Thus, many candidates joined different rank-4 ascendants and formed their footholds. Some managed to hide in shadows and create separate organisations. Some went over to control different countries as shadow rulers. But there were many who were still struggling. In the first year, more than 30 candidates had been eliminated, not by the natives but by other candidates. And by the end of the second year, the number grew to 40. Meanwhile, about 30 candidates succeeded and chose to leave along with their team. They had passed the test and did not want to take unnecessary risk. Currently, there were only about 75 candidates remaining in Kanjur. Among them, there were many who had formed incredibly solid footholds and had made their position unshakable including a few divine children. But there were still about 50 who were still struggling.
In the next few months, Michael used Roger's power and swept through the groups of other candidates. In just 3 months, he killed off thousands of heretics and dispatched 31 evil gods' chosen ones. This created great waves in the plane and the popularity of the Church of Mercy reached extreme heights. Using the propaganda that the evil gods' chosen ones were hatching an evil plot, the church easily justified its actions. Michael's position as the chosen of God became iron-clad and even the council of popes started to treat him with favour. His influence was incredible. He was at a stage where he could easily return and win the tournament. But there was something that he wanted to do! And that was taking down divine children. He had not managed to win in the test of combat but he truly wanted to defeat the divine children. This was not for fame or attention but for his own dao. As long as he won, no matter the method or cost, he would make great progress in his dao path. Thus, he made his decision. It was time to take down divine children.