NEC Chapter 109: The Seven-Eyed God, Grace Upon Vast Sea?

After the host finished his warm greetings, it was finally High Priest Farell's turn.

The young high priest gently smoothed the wrinkles on his clerical robe and stood up.

"Thank you very much for Lord of Vast Sea's generous hospitality. I've come here representing the divine court for two main matters."

"The first matter is because I heard that a bandit armed force actually ignored the 'Development Territory Protection Treaty’ and brazenly launched an attack against Vast Sea Territory, which is a pioneering territory."

"Although goblins and ogres are not under the jurisdiction of human nations, His Divine Majesty was greatly enraged upon hearing that human races were involved, so he instructed me to visit here and see if any human forces were involved, conspiring to sabotage the human covenant!"

The words sounded good, but actually Chen Mo wasn't buying into their act at all.

The bandits' supplies were all provided by trading companies affiliated with your divine court. How could you not know whether human forces were involved?

One could only say that this divine court had perfected the art of being a courtesan while erecting a chastity memorial.

"The second matter is that Vast Sea is newly established, with vacant divine positions!"

"The divine court arranged for me to come here, hoping that the lord would proclaim our divine teachings in Vast Sea, fulfilling our gods' intention to bless all living beings with divine protection."

Chen Mo laughed heartily and gave his response, "There were indeed humans among the bandit group, but I don't know where they came from either."

"Now they've all become bones, so we definitely can't question them for anything! I'll have them cleaned up later and hand the remains over to your country, hoping your country might still discover some clues."

"As for religious belief, the cleric must have heard that I personally have great respect for all the gods, but I don't believe in any religion."

"So, the matter of proselytizing in Vast Sea Territory should be forgotten."

"After all, this place of mine is a barren land, poor and destitute. Rather than believing in gods, it's better to believe in oneself."

High Priest Farell pressed his hand to his forehead and nodded slightly, "Lord, what you've said isn't quite right. Divine grace can certainly be bestowed upon Vast Sea!"

"Oh?"

Chen Mo sat up straight and directly asked, "If that's the case, what benefits would there be in allowing your religion to proselytize here?"

Farrell's face twitched heavily.

He was a high priest, an Insight High Priest from Mistmoon Divine Court.

Mistmoon Divine Court, as a standard theocratic state where religious authority equals political power, had clerics who were the rulers of this nation.

To better manage this nation, the clerics were divided into three categories: bishops, priests, and templars.

The bishops' responsibility was to educate the people, they were the real power faction leaders controlling regions, and each bishop owned his own diocese.

In his territory, he was the god's representative, the Divine Emperor's spokesperson, possessing almost all rights of life and death within the territory.

The priests were the various officials of the divine court, divided into central court priests and high priests according to their affiliated dioceses.

Farrell was a high priest among the central court priests, previously a member of the priestly group responsible for Mistmoon Divine Court's foreign affairs.

As for the templars, they were the divine court's military force. Farrell's team included a fully equipped templar squad.

This didn't need much explanation. In this chaotic world, without bishops, the divine court might lose some income; without high priests, the divine court might have fewer vassals; without templars, they probably would have nothing left long ago.

Although still relatively young, Todd Farrell was already a backbone of the divine court who had participated in two Seven-Fold Veil Grand Ceremonies, having served as envoy to over a dozen large and small nations, meeting hundreds of local lords and officials.

However, this was the first time he encountered someone so brazenly proposing to demand benefits from the divine court.

High Priest Farell once doubted whether he was experiencing auditory hallucinations.

Seeing the accompanying Herlan holding his head, then looking at Steward Oren's expression like he had eaten a mouse, Farrell knew he probably indeed hadn't misheard.

"This... this, this Lord of Vast Sea, regarding faith in the divine, it should be devout... yes, heartfelt devotion. How could it be measured by... by what benefits?"

"Is that so?" Chen Mo smiled as he raised his wine cup, "I have limited experience and indeed don't understand some matters."

"Let me put it differently then. If the people in my territory devoutly believe in the gods, what divine blessings can they receive?"

Farrell took a deep breath.

He began to believe that this guy really wasn't any kind of noble at all. Which noble would act like this?

There were nobles on the continent who believed in gods, and lords who didn't believe in gods, but regardless, they all had the necessary, basic respect for the divine.

It was like being a civil servant in a southern province. You might not follow orders from a northern province's top leader, but when they came, you still had to maintain basic courtesy.

How could you go up and ask for reception fees?

Even if you thought that way, you couldn't say it. You had to at least put on an act.

Farrell straightened his body and once again adjusted his slightly wrinkled clerical robe, taking this time to also organize his somewhat chaotic inner thoughts.

Representatives of the divine court should maintain highly neat appearances anywhere. All kinds of cleaning spells were practiced to perfection, but in another nation's lord's mansion, even the lowest-level dust removal spell was strictly forbidden, because no lord would sit by and watch you use psychic power just dozens of steps away.

Who knew what kind of thing you might unleash?

How should he respond to this rule-breaking lord?

If this were within the divine court's jurisdiction, a heretic hat would definitely have been slapped on already.

But not to mention this was a pioneer knight territory protected by covenant, even without the covenant, the divine court wouldn't want to randomly bully a human lord.

After all, the divine court's hundred-plus bishops were also lords in some sense.

Besides, if you offended people, how could you still make money?

After pondering for a while, Farrell tried once again to communicate.

"By the great Seven-Eyed God above, may I presumptuously ask if Lord Chen has his own divine beliefs?"

"Not at all. It's just that I don't believe in those void... well, those things in the void that I cannot see."

"Understood!"

High Priest Farell stood up, once again smoothing the wrinkles at his robe's corners, his expression serious, "I, Todd Farrell, Third Eye of Mistmoon Divine Court, High Priest of the Eye of Insight, formally request the noble Lord of Vast Sea."

"Please allow me to invoke the divine name upon Vast Sea's land, bring down divine grace, and let the lord personally witness the supreme glory and true power of the Seven-Eyed God!"

Behind him, the Mistmoon clerics and attendants, along with the stewards and staff from Seven-Radiance Garland, all stood up, crossed their hands, and lowered their brows and heads, creating quite a solemn and dignified ceremonial atmosphere.

Chen Mo didn't immediately agree. He stroked his wine cup and gave a vague answer, "High Priest Farell, matters should be handled one at a time. How about after the first matter's bone handover is completed and the investigation ends, we have an in-depth discussion about this second matter?"

He needed time, needed to figure out what mysteries were hidden behind this so-called "bringing down divine grace."

So, this night was destined to be a sleepless night for both sides.

Light cast slightly swaying human shadows on the rough stone walls. The projection equipment displayed photos of several Mistmoon clerics. The territory remained sleepless as Chen Mo convened a high-level small meeting in the inner hall.

The territory's only three people with some understanding of the divine court, Chief Administrator Herlan, Patrol Captain and Councilor Lynn, and Magic Advisor and Councilor Downs, began explaining their knowledge of the divine from different angles.

There were many gods in this world, such as the nature gods worshipped by elves, the flame god worshipped by dwarves, and of course some niche deities, like the corn and hearth fire god worshipped by sand people, which sounded quite strange.

But if speaking of the most influential on the current Starry Continent, that was undoubtedly Mistmoon Divine Court's Seven-Eyed God.

Also called the Seven Radiance God.

Herlan drew a string of symbols on the table, "The Seven-Eyed God is what the divine court calls the creator god, supreme main god, eternal true god!"

"The so-called seven eyes mean the deity has seven eyes total, representing seven types of observational abilities, able to see everything in the past and future, in the firmament and abyss!"

Chen Mo curiously asked, "Having seven eyes on the head, wouldn't that appearance be too... too strange?"

After thinking, Chen Mo still didn't use offensive language, since looking at these people, it seemed this deity wasn't a completely illusory existence.

This was a fantasy world after all, having something abnormal was normal.

Herlan pointed to his forehead, "They're not all on the head. The seven eyes are distributed at various positions on the body."

"The left and right eyes can see past and future, called the Eye of the Past and Eye of the Future respectively. Above the space between the eyebrows is an eye called the Eye of Insight, which can perceive the current world."

Tsk tsk, past, present, and future were all covered.

Herlan then patted his hands and feet, "The deity has two eyes in the soles of its feet. The left foot is the Eye of the Abyss, which can see the endless abyss, and the right foot is the Eye of the Firmament, which can see all heavens and myriad realms."

"Finally, there's one eye each in the deity's left and right palms. The one in the left hand is called the Eye of True Knowledge, meaning it can penetrate the laws governing the world's operation. The one in the right hand is called the Eye of Eternity, symbolizing the deity's immortality and eternal existence."

"This is the origin of the Seven-Eyed God's title."

Chen Mo tried hard to visualize this image in his mind, but ultimately found it too abstract, "Alright, I already thought seven eyes on the face would be very strange, but having them on hands and feet... does that mean it has to lift its foot soles to look at things normally?"

"No, no, these eyes don't need to actually be exposed. As long as they exist, they can see."

To help his lord understand more thoroughly, Herlan spent considerable time recounting the divine court legends of the Seven-Eyed God's creation, annihilation, and rebirth, focusing particularly on the origin of the four eyes on hands and feet.

The Seven Radiance God initially only had three eyes, namely the past, future, and insight eyes. At that time, it was merely one among the gods, with divine power and position being only ordinary among the deities.

"In a certain period of ancient times, it's said this deity borrowed wealth from the dwarven ancestor god, some kind of divine essence origin used among gods."

"Due to certain special reasons, the Seven-Eyed God couldn't repay on time."

"The enraged dwarven ancestor god launched a 'contract pursuit,' captured the Seven Radiance God, and nailed him to the 'Wall of Despair' forged from countless defaulters' wails! He prepared to seize his divine power to compensate for the wealth on the contract that had rolled and expanded beyond calculation."

"Psychic spikes as thick as human arms, burning with contract fire, pierced through the Seven Radiance God's left hand, so the left hand opened the Eye of True Knowledge. They pierced through the Seven Radiance God's right hand, and the right hand birthed the Eye of Eternity."

"The same happened to both feet. When all seven divine eyes finally opened simultaneously in endless pain and contract flames, the Seven-Eyed God's divine nature transformed! He broke free from his bonds and returned to his divine throne with supreme power, reclaiming his godhood and divine position!"

"Moreover, his power exceeded what it was before!"

This story, why did it sound a bit like a dark joke?

"Then, did this Seven-Eyed God later kill the dwarven ancestor god?"

"No, the dwarven ancestor god and Seven-Eyed God reached a reconciliation."

"The dwarven ancestor god transferred the punishment to the dwarven race, making the dwarven people forever wandering and fleeing everywhere, to appease the Seven-Eyed God's fury."

Chen Mo almost spat out his tea. This was even more hellish than the previous story!

"Additionally, the dwarven race also converted the still-rolling massive debt owed by the Seven-Eyed God into... generous investment in the Seven-Eyed God. They provided even more wealth, supporting the Seven-Eyed God in defeating several other deities and ultimately seizing the creator god position and supreme godhood!"

What a dramatic and turbulent epic!

"According to what you're saying, the dwarven race should be quite miserable, right? Why do I see dwarven clans operating businesses everywhere?"

"Ahem!" Downs, who had been sitting beside them, cleared his throat and took over the question, "I actually know about this. When I was young, I traveled various countries and heard many stories about the dwarven race."

"It's said that back then, the dwarven ancestor god promised the Seven-Eyed God that as eternal abyss punishment, the dwarven race would never be able to have their own homeland. Once they gathered and settled somewhere, war would spread across that land, never ceasing."

"Even if the dwarves slaughtered all living beings on that land, they couldn't erase this ancestral god's curse. New flames would always burn fiercely."

"However, as you know, Lord, the dwarves... how should I put it, various countries consider them part of the human race, but when certain people wanted to attack our Vast Sea Territory, they unhesitatingly cast aside the pioneer lord protection covenant and provided supplies and weapons to bandits for certain interests."

"I think their ancestor god's curse perhaps isn't without reason."

Well, Chen Mo had privately heard a bit about how Downs seemed to have been badly cheated by dwarves in his youth.

Because of academy tuition loans, the interest kept rolling, and he carried debt for over a decade until he became a fourth-tier great mage and finally paid it off. The old man definitely had no good feelings toward dwarves.

Finally, old mercenary Lynn added a small supplement.

"I once cooperated with a high-ranking cleric of the Seven-Eyed God. Their clerics indeed possessed some miraculous abilities. I always felt that if Mistmoon Divine Court was truly willing to bestow more 'divine grace,' making others worship them would be the simplest thing."

"However, in bestowing divine grace, they always appeared particularly, particularly stingy!"

"Either they could obtain many things from you, or to prevent you from turning to their opponents and bringing them greater losses, only in these situations would clerics sprinkle down a bit of so-called divine grace."

"Most other times, they're like greedy hyenas, wishing they could devour everything into their own bellies, even licking bones clean, not leaving you a speck of meat."

"If this Seven-Eyed cleric is truly willing to display divine grace for Vast Sea Territory, I think he must have taken a fancy to something about the territory or you, Lord."

As the small meeting neared its end, Chen Mo slowly turned off the camera switch.

He could assess some of the potential negative impacts of letting a religious charlatan perform so-called divine arts in his territory, but certainly not completely. Obviously, for such matters, he felt it necessary to consult with home.

Meanwhile, at the territory's post station, the leaders of the Seven-Eyed God and Seven-Radiance Garland were also having an intense discussion.

"Esteemed Lord Farrell, why do you... want to expend such precious divine power to perform miracles here?"

"Oren, you only see this territory's past, see a little bit of the present, but I have already sensed this territory's future."

"This is why you're only a first-tier cleric while I'm an Eye of Insight High Priest."

"This is a very pragmatic lord. Throughout his entire territory, there's an extremely utilitarian style."

"If we let him experience the divine's might, perhaps we can have a special harvest."

Farrell heavily tapped the map hanging on the wall and slowly spoke, "All our previous plans were built on the premise that this territory couldn't be defended, or even if defended, this lord wouldn't want to stay too long and would seek other positions after gaining noble status."

"But if this lord is willing to continuously invest and truly take root here, what would that mean for Mistmoon?"

"It would become a nail between the divine court's north and the southern Crescent Moon Federation!"

"The Crescent Moon is too far from the divine court and was already somewhat wavering. If further squeezed by Resting Moon Dynasty forces, the future wind direction within the federation might change in ways we can't predict."

"Also, there's a port here!"

"You know, in the Five Tribes Republic Agreement, the sea folk only allow human passage within twenty kilometers from shore. Beyond this range, the sea folk have the right to attack."

"If Vast Sea Territory truly builds a seaport here, then warships departing from here could easily cut off the sea route connections from south to north on the continent's eastern side. We'd have to spend dozens of times the cost to create escort fleets, or destroy Vast Sea Territory."

"Not worth it!"

"This is land as rotten as it gets. The divine court doesn't need it, because maintaining a territory here is truly too expensive."

"But if it's in enemy hands, it would force the divine court to spend equivalent, or even more money. That would be too uneconomical!"

"Over these past years, our enemies also couldn't bear such investment, so everyone lived in peace."

"But now comes this unreasonable fellow..."

"If we could buy him over with a bit of divine grace, I think both His Divine Majesty and the Eternal High Priest would be very pleased to see it."

Oren crossed his hands and bowed deeply, "Lord High Priest is wise!"

Outside the window, the night was deep. The day's accumulated heat finally gradually dissipated at this moment, revealing traces of coolness.

Because of an inexplicable romantic rivalry, Chen Mo offended a small dandy who was as marginal as could be in a noble family.

Because he fought back and killed "Little Blondie," and consistently refused to accept the fate of being hunted and executed, Chen Mo offended real power lords like Zircon Family.

Because he shared hardships with Cloudmist Domain's young lady, Chen Mo obtained a piece of barren land in the desert.

Because he received support from the industrial giant East Xia behind him, and had urgent needs for stable development, Chen Mo invested huge amounts of money and resources, trying to build this place into a permanent base.

All along the way, sometimes involuntarily, sometimes boldly advancing against the current, but Vast Sea Territory ultimately became deeply embedded in this continent's political ecology.

At this moment, Chen Mo hadn't yet received attention from his own faction, but first inadvertently welcomed the attention of nominally "hostile forces."

Truly a marvelous journey of fate.

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