Global Evolution: I Transplanted the Supreme Divine Heart-Chapter 289 - 286: Your Heart Is Not Pious Enough

Watching Bai Pu's expression gradually become distorted, Mo Shate also felt a little shaken.

Bai Pu's posture of enjoyment seemed genuine, so much so that he looked like he wanted to hit himself a couple more times.

"Young stranger, put away the admonition stick."

Bishop Yajino gazed at Bai Pu and said with a smile, "I can see that your heart is not pious enough."

Mo Shate felt a sense of relief, thinking his slander had taken effect.

Bai Pu felt a bit panicked. Could it be that this old divine stick saw something wrong?

Bishop Yajino smiled and said, "You're not enjoying the hardships, but enduring them in pursuit of power! Your heart is not pious, but I acknowledge your determination to pursue power. Many Holy Warriors have the same mindset when they first join the Church."

Only then did Bai Pu breathe a sigh of relief. This old divine stick was speaking suspensefully; fortunately, Bai Pu's heart was strong enough, or he might have been scared into a heart attack.

"Only by opening your mind and enjoying hardship can you possibly receive divine favor."

Bishop Yajino said leisurely, "You are not eligible to participate in this Suffering Ceremony. Next, accompany Father Arius to continue evangelizing, and once you've accumulated enough contributions, you can join the next Suffering Ceremony."

Bai Pu received the hint.

[You've joined the Thorn Church. Your reputation in the Thorn Church is now Cold (-100/0).]

[Warning: Thorn Church only recognizes their own kind. As an ordinary member of the Human Race, it is impossible to achieve a Friendly reputation level in Thorn Church!]

[Side Mission: Evangelize]

[Mission Objective: Protect Father Arius while evangelizing and bring back 30 Thorn Recruits.]

[Mission Difficulty: Unknown]

[Mission Deadline: 72 hours]

[Mission Reward: Thorn Church Merit +100~300]

After leaving behind the task, Bishop Yajino departed gracefully.

Father Arius assigned rooms to Bai Pu and Blood Spider.

Thorn Church embraces hardship but only during penance. At other times, they value enjoyment even more. According to Father Arius, only after experiencing extreme pleasure can one have a deeper understanding of suffering.

The spacious rooms, complete furnishings, a comfortable big bed, an array of delicious food, and diligent serving maidens...

Under the relatively backward productivity conditions of the Original Sin Continent, Thorn Church can indulge in such luxury because the Church controls not only faith but also force.

This city has no City Lord; all affairs are decided by Bishop Yajino, who might at most consider the opinion of the Holy War Legion Commander.

Such a system of integrated governance is akin to nourishing one church with the resources of the whole continent, naturally allowing for unrestrained indulgence.

In a daze, Bai Pu recalled his days as a fake Emperor in the Swedish Royal Palace.

But this enjoyable period was short-lived; Bai Pu and Blood Spider could only rest here for one night, as they had to leave with Father Arius to evangelize the next morning.

Blood Spider quietly asked Bai Pu, "Do we have any future by joining Thorn Church? I received a hint that the highest reputation we can achieve here is Friendly."

A reputation cap below Friendly means that many benefits of the faction would be inaccessible to the Awakened, making it somewhat unworthy of dangerous efforts.

"I received the same hint.

"But my thoughts are contrary to yours. I think joining Thorn Church is a brilliant move! If managed properly, the benefits we could gain... are beyond imagination."

Bai Pu said, "Look, even after we joined the Thorn Church faction, our main quest hasn't been declared a failure! Even the task personally issued by the Regional Bishop was forcefully classified as a side mission...

"This can only mean one thing: Thorn Church's influence in this world has grown so large that the Spirit Realm Will cannot tolerate it! It might even involve a struggle between the Spirit Realm Will and the Divine."

Blood Spider frowned slightly, "According to what you're saying, joining the Thorn Church itself opposes the Spirit Realm Will. Is this really okay?"

Bai Pu smiled, "Our ultimate goal is indeed to betray them. After all, this faction holds many prejudices against normal humans; only by mutating into monsters can one truly gain their acceptance. But before betraying, we need to reap enough benefits."

...

In the Eastern Region of the Original Sin Continent, Miracle Valley.

Here, the ground was littered with monster corpses.

The most eye-catching was a monster carcass with seven eyes and seven tentacles, showing signs of charred, dried, and peeling remains, like embers from a fire.

"Finally completed the main quest. Is this main quest genuinely only A-level in difficulty? Without Fenghuo's leadership, it might have been impossible to complete," a plain-faced female Awakened said with lingering fear.

Beside her, Wan Zhen said with a smile, "That's because we chose a more difficult way to complete it. If we had invited those Thorn Cutters to join and besiege this evangelizing team, it would have cost much less effort."

"Wan Zhen is right."

The red-haired Fenghuo said calmly, "However, if we have enough strength, taking the head of this monster priest directly to the Thorn Cutters can quickly boost reputation and save a lot of time... Right now, time is what we lack the most!"

Wan Zhen mused, "According to the initial information we received, we are currently located in the Eastern area of the Original Sin Continent.

"This time, the Spirit Realm teleported us without following the new matching rules, spreading Awakened across different regions... Spirit Realm Will seems to have, for some reason, divided us into different groups, allocated to different areas of the continent. Crossing regions within this short seven-day period is almost impossible.

"To be honest, teleporting here is not very advantageous; known holy artifacts are sparse, with only one held by the Advanced Lord 'Two-Faced Man.'

"To complete the Master of the Sun's mission, we must challenge this Advanced Lord, but before seeing him, we'd face quite a number of Warrior Level monsters! It's truly vexing."

Fenghuo glanced at Wan Zhen, saying indifferently, "Skywalker, no need to pretend you don't understand, just express your thoughts. I don't need you to hold back; bring out the intellect of an 805th class national college exam topper!"

Wan Zhen gave an awkward smile, his expression gradually becoming serious, "According to the intelligence shared by those Thorn Cutters, Thorn Church seems also very concerned about the holy artifacts, dispatching one of the three leaders, 'Two-Faced Man,' to collect them in the Eastern region... We could fabricate a rumor of a 'Land of Divine Blessings' and lure that guy out of his nest!"

"Brilliant! We could take this priest's head to the Thorn Cutters and get those locals to spread the rumor! They are remnants of the Fallen Church and surely have channels for underhanded dealings."

"We also need to gather information on Two-Faced Man and find a terrain that will counter him most effectively to serve as the Land of Divine Blessings! Once we lure Two-Faced Man out, we can harass along the way to weaken his escort force, then ambush him at the forged 'Land of Divine Blessings' and get the holy artifact!"

After Wan Zhen proposed his idea, the plain-faced male and female Awakened around him chimed in, refining Wan Zhen's plan further.

"Great, let's do it this way. This opportunity to secure early regularization and become real Voters must be seized! I bet those old rivals teleported to other regions of the continent won't remain idle either."

After resting, Fenghuo slowly stood up, "Let's go! Time to rendezvous with those Thorn Cutters!"