During these five years, the Profound Continent was engulfed in war. The Lancelot Empire, the Kasi Empire, the Brut Merchant Alliance, the Angela Empire, the Oden Empire - all nations, large and small, participated in the war.
With Helen Tina and Burt Zili working together in the dark, the Lancelot Empire's military campaign to invade the Seven Grand Duchies was a success.
The Oden Empire - the most powerful nation on the continent - formed an alliance with the Kasi Empire to expand their territories. Countless smaller nations bordering the two were annexed. The Angela Empire even lost more than half of its territory to them. The Brut Merchant Alliance also found itself in a perilous situation, unable to withstand the Oden Empire's ever-increasing attacks.
Soon after the occupation of the Seven Grand Duchies, the Lancelot Empire faced an invasion from the Orcish Kingdom. This round of the orcish military offensive was much fiercer and more violent than before. Even Firenze, commander of the Howling Legion, had great difficulty defending the southern border. With the majority of the Lancelot Empire's troops dedicated to the southern border, the military strength of the entire nation was essentially held back by the southern border.
With the southern border under constant attack from the Orc Kingdom, the Kasi Empire took advantage of the situation to launch their attacks on the Lancelot Empire. After toppling the seven duchies with great difficulty, the Lancelot Empire didn't have time to digest the consequences before suffering heavy blows from its enemies.
The ruthless invasion of the orcs left the citizens of the empire living in fear. But in Brettel City, things were unexpectedly smooth and steady. Under the leadership of Jack, Dorcas and the others, the city had become even more prosperous.
The territories that had once belonged to the Seven Grand Duchies were now administered by Jack, Dorcas and company. Amongst them, Dorcas had won everyone's recognition for his outstanding talent in military strategy and shared the title of Military Genius with Firenze.
Brettel City and the seven Grand Duchies to the east of the Lancelot Empire were natural barriers to the Empire. In recent years, as the mighty Oden Empire has pressed the Brut Merchant Alliance ever harder, Brettel City has not only lived peacefully with the Brut Merchant Alliance, but the two have even secretly joined forces against the greater threat of the Oden Empire.
Through Stratholme's description of the old monster, Han Shuo gradually gained an understanding of the current situation on the Profound Continent, as well as the relationships between the various nations.
After Stratholme explained the situation on the continent, Han Shuo narrowed his eyes and began to examine the old monster carefully.
Back then, the old monster Stratholme had managed to completely digest the Combat Aura Origin Crystal and fuse his soul with it. Even though he had not yet reached the realm of Basegod, it was safe to assume that he was close to doing so.
Being in the realm he was in, Han Shuo understood that the martial aura cultivated by some on the Profound Continent did not belong to any of the twelve mainstream energies.
Of the eight elemental energies - light, darkness, earth, fire, wind, water, lightning, death - and the four edict forces - fate, space, life, and destruction - combat aura didn't fit into any of the twelve fundamental forces.
Combat Aura was a type of energy formed by mixing the elements of light and air. It was categorised as a non-mainstream energy, just like Summoning and the Looted Energy that Datara cultivated. However, since the Combat Aura was partly the element of light, and air was one of the most abundant elements, there were quite a few people who cultivated the Combat Aura energy in various material realms. In fact, this non-mainstream energy had one of the highest numbers of cultivators after the twelve fundamental energies.
Back in Tarrag Canyon, where Han Shuo had encountered the Soul Race, he had found twelve orbs containing energies that could be fused with one's soul. However, the twelve orbs did not entirely correspond to the twelve major fundamental energies. For example, the very special energy of Life and Destiny was not one of the Twelve. On the contrary, the Combat Aura that Stratholme cultivated was in one of these spheres. The Origin Crystal of Summoning, which had an even smaller number of cultivators, was among the twelve spheres.
Even though Combat Aura wasn't one of the twelve mainstream energies, it still had a considerable following on various major material planes. This indicated that Combat Aura had its own uniqueness. Stratholme, the old monster, seemed to have been truly fortunate. Not only had he managed to escape from the six-horned tribal king of the Soul Race, but he had also successfully fused his soul with the Origin Crystal of Combat Aura.
"Has there been much movement from the Church of Light and the Church of Calamity in the past few years? How did you escape from the Six-Horned Tribal King? And why are you here?" Han Shuo asked Stratholme after a moment's thought.
Stratholme smiled, casually pulled out a chair and sat down. He turned to Han Shuo, who was still standing at the same spot, and motioned for him to sit down as well. He continued, "Back then, at the Sacred Mountain of the Church of Light, the Six-Horned Tribal King was probably injured in the battle with the Saintess. After the two of us separated, I immediately went to the far north of the continent to find a place to cultivate. As for what happened while I was cultivating, I have no idea. In any case, the Six-Horned Tribal King did not come knocking on my door.
Stratholme paused for a moment, looked at Han Shuo, and continued, "After that, things were relatively simple. After my soul merged with the Combat Aura Origin Crystal, the Six-Horned Tribal King was unable to locate me. By then, the Seven Grand Duchies had been occupied by the Lancelot Empire. There was not much I could do about it. After all, I'm the State Preceptor of the former Verdun Dynasty. The people of the Seven Grand Duchies are my people too. So I decided to stay in the Seven Grand Duchies, perhaps that could be considered as fulfilling my duty".
After listening to Stratholme, Han Shuo nodded to show that he understood. Stratholme was the protector of the Seven Grand Duchies. Even if the seven grand duchies were now captured by the Lancelot Empire, with Stratholme inside them, the Lancelot Empire and Brettel City would surely take him into consideration and not do anything they shouldn't to the people of the duchies.
"The Church of Calamity and the Church of Light, have they been quiet these past few years?" Han Shuo asked again.
The old monster forced a smile and shook his head. He replied, "The incessant war that ravaged the Profound Continent had a very strong religious influence. The four major religions of the Profound Continent - the Church of Calamity, the Church of Light, the Shrine of Ice, and the Order of Druids - all took part in the war. Even some of the smaller religions took part.
"The Oden Empire, the strongest nation on the continent, has the strong support of the Church of Light. The citizens of the nations invaded by the Oden Empire are being converted into followers of the Church of Light. Kasi Empire has the support of the Ice Shrine. Angela Empire has the Church of Calamity. While your Lancelot Empire is currently backed by the Druidic Order.
"As far as I can see, the whole reason why the Profound Continent is in this state of war has absolutely everything to do with the four major religions!"
Having toured the Abyss Realm and become a god himself, Han Shuo was naturally aware of the struggle between the four religions. It was inevitably related to their struggle for the power of faith. Han Shuo expected the Church of Calamity to be even more ruthless among them. Killing and slaughtering all the time, causing destruction and death, should be just what they wanted to see.
"It seems that there is a religious influence behind every country. Hmm, what about the Orcs' Kingdom and the Brut Merchant Alliance? Do they have the backing of a religion?" Han Shuo knitted his brows and asked.
"They are exactly the same. The Orcs have their Orc God. The Brut Merchant Alliance has the Soul Race behind them. This Tarrag Canyon, which used to be a restricted area, has now become the holy land of the Brut Merchant Alliance. Isn't this world an interesting place?" Stratholme said with a bitter smile. He found the situation rather silly.
So it seems. Hahaha, even though I'm a little surprised, it's not that hard to swallow," Han Shuo understood what these people were fighting for. The Brut Merchant Alliance could be considered one of the major powers. Since the Six-Horned Tribal King of the Soul Race possessed outstanding strength, it was not difficult for him to gain the trust of the merchants of the Brut Merchant Alliance.
"In that case, what about my Brettel City?" Han Shuo stared at Stratholme with his glittering eyes and said, "Although your strength has greatly improved, you have not yet become a god and cannot receive the power of faith."
Stratholme, the old monster, shrugged his shoulders and replied in a helpless voice, "Of course I don't have the qualifications to receive the Power of Faith. But that beautiful woman you brought from the underworld has been preaching like a madwoman for the spider goddess Rose. She has even built some of her shrines. Currently, there are truly many followers in Brettel City and the seven grand duchies who worship Spider Goddess Rose."
Upon hearing these words, Han Shuo's face turned cold. He groaned, "Although she has changed her body, name, and identity, she is still Adele. How dare she cause trouble in my territory. She must be tired of life." After a short pause, Han Shuo furrowed his brow, looked at Stratholme the old monster and asked, "Others may not know of her intentions, but you should. Why didn't you kill her?"
Stratholme forced a smile and shook his head. He replied, "I could kill her, but I'd have to show you face, wouldn't I?"
"What do you mean?" Han Shuo was confused.
"She claimed to be your woman and has close relationships with several of your other women. What's more, she has gained the trust of His Majesty the King. In what position am I to harm her?" After a short pause, Stratholme raised his eyebrows dramatically and added, "Besides, this woman is not easy. She seems to have experts protecting her in secret. Even I would have reservations."
"She certainly has some skills, but that would be the end of her," Han Shuo scoffed.
There were a lot of people living in Brettel City and the seven grand duchies. All the power of their faith would add up to a considerable amount of energy. As the master of Brettel City, Han Shuo would not allow others to take what was his.
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