The actions of this "Living Saint" were evidently even more straightforward and brutal than everyone had imagined, and Yu Sheng was very curious whether this was due to the preset behavior settings of the "Living Saint" or the mind influence of that unnamed Saintess.

After all, in theory, a Living Saint is a "hybrid lifeform" forged from the souls of hundreds or thousands of Artificial Saintesses, and those souls have already been wiped of all personality traits during the melting process—only now an unforeseen situation has arisen, with the soul of the "Candy Girl" that merged at the end having been protected in advance, enduring the subsequent "melting" process.

So as a result, this "Living Saint" is now equivalent to one soul suddenly awakening among a thousand blank ones, and this sole awakened soul is currently driving this "Thousand Souls Melting" shell.

Both one in a thousand, and the entirety of the thousand souls.

The pure white "Artificial Angel" floated quietly mid-air, its blurry face seemingly fixedly staring at Yu Sheng, as if waiting for the next command, or perhaps only entering some sort of "standby" mode like Luna.

Yu Sheng found it difficult to read any expression from that blurry face.

"Can you speak?" he asked curiously.

The Living Saint remained motionless, neither nodding nor shaking its head.

"Feels... a bit odd to react," Hu Li muttered to herself softly, "but it seems like it can understand what we're saying."

The little puppet crossed her arms with a serious face: "Maybe it's not fully awakened."

Yu Sheng thought the little thing was talking nonsense, yet couldn't find a place to refute.

But in any case, now they saw a passageway.

At the end of the Crystal Mangled Holy Light Hall, a thick crystalline barrier was cleaved open to form a gap wide enough for several people to enter side by side, with the area around the gap emitting hot waves, while its interior glowed faintly, revealing crystalline structures extending far inside.

Yu Sheng carefully brought Hu Li over for a closer look, seeing the faintly luminescent passage slope downward, extending into the depths underground.

One blast from the Living Saint's Light Cannon certainly wasn't enough to completely penetrate the substrate, so obviously this opening merely broke through part of this underground facility's outer shell, connecting to some deeper areas.

"What's down there?" Yu Sheng turned back to ask curiously.

The Living Saint hovered silently behind him.

"Alright, it's at least a road, let's go down and see what's going on first."

Yu Sheng shook his head and muttered, stepping forward.

But soon he turned around, noticing Luna still standing in the hall, appearing somewhat distracted.

"Luna?" Yu Sheng frowned, instinctively worried.

It's usual for Luna to daydream, but today's situation was evidently different, and she'd already zoned out more times than usual in just this short while.

Luna didn't speak, gazing at this place, while the spiritual resonance permeating the environment made her consciousness somewhat dazed.

She saw many figures.

Those figures stood in the hall, some clear, some blurry, and on the uneven crystal clusters' surfaces, each prism contained their gaze.

Numerous Artificial Saintess' minds connected here, some deceased, some not yet dead, and some dying.

She even felt she saw a few familiar faces—the sister from the neighboring village, whom she'd only seen once from afar boarding the Church's carriage in her childhood; the sister she'd once fought alongside but now couldn't recall the other's name or true face; juniors who'd died on missions, whom the priests claimed were buried in the Holy Temple Gardens, yet now those empty faces were imprisoned within the crystalline wall.

She murmured a response and stepped forward in silence, following behind Yu Sheng.

The group ventured into the passage cleaved open by the Light Cannon, with the Living Saint floating at Yu Sheng's front side, though consistently silent, it seemed to actively serve as a guide.

After a while, Yu Sheng and his group suddenly stopped.

They reached the end of the passage, but in front of them wasn't a secret entrance leading to the Gate of Eden, but another enclosed hall.

This hall was clearly buried deeper than the previous facilities, and its atmosphere was even more mysterious and unusual.

Towering white stone pillars supported the high dome, with swirling faint light gliding above the hall, and the stone pillars divided the area into twelve high walls, each formed from faintly glowing crystal—completely unlike any architecture Yu Sheng had seen on this planet's surface, instead resembling creations of another civilization.

The whole hall was devoid of any cultist figures, and no distinguishable technological equipment, only a massive white crystal cluster standing at the center, with streams of light pouring into the cluster's tip from above the dome, emitting a buzzing sound during the process.

"This thing..." Erin jumped off Yu Sheng's shoulder, quickly running in circles around the cluster, "doesn't look like the Gate of Eden either."

Just as Yu Sheng was about to inquire about something from the nearby Living Saint (though it's uncertain if he could get any response), he suddenly felt someone tugging his sleeve.

Turning his head, he saw Luna standing behind him, seemingly anxiously trying to say something.

Then as he blinked, upon reopening his eyes, he found himself standing inside the Soul Wilderness's Great Cathedral.

A blonde girl in a nun's dress stood in front of him, and before Yu Sheng could even speak, she took a deep breath.

"This is the control hub of the Artificial Saintess and the Brass Knight!"

Yu Sheng: "…Ah?!"

"Uh, I'm actually not sure if that's the right term, but I see many sisters' souls connected here, and Brass Knights were created as the companion force of the Artificial Saintess. Their control permissions are also linked here," Luna quickly said, "Even if this isn't the highest control hub, it's at least a gathering place. I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it'll work. I think I can talk to them, as long as you can find a way to establish…"

A ray of holy light drifted past the edge of their vision, causing Luna to pause in surprise and she turned her head to see a winged figure leisurely floating above the cathedral.

"Wait, how did she get in…"

Luna instinctively opened her mouth, but before she could finish, she saw the figure phase through the wall and floated out. Then, moments later, she appeared again from the ground in a different direction, hanging calmly on the rooftop.

Looking radiant like a chandelier.

Yu Sheng's eyes twitched: "…I think it's quite reasonable she can come in."

But after the figure floated in, her familiarity and adaptability were indeed unexpected.

And in the midst of their conversation, that pure white figure descended and sat in the first row of seats in the cathedral hall, sitting motionlessly and staring into a daze.

In Yu Sheng's mind, Erin's voice suddenly echoed: "Yu Sheng, Yu Sheng! That 'ghost' vanished! Suddenly, it's gone!"

Yu Sheng was taken aback, turning his head to look at the "Artificial Angel" sitting lost in thought on the bench.

"She came in corporeal form?!"

Luna opened her mouth, this time it was her turn to speak: "I think it's quite reasonable she can come in corporeal form."

"'The ghost' is on my side, in the Soul Cathedral," Yu Sheng shifted his attention back to the real world, turning to Erin and said, then immediately focused on the large crystal in front of him, "I have an idea now."

Before he could finish his sentence, a beam of holy white light emerged from the air beside him, the "Artificial Angel" popped out halfway from the Soul Wilderness, floating quietly in mid-air, curiously watching him as if wondering what he was about to say.

The little puppet jumped up quickly and started crawling over Yu Sheng: "…This thing is just like a female ghost, ah ah ah!!"

Even Hu Li instinctively gathered several clumps of fox fire, her tails behind her exploded like cotton candy.

However, the fox girl was ultimately more composed than Erin, she quickly regained her composure, retracting the fox fire while arranging her tails, looking up at Yu Sheng: "Savior, what idea do you have this time?"

Yu Sheng pondered for a moment, raising one hand: "I see that the Holy Maiden Legion and Brass Knight Order are quite connected, why not—"

Before he could finish, a flash of blade passed.

Yu Sheng's blood spurted out.

At the same time, in the depths of the Holy Temple Mountains, deep within the bunker.

The emergency evacuation group of priests had gathered within this defense facility, ongoing battle conditions from various locations on the planet were constantly transmitted into the bunker via information links. The air was suffused with tension, fear, anxiety, yet carried a strange sense of restlessness, fervor, and excitement.

The heretics had occupied the space orbit, planetary bombardment continued, more and more Boundary Land forces were landing through landing ships across the Saint Realm, with the determined Defensive Army soldiers relentlessly contesting key factories and star ports with the invaders, the mother planet in unprecedented crisis yet hadn't fallen.

A distress signal had already been sent, reinforcements were on their way from neighboring planets, and reserve forces hadn't been exhausted, but the enemy was also unceasing.

Today may be a day of martyrdom, or perhaps a day of holy rebirth.

Many thought of death, but no one considered surrender, for everyone knew, neither side in this war would accept the other's surrender.

The Holy Throne sat among the priests, emitting a gentle radiance that illuminated the underground command center's hall, encouraging everyone within, steadying shaken minds.

A high-level priest raised his head, seeing the Brass Knights, clad in heavy armor, guarding the hall's entrances and exits, the surface of their force field greatswords shimmering with a trustworthy glow.

Several Artificial Saintesses stood in the shadows of the corridor, protecting this place.

They were enough to withstand thousands of invaders, even if the bunker was breached, this defensive force could delay long enough for the church group's command hub to relocate to deeper shelters.

However, at this moment, a blonde man, surrounded by priests, suddenly raised his head.

The tranquil radiance in the air fluctuated unsettlingly.

The nearest priest instinctively spoke: "Holy Throne, you…"

"Node contamination," the blonde man suddenly stood up, his voice low, "Result deviation, exceeding the threshold."

The next second, his figure vanished in a swirl of turbulent holy light.

The high-level priests looked at each other puzzled: "…?"