Two days ago.

Bai Pu had just infiltrated the Thorn Church’s Rune Stone team.

"I request to forgo the Silver Branch and Golden Branch tasks and directly promote to Bronze Major," Bai Pu silently recited.

A line of text appeared on Bai Pu’s retina.

[In the military rank promotion task, the probability of encountering the Silver Branch is only 12.33%, and the probability of encountering the Golden Branch is only 0.67%.]

Bai Pu’s lips curled into a slight smile.

He painstakingly searched for clues about the Lost City and ventured into this Underworld, not to abandon the Silver or Golden Branch tasks.

However, alone, facing the Thorn Church, a colossal entity, and its backing from Our Lady of Thorns and even the Divine camp of the Master of Suffering, he felt quite insecure.

He needed to find backing.

Who should he rely on?

After much thought, Bai Pu decided that the Spirit Realm Will to which he belonged should be the best choice.

From the last holy artifact trade, Bai Pu could roughly discern that the Spirit Realm Will was not without desire!

The Spirit Realm Will pursued the same things as those divine beings — Matrix, and the Source Material derived from it.

However, unlike them, the Spirit Realm Will was more like a super-large program, devoid of emotions. Its pursuit of Matrix and Source Material was likely a requirement set by its designer or a need driven by Evolutionary Instinct.

But this didn’t stop Bai Pu from utilizing this point to have the Spirit Realm Will support him.

After receiving a response from the Spirit Realm Will, Bai Pu silently recited:

"I know the chance of encountering the Silver Branch and Golden Branch is low, but whether it can be completed depends on the enemy’s strength. It’s now proven that to investigate the Lost City and seize the Matrix for you, it’s inevitable I’ll encounter the Thorn Church head-on."

The Spirit Realm Will gave no response.

Bai Pu continued to recite: "Given the Thorn Church’s regard for the Original Sin Matrix, it is very likely that Our Lady of Thorns will personally lead the team this time! To me, that is an unbeatable presence, with a death rate of 100%!"

This time, the Spirit Realm Will responded:

[Our Lady of Thorns is a Divine Envoy of the Master of Suffering. She is constrained by the Spirit Realm Law and cannot act arbitrarily in the Awakened World.]

"But last time, she acted. In the Thorn Suffering Sanctuary, she disrupted the space turbulence, leaving us in an enclosed space where escape was impossible, facing an Advanced Lord!"

[Firstly, she did not target you specifically. Secondly, she suffered a backlash from the Spirit Realm Law. If not for the Master of Suffering corrupting a large part of the Original Sin World, this backlash alone would have plunged her into slumber.]

"But the corruption of the Master of Suffering is an objective reality. This means Our Lady of Thorns can act in the Original Sin World if she pays a certain price." Bai Pu said, "What if she directly targets me?"

[If she directly targets you, she will violate the Origin Oath and will face severe punishment.]

A series of text followed, outlining several provisions of the Origin Oath.

After reading them, Bai Pu nodded with satisfaction: "So, it seems I should hope she targets me, so I can remove a major obstacle ahead of time..."

The Spirit Realm Will did not respond, but Bai Pu could feel an emotionless gaze cast upon him from the void.

This was the attention of the Spirit Realm Will, equivalent to an antivirus program proactively being activated. Upon detecting "violations," it would promptly respond.

Bai Pu finally asked: "How should I call upon you when needing guidance? Should I just call you Spirit Realm Will?"

[’Gaia’.]

...

Our Lady of Thorns being "erased" was all part of Bai Pu’s plan.

However, from the perspective of the Bound, this scene was utterly terrifying.

The great Our Lady of Thorns was erased by a blue light, never to be contacted again, as if plunged into eternal sleep!

No, it was even scarier than eternal sleep, for not only was there no contact with the consciousness of the Holy Mother, but the very avatar, which was born at a great cost within the Thorn Suffering Sanctuary, also vanished without a trace.

Other Thorn Cultists, influenced by the "World Mystery," saw differently from Bai Pu and the Bound.

They couldn’t see the blue light or hear the grand female voice’s verdict.

But they clearly witnessed the disappearance of Our Lady of Thorns!

"Master Bound... what, what is happening? Has Lady Holy Mother returned to the Sanctuary?" A Holy War Legion Commander asked, trembling.

"Damn that Gangxin!"

The Bound did not give a direct explanation and gritted his teeth, "Lady Holy Mother has suffered a backlash and temporarily needs to recuperate—this place is left to us. We must strain all efforts for our God’s grand plan! Everyone, move into the Lost City!"

"Gangxin will come in too." Rosen calmly said.

"We outnumber them!" snorted the Bound, "I believe we will be the ones to capture the Lost City in the end. As for Gangxin, if he dares to come in, I’ll strangle him alive with the Black Rope! Move!"

...

Bai Pu observed that the closer one approached the gigantic carapace—that is, the Lost City—the smaller their body became.

Originally human-sized, when approaching the outer layer of the Lost City, they shrank to the size of a grain of rice.

It seems the Lost City involves some spatial laws.

Bai Pu recalled that the Lost City had countless rooms, each vast and expansive inside as if it were a venue. Accumulating it all, the area would definitely exceed that of the carapace. It surely included the marvelous use of spatial laws.

"No matter what, Our Lady of Thorns has been banned. Now is the best time to complete the military rank branch tasks!"

Bai Pu activated Gang Step, swiftly dashing towards the immense floating carapace in the sky.

If he could seize the Matrix and complete the Golden Branch task, that would be ideal.

Even if he couldn’t seize the Matrix, at least he needed to acquire one or two Holy Artifacts in the Lost City, complete the Silver Branch task, and gain a Silver Major rank.

According to Bai Pu’s assessment, the most ordinary "Black Iron Major" was unremarkable. Bronze and above, especially Silver and Gold Level officers, were the direct lineage that the Spirit Realm Will valued most.

—It should now be called "Gaia’s Will."

From the grand voice’s recent judgment, at least four Spirit Realm Wills existed. Bai Pu, along with all the Awakened on Earth, belonged to "Gaia’s Will."

Bai Pu finally understood who fought whom in the Spirit Realm War.

Wars occurred between different Spirit Realm Wills over the Matrix and Source Material.

Wars also occurred among the divine beings.

Even between the Spirit Realm Wills and divine beings, there were conflicts of interest...

At this moment, Bai Pu was participating in a Spirit Realm war against the Divine camp of the "Master of Suffering camp"!

Launching onto the outer layer of the Lost City, Bai Pu’s form had already shrunk to a grain of rice. He spun around, pulling, and four Fighting Qi Chains flew out, dragging four Bishop’s Servants along with him, as they plunged into the interior of the Lost City!