Chapter 716: A Complicated Situation

In the Soul Wilderness, a breeze swept through the tall grass in front of the cathedral, and two figures materialized in the wind in an instant.

One was Yu Sheng, the other Bai Liqing.

"...No matter how many times I come here, I can't help but marvel at what an unbelievable place this is," Bai Liqing said, raising her head to look at the towering cathedral before her and the enormous crystal tree above it. "Especially since this place seems to undergo earth-shattering changes every so often—or is it just my imagination? This tree is at least two sizes bigger than the last time I saw it."

"It's not your imagination. It grew again," Yu Sheng said offhandedly. "And I figure it's going to grow at least once more."

Bai Liqing turned her head. "Oh? Why?"

Yu Sheng waved his hand. "I just swiped the Eden Gate, didn't I? To this crystal tree that's already merged with the Boundary Bridge, that thing is a major boost."

Bai Liqing: "...Right, I forgot about that."

As they spoke, Luna had already appeared at the cathedral entrance with several Brass Knights.

The moment Bai Liqing saw the blonde girl in the nun's habit, she unconsciously touched her nose before greeting her.

"Let's go. Take us to meet her," Yu Sheng said, nodding to Luna.

The cathedral doors opened. Under Luna's guidance, Yu Sheng and Bai Liqing passed through the cathedral's front hall and made their way deep into the massive, almost astonishing structure.

Yu Sheng saw many figures.

Between the pews in the preaching hall, in the shadows of the garden cloisters, and along the path leading to the giant tree courtyard, the newly arrived artificial saints were everywhere. Some rested alone, while others gathered in small groups, seemingly discussing something in hushed tones. When they saw Yu Sheng approaching, they hastily rose to pay their respects.

Others simply stared into space, showing no reaction even when people walked past.

Luna said that most of those who stared blankly were sisters who had served for over a century. Their minds were severely damaged; some could no longer remember anything from when they were human. Though they could still think and communicate, without someone giving them orders, they just sat there like that.

No one knew how long this condition would last. If Yu Sheng and the Borderland fleet hadn't arrived, these artificial saints whose souls had already undergone 'purification' would soon have been thrown into the Forge of Spirit Infusion, used as raw material to forge living saints.

Now they had survived. Many had lived, and had opened their eyes from the long nightmare.

And so 'living' and 'the future' had become things that required extra consideration.

Yu Sheng also saw a much larger number of Brass Knights. Many knights stood along both sides of the corridors and beside the various doors, as if they had taken it upon themselves to guard the cathedral.

Even though the place didn't really need guarding.

"This is only a part," Luna said softly to Yu Sheng. "The knight order is very large; the cathedral can't hold that many. I had some of them go to the barracks, and others set up a temporary camp near the great bonfire... There are still some saints and knights with the most severe soul damage wandering the wilderness near the great bonfire. Setting up a camp there lets us look after them as well."

Yu Sheng listened quietly, nodding slightly.

He could sense many gazes on him. Most were curious, and some seemed to carry a trace of awe and nervousness.

"There are over a thousand artificial saints, and the knight order numbers in the tens of thousands," Luna continued. "And this probably isn't even all of them, because even now, new souls keep appearing in the wilderness. We've sent several teams to patrol the paths near the great bonfire and the cathedral, and every so often, word comes of finding new wanderers."

"New arrivals?" Yu Sheng turned in surprise. "The entire planet of the Sacred Ground has already broken apart..."

"There are other planets," Luna said. Though she wasn't very clear on things like planets, universes, or fleets, she had at least begun to have some rough concepts. "All the power of the artificial saints and knights comes from that 'skeleton.' That power connects us like a net... Now the Dark Angel is gone, but the net is still there."

Yu Sheng understood immediately.

For thousands of years, the 'Skeleton of the Shadowless' had dwelt in this starry sky, arriving here even before the Hermit Order's followers. Its shadow had already fallen over every planet here. And from the examples of Ankaera and the Derivative Star, the power of a Dark Angel, once rooted in the real universe, did not fade with the death of the angel's main body.

That power would become a permanent part of this universe—including the 'creations' that appeared under its influence.

Earlier examples included the children of the Fairytale, the crystals left by Dusk Silence, the crystal tree and the Boundary Bridge in this wilderness. Now the examples were the artificial saints, the Brass Knights, and the living saints...

The crystal Yu Sheng's group had found deep inside that Forge of Spirit Infusion was not the only node in this 'angel net,' and probably not even the largest one. After all, the Hermit Order couldn't have had only one production facility for saints and knights. But for this net built on angelic power, it seemed any node could be regarded as the whole.

Now, Yu Sheng's power was still spreading through this net—even without his noticing.

The Sacred Ground had collapsed, but artificial saints and knights from other Hermit Order colonies kept awakening one after another, minds breaking through cognitive barriers constantly gathering here. And this process seemed likely to continue for a long time.

"As more and more people come to report, the situation is getting complicated," Luna explained another matter to Yu Sheng. "On one hand, many of the brothers and sisters gathered at the cathedral have only their souls here; their bodies might still be on some distant planet. On the other hand, some have only their souls left, without... bodies."

Bai Liqing frowned slightly. "...Were they destroyed in the earlier fighting?"

"Some were. They were defeated while resisting the priests on the Sacred Ground, and after dying in battle, their souls arrived here. As for the others..."

Luna paused, seeming to struggle to organize her words before finally figuring out how to explain.

"The other part: the Hermit Order had just extracted their souls, and their bodies hadn't even been assembled yet when the production center blew up."

Yu Sheng sucked in a sharp breath involuntarily.

"...So basically, they were swiped right off the production line," he muttered, feeling a headache coming on. "This situation... I really didn't expect this."

"It's hard to anticipate," Bai Liqing said, rubbing her forehead. "And given the situation at the time, no one had time to think it through carefully."

"To be fair, the situation really is complicated," Yu Sheng said, looking troubled. "No bodies... Even Ailin's technology can't be used on other people."

"Maybe we can find production facilities for artificial saints and Brass Knights on other planets," Bai Liqing said. She clearly had some experience dealing with unexpected complications, and her thoughts moved quickly. "This technology of the Hermit Order has huge problems, but from the facilities they left behind, we might find some clues to solve the problem."

"We'll figure it out slowly," Yu Sheng said. Then his gaze fell back on Luna. "That artificial saint on the Pasture Star... which situation is she in?"

Luna stopped at the end of the corridor.

This was the deepest part of the inner sanctuary. The cathedral, usually empty, was now filled with people, but here the corridor was still quiet.

Luna's hand rested on the doorknob.

"She... is a more special case," the blonde girl said softly. "Because until three hours ago, she and her friends were still human."

The door opened.

Inside was a small prayer room, lit by a few candles that gave off a pale light. A narrow window opposite looked out onto dim fog. A small girl with gray curly hair sat blankly on a cushion in the corner.

Nearby, a few others sat in another corner.

They wore brass-colored armor, helmets off, revealing young faces, male and female.

To Yu Sheng's surprise, there was another familiar figure in the room.

It was the tall figure forged from holy light—she sat with her knees hugged beside the gray-haired girl, her huge radiant wings carefully folded, looking both awkward and at a loss.

No wonder he hadn't found her outside—she was here.

As soon as the door opened, the artificial angel immediately stood up and quickly floated behind Yu Sheng.

A series of pleasant psychic resonances reached his ears. The artificial angel couldn't speak, but Yu Sheng seemed to 'hear' her thoughts—

She had wanted to comfort these new friends, but she didn't know how.

Not all bad things could be made better with a few pieces of candy.

"You've done very well," Yu Sheng said with a soft sigh to the artificial angel floating behind him. "Leave this to us."

The artificial angel nodded, then her figure gradually dissolved into the air.

The gray-haired girl on the cushion stood up. Yu Sheng couldn't quite describe what emotion he saw on her face—aside from a hint of daze, her expression was far calmer than he had imagined. She politely greeted Luna, then turned her gaze to Yu Sheng and Bai Liqing.

"We've taken control of the Ascension Sanctuary... the production facility," the girl said slowly. "There were very few priests left here. Their 'main force' left in a hurry not long ago, taking a lot of the 'iron ships' flying in the sky with them. We didn't suffer much damage. Also, there are a lot of machines here, and none of us know how to use them..."