The city center barrier... there really is such a thing.

Although Jiaoshu has strong faith in her own God, over twenty days have passed and yet Xuanming has still been unable to break through the city center barrier. This shows that it is an incredibly strong barrier, so strong that even the Impermanence, who holds more than eight pieces of the Divine Seal Fragment, cannot penetrate it. It's hard to believe that Xuanming will definitely have a breakthrough after this.

Even Xuanming can't break through the barrier with her own power, so I don't think I can come up with a way to break through. When it comes to the Great Barrier covering the Southern City, I mostly relied on the 'Firefly' inside the barrier to cheat my way in.

How was such a powerful city center barrier even established? Could it also be the power of the "Paradise"?

It's not just Xuanming, Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang is also someone in my plan that I must eliminate. Although there's no deep hatred between us, in order to deal with Shan Liangyi in the future, he cannot ignore me on his side, and I can't be passively beaten on mine. Proactively challenging my opponent has always been my strategy.

Under normal circumstances, I would think that with the power of the Unfortunate people, there's bound to be an opportunity to break through the city center barrier. But this time, the obstacle is one that even Xuanming, with more than eight pieces of the Divine Seal Fragment, cannot overcome. Can the power of the Unfortunate people really be invincible again? True, the power of the Unfortunate people is a world fate vortex power of such a grand scale that even Impermanence cannot reach, but only I am affected by it indirectly, not Mazao himself.

Seeing the current situation, perhaps I need to reach some cooperation with Xuanming before the winner is decided and first remove the Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang.

Xuanming and Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang are both my enemies. In fact, forming a temporary alliance with Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang to eliminate Xuanming first is not a bad strategy. However, I have an even stronger urge to "personally defeat" Xuanming; more importantly, compared to the Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang who have shut themselves within a strong barrier, Xuanming is the only one who might be found and collaborated with.

I continue to absorb intelligence from Jiaoshu. What is known now is that we are in the west part of the city, far from the city center, and it's impossible to view the city center barrier with the naked eye from here. My perception at its current level can only extend up to one kilometer at most, and can't observe the city center barrier.

Jiaoshu has dealt with five waves of monster attacks. She becomes more exhausted, her face covered in sweat, and the pendant hanging on her chest glows red continuously. She quickly pulls me to a secluded spot, setting up a spell to hide our sounds and presence for another rest.

I can observe that, although she seems exhausted, she actually still has quite a bit of strength left. This itself isn't strange; resting after exhausting oneself in a dangerous area is an extremely immature practice. The best approach is to consider oneself entering a danger alert line when physical strength is consumed up to half. However, her behavior is a bit exaggerated, as if performing an act.

Why would she put on such a performance in front of me, a "child"? What's the point of acting exhausted for me? From the detailed actions, she seems quite practiced at this performance. Perhaps she's not deliberately acting in front of me; instead, this show is her usual practice. Then what is she hiding?

"How far are we from the sanctuary?" I ask.

Jiaoshu forcefully pulls at her collar a few times, revealing her sweat-drenched collarbone, as if trying to send some wind to her feverish body, and answers, "Not far, just a few more streets and we'll arrive. Rest assured, once we get to the sanctuary, we'll be safe."

"Since you call it a sanctuary, does that mean there are many survivors there?" I ask. "Will the monsters find us there?"

"There, we have a barrier that blocks the monsters and a spell that hides the presence of people."

Perhaps because of the power of the Word Spirit, Jiaoshu becomes more friendly towards me, her voice softer, more willing to answer my questions: "As for survivors, there are about sixty to seventy of them."

"We Xuanming believers saved many surviving residents after the disaster happened. In the process, we've been attacked more than once by the Taoyuan Village cultivators. Later, to avoid being caught in one fell swoop, we established numerous sanctuaries across various concealed spots in the city, placing the survivors in different locations."

"Next, I'm taking you to one of these sanctuaries. There will not only be survivors there but a few of my partners whom I'll introduce you to later."

"Although our numbers cannot match those of the Taoyuan Village cultivators, each of us is an elite master. Thanks to the high-pressure situation imposed by Luo Mountain, we surviving loyal believers are skilled at stealth and guerrilla tactics, not easily discovered or besieged."

"I can assure you, I will not let those man-eating monsters or Taoyuan Village cultivators threaten your life."

She made a firm promise to me like a hero devoted to saving lives and healing the wounded. However, I sensed something unusual in her words. I possess the ability to perceive emotional colors from the surface of the soul, although these colors can be masked through training. Yet, she hasn't guarded against me, this "child", to such a profound extent. I can conclude that she's hiding something very important from me.

Moreover, I read more unusual colors from the surface of her soul; she seemingly harbors another suspicious intention towards me.

Simultaneously, listening to her self-proclaim as a devout believer, I noticed new issues.

"Don't you hate Xuanming?" I asked.

"Hate?"

Jiaoshu's breath paused, her gaze chilled, and she stared at me, "Why would you ask that? Although after Xuanming left Luo Mountain, we believers left behind at Luo Mountain did not have an easy time, a small number of unfaithful believers even shamefully turned to Zhuang Cheng's faith, but..."

"That's not what I'm talking about," I said, "When Xuanming directly conflicted with the Taoyuan Village Master, didn't he destroy everything in this city? Not only the weak common people like us, but also the monsters wandering the city, the insane Taoyuan Village Cultivators... even you Xuanming believers must have experienced the impact and death.

"Although a reboot revived everything later, that was the work of the Taoyuan Village Master's power, not something Xuanming did himself; he might not even have foreseen this before starting the fight.

"And he should at least know that his believers are in this city, and that his rash battle would affect you. Yet, despite knowing this, he still chose to strike... Don't you have any thoughts on this?

"You have devoted so much sincere faith to Xuanming, but he repaid you with such an attitude. Aren't you disillusioned with him?"

Asking this question here is not only out of curiosity about the question itself but also about knowing Jiaoshu — knowing what this devout believer of God truly thinks about God.

I have always been unclear on how to grasp the distance between myself and those who have faith in me, not knowing what mindset to have towards them. As for faith, I have never been enthused about it, nor have I ever believed in any God or doctrine, hence unable to understand those who fervently worship me.

For a long time, I did not even think about personally connecting with those believers; a considerable part of the reason lies here. Lu Chan and Mr. Zhu have both told me "there's no need to get close to those who worship you," and rationally I understand that this approach is the most reasonable. Although wanting to maintain a high position, I shouldn't do so without clarity. Plus, being subjected to such fervent emotions, I can't help but be curious about the true details of such a mindset.

Perhaps Jiaoshu's answer can unlock my doubts.

Jiaoshu's emotions did not become agitated, instead, they gradually calmed down.

"I'll let you go this time. You are merely a mortal without any understanding of God, so I won't take you questioning my faith seriously. As for this question of yours, I also don't know how to answer it perfectly..." She seemed to be organizing her words, "It's like... the emperor in the mortal world needs subjects and citizens to be loyal, whereas the subjects and citizens can offer their loyalty, attempting to receive the emperor's favor and appreciation.

"When both sides get what they want, it's a mutually beneficial relationship, and no one would have grievances; conversely, if the emperor doesn't get loyalty, or if the subjects and citizens offer loyalty but receive no favor and appreciation, then being deprived and persecuted, grievances and hostility are bound to arise... Is that the reasoning you wanted to express?"

"That's it," I said, "You have offered loyalty to Xuanming, yet Xuanming aims to destroy you. Though not deliberately seeking this result, it still objectively leads to such an outcome. Then isn't harboring resentment logical?"

Jiaoshu shook her head.

"The reason I offered you this metaphor is not to have you follow the reasoning, but for you to understand that you misunderstood a grand premise — Impermanence is not the emperor of the mortal world, but a transcendental God." She said, "No matter how elevated the emperor of the mortal world is, essentially they are no different from subjects and citizens, all mere mortals.

"They need to extend their will through subjects to govern all peoples, only then can they reshape rivers and mountains and change the world with the power of civilization. Should their virtue not match their position, neglecting the power in their hands, failing to manage this force well, they might be swallowed by it in return, dying humiliatingly.

"However, Gods are entirely different; Gods inherently possess the great power to change the world, having no need to increase believers as supplements and extensions of their power; simultaneously, the total of billions of believers poses no significant threat to Gods.

"We, the believers of Gods, were never needed from the beginning."