"Absolute Divine Weapon, what is absolute? Conquer the extreme, conquer death, conquer life, conquer destiny!"

Spirit fully grasped the Book of the Dead, her long nails almost leaving marks on the ancient tome: "In my view, among the four Absolute Divine Weapons, the strongest is the Holy Sword, the most mysterious is the Book of the Dead, and the most practical is the heart of immortality that sees everlasting."

"In my view, although the Radiant Ancestor and Mount Tai Ancestor both established great achievements that would go down in history, the truly clever one is none other than you, Ancestor Hidden."

"Material is the foundation of everything. All undertakings only have meaning when you're alive! That's right, although the achievements of the Radiant Ancestor and Mount Tai Ancestor are still praised today, even regarded as gods, becoming the worshipped Great Monarch of the Sun and the Great Monarch of Filth... as long as civilization persists, they will always live in people's hearts, their spirit immortal!"

"But if one could live in reality, why only live in history?" Spirit looked up at the bright moon in the sky: "The ancestors endured the most hardships and made the greatest efforts, yet they cannot see how beautiful tonight's moonlight is nor enjoy how splendid life is now."

"If Big Brother and Second Brother heard what you said, the lids of their coffins would probably not hold." Tea Hidden said, "With such selfish and self-serving measure, stop speculating about what kind of mindset the heroes of the past held to save the world."

"Do you think they fought and struggled to stand high and overlook the world? They just didn't want to live humbly in the dirt."

"Your words are a lesson, Ancestor Hidden." Spirit admitted her mistake openly: "I really can't imagine your situation at that time, after all, the different races in the Western Continent have long been extinct, unlike your Radiant which maintained balance by raising barbarians. Speaking of which, Mount Tai Ancestor almost completely cleared the different races in the Western Continent during his lifetime, with the Sea Barbarians being the sole thorn in his side... he set the singular task for us descendants to find ways to eradicate the Sea Barbarians and conquer the sea."

"That does sound like Second Brother." Tea Hidden couldn't help but smile: "He's the most narrow-minded, harsh externally but weak internally, broad externally but wary internally... perhaps this is also why he founded a sect instead of establishing a nation, he wasn't fit to be a king but was more than fit to be a pope."

"The Western Continent's nautical technology is so developed, largely due to this task." Spirit pretended not to hear Tea Hidden's insult to her ancestors: "Previously, setting sail from the Western Continent to the Radiant and successfully arriving was a one-in-a-hundred feat. They either perished at the hands of the Sea Barbarians, were destroyed by the elements, or got lost in ocean currents... it wasn't until a century ago when breakthroughs in iron smelting technology led to artisans creating highly efficient pistons and the emergence of steel steamships capable of long voyages that the Western Continent finally established stable contact with the Radiant."

"Apart from Radiant, the Western Continent also discovered several new continents, such as the Eastern Continent with a climate nearly identical to Radiant, and abundant resources; the Southern Continent with a hot climate, jungle cover, and inhabited by people with skin like black charcoal; and even an entire continent made of ice, the Extreme Cold Continent..."

Spirit suddenly mused on various topics, prompting Tea Hidden to cut her off directly: "What are you trying to say?"

"Although the Western Continent cannot yet devour the Radiant, it's only for now." Spirit twirled her golden hair around her fingers, lowering her eyelids: "Ancestor Hidden, you should understand the significant advantage that the Western Continent, having first discovered other continents, holds now. And Radiant, trapped by nautical technology, is forced into another cycle of internal warfare to alleviate its conflicts, lagging significantly behind."

"When I left the Western Continent, I enacted the 'Necromancer's Edict,' allowing all freemen to freely claim land in the new continent. As long as they can hold the land and pay taxes, it becomes theirs; and freemen willing to join long voyages are directly granted the status of 'Necromancer,' receiving basic professional training, and their undead will receive a free enhancement from the Necromancer's Creed... uh, 'Necromancer' is somewhat unique to our Western Continent, so I won't elaborate here."

"Without the constraint of resources, how many generations do you think it will take for the population of the Seven Nations Alliance to explode? Three hundred million? Six hundred million? Or even a billion?" Spirit said, "Most importantly, with the Necromancer's Creed possessing unlimited resources, how many weapons do you think we'll produce?"

"When the Radiant's internal conflict ends and once again welcomes a peaceful era, tens of undead fleets equipped with Luminous Stone energy cannons may well appear at Dongyang's port, forcibly breaking open Radiant's national gates with the advantage of infinite resources!"

"Ultimately, the war of nations is a war of resources! Decades later, one side is Radiant with its declining internal conflict population, and the other is the Necromancer's Creed with an endlessly expanding population and resources. Even if Radiant has countless Peak of Perfection's martial pillars, it cannot shift the balance of war!"

Tea Hidden opened his mouth but said nothing. Spirit noticed this and quickly continued, "Ancestor Hidden, you're not thinking of asking why we're attacking Radiant, are you? That old saying 'different races have different wills' is exactly a famous saying of the Radiant Grand Ancestor, isn't it? Or do you think people from the Western Continent, with the same golden hair and blue eyes like mine, would consider those with black hair and black eyes from Radiant as their 'kindred'?"

"The Holy Sword Radiant, conquer the extreme." Tea Hidden replied coldly.

"Yes, you still have the Holy Sword Radiant, which can annihilate all armies with absolute force. Even if Radiant is temporarily behind, all it takes is using the Holy Sword Radiant once to buy enough time to catch up again... the Western Continent would fear this nearly divine Scepter of Destruction." Spirit nodded: "But all of this is based on the premise that there is no Necromancer's Creed, no Hagen-Dazs family."

"If you could experience the beauty I now feel, you would understand my fear of death. The Western Continent might be deterred by the Holy Sword Radiant, but the Necromancer's Creed won't, and the Necromancer Pope definitely won't."

"Every Pope will commit to capturing the heart of immortality as their lifelong aspiration." Spirit raised her head and said: "The will of the Pope is enough to overshadow the Seven Nations. As long as the heart of immortality remains untaken, the war between the Necromancer's Creed and Radiant will never cease!"

Tea Hidden: "Wouldn't the common folk resist a tyrant's obstinancy?"

"People have never sought truth; they turn a blind eye to unpleasant facts. Whoever provides illusions can become their master." Spirit said: "If the Pope declares that acquiring the heart of immortality will create an eternal undying paradise for everyone, surely mortals would not spare their lives."

"You're thinking of using threats to persuade me to give you the heart of immortality?"

Tea Hidden couldn't help but laugh: "But I have a better option—I can kill you now and take the Book of the Dead, ending it all."

"Like the Holy Sword Radiant, the Book of the Dead also recognizes only the blood of the Hagen-Dazs family. Furthermore, every Pope can designate a successor, and when a Pope dies, the Book of the Dead will automatically return to the successor's hands."

"Then I'll go kill the descendants of Second Brother."

"But you can't!"

Spirit's disruption of centuries-old tranquility at the imperial mausoleum finally changed Tea Hidden's expression.

However, instead of anger, he appeared slightly sorrowful.

"You seem to know me well."

"I might be the only person in this world who can understand Ancestor Hidden." Spirit's voice carried a hint of pity: "Only we, the holders of the Absolute Divine Weapons, can comprehend the deeper meaning of the word 'absolute.'"

"The Absolute Divine Weapon will lead its wielder to a road of absolution."