Chapter 7: Sighing at This
Hearing this, the white-haired old man standing beside Joshua stroked his beard, shaking his head with an expression that could be either sighing or doubting. Pope Igor said softly, "Gold and Ultimate are indeed as you say, but the birth of a Legendary expert can only depend on personal luck and comprehension—it's impossible to predict."
"However," the old Pope closed his eyes and nodded seriously, "What you said is indeed correct. The Mycroft World does not lack geniuses; what we lack are the conditions to unearth them."
In the main city of Moldavia, with a population of less than a million, they could find eight thousand 'geniuses' with Gold or Ultimate potential. This didn't even count the tens of thousands with decent talent who, through hard work, training, and resources, also had a chance to achieve Gold, nor the hidden ones that couldn't be detected. A probability close to ten percent was simply unbelievable.
If the entire Mycroft World were to become transcendent, then without a doubt, these originally buried talents would become the pillars of civilization. Even with a population of only a few hundred million, tens of millions of Gold-rank experts and hundreds of thousands of Ultimate-rank experts would be an unimaginable force.
"Based on the information revealed by the Great Khan of the Star Shepherds, we can basically confirm that the external World Star River is in an extremely chaotic state of war. The phenomenon of Chaos convergence we observed earlier is precisely caused by these wars."
Joshua gazed at the Steel Shard suspended above Moldavia. This shard, originating from the Starry World, could improve the talent of ordinary people. Now, as a warrior, he could also produce it himself. He didn't mind sharing his power with others, but before that, he had to make them understand the severity of the current situation.
"Those powerful Void civilizations each have the strength to annihilate the Mycroft World. Even if we are not inferior to them in terms of high-end experts—perhaps even stronger—what about logistical replenishment? They might lose a fleet and replenish it in a few years, but if we lose a Legendary expert, can we replenish one in a few years?"
At this, the old Pope remained silent, and Joshua didn't continue speaking.
After a long while, Igor sighed, "I understand what you mean... You want me to establish Paladin academies or even Clergy academies, just like you did with the professional academies, right? Spread transcendence by any means, dig out geniuses, and then use the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground's otherworld exploration to gather resources and nurture them... A seamless plan."
"But Joshua, the inheritance of the Holy Light path isn't that simple. If one isn't cultivated from childhood with a pure and kind heart, it's extremely difficult to connect with Holy Light and gain power. The recruitment of Clergy has always been difficult, and few can endure the initial hardship."
Joshua glanced at the Pope and said strangely, "Then why not just cultivate them from childhood? Nine years of compulsory education, enroll students from the age of six. With the reputation of the Church of the Seven Gods, ordinary people in the Far South would probably be crying and begging to send their children to the church, right? It might be hard for adults to have a pure heart, but it should be much simpler for children."
"And perhaps not just the Far South. Children sent by people from all over the continent with such intentions might even burst the entire Far Sea Holy Mountain. Even if some can't endure hardship, a large batch of qualified children will remain."
Where would the church get so much money?!
Igor initially wanted to rebuke Joshua's wild fantasy. After all, the Church of the Seven Gods was not a political organization. Apart from the voluntary donations of believers, most of its income came from the Clergy's demon-extermination work. If not for the church being a high-level transcendent organization with its own unique resource acquisition channels, they would have been too poor to keep their doors open long ago.
But now, after pondering for a moment, the old Pope was surprised to discover that the Church of the Seven Gods... was actually quite wealthy!
Just the dividends from the otherworld exploration plan, the income from those few mining worlds, were enough to complete the basic academy construction and personnel recruitment!
By the Seven Gods! Since there were resources, things became much easier.
Igor had always thought that establishing Clergy academies wasn't a bad thing, just that the time wasn't right (the main reason being the lack of money). But now, after thinking it over, perhaps now was the time to spread the Holy Light path on a large scale.
"But Joshua, you specifically invited me here. It certainly can't be just to discuss a problem that could be solved through a communication array."
After briefly planning the blueprint for development in his mind, the old Pope withdrew his thoughts, turned his head, and looked at Joshua. "Speak. Let me hear what problem could possibly stump you."
"It's not exactly stumping me. Your Holiness, I just want to ask whether the Church of the Seven Gods, which has fought the most against the Abyss, knows the concept of the 'Deepest Layer of the Abyss.'"
Joshua didn't beat around the bush. After getting the Pope to agree to the large-scale cultivation of Clergy—a comprehensive transcendent power system—he directly asked the true purpose of this invitation. "You know, according to the Great Khan of the Star Shepherds, there might be something mysterious in the Abyss... But I know nothing about it."
Even in his previous life, information about the Abyss was limited to the Demon Lord Goliath of the Sixth Abyss. Joshua only knew that this powerful Demon Lord had unified the power of multiple Abysses and, based on that, audaciously invaded the Mycroft World. Of course, the invasion didn't succeed. The Legendary expert assassination squad led by Brandon beheaded its true body at the Valley of Tears Fortress, halting the Abyss's offensive. After that, the war fell into a brutal stalemate. It was during the Abyss's final counterattack that he had transmigrated.
Exploration of the Abyss was definitely something that happened after that version. Anyway, Joshua didn't know what happened next. Now, he could only come and ask the most knowledgeable old Pope.
"I don't know either. In fact, even the concept of the 'Deepest Layer of the Abyss' doesn't exist in the scriptures of the Church of the Seven Gods."
Igor's answer was very straightforward. He shook his head and smiled helplessly. "The Abyss has no bottom. How can there be a deepest layer? As a pile of ruins stacked together after countless worlds were destroyed, its layers are calculated based on their distance from our Mycroft World. For example, the nearest Abyss to us, the First Abyss, is right next to the Carlis World. It's a very small demiplane world with no demons inside, just a dead and silent world. Compared to it, the Sixth and Seventh Abysses are farther away."
"But for the Carlis World, our Sixth Abyss is its Third Abyss... Calculated this way, who can determine which Abyss is the deepest? Even the Gray Knight, who has traveled the farthest in the Abyss, has never explored its end."
"That does seem to be the case."
Hearing this, Joshua nodded, acknowledging the old Pope's statement.
But he still spoke up. "Even so, we still need to conduct an exploration of this. Even if the Great Khan of the Star Shepherds is lying, or being deceived by their so-called ancient texts, we shouldn't give up on this potential power... If nothing else, even finding the ruins of the battle between the ancient Sage and the Plenty Evil God would be good. By observing the traces of their battle, I might be able to comprehend something."
"Is that so... Indeed, if it's the traces of the battle between the Sage and the Plenty Evil God, that alone would be of great value."
Igor couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Just as Joshua said, there was no need for secrets or mysterious ruins. As long as they could find the site of that battle, for the experts of the Mycroft World, the gain would be even greater than finding a new world perfect for colonization.
But indeed, he didn't know where this 'Deepest Layer of the Abyss' was.
However, even though Saint Igor, as the strongest being of the current era, didn't know where the so-called Deepest Layer of the Abyss was located, it didn't mean there was no one in the Mycroft World who knew this information.
In the southern district of Moldavia in the Northern Lands, an elegant elf lady was sitting inside a steel mana vehicle. She touched the metal mana creation with a hint of nostalgia, as if recalling an ancient past, memories long lost in war and destruction.
Although she was no longer her original self now, and her memories had long lost any real sensation, like looking at flowers through a fog, she could still manage 'nostalgia' and 'recollection.'
"Back then, it took us a full eight hundred years to accomplish all this."
Stretching a bit lazily, the elegant elf lady whispered to herself with nostalgia. "And now, mortals have caught up to the shadow of the Era of Radiance in just a few short years."
Of course, this wasn't strange. Starting from scratch is always harder than rediscovering existing technology. Even if this generation's civilization had developed some unique technologies, it was still standing on the shoulders of giants to move forward.
That's how civilization works. Each generation surpasses the last. Ordinary people, standing on the shoulders of their ancestors, can even see farther than them.
This is certainly not a strange thing, nor does it diminish the greatness of the ancestors.
It's just that they, as gods who observe the cycles of the world... can't help but sigh at this.