A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 539 Two Popes

"Crystal of Destiny, this is a real treasure! Crystals of Destiny are said to be made by killing people with great fortune, sealing their souls in crystal, and then undergoing a very long process. Now, one gram only costs you 1000 Divine Crystals. How about that? Isn't it a great deal?"

"I don't think it's a good deal. You know how heavy this thing is. A piece the size of a fingernail weighs 5 pounds. Do you think I'm stupid?"

Jiang Shuzhou has always been reluctant to buy things that are so ridiculously expensive that the only way to make them seem cheap is to reduce the unit price.

"Hey boss, I'll give you a discount, 50% off, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shuzhou rolled his eyes.

"50% off? You really dare to ask for that much. One word: 10% off, rounded down to zero, deal or not?"

"this……"

After considering it for a moment, Mani nodded in agreement.

It seems this guy is still making a profit, but Jiang Shuzhou didn't say anything about it. After all, it's business, not robbery; everyone gets what they need.

"And this too, boss, you'll definitely be satisfied!"

Immediately afterwards, Mani showed Jiang Shuzhou the aura and appearance of something.

It was an extremely violent and destructive aura, wrapped around a dragon's head.

"This is……"

Jiang Shuzhou was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized that this aura, this power, this appearance, wasn't this the black dragon head of Tiamat, the Five-Colored Dragon Mother?

What's going on? Tiamat isn't dead either?

Jiang Shuzhou didn't have a good impression of Tiamat.

The main problem is that the dragon calamity shows no signs of abating; on the contrary, it is intensifying.

This posture clearly indicates a determination to occupy the dominant position at all costs.

The enmity is quite large.

"Tyr sold it. When you destroyed the magic network, it had a huge impact on him, since the Pope hasn't been elected yet."

Mani said with schadenfreude.

"Here's some free news for you: Tyr is too busy to deal with you right now; something's happened within his church."

Jiang Shuzhou was taken aback, but quickly understood.

"Is it Joan of Arc?"

Upon hearing this, Mani, who was about to say something, was instantly stunned.

"How could you possibly know? That shouldn't be possible!"

Jiang Shuzhou smiled slightly at this and said, "Guess how she ended up on this path? Wasn't it because I tricked her?"

"Could you tell me the specifics of the situation?"

"His church split, and there were two popes."

With Mani's explanation, Jiang Shuzhou learned about the specific situation of Tyr over the past few years.

Grace burned the previous pope to ashes with a single spell, and then Jiang Shuzhou disconnected the internet, ruining the real-time communication.

This resulted in Tyr being unable to deliver the correct message for quite some time.

He had originally planned to use divine intervention, but the result was still unsatisfactory. Accustomed to the simple and quick magic network, Tyr was completely at a loss, just like the magic network mage of the past.

And so, just when Tyr had finally connected with the believers and was ready to spread the divine message, problems arose.

Joan of Arc had major disagreements with another legendary priest, Francis, and the lack of divine oversight and the suppression of the old pope led to a schism in the church.

Both factions felt they were favored by God and were here to benefit the people, thus a major split began.

First, there was Joan of Arc. She couldn't stand the church, which was supposed to be the church of justice, yet many of its priests indulged in extravagance and lived off the labor of others. They saw the suffering of the people but remained indifferent, even turning a blind eye.

Dissatisfied, Joan of Arc and the knights established a separate church, crowned herself pope, and began her Great Purge.

All lawbreakers and criminals were wiped out by Joan of Arc and her knights.

Even in some trivial matters, Joan of Arc had almost perverse demands.

Francis was no pushover either. Since things had come to this, what else was there to say? If you become pope, I'll become pope too, right?

So, the two sides started fighting.

Two popes, two churches.

Both sides are acting in the name of justice and firmly believe they are in the right. There's nothing Tyr can do but remain silent for now.

This is the limitation of the clergy.

"Tsk tsk tsk, how pathetic."

Jiang Shuzhou, the instigator, was looking quite pleased with himself, as if the matter had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Mani glanced at Jiang Shuzhou, then said nothing more. His intuition told him that this matter seemed to have something to do with Jiang Shuzhou, but he couldn't figure out what it was, so he could only let it go.

"Is there anything else? If not, you can leave."

"How heartless of you to treat me like this? I sold you a whole bunch of good stuff that you can't buy anywhere else on the market."

Mani's eyes were brimming with tears, as if she was very reluctant to part.

"I'll believe you if you don't sell it for such a high price."

"If there's nothing else, you can leave now. I have other things to do, so I can't keep you company for the time being."

Now that the items have been purchased, Mani is no longer of any use, so Jiang Shuzhou no longer needs to feign politeness.

Although he himself wasn't very polite.

"Fine, what a heartless man. Same as always, I'll check the goods in a few days."

With a sigh, Mani instantly stopped crying, got up, and left.

His behavior just now was all an act; he was just waiting for Jiang Shuzhou to persuade him to stay so he could swindle a fee for his hard work.

However, Jiang Shuzhou wasn't buying it.

After all, this is the time for Denoz to ascend. Although this god is theoretically harmless, who knows?

So after she finished buying the items, Jiang Shuzhou simply told her to leave.

Soon after the contract was signed, Mani left.

Jiang Shuzhou was very satisfied with Mani's pragmatism, which was much better than those legendary figures in the Imperial Senate who couldn't see the situation clearly.

When Jiang Shuzhou thought of the empire, he thought of the alliance.

"Ah, the covenant..."

Jiang Shuzhou sighed with emotion.

He hasn't attacked the capital these past few days; otherwise, the Senate would have simply released the alliance and granted it freedom, which would have been quite troublesome.

After all, the reason the alliance is not responding now is all thanks to Jiang Shuzhou's forged edict.

Even so, the covenant remains dangerous. If the empire hadn't bound it, this thing would probably have become a god long ago.

Perhaps it will also be the God of Contracts.

Once the alliance is liberated by the Empire, the power he can unleash could very well reach the level of a medium-level god, or even a powerful god.

Furthermore, he can also have a so-called "earthly divine kingdom," which is an empire, where the strength of the covenant will be greatly enhanced.

It was for these reasons that Jiang Shuzhou did not order the attack on the capital.

Otherwise, if everyone suffers a lose-lose situation, it won't be good for anyone.

Of course, Jiang Shuzhou also had the purpose of stalling for time.

Once his floating city is completed, all these people can be blasted flat by Jiang Shuzhou's floating city.

As he pondered this, a terrifying wave emanated from him, an aura of pure destruction.

It's Denozzi; she's become a legend.

In the current chaotic situation, with the main plane in disarray, her advancement undoubtedly strengthens Jiang Shuzhou's power once again.