Upon seeing Lilith’s embarrassing expression, the Old Pope was not surprised, for at that moment, his own expression was even more exaggerated than Lilith’s.
Hearing the Old Pope say this, Lilith suddenly understood many things. No matter how one looked at it, even if the heavens were torn apart, this potion was not Holy Water, but rather the ancestral potion of the Northern Border Governor.
But Lilith still found it hard to believe and asked:
“How much of this ‘ancestral potion of the Northern Border Governor’ do they have?”
“Your Majesty, you must have seen the battle reports…”
Upon hearing this response, Lilith didn’t dare to believe it, but she understood that the ancestral potion mentioned in the battle report was indeed Holy Water.
This was one of the few aspects where Cape had the upper hand in intelligence over An Zhu; at least the Goddess Church still had some depth.
The Old Pope continued to respond: “If it weren’t for the war in the Northern Border, we might not even be able to obtain this ancestral potion. This bottle isn’t original; it took a lot of effort to collect it from the battlefield, so the liquid is a bit cloudy, and the purity isn’t enough. However, the opposing side has mixed in some materials with the potion, making it look no different from ordinary potions.”
At that moment, Lilith finally understood what it felt like to take a sharp intake of breath as depicted in novels. Insufficient purity? To be honest, the potion contained in this simple bottle, even if collected from the battlefield, with strange materials mixed in, had a purity comparable to that splendidly packaged Holy Water from the other side.
The purity was too high, as high as commercialized products.
With a long sigh, the Old Pope continued, “It’s just a pity that we are now at a loss regarding the Northern Border. Even the Church has been cut off. If that Governor wants to, he could easily take advantage of this to seize followers. No… it can’t be called seizing… that Governor may be the true successor of the Goddess…”
The Old Pope was not wrong. If that Governor wished, with a wave of his hand, he could seamlessly transform into a unified figure of the church. With these Holy Waters, those followers would only think that the Goddess had abandoned the current Church, and that the Goddess Church under the Northern Border Governor was the legitimate one.
This was a miracle, a real miracle!
Once the Northern Border used this news to create momentum, even internally within the Church, doubts about whether it was still the legitimate authority might arise.
If only they had known earlier that the opposing side’s Governor had the ability to mass-produce Holy Water, the Old Pope would probably have dispatched the Holy Crusade Army without hesitation to bring him back “by any means necessary.”
This was a living saint; what was the point of unifying the Northern Border? They should invite him over to restore the glory of the Church. If the Church had a saint with such capabilities, let alone Lilith or Klan, even Augustus III from back then would have to crawl at the feet of religion, becoming a devout follower.
And the first person who came to Lilith’s mind was the original protagonist, Isha. But that didn’t make sense; Isha’s skill to produce Holy Water probably had a long cooldown. Even if Isha started producing Holy Water as soon as she went to the Northern Border, she would feel incapable of managing the overwhelming consumption of Holy Water mentioned in the battle report.
Recalling the various sci-fi style weapons in the hands of that transmigrator compatriot, Lilith had a chilling suspicion: not only did the opposing side possess the ability to mass-produce Holy Water, but they had even begun to walk down a path of commercialization.
This made Lilith feel a bit desperate. This was all wrong; the position of the Saintess should belong to that compatriot. The gender of the Saintess could be less strictly defined.
Seeing the subtle change in Lilith’s expression, the Pope comforted her: “Your Majesty, there’s no need to worry too much. That Governor doesn’t seem to have the intention of making a big deal out of this Holy Water. At least for our Church, it is still safe.”
Then, the Old Pope continued his analysis:
“That Governor seems unwilling to overly rely on religious power to aid himself, lest the powers of religion eclipse his own, so before the Northern Border’s strength continues to grow, he is unlikely to make a fuss over these potions.”
“Well then, Your Majesty, as long as that Governor doesn’t make it known, then these potions aren’t Holy Water but rather the ancestral potion of that Governor. Even if we admit that the other party is a descendant of the Old Empire, it’s fine. Saying that these potions are made using the Old Empire’s techniques is also acceptable. As long as these potions aren’t Holy Water, I can even personally vouch for that Governor and affirm that he is indeed a descendant of the Empire.”
If the Divine Revelation Lantern was merely able to cause a schism within the Church, making the choice of Popes more complex, then this secret really could overturn the current Church. If the opposing side possessed the ability to mass-produce Holy Water, then which side was considered the legitimate one, the Northern Border Church under the opposing side or the Central Church in the Royal Capital?
In the past, the Central Church could have completely doubted the opposing side’s Holy Water, suspecting it was produced through some evil methods, and demanded an investigation. If they refused to cooperate, they could be directly sealed off, regardless of the reasons.
For example, they could condemn the opposing side as heretics; just using it would bring about curses, and that the method of production was a desecration against the Goddess.
In pursuit of their own status and the Goddess’s dignity, the Church had not been able to refrain from similar actions in the past.
But that no longer applied. At least this method could not be used against the Northern Border, unless the Tower lifted the restrictions on the advanced powers of the Church. Otherwise, the current Church could not guarantee that it would prevail against the Northern Border.
Lilith nodded. Now, Lilith was deeply tied to the Church, and at least the Church could not fall just yet.
“Your Majesty, rest assured. I have already decided to personally meet with that Governor. Regarding this matter, I will discuss it in detail with him.”
It seemed there was yet another matter to discuss with that compatriot. If only she had learned about this so-called ancestral potion secret earlier. Now Lilith and the Church understood that this ancestral potion was Holy Water, but instead, they had to assist the other party in covering it up.
Otherwise, the foundation of the Church’s faith would collapse at any moment.
Lilith gently held the Old Pope’s slightly trembling hand, which showed signs of excitement. The Old Pope finally calmed down and nodded, saying, “That’s good, Your Majesty. I entrust everything to you.”
After leaving the Church, Lilith thought for a moment and decided to discuss this matter with Nora first, because Lilith was actually quite pessimistic about the Holy Water situation. The other party had not revealed any news about Holy Water beforehand, yet suddenly seemed to have relaxed their information control after this war.
Apart from facing the immense pressure from the Demon Clan monsters that forced them to use Holy Water in large quantities, Lilith felt that the other party’s willingness to issue such orders was also a sign of not caring about the leakage of Holy Water’s secret. After all, given their current strength, they indeed didn’t have to care about the Church’s opinions anymore.
If that were the case, then gradually, other forces, including An Zhu’s, would also learn of this situation, making the Goddess Church quite passive.
But fortunately, they had learned this news in advance. As long as both the Goddess Church and the Northern Border firmly insisted that this was the ancestral potion of the Old Empire, everything would be fine.
Thinking of this, facing the upcoming negotiations with the Northern Border Governor, Lilith felt a layer of pessimistic shadow enveloping her heart. Her leverage had not increased, while the other side had gained an advantage out of thin air.
