Divine Flame Crystal

Chapter 614: One God, One Law, All Lives Obey

On this otherworldly continent, gods aren't abstract symbols, but real, higher-dimensional beings. Some wield thunderstorms, others command the silent abyss. Yet, towering above them all stands an unshakable ruler—the God of Light. He illuminates all realms with his blazing, pure white divine light. His majesty stems not only from his power but also from the system of "holy order" he has established.

One God, One Law, Unity of God and Authority

The so-called "Holy Order" is a hierarchical system of divine authority established by the God of Light to manage the gods, discipline believers, and control the distribution of divine power. It is both a sacred code and a form of institutionalized mind control. Its core doctrine is simply eight words: "One God, One Law, All Must Obey."

According to the teachings of the God of Light, the universe can only have one supreme deity, who alone holds the power to interpret truth and establish divine law. All other gods, even the ancient gods and primordial spirits of the past, are considered heretics if they do not accept the Holy Order. This system has propelled the gods from the primitive chaotic co-rule to a hierarchical, centralized order.

The Holy Order divides deities into nine ranks, from the lowest "Saint Spirit" to the highest "Glorious Lord." Only the God of Light himself stands above the ninth rank, known as the "Glorious One." Each rank corresponds to a specific area of divine authority, a specific area of faith, and a maximum number of believers. To ascend to a higher rank, one must undergo the assessment of the God of Light's Holy Seal and pay a "Divine Tribute," a token of loyalty to the Temple of Light through divine power.

This strict hierarchy effectively incorporated other gods into the authority system of the God of Light, making all gods like vassals of the nobility. They were still gods in form, but in essence they had become the "Heavenly Empire."

In order to extend the rule of the Holy Order into the Prime Material Plane, the God of Light authorized the Holy See to carry out God's will in the world. The Holy See of Light is not just a religious organization, but more like a complete theocratic bureaucracy.

After receiving Holy Orders, each deity must appoint a "holy agent"—a bishop or clergy member of the Vatican who represents the deity in preaching, recruiting believers, and collecting faith. The promotion and transfer of all clergy must be reviewed personally by the Pope during the "Day of Radiance" and in conjunction with the temple. If a deity disobeys or refuses to obey, the Vatican reserves the right to temporarily seal their statue, sever access to faith, or even strip them of their Holy Orders and dethrone them.

As a result, even gods who controlled fire, death, or storms were forced to submit to the Church's jurisdiction. This institutional arrangement ensured a symbiotic relationship between the gods and the Church, bound together by destiny: the gods provided divine power, the Church spread the faith; the Church expanded divine power, and the gods maintained its authority. If one side rebelled, the other could contain it.

To maintain the legitimacy of the "Holy Order" and the stability of the theocratic structure, the "Code of Holy Law," condensed by the God of Light with divine fire, was revered as the sole truth of faith. This voluminous code not only records the order of the gods' birth, the distribution of priesthood, and the process of granting divine grace, but also stipulates the code of conduct for believers, prayer rituals, levels of repentance, and standards of atonement.

In the Holy Law, believing in other unregistered gods is equivalent to "soul treason"; those who spread pagan speech will be defined as "heretics"; those who question the authority of the Holy See will be listed as "disrupters of order". All three must accept "holy light cleansing" and be forcibly extradited to the main city of the Holy See, the "Tower of Glory", to accept the judgment of the Holy Light.

Every year on the Vernal Equinox, during the "Holy Judgment Day," the Vatican organizes a Faith Inspection Team to patrol temples and religious communities across the land, immediately adjudicating any violations of Holy Law. Over time, even ancient gods from the deep sea or the frigid lands were forced to silently bow to Holy Law, modifying their doctrines and integrating them into a unified theological system of "polytheism."

This holy law became the God of Light's most powerful tool for controlling thought and unifying faith. It fostered a strong sense of holy order in mortal society: from kings to beggars, every soul was assigned a "holy position." Daily prayers, devotion, and confession were quantified and scored to determine whether one could enter the "God's Kingdom of Light" after death.

In addition to systems and doctrines, the God of Light also established a more concrete and sophisticated mechanism for trading divine power - the Light Mark System.

After receiving holy orders, every god and his or her believers will have a "mark of light" imprinted in their souls. This mark will emit energy of varying intensities based on the individual's faith, frequency of sacrifice, degree of repentance, etc., forming a standardized "holy light value."

This mechanism not only encourages believers to be more pious, but also allows gods to obtain "faith currency" - divine flame crystals in proportion, which can be used to exchange materials and divine arts within the temple, and even "lease divine power", that is, borrow the power of other gods for a short period of time.

Some gods are even so poor that they burn their own souls and divine power to condense the divine flame crystals in order to obtain them, just to exchange for some useful divine authority.

At the same time, the Vatican established the "Holy Light Evaluation Agency," specifically responsible for calculating, allocating, and redistributing these Divine Flame Points, ensuring that each deity's behavior correlates with their rank in the Holy Order. If a deity's followers perform exceptionally well, their position may be promoted; otherwise, they may be demoted, have their salary reduced, or even be removed from their clergy.

This management method that uses divine power as currency has almost turned the world of gods into an administrative "divine power company". Everyone is busy pursuing "glorious promotion", and the gods are forced to cater to the standards of the Church in order to maintain their positions and power.

Although the Holy Order system appears glorious, noble, and fair on the surface, it is, in reality, a deeply hidden art of domination. Many gods admitted to the Holy Order do not truly submit, but are instead enslaved by the God of Light through the mystical divine power technique, the "Pact of Light."

This is an ancient soul shackle that can silently implant a "Law of Light" deep in the soul of the god while granting the holy order, causing the god to feel severe pain of soul tearing apart when trying to rebel or violate the orders of the temple, and even gradually lose self-awareness and become a manipulated idol.

This is the fundamental reason why, for thousands of years, despite knowing that the God of Light’s rule is cruel and bigoted, none of the gods have been able to truly resist.

This secret was known only to a handful of high-ranking bishops and a few thoroughly enslaved gods. True freedom had long been swallowed up by the glittering golden cage of the "Holy Order." Xingluo fell silent upon seeing this.

Under this system, the God of Light was able to solidify his position as the "Sole God." Whether gods, mortals, or even souls themselves, all became the building blocks of his theocratic empire. And the "Holy Order" was the enduring cornerstone of this empire.

During the time Xingluo joined the Church of Light, he discovered that they actually counted the time and quality of daily prayers (recorded by the Church's "Prayer Mirror"); the amount of monthly offerings and supplies to the Church; the number of reports of heresy and their success rate; the number of times one participated in holy wars or temple labor and the level of disability; the probability of a miracle being triggered (whether or not one was briefly illuminated by the Holy Light).

To this end, the Vatican established a large number of grassroots clergymen known as "Faith Judges." These officers, clad in silver armor and carrying "holy light sensing crystal balls," patrol churches, villages, and towns weekly. Any believers who display signs of unstable faith, suspected of questioning doctrine, or slack behavior will be recorded.

For believers who are repeatedly impious, the lighter ones will be demoted and restricted from entering the temple, while the more serious ones will be required to undergo the "soul purification ceremony", which means kneeling under the altar in front of everyone and having the bishop read the confession text for three days and three nights. During this period, they are not allowed to eat or blink.

If they still do not repent, they will be placed on the "faith blacklist". Not only will they themselves be unable to enjoy the so-called qualification of promotion to heaven, but three generations of their family will also be deprived of the protection of the holy light, becoming "people without light" and being excluded and exiled from society.

This dual mechanism of "soul management" and "social suppression" forces the majority of believers to become more devout, constantly inward-looking, and compete to climb the path of faith.

Although under the Holy Order system, the God of Light is the only main god, other gods such as the Moon God, the God of War, the God of Wind, the God of Agriculture, etc. are incorporated into the integrated system of the Holy Order Temple. They are respectful on the surface, but in fact there are undercurrents and constant conflicts.

The Holy Order forcibly divides the divine domains, limiting the influence of each god's faith to a certain range. However, many of the gods' domains inherently overlap. For example, the God of War originally presided over both combat and glory, but "glory" was later reclaimed by the God of Light and made part of "Holy Light Glory," to be managed by divine messengers directly under the Holy Order Temple. The God of War retains only a small portion of his "war instinct."