522 The Path to Heaven

Many would think that cities like Coninopolis, whose inhabitants practice magic, would not allow religion fester within it.

The proud Rohlserlian sorcerers had long since made known the disgust they felt for religion, which they regarded as a conman's scheme, created to fool the uneducated. Mornserian sorcerers — whose actions took after their Rohlserlian counterparts — also shared this belief. Nevertheless, religion, which both Rohlserlian and Mornserian sorcerers considered a conman's scheme, would go on to thrive greatly in an atheistic city. In the future, the most powerful and influential organization in Isythre ended up being a religious group.

How did that come to be? Mornserian state government's lax policies were not the only reason for the exponential growth of religion in the atheistic city. Unfortunately, Mornseria was destroyed, and its survivors became outlaws, wreaking havoc on the empire whenever they could. There were no Mornserian records or historical accounts for Baiyi to study in the future.

Coninopolis was destroyed by the Rohserlian army during its destructive sweep of Mornseria, only to become a foundation for Cunningham city. This was a huge shock, and a testament to the tenacity and devotion of the followers of God's Grace.

All this did not answer a huge question, though: how exactly was God's Grace founded? There were no historical records or accounts detailing the religion's birth. The best one could find was a couple of sentences, narrating how the first group of God Grace's followers suddenly appeared in the destroyed Coninopolis one day.

This further added to the conundrum. The Fall of the Rohlserlian empire was also the fall of biggest opposer of religion in Isythre. After Rohlserl — a huge, stabilizing force — fell, a mad scramble for power and land broke out and continued for a long time, resulting in long wars between different factions.

Many religions and cultists took advantage of the chaos and began to spread their fate. Although religions and cults flourished in this period, only God's Grace, which many coined the "religion of peace and benevolence", rose to such a height that it easily dominated the continent, after which it eliminated other religions. How did it manage to do this, though?

That answer was a mystery. The wars fought between religious groups were crueler than those fought between nations. [1]

"Tell me; what's so special about Coninopolis?" Baiyi stared at the Emperor, in need of answers.

"Have you ever heard of Mornseria's 'Path to Heaven'?"

"No way! Are you telling me that it actually exists?"

Baiyi was confused. All he knew of Isythre's history had come from the memories of the Scholar Walker, the Explorer Walker, and other scholarly Voidwalkers. However, the Explorer Walker's knowledge was the best. As an excellent graverobber, his knowledge of archeology and history surpassed that of real historians.

Even the Explorer Walker was of the opinion that the Path to Heaven was a myth, however.

According to a few apocryphal accounts, a long ago, the Mornserian king used most of his nation's wealth to build a tower so tall that it pierced the clouds. He named this tower 'Path of Heaven'. The tower did not get that name because anybody that jumped off its top floor would be on a one-way trip to heaven; it was given the name because ten million alabaster stairs were built in it. Legends had it that if someone possessed the strength and forbearance needed to reach the top of the tower, that person would find themselves in the realm of the gods, with whom the person could have tea and talk about the weather with. [2]

The Explorer Walker was skeptical about this myth because of its many logical and historical fallacies. First, Mornseria was being pressured all the time by the Ancient Rohlserlian Empire, so its king could not have found the time, manpower, and wealth to invest in such a building — which many could coin an ancient 'Wonder of the World' — as such valuable resources were better spent on the country's military. Even if the king really wished to commission such a project, how would the lackluster technology and knowledge available at the time be sufficient? Furthermore, Alabaster, which the stairs in the tower were said to be made of, was an advanced building material that became common a thousand years after Mornseria was destroyed. Hence, alabaster could not have been available at the time myths claimed the tower was built!

The Explorer Walker had even visited several locations rumored to be the site of the legendary Path to Heaven, but he found nothing. Hence, he summarily dismissed the myth, calling it a tall tale made up solely for entertainment. Seeing as his efforts turned up nothing, no one could fault him for coming to that conclusion.

"I don't recall any mention of the Path to Heaven in your memory," Baiyi said.

"Well, when I shared my memory with you, I withheld a few things I considered unimportant. Now, you're not surprised that you don't know them, right?" The Emperor replied.

"How the heck is a tower higher than the clouds unimportant?" Baiyi exclaimed, visibly amused.

"Because the Path to Heaven is not a tower; it was formation complex that acts as a channel between realms," the Emperor replied, clarifying one of the biggest archaeological mysteries with an expression of calm. "From within the memories of my future self, I found out that the army found a strange formation complex after destroying Coninopolis; they knew not what it did. Due to the serious nature of their mission, the army had no time to investigate the formation complex, neither did they spare some time to completely destroy it; instead, they destroyed a few key parts of the complex and buried the rest under a mountain of earth."

Baiyi was frozen in shock, and a thought instantly crossed his mind. "A massive formation acting as a channel between realms. Could it be…?" He wondered out loud.

"Yes. If I'm not mistaken, that complex is that Angel Summoning Formation that caused you to develop a migraine," the Emperor replied, confirming Baiyi's suspicion. He reached into this inner pocket and pulled out another document, which he then tossed to Baiyi.

The parchment contained the blueprint of a formation. Baiyi studied it carefully and realized he had never seen anything like it before. Although this blueprint bore some resemblance to transporter portals of the future, there were also a ton of differences. A part of this blueprint reminded Baiyi of the Ember of Hope.

If this was the formation capable of summoning Angels to Isythre, then many questions that have long since plagued Baiyi could be considered answered. Why was the Church's Holy City created on the ruins of an ancient city formerly inhabited by sorcerers? How did the Church of God's Grace manage to emerge supreme despite the stiff competition it had faced? This formation was the key.

"Don't waste it, Son. For this blueprint that could save our future, we lost many good men," the Emperor said with a heavy voice. "I should have brought more people with me; we could have destroyed the entire damn thing, right there and then."

Coninopolis was one of Mornseria's most fortified strongholds; raiding it with his current power had been quite risky for the Emperor. Not only did the Emperor raid the stronghold, but he and his team also had to hold back the Mornserians long enough for him to draw the layout of the formation. Baiyi could only imagine the danger that the Emperor had faced.

"Why are you always so impatient?" Baiyi muttered under his breath. "You should have brought me along…"

"I wanted to get you a welcome gift. You can take it as a token of my appreciation for doing my boring and tedious administrative work," the Emperor replied. He could not possibly have asked Baiyi for help in preparing his own gift, could he?

"Some gift this is." Baiyi exhaled. A gift thickened with the blood of hundreds of sacrificed Rohlserlian elite fighters.

"You're welcome. By the way, have I told you how dim you are? Although I left you with great power and authority, all you've done for a few weeks is to lock yourself in my office pushing papers! Did the thought of using the executive power to do something meaningful cross your mind?" The Emperor flashed Baiyi a glance of disappointment. Before Baiyi could reply, the Emperor sighed. "Fine. Forget it. Issue a command for me. I want the best artists in the Empire to gather here, in the Imperial Capital."

A trace of suspicion appeared in Baiyi's eyes. "Don't tell me you're—"

"Oh, you bet! Let see how you burn them now!" The Emperor gloated.

He reached out and ruffled Mia's hair — a gesture that told her it was time for them to take their leave.

To the Emperor's surprise, the girl shook her head sideways. Flashing a pair of puppy-dog eyes, Mia cooed with a sweet voice. "I wanna accompany Mr. Hope today, Royal Gramps…"

The Emperor pouted, and without another word, he left the office, visibly unhappy.

When the office door was closed, Baiyi grinned. He beckoned Mia over and pinched her cheeks affectionately. "Ahaha! I knew that all my doting was not in vain!"

Mia wriggled away and, using the same sweet voice, she whined, "I wanna go home!"

Baiyi suddenly realized how his master had felt some moments ago.

"Fine, fine. I guess it's time for us to do something meaningful," Baiyi said. He cleared the office table of documents, save for two new parchments on which he wrote down two commands.

When the Emperor gave Baiyi this position, he had expected his protégé to use the power and resources available to an emperor to seek solutions to his issue. Unfortunately, Baiyi had been too focused on his master's documents to do anything else, including harassing beautiful women on the street alongside a few noble rascals.

It was proof that one could inherit the best theories and knowledge of government, yet still make poor rulers if their leadership qualities were lacking.

After issuing his commands, he spread the blueprint of the Path to Heaven on the desk and urged Mia to take a look together.

She dismissed the blueprint altogether. Instead, she looked at Baiyi pointedly before asking a question the Fifth Walker had never expected to hear from her, "Mr. Hope, are you planning to destroy it?'

Coninopolis was one of the most challenging Mornserian strongholds to capture — indeed, the Emperor had suffered quite a bit for attacking it — but it was still no match for Baiyi. The only preparation he would need was to suit Mia up with equipment aimed to extend her power limit, and the Fifth Walker would be able to infiltrate Coninopolis via the Hitman's stealth tactics before transforming into The Black Meatball of Death. He could destroy the Angel Summoning Tower in minutes.

It was not a difficult scenario for Mia to imagine, so she did, and asked her question.

Baiyi mused about it before finally shaking his head.

It was not the Butterfly Effect that stopped him this time; it was his acknowledgment of the Church as a worthy opponent and their immense contribution to the good of humanity in general. Without them, Isythre's dark chapter of religious wars and demonic invasions would last longer and claim far more lives. Progress on medical knowledge would also suffer.

Even with the enmity between the Voidwalkers and the Church reaching its boiling point, Baiyi never wanted to destroy them completely. Theirs was a clash of ideologies, not morality.

As for the Angels, Baiyi no longer worried about them now that he got the formation blueprint in his hand.

Seeing Baiyi's answer, Mia let out a sigh of relief. "History would be able to follow its actual course, then," She said, smiling. "Everything will be fine when we finally return home."

Baiyi studied the girl in silence. The head that bobbled on top of that conservative sorcerer robe still looked so young, her frame still so tiny, it was as if she had stopped growing since her childhood. Yet there was a glimpse of maturity in the way she considered this issue.

For once, Baiyi finally realized that his youngest daughter had grown up.