Chapter 649: Chapter 373, Alpha-class Psychic
Gu Hang had never underestimated the state religion; even though they lacked nominal military force, their greatest weapon was influence. And that in itself was terrifying.
If the Pontiff of the State Religion, or a particularly influential Cardinal Archbishop, truly got tough and declared someone or someplace heretical, or made a proclamation about a region occupied by aliens, the Chaos Cult, the onset of a crusade was very likely.
The bishops might not have regular armed forces other than the Sisterhood, but they could invoke the name of a ‘crusade’ to rally all the governors and imperial military forces across several star sectors.
And when they wanted to do so, they often succeeded. There were many such instances in the history of the empire.
This was not a matter of authority, commands, or coercion, but rather the persuasive power brought about by influence.
It was precisely because of this influence and persuasion that governments at all levels from the Central to the local were actually quite wary of them.
…
Not bad at all, considering that after the political turmoil that affected the whole empire, they had already been heavily restrained, and yet they still retained such substantial influence.
Who wouldn’t be afraid of that?
In regions where the state religion was strong, not to mention government officials indoctrinated with faith, even normal officials would impose restrictions on it.
Of course, this could lead to contradictions and even conflicts, depending on personal tactics and local circumstances.
The fact that there had been no troubles in Korolya gave Gu Hang much relief.
The core reason was that the last war had just ended not long ago; Gu Hang had acquired immense prestige and military power, and he still held the title of war zone commander. Besides, Zhao Qinghong, the bishop, was not a particularly strong figure. Although he had a good grassroots base and was dissatisfied with the cancellation of privileges, he weighed the compensation that Gu Hang offered, such as the promise to support evangelism, and the Alliance Government would even provide special funding; he also considered the potential results of making a fuss, especially without the support of the Sisterhood…
Forget it, let’s leave it at that.
As for complaining to a higher level of the state religion organization, Zhao Qinghong actually did.
But it was no use; he knew it himself. His complaint was essentially a plea, lamenting his own difficulties. The Cardinal Archbishop above consoled him for a while, and that was that.
The higher state religion organization had no intention of standing up for this matter.
The core point here was that Gu Hang had not touched the core interests that the state religion valued most: influence.
The state religion could still continue to evangelize without restriction, and the Alliance Government even provided some conveniences.
As long as the number of registered believers didn’t decrease, that was enough.
Indeed, due to a more effective and transparent management system, the number of registered believers might even surge.
So what was there to make a big fuss about?
As for the religion not meddling in politics or having economic privileges—what did that have to do with the higher state religion organization?
The state religion organization had neither plans to control the Tianma Star Sector through influence, nor would it fight for the economic privileges of its subordinate sects; the money didn’t go to them, and clearing out the corrupt was met with applause.
…
After settling matters with the state religion, all of Korolya’s affairs were on the right track, and the rest was left to time to ferment.
Gu Hang needed to wait for Mingyan City to step by step progress to the point where it could form an internal cycle in accordance with the planned steps.
As for himself, he was finally able to relax.
However, this so-called ‘leisure’ was only relative. At his level, how could he possibly have truly leisure time?
Not needing to focus all his time and energy on state affairs, he naturally had other matters to attend to.
First, he visited the Storm God Kingdom; Ge Wajia, the Great Unclean One’s subspace essence, was still atop the high tower in the Divine Realm, suffering the storms’ lashing and torment.
Months had passed, and Ge Wajia’s subspace essence had been almost completely eradicated. So much so, that Gu Hang could no longer see the ‘small’ Unclean One brandishing its claws; only a thin yellow-green mist remained.
In its place, the Storm God Kingdom was rife with thunder.
Within the dense thunderclouds, a more substantial new life was being nurtured.
In just a few months, the scale of the Storm God Kingdom had almost doubled.
The dissolution and consumption of Ge Wajia’s subspace essence had increased the power of the Storm God Kingdom. With greater ‘subspace authority,’ the forces the Storm God Kingdom could summon increased significantly.
Gu Hang estimated that with the current strength of the Storm God Kingdom, if he faced another Great Demon like Ge Wajia daring to invade alone, he shouldn’t need to rely on favorable timings or push the enemy out to the fringes of reality nor rely on real-world assault to destroy the enemy’s body and soul.
Now, relying solely on the power of the Storm God Kingdom, he should be able to defeat the enemy.
Even if the Great Demon came with its thousands of demonic forces, the Storm God Kingdom now had the capacity to fight head-on.
This was not only the result of the Storm God Kingdom gaining much greater power but also due to Gu Hang himself becoming stronger.
After defeating Ge Wajia, he had amassed enough experience to level up.
Although reaching LV9 required a terrifying two hundred thousand points of grace, with his many personal experiences, Gu Hang clearly understood that in this universe, military strength was very important, and so was having powerful top-tier fighters.