548 Gaining Insight
Vaan might have achieved god-like power from a mortal's perspective. However, a Peak Demigod was nothing in his chaosverse, let alone the entire domain of Chaos.
Even the respectable True Divinities Empyrean Scarletsea spoke of did not seem like much, just more powerful beings.
They still weren't close to the true gods that Vaan imagined.
As far as he could see, whether it was Empyrean Scarletsea's Divine Realm or Pangea, the word 'god' was thrown around lightly because of human's desire to become such a being.
However, the truth was that the true state of god was far more out of reach than anyone could imagine.
Perhaps the unknown invaders that attacked Empyrean Scarletsea's Divine Realm were closer to the true state of a god.
A real god should be able to create his own chaosverse or destroy one - Vaan thought.
...
After bringing the Sun God Temple under his complete control, Vaan made various arrangements to reorganize and expand the religion. He also abolished the castration process for inducting new priests into the faith.
Furthermore, he also made plans to allow priests to recover their manhood if they wished. It might be impossible for others to regrow organs with healing magic since they haven't completely understood human anatomy down to the cellular level.
However, it shouldn't be a problem for him since he possessed the knowledge; he only lacked the healing magic.
Fortunately, that could be resolved through the Soul Link Spell.
Once a base was built on the moon, he could send priests and other men to cultivate in Chaos. His only concern was the threat posed by the pure earth elemental worm.
...
Nevertheless, while ordering the higher-ranking priests around, Vaan marveled at the influential power his words held over them.
Whether it was the Archpriest, the Grand Priests, or the High Priests connected to the One-Mind Unity Spell, they all carried out his post-cleanup orders without exception.
Furthermore, after speaking to them briefly, their ill will had been completely erased from their hearts. They had completely turned into his devoted believers like the rest-No, they were even more devoted than ordinary believers.
They fully believed he was one true sun god.
In essence, the brainwashing power of the Holy Aura Scripture, coupled with the One-Mind Unity Spell, was no joke.
More importantly, the Holy Aura Scripture helped Vaan gain insights into developing an aura cultivation method above the peak rank, which would let him cultivate beyond the Aura King rank.
Aura was a production of mana and blood energy, and it could be controlled to a certain extent through specific breathing techniques, muscle control, and bodily movements.
Unfortunately, aura users could never freely control aura like how witches manipulated mana.
That's why the Holy Knight Empire developed its aura cultivation methods in the direction of adding elemental attributes to the aura to increase its power.
However, Vaan started to believe that it was possible for aura users to manipulate aura like witches with mana at higher ranks of aura cultivation.
The key was hidden in the aura user's mind-or, more specifically, their spirit.
Aura was part of the body, except it couldn't be moved like one's limbs. But if aura users could fuse their spirits into their aura, it could become a possibility.
Divine aura...
Before Vaan could achieve it, he had already given a new name to aura that could be freely manipulated at will.
The secret of producing divine aura was most likely found in the uncharted territory of the brain's complex system of blood vessels.
Holy Aura Scripture had already shown its possibility, even if only a glimpse.
Vaan had to figure out the right channel to infuse his spirit into his aura. Without a doubt, channeling aura to the brain region was an extremely dangerous choice. This was especially so, considering the potent power of his dragon aura.
The blood vessels in his brain region would undoubtedly burst at the slightest mistake if he followed through with it.
Nevertheless, danger and opportunity always come hand in hand.
Nuclear power could destroy his previous world, but that also never stopped humans from using it due to its endless potential.
Of course, Vaan wasn't one to gamble with his life unless he had some insurance or confidence.
There was a way to guarantee his brain region's blood vessels wouldn't burst under his tyrannical dragon aura, which was to temper them.
As long as the blood vessels were strengthened, there wouldn't be an issue with channeling his dragon aura through his brain region.
It just so happened that he figured out a special way to temper his major meridians and minor blood vessels not long ago - it was fire tempering.
Given his absolute control, there wouldn't be an accident in tempering his meridians and blood vessels with his flames. He also had his High-rank Fire Spirit Body and Ruby as insurance.
...
In the main temple's innermost sanctum, Vaan listened to Archpriest Thurman's account of his experiences and knowledge in the Sun God Temple.
Since the person had become a completely devoted believer, Vaan didn't even need to rely on dragon magic to extract information from the person.
Whatever he asked, Archpriest Thurman would answer wholeheartedly.
As a result, Vaan learned about the past two hundred years of Archpriest Thurman's experience in the Sun God Temple and some of its history. When he matched it with the Elderwatch family's story, which he heard from Astoria, he found startling similarities. Just as he suspected, the Sun God Temple's faith was created by a member of the Blessed Golden Dragon Tribe.
The so-called Sun God was, in fact, referring to the Golden Dragon Pangea.
The origin of the Sun God recorded in the Sun God Temple's sacred texts was a modified version based on the Elderwatch family's version of Pangea's history.
Most likely, the Sun God Temple was founded in remembrance of the Golden Dragon Pangea while fooling the enemies of Pangea.
Vaan had always found it strange that the Elderwatch family controlled the Imperial Legion. Yet, the Braveheart imperial family's private force was nonexistent.
After acquiring the relevant information, Vaan finally made the connection.
The Braveheart family founded the Sun God Temple. The head of each generation secretly controlled the Sun God Temple while ruling the country. But after Astoria's father, Siegried Braveheart, died an untimely death, the connection was lost.
Ultimately, the Sun God Temple became an independent, uncontrolled, tumorous force that ate away at the country over the years.
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