My health recovery is incredibly fast.

“Yes.” Beatrice gave a wry smile:

"I have been in charge of the Western Continent for about 300 years, and the progress here is truly embarrassing."

"In order to enable the people here to break through the shackles of the spiritual ocean more effectively, the temple has set up an energy sub-plane, provided free literacy courses and basic alchemy knowledge, and provided a stable supply of food to eliminate hunger. The resident mages and alchemists stationed in various human strongholds also provide various medical services free of charge."

"In the absence of natural disasters, famines, and plagues, the birth rate of the kingdom's inhabitants has increased, but the number of qualified children in the Spiritual Ocean each year has still not exceeded 1000."

Tears welled up in Beatrice's eyes, and she wiped them away with her palm.

"Everything here is coming to an end, Xia Zuo."

"I had imagined this day would come, but I didn't expect it to come so soon."

Faced with Beatrice's sudden change to sadness, Xia Zuo was a little confused:

"Teacher, the Temple secrets that Inster Heguman possesses involve the Western Continent, the Hammer of Desolation Kingdom, and the Ring Island. Why are you so certain that the Church of the Otherworld would choose the Western Continent as its invasion target?"

“Oh, Xia Zuo, I understand you don’t understand these things.” Beatrice smiled, a smile tinged with bitterness.

"When the robbers broke in, they were stopped by a tightly closed door. At this moment, someone gently pushed open one of the doors from the inside, revealing extremely weak defenses and a large amount of wealth inside. What do you think the robbers would do?"

"You mean, someone inside the Temple deliberately lured the Otherworldly Demons to the Western Continent? Isn't that betraying the Temple?" Xia Zuo scratched his head.

"No, Xia Zuo, don't be so naive, be a little more cunning."

Beatrice wiped away her tears and held up a finger, waving it:

"As long as their interests align, the Temple and the Church of the Otherworldly Demons can achieve a tacit understanding of working together from the inside out without prior consultation or conspiracy."

"The Church of the Otherworldly Demons needs vitality, and there are still a large number of incubation pools in the Dark Chamber waiting to be catalyzed. The invasion of the Western Continent by the Otherworldly Demons is a high-priority option, but the opportunity is lacking."

"The Temple needs someone to clean up the Western Continent, and this kind of violation of the law must be done by the Otherworldly Demons."

"At this point, if someone could convey the method for breaking through the Western Continent's defenses to the Church of the Otherworldly Demons, wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"

Beatrice looked at Xia Zuo, who was bowing his head and remaining silent, and said in a low voice:

"Don't think that Inster Heguman's grasp of the Temple's weakness is accidental, nor should you think that the current crisis is unrelated to the Eastern Continent alchemist who mysteriously disappeared a few days ago, Xia Zuo."

When Xia Zuo heard the first half of the sentence, he felt a jolt of inspiration, as if he had suddenly realized the inevitability behind the accident.

But when he heard the second half of the sentence... a sudden wave of intense embarrassment washed over him, almost causing him to break his composure and abandon his contemplative state.

Beatrice continued:

"Some people use the laws of time and space to enhance their combat abilities, while others use the laws of time and space to plan everything in advance, and then quietly wait for events to unfold, ultimately achieving their goals, just like planting a seed and waiting for it to blossom and bear fruit."

"No matter how strong an individual's combat ability is, it's just a knife. When a person uses the laws of time and space as a means of strategy, then he becomes the one wielding the knife."

"If a knife is used to kill someone who shouldn't be killed, then it becomes a murder weapon."

Do you want to become the murder weapon?

Beatrice snapped her fingers, bringing Xia Zuo back to his senses:

"Go to your dormitory and wait for my message. Once I find a suitable reason, I will apply to the temple for a collective evacuation. I will notify you in advance. Of course, you can also take Anruer to the Eastern Continent now."

Xia Zuo took a deep breath. "Okay, teacher."

He stood up, walked towards the door, and turned back as his hand touched the doorknob, asking:

"Teacher, what will you do then? Will you also go to the Eastern Continent?"

"I don't know what my fate will be yet."

Beatrice shook her head, regaining her composure from her brief moment of sadness:

"When a ship sinks, the captain's only fate is to go down with it into the sea."

"For me, disappearing might be the best way out."

Chapter 50 A Heavy but Necessary Burden

Inside a secret base in the western mountains of the Western Continent.

Xia Zuo was pacing around his desk, deep in thought.

After listening to Beatrice's analysis, he also felt that the Western Continent was about to face annihilation.

What made him feel most powerless was that the calamity that the Western Continent was about to face could have been dealt with with the support of the Holy Temple.

But now… Xia Zuo felt a sense of absurdity, as if asking, “Why is the emperor rebelling?”

The temple actually condoned the slaughter of civilians by the alien demons because of the low resource production efficiency of the western continent, so as to justify the relocation of the residents of the eastern continent.

This kind of self-destructive behavior is hard for someone like Xia Zuo, who was born into an information-civilized society, to understand.

In his view, while ordinary people are far less efficient at producing untamed elements than qualified alchemists in the spiritual ocean, this does not mean that ordinary people are useless.

If the temple allows the development of alchemical computers, something that ordinary people can operate, and builds a production system that ordinary people can also run, wouldn't ordinary people with professional training be able to unleash their productivity?

Why doesn't the temple do that?

Elements can release energy, so can't a boiler generate electricity by using steam to drive an electric motor?

If elemental energy can be used as a beam energy field to construct a tower that can take off, then why can't spacecraft, which are based on physics, do the same?

Yes, that's right. Elements are spirits, capable of endless production. The crystal shell provided by the Creation Crystal can endlessly transform wild elements into temple elements, which are then completely controlled by the temple.

but!

Elemental alchemy and science are not mutually exclusive.

Why can't they coexist?

Develop elemental alchemy and elemental magic in the Eastern Continent, and follow the path of the elements.

In the western continent, we should develop science and follow the path of physics and chemistry.

Both sides are working side by side, making up for each other's shortcomings, helping each other, and jointly fighting against Vasaksat.

Isn't this great?

Given that the Temple possessed a wealth of scientific documents from ancient civilizations, why was it unwilling to do so?

"Absurd, utterly absurd," Xia Zuo cursed angrily. "Just because the people of the Western Continent produce few elements and are not suitable for developing the Way of Elements, they want to exterminate them. It's utterly absurd."

Xia Zuo sat down in the chair, scratching his head with a puzzled look on his face:

"I just don't understand... After discovering that it's difficult for people on the Western Continent to produce Untamed Elements, why doesn't the Temple change the Western Continent's development model? There are so many successful experiences from ancient civilizations that we could learn from..."

The little golden chaste tree on the table patted the glass cover of the culture jar:

"Xia Zuo, don't be angry. I know the answer to the question you're asking."

"You know?" Xia Zuo looked up, somewhat surprised, then relieved.

The Golden Vitex clan has witnessed the rise and fall of countless human civilizations, as well as the entire process of the temple's founding. They must know something about it; why not just ask Little Golden Vitex?

"I'm so angry I've lost my mind." Xia Zuo slapped his forehead, rubbed his face a few times, and asked after calming down, "Can you tell me the answer?"

"Of course. The answer is not complicated; it is related to the degree of control the Holy Rune Department has over the Temple and the Temple's operational efficiency."

Little Golden Vitex explained:

"The ancient civilizations you mentioned have one thing in common: as long as their theoretical knowledge and technology are developed in place, any country can pose a fatal threat to other countries, and it is difficult for one country to become dominant and completely control the world."

"But the temple is different."

"The Holy Rune Department controls all the crystal shells produced by the Creation Crystal, which means it controls the elements of the Temple and the entire Temple."

"Furthermore, the efficiency of producing unruly elements, collecting unruly elements, and then converting unruly elements into obedient elements for use is far superior to the operational efficiency of those ancient civilizations you mentioned."

"As long as a very small number of people master the methods of meditation and the weaving of elemental energy, they can create enough basic living supplies to keep the entire temple running. In ancient civilizations, this would have required the participation of at least one-third of all human society."

The little golden jujube tree stood up a leaf to summarize its statement:

"Therefore, at the beginning of the temple's establishment, after long-term consideration and comparison of different civilization trajectories, the temple decided to follow the path of elements."

"Do the people of the Western Continent deserve to be abandoned by the Holy Temple?" Xia Zuo asked, his tone becoming more serious.

“I know it’s hard for you to accept this fact, but... but it’s inevitable. Similar things have happened many times in the history of the Temple.”

Facing Xia Zuo's questioning gaze, Little Golden Thorn Flower timidly said:

"In the past, when the Temple expelled or eliminated the natives of a region, it kept the number of people affected below one million."

"This is the first time the Temple has used this strategy in a region with tens of millions of people."

"Xia Zuo, the Golden Thorn Flower Clan also does not want bloodshed, as that would breed a lot of darkness."

"But we, the Golden Vitex Clan, are powerless... Vasaksat is coming... The Holy Rune Tribe... is almost going crazy with anxiety..."

Little Golden Vitex seemed to be thinking of something, and it began to sob in the telepathic connection:

"It's all for survival, Shazo... No living being wants to die when Vasaksat arrives... We and the Temple both want to live... Sometimes... we inevitably have to sacrifice some lives... It's cruel and painful, but it has to be done... Otherwise, we'll die too..."

Xia Zuo understood Xiao Jinjinghua's words and feelings. He rested his head on the back of his chair, looked at the ceiling, and complained:

"This damn world is like a breeding ground for venomous insects."

The Primordial Crystal, capable of creating crystal shells; the Tree of Fate, capable of controlling destiny; humans possessing bloodline power and meditation techniques; bizarre and grotesque demons and monsters; and ugly, malevolent demons...

Any one of these demons and monsters could cause a huge upheaval in the ordinary human world.

It's really impressive that Vasaksat managed to bring together such a large group of oddballs...

Little Golden Vitex is right, everything is for survival.

First, one must survive the arrival of Vasaksat before one is qualified to talk about romance and tranquility.

Xia Zuo sat up straight, hugged the culture jar to his chest, and poured in a hydrating agent to soothe the little golden chaste tree.

After the little golden thorn flower stopped crying and fell asleep, Xia Zuo gently placed the culture jar on the table and walked to the open space in the center of the alchemy room.

Since the disaster in the Western Continent was unavoidable, Xia Zuo could only try his best to kill more demons to reduce his guilt.

If possible...save more innocent civilians.

"I never expected this, Xia Zuo, you actually have a saintly complex..." Xia Zuo's lips twitched, and he gave a self-deprecating smile.

Seven-colored light flowed across his body as Xia Zuo searched for efficient methods to kill the alien demons in the [Space-Time Phase Simulator].

...