The male supporting character was actually myself.

Anyway, there are still many rare treasures in my spatial bag. After disguising myself with magic scrolls and concealing my aura, I can go to a nearby town to find an auction house to exchange them for gold coins, and then find a puppet to help me buy a large number of magical plants in Yaonan Kingdom to make magic potions.

In that case, it might be worth taking the risk and trying to force a breakthrough!

If I succeed, I can become a top-tier immortal and break free from the control of the Life-Extending Demon Pill. Moreover, I won't have to be afraid of the Pope anymore; I can just kill that old guy.

This is a matter of life and death; we must seize the time and strive to advance before the next attack!

After figuring out his strategy, the archbishop took out a magic map to research which larger towns nearby could auction off valuable collectibles, but suddenly felt a pang of fear.

This is a bad feeling!

The archbishop had lived for nearly two hundred years, and such a situation was extremely rare. He instinctively sensed that a threat was imminent.

Without time to think about anything else, he took out a magic teleportation scroll and wanted to escape as far away as possible!

However, after the incantation was finished and the light array lit up, the familiar dizziness from teleportation did not occur. The archbishop nervously swallowed and looked warily outside the cave.

"Don't waste the scroll. I've completely locked down the energy around here. You can't escape." The Pope spoke, and the words echoed through the mountains for miles around.

The sound wasn't loud, but it sounded like thunder to the archbishop!

Jiang Chen looked at her curiously, finding it hard to believe that this was the appearance of a beautiful girl transformed by magic.

She's clearly very strong, so why is she so insecure about her female identity? Why does she insist on disguising herself as an old man? What kind of strange fetish is that?

"I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly." After trying various methods to no avail, the archbishop had no choice but to maintain his last shred of dignity as he emerged from the cave. "I can explain, Your Holiness."

I'm almost two hundred years old, and even with superpowers, I'm still too old.

But I'm about to break through to the highest level and become an immortal! This temptation led me to do some wrong things, but my original intention was good. Although I temporarily relied on the strange lord's potion, as long as I can break through smoothly, I can lead the human world to a better future!

"Then we won't have to worry about the abyss..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Pope shook his head and denied it, saying, "There is no human being in this world who can live forever, not even if you ascend to the highest level. Moreover, the surging power and vitality within you have given you a false sense of security, making you mistakenly believe that you are omnipotent and even more powerful."

In reality, it's all an illusion.

You're beyond saving. You'll either become Slor's puppet or degenerate into a killing machine. Either way, you'll be a major enemy of the human world. I won't allow you to survive as a walking corpse.

Having said that, the archbishop knew that a fierce battle was inevitable today. A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes, and he was about to rush forward and take Jiang Chen, the weakest of the group, hostage when he saw the pope sigh and shake his head, "A cornered beast's struggle, why bother?"

Her hands moved lightly, her fingertips seemingly playing a light melody.

The other person's body trembled violently, as if something had been forcibly ripped from their body.

"Awooo!" The archbishop roared like a wild beast, his flesh withering and rotting rapidly. Sharp fangs protruded from his mouth, his eyes turned bloodshot, and his red uniform robe tore open, revealing his zombie-like rotting body. Then, he pounced on his hands and feet like a jackal, nimbly lunging forward to launch a desperate attack!

The Pope stepped back and reminded him, "I stripped the power of the demon core from his body; the archbishop has fallen to evil!"

"Since it's not human..." Li Moran smiled faintly, took a step forward, and, flexing his right wrist, punched the foul-smelling tongue that was about two meters long that was attacking him!

The archbishop's mutated body emitted muffled thunderous sounds, and he was completely defeated in just one move.

"No! It shouldn't be like this..." Feeling the energy receding like a tide, the archbishop scratched wildly at his decaying flesh. "Pope! Pope, save me! For the sake of all these years we've been colleagues... Holy Son! Save me... I can't die! I don't want to die! Help, help me..."

His howls grew weaker and weaker until finally, his body, having lost all its strength, collapsed to the ground as a desiccated corpse and slowly turned to ashes.

A gust of wind blew by, and the ashes scattered into the soil, becoming nutrients for the wild grass.

“He should have been taken back to be tried by the people, tied to a wooden frame and burned to death. It would have been too easy for him to die like that!” The Pope frowned, his voice filled with resentment. “Now, without the trial, it’s even harder to appease the people.”

Jiang Chen quickly offered a suggestion: "Then let's take this opportunity to reform, show sincerity so that the people can see change and hope, and they will feel more secure."

“Reform is easier said than done.” Miwu shrugged helplessly. “The situation down below is quite troublesome now, isn’t it? I see that you’re even being perfunctory with the magic to maintain your transformation. You’ve obviously wasted too much energy down there.”

"Transformation?" Li Moran was completely confused, turning his head to look at the Pope as if trying to figure something out.

She gave a wry smile and shook her head, saying, "It's more than just troublesome; I almost didn't make it up here alive. Since the cover-up is so clumsy, I'll just stop pretending and at least save some energy."

A flash of light, and the old man who was originally wearing a white robe embroidered with gold patterns instantly transformed into a beautiful woman with a simple updo and a strand of black hair casually hanging down her temples.

A hint of mistiness lingered in her eyes as she casually brushed a stray strand of hair aside and asked with a sweet laugh, "What? Never seen the Pope before?"

"No, I'm sorry, I apologize for being rude!" Li Moran realized his rudeness and quickly turned to look at the child, only to see that the child's face was full of curiosity and no surprise at all. So he whispered a reminder: "Don't stare at the Pope like that, it's very impolite."

Jiang Chen looked left and right and asked, "Um, it's not just the Pope's problem, is it? I don't think you're very human."

The beautiful pope cast a scrutinizing glance at the holy son.

Miwu hurriedly waved her hand and said, "It has nothing to do with me. I didn't even reveal that you were a girl. You're very clever, kid. You probably weren't disguised well enough and got caught."

“Well, I am indeed not human.” She readily admitted, “I come from the deepest part of the abyss, and my name is Aurora. I am a very free-spirited weirdo or god. After all, according to your classification system, I possess super SSS-level strength.”

Handsome Holy Light Knight, can you tell me how you figured out I wasn't human?

I believe this body is no different from a human's.

It can't be that the little white cat was still exploring the huge underground tunnels and reporting the clues it found to him, so he deduced the conclusion, right?

Jiang Chen could only shrug and casually make up a story: "My gut feeling is that you, like Gerson, lack a bit of warmth."

"Who is Gerson? And what is popularity?" Aurora was a little confused, but the church had many things to deal with and it was not appropriate to stay here for long, so she waved to indicate that she would go back to the church headquarters first and chat later.

Thanks to timely communication and handling by relevant departments, the crowd that had been blocking the church headquarters has gradually dispersed.

As night fell, Miwu set up a steaming hot pot on the dining table, and several people sat around the table eating, drinking, and chatting.

Jiang Chen soon learned about Aurora's story.

She was originally a powerful anomaly born naturally from the convergence of energy in the deepest part of the abyss, near the dark mist. Unlike other anomalies that love to plunder, Aurora was free-spirited and playful by nature. She spent her days wandering on the edge of the dark mist where there were few traces of anomalies. When she was tired or sleepy, she would find a safe place to hibernate. After waking up, she would absorb some energy from the air and then be able to play around again.

Thus, apart from occasionally encountering bizarre individuals who fanatically worshipped the Lord of the Abyss and willingly plunged into the dark mist, no one disturbed Aurora's carefree and free life.

Until one day, the dark mist churned violently, as if it had come to life!

It spread and devoured many strange creatures, and then a thunderous voice resounded from the depths of the mist, warning all the strange creatures in the abyss that they were no longer allowed to refine the Life-Extending Demon Pill, and that it would henceforth be classified as a forbidden medicine.

Naïve and innocent Aurora, who only believed that the Lord of the Abyss was a legend, was spurred on by curiosity and followed the churning black mist into the depths in order to find the Lord of the Abyss.

As a result, she got lost, losing not only her direction but also her sense of time.

She wandered in the black mist for an unknown amount of time. Just when Aurora was exhausted and on the verge of collapsing, she heard a voice in her ear telling her that the chosen one had descended and she had to lend him a helping hand!

Then Aurora felt the black mist around her come alive again, weaving into a gentle net that dragged her away from the abyss at an extremely fast speed.

When she regained consciousness, she had already arrived at the Xuan Kingdom, a country in the human world that needed to be protected.

Since the voice didn't explain what it needed to do or who the chosen one was, Aurora, who was very curious about the human world, had a mischievous idea after a brief observation—to become the greatest king of Xuan Kingdom, sit on the papacy, and wait for the chosen one to appear. With power and influence, she could naturally lend him a hand.

Thus, a powerful and mysterious being who inexplicably received orders from an unknown entity gradually ascended to the position of Pope by using his illusory appearance, secretly fighting against other mysterious beings to protect the safety of the human world.

"To be honest, my main workplace is underground." Aurora picked up a piece of cooked tripe with her chopsticks, dipped it in sesame sauce, took a bite, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Humans, especially the humans of Xuan Kingdom, are really good at making delicious food! It's so good!"

Um, sorry, what I meant was that I have a vast and complex underground passageway beneath the surviving human world, which allows me to control everything.

My greatest skill is manipulating energy.

All energy, including life force, can be manipulated to some extent in my hands. Of course, the premise is that it cannot be overloaded, otherwise even a powerful monster like me will be backfired and die.

So during my years in office, I manipulated energy underground to help the earth grow plants, make the air fresher and purer, and direct the plague energy hidden in dark corners out of the Holy Light Array, and so on. It can be said that I have almost become a god who makes the surviving human world have good weather and abundant harvests.

But even now, I still don't understand who the chosen one is.

The situation underground is dire; the energy is chaotic, violent, or stagnant, and I can no longer mobilize it on my own. Soon, other countries will experience plagues, natural disasters, and crop failures, among other calamities.

"What if the Xuan Kingdom is also affected then?"

Why did the energy between heaven and earth suddenly become disordered? Could it be related to the abyss?

"If you can't even control it, then isn't the human world doomed?"

…………

As the four of them ate and discussed, Jiang Chen suddenly heard a notification from the main system: [Congratulations, host, on successfully extending the main storyline of the unfinished mission world outline. The current completion rate is 85%. Please continue your efforts to further enrich and improve the mission world so that it can enter a state of free development.]

The sudden reminder made Jiang Chen raise an eyebrow slightly. He had previously modified the protagonist's character setting and it was 50% complete. Now that Aurora had revealed her identity, it was 85% complete. It seemed that he really needed to go to the Abyss!

"Awoo~ Awoo~ Host, you're amazing! You've reached 85% so quickly, victory is in sight!" The little white cat perched on his shoulder, devouring roasted pigeon meat, and meowed, "What a pity, such a beautiful girl is actually a monster... Host, you don't mind non-human races, do you?"

While he was picking up food, he patted the little dumpling on the head.

After finishing the hotpot, the specific countermeasures were also discussed and decided upon—Li Moran, the monumental hero whose reputation had been raised to the top, would personally step forward to explain the whole story of the archbishop's fall from grace, and also announce that the various departments of the church would begin to be reorganized and a brand-new socialist state system would be established.

The priest, who spends most of his time in the laboratory, also publicly revealed some of the new weapons he has developed and issued a notice to recruit ordinary young people who have not yet awakened their superpowers into the army, guaranteeing that they will be treated equally once they enter the military and minimizing the status gap between ordinary people and superpowered individuals.

The Holy Son issued decrees to reduce taxes, support the nationwide work of teaching and reviving original technologies, and guarantee employment and salaries for ordinary people, among other measures...

Three days later, as various new tasks were launched, the angry people of Xuan Kingdom were finally calmed down temporarily.

With the church's strong support, Gerson became extremely busy. Site selection, school opening, student recruitment, and training—in no time, Fuxing Science and Technology Schools sprang up all over the country.

Ambitious young people from other countries sensed an opportunity to change their lives and traveled thousands of miles to study here.

As the human world gradually returned to normal and stabilized, Jiang Chen encouraged everyone to form a group to run the Abyss dungeon.

“Miwu can’t leave; he has to maintain the Holy Light Array. As for Jiang Chen…” Aurora glanced at him and sighed, “He definitely won’t be happy if we don’t let you go, and it would be even more dangerous for him to sneak over on his own. So you need to replenish your magic scrolls so you can teleport away anytime we can’t take care of you.”

The little white cat stuck out its pink tongue and smacked, "My host isn't that bad at all. Besides, with my soft and cute assassin cat by your side, I can even help you scout out locations and give you advance warnings."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of myself." Jiang Chen made a reassuring gesture.

The Holy Son, looking anxious, instructed Li Moran to take good care of the child and to retreat immediately if anything went wrong, as his Holy Light Array would be waiting outside the Abyss to intercept him; the other party repeatedly assured him that he would bring the child back unharmed...

abyss.

This word is very apt, and Jiang Chen couldn't help but admire it when he saw its true appearance for the first time.

A huge wound has been torn open in what was once a desolate and vast plain. Standing on the edge of the abyss and looking down, one cannot help but feel fear, as if something might awaken in the darkness at any moment.

“When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” He stared at the vast and deep rift at the boundary between the holy light and the abyss, and couldn’t help but sigh.

Aurora's beautiful eyes sparkled with a charming smile. "I never expected that someone so young could utter such philosophical words."

"Even at the entrance to the abyss, don't be careless." Li Moran had no time for idle chatter and patiently instructed, "The abyss is a completely different space from the human world, so there is no poisonous miasma inside."

Further in, there are many more magic stone mines, which are relatively safer due to the presence of a large army of executors stationed there. I haven't been able to go any further since I left ten years ago, so I don't know the specifics of the deeper areas. Jiang Chen, you must stay close to us to avoid any unexpected dangers.”

"Okay," Jiang Chen agreed readily.

The little white cat has already gone to scout ahead, so there shouldn't be any major threats nearby.

The three of them stepped into the abyss, where the light was dim, but for those with superpowers, they only needed to attach their power to their eyes to remain unaffected.

Aurora was born and raised here; the Abyss was her natal home.

Li Moran had fought here for many years and was naturally very familiar with it;

Jiang Chen, however, was filled with curiosity and wanted to take a look at everything.