The demon was silent for a moment, but it seemed to not understand what Ji Xiang meant by "Heavenly Demon." After all, although Ji Xiang and it could communicate, it was fundamentally a communication at the soul level, unrelated to language. Thus, the terms "demon" and "Heavenly Demon" were entirely irrelevant in soul communication.
And the East...
"How far east? How long would it take to walk here from Florence?"
The demon's words, however, made Ji Xiang laugh, "That's not a matter of how long, but rather..."
"You have come from your world to the other extreme of this world."
This time, the demon understood. Its eyes widened in surprise:
"You mean there are worlds on the other side of my world? Then what exactly is this Heavenly Demon you speak of..."
"Ignorant demon! You have actually appeared in this faraway land!"
Just then, an old man's voice intruded into their conversation. The great doors of the church had been opened, and the old priest and the other young priests stared in shock at the demon that had appeared inside the church, and at Ji Xiang, who was conversing with the demon in front of it.
They quickly warned:
"True Man of the North Pole, do not respond to anything this demon says. It will stir your desires and devour your soul to strike a deal!"
After the warning, everyone took out holy relics like crosses. Of course, Christian artifacts were not limited to crosses, holy grail, holy water, and holy nails; they even had silver dinner knives and... a square piece of bread.
"Oh, I know. I just saw it in the scriptures: the sacred dinner knife used in rituals, and the square bread representing the Lamb of God..."
"'The bread of life... which comes down from heaven.' 'The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.'"
Ji Xiang's mind flashed, as if a kerosene lamp had lit up, and then he looked at the somewhat stunned demon.
"Speaking of which, demons are depicted as goats, while Christ the Lord is represented by sheep."
"So where are your horns? Can you show me?"
After a moment of stunned silence, the demon burst into laughter. The flames on its body immediately surged, as if to turn the entire sanctuary to ashes!
"Who has sinned? It's just slander by Christ to suppress us. A goat is a goat. If some deities look like goats, must their image be changed? Is Christ the only deity in the world, and are there no others?"
"To suppress the faith of other deities, those other deities must become fierce enemies. And Christ, with their own magic and divine abilities, suppressed our spirituality and turned us into the ferocious beings they imagined."
"So we became 'demons,' and could only call ourselves demons. Our memories of the past also became blurred."
"I'll come back to talk about devouring souls later... hmm, Heavenly Demon. After I burn their butts with fire, I'll be back soon!"
The demon showed hostility, but it soon shifted towards the priests before it.
Ji Xiang realized with a start, "So, you became a demon influenced by wishes. You might have been human, a god, or a monster before."
"I didn't expect the power of monotheism to be so potent. Wishes can be used like this?"
In driving faith and the wishes of all beings, Christianity opened a new door for Ji Xiang. It could use the wishes of all beings to influence existing things and distort them. Although the many divine tablets in Fu Li were said to have been gradually formed by the condensation of the wishes of all beings, it took many years to solidify, and a large part required the power of the state for enfeoffment.
And the West...
Right, it was divine right of kings there.
However, distorting reality did indeed seem like a unique technique at the level of the Heavenly Heart. Regarding altering phenomena, Ji Xiang gradually recalled that in the ghost city of Suzhou, Yuan Huang had also briefly intervened in the human world and distorted some real phenomena.
In that case, the wondrous uses of wishes were truly endless. Human imagination knew no bounds.
A single thought could stir up divine wrath from all directions.
Ji Xiang fell into contemplation, while the demon had already started fighting with the priests. Holy light and flames shot out indiscriminately throughout the sanctuary, leaving only Ji Xiang standing in the center, seemingly lost in thought, isolated from the world.
However, Ji Xiang was looking at the scriptures in the void at this moment. With the demon's appearance, the matter of burning books would not be blamed on him. He had originally planned to casually make some photocopies to pass off as originals.
Now, he didn't need them.
As expected, the moment this thought crossed his mind, the angry shouts of the priests sounded from outside!
"You're burning our scriptures, aren't you!"
The Flame Demon was also stubborn, offering no explanation.
It stated that it had indeed burned them, and so what? If they had the ability, they could burn it too.
New scriptures were taking shape in the void, and Ji Xiang, glancing sideways at the demon fighting the priests and already outside the sanctuary, saw some of its information.
[Flame Demon (Name forcibly bestowed by Christianity): In the faith of ancient races, it was originally a natural fire god that appeared through incense and faith. In Christian scriptures, its followers would burn children as sacrifices to it in exchange for power.]
[True Name: Moloch.]
Moloch's name already appeared in the Old Testament book of Kings, and it was considered one of the detestable evil gods.
Rumble! Flames surged out of the church like a torrent, about to rush out of the church and onto the street.
Ji Xiang reached out and grasped at the flames. Instantly, a vast cloud of smoke rushed out from his hand. The raging flames, before they could kill the priests or reach the street, were completely swallowed by the white smoke and then gathered into Ji Xiang's hand.
".....!"
The Flame Demon turned its head, looking at Ji Xiang inside the church with a slightly shocked gaze. The priests also gained a brief respite.
Their strength was not very high, making it difficult to deal with the legendary Flame Demon. Moreover, they had already recognized Moloch's image and were shocked and confused by the appearance of this great demon here!
An ancient evil god, worshipped by the people of that time in Kings, how could it appear in the distant East?
"Heavenly Demon, how dare you obstruct my attack?"
The Flame Demon questioned Ji Xiang in the church with intense hostility, but Ji Xiang was completely unconcerned at this moment.
Because that scripture was completed!
Instantly, the entire sanctuary blazed with light, but it only lasted for a moment before disappearing. Ji Xiang used his magic to isolate the sanctuary's scenery from the outside. The scripture was now in Ji Xiang's palm, emitting a unique aura that belonged outside the Three Teachings and mixed with the power of the Heavenly Demon.
A vast fluctuation gathered and swirled within the sanctuary, lingering for a long time. The Flame Demon outside seemed about to rush in.
Ji Xiang held the scripture and raised his right hand.
"The Scripture of True Non-Duality!"
Activated with demonic energy as a medium, it gathered the wishes of the world, clad oneself in wishes to become the "Sole Deity," and could use wishes to temporarily alter the "state of existence" of things it came into contact with.
In heaven and earth, there is only one demon, truly without duality!
Among immortal scriptures, it is of the fifth-grade highest quality!
Ji Xiang's eyebrows curved slightly.
"God said... no."
"I say, let there be light?"
Instantly, within the sanctuary, light blazed forth!