In the Year of Evil Demon's Descent, accompanying the war with the Evil Demons, the first batch of Deities appeared among the humans.
They could transform into an Evil Demon and absorb power from killing and fresh blood. Of course, the fastest method was still killing each other.
The most important thing was that being Deities gave them sufficient concealment abilities. Ordinarily, they were completely the image of an average person. As long as they did not actively reveal themselves, even a pastor's magical abilities could not tell the difference, unless a Legend pastor carefully investigated or they entered the domain of an actual God.
And more and more infected appeared, causing the Church of Death, which implemented the 'purification order', to become the target of public criticism, leaving them with no choice but to withdraw the Inquisition.
After all, the rate of infection of the demonic illness was really too high, and there were no effective preventative measures nor treatments. If this was really implemented, there would be no soldiers willing to enter the battlefield in the future.
This was also one of the properties of origin power—the horrifying infectivity and its nearly unsolvable irreversibility.
Naturally, the demonic illness created by the fusion of secondary origin power and the Evil Demon Placenta could actually be relieved. A True God's power could definitely expel it, but it was a problem of efficiency and cost.
Even to 'exorcise' the most average soldier, a bishop-level pastor was needed. Looking at the sea of people, if there was a True God that dared do something like that, the ultimate outcome was definitely one that was unmanageable and would cause all their powers to be completely expended.
In addition, the soldiers with the demonic illness only looked a little strange, and their mental states were still clear. Extraordinaries could even actively suppress these abnormalities, having no difference with ordinary people, and were gradually accepted by the people in the world, who no longer deliberately gathered to attack them.
Of course, secretly in the various churches, although there was some relaxation in the surveillance of those infected with the demonic illness, the surveillance of the Deities were instead greatly enhanced. Once they were discovered, they needed to be captured and burned at the stake. This was the unanimous decision by the True Gods!
Thus, the Deities concealed themselves even more covertly, and their conflict with the church's Gods gradually became greater.
…
Time flew by, and soon, it was Sun God Year 2670, four years since the day of misfortune.
Stan Duchy, Storm Hill.
Luhn, an embodiment of Fang Yuan, rode a horse and inspected his territory, going to and fro.
Four years was insufficient to cause his body to age, seeming more mature and filled with charm.
Looking at it, the grains in the territory were growing and blossoming. A breeze blew, sending the golden wheat fields tumbling, and the fortress not far away could be faintly seen.
This was naturally Fang Yuan's design to congregate the originally scattered serfs and unify control. High walls were constructed in all four directions with a watchtower in the middle. If anything happened, a warning could be instantly sounded and the serfs could retreat into the fortress.
The existence of a ditch and high walls caused the originally romantic and idyllic scenery to contain an atmosphere of warfare and slaughtering.
However, there was no choice. In order to face a potential attack by the Evil Demons, this was a necessary precaution. Furthermore, this was copied by many nearby feudal lords, who constantly promoted it in the Stan Duchy.
Fang Yuan stopped on a spot among the hills, looked down onto the maize plains, and said while smiling, "Seeing that this year's harvest is decent, I'm relieved!"
"Yes, Sir. After inspecting the land and combining Storm Hill and Howl Manor, we have two thousand acres of arable land and five hundred acres of sloping fields!"
As for the land on the hills, Fang Yuan would naturally not let it go derelict, but instead make the best use of it. Anything that could be reclaimed would be reclaimed, and it could still be used to plant fruit trees and the like.
After conversion, two thousand and five hundred acres of farmland was equivalent to fifteen thousand mou in ancient China, and could be considered the amount of land a powerful landowner would have.
After a slight estimation, Fang Yuan knew that the harvest in the territory this year would be plentiful. Being able to have nearly two million tons of harvest was the outcome of him unleashing the production boosting method. Unfortunately, it was still troublesome to promote and should not be too conspicuous. Nevertheless, if there were no major natural or man-made disasters in the coming year, the harvest would definitely be more bountiful.
Such a yield, if taking everything into account, would be sufficient to support five thousand people.
In fact, in the current territory, there were only about three thousand people and a standing army of three hundred that could entirely be counted as military strength.
However, in this era of war, only this would suffice.
Compared to the territories of the other knights, viscounts, and barons, the people under Fang Yuan's command were already considered very fortunate.
At least, there was a safe fortress for them to stay in. Furthermore, once they encountered an Evil Demon, Knight Luhn would instantly lead the army to deal with it.
In the heart of the continent, within a few human empires, the Evil Demon disaster was extremely fierce. It was rumored that there were already many extinguished kingdoms, and many nobles and royal families had no choice but to escape.
Instead, for areas like the Stan Duchy that were at the fringes of human civilization and was thinly populated, the demon crisis was not too serious yet.
Although Marseille's various reports were still ringing in his ears, Fang Yuan sighed. "Just… such good days are finally ending."
After four years had passed and the hugh price that was paid, this world was already gradually getting accustomed to the demon crisis, while many issues and conflicts which were held up previously were finally floating to the surface.
For example, the destruction of the central kingdoms had caused massive powers to spread to the fringes.
Even the Noether Kingdom suffered much coveting.
Although in the views of the former central nobles, the Noether Kingdom could only be considered a remote and backward place, and the Stan Duchy an uncivilized region that could not even be considered as one, they could not withstand the impact of the Evil Demons even a bit.
Now, without discrimination, these original 'wastelands' instead became a land of idyllic beauty!
Many nobles intended to set up a few territories here and even migrate their entire families.
For the indigenous nobles, this was naturally a catastrophe. Even a nation as powerful as the Noether Kingdom could not resist the invasions and control of the originally powerful central nations and, at this time, had nearly already become a semi-puppet state.
Under the threat of the Evil Demons, the human nations continued to mutually deceive each other and contend for power and profits. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like seeking death, but these incidents still occurred nonetheless.
After the Noether Kingdom was controlled, the original "Stan Duchy Strategy" was about to be launched once again.
Furthermore, this time, it was definitely not just a small battle, but a war of life and death!
"What is more lamentable is that even at this moment, the nobles of the Stan Duchy are still within the midst of chaos and inner conflict… or they actually know of the impending dangers but chose to escape like an ostrich, thinking that by burying their heads in the sand and pretending not to know anything, they could get away from it?"
Silently sighing, Fang Yuan returned to the fortress.
Under the support of a few maids, a beautiful noble lady wearing a long, loose robe came forward to greet him smilingly, "Sir has returned!"
This was Tanya, Baron Shawshank's daughter and Knight Luhn's current wife.
Right now, her stomach was bulging, evidently having new life inside.
To a feudal lord, this was unquestionably important. Having a future generation meant that the talented subordinates would have a person to continue expressing their loyalty toward and the relationship between the lords and their vassals could be maintained, and even passed down for hundreds and thousands of years.
At least, Fang Yuan felt that after he had married and Tanya got pregnant, his subordinates became a little more diligent and more willing to express themselves.
If converted to numbers, their loyalty scale probably increased by a few hundred points.
"Mmm, it's been hard on you."
The path of a Sage moved with the world and would receive emotions without weariness.
Fang Yuan showed a gentle smile as he walked forward to support Tanya. "How do you feel today?"
"Great!"
Tanya smiled, and her smile nearly filled up her face.
After all, Fang Yuan was not a person of this world and was very thoughtful and respectful toward females. This feeling made the noble lady filled with happiness, especially in comparison with the other unfaithful noble.
In reality, she did not know that Fang Yuan was currently only hard at work performing the role of the Knight Luhn.
Just like a celestial being descending into the mortal world, the mortal relationships would ultimately only remain in the mortal world, which passed as the generation ended.
After enjoying dinner with the lady and conversing with her for a while, Fang Yuan came to the study and started managing the official duties of the day.
Garce, Marseille, and a few other subordinates respectfully stood at one side and waited.
"That relative of mine, the current Baron Shawshank, has sent me an invitation."
Fang Yuan quickly browsed through the document and saw the final invitation. "He is about to hold a wedding. Marseille, go and help me prepare a gift."
Timo could be said to have obtained his position without much effort, but the authority of the baron had always been grasped in the hands of the former baroness.
However, she now had no choice but to give it up. After all, it was said that her body condition was getting worse. Furthermore, no matter what, marriage was the symbol of a male maturing and the former baroness had no reason to object.
"Actually, Timo's future wife is very intriguing."
Fang Yuan thought more than that.
Originally, with Timo's status, he could marry the daughter of a baron or a viscount, while an earl or marquis was a little higher up the social ladder.
However, the invitation mentioned that this new wife of his was actually the daughter of
Grand Duke Stan!
The taste of politics and shady deals could be clearly detected even for a layman.
"In other words… there will be an upheaval in the Stan Duchy?"
Fang Yuan looked on with a cold look, feeling that no matter how he saw it, there were problems with this marriage.
He had been in this world for more than four years, so even though he was only using the Knight Luhn identity to farm, he wasn't sitting around doing nothing.
Soon, a new piece of intelligence landed in his hands, and he immersed in deep thoughts.
"The headquarters of the Church of Death is relocating? The location is not set yet, but it's highly likely to be in Noether or the Stan Duchy. This… really makes one speechless."
Due to the purification order previously, the Church of Death met with serious setback and animosity. Coupled with Hess suffering from massive injuries and falling into a deep slumber, the situation was not optimistic.
Furthermore, they had already descended from a first rate power of the continent to second or third rate one. They could no longer resist the demon crisis inland and could only relocate seemingly on the verge of defeat.