Although she knew full well her husband was keeping something from her, the viscountess still obediently followed his instructions.
After all, noble couples always had their own little secrets, and the enormous organization that operated behind his back left the viscountess with a lingering sense of unease.
The kind of power that could wrest a share of the spoils right from under the noses of those northern nobles was far beyond the scrutiny of a mere viscount's wife.
"Let's go! To the village hall!"
Once the viscountess had departed, Tifa immediately led his guard to a cluster of public buildings beside the village.
The village hall — another of Tifa's own innovations. It provided shared facilities, took in orphans whose parents had both perished, the vast majority of whom were refugees. It was seen as a symbol of his benevolence, since children of that age were completely useless as labor and among the first to perish in any famine. Ordinarily, no one besides the temples was willing to take them in, and the recent northern disaster had created tens of thousands of orphans — far more than a handful of temples could possibly absorb.
Standing before the wooden doors of the village hall, a figure in a black robe and silver mask was already waiting.
Without the slightest hesitation, Tifa stepped forward and bowed. "Master!"
Anyone who witnessed this scene would have been stunned — after all, anyone who could make a viscount bow and scrape was at minimum a marquis-level noble!
Yet the Knights behind Tifa followed his lead without so much as blinking. "Greetings, Lord!"
A large portion of them had fought alongside Lin Lei in the local battles, and the rest were converted devil-worshipers who knew full well Lin Lei's true standing here.
"You've done quite well, Tifa!"
The newcomer was, of course, Lin Lei. Thanks to the Shadow City's staggering speed through the chaotic void, it had taken him no time at all to reach the north and arrive at this stronghold of his.
Judging from what he had seen and heard along the way, he was quite satisfied with Tifa's recent work.
"Everything has been carried out according to the Master's instructions…" Tifa said modestly.
"Let's go inside together. I want to see the results of your efforts…"
Lin Lei waved a hand and walked into the village hall alongside Tifa.
Along the way, children and teachers and caretakers alike bowed to Tifa. It was clear he had earned considerable prestige here.
Secretly, Tifa continued reporting to Lin Lei via voice transmission. "…In order to avoid the temples' priests and manage the budget, we've currently established only five of these village halls. We've taken in nearly a thousand children, averaging between nine and twelve years of age — the optimal window for education…"
At this point, Tifa had already led Lin Lei over to a window. Through it, they could see numerous yellow wooden desks and chairs inside, along with dozens of young boys and girls earnestly listening to a scholar's lecture. Simple letter symbols were written on the blackboard — it appeared to be the most basic literacy class. The scene immediately reminded Lin Lei of schools from his previous life.
"Also, once word got out that we were teaching knowledge here, some of the farming families asked to let their children sit in on the lessons. I agreed to their requests…"
Lin Lei listened carefully, nodding from time to time. A light shone in the eyes of the children inside the classroom — these were sparks of hope!
"Once they've studied for a while, the children deemed to have both aptitude and perseverance will move on to further training. They'll enter the advanced classes…"
Tifa led Lin Lei deeper into the village hall. Nearby, Lin Lei could even sense the fluctuation of hidden powerhouses standing watch — the security and defenses had clearly become much more stringent.
"Theology… is a course about the gods. And here, I would like to introduce to you all a deity. Its divine name is
……
"Prayer and meditation are required courses for all priests…"
What was being taught here carried a decidedly heretical flavor, so all the students were orphaned boarding children who had passed through layers of testing. The small-class teaching model was employed as well.
The scholars conducting the lessons all wore black academic robes and carried an oddly contradictory quality about them.
When they saw Lin Lei, they immediately stiffened and moved to bow, but Lin Lei waved it off.
That's right! These people providing priestly instruction to talented children were all former demon worshippers — and some of them even held fairly high-ranking positions as demon priests!
With Tifa's help, Lin Lei had long since secretly subdued all the
From among them, through selection and layers of loyalty tests, only the most devoted had ultimately made it here. They were being groomed to become Lin Lei's future priestly confidants!
Yes! Every village hall and educational program out there was nothing but a front! In truth, the entire purpose was to identify candidates through successive rounds of selection and train a large number of priests — to provide ample manpower for Lin Lei's future ascension to godhood!
This sort of thing was far too ***, so Lin Lei had never intended to attempt it on his own turf out in the outer seas. But here, there was no such problem.
First, the orc catastrophe in the Northern Region had caused a massive wave of displaced refugees. Social conditions had grown extraordinarily complex — a veritable murky swamp — and it had produced a great number of orphans, creating ideal preliminary conditions.
Second, Tifa himself was a [Legendary]-rank powerhouse. The ones conducting the deeper education were all demon worshippers subjugated by Lin Lei. Add to that the fact that this was Tifa's territory, where he as lord could mobilize every resource at his disposal, forming layers upon layers of security — making it extremely difficult for information to leak out.
Most importantly, even if they were discovered, Lin Lei could simply abandon this place entirely — cut his losses while the wound was still superficial. His foundation would remain intact!
But from the looks of it, Tifa had done an excellent job.
"Due to limitations in teaching staff, along with secrecy concerns, this scale is already the absolute limit…"
Tifa's face still carried a hint of shame — clearly, he felt he wasn't doing enough to provide the Feathered Serpent God Kukulkan with greater strength.
"That's quite alright. You've already done an excellent job…"
For a deity, priests were an absolutely vital component of faith — they served as intermediaries who communicated directly with believers on the god's behalf, making them enormously important. A competent priest also had to be a learned scholar, perhaps even versed in the arts, capable of dealing gracefully with everyone from the lowliest commoners to the most refined aristocrats.
And every single one of them was a seed!
Even those peripheral students — once the church transitioned from the shadows into the open — could serve as ordinary staff members and become the backbone of the church, even if they never made it to the priesthood.
In this age, large numbers of educated elites weren't something you could simply acquire on the market. And when loyalty was a prerequisite, the only viable path was to cultivate them yourself.
Within Lin Lei's eyes, the reflection of the Tagarian Winged Serpent swam, causing Tifa to drop to his knees in reverence.
"Furthermore… my divine portfolio has begun to expand, encroaching upon the domain of slaughter. The prayers should be modified as well, incorporating elements related to killing…"
At this moment, Lin Lei cut an impressive figure — he looked as though some powerful being had descended to possess his body.
"As you command, my Lord! You are the stars in the heavens! The world serpent that devours all — slaughter is the blade in your hand…"
To his credit, Tifa had survived countless years for a reason. After merely a brief moment kneeling in contemplation, he produced an entire prayer and recited it from memory.
Of course, this was only a preliminary draft. It would still need to go through rounds of discussion and refinement among theologians and senior priests before being submitted to Lin Lei for final approval.
After all, this was no trivial matter. It could fundamentally alter a deity's alignment and domain selection — quite often, such changes heralded the beginning of a divine war.
But Lin Lei was already engaged in covert operations, so he couldn't afford to be overly cautious about such things.
"Mm. Notify me once it's finalized. Also, prepare a meditation chamber for me, and have all the intelligence gathered from the North compiled and brought to me…"
"As you command!"
Tifa withdrew respectfully, though a flicker of excitement shone in his eyes. "Is it finally time to act?"
He had always been the most ardent advocate for expanding the Feathered Serpent God Kukulkan's influence.
And while he had done his utmost to keep things concealed, the mere act of taking in a thousand children and providing them with education was already shocking enough. Layer on top of that a web of hidden connections, and even the northern nobility had grown deeply wary.
In the shadows, a powerful encirclement network along with both overt and covert resistance had gradually taken shape. Tifa was certain that expanding here was all but impossible—the only way forward was to force a breakthrough.
……
"Hmm! It seems the Orc Empire and the Beastkin tribes have finally reconciled…"
Tifa departed swiftly. After Leylin enjoyed a dinner steeped in northern flavors, he settled quietly into his study, where by the glow of the magical lamp flame, he began carefully reviewing intelligence from the North.
With the Chip's assistance, he read through documents at extraordinary speed—nearly ten lines at a glance, without any need to pause.
After setting down the last piece of parchment, Leylin gently closed his eyes. All the intelligence from the North assembled into a network, vividly recreating the events that had unfolded since his departure.
The greatest change in the North was, naturally, the Orc Empire that had been raised upon the corpse of the Silvermoon Alliance.
Those orcs had finally crossed the insurmountable chasm that had stymied their ancestors for generations, under the leadership of Emperor Saladin. They devoured the human northern territories in their entirety and established an empire of their own. With this, Saladin's reputation among the orcs reached its absolute zenith—there were even whispers that he might be deified.
As the Orc Empire pressed triumphantly forward, the entire orcish pantheon benefited enormously as well. Chief among them was
In correspondence, the enemies facing the orcish deities expanded as never before.
Not only had the