Wu Chang clicked his tongue after listening, then got up from the ground and said:

"Your Grace Kristen, from what you’re saying, our existence is somewhat like a worm in a tree."

"You could understand it that way." Kristen did not deny Wu Chang’s statement.

"The corroded middle layer has long been unable to support the division between the Desolate Realm and the Realm of Reason. If we remove these Pillars of the Present World now, the middle layer will directly disappear."

As soon as the words fell, the middle layer between the roots and trunk vanished, and the entire big tree descended, with the trunk and roots merging together.

Now, the tree in front of him became indistinguishable from trees in the natural world.

Wu Chang looked at the tree that had lost its middle layer and fell into brief silence.

After a while, he asked:

"If Bright Society’s initial goal was to abolish the middle layer and merge the Desolate Realm with the Realm of Reason, why haven’t they acted sooner to destroy all the Pillars of the Present World?"

Kristen answered:

"Because they are uncertain whether this path is correct."

The tree before Wu Chang resembled a video being played backwards, with its status rapidly reverting to before the collapse of the middle layer.

He saw a small tree stump, about a third the diameter of the trunk, slowly rising in the center of the trunk, alongside the roots.

It transformed into a massive metal column, connecting the roots and the trunk, stabilizing the entire tree.

With the central metal column as the core, and surrounded by reinforcing bar-like Pillars of the Present World as support, the tree’s stability was even stronger than when the middle layer was intact.

Kristen’s voice rang in Wu Chang’s ears.

"If they could control the World Dungeon, allowing it to become a massive Pillar of the Present World under their command, it would become like this."

"A gigantic Pillar of the Present World with temporary authority has a much stronger load-bearing capacity than the original middle layer and is more stable, fully allowing entities from the Abyss Second Layer to pass freely."

"Moreover, this passage is entirely under their control; they can open and close the passage at will, according to their desires."

Wu Chang followingly said:

"Even if the plan fails, by destroying the Pillars of the Present World they’ve already mastered, they can restore the state where the Desolate Realm and the Realm of Reason are merged."

Kristen nodded and said:

"Exactly."

Wu Chang fell silent again because he remembered something.

Previously, he asked the All-Knowing Crystal how to stop or mitigate the Abyss’ erosion on the real world.

The All-Knowing Crystal answered:

"Obtain three Pillars of the Present World and temporary management authority from the Desolate Realm; develop the Power of Faith from no fewer than three Planes and unite with an existing Earthly Divine Kingdom to construct a large Secret Divine Kingdom, which could offer a sliver of opportunity for everything."

At the time, he couldn’t determine the connection between the two matters and thought that the large Divine Kingdom possessed some special abilities to purify or absorb Abyssal erosion.

Looking back now at the All-Knowing Crystal’s response—three Pillars of the Present World, and a large Divine Kingdom with supporting power—

This strategy is not meant to deal with Abyssal erosion; it is evidently aimed at Bright Society’s plan.

In other words, the Abyssal erosion in the real world was indeed the handiwork of Bright Society, targeting the real world from the beginning.

Looking further back, he discovered that the serious chance for the real world experiencing Abyssal erosion came from the Revelation Stone Slab in the Erosion Dungeon by the Painter.

He didn’t think it was a coincidence; the feud between the Painter and Bright Society ran deep, even deeper than the one between him and Bright Society.

Later, when he met Lu Langfeng, the other party even asked what he had seen on the Language Stone Slab.

It seemed the Painter had long seen through Bright Society’s plot and was hinting through the Erosion Dungeon.

Tsk, damn riddler.

Look at Her Grace Kristen, what intelligence she shares directly without holding back, never being cagey with information, unlike those jerks who deserve an elbow jab.

Now he could almost see through Bright Society’s actual plan, and what he should do next is figure out how to thwart Bright Society’s schemes for the World Dungeon.

As long as he can disrupt their setup in the World Dungeon, when they attempt to destroy the controlled Pillars of the Present World to achieve merging the Desolate Realm with the Realm of Reason, they will find five or six newly added Pillars of the Present World in the Desolate Realm within a month’s time.

By that time, realizing their retreat has been cut off, he wonders what expressions those who fancy themselves as gods from Bright Society will have.

Kristen’s intelligence was a great help, and gratitude shone in his eyes.

Help people to the end, escort the Buddha all the way to the West; she has said so much, so saying a little more wouldn’t hurt.

He cleared his throat and asked:

"Your Grace Kristen, regarding the setup by Bright Society in the World Dungeon, if no one in the Realm of Reason can interfere, will their plan succeed?"

Kristen confidently replied:

"Yes, few are more skilled than Leman at infiltrating the lower realms. With him and another trouble, those little guys will find it hard not to succeed."

Wu Chang rubbed his hands, somewhat embarrassed:

"Your Grace Kristen, about how to disrupt their setup, could you..."

This time Kristen couldn’t answer his question.

"I only know their goals and roughly their plan; as for the detailed implementation process, I cannot answer you."

"They worry I would meddle, so they hadn’t contacted Revelation from the beginning."

Wu Chang shrugged. Well, although he didn’t want to say it, he believed not liaising with Revelation was a very wise choice by Bright Society.

Kristen chuckled with pride and said:

"But even if they didn’t call for me, my people can still investigate and find clues."

"I can’t provide more detailed intelligence, but I can give you one piece of advice."

Wu Chang responded obediently, "Please do."

Kristen spoke four words, "Beware of internal spies."

"Thank you for the reminder." Wu Chang nodded after listening.

Kristen said:

"I’ve already told you the intelligence you wanted to know, and I’ve also given you a lot of additional news."

"Next, it’s your turn to complete my commission."