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The long lost abundance of power quickly filled his body.

"I need your assistance. You should already know the pope's secret and also understand the method to check and balance his power*…"

[*T/N: I would've thought the god's request would be to "kill the pope" or "to stop the pope," but the raws used the word 制衡 zhi heng, which means "checks and balances" or "to check and balance power"]

"But I already don't have time."

Su Shi could not help furrowing his brows. After deliberating for a short period of time, he still interrupted the voice in his ears.

The amount of time that he could stay in this world was not directly related to the brand, but was determined by the system.

The total amount of time he could stay in the novice worlds was limited. He stayed in the last world for too long, so there were only forty-eight hours left. As long as that time was up, whether or not he was branded, he would still be forced to leave the world.

He had no way to explain these things, but according to previous experiences, these existences that were already at the divine level were more or less able to experience and understand the "rules" that constrain him.

"It doesn't matter. Just now, I have terminated the flow of time in you."

The voice seemed to have already made preparations. Laughing, it said, "You will have eternal life, and you will always have your present appearance and physique. As long as the law I leave behind is not destroyed, nothing on your body will change…"

Su Shi's expression sank.

The only thing that could destroy the law left by the god of light was the power of the dark demon in the pope. If he didn't want to be trapped in this world, he must drag the pope down to death with him as soon as possible.

And he didn't know what level the protagonist has upgraded to at this point. If by any chance, the protagonist's strength rose dramatically due to an unexpected turn of events and he got rid of the pope, then Su Shi would be met with extreme inconvenience.

The more he thought about it, the more worried he felt. Su Shi wanted nothing more than to get away immediately and run to the pope for a decisive battle. He agreed without hesitation.

"Okay, if there's nothing else, then I will first go look for the pope–"

"Have a little more patience, at least wait until the absolution ceremony is over before you head off."

Obviously, the god did not understand his abundant psychological struggle. The voice in his ear was still calm and unruffled. It unhurriedly spoke a line and then resumed its benevolent and gentle manner of speaking.

"My child, form now on, your sins have been forgive, and you are completely free. And all the sacrifices and investments you've made will all become a mirage shown to the lover that you care so much about and betted everything on…"

"Wait!"

Su Shi's expression changed slightly, and he took a step forward hurriedly.

"He and I are not lovers. I prayed for him only because I hoped that he could upgrade his strength and defeat the pope–"

"…You aren't?"

The voice paused abruptly. After hesitating for a long while, it spoke with some embarrassment in its tone.

Whether or not it was the same set of data, it must not be anymore.

Su Shi shook his head firmly, "No."

"Oh…"

The voice weakly gave a sound of reply, and then stopped speaking.

The pure light power silently entered Su Shi's body, but the ray of sunlight would soon fade away.

...

Su Shi raised a hand to support his aching head. "You already had him see it, didn't you?"

Sunlight flashed between the shadows of the trees and then died down. Thick fog rapidly gathered, wrapping everything in its thick shroud once again.

"Some parts were also embellished as appropriate…"

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

After saying that, the god saw that Su Shi's reaction was not too intense, felt a little relieved, hesitated for a moment, and finally sincerely continued to admit all the rest.

"…Also cut out the part of you running like a headless chicken in the forest, and matched it with background music."

Su Shi's breath got stuck. The body that was restored actually felt slightly faint, and there were bursts of pain in his stomach.

"In that kind of perilous life or death situation, your entire heart was full of him, so I thought–"

The voice apologetically explained, as if carefully gauging his expression before continued to speak in earnest.

"My child, you will stay young forever, you can just conveniently fall in love along the way, right?"