Shen Shi witnessed such a scene, knowing that the Pope was already nearing his limit.
The establishment of divine authority is founded on "omnipotence" and "supremacy," and the reason people need faith is more about needing a spiritual anchor, which easily allows them to attain a form of satisfaction.
In some respects, such faith is beneficial.
But sometimes, the collapse of divine authority is based on this.
When people recognize that the Divine Spirit is not omnipotent, this supremacy becomes tainted with incurable blasphemy.
Moreover, the divine authority of the Cosmic People was already teetering on the brink.
The decline of the Divine Court is not merely because of the emergence of King Yu and the Royal Court.
More so, it’s due to development and strength.
In ancient times, the relics left by the Gods Civilization indeed could, to a certain extent, demonstrate supreme might that seemed "omnipotent," but as civilization grew stronger, as people stepped off the planet, began to touch the cosmos, started to unearth the secrets and weaknesses of the Gods Civilization, the former influence continuously waned.
Even without the emergence of humanity, without the advent of the Daike Civilization, when one day the Cosmic People truly reached the level of a C-level Civilization, genuinely catching up with the Gods, divine authority would likewise collapse.
Because by that time.
The self is the Gods.
However, such a collapse would inevitably be gradual, whereas now, the arrival of humanity brings about an instantaneous collapse.
The Pope’s faith, in fact, had long since collapsed.
His current insistence is merely to uphold the glory of the Divine Court of nearly ten thousand years, to maintain the loyalty in his heart toward the Divine Court.
At this moment, humans still haven’t done much.
They just forcibly brought Cosmic People onto the Grotto Heaven one after another and then forcibly controlled them.
The space of the Grotto Heaven can’t truly support so many people’s living, but merely sustaining their survival is more than sufficient. Moreover, as the first layer of space on the ground was basically covered, before the eyes of all Cosmic People, a second layer appeared above their heads.
It was a void sky that appeared out of nowhere.
Only a few hundred meters in height, yet it exuded a warm glow. When the Cosmic People looked up, they could even clearly see more Cosmic People landing upon the void sky.
This is a divine miracle more powerful than the relic of God!
Even the Pope at this moment also looked up, murmuring while witnessing all this.
Even in his heart, there is a certain unspeakable turbulence.
The Gods Civilization worshipped by the Cosmic People might be extremely weak throughout the cosmos.
But what about this civilization before them.
This civilization, which until now has never been seen by any person but can easily gather all Cosmic People together, unable to resist, unable to defy, is undoubtedly more like the Gods than the Gods.
"If the faith was placed in them, could it let the glory of the Divine Court last forever?" Such a thought suddenly flashed through the Pope’s mind.
Shen Shi, having just given the order to settle a new wave of Cosmic People, suddenly shuddered.
He could feel that the Time Crystal, which had long penetrated into the depths of his consciousness from his hand, seemed to suddenly undergo some change.
The feeling was akin to when the second future line had appeared.
Yet it was not completely the same.
He raised his head, looking down, especially fixed his gaze on the Pope, and with the help of the powerful Primordial Energy Device, he distinctly felt the Pope’s thoughts, seemingly with some enlightenment.
"Could the breakthrough be here?" he murmured softly, extending his hand, as a verdant green willow leaf appeared, slowly falling from the sky.
The Pope sensed something, suddenly raising his head, eyes wide open.
In a moment of illusion, he seemed to see an indescribable majestic figure atop layer upon layer of void sky, gently raising a hand.
The solitary willow leaf drifting in the sky.
At this moment, everything in the world seemed to become silent, leaving just this one willow leaf!
The Pope seemed to understand something.
His inner feelings were uncontrollably surging, various emotions intensely stronger than ever before!
Struggle, hesitation, decisiveness, belief...
Shen Shi could clearly sense his struggle.
Primordial Energy follows one rule.
That no matter how formidable the Primordial Energy Technology, how mighty the Primordial Energy, it can never eternally control a consciousness’s thought, because the essence of Primordial Energy is to seek self, self-power within self-awareness approaches infinity, forced control will ultimately be broken through by this exploration.
However, there is another rule.
That is self-choice under the control of Primordial Energy will never change.
This is akin to the Steel Seal engraved by the Collector and Gong Chu on the first future line.
If not for this Steel Seal, perhaps, one day in the future, they would oppose or even resist Shen Shi, but once they engraved this Steel Seal, that day would never come because this is their self-choice, their self-solidification.
The Pope’s turmoil is a breakthrough.
Shen Shi is not worried about the timing being too early because when this turmoil appears, the outcome is actually already destined. Moreover, regarding the understanding of Primordial Energy Technology, the Cosmic People are really too immature, especially with the training within the Divine Court largely relying on false faith, which is even more prone to collapse.