When Zane heard the words of the Holy Knight of Rox, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised. It wasn't because of anything else, but because what Rox was saying now was exactly the same as what he had heard from Cadrek, the dwarf governor, before. At that time, Cadrek also told Zane that this group of humans came to the dark region for a treasure in the dwarven stone city. He didn't know what specific treasure it was, but said that these humans must have something that could locate it. At that time, Zane thought it was just a lie made up by the dwarf governor to deceive himself, but now it seemed that there might really be such a thing? Was Cadrek planning this all along? Did he know where these people came from? But why didn't he tell him clearly? Or was it just a coincidence? Was it just that Cadrek happened to say something accurate?

  "What's going on?"

  Upon hearing this, Zhan En raised an eyebrow and continued to ask.

  But seeing his expression, Rox and Bosen were both stunned. In their opinion, such an important thing should have made Jain extremely surprised. But unexpectedly, they still underestimated the composure of this young man, even when he heard the words "divine artifact", Jain's expression did not change in the slightest, as calm and composed as if they were discussing the weather.

  Zhan En naturally wouldn't be excited, this kind of thing is just to deceive those foolish masters. In fact, although the divine artifact sounds very high-end, it's actually just a tool used by gods. To put it bluntly, it's just Amun-Ra's used condom, and throwing it on the master's face would also make it a divine artifact.

  Oh, right, that old guy is gay...

  Not to mention the gods, even the demon kings would occasionally secretly throw useless things onto the main plane to stir up trouble and watch their followers fight over a pile of junk. And then they'd watch as heroes risked their lives to stop them - it was truly a hilarious and entertaining drama. Probably not even the people on the material plane could have imagined that what they had sacrificed everything for, what they had yearned for with all their might, would be nothing but meaningless trash to the demon kings.

  It's like throwing a piece of meat to a pack of wild dogs and then watching them fight over it, just a way to pass the time. As for what happens to those wild dogs later, who lives or dies, what does that have to do with humans?

  That's why Zhan En was completely uninterested in this so-called "divine artifact", not to mention that he had an ancient magic tool in his hand. In terms of power, even the slightly weaker divine equipment was below it. No one has ever heard of putting down orange-grade weapons and not going to exchange them for purple-grade ones. To take a step back, among the things he had seen in the demon world that fit the concept of "divine artifact", there were at least eight hundred, and he had long been tired of looking at them.

  "So, what kind of divine artifact is it?"

  Since the other party had already made a sincere and earnest revelation, Zhen naturally could only ask with a poker face, his tone so flat that it was impossible to detect any hint of expectation. However, Roxas and Bossen were already accustomed to Zhen's attitude. In their eyes, this Zhen was indeed eccentric and arrogant, so such behavior wasn't unusual for him. Therefore, they merely sighed inwardly and quickly resumed their original serious expressions.

  "To be honest, we're not very clear about this either."

  As expected, the leader of the Knights of Lox said something that was within Jen's expectations. If they were really clear about it, they wouldn't have been messing around in the dark region for so long without even a little gain.

  "In fact, the oracle we received was also vague, and all we knew was that it should be located beneath this northern wilderness."

  "So at least you should know what it is?"

  "This... seems like a statue of a god."

  Alright, so the Dwarf Magistrate is indeed a swindler.

  Upon hearing this, Zhan En stretched out his hand to push up his glasses. It seems that it was just a coincidence after all, and Kadek had deceived himself into thinking it was the "Book of Cain". He probably said so because he was dressed as a mage and was very interested in magic books. Hmm, if he were dressed as a swordsman, would this guy say that there's still Frost Mourning buried underneath?

  "Since it's a divine artifact, I suppose it must have quite an origin?"

  In response to Jen's inquiry, Archbishop Bosen and the Grand Knight of Rox exchanged a glance, whereupon the Grand Knight stood up straight and addressed Jen.

  "Yes, indeed, Mr. Zhan. This statue is the guardian of our Temple of War God. In the past, when the Holy Church ventured into the dark realm and fought against the evil demon tribe, it was this statue that summoned Makka to descend. However, unfortunately, after the fall of the War God, the coalition forces of the Holy Church were defeated and scattered. The statue also disappeared in the dark realm since then. After losing the protection of the statue, the Temple of War God declined rapidly. We have been hoping to find out where this statue is, until recently, we received a divine revelation that told us where the statue was, so we came to search for it."

  "So it was like that..."

  Zhan En nodded quickly after a moment of rapid thinking in his mind, and then he swiftly swept the two people with an expressionless face.

  "But this is a matter of the Temple of War God, why the Holy Church..."

  "I'll take care of this point."

  At this time, the silent Archbishop Bosen finally spoke up. He opened his eyes, looked around solemnly for a few moments, and after confirming that no one was eavesdropping, he lowered his voice and said.

  "In fact, the reason why the Temple of the Holy See mobilized the power of the temple this time is to recover the divine instrument that was lost in the dark realm at the beginning. It's not just us, other temples have also received similar oracles, it's just that each temple has different losses, so the situation is quite different."

  So that's how it is.

  Upon hearing this, Zhan En's eyes flashed with a hint of insight. No wonder the three temples took the lead this time; it wasn't to make them decoys, but because they suffered the most losses in the Second Heaven and Earth War. The two subordinate gods didn't need to be mentioned, but the Temple of War had even sacrificed true gods. The divine artifacts left behind in the Dark Territory at that time were definitely not ordinary items. Since they could be used in the Second Heaven and Earth War, they probably wouldn't be some fake or inferior goods like a smoking pipe, slippers, or sleepwear, but genuine, high-quality, authentic divine artifacts.

  This also explains why the Holy Temple Church is in charge of management, but each church acts separately. After all, artifacts like this are absolute secrets of each church, and no one will feel at ease unless they are in their own hands. So even the weakest temple can only take a hard-headed approach to recover on its own. Not to mention temples like the War God Temple that are struggling to survive, if they don't make an all-out effort, they won't have a chance to turn things around.

  This is why the Valkyrie Empire can't handle the Temple of War God. They thought the Temple of War God was just an ordinary organization, but they ignored that all religious groups are essentially the same. Whether it's the holy knights who loudly invoke the name of the sun god to eradicate evil or the cultists who praise the name of the demon king and sacrifice maidens, they all have devout and unwavering faith, and are willing to sacrifice everything for their beliefs. Indeed, if it were just a fallen noble, the Temple of War God would not care. But if the other party is someone recognized by the war god, then even if it means going to war with the Valkyrie Empire, killing until the rivers flow with blood, the Temple of War God will absolutely not back down. Because this is the will of the gods, and to fulfill the will of the gods, they are willing to pay any price.

  "But you're so sure that statue is here?"

  "This is of course!!"

  At this point, Bishop Bosen, who had been calm all along, suddenly became excited. He clenched his fists and stared at Jan with wide eyes.

  "We can be certain that the idol is here and just a short distance from us. Mr. Jenn's ability to obtain the favor of the war god is the best evidence!"

  That's okay too...

  Upon hearing this, Zhan En secretly rolled his eyes, but after careful consideration, he thought that what Bishop Bosen said wasn't entirely unreasonable. Previously, he had assumed that he could obtain the holy light of the War God because he was on the War God's temple grounds. Now it seemed that if there really was such a god statue, it would be easier to sense his actions. However... thinking of this, Zhan En involuntarily stretched out his hand and pushed his glasses up.

  There was a moment when he thought about taking the divine position for himself. But soon, Zhan En gave up on this idea. For so many years, Makka's corpse had been in the demon realm, and none of the demons wanted to take back the divine position of the God of War. There were other reasons why the demons eyed each other covetously, but the biggest factor was that this divine position was simply not worth fighting for - the upper-class demons weren't interested, and the lower-class demons weren't qualified.

  For the demon kings, a fixed divine position is not attractive. Because they can develop brand new divine positions according to their own will. Just like the previous dark goddess Rose, who abandoned her dark divine position and became the spider goddess who protected the dark elves. For a goddess like Rose, even if you gave her the divine position of the god of war for free, she wouldn't want it. Rose likes intrigue and betrayal, but what she can't tolerate is large-scale total war. Similarly, other demon kings with their own divine positions are also uninterested in this position.

  Of course, the divine position of the God of War is still quite tempting for the lower-ranking demon tribes. After all, if they can absorb Makka's power, they can take a step up to heaven and become an existence on par with the Demon King and the gods. However, the Demon Kings keep Makka's corpse under close guard, and anyone who has the ability to approach Makka's corpse under their watchful eyes is already almost qualified to become a Demon King-level existence, so they don't need this divine position.

  Even if it's Zhan, he just wants to use the power of the God of War, but doesn't want to become the God of War. Being a god may look majestic and powerful, but once you're in that position, there's no freedom left. If humans become kings, they can be tyrants or wise rulers, it's all up to them. They can indulge in countless women or work themselves to death, it's their choice. But once you become a god, that kind of freedom is gone. If Zhan becomes the God of War, his life will only have one purpose: to wage war and spread conflict. If he enjoys this bloody and fiery battle-crazed existence, then so be it... but if not...

  Wanting to do a job that has nothing to do with one's interests for thousands and thousands of years, and not even having the option to retire or jump ship, is simply a nightmare. Who knows how many of those who originally aspired to become gods are now filled with regret? I heard that the Storm God from back then has already gone crazy...

  I understand.

  After a moment's thought, Zhan En nodded and reached out to push up his glasses.

  "Since we're looking for something, let's start from the nearest place. As it happens, we have a neighbor next to us who loves collecting treasures, and if we try our luck there, we should be able to find something."

  "Are you referring to... those Grey Dwarves?"

  Facing Zhan En's words, the Lox Saint Knight pondered for a moment before opening his mouth with a surprised expression. Their patrol team had also encountered the Dark Dwarves before and knew that there was a city of Dark Dwarves not far from here. However, Lox had never wanted to provoke them, as the dark territory was already very dangerous, and he didn't want to stir up trouble. But unexpectedly, now they were going to take the initiative to provoke them.

  "But... Mr. Zhan, we are short-handed, and relying on those mercenaries..."

  "I didn't say to attack the dwarves' city, if you're not afraid of being stabbed in the back by dark elves or other underground races, then go ahead and try. However, I do have a plan."

  As he spoke, Zhan En revealed a hint of an eerie smile.

  "But this requires your cooperation..."