The World in a Box

The world's great forces, those that unify will eventually divide, and those that divide will eventually unite.
Lin Ming was not interested in the political changes in the world within the box. He had witnessed too many such events over the past several epochs. Fathers and sons had slaughtered each other in power struggles, and he had seen it all. What more could a power struggle between the followers of the Godblooded and those of the Divine Arts be?
Whether it was the Godblooded or the practitioners of the Divine Arts in power, Lin Ming didn't care. Though the practitioners of the Divine Arts believed in Him and followed her, he wouldn't favor them for that reason. After all, the Light God Temple was just a product of the deal between her and Saintess Ling.
The only thing that could make Lin Ming care in this world was beings like Saintess Ling, those who could connect directly to the land. However, since Ling's departure, there had been no other being like her.
Meanwhile, the practitioners of the Divine Arts, far from the box world, had no idea that the God they followed all their lives didn't need their worship.
At this moment, after being driven out of the Light God Temple, the remaining forces of the Temple had taken refuge in the deep mountains. The elderly priests sacrificed their lives to preserve the flame of the Light God Temple. These escaping Divine Arts practitioners were mostly young and talented, the future of the Light God. 
Their leader, a young woman, had been entrusted with the Heavenly Book by the priests before they fled, and was told to find the new Saintess. She led more than a dozen practitioners through the mountains and marshes to a small village. 
Their food had run out, and they desperately needed supplies. Disguised, they entered the village, intending to buy food, but they soon realized that the villagers were aware of their identities. 
"What should we do?" one of the practitioners asked the young woman.
She realized there was no other choice. 
"Kill them all."
"Everyone?"
"Yes, everyone."
In just six words, the fate of the entire village was sealed. 
After the massacre, the village was engulfed in a brilliant light, as if the Light had descended. The villagers' screams echoed in the light. Moments later, the village fell silent.
The young woman stood in front of a small wooden house, her face numb. She had lost count of how many people she had killed with her pure light. 
Pushing open the door of the last house, she found a young woman holding a newborn child, tears on her face. 
Seeing the young woman, the Divine Arts practitioner's cold demeanor cracked for a moment. 
"I don't know where I've wronged you, but since you are punishing us, I ask that you spare my poor child. She is too young to remember this day. Take her, and if you wish, you may give her to someone else or keep her as your servant. Please, have mercy."
Before the practitioner could respond, the young woman jumped into the light and was instantly "purified," leaving only the one-month-old baby girl. The Divine Arts practitioner locked eyes with the child.
The baby's innocent gaze made the practitioner hesitate. But as she remembered her fallen companions and the grand mission of the Light God Temple, she steeled herself.
She couldn't leave any traces behind. For herself, and for the future of the Light God Temple, she had to eliminate all threats. 
However, just as she was about to strike, the Heavenly Book in her arms suddenly emitted a brilliant light, flying out of her hands. 
The once blank stone slab now revealed several large characters: "Saintess has arrived, and Light is certain."
The baby girl before her was the second Saintess, the one the practitioner had been searching for. And just moments ago, she had killed the child's family.
The practitioner hesitated as she looked into the baby's eyes. 
Elsewhere, the leader of the Godblooded, Ader Loren, had overthrown the rule of the Light God and declared himself king, renaming the Holy God Kingdom to the Sia Empire. To maintain control over the believers, Loren kept the Light God Temple intact, but secretly, the Temple had undergone a name change, with Loren now pulling the strings from behind.
After the empire was formed, Loren's first move was to recruit many intellectuals, creating fictitious gods and promoting their worship. This served to weaken the influence of the Light God Temple and diminish the power of the priesthood. 
Soon, new deities cropped up across the empire like mushrooms after rain. Loren finally sighed with relief. As for the principle of "equality for all," it slowly faded from memory, and the teachings of Saintess Ling, with her progressive ideas, were either burned or banned.
Sia, which had once been a republic, regressed into a feudal empire.
In the first pages of the Sia Empire's new law code, it declared that "under the Godblood, all are servants."
The Godblooded had become the elite of the Sia Empire. 
Thirty years later, in the year of God's Descent 110, the new Saintess, under the guidance of the Divine Arts practitioner, had grown up.
For the past three decades, the Divine Arts practitioner had treated the new Saintess as her own daughter, caring for her with love and devotion. She had named her Freya, meaning "forgetting" or "letting go," and Freya was the most talented Divine Arts practitioner the practitioner had ever encountered. Her light was pure and strong, and she was as beautiful as the first morning light.
At this moment, Freya sat quietly in a treehouse, reading the Holy Book of the Light God, "The Book of Light."
The first page of the book read, "Under the gods, all are equal." The last page said, "All living things must die, but the gods are eternal."
The book also contained scientific knowledge, progressive ideas, and more teachings about the Light God.
As Freya read in silence, the door to the treehouse opened, and an elderly woman entered.
This woman was the Divine Arts practitioner who had raised Freya. After years of age, she had grown frail. Seeing Freya, she smiled indulgently before suddenly fixing her gaze with determination.
"Freya, the time has come."
Freya had been taught the idea of vengeance since childhood. Now that she had grown strong, it was time to judge those who betrayed the Light.