Psychics don't die from gunfire

Chapter 699: Pilgrimage Flamingo and the Path of Purification

Fidas Cathedral is located on the top of a mountain, surrounded by undulating mountains. Looking down from the sky, the church is like a jewel inlaid in a crown.

The roads leading up the mountain were all dirt roads. After hundreds of years of repeated walking by countless people, they were usually very solid and made people feel at ease walking on them. But no matter how solid it was, it was still just a dirt road. As the rain got heavier, the road suddenly became muddy and every step took a lot of effort.

The Empire's attitude towards prosthetic implants in civilians is somewhere between that of the East Land Republic and the Corporate Alliance. It is neither like the former, which tightly controls every prosthetic channel, nor like the latter, which abuses it to the point of wishing everyone had three heads and six arms.

Therefore, after a round of searching, it was found that most of the believers who climbed the mountain had implants of prosthetic parts to a greater or lesser extent, and there were also people who had their legs and hands replaced.

——But, it was not used.

Unless it is absolutely necessary, such as when the natural lungs have been removed and one is now completely dependent on artificial lungs implanted later to breathe, at other times, not even one believer would use prostheses to make the journey easier.

Even those whose legs have been replaced with prosthetic limbs have proactively shut down most of the functions of their prosthetic limbs, leaving them in a state of "providing minimum basic mobility."

Song Shi could see that the old man with gray hair and beard and wrinkles on his face silently pulled his prosthetic leg out of the mud bit by bit, then raised his head and continued to move towards the top of the mountain.

“A pilgrimage is a journey of the heart, not a simple path of thorns and dangers.”

If the two wanted to, they could reach the Fidas Cathedral in one breath, but neither of them did so. At this time, Renata seemed to have suddenly become an ordinary person, also trudging on the muddy mountain road, letting the mud stain her boots.

“It’s just so hard.”

Even though she intentionally reduced her physiological functions, Renata still acted quite relaxed. The force-generating techniques she learned from her mentor in the Inquisition when she was far less powerful appeared in her again: "Even devout believers who have practiced for thousands of days and nights, day after day, year after year, may not be able to see their own hearts clearly and understand the true meaning of the doctrine. So we have to use external forces to assist them, hoping that they can see more clearly."

"These." She looked at the mountain road, where trickling water slid down the gullies of the soil, sparkling. She sighed softly, "They are means, not ends."

When she said these words, Renata did not activate the soundproof force field as before. Her voice was neither too loud nor too low, at least the nearest believers could hear it. Most of them turned a deaf ear and walked forward in silence. The only one who turned around stared at Renata for a few seconds and then looked away.

Nothing was said.

Song Shi did not fly, nor did he raise his hand. He also maintained the physiological function of an ordinary person. The only difference from Renata was that every time he took a step, a flash of fire would flash under his feet, burning off the mud.

After walking dozens or even hundreds of steps like this, his appearance was still the same as when he was at the foot of the mountain, and he seemed out of place compared to his surroundings.

"It's a small problem." Song Shi said casually, "How do we get supplies to this place? The church is not small, and there must be hundreds of people living there. But you guys have built the road so badly that normal trucks can't drive up."

"Don't tell me you guys just used an off-road vehicle to pull it up, or even sent it by air using a shuttle." Song Shi casually cut through a section of the rain with his index finger: "Others are making a pilgrimage while you enjoy the pleasure."

"You are making malicious assumptions." Renata walked ahead with her hands behind her back, without even turning her head. Her voice drifted over: "From the first day of the construction of the Fidas Cathedral, a list of materials was prepared in advance, and people were asked to purchase and transport them to the foot of the mountain, and then the clergy were asked to move them up by themselves."

"It's better now. They have implanted prostheses, so it's not hard to move them." Renata said leisurely: "Three hundred years ago, these people would have been moved by force--"

"Move it by force?" Song Shi said, "There are quite a few psychics in the church. As long as you are willing, you can just pick a high-level [Transcendence] and move it all at once."

"First, the function of [Transcendence] is not to be a porter." Renata still didn't look back. Song Shi saw a shaking index finger, and then a middle finger: "Second, 'mutual assistance and cooperation' is clearly written in the doctrine. One person can carry it all at once? How can other clergy accept it?"

As we were talking, the mountain gradually became flatter and the road began to take on other colors. The marble-paved road stretched to the end of the field of vision and crouched in front of the huge white rock arch.

The Fidas Cathedral is within easy reach.

When Song Shi first arrived at the foot of the mountain, the environment was still very gloomy, like a night with no end. When he climbed here, the sky was already bright. A streak of white emerged from the sea of ​​clouds, getting bigger and bigger. The whiteness slowly swept across the mountains, and the morning rain and fog didn't seem so cold anymore.

Even the believers who had been silent before could not hold back their gazes at this moment, which were like the light of an unquenchable flame. Many people had water marks on their faces, and it was hard to tell whether it was rain or tears. Some even knelt down and kissed the entrance of the marble road.

They bent over for a long time without moving, as if they wanted to immerse their whole body and mind in this place, until the bronze flamingo statues on both sides of the road made the first sound, then they slowly stood up and continued to move forward.

Changes have happened since then.

Walking on the stone steps, believers from all directions felt invisible heat rising from their feet with every step, drying their soaked clothes. As the temperature rose, some people's lips, which had turned white from the cold, visibly regained color.

Even the mud on the believers' feet became dry, hardened and cracked. The invisible heat created an invisible warm wind, carrying the mud back to the distant mountains.

When they reach the end, they will probably be spotless.

The bronze statues of flamingos standing by the road hold their heads high, each in a different posture. As more and more believers come here and the heat becomes more and more crowded, the surface of these bronze statues gradually turns blood-red, as if all the flamingos are about to come alive.

"The favorite animal of the Holy Spirit [Eternal Arcanaros] is the flamingo." Renata looked at one of the flamingos, which was flapping its wings as if ready to fly. "We are now walking on the famous 'Pure Fire Road' of the Fidas Cathedral. Oh, I forgot to mention that the main Holy Spirit enshrined in the Fidas Cathedral is the Eternal Arcanaros."

".Temperature-sensitive material."

Song Shi walked to the other flamingo and touched its head. It felt warm, even a little hot. But the texture was definitely metal, not the flexible screen as originally guessed. It played a video of blood-red feathers at regular intervals.

"I think you are thinking about something extremely blasphemous." Renata turned her head and glanced over.

"Is it the Inquisitor radar on your head that's buzzing?"

Song Shi didn't even raise his head.

Thermosensitive materials refer to materials whose properties change with temperature. The reason these lifelike flamingos change color is that this type of material was mixed in when they were first made.

As for what specific materials were used, I have no idea. Materials science is broad and profound, with all kinds of things. I used to stay in the technical department of Qimingzhe and chat with those researchers. They said that this subject is extremely subdivided, and each group is as separated as a mountain.

It doesn't matter anymore.

The omnipresent heat is rising, opening its warm arms to every believer just as it did before.

Then Song Shi refused.

With the young man at the center, a new and completely different heat rose up, turning into a field that separated heaven and earth. He stopped looking at the flamingo and continued on the "Pure Fire Road". ——Psychic energy.

The color change of the flamingo statue can be explained by materials science, but the heat that fills this "Pure Fire Road" is not obtained by laying underground heating pipes or other means.

Song Shi could feel that the entire road was paved with authentic, pure marble, and the source of the heat was spiritual energy!
Holy Spirit: [Eternally Burning Arcanaros].

This title emerged in Song Shi’s mind.

A powerful psychic, whose mere existence is enough to change many things.

Just like me, although I usually keep my spiritual energy, as long as I don't keep it completely, if I stay in a place for a long time, there will be more or less changes there. Even if we exclude extreme situations such as volcanic scorch, if the local average temperature rises by a few degrees, it will still be a devastating blow to the local ecosystem.

A considerable number of the so-called "blessed places" in ancient Donglu were not formed naturally, but were artificially created. One of the classic reasons is that a high-level psychic found a place to retreat, but did not pay attention to the collection of psychic energy. After an unknown period of time, when he came out of retreat, he found that he had permanently changed the environment of the place.

Most of them are [Dayuan].

As a religious shrine dedicated to the "Eternally Burning Arcanaros", the Fidas Cathedral has been devoutly worshipped day and night for hundreds of years and has accumulated countless powers of faith. These things, which are essentially redundant spiritual energies, have changed the climate here.

Suddenly, the view seemed to rise to the sky. Looking down from the sky, the magnificent Fidas Cathedral suddenly shrank and became a small dot on the ground. Then the earth as the background also disappeared, leaving only a bright star with dazzling light.

"Your sequence of faith beacons."

Song Shi opened his eyes again and retracted his perception: "Where does the Fidas Cathedral rank among them?"

"Which one?" Renata repeated, "Faith is not something that can be put on a price."

"Come on, you've sold a lot of indulgences." Song Shi said bluntly, "Speak human language."

"Okay." Renata shrugged and said, "Let me make it clear in advance that the 'Beacon of Faith' has more than just religious buildings. Adding up the scattered buildings, the Fidas Cathedral... Well, there are probably some in the top 20."

"The top 20 faith landmarks were almost destroyed by the disaster." Song Shi put his hands in his pockets: "What should I say?"

"Let me share a little knowledge. Listen carefully, this is something that the church school and Zhongsi Academy don't teach." Renata shook her index finger: "In the history of the empire, the top ten faith beacons have been destroyed."

".You are quite, proud?" Song Shi spoke after a few seconds.

"I'm just answering truthfully. How can you tell how proud you are of me?" Renata asked back, her expression unchanged. "Although this is also not acknowledged or recorded, I still have to remember it in my heart."

She nodded and said, "One can't deceive one's own heart."

At the end of the "Purifying Fire Road", after climbing the last step, a huge circular plaza appears before your eyes.

It is hard to imagine why there is such a wide space on the top of the mountain. It is conservatively estimated to be more than three football fields in size. It makes people wonder whether the original builders of the square forcibly flattened a section of the mountain to create enough space.

The square is surrounded by burning marble columns, and legend has it that the fireworks they carry have never been extinguished since the first day the Fidas Cathedral was built, and people believe this legend.

This is also the last location before officially entering the Fidas Cathedral.

Or rather, it should have been like this.

When Song Shi walked here, there were already many people standing in the square.

Among them were old people, young people, strong men, women, ragged down-and-out people, foreign priests in linen robes, and nobles in gorgeous clothes with jewels on their fingers. No matter who they were, regardless of their status, they were all standing here.

The sky was completely bright and the morning light flooded the earth.

Clearly there were thousands of people gathered, and the number was still slowly but steadily increasing, but the entire square was silent, no one spoke, and the only sound in the air was the crackling of the quietly burning flames.

Except for one person.

An old man walked up to the high platform of the square, wearing a robe embroidered with sun patterns. His hair was completely gray, and his face was full of wrinkles. He was so old that if you showed his photo to others, no one would be able to say "You are not old yet" with confidence.

But anyone who comes here and sees the old man with their own eyes can say this with confidence.

Under the rough eyelids with brown spots, there is a pair of eyes that are like flames. They exude a frightening vitality, like firewood that has been burned out, and only death can stop the burning.

Fidas Cathedral, the current bishop.

A "living saint" canonized by the Empire's state religion, recognized by the supreme Emperor, a symbol in the hearts of all mortals, a moving miracle.

Upton O'Neill.

The old man held a forked brass staff, and his eyes slowly swept across the faces of every believer present, without pausing for a second more or less for anyone.

Even though Renata's true face was revealed and Song Shi opened the field and rejected the heat of the cathedral, they were unable to catch his attention for even a moment.

The first time the old man's gaze stopped was in front of him.

The rectangular copper container is more than enough to hold one person.
This is a bronze coffin.

The tired, old woman lay inside with her eyes tightly closed, her lips already turning blue.

Upton O'Neill slowly grasped the brass staff and tapped the ground.

“——We gather here today not to mourn for the souls who have returned to heaven, but to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Most High for the servants who have been called by the Lord.”

(End of this chapter)