Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 159 Altar Ceremony
Sina City Church, the church interior.

The Holy See of Bishop Fabion.

Just the night before, Luo Xiu had accompanied Bishop Fabion here.

At that time, Bishop Fabion had just finished fighting with the "King of Ancestral Spirits" and was spiritually exhausted and needed to rest.

Priest Leonard also had something to report to the bishop, so Luo Xiu stopped bothering him.

What’s different from last time is that this time, Luo Xiu came with a relatively clear purpose.

—For the “altar ceremony.”

Bishop Fabion, his profession in the [Glory] destiny is "Bishop of Fire", which is a higher-level profession than the "High Priest of Fire" of the same level as Luo Xiu.

Fabion, who also belongs to the "priest" priesthood, naturally has a much deeper understanding of the "altar ceremony" than Luo Xiu.

As a priest of the "Fivefold Destiny", Fabion has presided over the "altar ceremony" of the "Fiveth Order" many times.

As for the "fourth-level" ceremony that Luo Xiu is going to hold, Luo Xiu hopes to learn some special tricks from Fabion.

While thinking, Luo Xiu had arrived in front of the golden ball of light at the entrance of the Bishop's Seat.

Luo Xiu placed his hand on the ball of light, infused it with spirituality, nodded in prayer, and "submitted" an application for entry to Fabion, and soon received a response of admission.

Following the route he remembered, Luo Xiu walked towards the third floor of the Holy See with ease and arrived at the door of Bishop Fabion's residence.

The door of the bishop's bedroom was ajar. Luo Xiu knocked on the door gently and then pushed it open and entered.

"...You are here, Luo Xiu."

Sitting on the holy couch, Bishop Fabion looked at the visiting guests with a smile on his face.

At this moment, Fabien looked much better than the day before.

After a full night's rest, the spiritual energy that had been exhausted slowly recovered.

"Greetings to you, Bishop." Luo Xiu bowed slightly.

"Hmm... Luo Xiu."

Fabian looked at the young man in front of him, and there seemed to be a hint of surprise on his kind face.

"Your aura is... a little different from the day before."

"..."

Bishop Fabion felt the changes in Luo Xiu from the "spiritual" level.

"After the holy war the day before, I did feel that my spirituality had become somewhat active."

Luo Xiu organized his words and said to Bishop Fabion:
"Your Excellency, Priest Leonard asked me to come and consult you about the 'altar ceremony'..."

"Oh?"

Bishop Fabien, he seemed somewhat interested in this.

"You met Leonard, and he sent you to me...Okay. What do you want to know?"

Fabian asked.

Luo Xiu already knew about how to preside over the "altar ceremony" in his previous life, so this was not a question he was going to ask Fabiano.

"I want to preside over the altar ceremony of the 'Fourth Order'."

Luo Xiu then said softly, "I want to learn from you the method to 'cross' the gap in the depth of fate and obtain more instant divine gifts."

"..."

Hearing this, Fabien was silent for a moment.

His eyes suddenly became deep, and he looked at Luo Xiu for a while before he slowly spoke:
"You want to preside over the altar ceremony of the 'Fourth Order', and Leonard, did he agree with you?"

"...Yes." Luo Xiu nodded, "And the High Priest asked me to come find you."

"..."

"This Leonard...sigh." Fabian shook his head and sighed.

"Child, can you tell me why you want to preside over the altar ceremony of the 'Fourth Order'?"

Fabian asked, asking the same question Leonard had asked.

"Because, after the previous battle with the 'Ancestor Bishop', I can feel... this may be my path to a higher level."

Rossouw gave the same answer as Bishop Fabien and Priest Leonard did.

"Um……"

"I think I know why Leonard asked you to come."

Bishop Fabion nodded, then he sat up from the bed and said to Luo Xiu in a gentle voice:

"Child, listen carefully to the answer you want."

"The 'altar ceremony' is a ceremony to pray to the supreme and majestic Casting Sun for a moment and ask for God's blessing."

"..."

Luo Xiu sat upright with a serious and earnest expression on his face. If Fabien at this moment was like a sincere and instructive teacher, then Luo Xiu must be the student that made the teacher most satisfied.

Luo Xiu continued to listen to Fabien's story:

"…That is the power bestowed by God. 'Shuyu' is the god of devotion. He will bestow upon devout believers the maximum divinity that they can accept."

"And the level of the 'altar ceremony' is the proof that His devout believers are qualified to be His 'vessels' and can bear how much of His 'divinity' they can bear."

"The proof of 'container'..."

Luo Xiu murmured these words, seeming to be thinking about something.

"So, kid."

Fabian said kindly: "If you are sure that this is the path you should take, then I will not stop you."

"But, as a 'priest', I understand some things better than you at my age..."

"I want to remind you that if you try to cross the chasm of destiny and do something beyond your ability, you will have to pay a price."

"..."

"Price?" Luo Xiu asked in confusion.

"...Yes, the price."

Fabian's tone remained calm, but his expression became much more serious. "If the ritual fails, it's just that the spirituality is blocked, which won't be a big problem."

"but."

"..."

When he said this, Fabian paused, looked at Luo Xiu with a deep gaze, and said word by word:
"If the ceremony is successfully completed, the officiating priest will be granted divinity for a moment. However, if he is not actually strong enough to bear this gift."

"—He will die, his soul and body will be annihilated, not even a trace of residue will be left."

When he said this last sentence, Fabian's voice became noticeably heavier.

At the same time, Fabien was also observing Luo Xiu's reaction.

He saw that Luo Xiu seemed to frown, but soon relaxed again.

"……I see."

Luo Xiu said seriously, "Even so, I am still ready to give it a try. Because I can indeed feel that this is the path for me to embark on a higher level."

"..."

Looking at Luo Xiu with a determined look on his face, Fabian said nothing more and just stared at him quietly.

"...Okay. Then I can tell you how to cross the 'chasm'."

Luo Xiu's insistence finally made Fabian give in and say the next words.

"Luo Xiu, remember what I said."

"——[I long for the radiant light of the world, just as a moth longs for a flame; I pray to see the birth of Nirvana, just as a grave seeks rebirth.]"

"——[A moment of supreme majesty! Show me the true miracle! As a spectator, I always feel sorrow; as a saint, I am willing to be a firewood!]"

"When that being responds to your altar ritual's fixed-level prayer, you will chant these two prayers. At that time, your ritual will be sublimated, and you will see the true miracle that belongs only to the 'Moment of Casting Sun'."

"..."

"I've got that." Luo Xiu nodded.

"Then, Your Excellency, please allow me to take my leave first."

After getting the answer to the question he wanted to know, Luo Xiu stood up and asked for his leave to Fabion, not wanting to disturb the old bishop's rest any longer.

Fabien nodded lightly, and Luo Xiu withdrew and left, gently closing the door of the bishop's room.

……

When Luo Xiu left.

Fabian did not lie back on the bed, but frowned tightly, with a sad look on his face.

"Young man... this is the kid's first attempt. Since he insists on doing it, I won't refuse him openly."

"But, no matter what, this is too dangerous..."

Fabien murmured, and then he began to perform some kind of ancient prayer.

And the back of his hand emanated a faint pure white glow.

"--I will wear the shackles as atonement; I will bear the blasphemy as mercy..."

"——Herlag of the Wings, I pray for your coming."

"..."

As Fabien prayed, the powerful angel who symbolized holiness slowly appeared in front of Fabien.

The "Winged Angel" Hellagur, in his burning golden eyes, could not show any emotion at all, he just stared at Fabien coldly, as if he was looking at a stranger.

"The one who worships the fire, Fabien."

Herag said in a cold voice: "...As the Guardian Blade, I don't sense any enemy presence around here."

"…Alas, Hellagur."

Fabian's face was a little pale. His current condition could not support the "Double-Winged Angel" to exist for too long.

"Herag... my old friend." Fabian asked in a pleading tone, "This time, I want you to help me protect someone..."

"..."

Behind Hellagur, the pair of wings burning with pale holy flames seemed to tremble.

He then asked Fabian in an emotionless and cold voice: "Who to protect?" "Rosius Carlos," Fabian said concisely.

"He is about to cross the chasm and pray for the blessing of the God... Hellagur, I would like you to protect him."

"If anything unexpected happens, Hellagur..."

Fabian finally said:
"Please accept that gift on his behalf."

……

evening.

Sina City - The Glorious Church, the place of the Holy Judgement.

When Luo Xiu walked out of the Bishop's seat in Fabion, he kept thinking about those words.

In the process of consulting Fabien before, Luo Xiu did obtain some knowledge that he did not know in his previous life.

Regarding Sumo, the "vessel of divinity", and the two prayers...

Luo Xiu thought about it and realized that this was different from what he knew as a "player".

If a real player wants to hold a "fourth-level" altar ceremony at the level of the triple destiny, all he needs to do is move the panel...

However, this was different from the original process of the "Altar Ceremony", and Luo Xiu was actually not sure whether the panel would still work in conducting the ceremony.

I am not a pure "player". Even if I have a "panel", I often cannot try and do things that only a "player" can do.

Luo Xiu understood this very well.

And if you regard your [promotion mission] as the guidance on "promotion" obtained from the "spiritual" level by the extraordinary people in this world when they reach a bottleneck.

Well, as a transcendent being with a triple destiny, there must be a way to hold cross-level rituals besides the “panel” method.

This is the question that Luo Xiu asked Fabion.

The answer that Luo Xiu got from Fabien was exactly the insurance he left for himself.

In addition, Fabien said something else that made Luo Xiu feel concerned.

——The altar ceremony is a ceremony for devout believers to prove that they are qualified to become the vessel of the "divine" for a moment...

“……” Luo Xiu thought for a moment.

In other words, from the perspective of a truly extraordinary person, the "divinity" that can be bestowed is influenced by another factor besides the rank of the ritual.

——One’s own “divine” attributes!
The panel description of the "divinity" attribute is "the degree to which the body can carry spirituality." This is similar to what Fabion said about the "container."

Well, now there are two attributes that are relatively critical.

One is "Divinity" and the other is "Resistance"!
The former is the degree of acceptance of "God's spirituality", and the latter is that if the ritual fails and one is spiritually attacked, the pain that will be suffered can be alleviated...

However, since Bishop Fabion had said before, "If one is not strong enough to bear this gift, both the soul and the body will be annihilated, and not even a trace of residue will be left", in this case, unless the "resistance" is extremely high, it will be impossible to resist this forced death.

"..."

As Luo Xiu was thinking, he opened his own character panel in his mind.

He looked at his "Attributes" column.

At this moment, taking into account all previous tasks and kill rewards, Luo Xiu's current accumulated "free attribute points" have reached 63 points.

Because adding points can be done instantly, Luo Xiu did not have the urgent need to add points some time ago, so he has been saving them until now.

And now, they are finally coming in handy.

"——Give it all to 'Divinity'!"

Luo Xiu gave clear instructions in his mind.

This is exactly Luo Xiu's plan to ensure that the ceremony can be completed smoothly and that he can safely "endure" the blessing from the God of Xuyou!
According to Luo Xiu's experience in his previous life, to prevent similar situations from happening, one only needs to raise the corresponding attributes to the baseline value of the next fate number.

The "divinity" attribute reaches about 120, which is exactly the normal average divinity value of the "Great Blessings" with the fourth destiny!
……

In the vision in front of Luo Xiu, those free points were instantly reduced to zero. And his "divine" attribute value also soared from 63 points to 126 points.

Luo Xiu knew that once he was officially promoted to the 'Great Blessing Master' of the fourth destiny, his main attribute, 'divinity', would also receive significant enhancements in addition to the depth of his mana slot.

Therefore, this is, to some extent, an implicit investment in future strength.

"..."

Feeling the surge of spiritual power in his body, in that instant, Luo Xiu seemed to see the purer and more original "Eternal Kingdom".

It is the palace of the god "Casting the Sun in a Moment", and it is also the "heaven" and "paradise" in the minds of the believers of [Glory].

That completely pure white world without the slightest flaw appeared in front of Luo Xiu for just a moment before disappearing without a trace.

However, that pure white glow has made Luo Xiu truly feel the warmth that belongs only to [Glory].

……

After completing all the preparations, Luo Xiu finally came to the door of Leonard's room, gently pushed the door open and walked in.

At this time, there were six people in the room, but Priest Leonard was not there.

However, Luo Xiu still saw familiar faces - Anthony, Connor and Pamier, who were from the same "Holy Inquisitor" team as Luo Xiu, were all in the room.

Seeing Luo Xiu coming, Anthony looked at him, smiled and said:
"We heard from Priest Leonard that you will hold an 'altar ceremony'..."

"The high priest asked us to tell you that he has gone to the center of the inner courtyard and prepared a ceremony for you in front of the altar of the Sun-casting Statue of 'Xuyou'."

"When you are ready, we will go with you to meet the High Priest. We will assist you in completing your first 'altar ceremony'."

……

In the center of the inner courtyard, in front of the colossal statue of 'Xu Yu'.

This was the place where Luo Xiu had sworn an oath to the 'Moment of the Casting Sun'. Luo Xiu still remembered vividly the scene of "I do this in the name of 'Luo Xiu Carlos'".

But now Luo Xiu actually had to pray to Xu Yu for a divine blessing in such a place...

When he thought of this, Luo Xiu almost couldn't help but expose his intention of tax evasion.

Priest Leonard had been waiting here long ago, and on the altar that was overflowing with golden light, Leonard had already spiritually drawn the altar's ritual formation.

As if he heard the footsteps of Luo Xiu and others from afar, Leonard suddenly turned around and looked in the direction of Luo Xiu.

Roxiu, Anthony and other clergymen then walked quickly forward and stopped in front of Leonard.

"…It seems that you are ready."

Leonard glanced at Luo Xiu, and his eyes also wandered over Anthony and other clergymen for a while, then he nodded slowly.

"Everyone is here. So... let's get started."

Leonard then turned aside to make way for the altar.

Luo Xiu walked quickly forward and came to the center of the altar, while the other priests surrounded him and stood at a "serving priest" position.

When everyone was in their respective positions, Leonard said with a serious expression:
"This is an important ritual, Luo Xiu. I will stabilize the formation for you. If the ritual fails, you will immediately cut off the spiritual transmission."

"Okay." Luo Xiu nodded.

When everything was ready, Luo Xiu closed his eyes, nodded and prayed:

"——Supreme moment, eternal radiance!"

"——I am a devout worshipper, I worship the altar!"

"..."

Luo Xiu chanted the standard "altar ceremony" prayer in a loud voice. At the same time, he mobilized his spirituality and blessed his body with the sacred arts of "consecration prayer" and "consecration blessing".

While Luo Xiu was praying, the ceremonial formation beneath his feet flickered with golden light, and the outline of his body was also covered with a faint glow.

Luo Xiu quickly finished chanting the standard prayer, and indeed, the panel option of "selecting the ritual level" never appeared in front of him from beginning to end.

This showed that what Luo Xiu had learned from Bishop Fabion before was indeed meaningful, and the ritual formation under his feet also shone brightly the moment he finished his prayer.

Above the ceremony formation, the scorching golden light flashed three times in succession, each time brighter than the last. This was the symbol of the "third-level" altar ceremony.

When he saw this, Luo Xiu raised his arms high, embracing the sky, and continued to pray:
"--I crave the light of the world as a moth craves a flame;"

——"I pray to see the birth of the god in Nirvana, just as the dead are reborn!"

……

——Wow!

The golden light flowing from the ritual formation under Luo Xiu's feet suddenly shot up into the sky, forming a shining round curtain that enveloped the figures of Luo Xiu and others.

Seeing this, Luo Xiu did not stop praying, but continued to chant:
"——A moment of supreme majesty! Show me the true miracle!"

“——As a spectator, I often feel sad;”

"——I am willing to be a firewood for a saint!"

……

--boom! ! !

A huge roar came from the altar in front of the Xuyu Colossus.

Leonard, who was in charge of stabilizing the formation, did not notice any shaking in the ground, but he suddenly felt dizzy and staggered unsteadily.

He stood still again and raised his head, only to see that above the giant statue of "Summer", His outline was emitting an incomparably dazzling and holy pure white glow.

And this glow also emerged from another place at the same time.

On Luo Xiu's body, his face and clothes became blurred and invisible, completely covered by the pure white light.

Leonard also clearly felt the incomparable spiritual surge emanating from Luo Xiu, which was the manifestation of the "divinity" bestowed upon him.

And the spiritual surge that represented "divinity" had already far exceeded the scope of the triple destiny, and even made Leonard feel a sense of oppression.

The light grew brighter, more dazzling, and hotter.

Leonard looked at everything in front of him, and his expression became nervous.

……

Until the light gradually faded.

The figure belonging to "Luo Xiu" finally returned to everyone's sight.

The young man who presided over the ceremony looked a little pale.

But he still smiled and said to his colleagues in a relaxed tone:

“…I saw it. I saw a true miracle.”

"My ritual is complete."

(End of this chapter)