Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 205: "Presiding over the Grand Ceremony" Assessment (5k5)

Senior Deacon? When he heard the name of this priesthood, Luo Xiu realized something.

The assessment of his going to Red Maple City to serve as the "host of the high sacrifice" is about to come.

"It's indeed the 'high-ranking deacon'..." Luo Xiu thought to himself. Leonard's previous guess was correct. Songyuan Diocese did send such a high-ranking deacon.

"Deacon" is a holy position only available at the diocese level and above.

They are elite clergy directly commanded by the dioceses of the "Holy See", and can be divided into six grades in terms of rank - "primary deacon", "middle deacon", "senior deacon", "director deacon", "red deacon" and the highest rank "black deacon".

Among them, starting from "High Deacon", only the glorious professional branch of "Priest" can serve, and only priests who have reached the "Fivefold Destiny" and entered the rank of "Saint" are qualified to become "High Deacon".

Luo Xiu didn't know who the "senior deacon" sent by the diocese was. However, based on his experience in the previous life, he had made some preparations.

After entering the church and coming to the inner courtyard, Luo Xiu did not go directly to the Holy Court or the Bishop's Seat, but first found a secluded place and crushed five "Scarlet Magic Crystals".

After confirming that he was only at the second level of his destiny, the [Abyss] spirituality would not be detected, Luo Xiu reinforced the "Prisoner of the Thinker" protective barrier that resided deep in his soul to avoid being detected by the other party at the spiritual level.

Afterwards, Luo Xiu waited for the surface spirituality when the "Scarlet Magic Crystal" took effect to dissipate, and then cast a "consecration prayer" on himself, allowing the glorious spirituality to lightly cover his body and completely eliminate the excess aura.

After completing all this, Luo Xiu slowly walked towards the Holy Judgment Hall.

……

The inner courtyard of the church, where the Holy Judgment took place.

There was a special guest in Priest Leonard's room compared to usual.

He was a middle-aged man in a blue-gray dress. A warhammer was hanging in front of him, and his right hand was firmly on the handle of the warhammer.

The man was sitting on a leather sofa in the room at this moment. He kept his eyes closed and said nothing, appearing reserved and calm.

Next to him, Priest Leonard seemed a little embarrassed.

Although there were still many unreviewed and unprocessed files piled up on the desk, Leonard did not deal with the tasks at hand. Instead, he and the special guest in the room quietly waited for the arrival of the last person.

After a long time, the man on the sofa suddenly opened his eyes.

He raised his left hand and pointed his finger at the round button with a "sun" pattern on his collar. His bright golden eyes then looked at Leonard and asked:

"How long will it take for Ross Carlos to arrive?"

"..."

"It should be soon, Master Hubbard."

Leonard replied: "He is still the 'altar priest' of the church. He comes to the church to report to me at this time every day. He has never been late or absent."

"...Okay." Senior Deacon Huberte nodded, "I understand. I will wait patiently for a while, but I hope it won't take too long."

"..."

——Squeak. While Hubert was talking, the door of Leonard's room was slowly pushed open.

In fact, the door was not closed earlier, but opened a tiny gap. This was a small detail Leonard left for Luo Xiu so that he could make some preparations before coming in.

When Luo Xiu arrived at the door of Leonard's room and saw an extra figure through the crack in the door, he knew that the figure was the "senior deacon" sent from the parish.

“High Deacon” Hubert, he indeed has the fifth destiny, and his profession is “Holy Deacon of Purification”.

That was the higher-level profession of the priest's profession "Purification Patriarch" in the fourth destiny. It had many similarities with Luo Xiu's original career path, which was in the priest's "Judgment" career branch.

That's why the diocese sent this "senior deacon" Hubert to come and test him... Luo Xiu guessed this, and a moderately surprised expression appeared on his face. He said in the direction of Leonard:

"Master Priest, I am here to make my daily report. Sorry, I didn't expect to have a new guest."

Then, he turned to the direction of the "senior deacon" Hubert again and greeted him with a humble attitude and tone: "Hello, guest of the priest. I am Luo Xiu, the 'deacon' of the church, and I send you my greetings."

"..."

As Luo Xiu observed Hubert, he saw that Hubert's originally reserved attitude seemed to have changed.

Hubert's gaze shifted from Leonard to Luo Xiu.

"Are you Luo Xiu, the 'Luo Xiu Carlos' who applied to go to Red Maple City to serve as the 'High Priest'?" Hubert asked.

"Yes, it's me." Luo Xiu nodded and replied, and at the same time asked in a tone of verification, "Excuse me, who are you?"

"I am the 'High Deacon' Hubbert of the Holy Deaconate of Songyuan Parish."

When Hubert learned that the person who came was the one who was about to be tested, the current deacon "Rosius Carlos" of the Sina City Church, he quickly got into work mode.

He then formally introduced himself to Luo Xiu, and then continued to say to Luo Xiu:

"Rosius Carlos, the diocese has received your application to go to Maple City and serve as the 'high priest' of the church during the war. Now I will assess you to confirm whether you have sufficient ability and qualifications."

"..."

When Hubert finished speaking, a serious expression appeared on Luo Xiu's face, and he said to Hubert solemnly:
"I understand, Master Hubbard. Please tell me the content of the test, and I will do my best to cooperate."

"..."

"very good."

Huberte nodded, and he stretched out his hand that was lightly holding the sun-patterned round buckle, pointed to the sofa opposite, and said, "You can sit down first, Luo Xiu. At least now, we can communicate on an equal footing."

"Okay." Luo Xiu responded to Hubert softly, walked into the room, closed the door casually, and sat down on the sofa where Hubert pointed.

During this process, Luo Xiu always maintained a humble, gentle and neither humble nor arrogant attitude when talking to Hubert, which made Hubert feel comfortable and also gave him an initial good impression of Luo Xiu.

When Luo Xiu sat down on the sofa, Hubert said:
"Before, my student, another 'middle deacon', had come to the Sina City Church once. He was responsible for assessing three Holy Judges. I also learned something about you from his report to me."

"Luo Xiu... in less than three months, you have advanced from the second level to the fourth level. This record has never been seen in the history of the Holy Court, and it will be difficult to see it again in the future. Your talent for the [Glorious] destiny is obvious to all."

"With such talent, even the Saint of the current Holy Court might not have been as good as you in her past."

"Therefore, after several bishops in the diocese learned of your deeds, they had no objection to your promotion to the 'priest' of the Sina City Church. They even wanted to accept you as their disciple and do their best to train you..."

"What a pity. Haha. You are no longer a triple destiny. For a clergyman who has reached the 'quadruple destiny', the bishops do not have the power to forcibly transfer you."

When he said this, Hubert paused, changed the subject, and said:

"But, Luo Xiu. I think you may not understand what the person who will become the 'High Priest' of the 'Wartime Church' represents and what he will be responsible for."

"You should understand that the hostility of the Dark Principality towards us has been quite obvious. The clergy who will be assigned to the 'Wartime Church' established on the premise of war must be the elite among the elites of each church. Only then will they have the acumen and ability to deal with various hostile actions of the enemy."

"As for the 'High Priest' of the 'Wartime Church', it originally had another name at the Saints' Conference that discussed, formulated and promulgated this resolution."

"—'Acting Bishop.'"

"..."

When he said this, Hubert's golden eyes suddenly flashed with a deep light, and the look he gave Luo Xiu was blessed with some kind of sacred magic that could penetrate "spirituality" and discern "true heart".

Hubert then continued:

"'Acting bishop' means the person who 'presides over the high priest' will bear the same responsibility as a real bishop of the church. He will be able to obtain the initial glorious 'authority', but if his faith is not devout enough, his experience is not rich enough, and his ability is not strong enough, he cannot truly assume this holy office."

"At this point, 'talent' is the last thing. Therefore, our first choice is Leonard, followed by Markakis..."

"To be honest, you are too young, Luo Xiu."

Hubert maintained his usual tone, but with a look of regret on his face, he said, "I don't think you meet any of the three conditions I listed before." "How will you respond to this, and how will you prove your will to me?"

When he said this, Hubert's words came to an abrupt end. His golden eyes looked at Luo Xiu calmly, waiting for his response.

In response to Hubert's three questions, Luo Xiu thought for a while, considered his words, and then answered Hubert:

"Lord Hubbard, I think my piety should be obvious to all."

"Ever since I entered the church and became a 'Holy Judge', I have always been fulfilling my duties of 'judgment' and 'preaching'. Up to now, I have judged more than three dozen pagans, including many with triple and quadruple destinies."

"I don't understand what you mean by 'piety'. To me, it is not as important as upholding light, kindness, justice, and sticking to a sacred cause."

"..."

When Hubert heard Luo Xiu say this, his expression froze for a moment, and then an expression of surprise and joy appeared.

He heard a different answer, an answer different from those who expressed their loyalty to the glory and devotion to the moment of the sun.

There would actually be a clergyman or a "priest" who would say that "piety" is not as important as hard work... This was really beyond Hubert's expectations.

And this is exactly the answer that Hubert really wants to hear.

Because asking whether one is "pious" or not is actually a false proposition.

The truly devout do not need to prove themselves, and this is the crux of the question raised by Hubert.

He finally understood why, while waiting, the priest of the Church of Sina City, the 'Knight Templar' Leonard Bambers, said that 'Rosius Carlos' was a special priest.

It's really special... Hubert thought to himself. He had received the assessment requirements from the archbishop in advance. Although "piety" was crucial, it was indeed the last thing and not as important as ability.

In fact, when Luo Xiu said this, Hubert had already carefully "examined" him from the inside out. The rich [Glorious] spirituality in Luo Xiu shocked Hubert secretly. He indeed did not feel any strange spiritual aura in Luo Xiu.

Just walking on the path of [Glory], this is enough to show the piety of the young priest opposite, and there is no need to embellish it with more words... Hubert thought.

When Luo Xiu expressed this to Huberty, Huberty had already agreed with him.

"Very good, Luo Xiu." Hubert nodded and said, "I recognize your piety."

"Thank you for your recognition." Luo Xiu also nodded, with a humble smile on his face, and continued to say to Hubert:
"And the second point you raised is that you are worried that I lack the corresponding experience to deal with possible hostile actions by the enemy..."

"At least you can rest assured about this."

As Luo Xiu spoke, he stretched out his left hand and gently rubbed the bracelet on his wrist. He then took out dozens of "tokens" from it. They were all tokens from the "Black Fang" who had once made a judgment.

During the three days of waiting, Luo Xiu collected more Black Tooth Relics from his "Holy Abyss Apostles", which increased the number of people holding the relic again.

"Before I was promoted to the fourth level, I had carried out the 'Judgment of Heretics' mission. I had executed at least thirty of these enemies who were the minions of the executioner of the Dark Principality."

"Please rest assured. Among my knowledge of the many pagan camps, my understanding of the Black Fangs is second only to that of the Blood of Thorns." Luo Xiu said with a smile.

"..."

When Hubert saw Luo Xiu present these tokens, the expression on his face froze again.

There were more than thirty black tooth tokens. Although they were of different shapes, Hubert could easily tell from the remaining spirituality on them that they were all real.

Judged more than thirty Black Fangs... Ross Carlos, when he was only at the triple destiny, he had already judged such an exaggerated number of Black Fangs?! Hubert thought about this, and a strong sense of astonishment and shock was growing in his mind.

You know, those "Black Fangs" are all executioners of the principality, elites specially trained by them. Any one of them has the strength almost as strong as a "Holy Inquisitor".

And when Luo Xiu was only at the third level of his destiny, he had already killed more than thirty Black Fangs... This was enough to show how outstanding he was at this level, and also enough to prove that he was experienced in dealing with that group of enemies.

However, Hubert suddenly noticed that Luo Xiu seemed to have mentioned another word before.

"Blood of Thorns", Luo Xiu mentioned "Blood of Thorns"... Hubert thought of the large-scale "Blood of Thorns" cleanup operation carried out by the General Church in the diocese before. He then looked at Leonard who was "watching the show" on the side, as if he wanted to get some confirmation from him.

"...Yes, Master Hubert."

When Priest Leonard noticed Hubert's gaze turning towards him, he nodded and said:
"I can prove that everything Luo Xiu said is true. The Blood of Thorns stronghold distribution map that Bishop Fabion submitted to the diocese was the spoils that Luo Xiu found in one of their large strongholds during his execution of the Judgment of Heretics."

"..."

"So that's how it is. I understand." Hubert nodded, no longer doubting the matter.

From the time when Luo Xiu demonstrated his merits in judging "Black Fang" to Leonard's confirmation, during this process, the "Net of Perception" emitted by Hubert did not capture the disorder in their spiritual existence, which shows that what Luo Xiu said was indeed true.

"Very good, Luo Xiu." Hubert nodded and said, "I recognize your experience."

In the face of such achievements displayed by Luo Xiu, let alone the three priests of the Sina City Church, even if all the church priests in the entire diocese were added together, there would not be many people whose achievements could be compared with Luo Xiu.

After passing this second test, Hubert asked Luo Xiu the last and most important question:
"So, Luo Xiu," Hubert asked:
"How can you prove that you are capable of serving as the 'High Priest'?"

"..."

When Hubert asked this question, a faint smile appeared on Luo Xiu's face.

Without thinking too much, Luo Xiu said to Hubert:

"It is very simple, Master Hubbard."

"..."

When Luo Xiu said this, he also raised his arms slightly and opened his palms upwards.

The next moment, Hubert suddenly felt a violent and surging spiritual surge coming from Luo Xiu's body!
Right beside Luo Xiu, the originally calm air suddenly began to swell, whistling and swirling in the room, with a low, fluttering sound.

At the same time, the surging spiritual power emanating from Luo Xiu quickly enveloped Hubert's figure completely and continued to squeeze his body inward.

"You... this is... your spirituality..."

Hubert murmured, the shock in his heart was completely aroused at this moment.

He finally understood what Luo Xiu had said before about the confidence that enabled him to complete those "Judgment" tasks.

Hubert truly felt the surge of spirituality emanating from Luo Xiu, which was extremely rich and surging, like a huge wave.

Even Hubert, who had reached the "fifth level of destiny" and the realm of "sainthood", intuitively felt a strong sense of oppression and a dangerous aura that was deadly from the spiritual surge emanating from Luo Xiu.

That spiritual foundation has surpassed that of most of the extraordinary people with the "Quadruple Destiny", even the original candidate for the "High Priest", the "Priest" Leonard of Sina City, is inferior to him.

"..."

Hubert fell silent and said no more unnecessary words. His expression gradually became solemn.

And when he saw the "High Deacon" Hubert having such a reaction, Luo Xiu restrained his spirituality and calmed down the originally strong surge.

"..."

"I understand... Luo Xiu."

Finally, when Luo Xiu restrained his spirit and looked at him calmly with a restrained and humble expression, Hubert nodded solemnly and said:

"…I recognize your ability."

"You, the clergyman of the Sina City Church, Luo Xiu Carlos, you have passed the test."

"You are qualified to go to Red Maple City and serve as the 'host of the grand ceremony.'"

……

(End of this chapter)