Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 230: Trial War ( words updated!)

January 768, 1 in the Tianqi calendar, the first day of the new year.

Nolan Empire, the imperial capital.

On this day when New Year celebrations should have been held, the empire's largest and most prosperous city seemed extremely lonely.

The doors of every household were locked tightly, and the crowds of people that usually filled the air like a sea were now huddled in their homes, avoiding going out.

In the townhouses on both sides of the road, children would occasionally look out from the second and third floor windows, looking at the troops passing in an orderly and hurried manner on the street.

Not long ago, under the influence of the "Black Knife Incident", "Rolling Stone City Sacrifice" and "Night of Wailing", the imperial society was shaken. From officials and nobles to ordinary people, everyone was in danger, fearing that they would be involved in such a disaster at the next moment.

The war came too suddenly, and everyone in the empire was a little confused. This has seriously affected the empire's economy and governance, and as this sense of unease intensified, the imperial court was forced to make a forced decision.

The day before, the ruler of the Imperial Court, the "Supreme Emperor" Augustuswell Nolan the Great, issued two emergency decrees to the whole country: all major cities in the Nolan Empire were placed under the highest level of martial law for three days, and the main streets of the cities were kept completely clear, with the movement of supplies and troops as the top priority; the empire would subsidize the losses of all citizens due to the three-day suspension of business, and give additional rewards to those who supported preparations for war.

Although the people who were forced to stay at home had complaints, no one dared to openly violate them due to the "highest level of martial law" and the threat of teams of imperial guards patrolling the streets.

In addition, the officials of the imperial court did give the people full compensation for their losses in accordance with the law, so no one took risks again and chose to obey the will of the empire, and society became somewhat more stable as a result.

But this stability is only temporary, and the Imperial Court is well aware of this.

When the war broke out, they urgently needed a great victory to dispel social concerns and get the country back on track.

……

Nolan Imperial Court, inside the Supreme Palace.

Inside this towering, magnificent and golden palace, the residence of Emperor Augustuswell Nolan, all the "supreme powers" of the empire gathered together as never before.

The "Holy Court" that controls the authority of "faith" in the empire, and its ruler - the "Holy Crown" Pope Lorenz Meyerling, sits on the first throne belonging to "Glory" on the left.

Behind the Holy Crown Pope, "Saint" Freya, "Captain of the Dragon Blood Knight" Demosthenes and a group of "Sun Knights" who protected the saint stood by without saying a word.

The "Tower of Sages" that controls the "knowledge" of the empire, its ruler - "First Great Sage" Thorin Horn and ten sages and great sages of the "Tower of Sages" were also nodding their heads and sitting quietly in their seats, waiting for the "Supreme Emperor" Augustuswell Nolan on the throne to speak.

On the imperial throne.

Augustuswell Nolan, the "Supreme Emperor" wearing a red gold crown and solemn and gorgeous imperial robes, has a daunting and solemn face. His eyes with a slightly red pupil slowly scan the people sitting below from left to right.

"Three days ago, the border messenger sent me the news."

The emperor slowly spoke: "The army of the Dark Principality has entered the border and occupied seven major cities and thirteen acropolises on the border."

Although he was talking about urgent military information, the emperor's voice seemed calm and composed.

"The rebels in Kuma Territory have also joined forces with the Duchy's army and completely taken control of all the major cities in Kuma Territory."

"Right now, the situation at the border is already quite dangerous."

"Kuma Territory has been completely conquered, and Songyuan Territory and Norse Territory have also lost several fortress towns. And this is only the enemy's first round of attack. Their real troops are still on their way to the border."

"Just the day before, after the Dark Principality launched a surprise attack on us, the Dark Grand Duke officially declared war on us."

"——'War of Revenge', that is the name of the war declared by the Dark Duke. I can already foresee that the border of the empire will shrink by hundreds of kilometers."

"And I called you all here because I want to hear your opinions and voices."

"..."

After saying this, Emperor Augustwell stopped talking. His gaze, as deep as the fire in a cave, fell equally on the faces of "First Great Sage" Thorin and "Holy Crown" Pope Lorendo.

The three most powerful men in the empire remained surprisingly silent at this moment. After a long while, Pope Lorentz's old voice broke the silence and said:

"The Holy See has already made all preparations for war."

"The cardinals have prepared the ritual to activate the 'Divine Radiance Barrier', and the sacrifices to summon the 'Ten-Winged Archangel' have also been prepared... but these are only the last resort."

"At present, all the border fortresses that have set up 'wartime churches' in advance have been defended. This is our current response."

"Very good." Emperor Augustwell nodded, and then turned his gaze to the "First Great Sage" Thorin, and asked in a steady voice:
"What about you, Lord Thorin?"

"In order to deal with the war, I will give you the maximum support for the 'Tower of Sages'. I hope to get a good result."

Upon hearing this, "The Great Sage Chief" Thorin still half-closed his eyes and responded in a calm voice:

"The 'Mysterious Rune Resonance Matrix' has been initially built. Although it cannot reach the energy efficiency of the Golden Country's 'Golden Window' for the time being, it should be sufficient for communication on the battlefield front."

"I'm going to name it 'Eye of the Empire.'"

"The cores of the three 'floating cities' have also been loaded, but they still need to be tested for stability."

"However, if the war situation is extremely severe, they can immediately take off and be deployed on the battlefield."

"Very good." Emperor Augustwell nodded again, satisfied with the answers from the two rulers of the "Holy Court" and the "Tower of Sages".

"Since the Principality claims in the name of 'revenge', we will give them a fair trial."

"Well, since His Holiness the Pope's 'Holy Court' and Lord Thorin's 'Tower of Sages' are ready."

Emperor Augustwell slowly stood up and drew his sword from the wide red scabbard at his waist. He pointed the blade in the direction of the Dark Principality and said slowly:
"Auguswell swears here - I will formally declare war on the Kingdom of Sin in the name of 'Auguswell II'. Their flesh and blood will sharpen the blades of my warriors, and the land they have long occupied will be included in the territory of my empire."

"This is a war to 'protect the country', and even more so a war of 'judgment'. My Supreme Divine Seal Knights have already set out for the border, and I look forward to them bringing back news of their victory."

"May the expedition return victorious."

"Long live the empire."

……

On January 768, 1 of the Apocalypse Calendar, the Emperor Augustwell of the Nolan Empire officially declared war on the Dark Principality, under the name of "Judgment".

At the same time that Emperor Augustwell officially declared war on the Dark Principality, the Empire's troops also flowed from the interior to the border. The "War of Judgment" officially broke out, and the Empire truly entered a state of war.

……

The border of the empire, Songyuan Territory.

Outside the Red Maple City Fortress, thousands of Black Cavalry from the Dark Principality were pouring towards the city wall like a tide.

The rows of triple-bow crossbows on the battlements fired in turn, and the enchanted arrows formed a dense gray curtain in the air like rain, covering the dark cavalry formation below the city.

The sound of wind tearing through the air resounded, and arrows shot through the heavy armor of dozens of black cavalrymen in an instant. The black cavalrymen who were hit by arrows fell off their horses, while the other cavalrymen rode their horses, trampling on the bodies of their companions and continued to charge towards the city wall.

By this time, the small plain in front of the city wall was filled with corpses.

A melee broke out at dawn between the defending army and the first wave of the Dark Principality's vanguard. Countless casualties were suffered on both sides, and blood had accumulated in front of the city. Looking down from the city wall, it was like the broken blood vessels of the earth.

Originally, relying on the defensive fortifications in front of the city wall and the excellent equipment of the imperial soldiers, the defenders of Red Maple City should have had an advantage in fighting the enemy's vanguard. However, just when the defenders were about to annihilate the enemy's vanguard, the enemy's black cavalry launched a surprise attack and completely dispersed the defenders' formation.

Although there was heavy firepower cover on the city walls, it still couldn't stop the Black Cavalry's scimitars and cavalry from quickly reaping the lives of the scattered imperial soldiers.

At the same time, the Principality's battering rams, auger carts and other siege weapons were also advancing steadily, forcing the defenders of Red Maple City to go out of the city to fight. Otherwise, when the siege weapons reached the city wall, the solid wall would be broken in an instant.

Behind the armies of both sides, the assembled catapults were throwing streams of fire at each other's army.

Violent explosions occurred time and again on the walls of Red Maple City and in the camp of the Principality's army, burning the surrounding area of ​​dozens of meters into a sea of ​​fire and reaping all the fragile lives within the range.

On the wall of Red Maple City, Lord Nelson was watching the battle from a lookout tower engraved with concealment runes and protection runes.

Although they had the advantage in terrain and numbers, the enemy was so numerous that they could not be killed. A war of attrition would be a dead end... Lord Nelson, who was supervising the battle, looked anxious. He watched the number of defenders decrease at a terrifying rate, and was quickly thinking of ways to deal with the enemy.

The battlefield at this time was still a war between ordinary people. Except for the soldiers' weapons and equipment which had been modified by the [Intellectual] Transcendents of Fangbei Academy, there were no real Transcendents of the third level or above who intervened in the battlefield.

The current Red Maple City, if the newly recruited militia is included, has nearly 100,000 ordinary defenders. However, there are only about 300 extraordinary people who can participate in the war.

Among them, there are only about forty people with the true high-end combat power of "triple destiny", and the top combat power of "quadruple destiny" is even more rare.

From a war perspective, ordinary soldiers can be easily recruited in a short period of time, but "superhumans" are scarce and non-renewable combat forces and should not be used easily.

If there were a large-scale sacrifice of extraordinary people, it would cause an irreversible blow to the defense situation of Red Maple City.

From this point of view, the basic principle for deploying "superhumans" is "decapitation", killing the enemy's superhumans or killing the enemy commander, and destroying the enemy's attack from the root.

This was an iron rule of war that City Lord Nelson was familiar with. However, even if he wanted to send out extraordinary people to rescue, he didn't even see the shadow of the enemy's extraordinary people.

Not only are the extraordinary people in Red Maple City trying to keep their cards as secret as possible, the extraordinary people in the Vanguard of the Dark Principality are also hiding and testing each other's strength.

The other party might have prepared a trap, waiting for our extraordinary people to jump into it. But now the situation is urgent, it is no longer the time to test... Lord Nelson thought.

He then quickly walked down the watchtower, found the Royal Guard Knights patrolling inside and said, "Please contact Lord Baines or Lord Frosa and tell them that the military situation on the front line is urgent and that we hope the Border Court will dispatch the Royal Guard Knights..."

"Meet you by chance, Mr. Nelson."

When Lord Nelson was speaking to the Royal Guard Knights, a young voice came from behind him and interrupted him.

Nelson turned around, and when he saw who was coming, his eyes suddenly flashed with excitement, as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.

"Why are you here? Lord Luo Xiu, the 'High Priest'!" Nelson shouted excitedly, "You have come just in time. I beg for your help!"

The person who called Nelson was the "high priest" of the Red Maple City wartime church, Ross Carlos. Behind him were the two chief lieutenants of the church's Holy Inquisition, "Priest of Purification" Anthony and "Priest of Judgment" Pamier, both of whom looked eager to try.

After learning that the vanguard of the Dark Principality had once again launched an attack on Red Maple City, Luo Xiu rushed from the church to the city wall to meet with City Lord Nelson.

"This is exactly why I came here." Luo Xiu responded with a smile.

He looked towards the battlefield below the city and asked Lord Nelson, "What is the current situation?"

"We can't stop the enemy's Black Knights."

Lord Nelson had a distressed look on his face. "Their scimitars are sharp, their heavy armor is strong, and even their horses are incredibly fast. Our soldiers were scattered as soon as they left the city, and we had no time to get close to their siege weapons."

"And the enemy's extraordinary people haven't taken action yet. I always have a bad feeling."

"I understand." Luo Xiu nodded.

He then stopped talking to Nelson and quickly climbed to the top of the city wall with Anthony and Pamier to personally observe the situation on the battlefield.

Through panel detection, Luo Xiu soon realized that the black cavalry galloping on the battlefield were actually orc troops wearing heavy armor.

The "iron cavalry" they rode was also a magical beast, a "magic pattern black horse", a carnivorous magical horse, with a threat level of "dangerous". They were much more difficult to tame than ordinary war horses, and were nearly twice as fast.

The enemy's extraordinary person has not shown up, but he has already taken action... Luo Xiu thought.

As the "Magic Pattern Dark Horse" of the monster, only the "Beast Tamer" profession with the [Red Lotus] destiny can completely tame it. And behind such a large number of Black Cavalry, there must be at least "Beast Tamers" with four destinies supporting them.

Maybe it was a transcendent from the Beast Temple? Luo Xiu guessed in his mind. He also whispered a prayer, and a deep scarlet dragon lightning gradually condensed in his palm.

When the scarlet dragon thunder was completely condensed and formed, Luo Xiu immediately threw the dragon thunder in his hand into the air.

Suddenly, dark red thunderclouds floated in the sky above the battlefield. A low roar rolled in the clouds, and terrifying power was rapidly building up.

The next moment, countless scarlet thunders struck down from the sky, accurately hitting the bodies of dozens of Black Cavalry soldiers!
—Boom! Boom boom boom boom! The battlefield was suddenly covered with scarlet mists. The lightning and fire from the sky instantly pierced through the cavalry and their magic horses. The men and horses immediately fell sideways into the trenches on the battlefield and were soaked in the overflowing blood.

Dozens of Black Cavalry soldiers were killed instantly, and the rest quickly dispersed and retreated to their own camps.

Luo Xiu continued to pray, and the red thunder in his hand gradually dissipated, replaced by a pale glow that quickly condensed.

The glow contained a wild power, and the next moment it flew out of his hand and flew towards the center of the battlefield.

When the ball of light of "Crazy Glow" touched the ground, the condensed light ball quickly turned into smoke and dissipated. Strands of white light like silk danced and circled in the air, and quickly covered the heads of the Black Cavalry Army shrouded in it.

The black cavalrymen who were originally retreating to their own army formation suddenly changed sides after the "glow" entered their bodies. They rode on the magic horses under their crotch, wielding scimitars and slashing at other black cavalrymen.

Soon, dozens of Black Cavalry were chopped to the ground by their companions' scimitars. The enemies on the battlefield were suddenly in chaos, and it was impossible to tell who was the enemy and who was the friendly army.

"This is the power of 'confession'... It's so sacred..." City Lord Nelson, who was watching the battle on the side, exclaimed in amazement.

This was the third time that Luo Xiu had displayed the "Frenzy Glow" in public. He explained to City Lord Nelson that it was "the power that can make the enemy repent from the bottom of their hearts and submit to the [Glow]". Although City Lord Nelson always felt something was wrong at first, under the influence of the pure white light effect and the sacred aura, Nelson now completely believed what Luo Xiu said.

After all, with the special effects of the "Shadow of Holy Light" and Luo Xiu's almost overflowing spiritual power, even Anthony and Pamier, who were also priests of the "Glory" destiny, could not see any clues. They also unanimously agreed with Luo Xiu's explanation, and no one doubted anything.

——That was the sacred, sacred “holy art” that couldn’t be more sacred, City Lord Nelson firmly believed in it. And every time he saw the enemies on the battlefield turn against him after Luo Xiu used the “Repentance Glow”, Nelson couldn’t help but feel secretly happy.

He prefers to call it "efficient".

After Luo Xiu released the "Glow of Madness", the situation on the battlefield suddenly reversed.

The number of troops, which was decreasing rapidly, became the vanguard of the Dark Principality. The defenders of Red Maple City, which were scattered all over the battlefield, also took this opportunity to regroup and launch an attack on the enemy's siege weapons.

At the same time, Lord Nelson opened the city gates and sent out 5,000 elite soldiers to support. The siege weapons of the weakly defended Principality Vanguard were instantly dismantled, and they lost their last hope of breaking through the city wall.

Soon, all the soldiers who went out of the city to fight gathered their forces and launched a counterattack against the enemy.

The Black Cavalry, which was still fighting among themselves, was seriously slowed down by their friendly forces affected by the "Frenzy Glow". They were soon caught up and surrounded by the Red Maple City army, and then drowned in the sword lights and shadows, turning into cold corpses.

Seeing the victory in the battle below the city and the enemy camp seeming to retreat, Luo Xiu walked down the city wall and said to Lord Nelson:

"The enemy has been defeated, Lord Nelson. We have won another victory."

"Yes, yes." City Lord Nelson smiled and nodded repeatedly, "This all depends on your assistance. Without your strength, we would never be able to easily resolve the enemy's offensive."

"No, no need to thank me." Luo Xiu shook his head.

"Sir Nelson, what you should do now is to send more troops to support the pursuing soldiers. Don't forget that the enemy's extraordinary people have not appeared yet."

"Once you have truly defeated the enemy in front of you, you will also need to clean up the battlefield as quickly as possible, recover useful supplies from our army and the enemy, and clean up the battlefield environment. This is the plan for a protracted war."

"Yes." City Lord Nelson nodded and said respectfully, "Just as you order." After receiving the affirmative answer, Luo Xiu said no more and just nodded in response.

Afterwards, he took Antoine and Pamier back to the city from the top of the wall and returned to the church along the main road.

……

This is the fourth day when the trumpets of the "War of Revenge" and the "War of Judgment" have truly been sounded.

During these four days, since the Dark Principality's vanguard army appeared at the edge of sight, they have launched three attacks on Red Maple City.

Luo Xiu had come without asking for permission and assisted Lord Nelson in defending the city three times. As a subordinate of the Supreme in the Border Court, Nelson could not directly ask the clergy of the church for help, so he was very grateful to Luo Xiu for taking the initiative to help him defend the city.

But what he didn't know was.

The Red Maple City Church, "Chief Priest" Luo Xiu climbed up the city walls one after another. His original intention of using holy arts to annihilate the enemy was actually very simple -

——In order to complete the "main mission"!
"War of Judgment" begins, and the corresponding main quest of version 1.0 is officially unlocked, and is now lying quietly in Luo Xiu's panel.

Red Maple City Church, Glorious Church, the residence of the high priest.

In the bedroom where the "High Priest" lived, Luo Xiu was lying on the bed, looking up and browsing the contents on the panel in front of him.

[Main Quest: Judgment War (?? Difficulty)]

[Recommended level: lv.1~lv.100, first level of destiny and above]

[Task Type: Main Mission]

[Mission Description: At the end of the 767th year of the Apocalypse, the cavalry of the "Dark Principality" broke through the border of the Nolan Empire, and the Dark Duke officially declared war on the Nolan Empire.

You were born in the continent of Fanor in troubled times, and the Ring of Apocalypse gave you the power to choose your camp.

Should he join the "Nolan Empire" and cooperate with the Supreme to launch a just trial against the thieves of the "Dark Principality"? Or should he join the "Dark Principality" to overthrow the empire's dominance and achieve revenge?

Or you can become a witness of this war and join the "Holy Tower Kingdom", "Golden Country Federation" or "Kashyapa Pure Land"... Of course, you can also become a lone wanderer.

All the paths are open to you, and you only have to take one.

Now, make your choice and wait to witness the results of your choice. 】

[Main quest guide: Choose your camp (completed. Current camp: Nolan Empire)]

[Automatically generate mission objectives based on the current camp. The current camp is "Nolan Empire"]

[Phase 1 Mission Objective: Assist the "Nolan Empire" army to resist the invasion of the "Dark Principality"]

[Second stage mission objective: Assist the "Nolan Empire" army to capture the "Dark Principality" territory]

[Third stage mission objective: Assist the "Nolan Empire" army to destroy the "Dark Principality"]

[Main Mission Notes: Killing enemy units and successfully assisting your own team in completing specific goals will earn you mission points (the final mission completion reward will be calculated based on the completion of the stage mission goals and the number of points earned)]

[Current mission points: 3873]

【完成奖励一览：基础经验+120000+、专属命途随机技艺*1~3、专属命途随机技能*1~3、专属命途随机专长*1~3、技艺槽位*3~10、技能槽位*3~10……视任务目标的完成度结算……】

【…】

Looking at the contents on the panel in front of him, a sense of familiarity suddenly came over him, causing Luo Xiu to fall into deep thought.

Four days ago, with the start of the "War of Judgment", Luo Xiu's corresponding "main mission" was also unlocked.

He climbed up to the top of the city wall again and again to help kill the enemy, and one of his main purposes was to gain points on the task panel.

The hundreds of Black Cavalry soldiers killed earlier helped Luo Xiu's mission score increase by more than 600 points. Recalling his past life when he worked day and night to get as many points as possible, Luo Xiu felt a little pain in his liver for no reason.

Nearly half a year has passed since Luo Xiu traveled to this "Apocalypse World". Now the "Judgment War" has truly arrived, which means that Luo Xiu has finally entered a familiar territory.

The main storyline has been opened, which means that the roulette wheel of the "Apocalypse World" has really started to turn. And there is only less than a month left before the real "player" arrives.

These are the best of times, these are the worst of times... Luo Xiu recalled this famous saying from "A Tale of Two Cities" in his previous life, and suddenly felt a sense of empathy and gradually understood what Dickens had wanted to express.

However, now, as the "high priest" of the church, he had no time to indulge in contemplation for too long, as he had more urgent things to do.

Just half a month ago, the "Berserk Swordsman" Bagli reported some not-so-good news to Luo Xiu through the spiritual conduction of "Mist Shadow".

"Executioner" Kolos has moved his position from Songyuan City and is moving towards the border of Hongfeng City.

A considerable part of the army of the Dark Principality attacking Songyuan Territory is heading towards Red Maple City. This strategic high ground at the junction of the three countries is a must-fight location for both sides in the war.

Although the situation was tense, the empire's reinforcements were on their way, so with Red Maple City's own defensive strength, it was enough to hold out for a while.

The only problem now is that the "Executioner" Koros is approaching the location of Red Maple City! At a time when there is not even one "Fivefold Fate" saint in the side courts, churches, and square monument courtyards of Red Maple City, the "Executioner" Koros is the most dangerous enemy.

He also has several "Fang Chiefs" with "Quadruple Fate" under his command... It can be said that without the support of the empire, Red Maple City can be completely destroyed by just an "Executioner" and his Black Fang subordinates.

This was not the result Luo Xiu wanted to see. He also knew that the "Fivefold Fate" saints of the empire could not leave at this critical moment. The only hope was that the "Fourfold Fate" extraordinary people of Red Maple City would complete their promotion and ascend to sainthood during the war.

But apart from himself, Luo Xiu did not think that any other extraordinary people with the "fourth destiny" in Hongfeng City had the potential to be promoted to the fifth destiny in a short period of time... And even for Luo Xiu himself, it took him more than two months to accumulate more than 1.2 million experience points from killing enemies, emptying the "Spiritual Fountain", completing tasks, etc., and this was only enough for him to raise the level of "Holy Light Judge" to the maximum level.

But no matter what, he finally reached the threshold that could trigger the promotion task.

At this stage, Luo Xiu's demand for experience points for the "over-level kill" reward has been reduced a lot. So he simply invested all his experience points in upgrading, raising the level of "Holy Light Judge" from lv.30 to lv.40, and after obtaining 30 free attribute points, he first triggered his promotion task to "Fifth Fate".

Luo Xiu was lying on the bed. He saw a flash of light and shadow in front of his eyes, and the panel showed the new task content.

[The current destiny level limit has been reached... the promotion conditions have been met...]

[Promotion mission is being generated...]

[Trigger promotion mission: Path of the Saint (nightmare difficulty)]

[Recommended level: lv.40+, quadruple destiny and above]

[Task type: Promotion task]

[Mission Description: You are a divine blesser and a divine judge. Now, you have once again come to the critical node of spiritual sublimation.]

[Complete a fifth-level 'Altar Ceremony' and obtain enough 'Moment' of divinity from the ceremony; and obtain an increase in all 'Glorious Judgment' attribute values, to prove that you are qualified to take the next step.]

[Mission Objective 0: Complete a fifth-level 'Altar Ceremony' and obtain enough 'Moment' of divinity from the ceremony (180/)]

[Mission Objective 462: Obtain all 'Glorious Judgment' attribute value increases (current attribute value increase: 500/)]

[Task Objective 1200: Total attribute value exceeds 1146 points (1200/)]

[Rewards for completing all mission objectives: Audience with the Obsidian Gate, Basic Experience +120000, Skill Slots +10, Skill Slots +10, Free Attribute Points +50]

【…】

After reading the content of "Promotion Mission" on the panel, Luo Xiu frowned slightly.

The difficulty of the various mission objectives of the "promotion mission" he triggered was moderate for Luo Xiu at present.

But the only disappointing thing was that he hadn’t completed any of the three mission objectives… But he was very close to completing several mission objectives, Luo Xiu thought.

His current combat power is enough to crush all enemies of the "Quadruple Fate", but from the several goals of the "Promotion Mission", it can be seen that there is still a big gap between him and the real "Saint".

Moreover, Luo Xiu did not have the corresponding key for the spiritual sea that he would go to during the "Fivefold Destiny" and the "Obsidian Gate" in the sea.

He then planned his subsequent schedule, then sat up from the bed, walked out of the bedroom, left the "High Priest's Residence", went to his workstation in the "Bishops' Room" in the Holy Office, sat down at a table on the inside, and began to write an application letter for the "Obsidian Key".

The tip of the lightweight fountain pen slid rapidly across the surface of the high-end letter paper, and the dark black ink poured out from the ink sac, like a river embedded in the earth, flowing out lines of elegant words on the letter paper.

The application letter was quickly completed. Luo Xiu grabbed the dark gold envelope, put the letter in it, sealed it with wax, and then went to the church's "missionary station" with the application letter.

In the mission station, the chief officer appointed by Luo Xiu himself, the "Paladin" Maiyev, hurriedly put down his work and came to receive him.

"How can I help you?" Mayyev asked respectfully.

Luo Xiu handed the letter to Maiev and said to him, "Send this letter to the Church in Sina City. I need Bishop Fabion to receive it in person."

"I understand." Mayev nodded.

"I'll arrange it as soon as possible."

"Remember it is the highest level of confidentiality," Luo Xiu reminded, "it has my holy seal on it. No one except Bishop Fabion himself is allowed to open it and read it."

"I understand." Mayev nodded.

"I'll arrange it as soon as possible."

"By the way, Mayyev." After handing over the application letter, Luo Xiu said to Mayyev:

"Get ready, Mayyev. Prepare to summon all the clergy of the church who have reached the 'triple destiny' and above, as well as all the ordained priests of the 'double destiny'. I will preside over a new 'altar ceremony' in the near future."

After two and a half months of development, the current scale of Red Maple City Church has reached the upper level of a "medium-sized church".

The three major sanctuaries now have three "triple destiny" clergymen, one of whom serves as the chief officer and the other two as assistant officers. In addition, the total number of clergymen in the church has expanded to 150, of which the number of extraordinary people with "double destiny" and above has exceeded 100. In addition, the apprentice clergymen with one destiny are also good seedlings selected by Luo Xiu and have the potential to be promoted to extraordinary.

The current development trend of the church is thriving. As for the fifth-level "altar ceremony" that Luo Xiu is about to perform, he roughly estimates that the level of the church's clergy should be enough to meet the requirements of the ceremony.

"I understand." Mayyev nodded three times, and then re-explained the essence of human beings:
"I'll arrange it as soon as possible."

"..."

……

After explaining the relevant matters at the church missionary center, Luo Xiu left the church and went to the main street of Red Maple City and arrived at the entrance of the new "Authentic Dwarf Blacksmith Shop" forging manor.

In two and a half months, the dwarf Mil has taken root in Red Maple City.

He had completely renovated and transformed the manor according to his ideas. The current manor was built specifically for him to forge better. He also recruited several high-level forgers and rune masters to help him. With his relationship with the Luo Xiu Church, he expanded and accumulated a lot of high-quality customers.

Luo Xiu also gave him all the orders for custom equipment from the church, which increased the income of Mir's blacksmith shop several times compared to when he was in Sina City. In addition, Luo Xiu did not require Mir to pay the rent of the manor, which made Mir's life more comfortable than ever before.

He finally didn't have to count his fingers and eat dirt anymore... Mir was very grateful for this. But the premise for achieving this unprecedented huge profit was that Mir became busier than ever.

He now had to get up at dawn to forge and draw runes, and would not close the forge until late at night, then reluctantly return to his room to rest.

Seeing how Mir was working so hard these days, Luo Xiu was really afraid that Mir would make enough money and run away one day, but he was even more afraid that Mir would suddenly die in his manor.

Luo Xiu was thinking about these things in his heart while complaining. At the same time, he walked to the gate of the courtyard and rang the vertical bell hanging in front of the door.

The clear sound of the bell floated into the air as the vertical bell swayed. When Mil, who was swinging a hammer violently in the forge room of the manor, heard the bell, he walked out in a dusty look.

Looking at Mil's sloppy appearance as if he had just finished dusting, Luo Xiu waved at him with a suppressed smile.

"It's you, Luo Xiu."

Mir trotted all the way to the door of the manor and unlocked it for Luo Xiu. At the same time, he said in a muffled voice, "I have found what you asked me to find."

Before, Luo Xiu had commissioned Mil to find a specific epic material for him to use in summoning the "holy beast".

"Did you find it? The brilliant horn of the 'Pure White Pegasus' or the 'Golden Pegasus'?" Luo Xiu said with some joy.

"Yes." Mir nodded, "It's from the 'Golden Pegasus'. Although its material is rarer than that of the 'Pure White Pegasus', I found its brilliant horn first."

"Thank you, Mir, my friend." Luo Xiu patted Mir's shoulder and said, "According to the commission we agreed on before, I will pay you 100 platinum coins. So, where is the thing?"

"In the storage room, on the third shelf of high-end goods, in the middle of the dragon-powder bracelet. There is a rune lock on it, and the password is 'gravel-gold-gravel' in Dwarven language."

"Go by yourself. I don't think you will get lost. I have thirteen orders to deliver urgently, so I won't accompany you."

"I understand." Luo Xiu nodded. He stopped disturbing Mir's forging work, and Mir trotted back to his forging room. Soon, a burst of fine iron-forging sounds came out of his forging room.

After that, Luo Xiu went straight to the storage room of the manor.

The door of the storage room was guarded by a blacksmith apprentice. He recognized Luo Xiu as a distinguished and regular customer, so he opened the door for him enthusiastically without asking any questions.

Luo Xiu walked in and looked around, examining the forged products on the shelves.

Almost every time he came to the manor, Mir would have some new products. And as Mir was promoted to the fourth-level destiny "Rune Magic Forger", the quality of his forged equipment also made a qualitative leap compared to before.

Now, the equipment of quality below "rare" forged by Mir himself in his blacksmith shop has almost disappeared, and the remaining equipment is the finished product forged by other blacksmiths or apprentices. Nowadays, the equipment forged by Mir himself is mostly of "master" quality, and even "epic" quality equipment is not uncommon.

After Luo Xiu selected a few pieces of equipment that he would pack up and take away, he walked to the high-end shelf that Mil mentioned and found the "Dragonfleshite Bracelet" that Mil mentioned.

He took the bracelet off the shelf, found the ring surface engraved with runes, and infused it with peaceful spirituality. The rune patterns on it began to ripple, slowly "float away" upwards, and gradually enlarged in Luo Xiu's field of vision.

That's the "rune lock" that Mil mentioned... Luo Xiu thought. He was about to input the password Mil told him, but suddenly found that he didn't know the dwarven language.

He then took the dragon-faced stone bracelet directly out of the storage room and ran to Mir's forging room, asking Mir to draw the dwarven code while breathing bad breath to unlock the rune lock.

Afterwards, Luo Xiu successfully took out an exquisite rectangular jade box from the dragon's pewter bracelet.

When the lid of the box was opened, dazzling golden light emanated from the box. Through the light, Luo Xiu saw the real treasure hidden inside -

A sharp horn that is as transparent as chalcedony and emits dazzling golden light.

——Epic quality material, the brilliant horn of the Golden Pegasus.

……

(End of this chapter)