Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 252 The End of the Banquet and "Fangbeiyuan"

A "Madness-level" puppet? Erfan said he wanted to give it to me as a gift?
Luo Xiu was stunned, and a little surprise emerged in his heart - he knew what benefits this level of puppet would bring to him.

If used properly, it will be able to unleash combat power comparable to the "fourth level of destiny". Even if Luo Xiu is about to be promoted to the "fifth level of destiny", the more combat power he has, the better.

It is impossible for him to stay in the church all the time. Having a "Mad Evil" level puppet guarding the house will make Luo Xiu feel more at ease.

What Luo Xiu values ​​even more is the unique "functionality" that most puppets of the "Madness" and other levels possess.

Just like the former "universalist" Rocklan, the puppet "battery ram" he holds specializes in the art of blasting. Luo Xiu can make up for some of the church's defensive shortcomings with the puppet that Elvan is about to give him.

Thinking of this, Luo Xiu immediately said to Alvan:
"Thank you for your gift, Lord Irfan. I will accept it with gratitude."

"However, it would be a loss of our sincerity to let other clergy go to Fangbeiyuan. I will visit Fangbeiyuan in person. This is the proper etiquette of the church."

——Luo Xiu was always worried about letting other clergymen receive the "Madness" level puppets. However, if he went to visit Fangbeiyuan himself, he would still have room for choice.

Alvan didn't seem to realize the meaning behind Luo Xiu's words. When he heard Luo Xiu say this, he just thought that Luo Xiu was being humble.

"Haha, Mr. Luo Xiu. If you are willing to come, Fangbeiyuan welcomes you at any time."

Irfan said, and then he ended the topic and said:
"Let's talk about the 'Hidden Elder' Baberon first. We may be able to provide some useful information about his appearance."

"The former 'Sage Attendant' Baberon Dias, his profession is a 'Senior Great Alchemist' with the fifth level of [Intelligence]. In addition to the 'Alchemy' profession, he also practiced the 'Rune' profession to the fourth level. His creations have obvious alchemy and rune duality."

"According to the information we have known before, Baberon has completed more than ten "Madness"-level creations, and three "Natural Disaster"-level puppets."

"You should know what I mean - the puppets that have reached the level of 'natural disaster', each of them has the combat power equivalent to the extreme of 'fourth level of destiny', or even the combat power of a saint who has reached the 'fifth level of destiny'."

After a pause, Alvan observed that the people around him reacted normally, and then continued:

"But Baberon can only control two 'Natural Disaster'-level puppets at most at a time. This can serve as his breakthrough point."

A saint with three "natural disaster" puppets?... Luo Xiu pondered. He had already vaguely realized that Baberon would be a tough opponent.

However, this information is still "outdated". Now Baberon still possesses the forbidden knowledge in the incomplete "Side's Notes". As an elder of the "Hidden Omniscient" who has always advocated "no taboos", there is no reason for him not to use the forbidden knowledge on his own creations.

While Alvan was briefly introducing the characteristics of the "magic puppet" possessed by Baberon to the people around him, Luo Xiu had silently raised the threat level of Baberon to a higher level in his heart.

After about two minutes, Alvan roughly introduced all the puppet creations of Baberon that he knew about, and then he let out a long sigh and said:
"...In short, the 'Hidden Elder' Baberon is a very difficult enemy to deal with. If he really comes, we should be fully alert and cautious."

"That's natural." Baines nodded.

"Okay, we have almost shared everything we should discuss."

Baines concluded the conversation and said, "But the feast is not over yet, everyone. Let's end this small gathering here. We can't keep the guests waiting too long."

"...Is it over? Then I'll go back to Fangbei Courtyard." "Great Rune Master" Eureka yawned, then stood up and said, "Like I said before, I'm busy."

"Please go ahead, Lord Eureka." Baines said with a smile, "This is a banquet to celebrate victory, and the heroes who created this victory deserve to have the freedom of time."

……

After that, Eureka left the "Grand Hall" and left the border under the guidance of the Royal Guard Knights. Frosa returned to his military quarters to continue recuperating, while Irfan stayed as a representative of the "Fangbei Courtyard" and participated in the subsequent banquet with Luo Xiu and Baines.

When the three most respected people in Red Maple City appeared on the stage in the main hall at the same time, the guests stopped what they were doing or communicating with each other and looked at Baines, Alvan and Luo Xiu.

Then, the entire auditorium erupted into thunderous applause.

After Baines raised his hands and signaled silence, the applause gradually stopped and the auditorium was suddenly filled with a serious atmosphere.

Afterwards, Baines gave a brief speech to the guests, outlining the victory of the previous decisive battle, commending the achievements of the invited officials and nobles, and once again emphasized his gratitude to the church and Fangbeiyuan for their great contributions to the triumphant decisive battle.

Baines, Luo Xiu and Irfan all gave official speeches in turn. Even though the atmosphere was serious, the officials and nobles present all watched and listened carefully, as if they were afraid of missing any of the words.

When Irfan finished his speech, Baines walked to the front of the stage and said loudly:
"This is a party for victory. Victory belongs to us, and it belongs to you as well."

"Now - laugh! drink! dance! You deserve a good night."

After saying that, Baines walked down the stage, walked into the crowd, and walked up to another beautiful lady.

She was a plump lady. From the dark and gorgeous dress she was wearing and some detailed decorations, Luo Xiu could tell that she was the wife of a noble or official.

Luo Xiu, who had been standing quietly by the side, saw the old judge elegantly pick up the beautiful lady's soft little hand and invite her to dance with his old but profound voice. The lady, who was not sure which noble or official's wife, readily agreed, and her waist then danced like a butterfly under Baines' light grip.

The other beautiful ladies around cast envious glances at the "lucky" lady. Only a fat nobleman with a rosy face in the corner had a slightly complicated expression on his face from time to time.

Luo Xiu was happy to watch the show from the sidelines. He also occasionally received some guests who came to make friends and chat until the end of the banquet.

……

late at night.

The banquet in the side court finally came to an end in the night, the guests left one after another, and the lights in the auditorium gradually went out.

The afterglow of the lights shone on the walls of the auditorium, reflecting a faint luster. The air was filled with the mixed aroma of incense and wine, and there seemed to be echoes of light music and laughter.

The servants were walking between the columns, collecting glassware and silverware. Their steps were light and their movements were neat, as if they were trying to avoid disturbing the gradually quiet atmosphere in the Great Hall.

Luo Xiu also brought the clergy, and after saying goodbye to Baines, they walked out of the auditorium and left the side court, and took the carriage that had been prepared by the side court back to the church.

By the time they returned to the church, it was already early in the morning. Luo Xiu went straight back to the high priest's residence, and the other deacons also went back to their respective homes, grabbing the last bit of sleep. ...

The night ends and the morning light rises.

The next morning, when the sunlight completely penetrated the curtains and illuminated the bedroom, Luo Xiu woke up from his sleep.

He drank a lot of wine at the banquet the day before. Even a superhuman could hardly resist the intoxicating liquid. Luo Xiu now completely understood this sentence.

However, it was precisely because of them that Luo Xiu's tense nerves of the past few days were relieved a lot, and he now felt full of energy.

Getting up from the bed, Luo Xiu grabbed the high priest robe on the clothes support and put it on. After tidying up his appearance a little, he pushed the door and walked out of the room.

On the way from the High Priest's residence to the Holy Office to handle routine affairs, Luo Xiu confirmed today's schedule again.

- After finishing the new church affairs, he went to the "Fangbei Courtyard" to find the "Great Knowledgeable" Elvan to get the puppet; then, he went to the coniferous forest outside the Red Maple City with Anthony and the "Holy Judges" of the Holy Inquisition to investigate.

After confirming the schedule, Luo Xiu arrived at the Holy Office and began to handle the day's affairs.

About an hour later, Luo Xiu finished handling all the new matters and left the Holy Office and went to the Holy Court.

According to convention, the "officer" must bring at least one attendant when he goes out to visit or communicate with people of the same level. Anthony needed to prepare for the subsequent investigation, but Pamier happened to be in the Inquisition at the time, so Rossio asked Pamier to accompany him.

Afterwards, Luo Xiu and Pamier left the church and went to the "Fangbei Courtyard" in Red Maple City under the "Tower of Sages".

……

Fangbeiyuan is located in the far suburbs of Hongfeng City near the border.

Unlike Border Court, which directly designated the entire area as a "military restricted area", Fangbei Court was specifically located in a sparsely populated and quiet location - in this way, their scholars and sorcerers will not be disturbed too much, and can concentrate on their research, providing more and better research results for Border Court, the church and the Red Maple City Guard.

Of course, there are other reasons besides this - the process of "Fangbeiyuan" putting research into use often requires a lot of experiments. And their "experiments" always make a lot of noise, so choosing a remote site is also to reduce this impact.

Luo Xiu and Pamier have arrived at the suburbs where the Fangbeiyuan is located. From afar, they can see the towering iconic stele tower.

Just as they approached the magnificent "Square Monument Courtyard", Luo Xiu suddenly heard a loud explosion "Boom!"

He felt his cheeks being squeezed and cut by the sharp air waves, and his eyes involuntarily shifted to the source of the explosion.

Several rune wizards in blue robes were standing in twisted shapes at specific positions. They each held a small stamp-like piece in their hands, drawing some ancient symbols in the air.

In front of them stood another alchemist wearing a blue robe with a more complex and exquisite pattern.

That was Eureka, the "Great Eloquent" and "Great Rune Master". He was holding a stamp in his hand and constantly drawing symbols in the air.

But unlike other sorcerers, the light traces left by the symbols drawn by Eureka in the air were deeper and brighter. The deep blue light flowed on the lines of the drawn symbols, and a certain destructive power was hidden in them.

——Rune! This is also a form of use of "runes". They are not just used to engrave on creations to "enchant", but can also be cast like regular magic by drawing specific hovering runes.

Luo Xiu watched from afar. He saw other warlocks drawing the same runes as Eureka, and those runes slowly floated towards Eureka's runes, like moths attracted to a flame.

——Boom! At the moment when several small runes came into contact with the large rune drawn by Eureka, countless tiny blue flames burst out from the contact point of the two runes, and then a violent explosion broke out!

That was the source of the loud noise and the knife-like wind wave... Luo Xiu thought. It seemed that Eureka was doing some kind of experiment with the rune magicians, but the results of this experiment seemed unstable and could be considered a failure.

"...Tsk." A moment of disappointment flashed across Eureka's face. He immediately wiped out the traces of the hovering rune with the seal in his hand, turned around and said to another rune sorcerer beside him, "Oler, please record it - the 38th experiment of fusion of the 'Blue Flint' arcane rune failed. The reason for the failure is that the rune itself is not stable and compatible enough. We need to find a perfect way to integrate it."

"I've noted it down, Lord Eureka." The sorcerer named Oler took out a notebook, removed the pen from his chest and began to record quickly. The rustling sound of the pen tip sliding across the paper was hidden in the tail of the explosion.

Eureka did not stay where he was. He simply instructed other warlocks to clean up the experimental site, and then walked towards Luo Xiu.

When he came in front of Luo Xiu, Eureka greeted him, "Fangbeiyuan welcomes you, Mr. Luo Xiu. You are here to look for Irfan, right? He is inside Fangbeiyuan."

"May the holy light be upon you forever, Lord Eureka. You don't seem surprised by my coming?" Luo Xiu greeted with a smile and asked back.

"Because you said yesterday that you would come to Fangbeiyuan in person. I just didn't expect it would be today."

Eureka said: "Of course, being efficient is also an excellent quality. And we did get the news of your arrival first through the 'Ghost Falcons' deployed in various places around us."

The Ghost Falcon is also a kind of puppet, a unique means of reconnaissance for the extraordinary beings with [Intelligence].

We can also give the church one... Luo Xiu thought to himself, and then he smiled and said to Eureka:

"Then I won't disturb your experiments any longer, Lord Eureka. Can I borrow a scholar to lead the way for me? I am very interested in Fangbeiyuan and would like to learn more about you."

"Of course, Master Luo Xiu." Eureka nodded, and then turned to the rune sorcerer Oler who had recorded for him before, and said:

"Oler, you come and guide the guests of the church. Let Aserius take care of the record-keeping work."

"Yes, Master Eureka."

Oleil nodded in response, then he walked up to Luo Xiu, bowed slightly to him and said:
"I am Oleil, the 'senior warlock' of Fangbei Academy. Welcome, guests of the church."

"Please follow me, I will guide you."

……

(End of this chapter)