Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 291 Conversation
The players of "Church Patrol" have been led by the clergy to the residence I prepared for them in advance... Luo Xiu has seen this scene through the mist shadow of "Shadow Raven".

At that time, Mayev bought 20 acres of land in the suburbs of Hongfeng City, about half of which was construction land. More than Nordic-style villas had been built there. The three- or four-story villas had an average of rooms, and each room was about square meters, which was equivalent to the size of a single apartment in his previous life. This was also the entry benefit for the "church guards."

Each "Church Patrolman" has an entire separate room, and the interior has been finely decorated according to the standards of quasi-clergy. Compared with the treatment of peripheral civilian members in the side courts and square monument courtyards, it is much better.

In addition to building the villa, Luo Xiu also specially asked a landscape architect to create the landscape of the villa area - after the "church guards" finished their duty, they could take a walk near their residence and enjoy the scenery.

Luo Xiu also hired a number of professional cleaners to clean the villa area and even each room at regular intervals to maintain a comfortable living environment for the "Church Guards".

The church didn't even charge the players rent, all of this was paid for by Luo Xiu himself - he would probably need to pay more than 300 gold coins per month in maintenance fees.

But Luo Xiu's current income as a bishop of 1,000 gold coins per week and 4,000 gold coins per month is enough to support him to make these investments. He also has enough money to pay bounties to players. However, in this regard, he also asked City Lord Nelson to share the pressure with him.

Overall, this is a necessary expense in order to keep players as under control as possible in the early stages.

Now that the players are still in the development stage, Luo Xiu feels like he is creating a brand new leek field, just waiting for the opportunity to harvest in the future.

Through the perspective of "Mist Shadow", the players have divided the rooms under the guidance of the priests.

Most of the players were quite satisfied with the first residence they lived in during the internal testing of "God's Destiny". After showing off to other players from Red Maple City in the chat channel for a while, they lay down on the bed and logged off.

It seems that in the real world, the corresponding time is now late at night...Except for a few night owl players who are still playing abstract games in the channel, the chat heat has temporarily dropped.

Luo Xiu then closed the channel panel, stood up and left the Bishop's Seat, and walked towards the courtyard.

He couldn't go to bed early that day - he had just crushed Koros's invasion plot, and there were still many things waiting for him to do, and he also needed to make new arrangements for some things.

Under the moonlight, he went straight to the Holy Office and entered the bishops' room, where he waited for a while while dealing with the newly piled affairs.

Just as Luo Xiu expected.

About twenty minutes later, there was a gentle knock on the door between the bishops.

Then, without waiting for Luo Xiu to respond, a figure pushed the door open and walked in.

That was "Holy Deacon" Hubert.

"Good evening, Lord Hubert." Luo Xiu greeted him with a smile.

Hubert nodded slightly in response, then he came to the table opposite Luo Xiu, pulled out a chair and sat down.

"I talked to Judge Baines and learned something about the arrangements after the Supreme."

Hubert said straight to the point: "This victory was hard-won. Any slight mistake will lead to irreversible consequences."

"The Supremes have also realized this, and considering the situation, they will send a 'saint' to stay here permanently. He is Lord Gawain Bakar's deputy, the Divine Seal Knight Albert Perez, the 'Chief of the Round Table' of the Songyuan Law Office."

"Albert Perez?" Luo Xiu showed a surprised expression on his face, and said thoughtfully, "I have heard of his name. 'Thunder General' Albert, he seems to be a difficult person to get along with."

"Well... but he is indeed very strong. Old Marquis Bakar must have his reasons for making such a decision."

Hubert nodded, crossed his fingers under his chin to form an arch, and his eyes became deep. "Originally, the Marquis wanted to send Lord Gawain himself, but the Lord still needs to deal with the rebels in Kuma Territory. Therefore, Albert Perez is the most suitable person to be stationed here right now."

"Other 'saints' are not qualified," Hubert added.

Not qualified... Luo Xiu chewed and savored Hubert's words, and roughly understood what he wanted to express.

——The reason why [Supreme] is [Supreme] is that it has absolute authority and control over the members of the Fate in other empires. However, the current situation in Red Maple City has actually broken the original pattern of [Supreme] in the Nolan Empire.

When Luo Xiu was still at the "fourth level of destiny", the combat power he displayed had already surpassed that of the "Grand Inquisitor" Baines, the strongest supernatural being in Red Maple City at that time. Luo Xiu has even been promoted to the "fifth level of destiny" now. Although this is a good thing for the empire, it is also a very dangerous signal.

This means that the [Supreme] will no longer be the "Supreme". The Red Maple City Church even has two "Saints" at this time. If the church wants, it can even completely exclude the [Supreme] and monopolize all the high-level authority in Red Maple City.

This has nothing to do with personal will, but rather the sense of crisis that will arise spontaneously after the imperial will is delegated to the fortress town. Therefore, Marquis Vizia Bacar made such an arrangement, which in a sense is a "check and balance" on the church.

And such "checks and balances" are actually ubiquitous - for example, the strongest person in Sina City is actually the head of Sina City's Law Department, a "Domain Guardian Lord" with a [Supreme] sixth-level destiny - that is the younger brother of Marquis Bakar, and his title in the empire is Viscount.

To put it in a broader sense, the entire Songyuan Territory is an important territory in the empire, and Marquis Vizia Bakare himself is the "strongest man" in Songyuan Territory - he has the seventh destiny and has reached the true "limit of man", and is the "Red Crown Prince" in the ruling class of the empire - his status in the empire is second only to the "Red Crown Princes" with the title of "Duke" and the "Supreme Emperor" Augustuswell Nolan himself.

He was also the only person in Songyuan Territory who had reached the peak of the Seventh Fate. This was the way of the Supreme—absolute supremacy, absolute authority, and this was also the source of part of the power of the Supreme.

"...I understand." Luo Xiu nodded and said thoughtfully, "I will think about how to get along well with this 'Round Table Chief' Divine Knight."

"But that's a problem for later, Luo Xiu." Hubert smiled. "In a while, I will return to the main church in Songyuan City to report to the archbishop. You and Albert Perez will probably be together for a very long time."

"In fact, if you had promised me to go to Songyuan City and become a member of the bishops of the General Church, you wouldn't have to worry about so many troubles."

"..."

In response to Hubert's last indirect and tentative invitation, Luo Xiu just smiled bitterly and shook his head, without giving a positive response.

Before Hubert showed his disappointment, Luo Xiu reached out to the bracelet on his left wrist and extracted several pieces of Death Birth Spirit Crystals and a Deep Magic Crystal Ring from it.

"This is the material generated from the body of the 'Deathborn God' when I was guarding his body."

Luo Xiu pointed at the Death Birth Spirit Crystal and said, "According to the commandments, I will take it back and give it to you."

"And this ring. After the body of the 'Deathborn God's Son' completely collapsed, I routinely inspected his birthplace, which was the base where the 'Bishop of the Dead' Passaro Adoya was hiding, and found it."

"This Deep Magic Crystal Ring seems to contain some forbidden power and knowledge. Likewise, I entrust it to you. Please seal it in the Holy Storage Hall of the Grand Church for me."

"..."

Hubert's attention was successfully diverted by Luo Xiu. He looked at the few things Luo Xiu had just taken out and reached out to take them.

"I did receive it, Luo Xiu." Hubert said, "Very good, you have fulfilled the commandments. And according to the commandments, the General Church will record your merits."

Afterwards, Hubert talked to Luo Xiu about other things, including the choice of Luo Xiu's official "bishop" schedule, the future planning of the church, and the subsequent strategic policy of "executioner" Koros. In about two days, Luo Xiu will personally write a holy notice to officially disclose his bishop status. At that time, the church will hold a ceremony of ordination, and Hubert, the "holy deacon", will give Luo Xiu the scepter symbolizing the bishop on behalf of the archbishop.

Hubert also told Luo Xiu that if the Red Maple City Church wanted to upgrade to a large church, the general church would fully support them as long as Luo Xiu could produce results that matched their performance after taking office as bishop.

As for the "Executioner" Koros and the "Hidden Elder" Baberon, Hubert relayed Baines's thoughts -

Baines planned to wait for the arrival of the "Chief of the Round Table", the Divine Knight and "Thunder General" Albert Perez, before launching a formal attack on Koros and the remnant dark army. This was the safest strategy.

Luo Xiu just agreed with this casually, but he didn't intend to really do it - he had already made arrangements to target Koros with a large wave, and this happened to be on the side of "Holy Abyss", so he had to avoid the official arrangements.

Upon learning that Baines was not in a hurry to send troops, Luo Xiu was secretly happy, as this meant that "Holy Abyss" had more time to prepare.

After talking about this, Hubert stood up and prepared to leave.

As Luo Xiu had expected, he should have said something to the "Adventers", but he didn't. It was probably because he didn't pay enough attention to them.

After all, the current "Adventers" have not yet entered the realm of transcendence. For a saint like Huberter who has reached the "fifth level of destiny", if he does not take the initiative to contact them, he will not pay special attention to them.

Luo Xiu did not bring up these things on his own initiative. He stood up from his seat and personally escorted Hubert out the door.

……

After watching Hubert leave the Holy Office, Luo Xiu returned to the bishops.

He needs to wait for another person.

Ten minutes later, there was another knock on the door between the bishops' rooms, but this time the visitor did not push the door open directly like Hubert did.

"Come in." Luo Xiu said, and then took out a file that had not been reviewed yet.

With a "creak", the door was pushed open.

It was Anthony who came in, a sad, puzzled look on his face.

"Luo Xiu..." Anthony asked tentatively in a somewhat unhappy tone:

"You... have been promoted to the 'Fifth Level of Destiny'?"

This was an inevitable phenomenon, a scene that Luo Xiu had long been prepared to face.

Before the Heir of the God of Death appeared and the "Executioner" Koros led his troops to attack the city, in order to completely block the news, Luo Xiu did not let anyone other than himself and Hubert know about his promotion.

Including Anthony - on the previous battlefield, when Luo Xiu was fighting a decisive battle with the disaster puppet summoned by the "Hidden Elder" Baberon, Anthony learned that Luo Xiu had been promoted again, and was shocked beyond words on the spot.

What followed the strong shock was a deep melancholy mood - no one in the entire church had realized this before, but after Luo Xiu was promoted again, it once again caused a shock among the high-ranking clergy of the entire church!
This kind of shock is very deep. It is not deliberately expressed in actions or words, but permeates the atmosphere of the entire church.

Even though the deacons did not ask much when Luo Xiu summoned the "deacons" and asked them to lead the clergy to guide the players, Luo Xiu could clearly feel that there had been more subtle changes in everyone's attitude towards him.

That is an attitude of greater admiration and even awe.

Even though Luo Xiu has not actually announced that he has become a "saint", this change in attitude has already occurred in almost all clergy.

"Yes, that's right." Luo Xiu smiled, nodded slightly, and said, "You are very perceptive, Anthony."

He tried to speak to Anthony in a lighthearted tone, but the sadness on Anthony's face did not subside.

Sighing, Luo Xiu continued in a gentle tone:
"You know, Anthony. I may indeed have talent, and my promotion is something only Hubert and I know about."

"Today's battle is the first time I have demonstrated my power as a 'saint'. Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, I will officially make this matter public, and under the witness of 'Holy Deacon' Hubbert, I will officially receive the scepter symbolizing the bishop."

"..."

"...Yeah, I understand." Anthony nodded absentmindedly.

He understood the reason, he just mentioned the most fundamental emotion of human beings——

That was "jealousy." When Luo Xiu was promoted to the "fourth level of destiny" and truly surpassed Anthony, this emotion had already grown in his heart, and when he found out that Luo Xiu had been promoted to the "fifth level of destiny", this jealousy almost made Anthony collapse.

Thinking back, when he first met Luo Xiu, he was still at the second level of destiny, while he was already at the third level. Until Luo Xiu was promoted to the third level of destiny, he was still at the third level; he was promoted to the fourth level of destiny, and he was still at the third level; now Luo Xiu is already a saint of the "fifth level of destiny", and he is still at the third level...

Luo Xiu had been growing stronger visibly, and there was no end in sight, but Anthony had been standing still for a long time. Recalling his extraordinary career after being promoted to the "Triple Fate", Anthony felt that he seemed to have lived a rather unsuccessful life as an extraordinary person.

"I know...well, this is your strategic consideration, I know it all." Anthony murmured:

"It's just... well, it's a little hard to imagine... you should understand... but, it's okay this way, okay..."

After a pause, the melancholy on Anthony's face was deliberately concealed. Even though a hint of sadness still remained, he had almost returned to his usual state.

He did not come here simply to confirm Luo Xiu's "promotion to sainthood", but there was something more important.

"Well, just think of it as listening to an old friend's nagging, Luo Xiu... Congratulations on successfully crossing that hurdle."

"However, I didn't come here just to ask you this question... After all, I already know the answer."

After calming down, Anthony calmed down and said calmly:

"I'm here for another matter—"

"Luo Xiu, I also felt a flash of inspiration and realized my 'door'."

"I want to apply for the 'Golden Key' and try to break through the 'Fourfold Destiny' under your witness."

……

(End of this chapter)