Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 292 Koros's "Invitation"

Breaking through the "quadruple destiny"? When Luo Xiu heard Anthony say this, he was stunned.

Although the previous panel detection of Anthony had indeed shown that he had reached the level cap of "Triple Destiny", Luo Xiu did not expect that he would touch the "door" so quickly.

It seems that in the previous battle, Anthony should have completed his "promotion mission"... This is a good thing, Luo Xiu thought.

If Anthony can successfully break through, the church will be happy to have a direct descendant of the "quasi-saint" extraordinary person.

"Of course." Luo Xiu smiled faintly. He leaned over to open the drawer at the corner of the table and took out a small box.

The box was pushed in front of Anthony, who opened it and found a golden key inside.

As a "bishop", if a clergyman wants to apply for a "silver" or higher extraordinary key, he needs to find Luo Xiu for review. At present, all the "gold" keys of the church are controlled by Luo Xiu.

There are not many of them. The church currently only has three of them in stock, including the original inventory and those captured from the enemy.

Seeing Anthony staring at the key in the box in a daze, Luo Xiu smiled and said:

"You deserve it, Anthony. You don't have to think about those tedious tests. They are not important to you or me."

"...I understand." Anthony nodded, solemnly took out the golden key from the box, and said, "Thank you, Luo Xiu."

"When are you going to be promoted?" Luo Xiu asked Anthony, "I will find time to bear witness for you."

"Now," Anthony replied firmly, "I have made all the preparations and am only waiting to take another step forward."

"Okay." Luo Xiu nodded slightly, then stood up, walked to the door and said, "Then, go to the holy room of the 'Holy See'. I'll wait for you there."

……

The Church, the Holy See.

Before Anthony arrived, Luo Xiu first found the "guiding priest" Colen who was still on duty, and asked him to take a few novice clergymen to the holy room on the second floor of the bishop's throne to clean up the environment there.

In the holy training room, the various scrolls and books that were originally placed in a disorderly manner have been sorted out. Luo Xiu deliberately left a large area in the middle empty for Anthony to be promoted.

This was the first case of a church clergyman attempting to advance to the "Fourth Destiny", and Luo Xiu attached great importance to it.

After Colen and other clergymen had finished their preparations, Anthony also arrived, bringing with him several bottles of auxiliary potions.

Colen and the other clergymen then left. Luo Xiu looked at the potion in Anthony's hand and said with a smile, "It seems that you are really ready."

Those were potions that could temporarily improve various attributes, increase affinity with holy light, and eliminate certain abnormal state interferences. Most of them were made by alchemists in Fangbei Academy, and a small number were made by the church itself. Many clergymen had the habit of taking them before being promoted.

They don't have a panel, but according to the experience of their predecessors, taking this kind of auxiliary potion before "promotion" can indeed increase the success rate of promotion - for the extraordinary people who are the natives of the Apocalypse World, there is indeed the possibility of failure in promotion.

It is easier for them to glimpse the "door" when they reach a bottleneck, but they are also likely to not be recognized by the "Spiritual Sea" because their strength is not yet perfect - even if they can open the door with the key, they will be expelled by the "Spiritual Sea" the moment they step through the door, and will not be able to gain inspiration for promotion for a long time unless they can make further progress based on the original bottleneck.

But in Luo Xiu's panel detection of Anthony, his various attributes have actually reached the standard, and there is no need to take those potions. But Luo Xiu did not dissuade him, taking them will help improve his optimistic mentality, which is equally important to Anthony.

"Well, wait a moment." Anthony said, unscrewing the corks of the potion bottles and drinking all three bottles of potion together.

The moment he took the potion, Luo Xiu saw that the outline of Anthony's body was glowing with a distinct light golden glow, and the aura he exuded became purer and softer.

"...Alright." After carefully feeling the changes after taking the medicine, Anthony raised his head and said to Luo Xiu, "I'm ready."

Then Anthony sat down on the cushion in the middle of the holy room and took out the "Golden Key".

Luo Xiu nodded, but did not respond to him. He just silently performed a few sacred prayers, then waved his hand and cast the sacred arts of "consecration prayer" and "consecration blessing" on Anthony.

After completing all of this, Luo Xiu sat back in his chair, looking at Anthony opposite him as he mobilized his spiritual power to capture "inspiration", and then at a certain moment, he closed his eyes.

Anthony's breath "disappeared", both his breathing and heartbeat stopped at this moment, only the faint golden light covering the outline of his body was still flowing slowly and irregularly.

As long as the light did not dissipate, Anthony would be safe - Luo Xiu then looked at him silently, waiting for the result of his "promotion" this time.

……

Twenty minutes passed.

Suddenly, the faint golden light covering Anthony's body suddenly burst out with an extremely dazzling light!

His entire aura "returned", and the spiritual surge became more surging and more intense than before!
At this point, Luo Xiu already knew clearly that Anthony's "promotion" had been successful.

The detection of his panel also promptly displayed the result of his promotion - "High Shepherd of Purification" Anthony has successfully completed the promotion, and he is now the "Pastor of Purification"!
Although it is not a hidden profession, for Anthony, successfully completing the promotion is already a good result, and Luo Xiu does not ask for too much.

Under Luo Xiu's gaze, Anthony, who had just returned from the "Sea of ​​Spirituality", slowly opened his eyes.

A flash of golden light burst out from his eyes, and the color of his pupils changed from dark green to bright gold. This was a notable feature of [Glory] reaching a certain extraordinary level.

Anthony, who had just awakened from the sea of ​​spirituality, still had a confused expression on his face, but as his vision became clear, he gradually woke up.

"Congratulations, Anthony." Luo Xiu smiled and congratulated Anthony, "The Great Sun is blessing you. You have successfully completed the promotion and entered a new level."

"So, what is your current occupation, Anthony?"

"..."

“The Patriarch of Purification.” Anthony said in a daze, “I am now… the Patriarch of Purification.”

"Yes, I understand now." Luo Xiu nodded, "I did witness your promotion process, Anthony. You are already the 'Fourth Destiny', and your spiritual reaction has told me this."

"How do you feel?" Luo Xiu asked afterwards.

Anthony did not answer immediately. After feeling the changes in his body, he slowly said:

"My spirit has become more fulfilled, and my body has become more powerful... In addition, I seem to have a deeper understanding of the state of 'entering the saint', as if I have seen a bright light in the distance."

He has acquired the specialty "Disciple of the Saint" and has obtained a considerable amount of attribute correction according to the extraordinary profession after promotion. Anthony himself has no real sense now, but in Luo Xiu's judgment of him, he is more than three times stronger than before the promotion.

"Well, that's a very normal phenomenon."

Luo Xiu nodded and said, "After that, you can go to the Holy Storage Hall. I have left a few holy scrolls applicable to the 'Fourfold Fate' there. You can choose to learn and comprehend them."

Afterwards, according to standard procedures, Luo Xiu said to Anthony:

"Listen carefully, Anthony. From now on, you are the 'priest' of the church and will still be in charge of all matters of the Holy Inquisition."

"After I am officially promoted to bishop, you will take over my current position and be prepared to concurrently serve as the church's 'high priest', responsible for coordinating and supervising the three major sanctuaries of the church."

"I will register with Mayev at the missionary station that you have been promoted to the 'Fourfold Destiny'. Your stipend will be increased from seventy gold coins per week to three hundred."

When Luo Xiu was just promoted to the "Quadruple Destiny", the stipend that Priest Leonard gave him was only 150 per week... But in the Red Maple City Church, Luo Xiu generously doubled it for Anthony, who was about to take on multiple positions.

"I hope you can make further progress and reach the level of 'Fifth Destiny' soon, Anthony. I need you, and the church needs you too." Luo Xiu said finally.

Anthony nodded, apparently a little surprised at the amount of his "holy pension".

His salary increased fourfold in an instant. After a moment of trance, he said in a low voice with a firm look:

"Okay." "I will."

"Thank you again, Luo Xiu. I will work harder and be more careful to be able to shoulder the responsibilities I will shoulder."

After Anthony finished speaking, Luo Xiu stood up from his chair, patted Anthony on the shoulder, and said with a smile:

"Wait until tomorrow. Well, just do as I say. Go to the 'Holy Storage Hall' of the missionary station tomorrow and select the scroll you need."

"But it's late now, Anthony. You should go back and get some rest."

"Okay." Anthony nodded, and then, accompanied by Luo Xiu, he walked out of the seminary and left the "Bishops' Room".

……

After watching Anthony's back completely disappear from his sight, Luo Xiu returned to the Bishop's seat and casually pulled up two layers of "Golden Barrier".

The kind expression on his face gradually disappeared, a deep light appeared in his eyes, and he went straight back to the bedroom.

Now that no one was disturbing him, he could finally proceed with another important thing he had planned...

——Hunting down Koros!
To this end, he had already prepared the "Holy Abyss" for a long time, and when he received Hubert and Anthony's visits, he was also waiting for the final arrangement to be completed.

Just now, when Anthony was in the middle of his promotion, he had received the spiritual power transmitted by the "Faceless One" Intis.

All arrangements have been completed, and we are just waiting for the moment when the Lord gives the order. This is the message that Intis sent back.

After taking a deep breath, Luo Xiu turned his attention to the spiritual world and issued the latest order to Index through the "Family Emblem" -

"Execute now."

"It's time to let Bagli... take action."

……

Outside Hongfeng City.

In the dark military camp.

"Executioner" Koros was lying on the soft bed in the central tent, resting and recovering from his injuries with a weak breath.

After he was defeated by "Holy Deacon" Hubbard on the previous battlefield, he used his ability to escape back here in the crisis, but he was also seriously injured and half-lived.

However, in such a critical situation, he was already very lucky to escape from Hubert... Koros was still in shock, and whenever he thought of the previous battlefield, his head would ache uncontrollably.

Of course, he knew what the price of his escape was - the decisive battle was bound to fail. Only more than 20,000 of the 100,000 dark troops he sent out returned, and even more than 10,000 had taken advantage of the chaos to desert.

All I can say is that this is indeed in line with the nickname of "Duke of Thieves". This army, which is formed by extremely vicious people from all over the Fanol continent and is influenced by chaos, does have a life-and-death advantage in dealing with a crushing situation on the battlefield, but when the wind is against them, they are scattered and lack the cohesion that a normal army should have...

Koros knew that the entire Dark Army was like a pack of wolves.

And he is the "alpha wolf" - once the alpha wolf is defeated, the entire wolf pack will immediately collapse and become a mob.

But... Koros didn't feel any real sense about this.

He had seen too many scenes of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and with his position as the "Five Fates" executioner in the principality, even if the army was completely wiped out due to his strategic mistakes, the Dark Grand Duke would not do anything to him - because a "sainted" executioner was more valuable than an army of 100,000 criminals in the eyes of the Grand Duke.

As for how to replenish the lost troops, Koros has his own method.

To plunder the surrounding small towns or villages, capture the male population as "slaves" to serve in the army, or simply mobilize another wave of troops from the territory of the Dark Principality... There are always more solutions than difficulties.

But Koros didn't want to think about that now.

For him, the most urgent task is to recover from his injuries as quickly as possible and beware of possible pursuit from Red Maple City... However, according to the reports from his spies in the city, the "Judge" Baines of the Border Court does not seem to be planning to pursue them.

The "Border Court" seemed to want to wait for the arrival of a Supreme Saint before taking the initiative to start a decisive battle with the Dark Army. This was a relatively safe strategy for them, but it was exactly what Koros wanted.

This way, I will have more time to recover from my injuries... thought Koros.

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps.

That was the sound of leather shoes stepping on the muddy road, accompanied by the spiritual surge that was getting closer and closer. The person who came was the "Fourfold Destiny".

That was the extraordinary person with the destiny of [Ku Tu]. Koros, who was also a [Ku Tu], had already sensed this, so he turned over and sat up.

That should be his "Fang Head"... Koros felt familiar with this aura, but he didn't know which Fang Head it was.

Perhaps he came to report something, Koros thought.

Just outside the big tent, Koros could clearly see the figure of the person coming through the half-open curtain.

He was wrapped in a cloak, exuding the gloomy aura that belonged only to the "Fang Head", which made Koros more certain of his guess.

The "Fang Head" walked straight into Koros's tent, half-knelt down in front of Koros, and said to Koros in a low voice:

"Greetings, Master Koros."

"I have something important to report to you alone."

"..."

"Go ahead." Koros' voice was sharp and cold.

The beast in front of him paused for a moment, then he suddenly laughed and said:

“—it was an invitation.”

After saying that, he suddenly raised his arm, revealing the back of his hand under Koros's gaze!
There was a flashing black light on it, and it was actually the mark of a sword blade and a dragon claw!
Koros was caught off guard, and he had no idea what the "fang head" opposite him had done. A ring of deep red array patterns appeared at his feet, and then Koros' eyes went dark.

When the light came back, Koros saw that the "fang head" was still in front of him, and behind him stood a magnificent and ancient palace.

He had already pulled back the hood that covered his face.

Koros' pupils shrank.

——He saw the face of the “violent swordsman” Bagli!
That was the face of the "Fang Chief" Bagri who had defected earlier!
Koros subconsciously had the urge to cut the traitor in front of him into pieces on the spot.

But before he actually took action, he suddenly realized that he was surrounded by dozens or even hundreds of spiritual surges!

Then, he heard Bagli's deep voice -

"I have been ordered to invite you here, to the Lost Royal Court, Lord Koros."

Bagli raised his head, looked at Koros, and said:

"This is 'Holy Abyss' - our Lord, he wants to see you."

……

(End of this chapter)