Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 345 Before the Return
Two days after the "burning" at the stake in Gowen Street.

Songyuan City has been in a state of high tension. It is visibly that the patrols of the streets and the checks on the entry and exit of the city's population have become much stricter, and many shadows hidden beneath the city have been dug out.

Of course, after the catastrophe that broke out at the Loggins mansion, which belonged to the Supreme, there were also esoteric organizations that tried to use this incident to increase their influence.

Secret organizations such as "Balaclava Gang", "Black Hawk Brotherhood" and "Red Supreme" claimed to be "responsible for this incident" - but within less than a day after claiming responsibility, the bodies of the leaders of these organizations appeared on the streets, and their heads were hung on street lamp poles.

Only then did they realize that this was not just a "small fight" as usual... A certain big shot was really angry, and these insects hiding in the shadows of the city disappeared for a while.

……

After that "ceremony", Luo Xiu went straight back to the Wolf Hunting Tavern, keeping a low profile and waiting for the storm to pass.

After that, he continued to report to the church once in the morning and once in the evening as usual, in order to dispel possible suspicions from all sides as much as possible.

During these two days, a lot of things happened at the headquarters.

For example, the "Saint" Frenya has secretly returned to the imperial capital under the arrangement of Archbishop Sid; and the [Supreme] almost constantly sends people to question them, asking why they did not prevent the "Logins Mansion" from being invaded by pagans, etc., but they were all evaded by Archbishop Sid and other "saint" clergy.

However, the matter of the [Supreme] had nothing to do with Luo Xiu on the surface. Instead, he cared more about the elders sent by the "Main Church Institute".

These elders of the academy came specifically for the former "Sage Attendant" Baberon. After Luo Xiu and other [Glorious] saints completely destroyed the Black Crystal Factory, the Grand Academy received the news, and finally sent the "Elders" there today.

The "Elders" of the Archbishop's Council held repeated negotiations with the "Bishops' Council" headed by Archbishop Sid regarding the transfer of Baberon to the Archbishop's Council.

In the afternoon after the arrival of those [Intellectual] elders, Luo Xiu received the news - it was said that the Grand Council finally offered 160,000 gold coins, five "Ancient Heritage" scrolls, and reimbursement for the treatment costs of the [Glorious] saints' injuries.

The request from the Grand Council was also quite clear and simple - to transfer Baberon to the Grand Council for custody, and at the same time transfer all kinds of puppets recovered by the church from the Black Crystal Factory, as well as some scrolls and books of [Intelligence] belonging to them.

There was also a clause that required Archbishop Sid of the church and the sages of the Grand Council to witness the burning of the scrolls and books containing forbidden knowledge seized from the Black Crystal Factory, including Sid's Notebook.

Luo Xiu had no objection to this. Destroying "Side's Notebook" was part of his plan. It was the only way to prevent future troubles... What he cared more about was how much he could gain from this "negotiation" as the first person to destroy the "Black Crystal Factory".

This was confirmed that evening.

Archbishop Sid's waiter told Luo Xiu when he came to the cathedral to punch in as usual that Archbishop Sid had already decided what kind of reward he would give.

Of the 160,000 gold coins and five "Ancient Heritage" scrolls that the General Church Institute paid to the church, Luo Xiu could get one fifth of them. Thirty-six thousand gold coins and one "Ancient Heritage" scroll would be given to Luo Xiu when he left Songyuan City.

As for the "Ancient Heritage" scroll - this time Archbishop Sid did not let Luo Xiu participate in the selection, but directly selected one for him.

It is an ancient heritage called [Cloud of Sky's Wrath], an offensive skill that can be released hands-free - it summons a high-energy calamity cloud within a certain range, greatly reducing the perception of all targets in it by 80%. Every 1 second, it releases a raging lightning chain in a cycle. A single lightning chain will cause 200%~300% of the "fire" burning damage of the spell attack, double the damage to the shield, and lasts for 30 seconds.

Luo Xiu had no objection to the ancient inheritance of [Cloud of Sky's Wrath] given to him by Archbishop Sid. He might as well say that this skill was quite practical for him, and was a specialized killing move for the battlefield environment.

……

Two days later.

The morning in Songyuan City was the same as usual, except that there were fewer pedestrians on the streets than before. The birds on the branches were still singing happily, and the chilly wind never stopped blowing.

In the Wolf Hunt Tavern.

That day, Luo Xiu got up very early.

According to the agreement between him and Archbishop Sid, he will leave Songyuan City today and return to Hongfeng City. He is preparing to go to the church to say his final goodbyes to Archbishop Sid and other comrades in "Glory".

Afterwards, in his real itinerary plan, he would first go back to Sina City to visit the old priest and the old bishop; then go back to Dawn Town to see his mentor, the High Priest Ivan... To be honest, Luo Xiu hadn't seen them for a long time.

Thinking of this, Luo Xiu went to the bathroom, quickly finished washing up, returned to the room, put on the sacred robe that symbolized the identity of "bishop", and began to wait for the arrival of the clergy to guide him.

Before the arrival of the priest, he had another thing to do.

Regarding the calculation of the killing reward for "The Order Killer" Velino Bakar!

Luo Xiu had tried to settle it before, but nothing good came out of it. Now that the cooldown of "Wandering Explorer" has ended, he decided to take another gamble.

Sacrifice Anthony's single life! .jpg
After performing the routine evil sacrifice, Luo Xiu opened the reserved settlement interface and activated the reset effect of "Lost Explorer".

There was a flash of light and shadow in front of his eyes, and soon, the new settlement content appeared in front of Luo Xiu——

[Kill "Rebellious Judge" Velino Bakar (lv.41), gain 9830 basic experience points]

[“Rebellious Judge” Velino Bakar (lv.41) is 1 level lower than you]

[Kill above your level! Gain 10% extra experience points...]

["Burning Soul" takes effect, gain 20% additional experience points]

["Evil Soul" takes effect, gain 30% additional experience points]

[Rewards settlement, actual experience points gained: 15728! ]

【…】

[“Rebellious Judge” Velino Bakar is a disaster-level boss]

[Rewards for killing the disaster-level boss are being generated...]

【…】

[Kill rewards generated]

[Obtain the expertise "Order Demon (Epic)", free attribute points*10]!
[Demon of Order (Epic): Order gave birth to you, but will eventually destroy you - or if you betray, you will destroy order. ]

[Your "Strength" and "Perception" attributes increase by 18 points, and your "Physical Attack" and "Magic Attack" attributes increase by an additional 10%. When the target you attack belongs to the [Supreme] destiny, the damage you cause to it increases by 30%, and the damage you receive from it also increases by 15%. ]

【…】

"Not bad..." Luo Xiu murmured.

The "Epic" quality specialty "Fairy of Order" provides a considerable pure numerical improvement, and there is an additional damage bonus when attacking enemies with the [Supreme] destiny.

He just needs to endure some negative effects - when attacked by an enemy with the [Supreme] destiny, the damage he receives will also be increased by 15%... However, for Luo Xiu, the increase in damage is far greater than the negative vulnerability, so he can still accept this negative effect.

He then confirmed the result of this settlement, and the "epic" quality expertise in the panel increased by one, and then he closed the panel.

Shortly after the settlement results were confirmed, there was a knock on Luo Xiu's door.

"Come in." Luo Xiu stood up, straightened his robe, and looked towards the door.

He did not lock the door, and the visitor gently pushed open the door of the room. It was Luo Xiu's guiding priest.

That was the "middle deacon" Prolet who had guided Luo Xiu before. The moment he opened the door, he bowed respectfully to Luo Xiu, and then said humbly:
"I hope I didn't disturb your rest, Master Luo Xiu."

"Archbishop Sid ordered me to come and pick you up. The carriage is waiting outside the courtyard."

"..." "Okay, I understand." Luo Xiu nodded and said:
"You go down and wait, Prolet. I'll follow."

Prolet bowed respectfully to Luo Xiu again, then walked downstairs. His back quickly disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

……

Luo Xiu finally sorted out his clothes, packed up all the things he wanted to take away, and walked out of the room.

This was his last day staying at the hotel.

Luo Xiu then went down to the first floor of the Wolf Hunting Tavern, and as expected, he saw the old knights Isaac, Bruyère and the others.

The two old knights of the Supreme were playing chess in the room just now, but the arrival of a "middle-level deacon" instantly broke their interest. They thought the church needed to investigate something, but unexpectedly...

The "Knights of the Throne" Isaac and Bruyère had confused expressions on their faces. They looked at the [Glorious] chariot outside the tavern courtyard and the "Middle Deacon" driving it, and then looked at Luo Xiu who was wearing the bishop's clothes.

This was the first time they saw Luo Xiu wearing the "bishop's" robe.

It was also the first time I saw the "middle deacons" of the church waiting like attendants!
"You... Luo Xiu... you..."

Isaac murmured with a stutter, his eyes filled with disbelief -

That little brother named "Luo Xiu", he could actually be... a bishop? !

He had always thought that this clergyman who was staying at the hotel should be the "Holy Judge" of the church, or at most a "priest" of the church...

Luo Xiu still had that gentle expression on his face. He walked up to Isaac and Bruyère, bowed slightly to them, and thanked them:
"Thank you for your care these past few days, Mr. Isaac and Mr. Bruyère."

"My mission in Songyuan City has been completed, and I will leave soon."

"Before we leave, I would like to invite you - if you can come to Red Maple City in the future, I will entertain you with the highest standard of etiquette of the 'bishop'."

"Mr. Isaac's barbecue is delicious, and so is Mr. Bruyère... I hope your chess skills will improve by leaps and bounds, and that sooner or later you will be able to beat Mr. Isaac."

"Well, farewell, two respectable old knights."

"..."

After saying this, Luo Xiu stretched out his hand and shook hands with Isaac and Bruyère.

Afterwards, under the somewhat confused and reluctant gazes of Isaac and Bruyère, Luo Xiu turned and left, walked out of the courtyard of the tavern, and boarded the sedan chair with the help of the "middle deacon".

The neighing of horses rose one after another, and the sound of the turning axles was heard. The carriage creaked and drove away into the distance, and soon disappeared from the sight of Isaac and Bruyère.

……

"He's gone, old friend..."

Isaac murmured, and suddenly he turned around and stepped onto the stairs, going up to the third floor.

He saw that the room that originally belonged to Luo Xiu was indeed ajar, the key was hanging on the wall near the door, and there was an exquisite money box on the table.

Isaac opened the box, and a dazzling white light suddenly flashed out from the box, and ten platinum coins were neatly arranged inside.

“…Hmm.”

Looking at the platinum coins in the box, which were more than ten times the amount of the room fee, the old knight sighed.

"It was clearly agreed that we wouldn't charge any money..."

……

Songyuan City, inside the main church.

In the sacred hall, Luo Xiu had his last audience with Archbishop Sid and said goodbye to him.

On both sides of the Heart Hall, almost all the Glory Saints who could be present were present. This final audience and farewell was a grand ceremony. Luo Xiu had not expected that the Archbishop would think so highly of him...

The Archbishop looked at Luo Xiu with a complicated look - he still didn't want to let Luo Xiu go back, but Luo Xiu's attitude was firm, so he didn't know what to say.

"Okay... Luo Xiu."

The Archbishop finally sighed deeply and said to Luo Xiu who was standing under the Heart Hall:
"I have prepared a carriage for you, Luo Xiu."

"When you set off and prepare to return to Red Maple City, the ten priests of the Triple Destiny will go back with you."

"They will assist you and help you look after the dwarves of the Sand Clan on your journey."

"There are also a total of 120,000 gold coins, various sacred materials of 'rare' and 'epic' quality, scrolls and equipment, all of which have been loaded into the car. They are a divine gift for your achievements, and also a support for the Red Maple City Church."

"Luo Xiu, I hope you will not disappoint us. We have high expectations of you."

"..."

"Please be assured, Archbishop."

Luo Xiu performed the sacrament piously and humbly to the archbishop, responding to his expectations:
"I will not let you down. Please bear witness to the fact that the Red Maple City Church will always practice the teachings of Glory, today and in the future."

……

Afterwards, the archbishop gave Luo Xiu a few final words of advice, and the two bishops led Luo Xiu out of the Holy Temple.

He finally went to the altar of the church, used it to preside over a sacred ceremony, and "resurrected" his "holy beast" the golden Pegasus.

Riding on the newly born Pegasus, Luo Xiu arrived at the main entrance of the church. Sure enough, the carriage and clergy prepared by the archbishop were waiting for him.

He then said his final farewell to the two bishops who were leading the group, and then boarded the carriages. The six carriages slowly drove to the end of the street.

……

"Go ahead, Luo Xiu."

"I will protect you for a moment. May the Holy Light bathe you forever, my comrade."

One of the guiding bishops, "Bishop Qihui" Richester, bid farewell to Luo Xiu from afar:

"Go and pursue that sacred cause, Luo Xiu."

"To put an end to that sinful, blasphemous war..."

"I hope... we will meet again one day."

……

(End of this chapter)