Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 374 Thomas: So cool! (8k2, great code attribute!)
Red Maple City Church, inner courtyard.

After the defense war outside the city ended, "Thomas the Tank Engine" returned to the church with other players and followed the church clergy.

Thomas originally thought that he could clean up the remaining battlefield with the clergymen, and at the same time get some good stuff from the piles of dark army corpses - but his immediate superior, the captain of the "Holy Guard", Connor Rune, explicitly refused him, which made Thomas a little disappointed.

It wasn't just Thomas. In fact, other players did not get permission to "clean up" the battlefield. Captain Connor took them directly back to the church and to the "missionary place".

On the way to the "place of preaching".

Thomas heard from Captain Connor that they would be given rewards commensurate with their merits later - although the captain did not say what the "reward" was, Thomas thought it should be something good.

At this moment, it was already early morning both inside and outside the game of "God's Destiny".

Many players have already returned to their beds and logged off. Players like Thomas who are ready to complete the entire mission [Dark Sky Haze (Hell Difficulty)] are still a minority.

At this time, there are still 23 minutes left before the countdown ends for the limited-time task [Dark Sky Haze (Hell Difficulty)] in Thomas's task panel. Thomas has not actively settled it yet, but is preparing to wait for the countdown to the last moment.

This is a habit of RPG players - unless the rewards are fully collected in advance, similar limited-time tasks will be completed until the countdown ends to avoid missing out on something.

He watched the countdown of [Pitch-Dark Sky (Hell Difficulty)] on the task panel decrease second by second, and he became more and more excited.

Suddenly, Thomas's panel jumped and a new prompt appeared -

[Additional Mission Objective (Option 2): Assist in killing the enemy leader, Executioner 'Crow of Despair' Astralis - Completed]

——The last executioner, "Crow of Despair" Astralis, was killed when there were only 21 minutes left in the countdown!

Thomas' eyes suddenly lit up!
What is delayed gratification?
I can only say...staying up late does have its benefits!
He immediately opened the [Chat Channel] and couldn't wait to share the new content that appeared in his task panel with other players around him.

[Thomas the Tank Engine]: My friends, my panel just changed - the last executioner, the "Crow of Despair" Astralis from [Nothingness], is dead! What about you guys? !
[Cang Qing]: Me too! Fortunately, I didn’t settle the account in advance... I thought there was nothing left, but this wave is, this wave is a big victory for the wait-and-see party!
[Sweating soybeans]: ...Fuck. I have already settled my power in advance (sad)
[Sweating Soybeans]: No - what kind of good guy would go out and kill after a fight, huh?
[Sweating soybeans]: Damn, there is a cheat! .jpg
【Thomas the Tank Engine】: Hahahaha! Laughing.gif
[Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile]: Indeed, this also appeared on my task panel

[Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile]: It seems that the task has made me fat, I am relieved, relieved
【Thomas the Tank Engine】: Old Crocodile, are you back?
【Alicia】: The missing people return
【2.5夂吾】: The return of missing persons
【Human High-Quality Repeater Ji】: Missing People Return
【Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile】:……

【Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile】: I just went offline, not dead...

【……】：……

Although there were not many players online at this time, the [Chat Channel] was still very lively. Thomas chatted with other players for a while and then closed the panel.

He was walking towards the missionary with the players in the same team and Captain Connor Rune of the Holy Guard. Seeing that there was still a short distance to go, Thomas looked up.

Sure enough, not far from him, he saw another burly figure.

That was the back of a person wearing Paladin armor. Under the pale blue moonlight, crescent-shaped silver light was flowing on the surface of the armor. It was the back of another player who mainly played "Paladin", "Iron Pot Stew Crocodile".

Thomas then trotted over and greeted the crocodile.

He tapped the crocodile's silver armor, and the crocodile turned around at the same time, recognized Thomas, and greeted him.

"What happened to you? Why did the 'war correspondent' suddenly become silent?"

Thomas asked him half-jokingly.

The crocodile took off his helmet with his arm armor, exhaled, and responded to Thomas:
"...I saw the bishop fly over directly, and the executioner with a dragon head, uh, his name was 'Silver Blood Dragonborn' Kui something, was directly annihilated by the annihilation magic with all kinds of special effects."

"Then?"

Thomas walked side by side with the alligator and asked him, "Isn't this normal?"

"...Then, I thought that the 'Silver Blood Dragonborn' should have little health left, and wondered if I could get the reward for 'killing the Executioner', right?"

"Then, well, then I rushed in, melted, and happily got 6 hours of resurrection time for my family."

"I logged off later. I just logged back in and my resurrection cooldown has just passed."

"..."

"Brilliant."

Thomas suppressed his laughter and gave the crocodile a thumbs-up.

It seemed like he had died quite a lot—the instant resurrection scrolls in the [Apocalypse Mall] should have been bought up by the big guys, but he was still put on resurrection cooldown at least 7 or 8 times.

However, among the three professional branches of [Glorious], the "Paladin" is indeed the most likely to be beaten up by the righteous and the most likely to die.

At least before "Double Fate", "Paladin" seemed to only master melee or auxiliary melee skills, and was indeed easy to be focused on on the battlefield. In addition, the fighting style of "Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile" seemed to be a reckless man, so it was quite normal for him to die suddenly 7 or 8 times in a row...

In comparison, although the "priests" can learn a lot of long-range annihilation magic, their fragility is also their shortcoming...

Although the various field deployments and holy annihilation techniques of the "XX Bishop", the best-of-the-best-of-the-best-ranked "Apprentice Priest", are indeed ridiculously cool, today's players are still far from being as capable as the "Bishop" of the church, Ross Carlos, who can defeat anyone in an instant.

From this point of view, the "Priest" profession is the most suitable profession for novice players who are determined to pursue the "Glory" destiny!

"..."

Thomas was thinking about these things while chatting with the crocodile.

Soon, the open porch of the "Preaching House" appeared before Thomas' eyes.

They finally arrived, and Connor, the captain of the "Holy Guard", asked the players to wait outside while he went into the missionary house to take over from another "Grand Treasurer".

Thomas craned his neck and looked inside the mission house.

He saw the figure of the "Grand Treasurer" and recognized him as the former chief officer of the "Preaching House", Maiyev.

Come to think of it, it seems that during the internal test, the Paladin Maiyev of the Triple Fate picked me up from the gravel plain outside the city...Thomas thought.

At the same time, he saw that his captain Connor had finished the handover with Mayyev and turned to walk towards their players.

"Those whose names I call out will follow me in, and the rest of you will wait here for now."

Captain Connor said, his eyes immediately swept towards Thomas, and he was the first to read:

"—'Thomas the Tank Engine'."

"Yes, Captain." Thomas responded immediately and stepped forward.

For some reason, Thomas suddenly remembered the military training scene when he was a high school student in the real world...

He was standing next to Connor at this time, listening to the "captain" in front of him continue to read out the players' "names".

Because the IDs created by players were so weird, Connor kept reading them and Thomas noticed that he was frowning.

"Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile" was also called by Connor and came behind Thomas. This time, Connor called out the "names" of a total of sixteen players - they were all players who had participated in the internal test and were currently online.

Afterwards, Connor led the "Church Guards" and walked into the mission house.

Thomas followed him and soon came to a high walled building and stopped.

"..."

"You were once a member of the 'Saint Guard'," Connor said to the 'Church Patrol' in front of him:

"According to the instructions of His Eminence."

"I will lead you to get a new 'Bronze Key'."

——Bronze Key!
When Thomas heard Captain Connor mention this "reward", his eyes lit up!
He had originally been thinking about getting the key to advance [Glory] to the second level of destiny, and was going to wait until the next day to exchange it for "merits" from the preaching. But now - he could just skip this step and save a lot of merits!

After promoting [Glory] to the second destiny, the saved merits can be exchanged for more skills, knowledge, weapons, equipment, props or materials in the church!

Thomas thought excitedly in his heart, and at the same time he glanced to both sides and saw the same excited expressions on the faces of other players.

Then, behind Captain Connor.

A moment after Captain Connor finished speaking, sixteen clergymen from the "missionary" walked out from behind the porch of the building that resembled a Gothic chapel style.

They all held a small and exquisite square box in their hands, walked to the corresponding players, and handed the square box to the players.

Thomas reached out, took the box from the clergyman in front of him, and opened it impatiently.

——Wow!

A dark brown light burst out from the gap in the square box.

An ancient smell with a hint of copper rust blew into Thomas's face, and he immediately saw the "key" made entirely of bronze with ancient sacred words engraved on the edges and center, lying quietly on the silk at the bottom of the box.

——That is indeed the "Bronze Key"!
The square box does not have only one layer. The "Bronze Key" is wrapped in cloth and placed on the upper layer.

Thomas opened the secret cover on the lower level again, and a flash of light like scattered gold flakes passed by. He saw thirty imperial gold coins embedded one by one in the soft cotton pad.

Oh my god...

I have never seen so much money! .jpg
That was almost one month's salary for an ordinary [Glorious] double-career clergyman.

Thomas was excited. He immediately closed the lid of the box again, put the square box containing the bronze key and thirty gold coins into his arms, and nodded to thank the priest in front of him.

The priest nodded in response, then turned and left, returning to the sacred building, and his back soon disappeared.

All players received a "Bronze Key" and 30 gold coins - except for the "Iron Pot Stew Crocodile" who completed the promotion using the extraordinary key left over from the internal test. The box handed to him contained 60 gold coins, which were the key given to him, exchanged for gold coins of equal value.

The first wave of players who entered the "Place of Preaching" all had expressions of obvious excitement on their faces.

The "reward" the church gave them this time was very generous. After leaving the church and returning to their residence, they could use the experience points gained from the [Dark Sky Haze] mission to directly upgrade their career level to the upper limit of the "First Destiny" level lv.10!

Then, you can complete the [Promotion Mission] and consume a "Bronze Key" to complete the promotion!

This thought emerged in the minds of the players present.

At the same time, they heard the voice of "Captain of the Holy Guard" Connor:

"You have all touched the extraordinary, so now you are just regaining the power you once had."

"Use this key to open the door you have opened. The sun will protect you in a moment."

"..."

After saying this, Connor said no more, but led the players out of the courtyard and took them away from the "Preaching Place".

Thomas still followed Connor, watching the "captain" go to the other players who were still waiting and continue reading out the next round of "names". Thomas then left with the players who had received their rewards and returned to their residence in the suburbs of Red Maple City.

……

Almost fifteen minutes passed.

When Thomas returned to the suburban villa complex and to his room, the countdown for the limited-time task [Dark Sky Haze] on his task panel finally ended!
The column of this time-limited task has turned gray, and the progress has been locked. The "Task Settlement" option at the bottom is highlighted, reminding that it is in the "settlementable" state.

Thomas opened the [Chat Channel] and [Player Forum] at the same time, and saw that many players in the Red Maple City camp had already completed the settlement and were showing off their new mission rewards on the public screen.

Because the rewards for the limited-time mission [Dark Sky Haze (Hell Difficulty)] are dynamically settled, the guaranteed reward that all players can get is 25000 basic experience points and 25 free attribute points. Above that, the rewards will fluctuate depending on the actual kill targets of the mission.

Just in the [Player Forum] and [Chat Channel], players who share their rewards can get more than 27000 basic experience points, which is considered quite high. Most players only kill two or three "double-fate" extraordinary enemies, and dozens of "single-fate" ordinary enemies who have not even touched the extraordinary level. When added together, the experience points reward they can get is indeed about this number.

After reading the forum for a while, Thomas began to rub his hands excitedly and look forward to it.

He will make two settlements in total - in addition to [Pitch-Dark Sky Haze (Hell Difficulty)], he will also settle the killing reward for [Bitter Tea]'s triple destiny "Giant Warrior" Naigu!

Full of expectations, Thomas looked at the task panel again and gave the order to settle [Dark Sky Haze] -

【…】

[Completed the limited-time mission: Dark Sky Haze (Hell Difficulty)]

[The attacking dark army has been defeated, and you have successfully protected Red Maple City - but the "judgment" is not over yet, and the dark peeping still remains in the shadows. ]

[Get basic completion rewards: Basic experience +16800, free attribute points +15]

[Get additional completion rewards: Basic experience +15000, free attribute points +15]

[Obtain special completion rewards: Basic experience +10000, free attribute points +5, and a "rare" quality specialty*1 that matches your destiny]

【…】

"——Fuck!"

"In total, I got... more than 41,000 experience points!"

Thomas was so excited that he couldn't help but hum. This was much higher than those players who showed off their experience in the [Player Forum] and [Chat Channel]!
The settlement has not yet ended here, Thomas immediately began to settle the settlement for the "rare" quality expertise!

[Adapting to the "rare" quality expertise generation...]

[Obtain the expertise "Saint of Light (Rare)"]!
[Saint of Light (Rare): You are bathed in light - you comprehend the divine life from the holy light. ]

[Your "divinity" attribute +6, "physique" attribute +6. The "holy light" attribute damage you cause increases by 10%, and the "holy light" resistance penetration increases by 10%. ]

【…】

"I'm super, strong!"

Looking at the newly refreshed and settled "rare" quality expertise on the panel, Thomas' eyes lit up!
This is the first expertise he obtained in this public beta test, and it will undoubtedly be a huge improvement for him.

Without any hesitation, Thomas quickly confirmed the result of the settlement.

Afterwards, he opened the mailbox panel again and saw the reward experience for killing the "Giant Warrior" Naigu lying inside, with a striking red dot constantly jumping.

Without any hesitation, Thomas accepted the kill reward.

And his panel once again showed new settlement information—

【…】

[Kill "Giant Warrior" Naigu (lv.24), gain 984 basic experience points]

["Giant Warrior" Naigu (lv.24) is 14 levels behind you]

[Kill above your level! Gain 140% extra experience points...]

[Rewards settlement, actual experience points gained: 2362! ]

["Giant Warrior" Naigu (lv.24) is a twisted-level boss]

[Rewards for killing the twisted boss are being generated...]

【…】

[Kill rewards generated]

[Gain the expertise "Giant Strength (Rare)", free attribute points *3]

[Giant's Strength (Rare): You are given a seed by the God of Storms, and power is gathered in your blood.

Your body will gain more strength, and your "Strength" attribute will be increased by +10; at the same time, your "Physical Attack" attribute will gain an additional value of 1 times the "Strength" attribute. 】

【…】

It turns out to be a "rare" quality specialty...

Looking at the settlement results refreshed on the panel, Thomas touched his chin, his eyes flickering.

He originally thought that by calculating the kill rewards across two levels of destiny, he might be able to obtain an "epic" quality expertise, but now it seems that such a good thing is unlikely to happen in "God's Destiny".

Does it just make the chance of getting a good feat higher? Or is there some other hidden improvement...

Thomas thought about this while operating the panel to confirm the result of this settlement.

Anyway, through this limited-time mission [Dark Sky Haze], he obtained 44162 basic experience points, 38 free attribute points, and two "rare" quality specialties, which is already a huge profit!
The most important gain is these two "rare" quality specialties - when most other players have not obtained even one specialty, I have already obtained two!

This makes his actual combat power much higher than that of most players, almost to the point where he can crush two players of the same level with pure attributes!
Thomas closed the settlement page with satisfaction, and then opened the [Player Forum] and [Chat Channel].

In these two social panels, Thomas looked at many other players who were showing off the rewards they had obtained after completing the limited-time task [Dark Sky Haze].

The highest settlement reward currently publicly available has been refreshed to 31000 basic experience points, but no one has yet reached Thomas's level of over .

Thomas raised a smile and was about to post the reward he got on the public screen to show off to the other players who were chatting enthusiastically, but after thinking about it, he gave up the idea.

Because as a veteran MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) player, he knew that if he obtained rewards that were too much higher than those of ordinary players, such as the two "rare" quality specialties, he might be targeted with ill intentions if they were known by players or groups with ulterior motives.

In other MMORPG games that Thomas had played, players had experienced this kind of thing - they were lucky enough to get a server-exclusive piece of equipment, but were hunted down by a large guild for three days and three nights; they got a high-quality skill scroll, but it was hacked and their backpacks were empty when they got it back, etc...

Many similar things have happened in the real world.

Although Thomas has not encountered such obvious studio manipulation in the current "God's Fate", he still keeps it in mind.

If you don't show off, you won't die! .jpg
But sometimes I can't help it.

Thomas, unable to wait any longer, opened the [Friends] panel and saw that the avatar of "Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile" was still online and in bright color.

He directly opened the private chat interface with "Iron Pot Stew Crocodile", sent a greeting emoticon to the crocodile, and then typed a tentative message -

[Thomas the Tank Engine]: Hi, Old Crocodile, have you completed that limited-time mission?
After just a few seconds of waiting, the crocodile replied to his message.

[Big Crocodile Stewed in Iron Pot]: It’s settled, what’s wrong?
Thomas the Tank Engine: What did you get?
[Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile]: Uh, let me see...

[Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile]: A total of 35800 basic experience points, 35 free attribute points, and then killed a... uh, it seems to be a dragon soldier with the second destiny of [Red Lotus]? A "normal" specialty was dropped, that's all
[Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile]: What about you? What did you get from the settlement?

35800 experience points, 35 free points… He is already a big player among the “Double Destiny” Paladins. The enemies he has defeated are indeed much more than those of normal players… Thomas thought to himself, with a subtle smile on his face.

——Hey! But still not as much as me!
[Thomas the Tank Engine]: It's nothing special, just over 38 experience points and free points...

【Big Crocodile Stewed in an Iron Pot】:?

[Big Crocodile Stewed in an Iron Pot]: Where did you get so much?

[Thomas the Tank Engine]: I picked up the head of a "Giant Warrior" of the Triple Fate of [Ku Tu] on the battlefield. There is a special completion reward. Hey
【Big Crocodile Stewed in Iron Pot】：???

【Big Crocodile Stewed in an Iron Pot】:Ah?
[Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile]: Didn't you also get the 'Rare' quality specialty? Huh?
Thomas the Tank Engine: Yes, I got it.

Thomas the Tank Engine: I took two more
【Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile】：???
【Iron Pot Stewed Crocodile】: Smile/Smile/Smile/
[Big Crocodile Stewed in an Iron Pot]: Eat the spear and crawl!
(Your friend "Iron Pot Stew Crocodile" has gone offline)

(...)
Hey, it feels good.

A smile as bright as a sunflower appeared on Thomas' face.

Pi is very happy this time!
He then closed the chat interface, lay down on the bed, opened the game main panel, and the "Exit Game" option popped up.

He was already at the initial resurrection point - on Thomas's [bed], and could exit "God's Destiny" comfortably.

When I returned to reality, I had dinner first... er, breakfast? The biological monitoring system in the game cabin showed that I was already "hungry" in the real world...

I was thinking of getting promoted now, but I decided to log off to eat first, then take a nap. I will log into the game after I wake up and concentrate on getting promoted to the second destiny...

"..."

Thomas thought to himself as he lay peacefully in bed and gave the panel the command to "Exit Game".

Then, the body of "Thomas the Tank Engine" began to gradually fade and become transparent.

Soon, he disappeared completely and "vanished" from this world.

He went offline like this, and his consciousness returned to the world he was supposed to be in.

……

Two hours later.

The newly-rising sun had cast an orange-red outline above the walls of Red Maple City.

The sky gradually changed from dark to bright, the outline of the clouds became clear under the outline of the rising sun, and the pale blue moon had not yet completely set.

The dawn has arrived.

Inside the Red Maple City Church and the Bishop's Seat, the door of Bishop Luo Xiu's residence was gently knocked.

The "Guide Pastor" Colen stood outside the door and waited humbly for a while. From the other side of the door came the voice of the "Bishop" Ross Carlos:
"Come in."

"..."

After Rossio allowed him to enter, Colen pushed open the door of the bishop's room and walked in.

He saw that his "bishop", Ross Carlos, had changed into a pure white bishop's robe with gold patterns, and glanced at him indifferently.

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

The "guiding priest" Colen respectfully performed the sacrament to Luo Xiu, and then said humbly:
"My fellow missionaries have sorted out the gains from this holy war and need your review."

"The officiant of the Holy Inquisition, 'Howard Berrut', would also like to ask you to go to the Holy Inquisition and give a final farewell speech to those clergymen who died in the 'holy war'."

"Lord Fran Demir, I would also like to invite you to the Secret Place. Lord Fran said that the border court has sent an envoy, and he has been waiting for a long time. He would like to invite you to go and accept his audience."

"besides……"

"..."

Colen's attitude remained humble and respectful. He told Luo Xiu the "jobs" he was supposed to do one by one, while Luo Xiu listened with a gentle smile on his face, nodding slightly between Colen's words as he finished one job and another.

It was not until Colen had told his "bishop" Luo Xiu all the eleven things to do in a row that he finally stopped and stopped increasing Luo Xiu's workload.

"Yes, I know that, Colum."

Luo Xiu nodded and said to his waiter, the "Guiding Pastor" Colen: "I will go to the Holy Inquisition first to bid farewell to my martyred comrades."

"Before that, Coren, go to the secret place and ask the envoy from the Border Court to come to the Holy Inquisition. I will meet him after the farewell ceremony."

"As for the rest, Coren, the order of things is up to you."

After Luo Xiu finished speaking, he patted Colen on the shoulder and said in an encouraging tone:
"Go ahead, Coren, and inform the other clergy as I say."

"..."

"I will obey your orders, Your Excellency."

Colen responded humbly, performed one final sacrament on Luo, then turned and left, his figure disappearing at the white steps at the corner of the holy throne.

And after Colen left.

The gentle expression on Luo Xiu's face disappeared instantly, and was replaced by a somewhat mournful expression.

over slept……

The day before... No, it was early this morning, he just wanted to take a nap!

But after a whole day of high-intensity work and fighting, the body is already protesting. Even if it is a fifth-level saint of [Glory] or a hidden profession "Apostle of Divine Glory", it cannot escape the temptation of sleep!

The price is that I have slept for less than two hours and just woke up to face such heavy church affairs. Moreover, it seems that these new affairs will never be finished if I don’t finish them by night. They will never be finished!

"Ugh……"

Life is not easy, the bishop sighs.jpg
But at least I slept for almost two hours, which helped me regain some energy.

After Colen left, Luo Xiu went to the bathroom, quickly washed up, and tidied up his appearance and clothing as a "bishop" of the church. He also left the bishop's seat and walked towards the direction of the Holy Inquisition.

On the way to the Inquisition, he opened the [Player Forum] and [Chat Channel] and saw that the number of messages in them had exceeded the upper limit of chat record storage.

Many players are discussing the settlement of the rewards for [Dark Sky Haze]. Most players have received around 26,000 basic experience points, which is far more than what is required to raise the career level of "First Destiny" to the upper limit. The experience slots of many players are now in an "overflowing" state.

This is also the result that Luo Xiu wants to see.

Because, in his other plan, when the players’ experience points are full, “Holy Abyss” will make its grand debut!
The "Spiritual Fountain" was already thirsty, and Luo Xiu had already decided what to sell in the [Holy Abyss Mall].

It is when players have a lot of experience and don’t know how to spend it - this is the perfect time for players to carry out the first round of “harvesting”!

"..."

While thinking about the "Holy Abyss" and the players.

Suddenly, Luo Xiu stopped.

He looked up and saw the gate of the "Holy Tribunal" standing before him.

……

(End of this chapter)