Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 520 The Burning Heart Church
Aowu looked at Li Xia, whose clothes were tattered beyond recognition, and whose body was covered with countless tiny wounds.

Neither Li Xia nor Aowu took this minor injury seriously.

On the contrary, Aowu was very interested in what Li Xia was saying:
"Hate corruption? That's probably unlikely."

Don't be fooled by Collins's continued rationality; the current Collins is a completely different person from the previous Collins, or even a completely different being.

Even if there are past memories or even feelings, it is no longer the same person.

Corruption is never a simple word; it is a change that occurs at the very essence of life.

Like the dean of a university in the global power struggle, he also retained his memories, but what was the result?

That's why Awoo was surprised by Collins's hatred and corruption.

This feeling is like a fish hating water; it's unlikely, both rationally and mentally.

"Maybe"

Li Xia remained silent for a while. It was just a feeling in his heart, and he had no evidence.

Even he himself found it strange that if Collins really hated corruption, how did he manage to do it?
What forces one to forcibly reverse their instincts and hate something that sustains their survival?

"Collins is very rational, unlike the corruptors I've seen before. Perfect mutation is already a kind of advancement in another sense."

He had reached the limit of advancement, and even the pseudo-upper limit had appeared, making him a complete peak of the third tier.

If one had to find an adjective, Li Xia could only be described as being at the peak of the third tier, half-step into the fourth tier, as described in the novel.

"Are you all alright? Where's Iris?"

Li Xia stood up, and wisps of blue smoke rose from the wounds on his body. In just a few short words, the wounds had completely healed.

Not even a mark was left. Not only that, the tattered clothes were also being repaired very quickly. These energy-loving entities only need to input energy to regenerate and recover.

Although the protective effect was almost non-existent, Li Xia didn't need such thin clothing for protection.

Those minor scratches were from when he was too lazy to activate his armor and instead endured the aftershocks of the explosion.

"I'm fine too."

Iris's eyes were still a little red and swollen. She took off the mask that covered her scars and lowered her head to rub her eyes again.

Their gazes toward Li Xia's upper body were filled with astonishment; what an incredible speed of self-healing, and not even a scar remained.

She unconsciously touched her scars with her fingers; these scars were the price of fighting against darkness.

Iris never regretted it, but if only she could be without the scars.

"Could this be a special ability of the Bewildered Ones? Will they not be left with scars even if they undergo the Stigmata Ritual again in the future?"

With a hopeful look, she asked in a low voice.

Li Xia paused for a moment upon hearing this, but did not answer directly:
"It will end."

Will it end?
What ends?
Iris looked at him in surprise, completely not understanding what Li Xia meant.

But she quickly remembered the urgent matter at hand and hurriedly called Li Xia back to the magic vehicle.

"By the way, we need to hurry back. We need to report the situation in Ogan City to the church."

This is a big deal!

The headquarters of the Burning Heart Church was not far away, or rather, closer than Li Xia had expected, but Iris quickly explained the reason.

"Most of the world has fallen into deep corruption, and living in it will quickly lead to getting lost."

The remaining, slightly cleaner areas were getting smaller and smaller.

Iris stopped the magic vehicle, opened the cover at the back, revealing a full load of bags, some of which were still covered in damp soil.

It looks like it contains the roots and stems of some kind of plant. Is this food?

No wonder she insisted on driving the magic car; she simply chose the faster option to speed away.

"Holy Words, Nature, Burning Heart. We were once allies who watched over each other, and we even used our church headquarters as nodes to construct a huge magic circle using sacred artifacts."

It can resist and slow down the invasion of corruption, but in recent years the area we can protect has been getting smaller and smaller.

We've backed down again and again, thank you!

Iris watched in amazement as Awoo simply waved his paw, and the bags full of roots floated lightly in mid-air. She said gratefully.

"No problem, where do you put this?"

Aowu had a good impression of Iris. Even though her strength was average, at least she was still persisting and resisting, which was much better than those strong cowards who knelt on the ground immediately.

And this persistence is not just empty talk or slogans, but a real commitment that is present in every stigma imprint on the entire body.

Grandpa Long always held such courageous warriors in high regard.

"It'll be fine if we put it in the storeroom. Thank goodness, the Church of Nature can hold out for a while longer; this food is what they provided for us."

"What if the Church of Nature also falls?"

Iris was silent for a moment, then shook her head with a wry smile:

"I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for much longer."

Xiaolong easily lifted dozens of large bags and delivered them to a somewhat crooked wooden house. To its surprise, there was no warehouse manager to receive the goods.

But this wasn't a big deal. Little Dragon kept its doubts to itself until it followed its leader and Iris to the legendary headquarters of the Burning Heart Cult.

The question was suddenly answered; what appeared before them was truly unexpected.

A dilapidated, low-rise building, a few brick and tile bungalows, the only thing worth mentioning is probably the mark of a heart burned by flames, cast from precious metals.

Looking at this headquarters, it can definitely be described as shabby and miserable.

Even Li Xia couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and look at Iris beside her:

"This is the headquarters?"

"Yes, this is the headquarters."

Iris responded calmly, as if a great burden had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders, and she collapsed as if her body had slumped down.

"The Church of the Night has been hunting us down. Many people have died. We kept running and running, but some people couldn't withstand the corruption and took their own lives before the mutation."

We've been running for years, and the rest of us are here.

"Iris? You're back?"

A loud voice shouted, and the group looked up to see a short, burly man with fiery red hair looking at them with delight.

He carried a heavy-looking metal backpack on his back, with several strange-looking, spider-joint-like objects protruding from inside.

There was something resembling an eyepiece over his left eye.

"who are they?"

After a brief moment of surprise, the burly man looked at Li Xia warily again.

“Uncle Sander!” Iris waved happily.

"The lost ones! I've found the lost ones!"

A blacksmith, an old and somewhat senile data clerk, a half-crippled archbishop, a knight with a broken leg, and a priest with one arm missing.

Add to that the bedridden Shadow Hunter, and this is the last strength of the Burning Heart Church.

Looking at the group of elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people, Li Xia finally understood why it was Iris who was carrying out the operations outside.

This girl is not weak, but she is not strong either; at most, she is at the level of a mid-tier third-order apostle.

With a difficulty level of at least A, this Black General is only strong enough to escape; she can't defeat any slightly stronger opponents.

Furthermore, he was far inferior to experts like himself and Collins, who were at the peak of the third tier.

The gap between the top-tier Tier 3 and the mid-tier Tier 3 is greater than the gap between a human and a dog!

The reason why it was Iris who was sent out was because the Burning Heart Church could not send anyone else besides Iris!
The arrival of Li Xia, this 'lost soul,' brought a great shock to the Burning Heart Church.

The inability to verify the identities plunged the already desperate Burning Heart Church into an unprecedentedly fierce argument.

The Burning Heart Church, which has been constantly hunted down, is sensitive and suspicious, and has raised many questions about whether Li Xia is actually a pursuer sent by the Church of the Night.

Ultimately, it was the sole survivor of the Mechanicus, the blacksmith Sand, who stood up and put an end to the debate.

"Collins has been corrupted and his strength has become even greater. Is someone who can fight against the corrupted Collins without being at a disadvantage a being we can currently contend with?"
So what are you arguing about? Look at yourselves.

"Do we really need to send such a powerful expert to eliminate you?"

The small meeting fell silent. After a while, Archbishop Nar of the Burning Heart Church let out a long sigh:

“Sande, you’re right.”

The door to the small building was pushed open, and the blacksmith Sander walked out with a stern face.

Iris, who was sitting outside waiting with Li Xia, immediately jumped up and asked anxiously.

"How's it going? Uncle Sander, have you verified Xia's identity?"

Back at the camp, Iris lost all the composure she had shown outside. Only then did she act like a normal girl, full of energy that her age should have.

It was only recently that Li Xia learned that Iris was only nineteen years old, but had already undergone ten Stigmata rituals.

She is the only new generation member within the Burning Heart Church.

Sander shook his head, and Iris's eyes immediately dimmed.

She knew the church's rules; Xia could not stay at the camp under any circumstances if her identity could not be verified.

But these are the Bewildered Ones, the most powerful fighting force in the legendary Burning Heart Church.

"Although Mr. Xia cannot verify your identity, the entire Burning Heart Church welcomes you."

Sander walked up to Li Xia and solemnly performed a strange yet dignified greeting:
“The Church is currently in great danger, and Bishop Nar hopes that you can participate in the meeting to discuss the future of the Church.”

"can."

Li Xia nodded noncommittally. If at first he had been hoping to get combat power assistance from the Burning Heart Church, then he was correct.

But I no longer have that idea, even so the Burning Heart Church is still very important.

Having fought against the darkness for so many years, even while being chased around, his understanding of the Church of the Night and the fallen Archbishop Simmons still far surpasses that of himself.

Therefore, Li Xia never underestimated the role of the Scorching Heart Church; intelligence was just as important, even more important than combat power.

Sander nodded and gestured for him to proceed.

"By the way, Iris, you should come too. This is no longer the time to stick to those dogmas."

Sander glanced at Iris again, and slowly spoke amidst her surprised gaze.

The three of them walked into the small building together. It had obviously been simply renovated, and several silent people sat around a rough square table.

In the main armchair, a man with a white beard smiled and nodded at Li Xia.

You could tell he wanted to straighten his back more, but the wound on his waist that was dripping black liquid prevented him from doing so.

Li Xia nodded in response. It was clear that the Archbishop of the Burning Heart was once a powerful figure. If he hadn't been strong enough, he probably would have been gone long ago.

"Welcome. Although Fafnir was unable to verify your identity as a Bewildered One, the Burning Heart Church welcomes all who fight against the corruption of darkness."

Despite the excruciating pain, the archbishop gave his opening remarks, pointing to the old man who was lost in thought to himself. This must be the somewhat senile recorder, Fafner.

He leaned forward slightly, as if that would make him more comfortable, and asked somewhat urgently:
"Xia, where were you when you woke up? Do you have anything that can prove your identity? Like a silver tag?"

The fire-passing ceremony is quite dangerous and can cause memory loss, so a sign is made before the ceremony with one's information written on it.

This way, even if you forget who you are, you can still find clues by relying on the sign.

Li Xia shook his head and said decisively:

"No, I was in Ogan when I woke up. If I hadn't met Iris, I probably wouldn't have been able to leave Ogan."

Is that so? Nar's eyes dimmed slightly. The Ogan in the dream was a place that was both real and unreal, although it was rather strange to wake up in the Ogan.

But if they are truly members of the Burning Heart Cult, it wouldn't be surprising if they knew how to enter the Ogan.

As the last resistance force, the three churches had a fairly good relationship. Many believers of the Burning Heart and Nature were desperate about the future and voluntarily went to Ogan to live in the dream world.

Although escaping is shameful, it is useful.

Iris immediately raised her hand and said very seriously:

"Yes, at the time I was being hunted by the Order of the Knights of the Holy Decree, probably because Collins had become corrupt, which is why he gave such an order."

Xia saved me; he didn't even know if he was a lost soul, or if I had told him.

It's perfectly normal for someone who's lost to not know they're lost; the few people who had been listening silently nodded in agreement.

“Iris said.”

The man sitting at the table, hidden in the shadow of the wall, raised his head, revealing a disheveled, lifeless, and withered face, and said in a low voice:

"The only thing you remember is killing the fallen Archbishop Simmons."

The Judgment Knight, who had lost both legs and could only crawl on the ground using his arms, shook his head:

I advise you—don't go.

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

There will only be one update today.

My dad is in the hospital, and I've been busy with that all day. He'll have surgery on Thursday, so I'll probably have to take some time off then.

I'm so sorry!

(End of this chapter)