Resisting temptation makes you stronger? I'm going to build a base and cultivate martial arts.

Father John was already teetering on the brink of collapse after spitting out that mouthful of blood in mid-air.

After being affected by the aftershocks of the angel's explosion, it was like a piece of waste paper blown into the sky by a strong wind.

Fortunately, John must have flown quite a bit.

Even in this state, he still tried to spread out his black robe, using the structure of the garment itself to slow his fall and adjust his direction to drift towards the crowd.

The dozens of gray-white giants were completely stunned when they saw the Gate of the Otherworld destroyed.

A moment later, they seemed to lose their leader, and the whole group scattered.

Some of them howled loudly toward the original location of the Gate of the Others.

Some of them chased after Father John.

Another large portion fled to distant places.

The monks from the Administration Bureau breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Gate of the Otherworld destroyed.

The enemy's reinforcements have been cut off; all we need to do is take out these in front of us.

The warriors swarmed and attacked the white giant.

Meanwhile, a separate team was dispatched to meet Father John.

Although we don't know what happened to this priest, he helped us so much and is now clearly in some kind of predicament, so we must protect him.

White Wolf led the members of Class Yichou away to a safe area, where they also stood still and began to observe the battle inside.

On the ground, warriors and gray-white giants were locked in fierce combat.

Although the gray-white giant was very strong in charging into battle, it was still being forced to retreat under the control of the spellcasting squad.

Seeing that the outcome of the battle below had been decided, the white wolf looked up at the sky again.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes: "Um, is Father John heading this way?"

"Yes!" Li Qi raised her head. "The distance is a bit far, I'll control it."

She mobilized her spiritual power and began to gather a stream of energy.

That way, when Father John comes closer, the descent will be slower.

At the same time, the martial artists dispatched by the Eastern District to provide backup were also rapidly approaching.

Judging from the distance, those martial artists should be able to reach Father John first.

Suddenly, the white wolf roared, "Li Qi, blow the wind upwards so the priest can get away from those people!"

The Heavenly River Sword Manual's all-domain perception naturally cannot cover that far.

However, with the blessing of spiritual power, the white wolf is now quite sharp-witted.

Of course, most importantly, those cultivators made almost no attempt to conceal their true intentions.

The spiritual energy within their bodies has overflowed and begun to form various strange phenomena, clearly operating at an extremely unusual speed.

This intense situation can't even be called a sneak attack; it's downright a life-or-death struggle!

After shouting, the white wolf charged straight ahead.

Guided by him, the people of Class Yichou also subconsciously charged forward.

Li Qi was taken aback, but still trusted Bai Lang.

Without asking any questions, she channeled her spiritual power to manipulate the wind and push it fiercely upwards.

It's too late.

Even though the charging cultivators realized they had been discovered, their faces remained completely expressionless.

But in this deep, still calm, their bodies suddenly began to swell.

Then they exploded one by one.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

The light became distorted.

The shock wave spread outwards in a disc-like shape.

White Wolf glanced at John, sighed softly, and then roared, "Defense!"

Wu Xuan rushed forward in perfect unison, unleashing the full power of the Cleaving Osmanthus Technique, transforming it into the toughest flow-breaking weapon.

The white wolf stood to the side and rear, its all-encompassing perception activated, tasked with breaking up large rocks and wisps of spiritual energy in the air in advance, thus reducing the burden on Wu Xuan.

The two of them blocked most of the shockwave.

At the next point, Jingxi, Ji Huaiguang, and Lü Kui also formed a human wall to protect the remaining members of Class Yichou.

John was in trouble while he was in mid-air.

He was like a broken doll, being tossed about again in the gale.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, which then spilled onto the ground.

Fortunately, at the last moment, White Wolf saw that the shockwave had passed.

He quickly compressed his spiraling energy, accelerated with his feet, and rushed over to catch the person.

At least the unfortunate priest wasn't thrown again.

After catching John, the white wolf carefully laid him flat on the ground. Then, following the first aid procedure that Yu Ce had taught in class, he first placed his hand on John's shoulder and slowly spread his spiritual energy over him.

He discovered that John's meridians were shattered, and his spiritual energy, like an ant without its queen, was running rampant everywhere, regardless of the meridians or the body.

If left unchecked, John will be killed by the backlash of his own spiritual power.

But the priest seemed oblivious.

He grinned at the white wolf: "Ahem! The martial arts techniques of your Eastern Region are quite ruthless."

White Wolf gritted his teeth: "Father... I'll send you back to the Thorn Sect now! Even the Heavenly Healing Technique won't help you in this condition. Only your sacred chants can save you..."

"No, no need!" John smiled wryly. "Just now, my divine connection was severed."

"What?" Jingxi exclaimed in surprise.

Unlike the white wolf, she knew exactly what this meant.

"This is an extermination punishment, which can only be used by the higher-ups of the Thorn Faction... I've already been abandoned, so there's no point in going back."

"Why?" White Wolf frowned. "What did you do wrong?"

"I've always believed that since 'God' was created by humankind, it should be used by humankind. Cough!" Father John spat out another mouthful of blood. "In your Eastern District's parlance, that's a bit disrespectful, hahahaha..."

White Wolf took a deep breath.

He recalled the scene from earlier.

The four angels, without any hesitation, just went ahead and exploded.

To the Thorn School, Father John, a humanist, was a blatant heretic!

People in the East Region simply cannot understand this logic.

For example, Lü Kui was extremely angry: "But aren't the Thorns faction afraid of being held accountable by the coalition government?"

"Which is more important, God or humanity? This is merely an internal disagreement within the Thorn Faction. Besides, the United Government can tolerate even the Witchcraft Faction to ensure humanity's survival, let alone the Thorn Faction?"

Jingxi sighed.

Ji Huaiguang frowned: "Speaking of this, the Thorn Faction has been oppressing the Witchcraft Faction in the South Seas for so long, are they aware of today's plan? Perhaps they're even happy to see it happen, or maybe they're deliberately pushing it forward!"

"Sigh! You're overthinking it." John smiled wryly.

"The hatred between the two factions in the Nanyang area has a long history, and they don't need many reasons to fight each other."

"However, I don't know if they have received any other orders."

Everyone fell silent.

Think about it: right now, apart from John, everyone else in the Thorn faction is basically playing dead.

This might be an answer in itself.

White Wolf looked at John and sighed, "Is there anything I can do for you now?"

"Just survive, and remember this." A glimmer of light suddenly appeared on John's pale face. "Beware of the Thorn Faction... and also, the cursed seal in my teacher's possession—it's very important. Find it, and then hide it..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

His smile froze on his face.

White Wolf could sense a strange passage appearing inside John's body.

The previously scattered, even ferocious, golden spiritual energy seemed to receive guidance once again.

In an instant, they all obediently surged into the passage and then disappeared.

Only one human corpse remained.