My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Black Flag's abilities are similar to those of a hybrid mage; it also possesses the ability to disguise itself as an ordinary human, but it is more powerful than a hybrid mage.

After disguising itself as an ordinary human, it can pass through the detection of conventional detection spells without worrying about being discovered.

Leveraging this unique advantage, Black Flag has long infiltrated human territory to carry out sabotage missions behind enemy lines.

The Church of the Otherworldly Demons described the Elemental Demon Temple as "invincible".

But they must defeat the Elemental Temple (Note 1), a task specifically assigned by Vasaksa. (Note 1: The Elemental Temple is the name given by the Church of the Otherworld to the human temple.)

Therefore, Black Flag was entrusted with an important task: to appear in human territory under a completely new identity and become an important figure in the Elemental Demon Temple before Lord Vasaksat arrives, so as to cooperate with the army of the Otherworldly Demon Church from within.

In the end, they destroyed the Elemental Demon Temple in one fell swoop as a gift to welcome Lord Vasaksat.

The mission is codenamed "Candied Poison Pill"—meaning that Black Flag is packaging himself as a rising talent with superb alchemy or mage skills, mastering several key alchemical techniques or spells. He uses his development potential, which is extremely attractive to the Demon Palace, to gain its attention and rise to a high position.

In past missions, Black Flag at most acted as a stirrer, pushing a group of people to oppose the leading figures among humanity at the time.

This time, the Church of the Otherworldly Demons hopes it will become a key member of the Temple.

The difference in difficulty between the two tasks is like night and day.

Becoming a key member of the Temple inevitably requires undergoing a loyalty ceremony and absorbing the element of light, which is undoubtedly a huge challenge to the Black Flag's steadfastness.

The Church of the Otherworldly Demons was mentally prepared for the failure of the Black Flag mission, but when Black Flag actually lost contact and disappeared without a trace, the Church of the Otherworldly Demons inevitably fell into controversy.

There are two factions within the church.

One faction advocates for the subversive approach of dismantling the Elemental Temple from within, exemplified by the Tambus State massacre and the numerous acts of destruction perpetrated by otherworldly cults within the temple's territory. They argue for destroying the Elemental Temple's foundations with minimal cost.

Another faction advocated for a war-oriented approach, emphasizing rapid military expansion. Because such expansion was difficult and costly, and a war with the powerful Elemental Temple would inevitably be a fight to the death, this faction was in the minority before the Black Flag disappeared.

After the Black Flag disappeared, the two factions had a heated debate and ultimately decided to conduct a limited search for the Black Flag and take the initiative to contact it.

Many secret locations on the Western and Eastern Continents became the first stop for the Otherworldly Demons in their search for the Black Flag.

At the same time, the Church of the Otherworldly Demons dispatched a large number of Otherworldly Demons to infiltrate these secret locations. The Blood Demon, Quarovich, who was searching for the Western Continent, was among them.

The search results were bad; the black flag had completely disappeared.

With the subversives suffering defeat, the war faction seized complete control of the church and decided to execute the all-out war plan at all costs.

They emptied their coffers and launched a full-scale attack on the temple, breaching its Hall of Creation, destroying the Creation Crystal, and eradicating the foundation of elemental magic and elemental alchemy.

If Black Flag truly has become an important figure within the Temple as it claims, then it will certainly secretly cooperate with the Church's army, supporting the Church with intelligence resources.

Even without the support of the Black Flag or the dispelling of the Creation Smoke, it will certainly satisfy the soon-to-arrive Vasaksat.

Even if the war on the ground is not over when Vasaksat arrives, or if the Church of the Otherworld is at a disadvantage, it doesn't matter... it's still better than Vasaksat discovering that the Otherworlders are slacking off.

After reading Kadum's translation, Christo felt as if two mountains were pressing down on her heart.

One possibility is that Black Flag has infiltrated the Temple and become a high-ranking member.

This intelligence, whose veracity is uncertain, will inevitably trigger a severe crisis of trust within the Temple. Anyone whose story matches the time and place will be forced to undergo scrutiny by the Inquisition.

Worst of all, the intelligence report explicitly stated that Black Flag's goal was to become a high-ranking member of the Temple.

Those who can enter the council of the two temples are all high-ranking members of the temple.

There are hundreds of people here. Does that mean everyone has to be examined by the court? Given the court's ruthless methods and harsh attitude, wouldn't that lead to chaos?

Christo strongly suspected that this intelligence was fabricated by the higher-ups of the Church of the Otherworldly Demons to conduct ideological work for the all-out war. The aim was to boost the morale and cohesion of the Otherworldly army by using the fabricated covert assistance of the Black Flag.

The second thing that put Christo under immense pressure was the arrival of Vasaksat.

Based on the deciphered intelligence, Vasaksat will appear outside the Creation Smoke in 12 to 16 months at most.

If the Temple fails to defeat the Church of the Otherworldly Demons before Vasaksat's arrival, it will be caught in a disadvantageous situation, facing attacks from both the ground and the outer space.

The translated information wasn't all bad news either.

The Church of the Otherworld's assessment of the Temple's strength was some comforting news for Christo.

In this world, those who understand the Temple's strength most deeply are definitely not the Temple members themselves.

Due to the existence of the secrecy system, even members of the two councils cannot know all the research results of other departments.

As a pureblood mage, Krestor was unaware of the alchemy school's hidden and unique alchemical tools, just as other departments were unaware that a pureblood mage named Shazo had mastered the [Blood Element Servant].

Thinking of Xia Zuo... Cresto slightly turned her head and looked at the figure sitting in the chair staring blankly at the translation.

A look of confusion flashed in Christor's eyes as a question that was difficult to explain arose in her mind.

Assuming the intelligence regarding the Black Flag is true.

Such a demon cannot be cleansed of its evil. It is like a stubborn rock buried in dung; even after being washed hundreds or thousands of times, it still reeks.

It can evade conventional detection spells, so how can it evade the detection of the Witcher school?

If it wants to become a key member of the Temple, how can it gain the trust of the Light Element?

Can it gain the approval of the light element?

While Christo was deep in thought, Shazo was thinking about something else.

He was now almost 100% certain that he was inextricably linked to Black Flag, and he already had a clear deduction in his mind.

Black Flag - Golden Finger - Xia Zuo.

In this chain, the Golden Finger likely acts as a sealing vessel. The Golden Finger seals the Black Flag within its body, using the Black Flag's power to strengthen Xia Zuo.

The rewards given by the cheat system after he completes specific tasks, as well as the free attribute points given after each level up, are clearly not something that appears out of thin air, but rather something that was peeled off from the sealed Black Flag.

When Xia Zuo met the Pillars of Creation and saw his own spiritual ocean, he speculated that the Golden Finger was the fourth attempt by nature to fight against the Otherworldly Demons, and was a pilot project on him.

Now it seems that this speculation may be untenable.

The black flag... is likely the key to the cheat code.

So, where does the "golden finger" come from?

have no idea..

"Sigh..." Xia Zuo sighed deeply, rubbed his temples a few times, and looked distressed.

Hearing the long sigh, Christo assumed that Shazzo was also thinking about the possibility of the court conducting a full review of the council members, and offered words of comfort:

"Xia Zuo, don't be pessimistic. Investigating the actions of the Temple's high-ranking officials will involve a great many people and matters. The two temples will focus on discussing the trial and will not allow the Tribunal to act recklessly."

Xia Zuo was slightly taken aback before realizing what was happening.

He nodded and said, “I hope so. Actually... I’m not worried that the Inquisition’s investigation will cause me any trouble... but the thought of the devastation that would result from a full-scale war between the Temple and the Church of the Otherworld makes me feel powerless and helpless.”

Krestor pondered for a moment, "The defensive blood magic golems you equipped Rexor and the others are quite good. I think you should study them carefully and try to create a blood magic item that can be approved by the Council of the Two Temples. If you really get to that point, you can use your blood magic golems to protect the battle mages of the Temple army."

A glimmer of hope appeared in Xia Zuo's eyes!

Yup!

If we could promote the red vests widely, we could truly regenerate energy from the comfort of our homes!

“Crestor, what should I do? Are there any examples I can refer to?” Shazo asked.

“Yes, quite a few.” Christor pondered for a moment. “For example, Blood-patterned gems and crystals that can detect blood-patterned features over a wide area are blood magic alchemy tools that Letunia and I jointly developed. Blood magic tools like these, designed for non-pure-blood mages, prioritize safety first, and convenience second…”

Christo spent some time explaining to Shazo how to create magical items that would be widely accepted by temple mages.

Xia Zuo carefully memorized the other person's words, feeling as if a broad road to increased vitality was unfolding before him.

His mood improved a lot, and he was no longer troubled by the Golden Finger and the Black Flag.

"Thank you, Christo." Shazo sincerely thanked her. "I'll study this carefully after this mission is over."

He looked at the translation on the table and asked, "Do you think this intelligence is credible? There's something strange about it... How could a powerful demon like Black Flag infiltrate the Temple and become an important member? Isn't it afraid of being discovered by the Demon Hunter School?"

Christo frowned slightly and said, "I was just thinking about this... Why don't you ask Rexor? The Witcher Master is the expert in this area."

Xia Zuo brought up the bald man's perspective in his mind.

Rexal was resting in a makeshift camping tent, feeling somewhat exhausted after two days and two nights of travel.

He drank fruit wine while taking stimulants in an attempt to quickly relieve his fatigue and get back on track.

Thin threads extended from the red vest, outlining words in front of him, revealing all the information Xia Zuo had obtained from the headquarters of the Otherworldly Demon Church.

Rexor jumped to his feet, waving his arms in sudden realization, both excited and delighted. "Haha! So that's how it is! So that's how it is! No wonder there were so many places experiencing abnormal bloodline power. That damned bastard actually risked disintegrating himself!"

"Decomposition?" Xia Zuo was completely baffled.

He manipulated the silver sand palm, wrote Rexor's words in the notebook beside him, and presented it to Crestor.

When Christo saw the word "decomposition," she looked enlightened. "That explains it."

She looked at the puzzled Xia Zuo and said, "Do you remember that Blood Demons can form a higher-level Blood Demon by making a contract with other Blood Demons?"

Xia Zuo nodded.

Krestor continued, "If we consider the condensation of Blood Demons into High-Rank Blood Demons as 'aggregation,' then the dispersal of High-Rank Blood Demons into Blood Demons is called 'decomposition.' The former is a process of 'promotion,' while the latter is a process of 'demotion.'"

"You mean, Black Flag used a process of decomposition to turn himself into an ordinary person, shedding all characteristics related to the Otherworldly Demons, and then joined the Temple?" Xia Zuo scratched his head, feeling somewhat incredulous... He hadn't expected the Otherworldly Demons to be able to do something like this...

“Yes, that’s very likely,” Christo said. “Those places where abnormal bloodline power occurs are where Black Flag decomposes itself. The reason it doesn’t decompose in one place all at once is because its power is too great, causing drastic changes in those locations.”

Christo said as she pondered:

"The reason it chose to disintegrate itself within the temple's territory is quite simple. It's providing cover for itself. Everyone associated with abnormal bloodline power becomes a suspect in the temple's eyes. Black Flag uses these people to distract the temple, allowing it to better infiltrate the temple."

"So... that reduces the suspicion on someone like me?" Xia Zuo thought for a moment and asked, "Then where exactly is the black flag? Has it already entered the temple?"

“That’s hard to say,” Christo said, somewhat troubled. “The Black Flag might be among those with abnormal bloodline power, or it might have entered the Temple’s sights completely as an ordinary person. As long as it doesn’t violate the laws and maintains its disguise, it will be difficult for us to find it… Oh no… there are still ways.”

Christo suddenly frowned. "How could I forget about the [Bristles of Judgment]... Oh no... If Black Flag really disintegrated himself and joined the Temple with an innocent identity, then all detection methods will be ineffective. The Inquisition will use the [Bristles of Judgment] on all those implicated. Only this repulsive yet precise tool of judgment can truly find Black Flag."

txt80.com

Chapter 65 Forced Piety (2-in-1)

When Xia Zuo heard those four words, "the thorns of calamity," his mind went blank for a moment.

Beatrice once described the object's function, saying it was a more accurate tool for judging crimes than the Inquisition's judgments and the Witcher's detection spells, never making a wrong judgment or misjudgment, and punishing the condemned according to the severity of their sins.

If this thing were actually used to interrogate Xia Zuo... he even began to doubt whether the cheat system could be intelligently blocked.

It should be possible.