The depths of the church were dim, with the massive Three-faced Deity Statue standing in the center. Only a few candles burned here, their dim yellow light flickering across the statue’s surface. A Venerable in a red robe stood before the statue.
He wore a mask that kept a perpetual smile, looking up at the statue without moving. Time passed, unknown how long.
Creak. The church door slowly pushed open. Cold wind poured in, and the candle flames gently swayed.
A sullen-faced middle-aged man walked in, three vicious scars beneath his eye faintly visible in the firelight.
It was He Sheng.
Behind him followed a young man.
The young man kept his head down, fully absorbed in fiddling with a handheld console. The sound of button presses stood out sharply in the quiet church.
The Venerable slowly turned around, his gaze behind the mask landing on He Sheng.
“Mo Liang is dead. I instructed you to keep a close eye on him.”
He Sheng’s scarred eyelid twitched. “What do you mean?”
He stared at the Venerable. “Blame me?”
The Venerable said calmly, “I’m just stating a fact.”
He Sheng let out a cold laugh. “Dead is dead. He was just a dog. Doesn’t your Bloodline Association have plenty of dogs like him?”
The Venerable’s gaze turned icy. “Even a dog has value. Especially now, right before the Bishop’s ritual begins. Losing even one stray dog will affect the plan.”
He stepped forward, the presence behind his mask pressing down. “Besides, he was a dog placed in a key position, responsible for spreading the Blood Plague in Lincheng’s East District and collecting Spiritual Essence.”
The air seemed to grow heavier.
He Sheng was silent for a moment. “Isn’t there a backup plan?”
“What do you mean?”
“In Shisan Kai, there’s more than one person who completed the Blood Descendant Ritual with the blood of close family.”
He Sheng said slowly, “Isn’t there still that kid?”
A flicker passed through the Venerable’s eyes. After a moment, he nodded slowly.
“I’ll send someone to contact him.”
Just then, an excited shout rang out from the side. “Take that! Showing off in front of me, huh!”
Both turned their heads at once.
The young man was staring at the screen of his handheld.
On the screen, a fighter with blonde braids delivered a spinning through-the-heart kick, sending an opponent with a topknot flying into the air.
A huge “KO” popped up.
The young man immediately started spamming shortcut emotes, a head-patting emoji repeatedly appearing over the opponent’s avatar.
“If you suck, practice more! The strong should humiliate the weak!”
The church fell silent. The Venerable’s eyelid twitched.
Honestly, he had noticed this guy since he walked in, but he had been focusing on business and ignored him.
But now, this kid was clearly getting more and more out of line.
“Kid.” The Venerable spoke coldly, “Do you know where you are?”
The young man didn’t even look up, sliding his finger, ready to queue for the next match.
He Sheng reached out and pressed the screen. “Stop playing for now.”
The young man looked up, first at the hand, then at He Sheng’s grim face.
He clicked his tongue, canceled the queue, and stuffed the console into his pocket.
The Venerable let out a sneer. “Shadow Hunt really has fallen. Ever since the boss Shou Ya was taken by the Governance Bureau, you’ve been taking in any riffraff?”
He Sheng’s face instantly darkened, veins bulging faintly in his palm.
But before he could speak, the young man had already laughed. “Seems like you guys are the ones who’ve fallen.”
The Venerable narrowed his eyes. “What did you say?”
The young man stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked the Venerable up and down, undisguised contempt in his eyes.
“Always bragging about believing in the True God, being protected by the divine, yet you live like rats in a sewer. If you’re so strong, why don’t you take down the Governance Bureau? Why don’t you take out those five-step Supreme Chosen in the Federation?”
“Hiding in some remote border mountain city?” He grinned. “Scamming insurance money from old folks and unemployed women. This is the prestige of your chosen ones? A bunch of garbage.”
Boom! Dark green flames suddenly ignited in the Venerable’s palm.
The temperature in the church seemed to drop instantly, the candle flames flickering wildly.
The Venerable’s eyes behind the mask glowed faintly as he stared fixedly at the young man.
“I’m deeply disappointed. Have Shadow Hunt’s recruitment standards sunk this low?”
The young man rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles, his face full of provocation.
“Want to fight? Loser calls the winner ‘dad.'”
He Sheng’s brow furrowed sharply, stepping between them in one move. “Both of you, cool it. No infighting.”
The Venerable remained expressionless. “If you can’t control him, I don’t mind controlling him for you.”
“Old He, move aside.” The young man twisted his neck. “I’ve been pissed at this old bastard for a long time. We came to help, not to be his subordinates. Pointing fingers at us, really thinks he’s the boss?”
The tension grew thicker.
The dark green flames in the Venerable’s palm blazed brighter, and the young man’s aura also began to rise.
A fight was about to break out.
Just then, an icy hand landed on the young man’s shoulder.
“Instead of anger,” a calm voice came from behind, “you might need calmness.”
The young man’s body instantly froze. He hadn’t even known when someone had appeared behind him.
The hand wasn’t applying force, yet it made all his hairs stand on end, and he dared not move.
At the same time, the dark green flames in the Venerable’s hand extinguished instantly.
He lowered his head sharply, his voice filled with awe and fear. “Bishop!”
The young man slowly turned around.
A man wearing a goat mask stood behind him.
Beneath the mask, a faint golden light swirled in the depths of his pupils.
The Bishop looked at the Venerable, his voice calm but plunging the entire church into dead silence.
“He has a point. The Lin City branch has operated for many years, yet its followers have always been limited to some elderly and disheartened people. Venerable Yu, your capacity still needs improvement.”
Sweat immediately beaded on the Venerable’s forehead, bowing even lower. “Your lesson is correct. I’ll expand the church’s influence immediately.”
The goat-masked man waved a hand. “I’m not here to hold you accountable. No need to pledge loyalty to me.”
Venerable Yu immediately relaxed, quickly lowering his head. “Bishop, whatever orders you have next, I will give my all.”
The Bishop didn’t respond. His hand on the young man’s shoulder still hadn’t moved.
The young man slowly turned to meet those light-golden eyes, his heart tightening inexplicably.
But soon, he grinned. “Huh… guess the Bloodline Association isn’t entirely useless.”
He Sheng’s eyelid twitched beside him.
This was one of the eight great Bishops of the Bloodline Association, a notorious figure on the Federation’s wanted list.
He was truly afraid that the young man would have his head twisted off in the next second.
But the Bishop simply nodded lightly. “A bit of arrogance in a young man isn’t a bad thing.”
The young man raised an eyebrow. “Seems like you still—”
Crack. A sharp snap, like a dry twig being stepped on.
The young man’s expression shifted drastically. The sharp pain in his shoulder forced him to one knee, veins bulging on his forehead.
“Arrogance without restraint,” the Bishop said, looking down at him, “often becomes the fire that burns you alive. You still need to learn some manners.”
The young man gritted his teeth, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. “You son of a—”
The Bishop’s gaze remained calm, as if looking at an unruly junior.
“Lu Ziyun, I know you. You awakened at first-step with Innate Level 8 Spiritual Essence, Astral Phantom Tiger Amber. Anywhere, that would make you a rare genius.”
The golden light in his eyes swirled slightly.
“But over the years, I’ve seen talents more outstanding than you. Most of them died young. Because they trusted their talent too much.”
The church fell quiet.
Lu Ziyun clenched his fist tightly, but finally lowered his head.
He could clearly feel the gap between them was terrifyingly wide.
Seeing him submit, the Bishop didn’t press further, walking straight toward the Three-faced Deity Statue.
The shadow cast by the statue fell over the Bishop, his figure seeming to merge with the darkness.
Venerable Yu quickly stepped forward to report. “Shisan Kai has a problem. Mo Liang was dealt with by the Governance Bureau a few days ago. We don’t know if he’s alive or dead. The plan to spread the Blood Plague in the East District was also destroyed by a Holy Ascender. They purified all the contamination. This has a major impact on the plan. Also, church activities have begun spreading to more social strata, going well so far.”
The Bishop listened silently.
“Handle the Shisan Kai issue with the backup plan. As for that Holy Ascender—”
He paused.
“Eliminate them quickly. Once a Holy Order Astral Sign grows, it will be a major problem for our church.”
Venerable Yu nodded, then said in a low voice, “The Security Bureau has been investigating more tightly. At this rate, they’ll eventually trace our White Gloves.”
“Then close the net.” The Bishop didn’t hesitate. “Advance the ritual.”
Venerable Yu was startled. “But the Spiritual Essence collection hasn’t met expectations.”
“The plan serves reality.” The Bishop said calmly. “If we delay any longer, we might lose even what we’ve already collected.”
Venerable Yu frowned. “The Haizhou Rift seal is broken. Shouldn’t most of the Governance Bureau’s forces be tied up there? Why are they still focusing on Lincheng?”
The Bishop gave a light laugh. “Because the people in charge of the Lincheng incident this time aren’t the main Governance Bureau forces, but two students sent by Tianqi Academy.”
At this, everyone was stunned.
“Students?” Venerable Yu found it hard to believe. “All our preparations were ruined by two students?”
The Bishop’s smile was subtle. “Under normal circumstances, it shouldn’t be like this. But one of those two students is the Inheritor of a Supreme Chosen.”
The air suddenly went still.
The Venerable’s lips trembled. “Supreme Chosen? Which one?”
The Bishop sneered.
“The All-World Ashes, the Fate Judge, the Heavenly Emperor Shadi.”
“Is it Shadi?”
The Venerable trembled all over.
Shadi was one of the Federation’s history… no, one of the strongest in the history of Sublimators.
He Sheng’s pupils contracted, the image of the young man he had fought flashing through his mind.
If it was him… no wonder, no wonder he was that strong.
Looking at it this way, the fact that he could come back alive was already pure luck.
After a moment of silence, Venerable Yu asked quietly, “Bishop, should we avoid their edge?”
No one wanted to face the future Inheritor of Shadi.
But the Bishop laughed, a chilling savagery in his smile. “Why avoid it? Compared to the original plan, wouldn’t burying a future five-step Supreme Chosen be even more valuable?”
Everyone’s hearts shook at the same time.
Venerable Yu exclaimed in shock, “Bishop, are you planning to—”
“The ritual proceeds as planned.” The Bishop cut him off. “I will come in person.”
At this, Venerable Yu’s face changed drastically. “Bishop, you can’t! You’ve always been a key surveillance target of the Governance Bureau. If your true body appears…”
“I have my own preparations.” The Bishop said calmly. “Venerable Yu, after all these years, have you begun to doubt your faith?”
Venerable Yu stiffened.
The Bishop looked up at the Three-faced Deity Statue. “Doubting whether our god is still watching over this place.”
Venerable Yu was silent for a moment, then finally lowered his head. “My faith has never wavered.”
The Bishop didn’t comment. He slowly turned, his golden gaze sweeping over everyone present.
“The ritual continues. Have Shadow Hunt keep a close eye on that white-haired girl. Kill her if there’s a chance. As for the others—”
He looked up at the towering Three-faced Deity Statue.
“Prepare well to welcome my lord’s descent. When the time comes, the entire city of Lincheng will become part of this grand sacrifice.”
The church fell into dead silence. Everyone’s breath seemed to stop for a moment.
They finally understood the Bishop’s true goal.
From beginning to end, what he wanted wasn’t the lives of a few people.
But the entire city’s.
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