Chapter 573: Recruitment! The Chuunibyou Catherine!

"Su Laoshi is looking for me. I'll head over first."

After saying a word to Song Qiuyun and Jiang Chuxuan, Xu Jingming accepted Su Qingli's teleportation invite.

Swoosh—

His figure vanished on the spot, and when he reappeared, he was already in Su Qingli's villa within the virtual world.

Hearing Ling Shuang was also there, leaning against Su Qingli, the two of them sitting together on the sofa.

This time she wasn't barefoot — she was wearing a simple pair of ladies' leather shoes.

A pair of beautiful legs tightly wrapped in black stockings were crossed and pressed together, squeezing against each other, lending a certain fleshy fullness.

"Su Laoshi, Teacher Ling." Xu Jingming called out respectfully.

"Not bad — you made it to the Grand Finals.

Your strength, even among SS-class ability awakeners of the same rank, can be considered quite impressive."

Looking at Xu Jingming, who stood ramrod straight before her, Su Qingli nodded in satisfaction:

"But the Grand Finals won't be so easy from here on out.

Catherine of the United States is very strong, and her Holy Angel also has a special augmentation..."

Su Qingli briefly described the intelligence she had gathered in the VIP lounge.

"Divine descent? Power of faith? Are there really gods in this world?"

Xu Jingming's brow furrowed.

That the Holy Angel had an additional ability, he could understand.

But this power of faith — wasn't it a little too mysterious and out of nowhere?

"That's just how their religion talks. Where's any power of faith? That's simply spiritual force."

Hearing Ling Shuang said with a touch of disdain, "Gods are just something they made up to make it easier to draw in believers.

If gods really existed, a hundred years ago humanity wouldn't have lost so many people."

From ancient times to the present, religion has always been one of the methods rulers use to consolidate their rule.

In the modern era, ability-users who possess extraordinary power — for them to manufacture 'miracles' artificially is absurdly easy.

Precisely because of this, the Holy See has been able to develop a huge following in the Western world.

The number of believers is over two billion, more than one-fifth of the world's population.

It's just that Great Xia has always disdained using such methods to deceive the masses, which is why no religion has developed here.

"I see."

Xu Jingming suddenly understood, and said seriously:

"Still, her Holy Angel ability is indeed formidable.

It not only balances the intensity of the Enhancement and Elemental systems, it even touches on the Psychic system."

This was the first time he had ever seen such an all-encompassing ability.

All-encompassing may not necessarily mean the strongest, but it also means Catherine has very few weaknesses and shortcomings.

"That's true, so don't put too much pressure on yourself.

Just do your best in the Grand Finals. Even if you can't take first place, I won't blame you — after all, you're a minor rank below her."

Su Qingli said gently.

A gap of one minor rank, for a prodigy like Catherine, is already enough to decide the outcome.

Xu Jingming smiled at her words.

Catherine was strong, but he wasn't without his trump cards.

This battle, he was bound to win!

After leaving Su Qingli's villa, Xu Jingming returned to the spectator stands.

He closed his eyes lightly, entering a deep state of sleep.

That's right — you can sleep in the virtual world that simulates reality.

This can restore spiritual force to a great extent.

It wasn't until the Grand Finals were about to begin that Xu Jingming was woken by Eva's reminder and teleported to the preparation area.

Swoosh—

The moment he landed, Xu Jingming noticed Catherine of the United States, more than ten meters opposite, had likewise been teleported over.

Catherine was over 1.7 meters tall, her figure tall and graceful beneath a pale-gold ladies' battle suit.

A head of golden hair was tied up in a high ponytail, shimmering with a faint sheen under the stadium lights.

Her bosom was also very fully developed — the kind one hand couldn't possibly take in.

But the most stunning feature was still those beautiful legs — straight, slender, flawless.

"Please come this way to rest, both contestants. The Grand Finals will begin shortly."

An attendant hurried forward to greet them.

Only two seats remained in the entire preparation area. Xu Jingming and Catherine each took one, sitting down separately.

Whether by design or not, these two seats weren't placed side by side as before, but facing each other.

Sitting in his seat, Xu Jingming only had to look up to see Catherine opposite.

With the match about to start, and against a foreign opponent at that, Xu Jingming had no interest in chatting.

He closed his eyes, silently adjusting his state.

However, not long after he had closed his eyes, an ethereal voice drifted over from the opposite side:

"Xu Jingming of Great Xia, SS-class — your 'Doushen Shenlei' is very suited to our Holy See.

If you are willing to join our Holy See, I can apply to make you my Chastisement Knight.

"... bathing together in the glory of our Lord."

She spoke in the language of the Great Xia nation; judging by her voice alone, one could not tell at all that she was a foreigner.

"Mm?"

Opening his eyes, Xu Jingming found himself meeting Catherine's pair of emerald-green eyes.

Unlike the previously proud Andrey, Catherine's expression was calm, as if all of this were only natural.

"Are you serious?" Xu Jingming's sword-shaped brows rose slightly.

He had originally thought that the United States had long given up the idea of winning him over, never expecting that now they would pull this stunt again.

Only this time it was no longer the William Family, but the Holy See instead.

And what on earth was this "Chastisement Knight"?

Going to the United States to serve as Catherine's attendant? He had no such interest or hobby.

"Of course."

Catherine nodded slightly. "Your Great Xia is poor in resources; ability-users cannot obtain the best training.

Only by coming to the United States and joining our Holy See can you obtain the finest resources."

"Great Xia? Poor in resources? Are you mistaken?" Xu Jingming frowned.

Great Xia's territory was vast, its various resources abundant, and even quite a few relics of ancient civilizations had been preserved.

This was the first time he had ever heard anyone say Great Xia was lacking in resources.

"Did I say something wrong? Isn't your Great Xia similar to Yindu?"

Catherine tilted her head and asked in return.

This caught Xu Jingming completely off guard.

The six great power blocs of Blue Star are, respectively, Great Xia, the United States, the European Union, Bear Country, Heizhou, and Yindu.

Although all are great powers, among these six nations and alliances, Yindu is the absolute bottom of the pack.

If not for Yindu having a single Supreme powerhouse, whether it could even be counted among the six great powers would be uncertain.

And Great Xia, with its strong national power, occupies an absolutely leading position among the six great powers.

Only the United States is able to resist.

Comparing Great Xia to Yindu was simply an insult.

"Forgive the bold question, but have you ever been to our Great Xia?" After a moment's thought, Xu Jingming asked tentatively.

"No."

Catherine shook her head, answering very honestly:

"I showed extraordinary talent from a young age, and at ten years old I was taken by my teacher to the Jibei for training.

Apart from the United States, I have never been to any other country."

So Catherine had never actually left the United States!

No wonder — under the United States' powerful smear campaigns, it would already be something if Great Xia weren't portrayed as a primitive, feudal civilization.

"When you have the chance, you can personally come to Great Xia for a visit, and see whether we are truly as backward as you imagine."

Words heard are false; what is seen is true.

Xu Jingming couldn't be bothered to argue, and merely said lightly.

"What a pitiful child — never having seen the sun, yet mistaking the glow of fireflies for sunlight.

When you come to our United States, you will realize just how laughable your current thoughts are."

Catherine did not retort.

Instead, within those emerald-green beautiful eyes of hers, there shone a gaze full of pity.

???

Xu Jingming's head was full of question marks.

How could he not know what the United States was really like?

At least Great Xia's ability-users were managed by the Public Security Bureau, so things wouldn't get too out of hand.

But the United States' ability-users truly had no restraint at all — an ability-user who killed someone could avoid punishment just by paying a fine.

For ability-users this was indeed pleasant, but for ordinary citizens it was undoubtedly like a nightmare.

Add to that the various religions running rampant, and the chaotic management of the upper echelons.

If not for having enough high-end combat power, the United States could never be a match for Great Xia.

"You, who have no faith, are like a traveler lost in the desert, without any direction.

Rest assured — in the upcoming competition, I will let you experience the glory of our Lord.

The holy gates will also open to you from this moment on..."

Catherine's ethereal voice rang out once more.

To be fair, that voice paired with her lovely face did indeed appear quite holy.

If she were to activate her Holy Angel ability on top of that, and some Westerners were to see it,

they might very well drop to their knees on the spot and worship devoutly.

And Xu Jingming couldn't tell whether Catherine was pretending to be a charlatan, or was a chuunibyou girl in the truest sense.

Still, he felt it was probably more the latter.

After all, Catherine had been taken to the Jibei when she was very young, and her mind was pure.

She might really believe that gods existed in this world.