Chapter 655: You

Seeing Catherine arrive, Sister Sophia finally let out a breath of relief.

She hurried forward and explained the entire sequence of events.

Catherine, having heard the whole story, immediately furrowed her brows.

Damn it, I invited Xu Jingming here specifically to show him the noble side of the Holy Church.

But now, you come straight in calling him a lowly race—how are we supposed to play this?

Catherine's chest heaved violently; after a long moment, she suppressed the urge to finish Denis off.

She turned to Xu Jingming with an apologetic expression:

"On behalf of the Holy Church, I apologize to you."

"I assure you Denis is merely an exception within our Holy Church."

"Our Holy Church treats every believer with absolute equality."

After speaking, she turned to Leo and ordered: "Leo, Instructor, let this matter end here."

"Yes."

Leo, the eighth-rank Master Zongshi who had been filled with rage moments before, now bowed meekly before Catherine like a quail.

'Catherine's prestige within the Holy Church is truly extraordinary.' Xu Jingming thought silently.

Moreover, he noticed that not far behind Catherine walked an eighth-rank peak Master Zongshi.

This must have been specially assigned to protect her.

"Holy Light!"

Brilliant golden holy light blazed from Catherine's body and flowed into Denis's body.

Denis, who had been on the brink of death, revived momentarily as if by a final flicker of life.

The moment he saw Xu Jingming, Denis cried out:

"Holy Maiden, Xu Jingming tried to kill me—please, take my side!"

"Take your side?"

Catherine's emerald eyes turned cold as she looked at Denis and spoke:

"Xu Jingming was invited by me—he is my friend. You knew this yet still mocked him."

"Now, apologize to Xu Jingming, or I cannot guarantee you will remain in your position as Holy Son."

Upon hearing this, Denis's face turned pale.

As the Holy Son of the Holy Church, he had enjoyed abundant resources and cultivation support.

To lose this status would be to fall from heaven straight into hell!

'Catherine is willing to strip my title over some outsider? Damn it! Absolutely damn it!'

Denis roared inwardly, yet showed no outward sign of defiance:

"Respected Mr. Xu Jingming, I was wrong—I should not have spoken so rashly."

"How do you feel about this apology?"

"If you think it lacks sincerity, I can make him offer another."

Catherine asked.

As if the S-rank Holy Son Denis were merely an ordinary believer to be manipulated at will.

In truth, to her, he was exactly that.

Her mother was an ultimate powerhouse who controlled the entire Holy Church.

Not even removing Denis's privileges—killing him outright—would draw a single word of protest.

"That will do."

Xu Jingming clearly saw Denis's inner resentment.

But he had no interest in further entanglement; after all, that punch had already delivered sufficient punishment.

The Dou Tian Shen Lei still raging within Denis's body was not easily purged.

"Alright, let's go—I'll take you on a tour of our Holy Church."

Catherine dismissed Sister Sophia and personally led Xu Jingming and Catherine inside.

After the group had walked away, Priest Leo finally exhaled, muttering to himself:

"Xu Jingming and the Holy Maiden seem to have an unusually close relationship—better treat the people from Daxia more respectfully from now on."

"Also, when I unleashed my aura just now, Xu Jingming didn't show even a hint of fear."

Is it because he has a high-grade protective talisman, or does he truly believe he can match me in combat?"

After thinking it over, Leo leaned toward the former.

After all, there is a qualitative difference between an eighth-rank Master Zongshi and a seventh-rank Master.

And the gap between a seventh-rank Master and a sixth-rank Adept is dozens, even hundreds of times over.

Even if Xu Jingming possesses an SS-rank Adept ability, he shouldn't be able to fight across two major tiers.

"Thinking too much won't help—let's take the Holy Son for treatment first."

Looking at Denis, still collapsed on the ground, Leo sighed.

He was the Holy Son's guardian; any mishap to the Holy Son would bring blame upon him too.

Logically, as an eighth-rank Master Zongshi, he should have easily stopped Xu Jingming.

But he never expected Xu Jingming would dare strike within the Holy Church!

He reacted just a fraction of a second too late—by the time he moved to intervene,

Denis's protective talisman had already been shattered, leaving him critically wounded and near death.

At only twenty years old, he's already stronger than the Holy Maiden.

And I heard he started from nothing, with no supreme master to guide him.

To reach this point, he's nothing short of a prodigy......

With a silent sigh, Leo bent down, picked up the half-dead Denis, and rushed toward the infirmary.

"My Holy Church was founded 140 years ago, when......"

On the other side, Xu Jingming and Xia Lan toured the Holy Church building under Catherine's guidance.

It has to be said, the entire building was indeed constructed quite luxuriously.

Based on their worship of the God of Light, the entire building was adorned everywhere with reliefs, thick with religious atmosphere.

And what Xu Jingming disliked most was precisely this.

He always trusted only himself, never believed others, let alone some vague, ethereal deity.

During the tour, Catherine slightly revealed her aura.

"You've advanced?" Xu Jingming asked curiously.

The aura Catherine now displayed was unmistakably Sixth Tier Upper Rank!

"I trained last night, and just happened to break through."

Catherine smiled, her tone tinged with a hint of pride.

Since she couldn't match him in combat power, she could only find superiority in her advancement speed.

The Yuan Energy Pool in Qingfeng Secret Realm greatly boosted her.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have reached Sixth Tier Upper Rank until three or four months later.

"Jingming has advanced too," Xia Lan couldn't help saying.

She had only just noticed Xu Jingming's aura shift when he attacked Denis.

"You've also advanced to Sixth Tier Upper Rank?"

Catherine's eyes widened in shock as she exclaimed.

"Same as you—I broke through accidentally while training last night."

Xu Jingming grinned.

"How can that be the same?" Catherine's delicate face was full of pouty resentment.

She had remained stuck at Sixth Tier Middle Rank for half a year, and only broke through thanks to the Qingfeng Secret Realm's Yuan Energy Pool.

But Xu Jingming had already advanced to Sixth Tier Middle Rank while inside Qingfeng Secret Realm.

Now, only a month has passed, and he's broken through again to Sixth Tier Upper Rank—completely unlike her situation!