Chapter 193: The Fate Spear, Captured in One Move!

As far as Saint Peter's eyes could see, a brilliant golden rainbow of light spread from deep within the Imperial City, spanning the void like a bridge of light.

Upon the bridge of light, a figure strolled leisurely; at first glance, he was extremely far away, but in the blink of an eye, he appeared not far before them, looking over with a smile that was not quite a smile:

"Pope of the Shenluo Holy See, who gave you the confidence to show off your power here?"

It was none other than Lu Yuan.

"Are you the Immortal of Shenzhou?"

The moment Lu Yuan appeared, both his impossibly young appearance and that indescribable pressure of his aura made Saint Peter's eyes turn exceptionally wary and grave.

He no longer held his previous arrogant posture, but said in a deep voice:

"They say hearing of a name is not as good as meeting the person; the Immortal's bearing is indeed extraordinary. However, I am not displaying my power here to show off, but because your country's high-level officials have truly gone too far. I want you to know that you are not the only Ninth Stage cultivator in the world, and I hope the New Nation will not be so aggressive toward other countries!"

Lu Yuan, however, merely looked the other man up and down, as if seeing some rare existence:

"Your divine soul is powerful, and you should be following the path of soul cultivation, but there is another significant, refined Incense Power within your body. It seems that is the main reason you broke through to the Ninth Stage. How did you manage that?"

Saint Peter frowned:

"Incense Power? Do you mean the power of faith?"

The more Lu Yuan looked, the more curious he became, saying with interest:

"Not bad. In the terminology of your Shenluo Holy See, that should be it. Looking at you, it seems you borrowed the power of faith to break through your bottleneck and refine your body and mind. I am very curious about what specific method you used, and how you all thought of it?"

After stepping into the late stage of Refining Essence into Qi, his vision and knowledge regarding cultivation were unrivaled; at a glance, he could see the thick Incense Power lingering on Saint Peter.

Incense and faith are essentially the same type of power. The Guiding Technique states that the five great cultivation paths of Heaven, Earth, God, Man, and Ghost can lead to five types of Immortals, and the God Immortal Dao among them requires Incense Power as sustenance.

However, this method was only briefly mentioned in the Guiding Technique, and Lu Yuan did not know much about it; he never expected that the Pope of the Shenluo Holy See would have mastered a similar cultivation method today, and even achieved quite a bit!

Even so, he felt immense curiosity at this moment.

Yet, upon hearing such a question, Saint Peter's gaze tightened, his expression cold:

"You are joking, sir. Cultivation matters are private, and they concern the greatest secrets of our Holy See; how could I possibly tell you?"

Lu Yuan sighed with regret:

"You won't say? Then I have no choice but to use force."

"Just as well. You traveled ten thousand miles to get here, presumably to show off your martial might and compare notes with me; now, I shall grant your wish."

Above the void, his voice came from the nine heavens, every word like rolling thunder in the sky, shaking the void. Visible ripples of sound forced the clouds in the sky away, clearing the heavens.

At the same time, facing Saint Peter, he slowly reached out his hand, making a simple, unadorned grasping motion.

Then, visibly, the sky above the entire Imperial City suddenly darkened; the clouds shattered and dispersed. Countless rays of clear light, existing between the virtual and the real, spread across the sky in all directions, then rapidly grew, strengthened, and intertwined. Combining according to human nerves, meridians, and blood vessels, they suddenly converged into a giant palm forged of Dharma Power!

The sky suddenly darkened, and the hundred-meter-wide giant palm blocked the sun's radiance and everyone's line of sight, emitting an extremely violent power. A majestic, vast, and boundless aura swept across the heavens and earth!

In an instant, the heavens were shocked and the earth trembled. Lu Yuan had struck without any unnecessary chatter. Everyone was so shocked they could not speak, and could only watch as this giant palm, covering the entire horizon, grasped toward Saint Peter amidst the earth-shattering explosions and roars, with massive shockwaves erupting from its edges!

Boom—

The roaring sound was deafening.

Everything was shaking violently, and the sound of cracking and shattering was incessant, as if the entire world were splitting and collapsing.

Before the sky-supporting giant palm arrived, the space already presented distorted light and shadows under extreme pressure. It felt like the crushing power of a thousand mountains piled upon one another. Before the sound of the wind even reached their ears, that immense pressure directed straight at the heart had already slammed down, as if the entire ground were about to be crushed deep into the earth.

"How preposterous!"

Witnessing this scene, the previously confident Saint Peter's expression changed drastically. Without a second thought, his entire body erupted with incomparably condensed, brilliant, holy radiance. A giant angel shadow, several zhang tall, vaguely formed around him, holding a giant sword of light, and he shouted sharply as he slashed at the giant palm before him.

Boom!

Crack!

In an instant, the giant sword of light struck the giant palm, and it shattered immediately, as if a wooden knife had struck steel.

A giant rift seemed to tear open in the atmosphere; high temperatures, distorted light, and electric sparks and flames changed in an instant, churning this patch of sky like a volcano that had just erupted!

At this moment, the sky trembled and the earth shook. A vast ocean of boiling, exploding, and raging waves, composed of destructive light and fire, surged in all directions. After the giant sword of light in his hand shattered, Pope Saint Peter let out a muffled groan and retreated wildly, as if he had seen a ghost.

To be honest, he had basically used his full strength in that strike just now; under the condensation of Saint Power, even an iron mountain would have been cleaved open. Yet, he had only managed to cut a shallow wound on the giant palm before him, proving that there was still an uncrossable, massive gap between him and Lu Yuan!

Not expecting this result, Saint Peter's face twitched wildly. He retreated rapidly in the air and shouted fiercely:

"Give me the Holy Spear!"

On the plaza, Hellers, who was carrying a long wooden box on his back, immediately shattered the box, took out a golden short spear from within, and then swung his arm to throw it:

"Your Holiness, catch!"

This spear is known as the Fate Spear, or the Spear of Longinus.

In the ancient legends of the Heavenly Lord Holy Church, when the human incarnation of the Lord of Heaven descended upon the vast earth to spread the gospel in a chaotic world, he was not understood by the world and was even captured as a heretic and nailed to a cross.

During this process, a executioner Bai Fuchang named Longinus had used a spear to pierce the side of the Lord of Heaven's incarnation. The weapon he used became the only weapon in the human world that had ever harmed the Lord of Heaven, and thus it became a holy relic of the Holy See.

This spear is both the highest holy relic of the Holy See and its highest symbol. Although it has gone through a thousand years of vicissitudes, it contains inconceivable power. It had always been enshrined beneath the statue of the Lord of Heaven; if not for the existence of the Immortal of Shenzhou, they would never have brought it across ten thousand miles.

At this moment, Saint Peter's figure flashed, dodging the giant palm's grasp while the angel wings behind him extended, curling toward the flying golden short spear, seemingly viewing it as his reliance.

However, just before the other party was about to obtain the Fate Spear, Lu Yuan revealed a smile and uttered a short syllable:

"Freeze!" Hum.

The moment the sound reached his ears, Saint Peter immediately felt an incomparably powerful sealing force descend from the void, causing his body, thoughts, and even the circulation of his Saint Power to come to a standstill. He could only watch helplessly as the Spear of Longinus brushed past him!

The next moment,

Like a giant Meteor falling from the sky, the giant palm of Dharma Power arrived with a rolling, unparalleled gale. Saint Peter, frozen in the air, roared in shock and anger, but it was to no avail; he was instantly pinched in the giant palm.

Boom—!

In the eyes of the shocked and fanatical crowd, dazzling light and flames burst in all directions. The giant angel shadow and light wings formed on Saint Peter's body shattered instantly within the grip of the giant palm.

Under the aftermath of the power, ear-piercing shrieks mixed with the rumbling sound of Earth Thunder, causing the surrounding air to ripple continuously. It was as if an unknown number of tons of explosives had been detonated out of thin air. The surrounding shockwaves, like ten thousand monsters, roared and rushed in all directions, trampling the earth and shaking the sky with an incomparably brutal and fierce posture.

"No—!"

After the protective angel shadow was completely crushed, extreme pressure and pain slammed directly into Saint Peter's mind. He was unable to move in mid-air, like a mosquito trapped in amber. His bones cracked and popped all over his body, and blood snakes flowed continuously from his nose, mouth, and seven orifices. He could only let out a muddled, terrified, and powerless roar from his throat.

As for below.

The factions of the Shenluo, Sha'e, and Sunlight People, who had originally placed great hope in Saint Peter and even staked their nation's fate and future on him, were plunged into immense terror at the sight of this, unable to believe their eyes.

After all, they had all witnessed Saint Peter's peerless power with their own eyes; in their view, although this Pope of the Shenluo had entered the Ninth Stage a few steps later than the Immortal of Shenzhou, he should have been essentially an equal match, so who could have imagined the gap would be so vast!

They were shocked into silence.

Lu Yuan, who had captured Saint Peter in a single move, looked down and smiled:

"I have some questions for this person, so I am inviting him to be a guest at my Qinian Hall; I will return him shortly, so you may continue your discussions and pay me no mind."

As he spoke, he used his Qi to seize Saint Peter, snatched up the golden short spear that had fallen to the ground, and vanished in an instant, leaving behind the high-ranking officials below, who were either dumbstruck or pale with despair.

"Your Holiness the Pope!"

Abraham, Hellers, and several Cardinal Archbishops were the first to react, letting out cries of rage and grief as they rushed forward together, seemingly intent on giving chase.

However, Chen Zhantang, Peng Yidao, and other disciples and elite guards of the New Nation reacted simultaneously, proudly blocking all of them and shouting:

"Scoundrels! What place do you think this is, that you dare to trespass!?"

The strongest among Chen Zhantang, Peng Yidao, and even these elite guards were only at the Fifth or Sixth Realm, while Abraham and Hellers were both peak Seventh Realm experts who could have easily crushed or even killed them; yet, they stopped in their tracks with twisted expressions, not daring to make a move.

They had no choice but to turn their heads toward the high-ranking officials of the New Nation, including the Head of State Zuo Guanglie, and grit their teeth as they said tremblingly:

"Your New Nation has an old saying: when two nations are at war, one does not execute the envoy. Our Pope has traveled thousands of miles to visit your country, how can your country's Immortal treat him this way?"

"We beg the Head of State to speak to the Immortal and ask him to release the Pope; we are willing to pay any price!"

To be honest, Zuo Guanglie had never expected this sudden turn of events, but the capture of the Pope meant that the Immortal was truly invincible in the world, and no national power could stop the rise of the New Nation, so he couldn't help but smile:

"Everyone, do not be anxious. Did you not hear the Immortal say he is merely inviting the Pope to be a guest?"

"You may rest assured; as long as your Pope cooperates, there will be no danger to his life. Wait patiently, and I believe you will see him soon."

The other high-ranking officials of the New Nation also came to their senses, their hearts surging with excitement and their proud smiles uncontrollable; hearing Zuo Guanglie's words, the faces of Abraham and the others from the Holy See twitched, looking as if they had lost their parents, and they could not speak.

If even a figure like Saint Peter could be captured alive, then in the eyes of that Immortal of Shenzhou, they were likely no different from ants; besides bowing their heads and enduring while waiting for the result, what other choice did they have?

It was the same for the Shenluo; Guan Ye Yixin and the other Sunlight People, who had placed all their hopes on the Shenluo Pope, were filled with terror, their legs weak and nearly unable to stand; all members of the Sha'e Country delegation, including Alexander I, were ashen-faced, their courage completely shattered.

Zuo Guanglie looked down at the crowd from his high position:

"Very well, everyone, I think our discussion can continue now."

Meanwhile.

Lu Yuan had already flown back to the Qinian Hall with Saint Peter and released him.

Saint Peter had been severely injured; as soon as he was released, he began to cough up blood in large mouthfuls, as if his internal organs had been crushed and ruptured.

Lu Yuan held the golden short spear in his hand and examined it closely, a look of surprise appearing on his face:

"Interesting, interesting. This thing has actually been refined into a true Dharma Artifact? It seems your Shenluo Holy See has more secrets than I imagined."

With his vision and experience, he could naturally tell that this golden short spear was a genuine Dharma Artifact, its texture seemingly even stronger than the Seven Star Dragon Abyss, which he had tempered with his Dharma Power for a long time; holding it, he could even feel a trace of a threat, as if it could harm him.

Most importantly, it contained a clear power of Incense and faith; it was evident that it had possessed such an aura only after being continuously refined over a long period of time.

After a brief pause, Saint Peter raised his head, his tone trembling and hoarse:

"Why, why..."

"I have clearly broken through to the pinnacle of the legendary human cultivation realm; even if I am not your equal, I should not be so vulnerable..."

"To what level have you actually cultivated? Are you truly not a human cultivator, but an Immortal or deity from the Immortal Realm or Tianjie?"

Lu Yuan smiled and looked down at him:

"I am certainly no true Immortal or deity; it is just that my path of cultivation is different from yours."

Three months had passed since he entered the late stage of Refining Essence into Qi, and during this time, his cultivation had progressed slightly, with his Dharma Power increasing by several dozen wisps.

In the battle just now, if one looked purely at the level of cultivation, Saint Peter was actually close to the level he had been at when he first entered the mid-stage of Refining Essence into Qi; without him, Saint Peter would have been enough to rule this world.

Unfortunately.

Not to mention that he was already in the late stage of Refining Essence into Qi, even if he were still in the mid-stage, by relying on the multiple Earthly Fiend Arts he possessed, this Saint Peter would still have been far from his match.