Chapter 195: Command, Soldier, Fight, Those—The Bronze Fragment!

Several days later.

Above the capital of the Shenluo, Bulitani, two figures arrived at high speed from the horizon, tearing through the clouds, and finally stood high in the sky.

The urban construction of Bulitani was magnificent, even more spectacular than Tianjing; in the city center, various high-rise buildings were already taking shape. Lu Yuan looked down at the city from a high vantage point and nodded slightly:

"Is this your capital? It certainly has quite an imposing atmosphere."

Behind him, the Shenluo Pope Saint Peter looked pale and was panting, appearing as if he were at the end of his rope, and he managed to say:

"Though it has atmosphere, its history is not as long as Tianjing's; I have let the Immortal see a joke."

Lu Yuan turned his head and swept a glance at him:

"You broke through using the so-called Holy Baptism ritual, but your foundation does not seem stable. As expected, this method still has drawbacks?"

The Shenluo Shengdi was less than forty thousand li away from the New Nation. Normally, at Lu Yuan's flight speed of over a thousand li per hour, plus the time needed for meditation to recover Qi, it would take no more than three or four days to arrive.

But in reality, he had used nearly six days.

The main reason was that Saint Peter was holding him back. This Shenluo Pope could not compare to him in flight speed, and his endurance was even worse by a hundred and eight thousand li; often, after flying for two or three hours, he had to stop to recover his cultivation.

While this was partly because his injuries had not fully healed, it was more due to the fact that his own cultivation foundation was clearly somewhat flimsy, which seemed to be a drawback of breaking through using the so-called Holy Baptism ritual.

"Your Excellency is comparable to a god; naturally, I cannot be mentioned in the same breath as you."

Saint Peter revealed a bitter smile:

"The Shengdi and the Sanctuary are right below; please follow me."

He took the lead and descended, with Lu Yuan following behind. The two of them descending from the sky quickly attracted the attention of many Shenluo People in the city, who one after another let out shocked shouts:

"Quick, look, what is that!?"

"That, that seems to be His Holiness the Pope? Has His Holiness the Pope returned from the New Nation!?"

"Welcome back, Your Holiness the Pope. Wait, who is the other person?"

The news of what happened in the New Nation a few days ago was limited to the upper echelons; the middle and lower-class Shenluo People knew nothing of it. Seeing the Pope flying across the sky, countless believers knelt down to worship piously, but some discovered something was wrong and looked at Lu Yuan's figure with shock and suspicion, not knowing what was going on.

Regardless of the stir in the city, Saint Peter soon led Lu Yuan to descend above the central Shengdi. Before them sat the magnificent Shengpiduo Dajiaotang, and behind the cathedral was the Sanctuary built against the mountain.

What was particularly spectacular was that the lower part of the mountain the Sanctuary relied on was craggy and steep, but the summit had been carved into a giant cross-shaped statue of a god, and one could clearly see this statue of the Lord of Heaven's suffering from almost anywhere.

Saint Peter's gaze swept over the statue, and he sighed silently in his heart, then turned and asked:

"All the important secrets and classics of the Holy See are stored in the secret hall of Shengpiduo Dajiaotang, while everything related to the Holy Baptism ritual is in the Sanctuary. What do you intend to see first?"

Lu Yuan examined everything around him with interest:

"Let's go see the Holy Baptism ritual first."

"Please follow me, Your Excellency."

Saint Peter was nearly a hundred years old and had once been a figure standing at the pinnacle of power, but at this moment, facing an existence like Lu Yuan that transcended reality, he appeared able to bend and stretch, being respectful and courteous. He passed the cathedral and landed directly in front of the Sanctuary, where he saw a team of Shenluo People dressed like Knights, looking exceptionally sharp, who rushed over and exclaimed in shock:

"Your Holiness the Pope, why have you returned?"

"And who is this!?"

Lu Yuan had black hair and black eyes and could also fly through the air; he was clearly that Shenzhou Immortal who had shaken the world.

But their Shenluo and the Shenzhou Immortal were clearly in a hostile relationship, so why would the other party appear at the Holy See's Shengdi?

What on earth had happened!?

Facing the gazes full of suspicion, Saint Peter only gave a light cough:

"This is the Shenzhou Immortal, an existence without peer in the world; even I am ashamed of my inferiority compared to him. Now the Holy See has reached a cooperative relationship with the New Nation, and I have specially invited the Immortal to visit the Shengdi. Do not make a fuss."

???

A visit?

The entire Shengdi knew that the Pope had come out of seclusion and pointed his sword at Shenzhou, preparing to compete with the Shenzhou Immortal. The group of elite Knights could not imagine how, in just a few days, the narrative had changed?

Everyone looked at each other in dismay, but they dared not question him and immediately retreated, completely confused. Saint Peter then personally led Lu Yuan to the front of the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary was built against the mountain, and a huge stone door engraved with various pictures and Shenluo language was tightly shut. He turned his head and said politely:

"Your Excellency the Immortal, please insert the Holy Spear into the door hole."

Opening the Sanctuary required the Spear of Longinus as a key; Saint Peter had mentioned this long ago. Lu Yuan immediately raised his hand, and the Spear of Longinus, which he had seized from the other party, sank into a hole in the stone door. Following a roar, the heavy stone door slowly moved aside, immediately revealing an ancient, vicissitudinous, and magnificent hall.

Stepping inside, the walls of the hall were the hollowed-out mountain, carved with a large number of reliefs; it was unknown whether they recorded myths and legends or important figures of the Holy See. After driving straight into the inner hall, one could see an altar sitting in the center, engraved with a large number of golden, complex patterns, revealing an extremely holy aura from the inside out.

Lu Yuan floated up, lowered his head to examine it carefully for a long time, and then narrowed his eyes:

"Interesting, this is clearly some kind of array. Saint Peter, are you sure this Holy Baptism ritual was created by one of your Popes?"

Saint Peter's gaze tightened:

"The history of the Holy Baptism ritual's appearance is at least four or five hundred years. According to the Holy See's records, this Holy Baptism ritual was created by the Pope at the time, Keleimang Yishi, after receiving a revelation from the Lord of Heaven in a dream. Your Excellency the Immortal, what do you mean by saying this is an array?"

"What revelation from the Lord of Heaven, creating this method is pure nonsense."

Lu Yuan sneered abruptly, his fingertips blooming with golden light, illuminating four strange runes arranged in the four directions at the center of the altar:

"Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe—these are not runes from your West, but ancient characters from the ancient period of Shenzhou. Could it be that your Pope was entrusted with a dream by a Daoist Heavenly Venerable? What a joke!"

As he spoke, he used the light to write the modern Immortal-style versions of these four characters on the empty ground nearby.

Even though Saint Peter was accustomed to great storms and waves, he could not help but be shocked at this moment. He hurriedly flew forward to look carefully at the four runes illuminated by the light and compared them with the characters Lu Yuan had written on the side.

And the more he looked, the more obvious the change in his expression became:

"Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe... they are indeed very similar..."

"But how is this possible? How could ancient Shenzhou characters appear in the Holy Baptism ritual that gathers and refines the power of faith?"

"If it was not a revelation from the Lord of Heaven, then how did Keleimang Yishi create the Holy Baptism ritual?"

Lu Yuan scoffed:

"Need you ask? Any talk of a revelation from the Lord of Heaven is clearly complete nonsense. He likely obtained a secret technique from Shenzhou from somewhere and thus concocted this so-called Holy Baptism ritual. He didn't want people to know that this originally came from Shenzhou, so he could only claim it was a revelation from your Lord of Heaven."

Saint Peter's expression was not very good, and he did not even refute it:

"The Pope's biography records that Keleimang Yishi was indeed proficient in Shenzhou culture, well-read in many classics, and even had correspondence with the Emperor of the Jing Dynasty at the time. This possibility does indeed exist..." Lu Yuan could not be bothered to investigate further for the time being, and said:

"How should this Baptism ritual be activated?"

Saint Peter's gaze flickered, even carrying a hint of anticipation as he said:

"One needs to sit at the center of the altar, pray devoutly, empty the mind, and then use one's own blood and vital energy to stimulate the holy patterns; this will trigger the ritual, extract and refine the power of faith entrusted by the billions of believers within the holy statue at the mountain peak, and use it to refine oneself."

After listening, Lu Yuan gave him an amused look, said nothing more, and immediately formed hand seals, his entire body blooming with a brilliant, clear radiance of Dharma Power.

Then, in just the blink of an eye, an ethereal, wispy figure, almost identical to himself, stepped out from the clear radiance of Dharma Power, and under his control, drifted lightly onto the altar and sat cross-legged.

Seeing this miraculous scene, Saint Peter's eyes shook violently, his expression changing in horror:

"A, a clone?"

Lu Yuan had no time to pay him any mind, controlling the Dharma Power clone to prepare to activate the Baptism ritual.

He was, after all, a cultivator at the late stage of Refining Essence into Qi, which, if converted, was likely comparable to a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage; with his methods, it was not difficult to figure out and activate this Baptism ritual even without Saint Peter.

As he explored, the Dharma Power avatar, identical to him, formed seals with both hands and then gently pointed a finger at the center point of the array patterns.

Hum.

The next moment, amidst an indescribably vast fluctuation, all the complex patterns on the entire altar lit up, blooming with strange radiance and forming an incomparably mysterious and profound array.

At the same time, from the hollow top of the entire hall, a holy pillar of light containing an inexplicable power suddenly descended, enveloping the Dharma Power clone and setting it off as if it were a god.

And Lu Yuan, outside the altar, realized immediately that this pillar of light descending from the top of the hall was nothing else but manifested Incense Power, or rather, the power of faith!

Not expecting Lu Yuan to successfully activate the Baptism ritual on his first attempt, Saint Peter, standing to the side, stared blankly, doubting his life;

While Lu Yuan frowned, staring intently at the Dharma Power clone enveloped by the pillar of faith:

"The nature of this seems somewhat similar to the Luck Power collected by the Heavenly Book, though it is much inferior."

"This kind of power can actually help people break through?"

His thoughts had just stirred.

With a bang!

The Dharma Power clone on the altar seemed unable to withstand the tempering of the power of faith and immediately collapsed.

Losing a clone that cost less than one-tenth of his Dharma Power was nothing; Lu Yuan's eyes flickered, and he nodded slightly:

"Sure enough, although this power of faith has been refined, it still contains the most urgent prayers and wishes of the Holy See's countless believers. This chaotic mental impact will, to a great extent, affect a person's mind; if one cannot withstand it, they might become a lunatic or an idiot, and it is even possible to explode and die on the spot."

"But if one can endure it, one can use it to refine the physical body and temper the mind, thereby breaking through one's own limits. Theoretically, anyone with a strong body and a tenacious will has the possibility of a successful breakthrough."

"Besides this, there may be other drawbacks after being baptized by this power of faith, though it is impossible to judge for the moment."

"Not bad, not bad. Traveling ten thousand miles, this trip was not in vain."

Not expecting Lu Yuan to have fathomed the mysteries of the Baptism ritual so quickly, Saint Peter felt a chill in his heart and, suppressing his fear, flattered him:

"Your Excellency Immortal, your eyes are like torches, observing the finest details; I am filled with admiration."

Lu Yuan swept his gaze over:

"Saint Peter, I want you to first find all the information related to Keleimang Yishi, especially focusing on searching for the origin of this Baptism ritual.

Do not think about acting in bad faith; if I cannot find the answer, I will not leave the Holy See, and if necessary, I would not mind turning all of your high-ranking members into puppets, understand?"

Now only thinking about sending this plague god away as soon as possible to recuperate and heal, Saint Peter had absolutely no thoughts of acting in bad faith, took a deep breath, and said:

"Your Excellency, rest assured, I will definitely do my utmost to gather the relevant records and materials for you!"

Lu Yuan nodded and smiled:

"Very good."

Saint Peter's efficiency was even higher than Lu Yuan had anticipated.

Just three days later, he brought several priests guarding the holy site, carrying a large stack of documents and materials to the Sanctuary where Lu Yuan was temporarily staying and researching, and said with slight joy:

"Your Excellency Immortal, we have found it!"

"Oh?"

Lu Yuan, who was still researching the layout of the Baptism ritual, suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed on them:

"What have you found?"

Saint Peter immediately took out the top parchment book and presented it to Lu Yuan with both hands:

"This is a secret file regarding Keleimang Yishi, which records that before he was buried, he instructed his descendants that three relics must be placed in the coffin to be buried with him.

The three relics are the first Shengquan crafted for him by believers when he became Pope, the Knight badge he received when he was first selected into the Shengnsheng Qishituan, and the last item is a bronze fragment of unknown origin.

We now suspect that the last burial object, the bronze scroll, may be related to the Baptism ritual!"

"Oh?"

Lu Yuan took the parchment book from his hand, and after scanning it, confirmed that the content was not fake, and immediately nodded:

"Where is that bronze scroll now?"

The parchment book did indeed record the life of Keleimang Yishi and the three burial objects in the language of the Holy See, and the last one was indeed suspicious.

And the reason he could understand the language of the Holy See was by relying on an Earthly Fiend Art he had just lit up: 【Soul Absorption】.

This art could not only extract a person's soul directly, causing them to have their soul scattered, but at a higher level, it could also search souls and read memories, which was extremely overbearing.

After Lu Yuan lit up this art, he directly upgraded it to the Earth-tier level, and then casually had Saint Peter send over a few criminals of the Holy See to experiment.

As a result, he very smoothly mastered the language of the Holy See by reading their memories.

Mastering a language in three days and easily understanding all the Holy See's archives—Saint Peter was terrified upon learning this, which was the direct reason why he was so cooperative and did his utmost to investigate!