Chapter 302

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

"The best temples are holy grounds formed by a god's projection..." Yin Senyong criticized while looking at the pictures, "Not the cult kind that forcibly aggregate through rituals."

Ru Ding let out a cold snort; his clever debating skills were of no use whatsoever in this setting. Yin Senyong couldn't understand difficult Chinese, and whenever the conversation reached a profound point, he would fake a bathroom break. When he returned, he wouldn't eat the konjac, and instead spouted a string of gibberish in some unknown language.

On top of that, Chen Yi only took sides unfairly. If it were normal times, Ru Ding would have flicked his sleeves and left long ago — as a Religious Association Director with status and position, he had specifically practiced a graceful sleeve-flick. Unfortunately, in this setting, it was equally useless.

"Your son is the cult." Ru Ding cursed inwardly, yet stayed as far away as possible from the two qi-deviation cases.

Only to hear Yin Senyong muse, "With so many temples, it would be normal for one or two divine temples to be born among them. It's just that without the tempering of Combat Skill Level, even if they possess Divine Arts, they can't bring them out..."

"Never mind that. First tell me how to conduct the ritual?"

"That depends on which god you want to believe in."

Chen Yi then found pictures of ***ism, Mormonism, and other sects to show Yin Senyong.

The latter instantly realized, "You're looking for one for yourself? Why not believe in a certain Dragon God?"

"The appearance is ugly."

"What?"

"Local faith is easier to achieve." Chen Yi found a decent excuse. He already knew that on the West Continent, obtaining a god's recognition was the most difficult. Unless it was a massive, unsurpassable family, the members first had to be "Loyal to the Temple." Otherwise, aside from a few minor temples, the sacrifices simply wouldn't give you the qualification to participate in the ritual.

Even conducting the ritual didn't guarantee recognition. In fact, only an extremely small number of people could obtain recognition. Because the number of temples capable of holding rituals was scarce, and rituals could only be held once every few years with limited slots, the larger the temple, the more people participated each time, but only a tiny fraction could obtain the "god's" recognition. They were usually young people who had followed the faith since childhood.

Take Yin Senyong. From the moment of his birth into the family, the clan elders had selected six faiths for him: "Compassion," "Consistency of Word and Deed," "Loyalty to the Temple," "Humility," "Honesty," and "Oathkeeping." But after such long social conditioning, "Honesty" and "Humility" were already in dire straits. "Justice" had never been chosen, so naturally it wasn't among the prepared faiths either. Given his age and combat level, to meet the Level 9 Combat ritual standard, he needed at least another ten or twenty years. As for how many of the remaining four faiths could survive, that was hard to say. If he violated every single one, he definitely wouldn't obtain the "god's" recognition. Conversely, if he passed the recognition and gained "Divine Arts," the power of the Divine Arts would be proportional to his faith. The more temptations resisted, the firmer the will displayed, the stronger the power. Occasional transgressions would reduce the Divine Art's power.

This is the first step to becoming a Divine Art Knight or Holy Knight. To continuously increase the power of their Divine Arts, knights must constantly firm their faith. Some wealthy families would spend tens of thousands of gold coins on scrolls at once, just to earn the commendation of "Loyalty to the Temple." Destitute knights had no choice but to serve wealthy kingdoms...

The more Yin Senyong explained to Chen Yi, the more moved he became, until by the end he almost wanted to cry.

Chen Yi understandingly patted his shoulder and said, "I understand. Aristocratic scions, heavy responsibilities. We are the pillars of the world, the vanguard of humanity. Even if we occasionally enjoy life..."

"You're absolutely right, My Lord!" Yin Senyong's address of "My Lord" this time was utterly sincere.

Ru Ding rolled his eyes in a disgusting display on the side, thinking: I don't even dare speak like that when interpreting lots in the temple. Hmph, I should learn a thing or two.

In the end, Yin Senyong settled on Christianity — more precisely, Vatican Catholicism. Chen Yi didn't propose any objections either. Taking advantage of this trip abroad, he had the school handle the visas all at once, and also submitted the IDs of Naked Bear, Cao Zheng, and Liu Xinyu — the master has business and the disciple does the labor. Liu Xinyu was someone he wasn't comfortable leaving in the country; she was like an untamed wolfdog.

The school certainly wouldn't be this accommodating with other students, but since it was Chen Yi's request, the office teachers treated it as a favor and seriously made two or three trips. In the end, they still commissioned a travel agency to stamp the visas, and all expenses during the process were borne by the school. When Vice Dean Lu Weidong saw Chen Yi again, he unconsciously stood much straighter, smiling as he handed over the passports and asked, "Chen Yi, are you planning to go to the Vatican from the United States, or go there directly from China? We'll help you book tickets. The semester is almost over, and there's still some funding left, which should be enough for first-class fares. However, if everyone goes together, booking first class would be difficult."

"I chartered a Jianglu Airlines A319." Chen Yi smiled.

"Hehe, good, that's good." Lu Weidong's straight posture bent again. Nowadays, the most impressive way to fly domestically is chartering a plane. In fact, if it weren't for compatriots from Taiwan needing chartered flights, people in the country wouldn't even know planes could be taken this way. As for private jets, that's an unreliable matter. Even the most arrogant bosses, though they've entertained thoughts of buying planes, still face all sorts of restrictions. They can't even afford economy class tickets... It's certain that if there were a train from China to the US, the school would definitely save the money. This is also one of the reasons Chinese scholars don't like going to Moscow for conferences.

"Let's agree on a time to meet at Cornell University."

"Okay, okay. How about the weekend?"

"Fine, then I'll continue." Chen Yi pointed at the computer screen. He was currently writing an outline under the Intelligence Scroll. It's not easy for students to get a "public-funded" trip to the US.

"Naturally, naturally." Lu Weidong nodded his head vigorously. Even facing the Principal, he wouldn't be this humble.

Over the next few days, Yin Senyong and the Ru Ding Monk's family frolicked and played, speaking nothing but irrelevant words. Liu Xinyu and Jin Douna were busy adjusting the internal rhythm of the Chen Family Martial Arts Hall. Fang Zhong, because of the successful operation of the Chen Family Department Store, gained Chen Yi's further recognition, and thus accepted a new mission: purchasing equipment.

Although in Fang Zhong's view, the various equipment Chen Yi requested to purchase were messy and valueless, he still specially established a department for this, transferred several people, and recruited several more to supplement. In a very short time, they procured logging machines, cutting machines, rubber tapping knives, various engineering machinery, and two sets of newspaper equipment for establishing the "Martial Arts Hall Bulletin"...

Any leader hopes for more subordinates. The larger the team, the higher the leader's value, implying an increase in power — Chen Yi saw Fang Zhong's quiet expansion but tacitly approved. This way was more concealed and also more convenient.

In reality, Fang Zhong didn't know that the small department he casually established would one day possess authority exceeding that of many groups, and most of this power could originally have remained in his hands.

Chen Yi hurriedly made a trip to the West Continent, delivering the newly supplemented supplies to their positions, and simultaneously recovered the 13 Water Land God Boxes left in the subway. The fact proved that items in the subway can be preserved. Judging from the residual bacteria inside the Water Land God Boxes, life survival was also not a problem.

Before he could organize the various information, the time to go to Cornell University arrived. Chen Yi brought Liu Xinyu, Naked Bear, Cao Zheng, and Fang Zhong onto the Jianglu Airlines charter flight.

The A319 is a shortened version of the A320. Compared to private jets, its space is vastly larger. If the airline uses a high-density layout, the A319 can carry 148 economy passengers or 60-plus tons of cargo, comparable to the payload of those praised large bombers.

After such a large plane underwent meticulous arrangement and decoration, it was at least comparable to a three-star hotel suite. In Chen Yi's view, aside from the office area being too large, there was nothing bad about it.

Naked Bear and Cao Zheng were both going abroad for the first time. Thinking of the long journey and beautiful flight attendants, their eyes were wide and round.

Liu Xinyu looked at the two students with a strange smile, stood up to pour herself a glass of wine, then took off her high heels and stepped barefoot on the carpet. Her stockings shimmered before Chen Yi's eyes.

The flight attendants began service at this moment. Two tall girls walked from the rear cabin and asked the four people what they needed respectively.

Chen Yi only now discovered that Liu Xinyu's figure was actually taller than the carefully selected flight attendants. He couldn't help standing up and asking, "How tall are you?"

The girl pouring tea for him was startled by his domineering standing motion. Pocket Qi affects a person's mental state. The originally poised young flight attendant said in a worried voice, "One meter seventy-two."

Chen Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but didn't ask Liu Xinyu again. Visually estimating, the latter was probably several centimeters taller. One should say, that peak which countless men desire to conquer and climb affected the usual height calculation. Obviously, they were non-standard.

The little flight attendant fled as if escaping. Cao Zheng, eager to try, asked, "Boss, if you don't fancy her, can I have a go?"

"Call me Master." Liu Xinyu glared at him annoyedly. Ever since boarding the plane, he and Naked Bear had been searching for the flight attendants' shadows. Now that they finally saw them, their true colors came out.

Cao Zheng made a face and said with a grin, "Master." Then his gaze chased after them.

Fang Zhong was a steady middle-aged man. His trait in the Chen Family Group lay in this, so he wasn't suited to participate in such a youthful game. He could only ask the other flight attendant, "When do we take off?"

"This gentleman said to wait a bit first." The flight attendant pointed to Chen Yi. She was almost eagerly tattling. Among the group, Chen Yi was the youngest, Fang Zhong the oldest. She had reason to believe the latter was the person in charge, while Chen Yi was trying to flirt with her colleague.

Fang Zhong, however, carefully smiled and quietly sat back in his seat.

"Waiting for a friend." Chen Yi explained, then added, "We'll wait two more hours. If the other party doesn't come, we'll fly straight to the US. If they come, we'll go to the Vatican first."

The flight attendant was startled and looked to Fang Zhong for help. "The flight plan was made long ago. It's too late to change it now."

"Just notify the captain. He knows." Jianglu Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jiangning Airlines, and Jiangning Airlines is a state-owned enterprise transferred to Jiangning City by the Civil Aviation Administration back then. Although it's huge and doesn't really answer to SASAC, with Deputy Mayor Fang in charge of SASAC plus the Chen Family name, changing a route is smooth sailing.