Chapter 413

"Right right right right right!"

"This group of elders was still responsible; upon noticing that there were still urgent matters ahead, they quickly discarded their previous bad moods and all looked toward where Ji Ming was."

"Seeing that it was finally his turn to take the stage, Ji Ming also smiled slightly and revealed his prepared opening remarks."

"\"Respected elders, His Holiness the Pope, greetings. I am Ji Ming from Yangguang City, and here I offer my respect as a Divine Chosen. \""

"Frankly speaking, if Ji Ming had only arrived in the Yangyue World last year, even with the high emotional intelligence honed from navigating modern society, he might not be able to withstand the wheel battle of so many old-timers."

"But who made his charm value heaven-defying, allowing him to continuously release a suggestion aura via the 【Suggestion Technique】 to boost his personal persuasiveness?"

"Thus, as a foreign Divine Chosen visiting the Holy See for the first time, he easily explained his identity to them, completing a decent debut before the church elders."

"If it were anyone else, they certainly wouldn't stop there; as a young man whose appearance is puzzling yet destined to enter the top-tier circle, the elders who painstakingly climbed here would surely make things difficult for him out of imbalance."

"For example, like in an interview, they might ask awkward questions or set difficult demands to test his proficiency with Holy Light; in short, they would definitely want to embarrass him a bit to emphasize their own importance."

"But Ji Ming is clearly an exception, for the elders already know full well how capable he is; testing him further would be deliberately seeking trouble, so all they now want to do is eagerly……"

"\"Divine Chosen Sir, we already understand what you've said, but I just noticed you mentioned dealing with evil god followers in Fengying Territory; could you please elaborate on that part for us? \""

"\"Yes, child, Grandma remembers you also wrote a guide manual, right? Many parts might be unclear due to limited length; I didn't quite grasp them, forgive my boldness—could you trouble yourself to explain it again? \""

"\"Divine Chosen, don't be nervous; our Elder Council isn't some especially stern group—everyone just does their job and fulfills their duties—but you just saw, the environment has changed rapidly lately, and we really can't keep up; we need to supplement some new knowledge. \""

"There were many speakers, and they said a lot, but it all boiled down to one meaning; thus Ji Ming gave a slight nod."

"\"Sure, I will now share all the knowledge I have researched and summarized with you. \""

"Yet, looking at the elderly men and women silently watching from around the round table, Ji Ming, who was already controlling Holy Light to write and draw in midair, suddenly felt as if he had drifted back to university."

"\"Well, Eleanor hasn't started yet over there; let me first give a graduation defense to warm up the crew, right? \""

"This paper is neither something he bought, nor academic garbage cobbled together by him pulling threads as a tailor and adding filler."

"This thing is something he personally wrote; wanting to answer some questions, wanting to analyze some matters—isn't that just child's play? It's utterly effortless."

It's a pity this is killing too much time; Ji Ming merely outlined his argument a bit, and he talked from late night until dawn the next day.

So… cough, cough, uh, my throat is a bit dry, I'll take a sip of water.

After speaking intensely for seven or eight hours straight, even a steel throat couldn't hold up; Ji Ming hurriedly took a bottle of water from his storage ring and glug-glugged it down.

All right, all right, let's continue!

Who would have thought he was still busy flipping through books and organizing his wording, when a voice that could be described as anxious came from behind.

Hey hey hey! Hold on, Divine Chosen Sir, let's take a break first!

Huh?

Ji Ming, who had nearly filled every wall of the hall with Holy Light, turned his head.

Well, since even his throat can't hold up, these elders, though high-ranking professionals, are now old and weak, and their frail bodies can't take this much.

Having studied intensely all night without dying is already a blessing from the gods; how could we possibly continue?

Although the Giant Pope relies on this innate bloodline and is temporarily in decent shape, he is eagerly waiting to hear the second half of the lesson.

Seeing the old comrades around him all wearing the expression 'as long as you dare to continue, I dare to follow,' he could only wave his hand to signal.

All right, Divine Chosen Sir, we've learned enough today; please leave us some time to digest it.

... Fine, then let the elders rest a bit, and we'll continue tonight or tomorrow.

Who would have thought that, just as the Divine Chosen left, the old men and women had barely leaned on the table to take a break when they heard the sound of the door being pushed open again.

Hey, uh, the access code for flying in and out… haven't you given it to me yet?

No wonder he was brought here by the Archbishop; he's usually reliable, but now he likes to make a timed comeback, right?

The Pope hurriedly stood up.

Sure, sure! Perfect, ShanShang is still quite big and easy to get lost in; I'll take you to get it!

The access code is of great importance, so naturally he couldn't just give it out verbally alone; therefore he took Ji Ming to the Papal Knights' garrison, or rather, the Holy Mountain Security.

Oh, you're the Divine Chosen, right? How do you prove it? Oh, you have a halo! Fine, the guarantor is Archbishop Tenisi and His Holiness the Pope, right? Okay, okay, okay!

But this byd Mediterranean, glib as he was, ended up making Ji Ming write several application forms in a row, and after waiting a moment in the hall, he finally got his own access code.

This so-called access code actually works on principles similar to Morse code, transmitting information via different flashing patterns, only much more complex.

Specifically, it's so complex that you need to strike at least five sets simultaneously, so the real access code isn't the flashing itself, but the ability to actually produce that sequence of flashes.

The difficulty is so high that even the Pope can't help but ask, just like an old lady.

The code is yours, but it's hard to use; you'll probably need to practice for a few days before you can use it normally.

Ji Ming was about to say that he had just about filled the Holy Light characters in your grand hall, and you dare question my ability to use Holy Light? The Pope then reacted.

Oh, sorry, I remembered…… It's fine, no problem!

After doing all that, Ji Ming planned to fly down Holy Mountain to see how Eleonore and Little Lion were doing with their mountain climb.

Anyway, I've already returned to college for my thesis defense; as a senior, I must also see the juniors suffer through military training, and I must do so while eating ice watermelon.

But as soon as he moved, the Giant Pope intercepted him.

Divine Chosen Sir, you've given us a thorough explanation all night long; aren't you tired?

What, you're actually asking a powerhouse who never needed sleep whether pulling an all-nighter tires him?

Of course I'm not tired; in fact, I could keep talking like this for another whole day.

This…

The Pope rubbed his head, which had mostly lost its hair, leaving only a thin layer of fine fuzz on his scalp.

Then I can't.

Suppressing the urge to pat his shoulder, Ji Ming lowered his voice.

It's fine, Your Holiness the Pope; I'm an alchemist, I've learned many recipes for hair growth; when we have free time, I'll show you.

Good!

The Giant Pope nodded repeatedly, but seeing Ji Ming already mobilizing thunder-light power to levitate, he hurriedly chased after a few steps.

Wait! Divine Chosen Sir, you can stroll around here, but after finally making it up to the Holy Mountain once, you absolutely must not leave!

Don't make me leave……

Ji Ming suddenly felt a grim premonition welling up in his heart.

What do you mean?

The Pope chuckled.

To be frank, it's not just the elders; many, many believers have read your guidebook, but they still have many things they don't understand and want to learn, so they're waiting for you to come preach, teach, and clear up their doubts!

Ah… this.

Ji Ming knew he might be in for a rough time, but he didn't expect it to be this thorough; for the next seven days, he hardly ever left Chasing Sun Peak.

Each day, he only had three things to do: eat, sleep, and in a place presumably meant for preaching, explain his new learning to the throngs of believers.

Fortunately, he had a big heart and enough courage; otherwise, seeing that sea of heads with eyes like stars, he'd likely have been scared weak-kneed long ago.

But this bunch of muscleheads were indeed diligent and eager to learn—probably because they were pissed off at being played by other churches—and their attendance far outstripped that of college students.

Moreover, as long as Ji Ming was willing to interact, there was a forest of arms below, and regardless of how good the answers were, at least everyone was willing to speak.

But I still want to ask: what's the connection between sturdier iron gauntlets and how to dispel the enemy's rumors?

The female knight flexed her biceps and, amid the cheers of her comrades, fiercely clenched her fists.

Because I'm gonna beat him to death with one punch!

Fine, fine, you want to play like that? Even with college work-study and bringing elementary kids' homework, the mess they made with their bizarre answers left me broken, and I had to recover.

You guys, you can't solve problems by fighting…… at least not this one!

Actually, the violent tendencies of the Holy Light believers aren't without their benefits.

At least Ji Ming, in that huge temple whose area is calculated in tens of thousands of square kilometers, wasn't eating bland vegetarian fare; instead, he got plenty of oil, sugar, and carbs every day.

Moreover, though it was hard, it wasn't without concern; at least during this period, besides the Pope and the Council of Elders, Tenisi and Ailinnuo also came to visit him.

Just being inside while they were outside gave him the feeling of being wrongfully imprisoned and visited by family.

It's fine, it's fine; as long as everyone wants to learn, I'm still fairly motivated.

During breaks, Ji Ming chatted with them a bit, but after just a few words, the talk turned to Little Lion.

He, the Pope and the Council of Elders have finished their investigation and found no useful clues on him; we suspect…… that some evil god in the early church snatched him for experiments.

Yeah, after all, back then Holy Light was actually a new kind of energy; who knows what happened, maybe it's been sealed somewhere all this time and accidentally leaked out.

Alright, so Little Lion is actually the legendary deep-forest captain with the superb war drum, huh? Then does his closest comrade Bofeier also need to be resurrected as a nightmare warrior?

But complaining aside, he's still a fellow countryman from a parallel world and a member of the savior team.

Ji Ming couldn't let him just kick the bucket like that, so he immediately asked.

So what do we plan to do with him next?

That's not a discussion Eleanor can join; we still need the old lady to spill some juicy info.

Actually, the Pope has tapped the divine power stored in the Sun Holy Temple to communicate with the gods and scan the Death Knight, but the result is…… he's not evil; at least he can be considered benevolent.

Ji Ming was shocked to hear that.

Although he also believes in the harsh sayings like 'great achievers don't sweat the small stuff' and 'victory is built on enemies' corpses and friends' sacrifices,' how could Little Lion possibly be considered benevolent?

Never mind that; even if he started anew with his post-death Death Knight identity, when he debuted he dragged a huge host of wraiths and living corpses to invade Sunlight City, and he's absolutely culpable for war crimes.

He was wondering whether the old sun thought Little Lion was also a savior generation and, as his 'friend,' was just letting him off easy, when he heard Tenisi's explanation.

This result sounds outrageous, but it's actually the conclusion after weighing his lifetime of merits and faults; fate is too complex—if every detail were listed, even the gods couldn't capture such a vast, intricate trajectory, so perhaps he achieved many great deeds in life.

Oh, then it's not surprising.

At least he also overturned the useless Holy Tree Kingdom, leading countless people out of the suffering akin to an otherworldly late Ming dynasty—this is definitely a great deed.

And since Little Lion is now under soft confinement in a shady slope facing away from Chasing Sun Peak among the surrounding mountains, he's well fed and temporarily safe.

Eleanor here may have started busy with the May evaluations, but with the old lady looking out for her, she doesn't need to worry and can continue her teaching volunteer work in peace.

Too bad that while the tree wishes for calm, the wind won't cease; a newly promoted Divine Chosen is lecturing nonstop on the State Religion Holy Mountain, his effect so great it could make lotuses bloom and gold lotus surge, wildly boosting favor with everyone in the Holy Light Church, something the people of the Royal Capital couldn't possibly miss.

Especially given Ji Ming's unique status, the only person in the Royal Capital circle who could relate to him is likewise a lone, struggling princess Eleanor—this is a veritable social blue ocean.

So starting from the third day, the strangers coming to console Ji Ming the Divine Chosen grew more numerous—this one representing a duke, that one a prince, and even princes and princesses coming in person to ask Ji Ming for advice.

Ask about what?

Isn't it just that they think the Holy Light's immense power can always sway the imperial court, letting the hot-shot Divine Chosen pull them a leg?

(End of chapter)