Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest

After Luo Xiu finished processing the files for the day, he went to the reception room and met with Lord Nelson in person.

Lord Nelson had been waiting here for a long time. When he saw the church's "high priest" Luo Xiu coming, he stood up and paid a pious sacrament to Luo Xiu.

"Thank you for your time, Lord Luo Xiu." Nelson said respectfully, "I heard from the border that you have judged the case of 'Death Adviser' Green, and I came here to express my most sincere gratitude to you."

"You have eliminated this harm for me and the residents of Red Maple City. This is really great news."

"That's just my responsibility as the 'High Priest'." Luo Xiu nodded and smiled and said, "You don't need to make a special trip for this, Lord Nelson."

"No, no, you are too polite, Lord Luo Xiu."

Nelson shook his head and said:

"'Death Adviser' Green, that has always been the confidant of 'Grand Inquisitor' Lord Baines Great trouble. I thank you not only on my own behalf, but also on behalf of the "Bian Ting". "

"Lord Baines asked me to tell you that he is willing to reach further cooperation with the church. To this end, the Bian Ting is willing to open a quarter of the ring storage treasury to the church. At the same time, Lord Baines promised to share all information with the church in the future."

"And this time, I personally want to donate another 5,000 gold coins to the church, and Lord Baines and the "Bian Ting" also asked me to donate 20,000 coins on their behalf. This is just our humble intention, please accept it, please don't refuse."

Nelson's words were full of sincerity, and the expression on his face was full of piety and respect like a true believer. Luo Xiu looked him straight in the eyes, thought for a moment, then nodded and said:

"I understand, Lord Nelson. I have indeed received the goodwill of you and the 'Bianting'. Later, I will let the clergy of the secret place hand over to your attendants. I thank you for your donation on behalf of the church."

When he heard that the "Chancellor" Luo Xiu said that he accepted these gifts, Lord Nelson also breathed a sigh of relief.

He came here again under the order of Lord Baines, the "Grand Inquisitor", and one of his important tasks was to use him as a link to establish a good relationship with the church, especially the "Chancellor" Luo Xiu Carlos of the church. Since Luo Xiu accepted these "goodwill" gifts, this task was accomplished.

Then, Nelson heard Luo Xiu continue to say:

"Deepening the cooperative relationship with the 'Border Court' is what I have been pursuing, and your arrival has given me an opportunity, Lord Nelson."

"I hope you can go back and tell Lord Baines that if there is another danger like the 'Death Announcer', you can send someone to the church to inform me as soon as possible. I swear in the name of the Holy Light that such filth will be punished by the Holy Spirit."

"That couldn't be better, Lord Luo Xiu."

The Lord of Nelson stood up and bowed deeply to Luo Xiu again.

At this time, he had conveyed the goodwill of "Bian Ting" and received an accurate reply from "Chief Priest" Luo Xiu, so he was ready to say goodbye to Luo Xiu and said:

"Well, Lord Luo Xiu, in this case, I will not bother you any more."

"I will tell Lord Baines your words verbatim, and he will definitely be happy about it."

After that, Lord Nelson formally said goodbye to Luo Xiu, left the reception room under Luo Xiu's eyes, and left the church under the guidance of the clergy.

And Luo Xiu also left his residence and went to the Holy Office Hall, preparing to send the "mission house" to receive the "gift" conveyed by Lord Nelson.

This time, the church received 25,000 gold coins donated by Lord Nelson and "Bian Ting". In addition, the newly built "Ring Treasure House" of [Supreme] in Red Maple City, which was managed by Bian Ting, was also opened to the church by a quarter. With the size of the "Border Court", the church no longer needs to worry about basic materials, which is really a good thing.

Luo Xiu thought about these things, and he was also thinking about other problems.

Since Luo Xiu officially took up the position of "host of the great sacrifice" of the Red Maple City Wartime Church, the church has obtained a lot of resources and financial savings from various channels. The amount of "holy donations" from Lord Nelson twice has reached 10,000 gold coins, and "Grand Inquisitor" Baines asked him to "holy donate" 20,000... Add to that the thousands of gold coins "holy donated" by many devout believers recently, and those seized from the pagan strongholds by the Holy Inquisitor led by Anthony and Pamier, the church's current financial reserves have nearly 60,000 gold coins.

Although this number is not as good as the 200,000 gold coins he once had in the "Gold Country Bank", it is also a considerable number... In a trance, Luo Xiu inexplicably felt that he seemed to have some kind of innate talent for attracting money.

Then, with sufficient resources now, Luo Xiu also needs to consider the church's future recruitment and expansion.

After writing down all these ideas, Luo Xiu took the newly written notes to the preaching house and the secret place, and conveyed his requirements to the chief officers of the two sanctuaries respectively.

After receiving a positive response, Luo Xiu returned to his residence from the two sanctuaries, pulled up the barrier and took a short rest.

Now, most of the important matters of his new position as the "host of the high sacrifice" of the church have been completed. The clergy under the church will perform other trivial tasks, so Luo Xiu does not need to divert his attention.

He can then plan to do some things of his own, outside the church.

Luo Xiu tidied up his room, changed into his casual clothes, walked out of the enchantment of his residence, went to the missionary station to explain some things to Anthony, then left the church and walked towards the main street of Red Maple City.

He still remembered another thing - to find a shop suitable for the dwarf Mil as a new blacksmith shop, and now Luo Xiu finally had free time to complete this agreement.

Calculating the schedule, the dwarf Mil said at the time that he still needed to deal with some aftermath matters, and now it was almost time for him to leave.

While thinking about this, Luo Xiu also took a leisurely walk along the main street. He walked around and looked around, feeling quite happy.

After solving a bunch of things at the beginning of his tenure, now is the most sacred and precious private vacation, and no one can disturb it.

Luo Xiu thought so firmly in his heart.

…

A week later, in the middle of October in the 767th year of the Apocalypse Calendar.

Since the unprecedented horrific plague broke out in the Nolan Empire last month, an unprecedented famine has also swept rapidly from the east of the empire and quickly spread to a large part of the empire.

The previous plague had already severely damaged the empire. And now the famine that followed has exacerbated the situation and caused extremely serious turmoil in the empire.

When the news that a large part of the empire's territory suffered from severe famine spread to Songyuan Territory and then to Hongfeng City, the famine had caused irreparable and extremely huge losses to the empire.

——"October Famine". This is the name given to this famine by the imperial descendants of the empire later.

"Bianting" first received this news from the Law Office of Songyuan Territory, and the leader of "Bianting" "Grand Inquisitor" Baines also fulfilled his previous promise of "intelligence sharing" and synchronized the information of the famine to the church.

Therefore, Luo Xiu was able to learn about this news in the first place. Although the famine and plague did not completely spread to Songyuan Territory, the situation was not optimistic at all.

This means that the time for the "Judgment War" to really come is getting closer and closer... Luo Xiu knows this more clearly than anyone else.

Soon, the Empire will erupt in more terrorist actions - the pagan massacre of the "Rolling Stone City Sacrifice", the terrorist assassination of the "Black Knife Incident"; the border independence movement of the "Bloody Declaration"... One after another terrorist riots will occur, gradually causing the Empire's rule to slide to the brink of collapse.

Finally, with the "Night of Wailing" in which a duke, three marquises, and dozens of earls were cursed to death as the final fuse, the Dark Principality will officially declare war on the Empire, and the horn of the "War of Revenge" and "War of Judgment" will really sound.

Now, there is not much time left for Luo Xiu to prepare, and Luo Xiu is very clear about this.

But he cannot and does not intend to forcibly reverse the pain and tragedy before the arrival of these wars.

Although Luo Xiu is now a "fourth-level destiny" and has a strength that most extraordinary people can't reach, he also knows that he is far from strong enough, and the initiators of these pains and tragedies are undoubtedly the game between extraordinary people who are at least above the "saint" level.

He can foresee what will happen in the future, which is enough to become an absolute advantage in his hands. And the result of forcibly cutting into such a high-end game is also obvious. If he is a little careless, he will be crushed into ashes by those real strong people and will never recover.

In such a situation, Luo Xiu still chooses to stay in Hongfeng City and develop steadily. Only by continuing to become stronger and truly promoted to a "saint" with a fifth-level destiny can he practice more.

After learning that the "October Famine" has really arrived, Luo Xiu made such a decision.

...

Hongfeng City, Glorious Church

In the week after meeting with Lord Nelson, Luo Xiu maintained his normal work rhythm as the "Master Priest", handled various affairs of the church in an orderly manner, and steadily improved his strength.

During this period, the diocese had received the remarkable achievements of Luo Xiu since he took office, so more clergy were dispatched to the church and more support was given to the church.

The chief officer of the "Preaching House", Mayev, also carried out Luo Xiu's orders well, selecting many qualified seedlings from the devout believers of Red Maple City.

Some of them joined the church, and under the guidance of the clergy of the preaching house, they successfully comprehended the way of [Gloriousness] and embarked on the first destiny, and as "enlightened people", they each served as apprentice clergy.

Today, the number of clergy in the wartime church of Red Maple City has reached 76, which is doubled compared to when Luo Xiu took office as the "Master Priest".

These are all good signs, indicating that the church is indeed developing rapidly, and there is no big problem with the development policy that he set for the church before.

Luo Xiu was thinking happily, and he had just finished dealing with church affairs for the day, and he also received a new report from the guiding clergy on this morning.

The guiding clergy reported to Luo Xiu that a dwarf was at the door of the church at this time. He told the clergy on duty the surname "Carlos" and specifically asked to see the clergy with this surname.

The guiding clergy also knew that the only clergy with this surname in the church was Luo Xiu, the "chief priest".

The guiding clergy did not dare to neglect it, and respectfully asked the dwarf to wait at the door of the church for a while, and then hurried to report the matter to Luo Xiu.

——That's the dwarf Mir, he's finally here! He said before that it would take about half a month to deal with the aftermath, and he finally arrived in Red Maple City on time.

"That's an old friend of mine, Artz." Luo Xiu smiled and said to the guiding priest, "He's finally here. You go and guide him in first, Artz, to the reception room of my residence, I'll be there soon."

"Okay, Lord Luo Xiu." The priest named "Artz" nodded and said, "I'll guide the guest and arrange for him to meet you in the reception room."

After that, Artz said goodbye to Luo Xiu and left. Luo Xiu also tidied up his clothes, tidied up the files on the table, and then set off for the reception room.

...

Outside the main entrance of the Glorious Church, Mir was looking up at the priest on duty in front of him, with a curious expression on his face.

When he told the two gatekeepers the last name "Carlos" and asked to see the last name, Mir was keenly aware that the expressions on the faces of the two gatekeepers seemed to become a little subtle.

Why... when I told them the last name "Carlos", they had such expressions on their faces? Mir wondered with some doubts, but at the same time he was more curious about the identity of the Holy Judge friend who had been "missed" for half a month.

Since Luo Xiu asked Mir to buy the "Heart of the God", Mir knew that Luo Xiu's identity in the church must not be simple. But there were precedents in the past where the clergy bought for their direct "priests" and "bishops", so Mir did not think too deeply.

A gatekeeper asked Mir to wait for a while, and then went into the church to report these to the "officer".

Mir waited patiently, and after chatting with the remaining priests about Red Maple City and the church, the priest who had entered the church to report came out quickly and said to Mir:

"The 'High Priest' has known your intention and allowed you to enter the church to pay homage."

"Please follow me, guest. I will take you to the residence of the High Priest."

The High Priest... Why do you want to go to the residence of the High Priest? Mir thought with some confusion in his heart.

He hadn't figured it out at this time. He just came to see the Holy Judge friend, why did the "High Priest" of the church want to see him... He didn't remember any intersection between him and the High Priest. Of course, it could also be that the "Holy Judge" friend was the confidant of the "High Priest" of the church, and his "Holy Judge" friend might have introduced him to the "High Priest" of the church...

While thinking about this, Mir restrained his spirituality, kept a low profile as much as possible, and followed the guiding priest to the inner courtyard of the church.

During this time, Mir looked around with some curiosity, and as a "dwarf", Mir also attracted the attention of many clergymen.

But no clergymen came to talk to Mir. Although "dwarves" are rare in Red Maple City, they can often be seen in various fields in the entire Nolan Empire.

For example, dwarves can often be seen when the Red Maple City Church is building. And Mir was still dressed as a craftsman at this time, which made the clergymen think that he was the builder who came to the church courtyard for a preliminary inspection.

As the guiding clergymen led Mir to the "high priest's residence" and were allowed to pass through the barrier and really enter the residence, the clergymen said to Mir:

"Guest, the high priest is waiting for you in the reception room on the first floor. Please go by yourself. The high priest will only allow you to go in alone."

Only allow me to go in alone? Mir's mind was spinning, and he faintly smelled something bad from the words of the guiding clergymen.

But now that they have entered the core of the church, Mir could only bite the bullet and respond: "I know, I will go in by myself."

Mir was confident that he was a rune magic forger with [Intelligence] "Fourfold Fate". If the presiding high priest really wanted to do something bad to him, he would have enough cards to escape...

While thinking about this, and watching the priest who led him here leave, Mir's face condensed, and he strode into the high priest's residence.

The structure of the first floor of the residence was not complicated. Mir quickly found the location of the reception room and knocked on the door.

"——Come in." A calm voice came from behind the door. It should be the voice of the "presiding high priest", which made Mir feel a little familiar.

But Mir didn't think too much. After getting the permission of the high priest, he pushed the door open.

Then, the expression on his face froze.

"Long time no see, Master Mir."

"Presiding high priest" Luo Xiu, he was sitting quietly in the first seat of the reception room at this time, looking at the visiting guests with a smile on his face.

After seeing who the "high priest" of the church was and confirming that he was not dazzled, Mir finally couldn't hold it anymore.

"...Ah?"

Mir blurted out "Ah", he could no longer hide his surprise.

He wanted to ask something else, but the huge shock and strong doubts had already surged into Mir's heart, making him forget what he was about to say for a short time, and just stood there in a daze.

When he saw his old friend standing there in a daze, Luo Xiu smiled knowingly. He was very satisfied with Mir's mixed reaction of shock and doubt when he saw him.

"Before, I didn't tell you my identity completely, my friend."

Luo Xiu stood up, walked to Mir, stretched out his right hand to him, and said solemnly:

"I am the 'high priest' of the Red Maple City Church. My name is Luo Xiu, Luo Xiu Carlos."

"I am very happy to see you again after half a month. I welcome you on behalf of myself and the entire church."

"——Welcome to Red Maple City, my friend."

……