Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest

Just before the Great Hall, the guard knights on duty saw Luo Xiu and the "deacons" of the church coming, and they all bowed to the guests of the church.

The leading guard knight stepped forward, bowed to Luo Xiu and said:

"Welcome, distinguished guests of the church. Lord Baines has set up a banquet in the hall, and I wish you a pleasant dinner."

Four "guard knights" with triple destinies are on duty at the Great Hall. The celebration banquet held by the "Border Court" this time is really impressive... Luo Xiu thought to himself, and he immediately nodded to the guard knights and responded:

"Thank you, and may you be bathed in the holy light forever."

After giving a "glorious" response, Luo Xiu then walked into the church, and the deacons of other churches followed him.

...

Border Court, inside the Great Hall.

Passing through the lobby of the hall, Luo Xiu went straight into the belly of the hall, and his vision was immediately attracted by the magnificent scene.

It was a huge auditorium that could accommodate a thousand people. The dome covered the auditorium, and the rows of colorful semicircular window panes opened halfway up the hall complemented each other.

In the brightly lit banquet hall, the magnificent chandeliers emitted soft light, reflecting on the guests' gorgeous clothes, flashing a little bit of brilliance.

The thick red carpet covered the entire banquet hall, and the silver plates on the table were filled with fine wine and delicacies. The aroma of meat and wine mixed together and filled the entire space.

On the inlaid chairs, the nobles sat in them, toasting and talking, and soft music filled the air, accompanied by low laughter and the clinking of silver tableware.

The nobles and officials of Red Maple City who were invited had already taken their seats. They were wandering between their seats and chatting with other nobles and officials.

The waiters wore uniform black uniforms, white aprons tied around their waists, and held silver trays with crystal glasses of champagne and red wine on them. They moved among the crowd and politely added wine to the guests.

When they saw Lord Nelson, the nobles and officials temporarily stopped talking, greeted Nelson and said:

"Nelson! Our banquet star, congratulations on your command of a beautiful victory!"

While greeting Lord Nelson, the observant officials had noticed the figure of Luo Xiu, the "high priest" of the church, behind Nelson.

Although the officials had never seen this "high priest", they could still roughly guess his identity from his clothes.

After greeting Lord Nelson, the nobles and officials who gathered around him then offered a slightly clumsy sacrament to Luo Xiu, and also greeted him:

"And the distinguished guests from the 'church', we are very honored to share the dinner with you!"

There was no piety on their faces, only heartfelt respect for those in high positions. Luo Xiu smiled slightly, nodded to them and responded:

"Thank you, and may you be bathed in the holy light forever."

After saying that, Luo Xiu walked straight past these nobles and officials. Lord Nelson also greeted them briefly and continued to lead the way for Luo Xiu.

The nobles and officials then dispersed and found new "friends" to join the conversation. They soon disappeared from Luo Xiu's sight.

...

At Luo Xiu's signal, the "deacons" of the church stayed in the belly hall and contacted those nobles and officials on behalf of the church.

Luo Xiu continued to follow the guidance of Lord Nelson and went to the second floor of the Grand Auditorium.

Compared with the scene in the Abdomen Hall, this place was much quieter. The slightly dim light was swaying with the candlelight, and Luo Xiu had seen a familiar figure shaking a red wine glass.

"Grand Inquisitor" Baines, he had changed into a dark and gorgeous brocade robe, sitting on a velvet chair, smiling at the guests in the Abdomen Hall.

Beside Baines, "Throne Knight" Frosa sat on another velvet chair.

He had taken off his full armor at this time, revealing his hideous face full of scars, and just sat there quietly with his eyes closed, as if he was deaf to everything around him.

The two generalists of "Fangbeiyuan", "Grand Alchemist" Irfan and "Grand Rune Master" Eureka, sat opposite Baines. Sensing the sound of a newcomer, they all turned their heads and cast their eyes on Luo Xiu.

In front of Luo Xiu, there was still the last empty velvet chair, which was the seat reserved for him - this was the gathering that truly belonged to the "high-ranking people"... Luo Xiu thought to himself.

Then, he saw the "Great Inquisitor" Baines raised his hand with a smile, pointed to the empty velvet chair, and said:

"You are here, Mr. Luo Xiu, the 'High Priest', our great hero. Please sit down, your seat is there."

"I am late." Luo Xiu also responded with a smile, and then sat down in front of the velvet chair pointed by Baines.

The five highest-ranking people in Red Maple City gathered together. Lord Nelson bowed deeply to Luo Xiu, Baines, Frosa and the two great generalists, and then walked down the stairs on one side to preside over the banquet in the hall.

"This should be our first formal meeting."

A gentle voice came from the side. It was the voice of the "Great Alchemist" Alvan. He spoke first:

"Mr. Luo Xiu, the 'High Priest' of the Church, this time, we finally have the opportunity to communicate deeply and understand each other."

"Hello, Lord Alfan." Luo Xiu nodded politely and responded with a smile, "May you be blessed with the Holy Light forever. It is my honor to be able to communicate with all the seniors at the same table."

"You are very humble." Irfan said with a smile. "That's good. This is a transcendent quality. After all, humility keeps people away from ignorance and prevents them from falling into the quagmire of ignorance."

Why does he talk more eloquently than me... Luo Xiu cursed, and then heard Baines interrupt the topic and said:

"Okay, everyone. It's rare for us to get together like today, and we should take this time to communicate about some more important things."

"...Yeah. Lord Baines is right." "Great Rune Master" Eureka echoed in a low voice from the side, "If this is just a simple banquet to celebrate victory, there is no need for us to come."

"I still have thirteen mysterious runes that have not yet been solved, and four more rituals to pray for the 'truth' that need to be carried out urgently. To be honest, I am very busy..."

"Great Rune Master" Eureka exudes an aura of impatience from the inside out. If Irfan, as the "acting dean", hadn't forced him to come here, he would never have come here.

...Luo Xiu has already read some side information from Eureka's attitude.

He then echoed Baynes and said, "Well, I agree too. After all, too many unexpected things happened in the previous decisive battle."

Baines nodded, the expression on his face became serious, his gray-gold eyes became deep, and he said:

"Yes, just like what Mr. Luo Xiu said."

"Regarding those hyena monsters, the hidden cultists who claim to be the apostles of the 'Holy Abyss', Luo Xiu, and the two from Fangbeiyuan, I have talked to you separately before and talked about related matters."

"The side of Fangbeiyuan will be responsible for continuing to study the living hyenas. As for the coniferous forest, it will be left to the clergy of the church to investigate."

"As for our 'Bianting', we are trying to search for the details of the 'Holy Abyss'. I think we will do this division of labor for the time being. Everyone, do you have any objections?"

"...We have no objection." Irfan said.

"We have no objections." Luo Xiu also responded, "In this way, we will all be familiar with our respective arrangements, and we can find time to exchange the information we have obtained."

"Well, that's it." Baynes nodded.

He then said slowly:

"Your Excellency Luo Xiu once reminded me of something that concerned me very much."

"Your Excellency Luo Xiu once told me that if the 'Housou' appears, it means that the 'Executioner' is not far away."

"To this end, I have sent personnel to conduct special investigations, and indeed got some information."

"One of the 'executors' of the Dark Principality, 'Shadow Strategist' Koros, has arrived in Feite City."

"He is not far away from Red Maple City. It is only five days away at most. I am worried that the defeat of the Black Vanguard Army in the decisive battle will attract that Koros."

...He will definitely come. Luo Xiu thought to himself that Luo Xiu, who had already been spying on Koros, knew the general itinerary of Koros, but Bagley was not with him now. Luo Xiu did not have the latest information about Koros for the time being.

Baines's intelligence network has collected information about Koros, which means that he will arrive in five days at the latest... Luo Xiu was thinking about this, and he couldn't help but hope that the "High Deacon" Huber of the General Church would The special ability comes faster and allows you to advance to the "fifth level of destiny" one day earlier, which means you will be safer.

But then he heard Baines say:

“In addition to ‘Executioner’ Koros himself, my scouts also told me bad news—Baberon, a ‘Hidden Elder’ of the ‘Hidden Omniscient One’, is traveling with Koros.”

After saying this, Baines glanced at "The Great Alchemist" Irfan. Irfan's eyes suddenly widened, looking a little unbelievable.

"You said 'Hidden Omniscient'?!" Irfan almost shouted, "And 'Hidden Elder' Babelun?"

‘Hidden Elder’ Babelun... Luo Xiu still has some impressions of this name.

With the memory retrieval, Luo Xiu quickly recalled that it was something that "Broken Swordsman" Bagry and "Executioner" Kross had reported to him a long time ago for the purpose of "Said's Notes". "alliance".

At that time, Luo Xiu successfully asked Bagry to attract the attention of Koros, causing a big fight between Koros, the "Hidden Omniscient" and the "Pure Order".

Luo Xiu did not pay attention to the follow-up of this incident, but he could probably guess that "Executioner" Kross and "Hidden Elder" Babelun gained little from it... They are still traveling together now, is it because of " Said's Notes?

Luo Xiu guessed this, and he soon realized that this might be an opportunity for him, an opportunity to complete the hidden mission [Dirty Wail] that had been gathering dust in the mission panel for a long time.

He remained silent for the time being. He only heard "Great Alchemist" Irfan asking Baynes a bit glumly: "Are you keeping this news true? Who told you the news? Is it really the 'Hidden Elder' Ba Bolun?…”

"...Irfan." Eureka next to Irfan slapped Irfan's back heavily, and Irfan sat back, muttering something in his throat.

"My intelligence has never been wrong." Baynes said seriously, "But that's not the point. The point is that we need to prepare as early as possible."

"If there is only one executioner with a 'Five Fate', we can still compete with him. But if there are two such enemies..."

When he said these words, Baynes frowned tightly. He must have been troubled for a long time, but he didn't think of any good solution.

"The Sage Tower cannot send elders here. Those generation sages need to maintain the empire's first front." Eureka shook her head and said, "We are unable to provide reinforcements."

"The same goes for [Supreme]." Baines sighed and said, "The battle situation on the first front is now very critical. After Lord Bakar learned the news of our victory, he was also planning to send Frosa or I was transferred and transferred to the first front."

"..." Silence suddenly enveloped the air. It wasn't until a few seconds passed that Luo Xiu broke the silence and said:

"...A 'high deacon' from the main church will come to Red Maple City in the near future to conduct an 'assessment' on me for a certain priesthood. I may be able to beg that deacon to stay for a while."

"A 'Senior Deacon' is coming?" Baines's frown suddenly relaxed, and joy appeared on his face, "Luo Xiu, this is really good news."

"But this is not his job." Luo Xiu shook his head and said, "I can only try my best to retain him, but there is no guarantee."

"High Steward" Hubert is coming, and this matter is not a secret that needs to be kept secret.

Luo Xiu did not name who it was, nor did he tell the reason why Hubert was coming. He simply said hello to Baynes and Irfan in advance to stabilize the mentality of these teammates.

After learning that a "senior deacon" would be arriving, the tense atmosphere at the scene immediately eased a lot.

Then, Luo Xiu turned his eyes to Alfan and asked him:

"Sir Irfan, you seemed surprised when you heard the name 'Baberon'?"

"...Yes." Irfan nodded.

"This is not something worth hiding within our Fangbei Courtyard. Even all our warlocks know about him."

"Because, 'Sage Attendant' Babylon, he was my and Eureka's mentor."

"More than ten years ago, he suddenly betrayed the Tower of Sage and joined the 'Hidden Omniscient One'. His motives are unknown and his whereabouts are unknown."

"We only know that he became a 'Hidden Elder', but other than that, we have never received any news about him."

"...That's it." Luo Xiu nodded, "I understand. I also learned about similar things from another 'generalist' friend, but I haven't heard from that friend for a long time. ”

"Your 'generalist' friend?" Irfan asked subconsciously.

"Well, Lockland, the 'generalist' from the Alchemy Academy in Sina City, do you know him?" Luo Xiu answered him.

When Irfan suddenly asked about "Hidden Elder" Babelun, Luo Xiu was not actually very interested in Babelun, but more importantly because he was able to mention the name "Lockland" in a logical manner.

Using Lockland as the starting point, Luo Xiu could mention "Said's Notes" and reveal more or less to Baines and Alfan about the true purpose of Kolos and Babelun in a reasonable way. .

"Ah...you know Rockland."

Irfan nodded and said: "Yes, someone from their 'Scacchi' family also joined the 'Hidden Omniscient'. I think when Lockland told you this, he must have hated them deeply. ”

"I'm sorry, Lord Luo Xiu. The Fangbeiyuan has already received the news of the death of 'General Knowledge' Lockland. On his way to Songyuan City, he was killed by 'Executioner' Koros and his subordinate Black Fang. All the magicians and scholars who were with him were also killed."

"Please express your condolences, Lord Luo Xiu. We mourn for the loss of an outstanding colleague, and we are also sad for the loss of a close friend for you."

"...Is that so?" A sad expression appeared on Luo Xiu's face at the right time.

Although Lockland's true face is actually completely opposite to what Irfan said. Behind his back, he is actually a black alchemist addicted to tinkering with forbidden knowledge... But Luo Xiu was not going to add this to Irfan, and just stayed silent for a while. , seems to be really stuck in some kind of sadness.

After more than ten seconds passed, Luo Xiu raised his arm, took out a sapphire pendant from his bracelet, and said:

"...I understand. Then this thing, the 'Second-Level Demon Pendant' that Rockland once gave me, is Rockland's relic... I want to give it to you, please help me return it. To the Sina City Alchemy Institute, this should be of commemorative significance to them."

"..."

"...I understand." Alfan nodded and solemnly took the sapphire pendant from Luo Xiu's hand.

After putting the pendant into the bracelet, Alfan said to Luo Xiu:

"I will send someone to return it to the Alchemy Institute of Sina City, but since it was given to you by Lockland, according to the rules of the 'Tower of Sages', I will return something of higher value to you."

"Your Excellency Luo Xiu, when this banquet is over, please ask someone to come to Fangbeiyuan. A 'crazy calamity level' demon doll can be considered as our meeting gift."

…