blueteamnovel Chapter 76 The Holy Church of Light (Three more requests for monthly votes)
Chapter 76 The Holy Church of Light (Three more requests for monthly votes)
PS: It's the last day for double monthly tickets, so I'm asking for your votes one last time! Additionally, I've been notified that the book will launch at 12pm on the 12th. As a way to give back to the readers, we will release three chapters per day for the next few days, and I hope everyone can help by subscribing as soon as it's available.
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After leaving the County Magistrate's study, Lin Rui first went back to his own courtyard to call for Wang Sen.
Considering that for the next while, they would have to stay frequently overnight at Zuihua House, the two of them also needed to bring bedding and various daily necessities.
When Wang Sen left his house, not only did he carry his own bedding on his back, but he also took the initiative to carry both of their pots and pans.
His face bloomed with joy, "Nightly nestled with fragrant beauties in the brothel, crimson canopy above shining on silver candles, I never thought I, Wang Twenty-Seven, would become a man who calls the brothel home."
Just now, Lin Rui had given him three medium-grade soul stones.
This made Wang Sen overjoyed, thinking to himself that Brother Rui truly deserved to be his good brother, helping him greatly once again.
What Wang Sen now lacked was spiritual power.
Previously, carrying so many things was actually an overstretch for him.
Therefore, in the past two days, Wang Sen occasionally felt aches and pains all over his body.
This was because his spiritual power was unable to control the implants, resulting in a rejection reaction. Many martial artists with implants relied on medication to solve the problem, but Wang Sen relied on his own willpower to endure.
Now, with these three medium-grade soul stones, his spiritual power could increase by at least 70 points, which would be enough to solve his current problems.
Moreover, the Secret Technique that Lin Rui had requested from the County Magistrate could help him open his meridians.
Upon hearing this, Lin Rui let out a snort of laughter, "Nesting nightly with fragrant beauties? What fragrant beauties do you have to nestle with? Haven't you seen the current state of Zuihua House? What awaits us is a cabin where the wind and rain prevail, accompanied nightly only by a lonely lamp."
While the two were laughing and talking, they saw a group of people entering the gate of the county office ahead.
One person in front left a deep impression on them.
This was a stocky middle-aged man in crimson armor, with coarse, straight, short hair and a beard like tangled javelins. With short legs and a thick neck, and a body shaped like a barrel, he was much rounder than Wang Sen.
Behind this person, there were forty county soldiers dressed in leather armor and holding long weapons. The entourage was quite imposing, and their presence was intimidating.
One of them wore the standard black iron armor of the military and had a burly figure, standing behind the stocky man like an iron pillar. Judging from his attire, he seemed to be a figure of 'Capital Commandant' status in the military.
As the stocky man entered, almost all the clerks and Government Officials in the county office stopped what they were doing and came over to greet him, addressing him as 'County Magistrate'.
Seeing this, Lin Rui's expression turned solemn as he stared intently at the stocky middle-aged man.
He recognized that this man was none other than the 'County Magistrate' Zhu Lingshi. Lin Rui had seen a three-dimensional drawing of this man in the materials provided by the extraterrestrial management bureau, but this was his first face-to-face encounter.
As for the iron-armored Capital Commandant, he must be 'Iron Halberd' Ying Yuan.
According to Lin Rui's understanding, although this man wasn't particularly intelligent, he possessed a powerful bloodline. Although his cultivation was just at the beginning of the fourth realm, his martial power surpassed many advanced masters in the late stages of the fourth realm and was considered Zhu Lingshi's right-hand man.
The extraterrestrial management bureau assessed his combat power as a B-grade Lieutenant Colonel, equivalent to a high-level demon of the fourth realm.
Ho ho, in fact, it wouldn't be bad to let her acknowledge a new master again. I'm quite looking forward to it; I really want to see her expression when she kills her master for the second time."
He had thought it would be the County Magistrate falling into this trap, but unexpectedly, it was a mere arrest officer who got involved.
What a pity, what a pity—
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At this moment, Lin Rui and his companion were utterly bewildered.
After they left the government office, they had intended to go to a noodle shop at the corner of the street for breakfast.
That was a new discovery made by Wang Sen - the beef noodles there were even tastier than the one opposite the government office.
However, just as they had reached the spot, they saw a large group of people dressed in white clothes coming from the opposite side of the street.
It was a grand ceremonial procession. At the front was a golden palanquin carried by 32 people. Atop the palanquin was a golden altar with nothing on it except for a ball of crimson-gold flame, around which thunder and lightning occasionally exploded.
Behind the altar was a dense crowd, swarming and filling the street, so broad that it stretched three fathoms wide, with no end in sight.
All these people crossed their hands and placed them on their shoulders, singing devoutly, "Holy lightning brilliant, sacred light resplendent, pity our mortal kind, fraught with distress—Life's trials manifold, demons' dust within us folds; multitude of disasters bold, myriad illnesses unfold; thus joy in living is untold, and death brings no distress.
Majestic sacred lightning, cleanse my waning frame; enlighten my clear heart, revive my lucid spirit; to do good and shun evil, for Guang Ming's sake alone; joy and sorrow, grief and glee, all return to dust will be—"
"It seems to be the—Guang Ming Sacred Church!" Wang Sen quickly pulled Lin Rui aside, watching the procession with a look of surprise.
"I never expected the Guang Ming Sacred Church to have so many followers in Silver Moon County; this is exceedingly brazen. They even dare to march in the streets in broad daylight. I saw Liu Ergou; that guy is actually a follower of the Guang Ming Sacred Church. He's even donned white robes, a formal member of the church."
Liu Ergou owned a steamed bun shop, where Wang Sen had bought buns before.
Lin Rui, too, was astonished and checked the relevant information in his intelligence assistance system.
His expression grew even stranger.
The Guang Ming Sacred Church mentioned by Wang Sen was a sect founded 1800 years ago by a group of dock workers on the planet Tianji Star, originally worshipping thunder and flame to an extreme degree.
They believed the world to be dim and the living to suffer and that only thunder could split open the night to summon a catastrophic blaze, purifying all filth between heaven and earth to bring light to the people, saving them from the bitter sea.
Originally a minor sect spreading among sailors and laborers on Tianji Star, it reached its zenith under the seventh leader, extending its influence across four continents and twenty-seven islands with countless followers and even their own army to protect the church, becoming one of the top forces on Tianji Star.
However, the golden age of the Guang Ming Sacred Church lasted only 50 years. Due to its teachings, the four great empires and noble families of Tianji Star deemed it a dire threat. The church was labeled as a demonic cult, and over the ensuing centuries, they were relentlessly persecuted and suppressed in a joint effort.
As Lin Rui read this, the golden palanquin just happened to pass in front of them.
In that moment, the ball of golden fire on the palanquin's altar suddenly blazed fiercely, leaping from about three feet to an explosive thirty feet in height, as a wild streak of lightning cracked forth.
The ends of those golden electric currents struck the followers around them, causing pained expressions to spread across their faces.
Just then, a woman dressed in a white robe and wearing a hat, with four groups of golden fires and four golden lightning bolts embroidered on her clothes, walked out from the crowd.
"Stop!"
Her stern command halted the entire procession. Then, she scanned the area, searched for a moment, and finally, her gaze settled on Lin Rui's face.