Free Web NovelChapter 248: Chapter 158: Invitation from the Death Church
"You have to be more careful to protect yourself now."
"Yuna, that goes for you too."
Yuna nodded. "Yes, I have Magic Tools for self-protection, too."
’Now that the snow has stopped, I should take Yuna home.’
In fact, Lu Cang still had some theories about the Guiding Beacon that he wanted to discuss with Yuna...
He escorted Yuna all the way back to the White Tower.
High-ranking scholars of the White Tower were able to have their own residences within its walls.
Yuna had lived in the White Tower since birth.
...
Lu Cang turned to head home.
Suddenly, his Final Sense registered a faint ripple. Ahead on the street stood a Scholar in a white uniform.
He looked rather old.
His hair was completely white.
’I just don’t know how old he is.’
High-Level Reincarnators in this world could live for quite a long time. A Level 5 Reincarnator, for instance, could live to be over two hundred years old.
They could live that long even without being one of the Battle Professions.
Healing Mages tended to live even longer; those who practiced the principles of life could reach about two hundred and fifty.
A Level 6, it seemed, could live to be three hundred.
"Sir, can I help you?"
Lu Cang’s Final Sense didn’t issue a warning.
Lu Cang appeared calm and relaxed.
In reality, however, his body was already covered in a protective layer of Qi, and he had also shielded himself with an invisible barrier.
If anything went wrong, his first move would be to defend, his second would be to run, and his third would be to use the specimen to instantly teleport to Iz’s house.
But then, the old man in the White Tower uniform knelt before him on one knee.
He bowed reverently to Lu Cang.
’I know my status is high, but there’s no need for such a grand gesture, is there?’
"I pledge my allegiance to you."
"Huh?"
Lu Cang was baffled.
’Where did this old guy come from?’
’What’s the meaning of this, suddenly pledging allegiance to me?’
’Could it be that my knowledge is so profound that I’ve earned the approval of a White Tower Scholar?’
’But I’ve never heard of a Scholar pledging allegiance to someone.’
Lu Cang asked, "May I ask who you are?"
BOOM—
Suddenly, the earth began to shake violently!
The ground rumbled and trembled!
The entire city of Kernoya began to shudder violently, and countless buildings swayed.
He could faintly hear screams and cries of alarm coming from the houses.
At this hour, the only people outside were the patrollers of the Life Church.
A curfew was in effect during the month of Death and Destruction, forbidding Reincarnators below Level 4 from loitering outside.
Lu Cang ascended into the sky and gazed into the distance.
A dense aura of Magic washed over him.
A patch of the distant sky had already turned completely white.
It wasn’t the stark white of a cold, snow-filled month, but a white that seemed to shatter souls, to make them fade away.
"Iz..."
’The Valley of the Deep Fall should be in that direction.’
’Could it be that the very thing I feared most has happened?’
’But there’s no way I can help with what’s happening over there.’
VMMMM—
Suddenly, an intensely familiar ripple of power pulsed through the air!
In the distance, heaven and earth seemed to peel apart, instantly losing all color!
’Tier Six Root Magic?’
’Source Material Stripping?’
’Iz, what are you doing?’
’Are you really going to unleash your ultimate here?’
Lu Cang remembered Iz saying that this Magic was forbidden. If used, the entire Ruelun Continent would be doomed. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
BOOM!
An indescribable wave of power instantly erupted in the distance!
In a flash, it formed a spherical zone of separation.
However, the spherical zone didn’t expand outward, but was instead contained within an "extremely small" area!
’She controlled it?’
’Iz can already control the range of this Root Magic.’
For a split second, Lu Cang’s heart had actually stopped. He thought he was about to be caught in the Source Material Stripping.
’What kind of enemy did she run into?’
’One that would force Izparut to use Source Material Stripping?’
BOOM—
Just the aftershocks of the impact spreading in all directions were enough to shatter countless trees on the mountains and cause landslides.
That battlefield...
What on earth was happening over there?
"I am Mu, a Tier Four Scholar of the White Tower."
Lu Cang looked back down. The old man below was still unmoving.
Bowing reverently before him.
"Why... do you pledge your allegiance to me?"
"Because you are the next successor of the Death Holy Church."
His voice wasn’t loud,
but it resonated with conviction.
Lu Cang’s Perception immediately swept the area. Finding no one else nearby, he breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, his gaze sharpened.
"You’re a member of the Death Church?"
"Yes."
’I was tempted to say, ’Since you want to pledge your allegiance to me, then just go and die.’’
However, this man had appeared out of nowhere, claiming he was the successor of the Death Church.
The whole situation was riddled with suspicion.
If he really ordered the man to die, he wouldn’t get any clues.
Besides, it wasn’t even certain the man would obey.
’Better to fish for some information first.’
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you are the one with the greatest hope of bringing about the Pure White Descent."
"You are also the one on whom Death’s favor is most concentrated."
Lu Cang thought for a moment before asking, "Death’s favor? What is that?"
"You cannot feel it? It is the symbol of one who practices the principles of Death, a sign that you have earned the acknowledgment of the Root Source of Death itself."
"On you, this aura is incredibly dense."
"Even our Sect Leader does not possess a favor of Death as dense as yours."
’Something invisible?’
’I can’t see it even with my high Spirituality?’
’However, if I had to point to a time I practiced the principles of Death... I suppose there was that time I Sacrificed five billion Supreme Souls to advance to a Level 2 Death Priest.’
’Could that be when I acquired it?’
"This ’Death’s favor’ you mention... how does one see it?"
"You must use the Secret Technique of the Holy Church... to Refine your eyes. Then you can see the souls of the dead, omens of death, the soul-debt one carries, and the karma of killing one has created."
In Mu’s eyes,
he saw a towering Soul Sea roiling around the young Lu Cang.
The number of beings he had killed was nearly a hundred billion! The souls he had reaped were of the most supreme purity.
He had first seen Lu Cang at the White Tower.
Back then, upon his first sight of Lu Cang, Mu couldn’t understand why such killing karma would be attached to a child.
But then,
Mu remembered Reincarnation.
If it was Reincarnation, perhaps one could carry their soul-debt and the sins they bore into their next life.
That would explain how Lu Cang could have achieved so much at only eight years old.
Perhaps Lu Cang was the reincarnation of some supreme Divine Spirit.
No...
Perhaps Lu Cang himself was the reincarnation of the White of Death and Destruction!
Or, a mortal vessel for the White of Death and Destruction!
Regardless.
An ordinary child could never possibly carry such a heavy soul-debt, much less possess such a dense favor from Death.
With that thought,
Lu Cang had to be the successor of the Death Holy Church.
...
"How many people know this Secret Technique?"
"One must be at least Level 4 in a Death-related Profession, so not many within our Holy Church have learned it."
Hearing this, Lu Cang breathed a sigh of relief.
If most people could see these things related to Death about him,
it would likely cause a great deal of trouble.
Lu Cang’s expression turned cold, tinged with a deep indifference to life.
He clasped his hands behind his back and began to walk slowly.
"Alright. Come with me. Tell me why you sought me out, and tell me everything you know about the Death Church."
"As you command."
In a low voice, Lu Cang led Mu toward Iz’s residence.
’Level 4 Scholar, Level 5 Evil Mage.’
’Those are his Professions.’
’After reaching Level 5 as an Evil Mage, he realized advancing to Level 6 was hopeless and dedicated the rest of his life to his Scholar Profession.’
’And all the while, he lay hidden within the White Tower.’
’Secretly passing cutting-edge intelligence to the Death Church, acting as their liaison.’
’The White Tower... it’s truly full of hidden masters.’
’As the saying goes, if you see one cockroach, you know there’s a whole nest.’
’I wonder how many other Cult heretics are hiding in the White Tower.’
The two arrived at Iz’s palace, and Lu Cang pushed the door open and went inside.
Inside, Lu Cang could activate the Array Iz had left behind at any moment. According to Iz, it was powerful enough to easily suppress and kill a Tier Six Submerged Land Level Demon.
Against a Level 6 Reincarnator, as long as they weren’t abnormally powerful,
it could easily suppress, or even kill them.
Mu’s words probably weren’t lies. Lu Cang could get a read from his spiritual fluctuations.
If he were lying, the fluctuations in his Spirit would give him away.
Then again, the man was also a Scholar. He might be capable of some degree of psychological trickery.
Lu Cang sat down in the main seat.
Mu knelt on one knee before him, reporting humbly.
"Oh, so you’re saying... in the last two months, nearly ninety percent of the main Church’s strongholds have been eliminated?"
’It seems the crackdown by the Life Church and Lorren was quite effective.’
’Of course, the fact that I deciphered the locations of most of their strongholds played a big part.’
Over the course of their conversation, Lu Cang had also come to understand why Mu considered him the successor to the Death Church.
"What do you have to say about the strange phenomenon over at the Valley of the Deep Fall?"
"The old Sect Leader strived his entire life to bring about the Pure White Descent."
"He must have taken the Holy Church’s Holy Artifact there..."
"But the Ritual is far from complete. I fear he will be no match for those monsters like Izparut."
...
’You have the nerve to call others monsters?’
Lu Cang tapped his knuckles on the armrest, deep in thought.
’If I take on this identity, could I make the Death Church serve my own purposes?’
’But becoming the Sect Leader of the Death Church would make me a public enemy.’
’It would be fine as long as my identity wasn’t exposed, but if it were, there would be all harm and no benefit.’
’Besides, if Kumironi returned victorious only to find that Little Lu Cang had become the Sect Leader of the Death Holy Church, she’d probably faint from rage.’
’Hiding it from Iz and the others is out of the question. Their Perception Abilities are extremely strong, and I’m in close contact with them.’
’If I really get involved with the Death Church, I could never hide it from them.’
’It would be better to discuss it with them and decide together. With their wisdom, they wouldn’t just blindly brand me a real Cult leader and arrest me for execution without hearing me out.’
"Continue your report."
Lu Cang said nonchalantly.
Mu’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t actually know what Lu Cang wanted to hear...
But he bit the bullet, wracked his brain for any information he knew, and continued his report.
They continued from the dead of night until the first faint light of dawn appeared on the horizon.
The secrets of the Death Church were indeed far more complex and numerous than he had imagined.
There were at least ten Death Cultists lurking within the White Tower.
In Kernoya, there were also approximately a thousand Death Cultists.
This was a forbidden Cult, whose members faced execution.
’A thousand of them in the Capital?’
Moreover, he’d heard that the Death Church’s strongholds weren’t limited to the Ruelun Continent.
They had a presence on each of the six continents of the Secret Sand Archipelago.
Mu was only nominating him to be the Sect Leader of the Ruelun branch, and even that branch of the Death Church was now on the verge of collapse.
"But if you are willing to reveal your favor from Death and display a fraction of your divine power, I believe the Death Churches on the other five continents will all submit to you."
Those were Mu’s exact words.
A light glowed at Lu Cang’s fingertip, and a particle of 「Source」 emerged.
He shot it into Mu’s body.
"Alright, you may go for now... I will summon you again after some time."
"As for the position of Sect Leader, I will give you my answer in due time. While you await my reply, inform the others not to act rashly, nor are they to create any needless slaughter."
"And... do not reveal anything related to my identity."
"Go."
Lu Cang waved his hand.
Mu bowed reverently. "As you command."
Then he rose and departed.
Lu Cang watched Mu’s retreating figure...
It was only the first day of the month of Death and Destruction, and something like this had already happened.
He had a feeling that this was the calm before the storm.
