Chapter 636: Set Off
The face of the Light G.o.d statue returned to its initial blur, and the bizarre force field surrounding the statue gradually disappeared.
It was not because Shura had undergone some kind of change. In fact, Shura was not completely annihilated, but when Chen Rui comprehended the universal truth of creation and destruction, he truly returned as part of Chen Rui. Just as the rivers returned to the ocean, the destruction returned to the mystery of the entire ‘universe’.
And [Cloning] was more like a clone skill derived from this. Even if this clone was given a corresponding independent consciousness, it was just another consciousness that was quite similar to the original body; it would not become a rebellious presence as before.
The reason Shura stopped his power was because the faith power acc.u.mulated by the G.o.d statue at the prayer hall was scarce. Furthermore, the less faith power, the stronger the repulsive power would be. Just in case, Chen Rui withdrew the clone. Moreover, the sound of footsteps outside was getting closer; it should be Mana and the others.
The stolen faith power was acc.u.mulated in Shura’s body and converted into the Super System’s faith power. This conversion speed was relatively slow. It was equivalent to collecting a lot of food for storage, then eating part of it every day and slowly digesting it.
In any case, the success of this attempt gave Chen Rui an unexpected surprise. The ‘legacy’ left by Shura is indeed extraordinary. It is just like stealing the faith power of the Super System back then, I can actually steal and convert the faith power outside my body.
In this way, the production speed of the faith crystal will be greatly accelerated. It is not an extravagant hope to reach the 1 million that can activate the [Star Gate] back to the Demon Realm!
So, Chen Rui now had 2 primary tasks. First, mix in the White Cliff and go to Holy Light Mountain to pluck the Snow Dallet; second, try to steal the faith power of the Holy Church and get 1 million faith crystals as soon as possible.
Both of these tasks were related to the Holy Church, and the current plan of ‘Reserve Light Knight’ was the key.
Chen Rui walked out of the prayer hall and saw Pastor Mana, Lucio and others waiting outside. Fatty Pastor hurriedly asked when he saw Chen Rui come out, “Richard, has your spirit power been fully restored?”
“It hasn’t been fully restored yet, but it’s better now.” Chen Rui looked at Lucio, “It seems that our Sir Pastor is really extraordinary; the problem was solved so quickly.”
“It’s just a trivial matter.” A proud expression flashed past Mana’s triangular eyes, “But you, my friend. Just now Dhora said that there was something strange in the hall, but he didn’t dare to go in and disturb you. This made me a little worried about your condition. Fortunately, you are okay.”
Chen Rui’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at Friar Dhora. He found that his strength was only F, and his spirit power reached E-. He deliberately asked, “Friar Dhora, what did you feel just now?”
Dhora replied respectfully, “It’s just a special feeling. I can’t explain in detail. This feeling lasted for a while, then it disappeared when Sir Mana came. Maybe it was just my illusion.”
“No, your feelings are not wrong. It was my spirit power fluctuating just now.” Chen Rui quickly thought of an excuse, “There is a special sacred breath in this hall. When I restore my power, my spirit power quant.i.ty seems to have been washed and sublimated… My strength has been stagnant for several years initially, but now I have actually found a faint enlightenment of breaking through the bottleneck.
“Oh?” Mana’s eyes lit up. The higher the level of ‘Richard’ and the stronger his ‘beast taming skill’, the better it was for their plan. If they could successfully get close to Irina and Cardinal Roger, not only Mana would be able to ascend the long-awaited bishop of the royal capital. ‘Richard’ could also be the Reserve Light Knight. In the long run, if Richard found a powerful Divinity Temple Knight as a backer, Mana the bishop would also benefit a lot as a contract party with binding interests.
“Mana, if you don’t mind, I hope to stay in the church for a while to seize the inspiration of this breakthrough and strive to break through to the next stage of Master.” Chen Rui’s words faintly revealed that his current strength had reached the first stage of the Master (equivalent to Demon King).
No doubt, Mana showed a surprised expression. He started to believe that Chen Rui was a genius of a major family, and he agreed without hesitation, “Of course it’s okay! You will be a candidate for Reserve Light Knight soon. There are some corresponding standards and etiquette that need to be firmly grasped, so you can stay in the church and seize the time to comprehend and learn. In fact, we don’t have much time.
Just like that, Chen Rui stayed in the Holy Church with a dignified reason. For the next few days, he would go to the prayer hall to ‘comprehend’ every day; sometimes in the dead of night and sometimes when the believers prayed.
After a few days, there was a bounty harvest. Not only did Chen Rui digest half of the stolen faith power and turn them into faith crystals, but he also discovered a more concealed method of stealing, He used Shura’s illusion talent from the mirage to create and manifest [Realistic Illusion] which hid the changes on the statue’s face and the Wheel of Faith so that the faith could be stolen openly even in the public.
Of course, the prerequisite was that there was no powerhouse that could see through the mirage’s illusion. Generally speaking, it was safer when there was no one.
His only regret was that since he stole the faith power of the statue by activating the clone for the first time, the recovery speed of the G.o.d statue’s faith power had been unsatisfactory. In the past few days, the sum of the faith power stolen by Shura was less than 10% of the first time.
There were quite a lot of believers in the Holy Church. The G.o.d statue was equivalent to the Pillar of Faith of the Super System. Even if they didn’t pray in the prayer hall, their usual faith could be automatically absorbed by the Light G.o.d statue. It would probably recover a couple of months later. This speed was actually not too slow, but for Chen Rui, who had limited time, waiting like this was obviously not feasible.
It seems I can no longer just steal from Town Gudam; I need to change the target.
At this moment, Pastor Mana just proposed to leave for the Garden City immediately. The fatty received the latest news that although Cardinal Roger did not arrive at Yang Shao Capital, his beloved niece, Ms. Eliza, changed her itinerary on the way. Her destination was the Garden City where the largest demonic beast trading market in Yang Shao Empire was located.
The head of the Garden City’s church, Pastor Solanton, was Mana’s cousin, and he belonged to the same faction in the church as Mana. Chen Rui’s Reserve Light Knight’s candidacy this time was recommended by the Garden City church.
Of course, Chen Rui would not raise objections. He brought along Lucio and set off with Mana. They got on the carriage to Garden City.
Garden City was about 5 days from the Town Gudam by the carriage. As always, Mana hired mercenary escorts at the mercenary union. The Holy Feather Mercenary Squad was not used this time due to ‘offending’ the church. Mana chose another powerful mercenary group, ‘Iron s.h.i.+eld Mercenary Squad’.
Coincidentally, Chen Rui happened to have an impression of the commander of the Iron s.h.i.+eld Mercenary Squad. It was the female mercenary who reminded Chen Rui not to be tricked by Lucio. Her name was Ina, who was around 28 years old. Her figure was relatively pet.i.te, but she had a mature charm. Her strength was D which was equivalent to Higher Demon. She was a s.h.i.+eld warrior who was proficient at defense.
There were more than 40 Iron s.h.i.+eld Mercenary Squad members who partic.i.p.ated in the escort this time. They were all equipped with mounts. The escort team formed 2 rows to protect the carriage.
Ina’s mount was a geodragon. It looked clumsy, but its speed was not slow. Lucio’s att.i.tude toward Ina seemed particularly attentive. He rode a horse side by side with Ina, chatting with her from time to time along the way. Ina’s att.i.tude was very indifferent and rarely talked back to him.
At night, everyone camped in the woods along the way.
“You are really different from before.” Ina finally initiated the conversation, “Even compared to 1 year ago, your changes are quite remarkable. Is it because of… that person?”
Lucio looked at the direction of her gaze and nodded, “Yes. The group annihilation at the Mighty Poison Cave a year ago was a turning point in my life, and meeting leader… means that my life has a chance to start again.”
Ina showed a slightly different expression. She looked at Chen Rui in the distance with a little surprise in her eyes.
“You call him leader?” The bearded mercenary on the side showed an expression of contempt, “Looking at his age, even if he hides his strength, he is at best a Warrior. But judging from the att.i.tude of Mana the fatty toward him, his background should not be trivial. Burning Spear Lucio, you really have a good ‘sight’. You have found a powerful young master to be your master.”
Lucio blushed as he felt embarra.s.sed in front of Ina. He stood up suddenly, glared at the bearded man and calmed down suddenly. He turned and left without saying much- Master is at the Saint level. As a follower, I naturally do not need to care about these ignorant people.
This reaction caused Ina’s gaze to move and frown slightly, “Silva, I know that you and Lucio do not get along with each other, but we are hired by the church to escort them to Garden City this time. We can’t affect the completion of this mission. Moreover… I always feel that Richard is not simple. Ask our brothers to restrain a little. Be mindful of our words and actions.”
“Understood, captain.” The bearded man nodded, “Actually, I’m not bothered to care about Lucio the trash. I just can’t stand watching him keep pestering you without any self-awareness. Besides, even if the master whom he recognizes is powerful, it is impossible to compare to our deputy commander.”
“Of course.” At the mention of ‘deputy commander’, Ina’s eyes were a little bright. “I wonder if his mission is completed or not. This guy just likes to act alone.”
“Don’t worry.” The bearded man shook his head disapprovingly, “With that person’s strength, it shouldn’t be a problem. The only thing commander needs to worry about is whether he will be s.n.a.t.c.hed away by other women.”
“What nonsense, you are in charge of the night watch tonight! If something goes wrong, go back to Town Gudam!” As Ina waved her fist, the bearded man laughed and fled away.
Chen Rui didn’t pay attention to these details. After eating something, he hid in the tent and started ‘training’. Naturally, Fatty Pastor ordered everyone not to disturb him.
These days, in addition to researching the faith power, Chen Rui was also experimenting with the new features of the Super System.
In addition to the new skills, the 6-star evolution had a brand new building- Star Conferring Platform.
The construction of the Star Conferring Platform required 100,000 auras and 100 faith crystals. Initially, Chen Rui was reluctant to use the faith crystals for other purposes as he had no choice other than acc.u.mulating bit by bit to reach 1 million faith crystals in order to return to the Demon Realm.
Now that Shura had succeeded in stealing the faith power, nearly 3,000 faith crystals had been added before the ‘stolen’ faith had been fully digested. Chen Rui made up his mind and started to build the Star Conferring Platform.
TL: New building? What does it do?