Chapter 1212 - 560
At the age of six, Yu Chen was taken under the wing of Fao and hailed as the future star of the Church of the Dawn;
By the age of nine, Yu Chen had mastered all entry and mid-level Divine Arts and, upon his own eager request, entered the Combat Nuns’ Abbey to study Divine Arts meticulously;
At fourteen, Yu Chen was expelled from the Combat Nuns’ Abbey and joined the Knight Order as an army Priest within the same year;
At seventeen, Yu Chen joined the Knight Order on a campaign to subdue the demon beast "Fire Phoenix" and its kin in the Ashen Valley. While passing through the Land of No Master, they were ambushed by the Dark Night Sect. After nearly sixty percent of the Knights had fallen and both Saintess Xia Lian and Dark Saint Margaret were gravely wounded, Yu Chen, with the help of the treasured "Heart of Dawn," forcibly advanced two ranks to reach Half-step Legend. He used the Divine Decree: "Sword of Light’s Protection" to suppress the battlefield for three days and nights. On the fourth day, he unleashed his own creation, Divine Decree: "Boiling Starlight," slaying the Dark Knight Commander Gregory Ravenhood, striking Dark Saint Margaret a second time, and routing the protecting Knights of the Dark Sect. Following the crisis, Yu Chen entered the Ashen Valley alone, successfully subdued the "Fire Phoenix," and returned to the Land of No Master to regroup with the remnants of the Church of the Dawn. He was struck from behind with the "Star Gold Cross" by the recovered Saintess Xia Lian and, while unconscious, was taken back to the City of Light;
At nineteen, Yu Chen awoke under the Thousand Light Skies, his strength regressed to mid-level. Consequently, the Closure of the Thousand Light Skies, which had lasted two years, was officially lifted. Later that year, Yu Chen, under Pope Fao, left the Holy Land and wandered, his whereabouts unknown for the next five years;
At twenty-four, Yu Chen returned to the City of Light, having broken through to the Epic Peak. He left the ranks of the Knight Order, and his clerical rank was raised to the Glorious Archbishop;
At twenty-six, as Pope Fao fell ill, Yu Chen traveled alone to the annual "Black Mandala Flower Auction" in the City of Freedom. He won the final bid for the "Indigo Fern Root Grass" and, without harming any, fended off nearly a hundred robbers before calmly returning to the City of Light, where he cured the gravely ill Pope Fao;
At twenty-nine, Yu Chen joined the Major Heretic Court of the Church of the Dawn as the second Judge, and his exploits were on and off over the next year, then unknown the following year;
At thirty, Yu Chen rose to become the Chief Judge, and his exploits again became unknown for another three years;
At thirty-three, Yu Chen left the Major Heretic Court and succeeded Light Sagunar as the teach, ranking third in the Church of Dawn hierarchy;
In the year 9480 of the Holy Calendar, Pope Fao passed away. At the age of forty, Lu Jia Tifero was crowned and on the day of the coronation, he no longer suppressed his strength, ascending to the "Twelve Holy Stairs of Dawn" from Epic Peak to Legend’s Peak;
In the year 9500 of the Holy Calendar, Pope Tifero mysteriously disappeared. A letter was left in the grand prayer room, recommending Archbishop Ambro Asir as Pope, who was crowned that same year.]
Standing shoulder to shoulder, Motan finished reading the densely packed "glorious deeds" below the portrait of the former Pope Saint•Luke•Tifero with Yu Chen, who sleepily rubbed his temples, then dizzily leaned in again to reread the densely packed gilded text beneath the portrait, before finally turning his head towards Motan in a daze, "Hey, Motan... You previously told me about that old Priest who sold me a ’Regulation Priest’ textbook at cost for 20 copper coins, retail 1 silver coin, which technically should be distributed for free to newly ordained clergy... Is that him?"
"Yes..."
Bewildered and unsure of what expression to make, Motan stiffly nodded, then, with a start, exclaimed, "Wait a minute! This thing was supposed to be distributed for free?"
"Hmm, it should at least be free for the clergy, but if it’s damaged, then they’ll charge for the second one, 20 copper coins, Sister Lian said so," Yu Chen replied earnestly, even forgetting to be surprised.
Tears welled up in Motan’s eyes as he could only let out a long sigh to the heavens, "I —"
"Wow! You’ve actually met this Pope Tifero! That means he’s really alive!"
Yu Chen, recalling his astonishment, shaped his little mouth into an adorable O.
Motan nodded in disarray, smiling wryly, "I can assure that the old Priest I met in that small chapel in Stacked Rock City was none other than this... this awesomely soaring former Pope."
"So amazing! This is truly main character treatment!"
Yu Chen clapped her hands and looked up at Motan with admiration, "To have met Pope Tifero on the very first day in the game..."
"To meet such a top-tier figure from youth, whose growth was like a path strewn with sparks and thunder," Motan chuckled dryly and shrugged, "then to get scammed out of 20 copper coins and unwittingly set on the path of a Regulation Priest, which almost no one learns these days, and forever part ways with the practical and economical Holy Word Divine Arts."
There was nothing wrong with that statement. Motan’s brief encounter with Pope Tifero had indeed only resulted in "taking up the path of a Regulation Priest" and "being scammed out of 20 copper coins," and from the current perspective, it was evidently a sad tale.
Of course, while saying all this to himself, Motan was also acutely aware that the manuscript given to him by that impressive figure was definitely not simple, and the Regulation Priest was certainly not a garbage profession. As long as he devoted himself to studying it, he might just uncover some powerful moves like the Decree: Spirit Bomb, Decree: Qigong Blast, or Decree: Serious Punch. At worst, learning things from the heroic tales of Archbishop Tifero like "Divine Decree: Sword of Light’s Protection" or "Divine Decree: Boiling Starlight" would also be fantastic...
"Like hell! I’ve never had much talent for combat, and Xia Lian has unilaterally pegged me as a strategy-type person. It took such a long time in Misha County just to complete the most fundamental ’Querying Decree’ quest—I didn’t get a whiff of adventure or monster fighting. Who knows when I’d actually make something of this profession. By then, ’The Realm of Innocence’ might have shut down for good!"
Motan howled internally, then managed to squeeze out a terribly forced smile, "I’m so happy..."
"Hehehe, I’ll look for some detailed information about Archbishop Fao and Archbishop Tifero later. Maybe I can help you understand that ’Ancient Dawn Scripture’!"
Yu Chen smiled, cupping her hands in front of her as if brimming with enthusiasm. She was aware that Motan currently couldn’t comprehend anything in the old scriptures and volunteered to help.
"Thanks so..."
"No need, what he’s holding is just an ordinary Holy Scripture; there’s nothing special about it. All your research will be worthless."
Xia Lian, stepping out from a glimmer of dawn light, casually interrupted Motan, fixing him with a stern gaze rarely seen on her face, "Is he really still alive?"
"Who?"
Motan blurted out reflexively and then immediately realized he’d asked something foolish. He quickly added, "If you’re talking about Archbishop Lu Jia•Tifero who is hung on the wall, he’s indeed still alive."
Xia Lian nodded slightly and continued, "And the last time you saw that person, was he working as a priest in a place called Stacked Rock City?"
"Uh..."
Motan’s gaze became evasive as he chuckled awkwardly, "So, um, when did you start listening in?"
"I’ve been here since you mentioned almost throwing up your stomach."
Xia Lian smiled and said amicably, "I knew Wang Yu would bring you here today, so I just slept in the Dome of Thousand Lights last night without leaving. I even helped clear the place this morning, and here you two are, not taking the chance to get cozy but instead researching these wall-hung..."
Yu Chen, already familiar with Xia Lian’s nature, had blushed preemptively upon hearing her say ’I knew’. She promptly tugged at her mentor’s sleeve and whispered forcefully between clenched teeth, "Saintess Sister, please, stop joking around!"
"Mmm, I don’t have time to joke right now."
Xia Lian surprisingly nodded in agreement, then cracked her (indeed) slender (seemingly) weak knuckles and looked back at Motan, "So he was indeed working as a priest in Stacked Rock City, right?"
"Yes, that place is in Marshal Territory of the Violet Empire, at least two months ago he still..."
"Xia Lian."
Just at that moment, a foreign voice suddenly came from a distance. The trio turned to look and saw an elderly Lizardman, holding a massive scepter and wearing a crown, having appeared before them without notice.
"Five minutes ago, I sensed a surge of Divine Power in the south..."
"That was..."
"I’ve already ’seen’ it in the prayer room, a Light Judgment Cross, nearly a hundred meters tall... Undoubtedly, it was from Archbishop Tifero’s—Decree: Annihilation."
Chapter 560: The End