Lord of Prayer

’They think I’m the one who came back from the dead...’

Hearing King Qin Guang’s words, Zhou Chen’s thoughts raced, but he put on a calm expression.

"It was me."

Then, he skillfully passed the buck to the two elusive magnates: "The King of Music and Hermes brought me back to life, but I don’t know the specifics of how they did it."

"Those two?" King Qin Guang stroked his chin, falling into deep thought.

"Hermes has many good things in his possession. It’s plausible that he could bring someone back from the dead. Many years ago, I suspected that Hermes had already taken all the valuable items from the Restricted Areas," Osiris said faintly.

In this world, Hermes was the only person who could freely enter and exit unsealed Restricted Areas. Based on that alone, he was bound to have countless good things.

"Indeed." King Qin Guang nodded. In the entire world, if anyone could achieve resurrection besides the Goddess of Life, the most likely candidate was Hermes.

—After all, he’d even managed to get his hands on a Divine Artifact like the Godslaying Blade. Who knew how many other strange and precious Authorities he possessed.

"Does resurrection have any side effects?" Zhou Chen asked weakly. "I can feel the Netherworld still calling to me, and the call has a powerful pull, making me want to go there."

"That’s a peculiarity of the Netherworld. The resurrected can’t escape it. Just come here less often in the future. As for side effects, there shouldn’t be any. The Goddess of Life has resurrected many people, and others have been revived using Forbidden Objects, never with any problems... Let’s put it this way: as long as you’re resurrected through proper channels, there won’t be an issue. But if you’re tainted by even a trace of Abyssal Power, heh." King Qin Guang chuckled but said no more.

Having understood the situation, the three Kings of the Underworld did not linger and departed directly.

After a long while, Zhou Chen let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed onto the Christmas Sled.

Although the three magnates meant no harm, they were Crowned Kings. Their mere presence exuded an oppressive aura that transcended the heavens and the earth. With all three of them together, Zhou Chen felt as if three great mountains were crushing his chest, to the point where he barely dared to breathe.

’So the Netherworld can sense you after you’ve been resurrected... I need to tell Erin when I get back so she knows not to come to the Netherworld in the future...’

’Also, this confirms I really did die in my past life, and was only reincarnated into the new era under the Wish Bottle’s protection. Could my luck really be that rotten? Did I get hit by the Wish Bottle one second, only to die at the hands of some Transcendent taking revenge on society the next?’

’Or maybe it was something else...’

Zhou Chen’s thoughts were in a whirl. By the time he came back to his senses, the pitch-black Nether River lay before him.

The procedure was the same as on the way in. Give the Nether River Ferryman, Charon, a gold coin, and he would take you across. The journey was smooth, with no turmoil, but the call from the depths of the Netherworld still made Zhou Chen break out in a cold sweat, afraid the Nether River would suddenly erupt and sweep him away.

Retracing his steps, Zhou Chen soon reached the tunnel leading to Soul Rest Cemetery. This time, with the help of the cemetery’s new master, he didn’t waste much time. He was back in Soul Rest Cemetery after walking for less than five seconds in the tunnel, which showed that the long road before was the work of "Ghost" pulling strings in the dark.

’I wonder how the ambush is going. They have to crush "Ghost" for good...’ Zhou Chen was actually a little panicked. He had already made a mortal enemy of "Ghost." If "Ghost" didn’t die this time and escaped, he would definitely face Ghost’s bloody revenge in the future. He couldn’t just stick to Li Xiye twenty-four hours a day, could he?

Calming himself, Zhou Chen looked around. Countless faces were now appearing in Soul Rest Cemetery as transparent souls rose from their graves. Whether they had been good or bad people, their expressions were all filled with peace. These long-dead Undead walked toward the end they should have met long ago, turning into motes of light and silently dissipating.

’All the ritual sacrifices "Ghost" planned for over a decade, gone just like that. If it were me, I’d be coughing up blood.’ Zhou Chen tutted to himself. ’Over a decade of hard work, all washed away in a single day. Anyone in that situation would probably have a mental breakdown.’

Before he could even look for Soul Rest Cemetery’s exit, a glowing vortex suddenly appeared in front of him. The new master had opened an exit for him directly.

Just like that, Zhou Chen left Soul Rest Cemetery and returned to the elevator, which was stuck in the space between dimensions. He pressed the close-door button and went down.

Back in the hotel lobby, he specifically checked the time, only to be astonished to find that less than five minutes had passed from the moment he started his mission to its end!

"This..." Zhou Chen took out his phone to check. At least half an hour had passed, most of which he had spent traveling.

He quickly figured out the reason—the flow of time in the Netherworld was different from the real world.

’No wonder Xiye said the signal in the Netherworld was bad. Hiss...’ Zhou Chen sucked in a sharp breath. ’To be able to send a Clone here despite the different flows of time... she’s gotten stronger again.’

I have to catch up as soon as possible. I can’t let Li Xiye always be on top!

—He was talking about their power levels!

·

·

「Feng City, Life Church.」

Wang Yaoting had been temporarily dispatched to Feng City to encircle and annihilate "Ghost," while the eight remaining Knights of the Knight Order stayed behind to continue guarding the Feng City Life Church.

「Beneath the Church.」

In a brightly lit laboratory, melodious and soothing classical music drifted from ten Alchemy Speakers. These speakers had been specially treated to play music twenty-four hours a day, and could continue for more than half a year even if the power was cut.

Two personnel in orange-red lab coats were focused on painting at their easels, while two others were resting. They wore special metal collars around their necks, which helped them enter a state of concentration, ensuring they wouldn’t be distracted by stray thoughts.

In the very center of the room stood an easel shrouded in black cloth, exuding an air of mystery. Not even the personnel painting in the room knew what was under it. But in all this time, they had never once felt curious, as the special collars around their necks prevented them from being distracted by such questions.

BEEP!

The laboratory door suddenly opened, and a figure covered in blood stepped inside. His soles were stained with blood, leaving a bloody footprint with every step.

Behind him was a horrific path forged from blood and corpses, littered with the dismembered remains of the lab personnel. Among them were two Church Knights, who lay on the ground, killed by a single clean blow. Their eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief.

At that moment, Ke Feng, the Bishop of the Feng City Life Church, expressionlessly raised his pistol and pulled the trigger on the four personnel.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG! Blood splattered as the four people’s heads burst open, turning them into corpses.

Ke Feng walked forward and ripped off the black cloth. An intense crimson color was suddenly exposed to the air, a shade so jarring that not even the corridor of corpses could compare.

It was a canvas dyed red with blood. The full moon upon it was also a bloody crimson, seemingly releasing a faint, blood-colored moonlight that gave off an ominous and sinister feeling.

Ke Feng took a controller from his pocket and pressed a button. The ten Alchemy Speakers instantly emitted a piercing, cacophonous noise, then shorted out one by one in puffs of black smoke.

Immediately after, the crimson moonlight suddenly intensified, spreading out like a tide to dye every corner of the laboratory red. It surged outward, boiling at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ke Feng then took out an Eight Trigrams Plate. This was an Artifact named "Qiankun Replacement," capable of swapping an object with another one far away, regardless of distance, on the condition that the two items have equal mass.

The Eight Trigrams Plate lit up, enveloping the canvas with the Crimson Full Moon. The light rapidly expanded into the silhouette of a small mountain, smashing through the laboratory walls and growing wildly in all directions. The entire underground structure began to shake violently.

A dozen seconds later, the light faded. A mountain made of a special metal had replaced the Crimson Full Moon canvas, crushing the entire underground laboratory into fragments!

If the underground lab hadn’t been built in a spatial rift, the mountain would have definitely sprouted from right under the Life Church’s ass. If that had happened, the Feng City Life Church and the surrounding blocks would have been sent flying!

Piercing alarms blared throughout the ruined structure.

The culprit behind it all had long since vanished without a trace.

·

—Ke Feng, Bishop of the Feng City Life Church, has defected. He bloodbathed the underground laboratory and escaped with Forbidden Object B-022: Crimson Full Moon. His whereabouts are unknown.

Zhou Chen received this news ten minutes later, along with the good news that "Ghost" had been slain by three Tier Four Transcendents.

For a moment, he froze, falling into a deep state of confusion.