Chapter 1245: The Assassins’ Hideout?
Five kilometers from Su City, there is a vast temple complex located inside a forested area. The road connecting the city and the temple was quite wide, with thousands of people walking upon it, while many carriages traveled in both directions.
Even before the people arrived at the temple, they already showed pious expressions.
That was because the place they were about to visit was a sacred place in the Second Heaven. The temple of the god with the most followers in the Second Heaven.
The Temple of Avergis.
The temple’s size spans hundreds of square kilometers, with eastern-style buildings spread throughout the complex.
In the middle of the temple stands a large dome-shaped building, and inside it is a massive faceless statue. The statue’s figure is clearly that of a man standing upright. The figure wears a grand robe that further emphasizes his majestic presence.
Even though the statue did not have a face and merely stood there, it already gave a grand and pious feeling to anyone who saw it.
Many people sat below the statue, chanting their admiration and adoration for the figure. There were also many in the back who appeared to be praying toward the statue with pious expressions.
Those seated in the front wore the same white robes bearing the temple’s symbol, while those in the back were more like common people who had come to pray or simply chant the great name of the statue.
The statue depicted the god of their faith. The god who ruled over the entire Heaven.
The temple is never quiet. Every second, thousands of people come with various purposes. Many come purely because they wish to pray or show their loyalty to God Avergis, while others come to meet the higher-ups of the temple.
After all, building and maintaining a relationship with the temple is something one must do if they want a good life. This is especially true for the high-ranking figures across the Second Heaven.
That is why many noble carriages and merchant carriages make the journey to the temple.
However, at this moment, there was a different sight at the temple compared to usual. Security at the entrance gate had been greatly increased, and every person and their belongings were being inspected.
There were also many unknown figures at Immortal Saint stage patrolling the surrounding area of the temple, and they appeared to be searching for something.
Inside the temple complex, the temple master of Su City, a middle Immortal Saint cultivator, stood on the balcony of one of the highest structures in the complex. He was an old man with short white hair, wearing a white robe with the temple’s symbol embroidered on the back.
Anyone in the city knew him, and all people respected him.
The Temple Master Ye Ming.
He observed the scenery of the temple and the distant horizon where he could see the vast city. With his hands behind his back, he looked like an emperor gazing down upon the mortal world.
He appeared calm like a mysterious expert, undisturbed by anything.
However, at this moment, he was actually troubled. Ever since the arrival of the cultivators from the Higher Heavens and the reason for their visit to this place, he had been unable to find peace of mind.
To think that there existed a being that made even their god wary, to the point of sending many cultivators from the Higher Heavens merely to search for traces of its existence.
As a follower of God Avergis, he naturally assisted with whatever Breuze’s group required them to do.
But then came the assassination incidents last night, which truly shook him. He had almost forgotten that there was another enemy who also wanted to destroy them.
As a member of the temple, of course he did not like the followers of the other god, especially Tarius’ followers, who openly showed their hostility.
Although the problem of Tarius’ followers had not yet reached the city and he had never fought them directly, their movements were getting closer to his temple, as proven by the recent battle between the Zhu Family and a group of Tarius’ followers in this region.
Now that the assassins, who were likely Tarius’ followers, had killed many high-level cultivators inside the city, he thought it was only a matter of time before he became a target as well. He did not believe that, as the temple master, those assassins would simply ignore him.
He had already heightened the security around the temple and its surroundings. With the help of the cultivators from the Higher Heavens, they were also trying to search for traces of the assassins.
As Ye Ming continued observing the scenery below, a man wearing a white robe rushed into the room behind him and instantly bowed.
"My apologies, Temple Master, for intruding, but I have an urgent report."
Ye Ming turned his head to look at the man with short blond hair. He wondered what had happened, as he could see the urgency on the man’s face.
"What is it?" he asked.
"One of our groups has reported finding the assassins’ hideout. It is said to be located two hundred kilometers to the southwest, in the middle of the forest," the man replied, causing Ye Ming’s eyes to widen.
"Do the other search teams already know about it? If not, inform them and move to surround the area," he said.
"Yes, we have already informed some of our teams, and they have already moved toward the area to seal off the surroundings," the man answered.
Ye Ming nodded.
"Good. Has Miss Clerise already been informed about this?"
"No, Temple Master. I thought I should inform you first before telling her."
Ye Ming then looked at the sky.
"I will inform her. You manage the ones guarding the assassins’ hideout. Do not make any moves until I arrive with Miss Clerise and her group," he said before flying toward where the woman demigod was.
She was with her group twenty kilometers away, near the southern wall of the city. When she received the report from Ye Ming, her expression turned serious, and she asked Ye Ming to lead the way. She also ordered one of her subordinates to inform Breuze about the discovery.
Ye Ming then guided her and her group toward the location mentioned by his subordinate. Before long, they could already see many cultivators surrounding an area.
Once they arrived, they landed on the ground where they saw a small patch of earth that looked unnatural. It was as if something was hidden beneath it, like the entrance to a secret passage.
The man who had reported to Ye Ming earlier approached him as soon as he saw him arrive with the woman demigod.
"That place is what we suspect to be the assassins’ hideout. We could sense the energy residue left behind by the followers of God Tarius from what we believe to be a secret passage leading to an underground hideout. We have already confirmed that there is indeed a passage, but we have not entered it yet."
Ye Ming nodded before looking at Clerise.
"Your Excellency, what do you think?"
Clerise narrowed her eyes.
"There are indeed traces of the followers of God Tarius’ energy, and it closely matches the residual energy found within the wounds of the corpses from last night."
She then turned to look at the man reporting to Ye Ming.
"Who was the first to discover this hideout?"
"The first to discover it was one of our temple groups. It was Arven’s group, Your Excellency," the man replied while pointing toward a group of temple members standing guard nearby.
Clerise looked at them for a moment before turning her attention to the entrance of the hideout. Her spiritual sense also detected a hollow space beneath it, which further confirmed that this might indeed be the entrance to an underground hideout.
She decided to take matters into her own hands and approached the hideout. However, before opening the entrance, she turned to look at Arven.
"You, how did you find this hideout? What makes you certain that this is the assassins’ hideout?"
"We found it while searching the area on foot, Your Excellency. We suddenly discovered an unnatural patch of ground, and when we inspected it with our spiritual senses, we sensed the residue left behind by the followers of God Tarius," Arven answered.
"As for how I know that this is the assassins’ hideout, that is only my guess, Your Excellency. We did not dare open the entrance because we were afraid that this might truly be the assassins’ hideout and alert them."
Clerise continued looking at Arven for a moment. She did not detect anything strange about him. Everything he said appeared truthful based on the signs perceived by her senses.
She nodded before looking back at the unnatural patch of ground.
After a few moments of thought, she finally destroyed the obstacle covering the entrance to the underground hideout. She stomped on the ground, causing the concealed gate to collapse.
The moment the ground gave way, she instantly saw a path leading underground, and she could feel the strong energy left behind by Tarius’ followers.
She narrowed her eyes at the intensity of the energy.
However, before she could think further—
BOOOOMMMM!