One week later, in the morning, Liam, Lancelot, Robert, and Julian hopped off their carriage, soon joined by Isabel, who ca from the coachman position.
After concocting everything Lancelot had requested, the team had imdiately left Kilrest, and it could now lay eyes on its real destination.
The lingering humidity from the recent downpours lowered the colder-than-usual temperature, as if the weather had forgotten that spring had co.
That didn’t apply to the vegetation. Grass and moss covered a vast plain, being more flourishing near the calm river cutting through it.
Patches of all kinds of flowers also grew, creating a multicolored spectacle. Those obviously weren’t natural occurrences. They were a garden that highlighted paths through the plain, leading to those who managed it.
A white building rose at the center of the garden. It was large, four-story tall, and with the emblem of a stylized man with spread arms and legs inside a copper circle in the roof’s corner.
White-wearing mortals and foundation experts also moved in and out of the building’s open doors, attending to the makeshift tents in its imdiate surroundings, delivering food and water to the beggars occupying them.
And, further beyond that, the garden of curated, multicolored flowers expanded uninterruptedly, only featuring a flat wooden pillar at its center, carrying large writings that Liam could read despite the distance.
’Here lies Archbishop Ignatius,’ Liam read. ’Son of the Heavens, servant of n.’
That little corner of paradise was a picture of peace, charity, and goodness, but Liam only saw fakeness and deception, both coming from his knowledge and perception.
’Son of the Heavens,’ Liam repeated the line in his mind, his guts finding an uncanny similarity with how the Ancestral Beasts’ heirs were called.
The "n" in the epitaph also stood out after what Liam had discovered in the Mutated Battlefield, reinforcing the contradictory hypocrisy he had spotted back then, and sothing else.
’It must be on purpose,’ Liam believed. ’It must have a deeper aning.’
Liam recalled the brief conversation with Deacon Ford and his devotion toward the Heavens. The words of a mortal couldn’t carry much weight, but things changed if they were the faith of such a widespread force.
’Harnessing the ancestral bloodlines,’ Liam listed, ’The focus on Man. Son of the Heavens. Everything is connected.’
There were huge contradictions at play, mainly the Dragon King’s inaction toward that force, but Liam couldn’t shake off his hunches, and even what he could already confirm was beyond terrifying.
The Church of the Man hid a secret inside a secret. It was a charity-oriented force on the surface, a fearso organization wielding unparalleled soft power on a deeper level, and sothing involved with the Ancestral Beasts below that.
’Will I find answers inside?’ Liam wondered.
The sense of kinship Liam had felt in the Mutated Battlefield wasn’t there. His perception had only captured the fakeness around the flowery tomb. Everything there felt unnatural and powerful.
Liam couldn’t actively sense anything dangerous. The formation in place blocked his perception, but his instincts reacted to it. Just like he could sll people’s intentions, he now felt beyond outclassed deep in his bones.
Of course, there was sothing Liam could feel perfectly. He sensed rooting experts inside the white building, as well as soone far stronger who soon beca visible.
A bald middle-aged man wearing a simple white robe exited the building and calmly made his way through the garden. A bright smile shone among his thick, long grey beard, and his hands remained joined under his long sleeves even after he greeted the group.
"My humble Church hasn’t seen guests as exalted as you in decades," The middle-aged man exclaid. "I’m Priest Elr. To what do I owe the honor of such a welco visit?"
Despite the utter politeness, Liam remained wary when cupping his fist, which went beyond what his mind was desperate to uncover. After all, Priest Elr was a branching expert.
"Priest, we are here to challenge Archbishop Ignatius’ inheritance," Lancelot declared, obviously acting as the team’s leader. "Are we in the right place?"
Lancelot’s doubts were understandable. Fakeness aside, Liam had expected so chaos, at the level of the Recruiters Guild’s tournant at the very least.
The inheritance involved a figure with a definitely high cultivation level. Its rewards had to be unfathomable, so they should attract hordes of cultivators desperate enough to ignore the risk of earning the Church’s enmity.
Honestly, it was a miracle the location wasn’t besieged by lone cultivators from the entire Kingdom.
However, Liam and his teammates seed to be the only ones there. Even the cultivators from the Church appeared more interested in the beggars outside the building than in what the fearso tomb hid.
"This is indeed Archbishop Ignatius’ tomb and where he built his inheritance," Priest Elr confird, looking at the pillar in the distance. "But it has already been open for centuries, and each failure to claim it diminished the world’s eagerness."
The Priest turned completely at that point, facing the distant pillar.
"The Church routinely sends teams inside," The Priest revealed. "So have been there for two weeks already. I do always worry, but I trust Archbishop Ignatius’ compassion."
Among the inheritance’s few known rules, the cultivation level’s limit was the most relevant. No one beyond the rooting stage could enter it. If pressed, the formation would strike back.
"I do enjoy this serenity," Priest Elr admitted. "It allows the Church to preserve and aid rather than to manage n’s greed."
Just like Priest Eustace, Priest Elr was an odd branching expert, both his stance and presence featuring none of the suffocating aspects that cultivators at that level usually exerted.
Nevertheless, Liam just couldn’t trust it. He didn’t care whether that specific instance was genuine. The Priest’s affiliation was enough to make him alert.
"When were you planning on entering our sacred ground?" Priest Elr asked, peeking at the group from behind his shoulder. "Can I interest you in a tour of the Church? A sermon will also start soon."
"We wish to enter imdiately," Lancelot declared, pristine eagerness reeking from his smile, conflicting with the expression Liam had seen throughout the trip.
Lancelot had basically just woken up, having spent the entire ti in the carriage sleeping, which was more than Liam had ever seen a mortal or cultivator do.
As for why Liam had paid attention to that, it was due to Isabel. Lancelot might be a valuable figure to befriend, but Liam didn’t think in terms of status. His trust was genuine, so he wanted to understand what kind of person Lancelot was before giving it to him.
"Very well," Priest Elr stated, turning, bowing again. "As per Archbishop Ignatius’ wish, anyone can challenge his inheritance. However, I wonder if you are inclined to make a voluntary donation to the Church."
The option to refuse was fake, sort of. That remained the Church’s sacred ground after all. It couldn’t make the donation an official requirent, but everyone was in on respecting it.
Lancelot glanced at Isabel, and she waved her hand. Five hundred spirit stones fell to the grass, one hundred for each mber of the team, and Priest Elr didn’t hesitate to store them through a similar gesture.
"Fellow Daoists, what a generous donation," The Priest announced. "Please, allow to escort you to the entrance."
The team followed the Priest through the paths among the flowers, crossing the white building to reach the uninterrupted garden. Nevertheless, Priest Elr stopped at its edge, pointing down as an invitation.
"To enter the Archbishop’s inheritance," Priest Elr announced, "You must pick a flower. Don’t worry. The starting point is the sa for everyone."
Liam’s instinctive wariness toward the invisible formation was stronger there. Still, Lancelot was too excited to allow any study, acting like the perfect guinea pig, bending down to pick a flower.
And before Liam could even attempt to sense anything, Lancelot’s figure vanished out of thin air, only leaving behind traces of his scent and Qi.
Liam blinked under the hood, but the scene repeated itself, preventing him from considering whether his eyes were tricking him. Isabel didn’t hesitate to pick a flower and disappear, and Julian followed.
Robert only snorted before also seizing a flower, leaving Liam alone with Priest Elr.
’This is cool,’ Liam couldn’t help but think. ’It must at least be at the level of Sect Leaders.’
There was nothing Liam could truly study, so his curiosity won him over. He picked a flower, and Priest Elr remained fully alone.
The Priest heaved a sigh, watching the spot where the five had disappeared before looking up at the pillar at the garden’s center. His smile shrank a bit, making room for awe, until he shook his head and diverted his gaze.
Nevertheless, as Priest Elr began heading to the Church, sothing touched his vast perception, and his figure vanished on the spot, moving too quickly for the world to notice.
The sprint led the Priest far outside the area, stopping when soone did the sa. He found himself before a fellow branching expert, one whose presence there made no sense.
"Fellow Daoist," Priest Elr greeted. "What business does the Shrouded Desert Sect have so far from its area of influence?"
"You Priests always know everything," Elder Dominic snorted. "I’m searching for a rooting expert. Rumors have it that he departed from Kilrest four days ago in this direction."
"The genius direct descendant of the Ancestral Phoenix indeed ca here," Priest Elr stated. "He entered our sacred inheritance just now."
"I’m not talking about that Junior hooked to whores," Elder Dominic revealed. "Was he with soone tall, big, and wearing poison master’s cloaks?"
"There was one who matches that description," Priest Elr confird, "But he also entered the inheritance, which cultivators at our level can’t access."
"I’m aware," Elder Dominic stated. "Priest, that Junior insulted , so tell where he might appear next."
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