Chapter 323: Passing The Selection!

For a moment, everyone fell silent. The voice calling to Karon was simply too clear, and the emotion heard within it conveyed extreme tenderness. Was it the divine artifact calling out to their captain? What kind of relationship did he have with this divine artifact? No, what kind of intimate relationship could it be?

Because of the Mental Bridge Array, shock and confusion kept surging towards Karon. He could sense the questions filling his teammates’ heads. In truth, Karon was also astonished. He had absolutely not expected that the divine artifact used for this final round would be the Lacresis Copper Coin, which was to say, Lenora. During earlier rounds, he had been carefully coordinating everything in order to maintain the team’s condition as well as possible so that they could deal with this final stage.

“Big Brother Karon... Karon...” Lenora’s call continued. The phantoms of two ancient copper coins appeared within the crack. Clearly, as the artifact spirit, Lenora had also gained control over the second copper coin.

Karon said, “The Whip of Order squad I am part of once participated in a mission involving corruption of a Lacresis Copper Coin. We successfully resolved the problem and also turned in a coin. At the time, my captain had me personally conduct the handover, so I can barely be considered acquainted with this artifact spirit. Because of this relationship, it’s being a bit considerate of our squad, but that’s all. Everyone, do not lower your guard.”

Barely be considered acquainted? Every member of the squad chewed over the description offered. Then, through the Mental Bridge, Karon received a whole heap of suspicion and disbelief.

“Our connection really is only that little bit. Some divine artifacts’ spirits are actually very kind. For example, her.”

Everyone looked over at the miserable states of Squad 1 and Squad 7 beside them, each person letting out cries of agony. Kind?

Almost instantly, an even stronger wave of skepticism inundated Karon.

He inwardly sighed. He did not know if the organizers and the people above who were watching the selection had picked up on any clues, but his team members clearly had already sensed that something was off. Fortunately, it was on Karon’s record that he had handed over a Lacresis Copper Coin, so it was definitely on his record, which could offer an explanation. As for why such brief contact with a divine artifact, merely handing it over, could make the artifact spirit treat him so specially, that was actually no issue. There was no need for any explanation, because he had already displayed his excellence. Throughout the history of the church, there had never been any lack of outstanding young people who had resonated with miracles, divine beasts, or even the gods themselves on a deeper level than ordinary people. Karon had merely resonated with a divine artifact. For a truly outstanding young person, it would be more strange if nothing that surpassed ordinary imagination had ever happened to him.

However, to prevent the matter from exacerbating, and also to dispel his team’s doubts so their imaginations would not run too wild, Karon raised a hand. He first severed his connection with them through the Mental Bridge, then called out in his heart, “Lenora.”

“Hehe... Big Brother Karon... hello...”

“Send a mental barrage to my subordinates.”

“Okay... Karon...”

“Ah!!!”

“Ah!!!”

Instantly, Bart, Vintral, Ashley, Blanche, and Mars all clutched their heads and crouched down in pain. Their squad’s previous calm was instantly transformed into raging waves. The sudden change caught everyone, who had originally been fully prepared for such an assault, completely off guard. Seeing his team members in pain, Karon felt quite heartbroken. Then he also crouched down until he was sitting on the ground. He pressed his right palm to his forehead, pretending to also be in great pain. Although he did not cry out, as the squad’s captain, having better resistance and not letting out shouts of pain was also normal.

Within three barriers, the Lacresis Copper Coin emitted an ancient bronze light that enveloped everything inside the barriers. This was equivalent to the artifact spirit embedding another barrier of its own within the array barrier. What the outside world saw within this second barrier was only what Lenora wanted them to see. Of course, truly high-level existences could penetrate that layer of obstruction to see the hidden truth. The problem was that those people were not physically present, but were only observing a projection.

Lenora appeared in front of Karon. She was still wearing the cafe waiter uniform, the same outfit that Karon had worn the day they had met.

“Big Brother Karon, do you know something? Earlier, I was still wondering that since this is a trial for the Church of Order to select outstanding young people, I might be able to see you. I believe that you must be the most outstanding, but I was still worried, worried that the Church of Order would be blind.”

Karon raised his head to look at her.

“Don’t worry, Big Brother Karon. They can’t see me, and they can’t hear me speak. The outside can’t see either. Oh, in the eyes of these people around you, you are still maintaining a pained sitting posture right now.”

“Lenora, I really didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Can’t you wear the silver mask like last time and come to the sealed space to see me? Oh, right. Last time, it seemed to be because Big Brother Karon was holding another copper coin. However, it’s not like there’s no way. In the sealed space, we artifact spirits can be nourished every day. Because I’m young, my strength has grown quite quickly since being in there, so I can now sense some things I couldn’t before. For example, there is a copper coin not very far from Veyn, in the middle of the sea. It seems to have sunk to the seabed. I didn’t report what I sensed. I was just thinking that I might be able to find a chance some day to secretly tell you, so that you can go search for that copper coin. Remember to do it secretly! After finding this copper coin, don’t turn it in. Keep it for yourself, and then, you’ll be able to use it to come see me!”

“All right. Tell me the location.”

Lenora stretched out her hand and pressed a palm to Karon’s forehead. Immediately, a set of coordinates was transmitted to him. It was a location in the sea to the southwest of Veyn.

“It might not be very easy to find. You’ll have to put in some effort.”

“After I finish dealing with some upcoming matters, I’ll organize some people to search for it.”

“Mhmm, hehe.” Lenora was very happy. She was innocent and adorable, but that was not to say that she was a blank slate. Hers was a purity soaked through with black ink. Anyone dealing with her could not treat her like a little girl who could be easily fooled. The last one who had done that, Expositor Zeric, had already been crushed to death.

“Big Brother Karon, let me tell you something. There’s an older harp sister in the sealed space who has always taken care of me, and there are many other fun fellows there too. In the future, if you can come often, I’ll introduce you to them.”

“All right.”

“Mm, then what next?” Lenora pointed to the two sides, which were Squad 1 and Squad 7. “Big Brother Karon, which team do you want to advance?”

Hmm? Is it now up to me to decide?

“Just follow your own rhythm. Let our three squads face the same challenge.”

“So that’s how it is. I thought Big Brother Karon could help me make a choice.”

“Give both of them a fair chance, and give my squad the same chance to temper ourselves. Of course, that’s under the premise of ensuring my squad can advance. I may want fairness, but I also don’t want to lose. I’ll have to trouble you to satisfy my shamelessness in this; I want to feel morally comfortable while also wanting to guarantee we receive benefits.”

“Hehe, I understand. Actually, Big Brother Karon, your squad has you, so it was impossible for you to lose in the first place.”

“Thank you, Lenora.”

“You don’t have to be so polite with me, really, Big Brother Karon. Um, are these all of your subordinates?”

“Yes. They are the teammates I recruited in this selection. I am their captain.”

“All right, I understand. Then I’ll get to work. Oh, right, Big Brother Karon, you have to work hard and exchange me sooner to get me out.”

“I will, but that will take time.”

“I believe Big Brother Karon can do it! There’s no need to rush. In that sealed space, fellows several thousand years old are still considered children.”

Lenora disappeared, returning to the copper coin. The mental storm also fell upon Karon, but he merely let out a muffled groan and endured it. After a moment, his hand rose. Using the calculations of the Cube Key, he reconnected himself to the squad’s Mental Bridge. The moment he connected to the others, an extremely intense wave of “pain” frantically swept towards him.

Oh. The impact these negative emotions had on him was actually even stronger than Lenora’s mental storm. Karon frowned slightly.

The Mental Bridge was supposed to enable the squad to withstand the mental assault as a single whole, but without Karon as their mental anchor, the other members had fallen into disarray. Instead of stabilizing them, the Mental Bridge had allowed everyone else’s emotions to interfere with him, and to some extent, worsen his own suffering. Everyone in this selection was outstanding people, but unfortunately, there was a saying that fit them perfectly: brilliant apart, a disaster together. Still, Karon knew that they had lost that anchor because he had stepped away from them earlier, so more than half of the responsibility lay with him.

Karon spoke in his heart, “Do not avoid it. Do not only care about yourselves. All of you, follow my rhythm!”

At this moment, everyone sensed their captain’s presence through the Mental Bridge. He was like a mountain standing tall and unwavering, giving them a direction to gather around and depend on.

Karon rose up and said, “All of you, stand up!”

Gradually, the expressions of pain on everyone’s faces eased dramatically. One after another, they stood up.

In the distance, near the crack, Lenora sat on a copper coin, swinging her legs as she continuously added mental barrages into the three barriers; one wave after another, like throwing stones into a pond. However, during one wave, she looked over at Karon’s squad and clapped her hands with a smile. The team members suddenly sensed a massive wave charging toward them, but when it approached, they did not sense any power. Then, through the Mental Bridge, they discovered that their captain had shouldered more than half of the impact on his own.

“Captain, you don’t have to bear it alone.”

“Captain, don’t do it alone.”

“Steady yourselves. Don’t worry about me.”

In truth, the degree of the mental storm had never increased. The massive wave that they had all sensed had been nothing more than an illusion Lenora had deliberately created. She had no bad intentions in doing so; She merely wanted to help Karon to elevate his prestige before his teammates. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. Right now, he had no way to communicate with Lenora. If he did, he would definitely tell her that he really did not need to do such things in front of these team members anymore.

The mental storm continued for a very long time. Finally, it subsided.

Every member of Squad 1 was kneeling on the ground. There was one priest in the squad who started to offer his teammates treatment, but when treating the second teammate, the priest himself directly fainted. In Squad 7, aside from their captain, the bald Kane, all of the others were sprawled across the ground. Only Squad 3 managed to keep everyone standing. In regards to this, Lenora had truly not gone easy on them. This was simply the result of Karon’s squad’s preparations and groundwork laid in earlier stages, together with Karon leading this round. His efforts to organize everyone in resisting the mental storm was the most correct method.

However, the selection was not yet ended, because there were still three squads on the field.

Karon immediately called out, “No resting. Everyone, apply purification blessings of Order to yourselves.

“Mars!”

“Here!”

“Change the grafting method of the Mental Bridge. Cancel whole-team sharing and make everyone connect to me one-way.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Everyone, open your mental defenses to me. I only need you to maintain one final thought, and that is: when my spirit comes to you, do not resist me in any way. The Lacresis Copper Coin is one of the purest existences in the world, but precisely because of that purity, it can induce the greed at the bottom of your hearts. This is why it is known as the Wellspring of Sin. Barring any surprises, the ability of the Wellspring of Sin will activate next. This is not an illusion! This temptation is more direct. It comes from your hearts. If any of you cannot hold on, and greed is about to occupy your consciousness, I will be responsible for slapping you awake. I’ll say this in advance: if the slap hurts, don’t blame me!”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Yes, Captain!”

The team members immediately cast purification on themselves. Blanche also insisted on casting a blessing on everyone. Her condition was considerably better than the priest in Squad 1 next door.

When Murray, the captain of Squad 1 next door, saw Squad 3’s actions, he immediately said, “We might next face a new round of illusions. Everyone, hold on!”

After saying this, Murray sliced his palm open with a fingernail. Fresh blood dripped down and formed a blood-colored starburst. Very soon, a black snake poked out from within that starburst. It stood upright and spread open its hood.

After doing this, Murray shouted, “If you have any other last resorts, use them now. This is the deciding moment!”

Immediately, two more team members used special rituals to summon guardian objects, and everyone in Squad 1 gathered together.

The captain of Squad 7 first looked at Squad 3’s actions, and then Squad 1’s. He then examined his own team members, who were basically all sprawled across the ground. He knew that they were going to lose. Compared to Squad 3, which still had some strength left, and Squad 1, which was still bringing out new ammunition, his squad had no further trump cards to rely on.

“Boys, you all did damn well! I’m the one who’s unable to match those two captains; I couldn’t take you all the way to the end. That’s on me. Once we get out, drinks tonight!

“No, sleep first. Once we’ve had enough sleep, then we’ll go drinking!”

The bald Kane turned his head and looked into the distance. On that copper coin, black mist had already been released and was slowly encircling them. He knew that after already experiencing the devastation and oppression of the mental storm, as well as being drained by the earlier rounds, his squad’s current dispirited state and complete lack of protection, they would not be able to withstand this strike from the divine artifact.

“The Wellspring of Sin...” Kane recognized the Lacresis Copper Coin, and precisely because of that, he was unwilling to let his subordinates risk themselves further when it was clear that they could not possibly win. If their mental states were damaged, it truly would not be worth the risk.

The captain of Squad 7 reached out, grabbed the flagpole in front of him, and shouted, “Squad 7 admits defeat!”

None of his team members lying on the ground complained about their captain’s decision. Everyone’s limbs were sprawled out as they lay on their backs in a carefree manner, panting. They were finally free...

As Squad 7 was teleported out from their barrier, the black mist that the Lacresis Copper Coin had just released immediately started slowly retracting, because there were only two teams remaining on the field. The selection was already over.

Lenora gave Karon one final look, then rode the copper coin and floated through the silver gate. “Hehe, Big Brother Karon, I’ll be waiting for you to exchange me out.”

The barrier completely disappeared.

Only the members of two squads remained in the plaza. Some were standing, some kneeling, and some were sitting. The rest of the participants in the selection had all been moved to the edge of the square.

Varg announced, “The final selected list is the six members of Squad 1 and the six members of Squad 3. This selection is over!”

“We succeeded!”

“We succeeded!” Bart, Ashley, Blanche, and Mars all shouted excitedly.

Beside them, Squad 1 watched Squad 3 celebrate. As fellow victors, they were very clear on who the true first place was. Pasquio spat on the ground and said, “Damn it. They still have the strength to celebrate.”

Murray climbed up, straightening his clothes while walking over to Squad 3. When he arrived before Karon, he extended his hand to Karon and said, “Congratulations.”

Karon smiled at him and lightly shook his hand. “Congratulations to you as well.”

“I’m from Teygan Region, Saint Antis Port. My name is Murray. Murray Bendhart.”

“York City Region, Karon Silva.”

“I want to be friends with you, and not just for the sake of going to the Reincarnation Gate.”

“It would be my honor.”

“In the future, when you come to Teygan... Oh, no. We’ll meet again very soon. Before going to Reincarnation Valley, we should still gather in Teygan Region. I’ll find you then and we’ll have a proper chat.”

“All right. I look forward to it.”

Murray turned and left. Karon also turned around, and his eyes immediately lit up. A large bald head walked up in front of him and opened his arms. Karon was somewhat resistant to this form of greeting, but still opened his own arms and hugged the other party.

Kane grabbed Karon’s arms with both hands and smiled. “My name is Kane. I’m from South Luth District.”

“Karon, from York City Region.”

“Heh. I’m still not happy about losing to those guys from the Teygan Region. Who knows if they cheated or pulled strings? But losing to you? That, I can accept.”

Karon responded with a gentle smile. If they were talking about cheating... it seemed that no squad had enjoyed a stronger cheating element than his own.

“I can’t go to Reincarnation Valley now. In the future, when you have the chance, come to South Luth and have fun. I’ll be your host.”

“The same goes for you. You’re welcome to visit York City.”

“Haha, all right. I just love the way you’re humoring me.”

***

Cheers erupted inside the hall. The seat of the Church of Order was located in Teygan Region, and five of Squad 1’s six members had elders seated right in the observation hall.

Claude opened his eyes from his dozing and asked, “Is it over?”

Mosvath said, “Yes, it’s over. Squad 1 and Squad 3 have obtained the final slots to enter the Reincarnation Valley trial.”

Glorian smiled and said, “The young man you had your eye on is indeed very outstanding. The squad he led performed better than Squad 1, which was mainly from Teygan Region.”

The young man I had my eye on? Oh, I remember now. His name was Karon. That... What was his surname again?

Claude nodded reservedly, and then said, “Mhmm, of course. I felt at the time that the young man had great prospects.”