Chapter 243: Cardinal Ryoger has arrived

Inside the grand evaluation hall of Mount Laobao, the air was dense with the anxious chatter and trembling spiritual energy of hundreds of young applicants.

Hidden in plain sight within the crowded room were four figures who appeared no different from the surrounding hopefuls.

Grand Chancellor Manuses and Pope Croak had both transformed into lean, sixteen-year-old youths.

The shapeshifting mortal skill bestowed upon them by the God of Beast was exceptionally versatile.

It did not merely coat the surface with illusion magic, but fundamentally altered their physical age, height, bone structure, and aura channels for an indefinite duration.

Beside them, in different corners of the vast hall, Duchess Eurenia and Duchess Alisa had taken the forms of delicate young girls dressed in simple traveling tunics.

Though all four commanders recognized one another through their shared divine connection, they deliberately maintained a wide distance across the chamber.

They avoided eye contact entirely, blending seamlessly with the surrounding crowds so as to not raise a single thread of suspicion among the patrolling sect guards.

At the front of the hall, the Divine Hand Elder stepped forward onto the elevated marble platform.

His sharp, experienced eyes swept across the sea of young faces, his hands tucked neatly inside his wide silver sleeves.

“Silence!” the Divine Hand Elder bellowed, his voice laced with Martial General mana that echoed like a ringing bell through the hall.

The anxious chatter died down instantly as the hundreds of applicants straightened their backs, holding their breath.

“I welcome you all to Mount Laobao,” the Divine Hand Elder began, his tone grand and authoritative. “Today, you stand before the gates of the Emerald Purity Sect. For centuries, our sacred sect has stood as the pillar of righteousness across the Eastern Hashian Mountains.

We exist for a single, noble purpose: to purify the darkness of this world, cleanse the chaotic minds of men, and unite all living beings under the tranquil, eternal guidance of the emerald light!”

He paused, letting his gaze linger over the eager, wide-eyed youths. “Today, each of you will be given a sacred opportunity to prove your worth to our grand heritage. You shall demonstrate your spiritual talent, your physical endurance, your usefulness, and your absolute commitment to our cause.

Those among you who possess true potential will be granted the honor of becoming outer disciples. And if your talent is extraordinary enough… you may even be chosen directly by a grand elder to become an elite personal disciple!”

A wave of excited gasps rippled through the young applicants, their eyes burning with sudden ambition.

Beside him, the Sacred Crane Elder stepped forward, dropping a few brief, stern words of advice regarding the importance of discipline, respect, and endurance during the upcoming tests.

With a final sweep of their long sleeves, both elders turned and glided out of the grand hall, leaving the applicants behind to wait for a few more hours until the official evaluation examination began.

While the applicants waited in the lower hall, a far more critical meeting was taking place in the official domain of the Emerald Purity Sect’s leader.

At the very center of Mount Laobao stood a massive, nine-story octagonal tower carved from solid green jade—the sanctum where the Sect Leader officiated all high-level matters.

Inside the top-floor throne room, seated upon a grand, elevated chair carved from solid emerald, sat the leader of the Emerald Purity Sect.

He was a dignified, middle-aged man with sharp brown hair tied in a neat high bun and piercing black eyes that radiated an unyielding, dangerous pressure.

He was a bona fide Martial Lord—a supreme cultivator whose very presence caused the air in the chamber to hum with heavy, pressurized mana.

Standing in a respectful line before his emerald throne were four senior elders of the sect, and alongside them stood a distinguished guest who had just arrived at the mountain’s doorstep.

It was an official envoy dispatched from the super-tier Myriad Heaven Sect.

The envoy was an elderly man dressed in luxurious indigo robes embroidered with golden cloud patterns, possessing a calm, deep aura that rivaled the Sect Leader—another genuine Martial Lord.

The Myriad Heaven Sect envoy offered a polite, dignified bow to the seated leader. “Sect Leader, I extend my greetings on behalf of the central council.”

“Welcome to Mount Laobao, Envoy,” the brown-haired Sect Leader replied smoothly, gesturing with a single hand. “To what do we owe the honor of your sudden visit?”

The indigo-robed envoy straightened his back, his expression turning solemn. “The Myriad Heaven Sect has received troubling, erratic reports regarding the sudden collapse of order within the Northern Hashian Mountains.

A strange religious conflict has erupted in the Glorious Mythical Sect’s domain, involving a radical force known as the Sky Church and an unknown entity calling itself the God of Beast.

The central council dispatched me as an official envoy to begin a thorough, regional investigation into this matter.”

The envoy looked directly into the Sect Leader’s black eyes. “Because the northern province is currently unstable, I seek the full cooperation and hospitality of the Emerald Purity Sect. I shall be establishing my temporary base of operations here on Mount Laobao until the investigation is finalized.”

A flash of intense, triumphant joy flickered deep within the Sect Leader’s black eyes, though his face remained perfectly composed.

“The Emerald Purity Sect graciously accepts your request, Envoy,” the Sect Leader declared smoothly, bowing his head slightly.

“Our resources, intelligence networks, and accommodations are entirely at your disposal.”

Inside his mind, the Sect Leader was practically roaring with dark delight.

This was a glorious, historic day for him.

For decades, he had swallowed his pride while the Glorious Mythical Sect used their corrupt connections with previous envoys to hoard the regional cultivation resources.

But now, with the Myriad Heaven Sect directly intervening to investigate the northern chaos, the Glorious Mythical Sect was as good as dead.

There was no recovering from the central council’s wrath.

***

Northern Hashian Mountains.

While celebration brewed in the east, total devastation reigned in the north.

Mauresis, the Angel of Dawn occupying High Priest Arnold’s mutated vessel, stood high atop a jagged, windswept mountain cliff.

His single, massive orange eye stared coldly into the distant horizon, his shirtless, hyper-muscular physique crackling with volatile violet lightning.

Mauresis was deeply, dangerously frustrated.

Over the past two days, he had personally swept through three major commercial cities in the northern range, reducing them to smoking craters of ash and burning thousands of citizens alive.

Yet, despite his merciless purging, he had failed to find a single lingering trace or hidden hideout belonging to the Church of the God of Beast.

In his psychotic, divine rage, he had vented his fury upon the innocent population, driving several smaller towns along the border to total extinction.

Down in the valley, the surviving elders of the Glorious Mythical Sect watched the sky in horror.

They were consumed by blinding anger over the senseless slaughter of their regional tax bases, but they were far too terrified of the entity’s divine pressure to utter a single word of complaint.

SWISH.

A soft wind rustled the cliffside as a figure materialized a few paces behind the one-eyed angel.

It was Sect Leader Mao Zedian. His face was pale, his robes stained with soot, and his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and exhaustion.

Mauresis did not bother turning his head, his hands remaining folded behind his back.

“Speak, mortal. Have you brought me the location of the heretics?”

Sect Leader Mao swallowed hard, bowing his head nervously.

“N-No, Lord Mauresis… but I bring urgent news from the northern border pass. Cardinal Ryoger of the Church of the God of the Sky has officially arrived with his holy fleet.”