NOVPUBMeanwhile, elsewhere.
Unlike the hustle and bustle of the commercial district, the surroundings of the Temple of the Nirvana Knights in the imperial capital of Herram were still desolate, with a bone-chilling wind sweeping the streets.
This building, whose spire reached into the sky, bore the wear and tear of hundreds of years. Craftsmen of generations had carved ancient legends into its austere facade; these tales of battles between heroes and demons were frozen in time within each stone block.
But now, it had been assigned to the Rebirth Church by the Protoss Empire.
In the main council chamber deep within the temple, the most crucial and secretive place in this building of the Nirvana Knights, fuzzy beams of light scattered through the high windows, creating a solemn and holy atmosphere.
A young man sat at one end of the round table. He wore a slim-fit dark gray suit, looking different from the other priests, even without wearing the Seal of Nirvana. It seemed that he was only here for official business, but his calm and profound gaze, and every single movement, emitted a sense of steadiness and authority. Clearly, he was the one in control.
Originally, three Grand Priests were stationed here, responsible for logistics and coordination with other provincial branches. Now, Caius had been dismissed, leaving the other two sitting beside him in fear, waiting for his command.
After the Bishop of Nirvana heard of the final assessment’s status from the north, he didn’t blame the two of them. Instead, he sent a direct subordinate to take over Grand Priest Caius’s work, showing a slight interest.
At this moment, the council chamber was filled with a busy, yet orderly, atmosphere.
In front of the newly arrived envoy of Sender laid stacks of well-organized files, each containing detailed information about the finalists from the day before yesterday.
He sometimes looked at the files, sometimes revealing a smile.
"Rocky McCarthy, undoubtedly, has shown excellent ability in both the written test and the final assessment. He is the most outstanding talent we have acquired this time."
The envoy of Sender spoke contentedly,
"As long as this young man named Rocky can make some achievements, he will be promoted to a Grand Priest or a direct subordinate, and will then meet the Bishop of Nirvana in person."
On hearing Sender’s words, the other two Grand Priests sighed in relief.
They nearly got into trouble with Caius this time, but it seemed that their merits and demerits offset each other, so the Bishop of Nirvana had no plans to punish them.
As for Rocky, whom they discovered, in a few years, he might even compete with the Saint of Nirvana based on his talents.
After all, the Saint of Nirvana had proved his status through his unparalleled talent and bloody hands.
If this young man named Rocky, who is younger and has more outstanding skills, even if he is still far from the Saint of Nirvana, he will pose a significant threat to the Saint of Nirvana if given time to hone his skills.
Accordingly, the Saint of Nirvana probably wouldn’t let him proliferate wildly.
Sender’s envoy continued to review the final assessment evaluation information given by the two Grand Priests. Over ten individuals passed the written test and retest, and the number of qualifiers in the final assessment was halved.
Most of the villains who were successful in the final assessment killed an elite priest of the Nirvana Branch in a day, either individually or cooperatively, without anyone aware of it.
So, their assessment started at the level of elite priests.
Rocky McCarthy was equivalent to a grand priest, but a [Certificate of Rebirth] of purple or above needed to be presented by the Bishop himself, so this rank could not temporarily be awarded to him here in the imperial capital of Herram.
After reviewing Rocky’s information, the envoy of Sender spent much less time on other files and quickly moved them to the other side of the table.
Not until he picked up the last file did he stop.
He read it all through.
"How come there is another talent, you didn’t tell me?"
Sender glanced at the two Grand Priests beside him, asking,
"We are extremely sorry, Lord Sender. We weren’t sure how to evaluate her... and she is under major suspicion. That’s why Caius, with this in mind, allowed her to retake the test."
The Grand Priest next to him quickly explained with utmost caution and fear.
Sender’s attitude would directly determine their fate. If he could put in a few good words for them with the Bishop of Nirvana, not only would they be faultless, but they would also be credited this time. But the opposite would also hold.
"I see."
After hearing that, Sender showed more interest in the file, finally putting it down with Rocky’s file.
The clerk opposite him, in charge of taking notes, couldn’t help but take a glance at the content of the file.
The person in Sikder’s file had chosen a high priest.
When Grand Priest Caius was accused and taken away for investigation by the imperial police, Sikder went to destroy Caius’s house.
She did not do it secretly, she tore it down openly.
The public thought she was instructed to help Caius cover up the evidence.
When asked by the Imperial Security Office whether she was instructed by Caius to do so, she replied "Indeed", and her answer was detected as the truth by an ancient lie detector artifact.
As he couldn’t expose the internal information of the Nirvana Branch, Caius was unable to refute her, even though he was grinding his teeth during the confrontation.
This hoax of house destruction proved to be a self-perpetuated farce. Sikder wasn’t held responsible, and instead, Caius faced greater suspicion. He was accused of multiple crimes, including promoting heresy, destroying evidence, and espionage. Some matters were too blurred to clarify.
"...."
The clerk holding the pen twitched his eyes and quickly lowered his head to focus on his work again.
Although Caius wasn’t dead, his work was suspended, his house was demolished, and he still needed to pay the mortgage for the house. It seemed like it might’ve been better if he had died.
"Are these two people sent by the Hegemony Branch to mess with us?"
Seeing Sender’s Emissary show such favouritism towards these two, the Grand Priest beside him also showed a worried look.
The greater the potential, the greater the harm if not controlled properly. It was okay to handle one Rocky or Sikder, but if there were two at the same time, they wouldn’t know how to use them. Despite being their superiors, they didn’t dare to speak loudly to these two.
Grand Priest Caius was a perfect example. The harm he suffered was beyond words.
"Honestly, the Bishop of Hegemony doesn’t have such talents. Even if they did, he wouldn’t let them undertake undercover operations."
Sender glanced at them indifferently.
"Do you know about the incident where the Saintness of Hegemony was killed by the Saint of Nirvana?"
Although the Bishop of Hegemony was always a mysterious figure, his closest soldiers knew a thing or two about him.
"Heard of it."
The two of them knew that the Bishop of Hegemony frequently confronted the Bishop of Nirvana. Only that time, the Bishop of Hegemony didn’t fight to the death with the Bishop of Nirvana to settle the matter,
"So the Bishop of Hegemony doesn’t care about the lives of his subordinates?"
The Grand Priest asked again.
"Well...the Bishop of Hegemony cares most about his ’property,’ in fact, his outrageously restrained reaction to that incident is terrifying. Due to that fault, he probably wouldn’t ask his subordinates to undertake such dangerous missions again."
Sender corrected the two Grand Priests’ claims with a light raise of his index finger. As far as the Cardinal Bishops who were close to being divine were concerned, their subordinates were not humans, but merely property they owned.
Because even all of their subordinates combined couldn’t match the combat power of a single Cardinal Bishop.
The prestige of any branch was based on the formidable power of their top Cardinal Bishop over the entire continent.
Upon hearing this, both Grand Priests nodded in agreement.
If the Hegemony Branch was also recruiting newcomers, these two would probably not choose to go there.
These two newcomers seem straightforward in their actions, but in reality, they’ve done things that are worse than the Nirvana Branch.
"Keep an eye on Sikder, she is under quite a bit of suspicion as a Priestess of the Church of the Goddess of Destiny."
Sender tapped on Sikder’s file and spoke to the other two Grand Priests.
"What about Rocky?"
The Grand Priest asked.
They were sure that Sender was not without vigilance, he saw clearly.
"There’s no need to doubt this guy, he’s thoroughly tarnished, born for our side, totally different from the Church of the Goddess of Destiny."
Sender commented, and then he thought about it and revealed a hint of interest with a smile,
"Just right, according to the information from our spies in Aestheland, there has been a considerable number of infiltrators from the Aestheland Kingdom in the Xi Bei Province recently. Even key figures who have had contact with the Bingxue Witch are involved. Next month, we’ll send those two and the other newcomers to the audit troop in Xi Bei Province where the Saint of Nirvana resides, to showcase the work ability of the hunting dogs."
If there’s any uncontrollability in these two, they won’t stir up trouble from the imperial city, let the Saint of Nirvana deal with the troublesome matters.
"What if Rocky and Sikder fight each other?"
He asked with a somewhat worried expression.
Both of them are the type to act on their own accord.
It’s estimated that neither of them would give in to the other, and being sent to a distant place would be even more uncontrollable.
"Humph, I would like to see them fighting each other. Anyway, no matter what, we would still gain more than we lose, wouldn’t we?"
After Sender finished speaking, he didn’t say anything more, it was also a work of filtration and selection.
If Sikder was an infiltrator, it would be best if she was identified and taken out by Rocky.
If not, she would expose flaws, and Rocky’s ability would have been not much, he might as well die.
