Chapter 124: Immortal Society

Chapter 124: Immortal Society

In the year 1254 of the Starlight Calendar, during the Scroll Month (August).

The Marquis of Lake Blue was murdered in his mansion.

The entire family was wiped out in a single night.

When the news broke, the upper echelons of the Starlight Principality were in an uproar.

The nobles of the royal lineage were on edge, fearing that they might be the next targets of Su Nan, who could strike at any moment during the night.

The province of Lake Blue, with the Marquis dead and no heirs left, fell into a state of leaderless chaos.

Seizing the opportunity, Baron Stally, stationed in Golden Wheat City, launched a northern campaign. Within half a month, he captured four towns, including Yayan City, advancing with unstoppable momentum.

Had it not been for the fact that the majority of the Flashhold’s army was deployed in two other provinces, and Baron Stally’s forces were limited, he might have conquered the entire province of Lake Blue on his own.

In the same year, during the Harvest Month (September).

The Flashhold army captured the capital city of Saman Province, Saman City, and the new Marquis of Saman was taken prisoner.

With this, the entire province of Saman fell under the control of the Flashhold.

After a three-day rest, the Marquis of Flashhold led his army to attack the Bamboo Purple Province, joining forces with Baron Jordon, who was stationed in Montlight City, to besiege the Bamboo Purple Province. In less than a month, they captured over two-thirds of the province’s territory.

It was clear to anyone with eyes that the fall of the Bamboo Purple Province was inevitable.

In contrast, the royal army in Red Leaf Province was still locked in a prolonged battle with the White Tower Marquis, despite having the upper hand. There was no indication that they could capture the White Tower Province any time soon.

As for Frostfall Province, it was still in the process of reconstruction, and its military strength was negligible.

At this point, the tide of the war had completely turned.

Many who had previously supported the royal lineage and mocked the Flashhold as foolish were now silenced.

Instead, the talk of the Flashhold overthrowing the royal lineage was gaining momentum.

In a tavern, inside a room.

Su Nan gazed at the golden light swirling in his palm, a joyful smile spreading across his face.

Divine Energy: 12 standard units. Completely purified and pure energy, can be converted into any form of energy.

"Success!"

"Completely pure and uncontaminated energy!"

After draining all the divine blessings from the holy relics, Su Nan finally synthesized 12 standard units of pure divine energy.

Without hesitation, he twirled his finger, wrapping the golden light around it, and then pressed it to his forehead.

Under the guidance of his intangible mental energy, the golden light slowly sank into his forehead and disappeared.

A familiar sensation of elevation surged from the depths of his mind!

This was the feeling of his mental energy increasing significantly in a short period.

Su Nan closed his eyes and patiently converted the divine energy into mental energy, bit by bit.

After an unknown amount of time, the last trace of divine energy was finally exhausted. Su Nan opened his eyes and immediately checked his interface.

Mental: 41.26

"Not bad, an increase of 3.02!"

Su Nan smiled in satisfaction.

The divine energy had not disappointed him.

If he had not constructed a new star ring and had continued his regular training, it would have taken at least three to four years of meditation to achieve such an increase in mental energy.

Moreover, the increase in mental energy also accelerated the growth of his proficiency in the star ring meditation technique.

"The exact improvement in proficiency still needs to be tested."

"But that can wait. First, I need to deal with the Starfire Cult."

Su Nan stood up and walked to the window, opening it to look down at the street below.

After killing Ovius and the Marquis of Lake Blue, he had rushed to Giant Oak City in Red Leaf Province.

This was the headquarters of the Starfire Cult.

Since the Starlight Grand Duke declared the Starfire Cult as the state religion, Giant Oak City had essentially become the domain of the Starfire Cult.

The entire city was under the control of the Starfire Cult, and even the city guards had been replaced by the so-called Holy Order of the Cult.

The armored warriors wearing star-patterned cloaks that Su Nan had seen at the Marquis of Lake Blue’s mansion were members of the Holy Order.

Su Nan had initially expected that Giant Oak City would enter a state of martial law and that the guards would become even more stringent after Ovius’s death.

However, when he arrived in Giant Oak City, he found that the situation was completely different from what he had anticipated.

The city remained peaceful, with people bustling about on the streets, just like any normal town.

On the contrary, the Holy Order soldiers stationed at the city gates seemed anxious and distracted.

According to the discussions he overheard in the tavern, there had been very few sightings of Holy Order patrols on the streets in recent days.

The Starfire Cult’s worship ceremonies, which were held every three days, had also been canceled several times.

From all the clues, it seemed that the upper echelons of the Starfire Cult were in chaos, affecting even the lower ranks.

Su Nan found this strange.

Even with Ovius’s death, the Starfire Cult shouldn’t have panicked to this extent.

After all, only the High Priest had died, not the Pope.

Shaking his head, Su Nan activated his invisibility cloak and leaped out of the window, heading toward the headquarters of the Starfire Cult.

Regardless, today was the day to settle things with the Starfire Cult.

And perhaps he could gather more holy relics in the process.

The headquarters of the Starfire Cult was situated at the heart of Giant Oak City, where the lord's manor once stood. It had been transformed into the church's central hub.

When Su Nan arrived, he was surprised to find no guards at the entrance. The main gate was wide open, and inside, an eerie silence hung in the air.

Su Nan sensed that something was amiss. This didn't feel like a trap. Initially, he had planned to use his golem puppets to storm the headquarters, forcing the Starfire Cult to reveal their full strength before making his move. However, he changed his mind and decided to charge in directly.

He passed through the main gate and a long corridor, eventually reaching a spacious courtyard. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw a multitude of scattered bones on the ground.

Dozens of pale skeletons lay haphazardly, numbering at least a hundred. Upon closer inspection, the bones bore fine bite marks, as if they had been gnawed by some small creatures.

Scattered around were remnants of tattered cloth, which, upon closer inspection, appeared to be the star-patterned cloaks unique to the Starfire Cult.

"It seems someone beat me to it."

Confusion flickered in Su Nan's eyes. Who else besides him would have such a grudge against the Starfire Cult, enough to launch an attack on their headquarters?

Despite his doubts, Su Nan moved swiftly, advancing further into the complex. Along the way, he encountered more bones, and the signs of battle indicated that the intruders were incredibly powerful. The Starfire Cult's followers had put up little resistance, resulting in a one-sided massacre.

Upon reaching the inner courtyard, Su Nan finally heard the sounds of battle. He slowed his pace and moved silently forward.

In the spacious central courtyard, a fierce battle was taking place. On one side were over a hundred Starfire Cult followers, forming a semicircular defensive formation against the building. On the other side, to Su Nan's surprise, was a swarm of insects.

These insects resembled bees but had a circular mouth filled with sharp teeth, which was quite unsettling.

Despite their small size—about the size of an egg—they were incredibly fast and had razor-sharp teeth that could easily gouge out chunks from the Starfire Cult followers' armor.

Su Nan now understood the origin of the bite marks on the bones he had seen earlier. These people had been stripped of their flesh and bones by the insects.

"An apprentice wizard?"

Su Nan's eyes narrowed. These insects looked like the work of an apprentice wizard.

Just then, a buzzing sound erupted, and another swarm of insects flew out from another entrance to the courtyard.

The Starfire Cult followers' faces turned pale with despair. They were already struggling to hold their ground, and now another swarm of terrifying insects was joining the fray, making their situation even more dire.

However, the next moment took them by surprise. The insects did not attack them but instead charged toward another entrance to the courtyard.

"Discovered!"

Su Nan's brow furrowed, and he opened his mouth, emitting a massive sound wave.

Crushing Sound Wave!

A visible, twisting wave of energy shot out, slamming into the insect swarm. Dozens of insects were instantly torn apart, leaving a noticeable gap in the dense swarm.

Su Nan then waved his hand, and a wave of flames surged forward, incinerating the remaining insects.

As he attacked, Su Nan's invisibility cloak deactivated, revealing his form.

The nearby Starfire Cult followers were dumbfounded. The insect swarm they had barely managed to hold back was effortlessly obliterated by this mysterious figure, leaving them feeling as if they were in a dream.

One of the higher-ranking followers quickly recognized Su Nan and shouted in shock:

"Su Nan!"

The other cult followers were stunned. This was Su Nan? The wizard who had single-handedly dismantled the military defenses of Lake Blue Province and killed High Priest Ovius?

They all felt a sense of despair. They were already struggling against their current enemies, and now another powerful foe had appeared. It seemed their fate was sealed.

Ignoring the reactions of the Starfire Cult followers, Su Nan turned his attention to the opposite entrance of the courtyard.

"Come out. There's no need to hide."

A deep, sinister laugh echoed, and a gray-robed man emerged from the corner.

Su Nan's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man's face. The man's appearance was grotesque, a bizarre amalgamation of human and insect features. It was both terrifying and nauseating, something that would make one's sanity waver.

The grayish-white skin on his face occasionally bulged and writhed, as if something was moving beneath it.

"A wizard apprentice who has fused with some insect bloodline, I see."

Su Nan's mind quickly processed the situation.

"Quite impressive, the wizard apprentice who killed Ovius. You certainly have some skills."

The gray-robed man's insect-like eyes coldly stared at Su Nan.

"You're here for the divine remains, aren't you?"

Divine remains?

Su Nan's expression changed.

So this is the reason behind the Starfire Cult's possession of divine blood and holy relics. But who is this man, and how does he know about the Starfire Cult's secrets?

His mind raced, but his face remained calm as he replied coolly, "So what if I am?"

The corner of the gray-robed man's mouth twisted into a terrifying grin, revealing a strange smile.

"That's unfortunate, then. The divine remains of the Starfire Cult are something we of the Immortal Society must obtain."

The Immortal Society?

A wizard apprentice organization?

If that's the case, from the name alone, these wizard apprentices seem to have grand ambitions.

"You want to reap the rewards without doing the work?" Su Nan sneered.

The Starfire Cult was practically dismantled by him alone. The Immortal Society's wizard apprentices had done nothing, yet they were trying to claim the spoils at the last moment. He couldn't tolerate such behavior.

"So you're not planning to back down?" The gray-robed man chuckled.

Su Nan didn't waste words and immediately launched a Magic Missile spell.

Seven missiles whistled through the air, striking the gray-robed man. However, his body exploded into a cloud of insects that scattered and flew away, leaving behind a chilling voice.

"You'll regret this!"

Su Nan was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected the gray-robed man to talk so arrogantly but flee so decisively.

His actions and words didn't match at all!

After confirming that the gray-robed man had truly left, Su Nan shook his head and turned his attention to the group of Starfire Cult followers.

With the gray-robed man gone, the insects also flew away. The surviving Starfire Cult followers collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Su Nan.

One demon had left, but another still stood before them.

Su Nan approached the elder who had recognized him first and asked, "Who was that man?"

"I, I'm not entirely sure," the elder replied, somewhat fearfully. "He had infiltrated the headquarters before, but was repelled by High Priest Ovius."

Mentioning High Priest Ovius made the elder's gaze even more fearful.

After all, High Priest Ovius was said to have been killed by the very person standing before them.

Su Nan realized that the gray-robed man must have known he couldn't win and had thus fled without hesitation.

Was he planning to bring reinforcements?

However, to have escaped from Ovius, the gray-robed man must have been a formidable third-level wizard apprentice.

It seemed the Immortal Society wasn't a minor force. He would have to ask others at the next gathering.

"Where are the divine remains?" Su Nan asked again.

"I don't know anything about divine remains," the elder replied, looking bewildered.

Su Nan frowned and cast Charm Person, asking again, but received the same answer.

The others were equally clueless.

After some thought, Su Nan asked, "What about your Pope?"

"The Pope is still in seclusion," the elder glanced at the building behind him.

Clearly, that was where the Pope was in seclusion.

Su Nan sneered, "With such a major event, your Pope is still in seclusion. He's quite calm, isn't he?"

Below the Pope, the Starfire Cult was led by High Priest Ovius and the three archbishops, Yansen, Joris, and Black. All four had been killed by Su Nan, effectively wiping out the Starfire Cult's leadership.

The Pope's continued seclusion at such a critical time was truly baffling.

No wonder the Starfire Cult was in chaos, with their headquarters almost completely wiped out.

"The Pope's seclusion chamber is made of refined steel, impervious even to a Legendary Knight. The key to enter the chamber is held only by High Priest Ovius. We have no way to open it or contact the Pope."

Key?

Su Nan recalled the events and shook his head.

When he killed Ovius, he had been too ruthless. Apart from the holy relics, everything on Ovius, including his body, had been completely destroyed. If there was a key, it was long gone.

He would have to be more careful in the future.

Collecting his thoughts, Su Nan looked at the building before him.

He was becoming increasingly curious.

From the descriptions of the cult followers, the Starfire Cult's Pope rarely appeared in public, leaving most of the church's affairs to Ovius.

Only Ovius could meet and contact the Pope.

This was highly unusual.

It was as if the Starfire Cult was entirely controlled by Ovius, with the Pope being a mere figurehead.

This was clearly not how a normal church should operate.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end