Chapter 261: Lanqi's Theoretical Examination
Three days later.
The wind of late February blew rapidly between the towering buildings of the imperial capital of Helrom. In the winter morning air, the huge building of the Knights of Silence stood tall, looking solemn and majestic.
The building's towering spires reach into the sky, and its surface is engraved with ancient legends of the battle with demons. The exterior walls made of stacked snow-white stones are covered with a thin layer of frost, making it even more mysterious.
Approaching the gate, two knights wearing dark grey heavy armor and holding spears stood there. The several-meter-high door was inlaid with a carved metal pattern, which was the holy seal of the Nirvana branch. The center of the cold grey totem was composed of a hollow eyeball. Although it had no pupil, it emitted a faint light, as if it was the last glimmer of hope being devoured by it. The edge was wrapped with several twisted, intertwined chain vines with sharp thorns that wrapped around the eyeball and firmly fixed it in place.
The branch of Silence, which was once a taboo in the northern continent, now has an office in the imperial capital of Helrom, and its name was finally decided to be the Temple of the Knights of Silence.
The priests working here are mainly responsible for the coordination and logistics of other provincial branches with the imperial capital Helrom. They are also screening new priests who want to join the Nirvana branch in the near future.
After the Resurrection Church as a whole obtained security permission in the Protoss Empire, the three major branches under the three bishops who intended to fight for the position of decision-maker all expanded rapidly in the empire. Many people who were already in the gray area now had direct channels to join the Resurrection Church.
Yesterday, a preliminary examination for new priests was held here.
The complete assessment content is divided into preliminary examination, re-examination, and final examination.
The preliminary test that has been completed so far is the conceptual written test.
The Nirvana branch will notify those who passed yesterday’s written test this morning.
The re-examination and final assessment will be conducted at the same time in the afternoon.
Although the arrangement seems tight, the high degree of execution required of priests is also a basic principle of their Nirvana branch.
When the door of the Temple of the Knights of Annihilation slowly opened, the outline of a wide hall appeared. A huge chandelier hung on the high dome, emitting white light. On the surrounding walls hung oil paintings with the theme of the Resurrection Church's deeds in the holy war in the northern continent.
The arched doors on both sides lead to the various rooms inside, and walking along the corridor to the deepest end is the meeting hall.
The main meeting hall is the most solemn place in the Knights of Silent Reincarnation. Its tall door is made of solid oak, and behind it is a wide round table hall with high windows that provide excellent lighting. The sunlight shines through the glass and onto the table and walls, creating brilliant colors.
Even though it was still morning, several great priests of the Silent Branch were already sitting around the table. Their faces were stern, and the holy seal pendants on their chests that glowed purple proved their status.
On the table were several stacks of classified papers and folders, which recorded in detail the identity information and test scores of the Protoss Empire people who had taken the preliminary exam yesterday.
In the center of the hall, a middle-aged man in dark gray robes was flipping through the pages carefully. He had a bone ring on his hand and would touch the pages from time to time.
He occasionally looked up and asked the opinions of the other two archpriests beside him, while a young knight in dark gray armor was recording the conversation of several archpriests with a pen. The other two archpriests also held several documents in their hands and discussed the results of a candidate from time to time.
The atmosphere in the room was solemn. Every priest knew that this assessment was part of the expansion of the Silent Branch's power within the empire. Whether or not the branch could select talents who could adapt to the new policies of the empire might have a great impact on whether it could win the bishop election in more than two months.
Under the current situation and policies of the Protoss Empire, they need manpower that is good at planning or strategy rather than forces that are good at frontal combat.
The person in charge of this task in the council hall is the middle-aged man, Archbishop Caius. He is the core of decision-making, and everyone else is waiting for his final decision.
In addition to examining the candidate's intelligence, learning ability, and basic skills, the objective and subjective questions in the written test can also analyze the candidate's nature, personality, and behavior style to a certain extent.
"I didn't expect him to pass the test. It seems he did his homework."
Archbishop Caius pulled out a test paper and compared it with a matching resume, commenting.
Every applicant will have his/her resume investigated by a dedicated intelligence specialist from the church.
In the document in Archbishop Caius's hand, the name column read [Iron Fist] Serio, and the photo next to it was of a half-demon with a burly figure, dark brown skin, a single horn on his head, and a heavy black-gold bracelet on his wrist.
Intelligence wrote that he was once a famous gladiator, but was banned from the arena because of brutal killings. It can be seen that he had an almost crazy love for fighting, but he also disdained to attack the weak, such as not hurting children and women, and had been to prison several times.
"He is a guy who has nowhere else to go in this country. However, we in the Resurrection Church do not really reject half-demons."
The archbishop sitting next to Caius took the test paper with a score of 65, just 5 points higher than the passing score, and smiled slightly.
"If the Tyrant branch also recruits new members, he is more likely to go there."
Another high priest commented.
Generally speaking, the Tyrant branch would fight with them openly and secretly, especially since they are now in a clear competitive relationship of interests, but this time surprisingly, the Tyrant branch did not start recruiting new priests in the imperial capital.
"Those idiots are probably afraid that our people will sneak in again, so they are extra cautious this time."
"But we also have to be careful of people from the Tyrant Branch causing trouble."
Caius said calmly, selecting a few unqualified papers and picking up another paper with a passing score.
Originally, both the Jiemie branch and the Tyrant branch were wanted targets of the empire, so there was nothing to be afraid of, and they could directly kill each other.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Now neither side can openly use force within the empire. Instead, the Tyrant branch has repeatedly fallen into a passive position and has been plotted against by the priests of the Silent branch.
The priests of the Tyrant branch are not less intelligent than them, it’s just that their doctrines and personalities determine that they prefer open schemes, while the Silent branch is good at conspiracies.
The Catholics are not the ones who will tolerate.
It seems that he has done nothing now, but as long as he finds an opportunity, he will settle accounts with Bishop Silent.
On another resume that Caius picked up was a young man named [Flame Tongue] Redor, with long red hair and wearing a black priest robe.
The information states that he is considered a dangerous fire mage who once burned down an entire village for no specific reason and has an angry and impulsive personality.
"It can be seen that he is a copycat of Bishop Ivanos of Destruction. It seems that his hair is also dyed to make him look more like the Bishop of Destruction."
Caius' voice sounded a little helpless.
Although this candidate seemed to have some mental problems, his score was still good, at 76 points.
This shows that its qualifications as an evil party are extremely high and chaotic.
"If this guy were in the southern continent, he would probably follow the Destruction Branch."
"Unfortunately, given the character of Bishop Ivanos of Destruction, if he saw someone imitating him, he would probably turn him into ashes or cut him into pieces in the most cruel way possible."
"But the heavyweights are probably still to come. These two can only be said to have their own characteristics."
The other two archpriests also laughed and talked.
(End of this chapter)