Chapter 317 Baptism
The baptism ceremony that day was very grand and solemn, and almost everyone in the temple came to watch.
Only by receiving holy water and listening to divine instructions in a specific pool can one be considered successfully baptized.
If there is any disloyalty, dishonesty, or disbelief towards God during the ritual, the person will be burned by the holy water, and their life or death will be uncertain. In that case, the ritual will be considered a failure.
This is the priest's instruction before the ceremony begins.
Fang Ke remained noncommittal. Dressed in a snow-white holy robe, she stepped up the stairs, followed and watched by all sorts of gazes, and walked into the sacred pool.
She could stand in the designated spot. There were stone steps in the pool that looked like lotus leaves. Finally, she stood on a lotus leaf.
The heavy holy robes could not be removed, and even her face was covered with a layer of white veil.
The bishop finally emerged, gleaming in gold, surrounded by the crowd. He had changed into a very formal holy robe. Standing on the extended platform, it was as if he were being crowned. The crowd below seemed to see a god and knelt down in unison.
Even the second prince, dressed in princely attire, bowed in greeting.
After the bishop delivered a long opening speech, one could feel the dragon's mouth above move, and silver-gold holy water poured down.
The scene was incredibly beautiful. All the onlookers saw was silver water spilling onto the ground like moonlight, swirling around Fang Ke, and rising into a pale white mist the moment it touched the water's surface.
Only then can one pray with caution and reverence, and if one feels uneasy, one should look up at the bishop.
The bishop's deep blue eyes always seemed to pierce through the mist and meet her gaze. Only then could she feel at ease and continue praying.
The bishop noticed her little action, but instead of scolding her or stopping the ceremony, he smiled mysteriously and waited until he finished reciting the oracle before the dragon's mouth above his head closed again. Only then did he wave his hand to disperse the mist.
Everyone stared curiously into the sacred pool, wondering whether Philomena would be able to be baptized successfully.
Philomena remained in the baptismal pose, her eyes closed and her fingers clasped together, it was unclear whether she was still immersed in prayer... or was already dead...
Her hair and robes were miraculously dry, and her exposed skin was completely unharmed.
"This... means the baptism was successful, right?"
"This seems to be the first saint to be successfully baptized in the last ten years."
"Look! What is the bishop doing?"
The bishop hurled his scepter into the air, and the water in the pool rose into the air and froze into an ice bridge. The bishop stepped onto it and walked all the way to Fang Ke's side.
"This is amazing! His Excellency the Bishop is indeed the most powerful magician in the world."
"Next up is the divine inspiration part, right? I'm so excited!"
"Make way, make way, I need to watch with my full attention!"
The crowd saw the bishop raise his right hand again, and his upper right palm, gloved with white velvet, once again emitted a strong and pure golden light, which was aimed directly at Fang Ke's forehead.
Fang Ke frowned, opened his eyes in confusion, and saw that the bishop had already begun chanting.
Everyone was drawn to the bishop's golden aura and chanting, and before they knew it, their gazes drifted to the stained-glass windows and angel sculptures around the temple.
For a moment, it felt as if the stained glass windows and angel sculptures had come to life, with halos spreading out in circles from the center of the temple, radiating to every corner of the temple, and even spreading far away through the stained glass windows.
Then everyone present heard this whisper—
The old gods are dead; new gods shall rise.
Even if they were initially shocked and confused, under the constant enhancement of the special strong halo and sound waves, everyone's eyes became blurred, and then they accepted the message deep in their hearts.
The old gods are dead; new gods shall rise.
Who is the new god?
When the divine revelation ended, the halo disappeared, and everything in the temple returned to normal, the first thing everyone saw was the bishop, bathed in holy light and appearing otherworldly.
They were terrified, they submitted, they willingly bowed their heads.
The crowd replied in unison, "We await His Highness the Bishop's decree."
But Fang Ke's story was different from what everyone else had heard.
To be honest, today's baptism wasn't as painful as being burned by divine blood last night.
However, Fang Ke still felt that when the pure light element came into contact with him, his body and muscles changed.
She maintained the prayer posture because it was a relatively effortless posture that greatly alleviated her pain.
During the divine revelation just now, she was the first to be struck by the bishop's golden light.
She was almost dizzy, and countless afterimages were projected in front of her before she could hear only two sentences.
One line was the bishop's voice: "Philomena, become the sword of the Papacy."
The other sentence seems to come from Xiu, from the divine breath he left on himself.
In a daze, he seemed to gently stroke her forehead with his palm as well.
He said, "Philomena, become your own god."
Fang Ke suddenly opened her eyes and saw only heavy bed curtains. She was no longer in the sacrificial hall.
She couldn't help but sit up. The silk quilt slipped off her, and she was now dressed in a snow-white nightgown.
Fang Ke could immediately call upon the system, as he rarely experienced moments when his soul was out of his control.
She held her head in her hands, still feeling a little dizzy.
She didn't know if Xiao Qi had been seriously injured when the divine gift was given.
Why is this happening...?
Even if the difficulty of the eighth world increases dramatically, how could the opponent, a mere bishop and a mortal, possess such enormous power?
If the bishop's combat power is so terrifying, then wouldn't Xie Xiu, who is considered a god, be defying the heavens?
Fang Ke couldn't help but recall Xie Xiu's words in her ear when she was about to faint during the divine revelation: "Become your own god."
She believed that this was the true divine message.
The bishop's ceremony was merely a cleansing of her soul, making her a member of the papacy.
Fang Ke pondered, and sure enough, Xiao Qi disconnected again. She didn't know what the bishop had done, but his power was nothing like that of an ordinary NPC.
The doors to the sleeping quarters were opened, and Fang Ke expected to see the same nuns again, but to her surprise, it was the bishop who entered.
"..."
"woke up."
Fang Ke looked at this man, her contempt gone, and her eyes deepened.
At this moment, the bishop removed his robes and put down his crown, and only then did we realize that he also had long hair, which was loosely tied behind his head.
Fang Ke looked over expressionlessly, "...Your Excellency, is it inappropriate for you to be here?"
The bishop chuckled lightly, "This is my bedroom."
Fang Ke: "..."
Fang Ke silently got out of bed and stepped barefoot onto the carpet.
The bishop saw it and didn't seem very happy. "Put your shoes on."
Fang Ke ignored him and said, "Thank you for taking me in, Your Excellency. I'll take my leave now."
The bishop gave her a cold look, and she was about to walk past him when she was stopped.
"stop."
"...Does Your Excellency have any further instructions?"
"Who are you?"
Fang Ke was taken aback, turned around, and saw that the bishop's face looked particularly mysterious under the light and shadow.
"Doesn't the master already know?"
"Know what? Know that you are Philomena, or know that you come from another world?" The bishop chuckled. "Things we already know are no longer interesting. Let's talk about things we don't know."
He suddenly opened his palm, which was surrounded by a ball of light containing a deep purple energy. Fang Ke looked at that energy and for some reason had a bad feeling.
The bishop said to her, "This is another spiritual entity that I extracted from you. Can you tell me what it is?"
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