Sacred Heart City was purged again, but the impact was more on the surrounding smaller towns and other lords' fiefdoms, and was much smaller than the last time.
Many unsuspecting victims were also brought to justice, and some even received proper treatment.
In the outskirts of Holy Forest City, far from the Monster Forest, a woman was praying in a church-like hall. However, what sat before her was not an ordinary idol, but rather a monster.
The statue is entirely black, with a human face and a sphinx body, six arms, and a snake tail. Its eyes are sharp, giving it a somewhat eerie appearance.
"Reporting to the Demon Lord, news has come from Sacred Heart City! Their secret stronghold there has been cleared out, a large number of people have been arrested, and the person in charge is presumably killed." A dark figure appeared in the corner and reported the news.
"They're all useless! Is there any news from the Empire?"
"Many underground cities have been thoroughly investigated, and the Empire is intensifying its search efforts, which are spreading here."
"Has the deity made any arrangements?"
"No, I heard that the Saintess is throwing a tantrum again. She's very angry because she hasn't been able to catch that slime yet."
"It's all because of her that such a huge loss occurred. Let her learn her lesson. Also, tell the other branches to be careful. Harvest what you can and withdraw when necessary. As for Sacred Heart City, let's abandon it for now."
"OK!"
Have you found out who leaked the information?
"Not yet, too many people have disappeared. But the investigation has revealed that these matters are related to Duke Simmons of Sacred Heart City and President Joseph."
"Go ahead, have someone investigate secretly! Also, make a thorough count to see if we have any spies on our side."
"Yes!" The shadow disappeared, and the woman returned to her praying expression.
"Who exactly has such great power? And why choose Sacred Heart City as the starting point? Come to think of it, the Inquiry Realm over there should be opening soon."
The Temple of Gods and Demons is divided into the Temple of Gods and the Temple of Demons. The Temple of Gods operates openly, ruling the Heifel Empire and maintaining a relatively normal relationship with it. The Temple of Demons operates covertly, engaging in infiltration and sabotage, primarily targeting the Saint Sisca Empire.
Except for a few, no one knew that the Temple of Gods and Demons operated in this way.
The next morning, Luo Fan finally woke up. He had absorbed the magic essence from the blood, but his level hadn't changed at all. However, all the crystal cores had grown a bit, now about the size of two sesame seeds.
"As expected, Ghost Bat is my benefactor. Now the area I can sense has expanded by 50%, and I can also change my body shape at will."
As Luo Fan tried it out, he sensed the changes in his body and suddenly remembered the Shadow Cone that Ghost Bat had used before.
I tried it out, and it actually works! You can turn your clone into cones and launch them out.
Turn yourself into a machine gun? Fully automatic firing, and even automatic bullet recovery—just thinking about it is exciting.
After trying for a while, the bullets weren't fast, the firing rate was low, and the accuracy was poor. It would be more reliable to transform into a small airplane, at least then I could fly.
"Want to try turning into human form?" Luo Fan thought to himself, and began to pose. After working on it for a while, he transformed into a headless character, making walking quite difficult.
"Sigh, still too thin!" After saying that, Luo Fan took out a low-level dark element crystal core from his little treasure vault and began to slowly refine it.
Ellie snapped out of her meditation and saw Luo Fan bouncing around and constantly changing shape beside her, but she didn't say anything.
"You have your own little stash of money?" Ellie couldn't help but ask when she saw him pull out a crystal core from somewhere.
"Yeah, we destroyed a stronghold yesterday and got a spatial ring. This thing is corrosion-resistant, so it won't affect you even if you put it in your stomach."
"Oh, by the way, I also have over a thousand gold coins and a few magic scrolls here. Do you want them?"
"Um, you can keep it. The magic bag isn't as safe as the ring." Ellie thought for a moment and decided against taking the ring. It was a valuable item and would easily attract unwanted attention.
"Here, take the gold coins. Keep the purple gold coins for me. I can't spend them anyway."
"All right."
"Hehe~, I'll be rich from now on!" Luo Fan happily transferred the funds, and Ai Li also saw what the ring looked like.
Its design is very simple, like it was simply made of wire, without any special embellishment. Because of its owner's death, the magic circle on it is no longer effective, and it can be opened with any amount of magic power.
"So many primary crystal cores?"
"Yes, we killed hundreds of bats! Do you have these scrolls?"
"Stay here. You can use the scroll to cast spells."
"Forget it, it's not worth it. Keep them for emergencies. I'll keep the ones below level three for fun, and you can keep the ones above that for self-defense. It's not safe outside right now."
After some discussion, they finally divided the spoils.
"Nothing much to do today, I'm going back to reading!" Seeing Ellie nod, Luo Fan left behind a clone and departed.
"Am I too lazy?" Ellie muttered to herself, then shook her head as she saw the little angel sleeping soundly next to Liz.
Go practice your magic in the training grounds at the back.
For the next period of time, Sacred Heart City remained peaceful, but outsiders gradually entered, and the city's popularity increased.
"Ellie, the Secret Realm of Inquiry will open in a month, and we'll have a chance to participate this time!" Daisy said proudly, pulling her best friend's arm.
The Mysterious Realm of Inquiry is a unique realm within Sacred Heart City, opening once every four years. Applicants must be under 20 years old, preferably a mage. This realm tests and trains a mage's spiritual sense; those with too low a level cannot enter, and there are also limited spots available.
Those over 20 years old have relatively stable spiritual consciousness and cannot improve it through this secret realm.
Therefore, the minimum requirement is a level 6 novice mage, the same as the requirement to become an adventurer.
"Can I go in? Didn't I hear there's a limit on the number of people?"
“You’ll definitely be fine. My father can vouch for you. My second brother will also be coming back to participate this time. He’s a genius in our family, much better than my eldest brother.”
"Um."
"The city will definitely be very lively then, and we can go to the Sacred Heart Festival together."
The Sacred Heart Celebration is an annual spring festival that coincides with the opening of the Heart-Questioning Realm. Normally, only city dwellers participate, but when the realm opens, it attracts merchants and magicians from other areas, making it even more lively.
“Great! There are still two weeks left before the school starts selecting students. I plan to apply and give it a try,” Ellie replied after thinking for a moment.
"Yes, I'm not participating. The teacher doesn't want me to take up a spot on the other side."
"Xiaoxue is so strong, you'll definitely get first place if you participate."
"No, Luo Fan is very strong too. Xiao Xue would definitely surrender immediately if she met him, hehe~"
"That's true, the two of them have a really good relationship."
The two girls chatted, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the grand event.
Time flew by, and more and more merchants and mercenary groups arrived in Sacred Heart City ahead of time, making the Adventurers' Guild extremely busy.
The school's selection process has also begun.
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