612 Passing Time (2)
As time passed, things were calm in the Flying Sword Sect, Xuan Hao spending most of his time teaching his three disciples, while at the same time learning all kinds of new techniques and skills. Not forgetting to spend some time learning blacksmithing, so he could at least help out Bai Ning without being completely helpless when he came to ask him about blacksmithing related questions.
During all of this, the new main sect was slowly being constructed on top of the Seventh Star Peak of the Shattered Star Peaks under the supervision of Shu Yao, Zu Fei, and Feng Chen. All three making sure that the construction progressed without any issues.
Elder Song on the other hand... Ended up with complete control over the Flying Sword Sect, as he used this newfound power to create the much-needed new branch of elders that both he and Feng Chen wished for.
A branch of elders, whose sole purpose was managing the sect's internal matters!
After the creation of this branch of elders, the operation of the Flying Sword Sect rapidly improved. The people who ended up most against this sudden branch of elders appearing was the elders belonging to the stables looking after the demon beasts... As they once again felt a massive decrease in the spiritual stones available to them...
All things considered. Nothing big happened in the Flying Sword Sect outside of this. However, the same could not be said for the rest of the world.
...
Following the disappearance of Archbishop Soft Breeze and the holy sceptre that he had been carrying with him, the Cardinal of the Order of the Sky God had been doing his best to search for the mole from the church of the plague god that had caused this to happen.
The only problem was... That the mole hidden inside the Order of the Sky God was an Archbishop!
Archbishop! Every single Archbishop was a core part of the Order of the Sky God's strength. Even losing a single one of them would be disastrous!
For this reason, the Cardinal could not do things forcefully and just kill everyone who seemed suspicious. Instead, he was forced to slowly investigate the matter to make sure he caught the right one.
The fact that Archbishop Soft Breeze had disappeared did not escape the eyes of the Cult of the Scarlet Moon and the Follower of the Fire God, as only a few weeks after Archbishop Soft Breeze had gone missing, both of them secretly began diverting their attention towards taking over the faith of the kingdoms that had formerly been under Archbishop Soft Breeze.
Given that the church of the plague god had momentarily stopped trying to snake their way inside the Sky Empire, these two religious organisations had more than enough people to spare, as both of them soon began fighting each other in the shadows over the kingdoms that had formerly been under Archbishop Soft Breeze.
The Cardinal from the Order of the Sky God clearly saw all of this, but he was helpless in doing anything about it, as he was busy trying to find the mole that had infiltrated the Order of the Sky God and caused this situation in the first place.
If he acted at this point in time to stop the two others from taking away the few kingdoms that were once under Archbishop Soft Breeze management, the mole still hidden inside his church might end up causing even more trouble!
For this reason, the Cardinal could only angrily curse at the Cult of the Scarlet Moon and the Followers of the Fire God before using all his strength to find out which of his Archbishops was the mole.
The faster the mole was found, the faster he could step in to prevent any further losses!
...
A few months after the disappearance of Archbishop Soft Breeze, the Cardinal from the Order of the Sky God found an abnormality in one of the Archbishops!
"Finally... I got you!" Muttering this to himself as he stared down at a letter that had just come in from one of his good friends, the Cardinal smiled widely as killing intent began to overflow from both his eyes.
During the time he had taken to find out who the mole was, the Order of the Sky God had already lost three kingdoms in the inner region of the Sky Empire!
One to the Followers of the Fire God and two to the Cult of the Scarlet Moon!
The worst of which was the kingdom they had lost to the Followers of the Fire God, as the kingdom they had managed to take was among the twenty largest kingdoms in the Sky Empire!
The number of people living in such a massive kingdom could be counted in the millions!
Crack~
Knowing that there were a few more kingdoms that were just about to leave his control, the Cardinal didn't waste any time as he directly tore apart the space in front of him before disappearing from the church he had been staying in over the past few months while trying to find out who the mole from the church of the plague god was.
...
Crack~
Only a short time later, the cardinal appeared directly in front of a massive church located in the outskirts of the Sky Empire's Capital.
"Who dares- C-c-c-cardinal!?" The young priest standing in front of the church welcoming believers and at the same time making sure no one troublesome entered the sacred hall of the Sky God opened his eyes wide in shock upon recognizing the person who had just appeared in front of him.
He had actually rudely called out to the Cardinal just now!
Thump!
Not daring to say anything after recognizing the person in front of him, the young priest quickly fell on his knees shivering. Hoping that the Cardinal would spare him for his disrespect.
Whoosh~
However, contrary to what the young priest had expected to happen, the Cardinal did not say a single word as he entered the church behind him. Completely ignoring the existence of the young priest standing at the door to the church.
D-did I just escape death...?
Feeling like a burden had disappeared from his shoulders as the Cardinal disappeared inside the massive church behind him, the young priest breathed out a sigh of relief as he decided to leave as quickly as possible.
Some of the senior priests standing around the door understood what the young priest was thinking about as they decided to look the other way to the young priest leaving in the middle of his shift.
One less priest looking after the door of such a large church would make no difference.
WOOSH-!
"Hm?"
Just at this moment when the young priest was about to leave, a holy aura suddenly spread out from the interior of the massive church before washing over everyone present. At the same time a massive sea of golden clouds manifested in the air above the church.
T-this is the Archbishop's domain, what-
BOOOOOM-!
Before the young priest even had time to comprehend what was happening, an even more pure and holy aura spread out from the church and instantly overwhelmed the aura of the Archbishop.
The golden clouds that had manifested in the air above the church also shook violently before ultimately starting to crack apart.
In an instant, the domain of the Archbishop had been supressed and was about to crack apart!
Crash-!
Not giving the young priest any time to comprehend, a green ball of light burst through the roof of the church before disappearing into the distance.
Swish~
Following the green ball of light bursting through the roof of the church and escaping into the distance, a cold snort sounded out from inside the church before a figure suddenly appeared in the sky above the church.
The figure was covered in a layer of golden holy light and a sea of golden clouds had manifested around him.
Looking up at this figure that was shrouded in a layer of holy light, the young priest instantly realized that this person was the Cardinal!
Thump!
Not daring to look up any more after confirming the identity of the person in the sky above the church, the young priest fell to the ground as he began praying sincerely to the Sky God.
Whoosh~!
The Cardinal suddenly attacking someone in the outskirt of the imperial capital instantly caused a storm to sweep through the entire capital city, as several hidden experts sent out their divine sense to see what was happening.
"Ah!"
"Wh-what is this!?"
"S-Soul Ascension Realm...!"
However, those below the Soul Ascension Realm quickly retracted their divine sense after feeling a terrifying power rapidly destroying their divine sense after it reached the location of the Cardinal.
...
"Hmph! Think I will let you escape so easily!?"
Narrowing his eyes in the sky above the church, the Cardinal made a grabbing motion towards the green light in the distance.
Rumble~
This simple motion instantly caused the sea of golden clouds around him to expand rapidly towards the ball of green light in the distance before forming a massive hand made of golden clouds that slowly grabbed towards the small green light trying its best to escape.
