Abundant Martial Arts Virtue
Chapter 134 - 107: Facing the Pope!

Chapter 134: Chapter 107: Facing the Pope!

"We can’t go back directly, we must get permission, I’ll figure something out,"

the cardinal in red said.

He thought for a while, took out his phone, and dialed a number, "The sacrificial ground in the barracks is clear now, should I return to the Church Court to retrieve the casting materials?"

"What? You didn’t bring your casting materials?" The voice on the other end sounded somewhat surprised.

"They’re too valuable, locked in the drawer, I forgot," said the cardinal in red.

"This..." The voice still hesitated.

"It’ll be quick; just give me twenty minutes," the cardinal in red said.

"Alright, hurry up and don’t delay things," the voice replied.

"Understood," the cardinal in red said.

He hung up and turned to Wu Xiaode, "I can take you in, but I might not be able to see the Pope."

"Let’s get inside first," Wu Xiaode said.

"Let’s go."

The cardinal in red walked down the stairs.

Around him, the Chang Ghosts that had been cut down came back to life, closely following him as they walked out of the building.

...

Church Court.

Standing in a spacious room, the cardinal in red said, "Okay, I can only take you this far. What next?"

"Call someone over—anyone will do," said Wu Xiaode.

The cardinal in red took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, please come over to my place, there’s something to discuss."

The person on the other end responded affirmatively.

The call ended.

"The one coming is one of the three Lord Pastors, their ranks second only to the bishop. Please take this seriously, or it’s all over if we cause a stir," the cardinal in red said.

"Good, I understand," said Wu Xiaode.

His figure vanished into the mist and disappeared.

Soon after.

Knock knock knock—

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," said the cardinal in red.

The door opened.

A man in a long robe entered the room and asked gravely, "You even forgot to bring the casting materials for the sacrifice; don’t you know this is a critical moment?"

"I actually came back specifically to see you."

"To see me?"

"Yes," the cardinal in red took out a small pouch from the drawer and handed it over, "Lord, this is a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it."

The man skillfully caught the pouch and spilled its contents onto the table.

Dozens of gemstones in various colors rolled out, clinking crisply as they struck the table’s surface.

Even those unfamiliar with jewels could tell how beautiful and flawless these gemstones were.

The Lord Pastor’s face cleared a bit, and he spoke in a softened tone:

"Speak, what’s the matter?"

"During tomorrow’s ceremony, I’d like to stand closer to you, preferably right by your side," the cardinal in red said.

Wu Xiaode, listening by the side, could barely resist cheering.

These Chang Ghosts were really using their brains to get things done.

Offering up such valuable gemstones, on the surface asking for the Lord Pastor’s help, was actually a show of loyalty.

—At such an important moment, I want to stand by your side, to draw closer to you.

—I’ve also offered up so many gemstones, just to achieve such a simple request.

How could the Lord Pastor blame the cardinal after receiving such loyalty and tribute?

The earlier anger and irritation of the Lord Pastor disappeared; a slight smile formed on his face as he started collecting the gemstones:

"Very well, I will take care of this; don’t worry about it."

Wu Xiaode gripped the handle of the Dream Blowing Blade.

This was the tightly guarded Church Court.

The cardinal in red was personally displaying his loyalty.

The Lord Pastor had now completely entered into the state, starting to contemplate the cardinal in red’s allegiance.

It was the perfect opportunity to kill him.

Wu Xiaode stood in the midst of the mist, head bowed, hand on the blade, readying himself.

"Lord, regarding the other bishops, I have some private words I’d like to share with you," the cardinal in red whispered.

"Speak," the Lord Pastor said.

"The bishop from the East Five Countries said in private that you are not fit to be the Lord Pastor," the cardinal in red said.

"Oh? Perhaps he was just drunk," the Lord Pastor replied calmly.

"It’s not that; actually, the Pope was also present that day," the cardinal in red said.

"What? The Pope was there?" The Lord Pastor became alert.

"Yes, it was a secret meeting—"

The cardinal in red leaned in and whispered quietly.

Wu Xiaode’s blade moved.

But this stroke was not fast; rather, it was slow.

Slow.

Therefore, silent.

He controlled the urge in his heart again, keeping his desire to kill hidden.

His earlier attempt to kill the cardinal in red had been detected prematurely because the killing intent was too strong.

This time, he had to learn from his mistake!

Whoosh—

The long blade traced a silent arc, passing through the Lord Pastor’s neck, severing his head.

The White Tiger uttered a low command, "Rise!"

The body fell to the ground, blood had not even begun to spurt out, when it immediately got up, picked up the head, and placed it back on the neck.

"I want to kill the Pope; do you have a way?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"I’m only one of the three Lord Pastors; killing just me won’t achieve much," the Lord Pastor began to think from the perspective of Wu Xiaode and the White Tiger.

"Then kill a few more, until we find the Pope," said Wu Xiaode.

"Alright, I’ll call another bishop over, bring him here and kill him," the Lord Pastor said.

—Having become a Chang Ghost, he immediately forgot his true nature and began considering the plan, desiring to kill even more people.

The Lord Pastor made a phone call.

After a while.

Knock knock knock—

A series of knocks at the door again.

"Please come in."

The door opened.

An old man came in, smiling, "Greetings, Lord Pastor, greetings, Cardinal in red."

"I’ve called you here for a discussion," the Lord Pastor said.

"What’s the matter?"

"We’ve talked it over and are thinking of promoting you to Mechanism Bishop."

"What? Lord, at my age, do I really still have a chance?"

"Yes."

Whoosh—

Afterwards, the knocking sound arose every so often.

Eventually, Wu Xiaode had to hide some people in the mist to prevent the entire situation from appearing too outlandish and unbelievable.

"Who knows where the Pope is?" Wu Xiaode asked.

Two Lord Pastors, three cardinals in red, six archbishops, and dozens of bishops shook their heads together.

"Strange... The coronation is tomorrow, yet there’s no sign of the Pope today," Wu Xiaode muttered.

Suddenly.

A strange fluctuation approached from afar.

The Demon Armor Wu Xiaode was wearing set off a dense clanging of metal, as if it had been struck by something.

There was no time to react—

Boom!!!

The entire building seemed to have been hit; walls burst apart, all the furniture turned into rubble, and tiles spun down as they fell.

The dirty magic hand shielded Wu Xiaode, absorbing part of the invisible attack until it could no longer withstand the force and evaporated into smoke.

On the Demon Armor, each Scale Armor seemed to come alive, constantly flexing and twisting, as if trying to deflect that power.

Despite this, Wu Xiaode was still thrown backward, landing on the square outside the church.

The ground cratered on impact.

A voice came from midair:

"Caught you."

In the blink of an eye—

All the surrounding scenery whizzed away.

As Wu Xiaode rose to his feet, the world had already changed into another scene.

This was a vast arena.

The floor was made entirely of cast bronze, deep and solid.

The stands all around were empty.

Only in the center of the arena stood a man in a black robe.

He had a pair of gray eyes, high cheekbones, a pale face, and was holding a blood-colored scepter.

—It was the Pope of the Holy Sect!

"Welcome, Wu Xiaode," the Pope said.

Wu Xiaode moved his body, feeling a lingering soreness in his back.

That attack just now was too vicious.

The White Tiger quietly materialized by his side and whispered, "Shall we release the Chang Ghost?"

"Not yet," Wu Xiaode replied.

Looking at the Pope opposite him, he said, "If I’m not mistaken, that move just now wasn’t yours."

"I borrowed God’s power to find you, and now we have entered the exclusive sacrificial platform; you cannot escape," the Pope said grimly.

God, huh?

Wu Xiaode became vigilant.

That move was clearly a weakened version of "All Things in the World."

It was the One-eyed Giant’s ability!

"How many souls did you sacrifice to grant your God such power?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Who knows, after all, there’s no end to loyalty and devotion to God," the Pope shook his head.

A crack opened on his forehead, and with it, a slit pupil stretched open.

The slit pupil locked directly onto Wu Xiaode.

"I must say, you did well, killing many of my Holy Sect—"

"But this is as far as you go," the Pope said slowly: "After your death, your Xia Huilan will join you in Hell, and that will be the end of our conversation."

The slit pupil suddenly emitted a Deep Red Beam.

But something unexpected happened.

Before the Pope could finish speaking, Wu Xiaode had already begun to accumulate power in secret.

Before the Deep Red Beam materialized, Wu Xiaode preemptively activated "Evasive Dash"!

Whoosh—

The Deep Red Beam shot past where Wu Xiaode had been standing, piercing into the darkness and vanishing.

Wu Xiaode, however, appeared on the other side of the arena.

The smile on the Pope’s face stiffened.

Wu Xiaode also let out a sigh of relief.

The Deep Red Beam was unavoidable, but this time he faced a weakened version of it, which granted him a chance.

Having been killed countless times by this move, he had insights and experiences and finally managed to activate "Evasive Dash" just in time, narrowly dodging this otherwise certain-death strike.

"Impressive... there should be no one else in the world who could reach this step..."

The Pope murmured softly and reached out his hand, aiming a strike at Wu Xiaode from across the void.

Wu Xiaode’s eyes twitched.

He recognized this move!

Without a doubt, this was the One-eyed Giant’s remote palm strike.

Used correctly, this move could directly kill the target instantaneously!

If he wanted to dodge—

Suddenly, two Demon Hands appeared in the void, stacked in the air and smashed forward like hammering cannons!

An invisible power burst forth with a deafening roar.

The secret technique of the Iron Wire Fist, Iron Hand Blocks the River!

With this move, the force of the strike was blocked for a moment.

Wu Xiaode’s figure retreated backward, immediately leaving the range covered by the strike.

The delay was just for an instant—

Boom!

A palm print appeared on the ground.

Wu Xiaode stood at the edge of the palm print, safely dodging the strike.

"Impossible... This is the power of a God; humans should have no possibility to withstand it, how could you block it, even dodge?" the Pope said in disbelief.

"Because you’re too weak, idiot," Wu Xiaode said indifferently.

In the mirrored world, he had fought the One-eyed Giant so many times.

You only saw that I dodged your weakened version of the move, not how many times I died.

At this moment, the one he was fighting was a human.

Humans using the power of giants would naturally be somewhat inferior.

That means—

There’s a chance to fight!

"Have you thought about how you want to die, Your Excellency, Holy Sect Pope?"

Wu Xiaode said, looking utterly relaxed.

He tapped the ground lightly with his foot and rushed towards the Pope.

While still on the way, the Dream Blowing Blade was already in his hand—

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!

Five consecutive slashes!

Five sharp golden lines swept across, heading straight for the Pope.

"Don’t even think about it!"

The Pope raised the red scepter high and thrust it forcefully into the ground.

Cling, cling, ding, ding, cling—

All the blade’s light was absorbed by the red scepter, striking its body, emitting a crisp sound.

Wu Xiaode’s eyes twitched.

He hadn’t seen this move before.

"As a human, you are indeed quite remarkable, and your soul is worthy of being offered to God," said the Pope.

"Your God and I are well acquainted, it’s better if you die," Wu Xiaode said.

The Demon Hand appeared in front of the Pope in an instant, executing a full sequence of Iron Wire Fist.

The Pope was beaten back repeatedly, but a faint red radiance emerged around him, completely neutralizing the power of the Iron Wire Fist.

He landed on the ground unscathed.

Wu Xiaode’s expression tightened.

Another unseen move, and to think about it, the One-eyed Giant hadn’t used any defensive moves either.

Perhaps that’s why he hadn’t seen them before.

"Die, Wu Xiaode!"

The Pope bellowed, his hands crossed over his chest.

An immense and boundless aura emanated from him, carrying an incredibly antique and desolate power.

The entire void started to turn deep red.

—All Things in the World!