What was his purpose in coming here?
It wasn't to liberate anyone, nor was it to overthrow anyone; it was for those three quests.
It was to use that teleportation array to take a look at this secret cult kingdom.
As for the common people here, they had their own way of living.
As long as the high-ranking cultists didn't stretch their hands into his territory, he wouldn't take the initiative to touch this system.
He raised his head, his eyes turning clear once more.
First, he needed to find a more detailed map.
The hand-drawn map was too crude, only showing the general layout of the city and a few main roads. He needed to know the situation around Silver Oak City, as well as the more specific distribution of power in this secret cult kingdom.
Besides the map, he also needed to figure out three things:
First, the movement patterns of the high-ranking cultists.
Blood Raven operated west of the Ash Mountains, but as for which specific area he was in and whether he had a fixed stronghold, the current intelligence was still insufficient.
Withered Bone was stationed in an abandoned border mine. This was relatively clear, but the exact location of the mine and the surrounding terrain still needed to be confirmed.
Gray Robe was long-hidden in the villages and towns around the Saintas Kingdom. This was the furthest away, so there was no rush for now.
Second, the internal structure of the secret cult.
How did the levels—low-rank cultists, deacons, priests, guardians, and the Pope—operate among themselves? How did ordinary cultists advance, and was it possible for outsiders to blend in?
Third, the security measures of this city.
How many guards were there? Were there any high-ranking cultists permanently stationed here? What was the coverage and strength of the city defense array?
These were things he couldn't obtain just by standing on the street and observing. He needed to find a more reliable source of information.
He turned and walked west along a relatively quiet street.
He had seen on the map that there was an old book market in the western district. Such places often had miscellaneous booklets and old maps that wouldn't circulate through official channels.
After walking for about half an hour, the streets gradually grew narrower, and the buildings on both sides transitioned from neat brick-and-stone structures to older, mixed wood-and-stone ones.
A mixed scent of paper and old fabric filled the air, occasionally mingled with the sour smell of leather.
He stopped in front of a roadside stall.
The stall owner was a skinny old man wearing a worn-out hat whose original color was no longer discernible. He was dozing on a low bamboo chair.
Various old books, pamphlets, curled parchments, and scattered old junk were piled on the stall.
Jiang Lin squatted down, brushed aside a few yellowed pamphlets, and pulled out a roll of parchment tied with hemp rope from the very bottom.
He untied the hemp rope and unrolled it to find a regional map, covering the general outlines of Silver Oak City and several surrounding towns and mountain ranges.
The drawing was much more detailed than the one on the bulletin board, marking the positions of main roads, rivers, villages, and towns.
In some areas, small characters even noted “garrison here” or “restricted area.”
“How much for this?”
The stall owner opened one eye, glanced at the map in his hand, and closed it again.
“Twenty copper coins.”
Jiang Lin counted out twenty copper coins from his pocket, placed them on the stall, rolled up the map, tucked it under his arm, and left the old book market without browsing anything else.
By the time he returned to the main street, the sun was already starting to sink in the west.
He found a small, inconspicuous inn by the roadside and checked in.
The room was at the end of the second floor, with a window facing north that offered a view of the hazy gray mountain range in the distance.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he unrolled the map and studied it carefully in the twilight.
Silver Oak City was located in the southeastern part of the Twilight Kingdom, about two hundred miles from the Ash Mountains.
Within the marked region, he identified the area where Blood Raven might be operating.
The area labeled “Barren Bone Hills” on the map was about a hundred and fifty miles from Silver Oak City, a range of mountains nestled amidst steep peaks.
About three hundred miles to the west was the marker of an abandoned fortress, which was highly likely the location of the mine where Withered Bone was stationed.
He folded the map, leaned back against the chair, closed his eyes, and quickly reviewed the information he had gathered today in his mind.
Then he stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the scattered lights gradually turning on in the twilight.
The first step of his plan was to blend into the secret cult first.
With his current physical disguise and aura concealment, as long as he didn't actively expose his rank, those low-rank cultists wouldn't suspect his identity.
And in a town managing a population of twenty thousand, where outsiders came and went every day, one more lone traveler wanting to join the secret cult wouldn't attract much attention.
Of course, he needed a reason for joining that the secret cult would accept.
The best excuse was a former believer of a righteous god who had fled the Saintas Kingdom—someone who had committed a crime there, was wanted, and had run to join the secret cult out of desperation.
This identity was realistic enough. If the secret cult sent someone to investigate, they would find his arrest warrant. Such identity traits were highly convincing.
Moreover, given the secret cult's style, they wouldn't pass up any defector they could exploit.
Jiang Lin stayed in Silver Oak City for three days.
During these three days, he did nothing to draw attention, wandering around the city during the day.
He listened to the gossip on the streets, observed the crowds entering and leaving the cathedral, and returned to the inn at night to study the map repeatedly.
On the evening of the third day, he checked out of his room, walked out of Silver Oak City's west gate, and walked along a dirt road leading west for about an hour.
After confirming that no one was following him, he found a hidden thicket, stopped, and used Space Folding to carve a simple positioning anchor on the ground.
Then he unrolled the map and confirmed the route to the border town.
Instead of walking, he used spatial tunnels to leap in segments.
The first segment, sixty li to the west, landed him beside a dry riverbed.
The second segment, eighty li to the southwest, landed him on a rocky slope.
The third segment, one hundred li to the northwest, landed him in a grove of low trees on the outskirts of “Anvil Town,” a border town of the Twilight Kingdom.
Anvil Town was much smaller than Silver Oak City, with a population of only three to four thousand. The buildings on both sides of the streets were low and dilapidated, and a mixed scent of coal smoke and rust drifted through the air.
A faded wooden sign stood at the entrance of the town, with “Registration Required to Enter” written on it in thick, black characters.
He walked into the town and registered in a small cabin at the entrance. The young man responsible for registration looked up at him and asked casually,
“Where are you from? What are you here for?”
“From the south. I want to join the Church,” Jiang Lin said, his expression carrying just the right amount of restraint and unease. “I committed a crime over in Saintas and couldn't stay there any longer.”
The man took another look at him, didn't ask further, scribbled a few lines in the logbook, and handed him a wooden number plate.
“Take this to the grand cathedral in the town center. Someone will arrange things for you.”
Jiang Lin took the number plate, thanked him, and walked along the main street toward the town center.
Anvil Town's grand cathedral was much smaller than Silver Oak City's. It was only one story tall with dusty stone walls, and a twisted emblem similar to the one in Silver Oak City was carved above the lintel.
Two young men in dark gray robes stood at the entrance of the cathedral. Seeing Jiang Lin approach, one of them raised his hand to stop him.
“What are you doing here?”
Jiang Lin handed over the number plate.
“I'm here to join the Church. The person at the town entrance sent me over.”
The man took the number plate, glanced at it, sized him up, and stepped aside.
“Go inside and wait.”
The cathedral's interior was more spacious than it looked from the outside. There weren't many pews, and a table and several chairs were set up against the wall.
A middle-aged man in a dark gray robe was sitting behind the table, flipping through a booklet.
He looked up, his gaze pausing for a moment on Jiang Lin's disguised, gaunt face, and asked,
“What crime did you commit?”
“Murder,” Jiang Lin lowered his voice slightly. “In Clearwater City of the Saintas Kingdom, I killed a local tax official. I'm wanted.”
“Why did you kill him?”
“He charged me three times the tax, and even... my sister...”
Jiang Lin didn't finish. He lowered his eyes, his mouth twitching as if suppressing some emotion.
The middle-aged man fell silent for a moment, then closed the booklet.
“What is your name?”
“Drake.”
“What rank are you?”
“3rd-Rank early stage.”
The middle-aged man nodded, scribbled a few lines in the booklet, stood up from the table, and walked toward the side door of the cathedral.
“Follow me.”
Jiang Lin followed behind him, passing through a narrow corridor and entering a courtyard.
Seven or eight people were standing in the courtyard, men and women ranging in age from their early twenties to their late forties.
They were dressed in various ways; some looked like travelers, some wore coarse worker clothes, and one wore a fairly decent dark short robe, looking like a merchant.
Seeing Jiang Lin walk in, some glanced at him, while others didn't even look up.
The middle-aged man led Jiang Lin to the center of the courtyard and turned to face everyone.
“Another one. You all came to join the Church. Since you're here, follow the rules. The Church doesn't take useless trash, nor do we take liars.”
“Our people will verify your identities and ranks. Before that, you will stay here. Once we have ten people, we will conduct a unified assessment.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces.
“The assessment rules are simple. Same-rank combat, ten people in a match. Only the last one alive is qualified to stay.”
The courtyard fell silent for a brief moment.
Some people's expressions changed, some remained expressionless, and others lowered their heads.
Standing on the edge of the crowd, Jiang Lin's expression shifted slightly along with those around him, but there was no ripple in his heart.
This kind of assessment method wasn't unusual in the secret cult.
They didn't need loyalty; they only needed usable tools, and tools only needed to prove they could be of use.
Over the next few days, Jiang Lin stayed with the other seven or eight people in several small rooms on the side of the cathedral.
Every day, simple food and water were delivered on a schedule. No one came to disturb them, and no one spoke to them.
Two more people were led in one after another, bringing the total to exactly ten.
On the evening the eleventh person arrived, the middle-aged man in the gray robe appeared in the courtyard again.
His gaze swept over everyone, and then he said briefly:
“Tomorrow morning, the assessment.”
At night, Jiang Lin sat cross-legged on the hard wooden bed in his small room, drawing his magic essence to its lowest level to maintain his disguise as a 3rd-Rank early stage.
He maintained his Space Perception at its maximum range, bringing the auras of everyone in the courtyard into his perception.
After these past few days of observation, he had a general grasp of the others' backgrounds.
Two of them were 3rd-rank peaks, their auras stable and refined, with decent foundations.
Four were 3rd-rank mid-stages, their auras thoroughly average.
There was also one who appeared to be a 3rd-Rank early stage on the surface, but his breathing rhythm didn't match the frequency of his magic essence fluctuations. Jiang Lin judged that this person's true rank was at least 5th-rank.
It was a man who looked to be in his early thirties, dressed plainly, with an unremarkable appearance, and who spoke very little.
Jiang Lin noticed that when he walked, his center of gravity was pressed very low, and the rhythm of his footsteps landing was even and almost silent—a habit developed from moving in complex terrain for long periods.
In addition, two others had true ranks that should be 4th-rank.
The aura fluctuations of one of them had subtle differences from an ordinary 4th-rank, likely a practitioner specializing in assassination or stealth.
He didn't dwell on these details. After reviewing tomorrow's plan in his mind, he closed his eyes and ran his breathing technique through a complete cycle.
The next morning.
The ten people were led to an underground area behind the cathedral.
The area was about two hundred square meters. The surrounding walls were built of heavy stone blocks, their surfaces carved with dark red rune patterns to prevent the aftershocks of battle from damaging the building, and also to prevent anyone from trying to escape.
The vaulted ceiling was about four meters high, and a magic lamp emitting a dim yellow light hung right in the center, casting shifting shadows across the entire space.
The middle-aged man in the gray robe stood at the entrance of the area, followed by two young men also wearing dark gray robes, clearly there to assist in maintaining order.
“You should all know the rules by now,” his voice echoed in the empty area. “In a moment, the door will close. Only when there is just one person left inside will the door open again. There is no time limit, no restriction on weapons, and no restriction on methods. The one who survives can officially join the Church.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping across each person:
“Begin.”
The heavy stone door closed behind him, letting out a dull, booming crash.
The area fell silent for about two breaths.
Then, someone moved.
The first to strike was the 5th-rank man disguised as a 3rd-Rank early stage.
Instead of lunging at anyone, he took a step back, stood flat against the wall, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, assuming a defensive posture.
He clearly planned to observe the situation first, waiting until the others had worn each other down before making his move.
Most people in the area were on guard against one another and didn't notice his abnormality.
Jiang Lin noticed it, but he didn't react immediately.
He shuffled a few steps toward the edge of the area, lowering his stance to make himself look like he wanted to hide in a corner and wait for an opportunity.
His Space Perception had already brought the positions and aura fluctuations of everyone in the area under his monitoring.
The melee erupted completely on the third breath.
The man who looked like a merchant in a dark short robe pulled a dagger from his boot and lunged at the nearest youth. The blade shimmered with a faint green luster, clearly poisoned.
The youth dodged to the side and simultaneously threw a dart with a backhand flick. It was deflected by the short-robed man, and their figures immediately became entangled.
...
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