Holy Church

After hearing Yang Tianxiong out, Zhou You fell into thought. He failed to notice the slight curl of Yang Tianxiong's lips, or the way his eyes seemed to regard a fish about to swim into a net.

Heh, kid, tempted, aren't you?

Of course, he hadn't prattled on to Zhou You just because he loved to chat. This was naturally part of his task as well.

But Yang Tianxiong didn't know that what Zhou You was thinking at that moment was entirely different from what he imagined.

Senior brother's words seemed intended to lead me somewhere. What did he want by telling me all that?

Zhou You recalled Yang Tianxiong's words: the Angel God's achievements, the history of Soul Masters, the Elder Hall, Douluo, the Worship Hall, and becoming a god.

Those few brief sentences contained glory, knowledge, benefits, and hopes for the future. In context, they could easily give the listener a sense of sharing in that glory.

Stringing those things together, he could see that they were all meant to foster favorable feelings in Zhou You toward one particular thing.

The Elder Hall? Zhou You's eyes flickered. Yang Tianxiong seemed to be deliberately guiding him toward longing to join the Elder Hall.

Interesting, Zhou You thought. He had already joined Spirit Hall, yet Yang Tianxiong still wanted to guide him in such a subtle way.

If it wasn't redundant, did that mean different factions existed even within Spirit Hall?

Of course, that was understandable. It was only natural for different factions to spring up within an ancient organization that had endured for many years, its tentacles reaching across almost the entire continent.

But which faction did his teacher belong to? Was Yang Tianxiong acting on his teacher's wishes, or his own?

Zhou You looked up at the senior brother he'd acquired so easily, with no intention of exposing what he had noticed.

He was only a six-year-old little Soul Master, with neither the need nor the interest to get involved. The Library, however, was indeed worth a visit.

Yang Tianxiong had succeeded in piquing his curiosity about it.

"Senior brother, where's the Library you mentioned?"

At that, Yang Tianxiong raised a hand and pointed in a certain direction.

Where he pointed stood the tallest building in the entire academy—the Angel Holy Church, which was essentially a great cathedral.

Perhaps many people had forgotten that Spirit Hall had originally been a religious organization. With the passage of time, however, it had gradually become secular, and its once-elaborate religious rituals and prayers had grown very, very rare.

But as the church dedicated to Spirit Hall's chief deity, the Angel God, the Holy Church would not disappear.

The towering church had a gigantic dome and tall, magnificent crystal windows. Countless two-winged and four-winged angels were carved into its outer walls, and a huge emblem symbolizing Spirit Hall stood at the dome's highest point.

The great cathedral was magnificent and conspicuous, yet its presence was barely felt.

On ordinary days, hardly any students or instructors went there. It was said that only during festivals or grand sacrificial ceremonies would the people of the academy briefly turn their attention to it.

The Elder Hall was already the department within Spirit Hall that valued tradition most, but over the years, it too had become part of the secular world, and sacrificial ceremonies were hardly held anymore.

The Angel Holy Church's religious function had long since existed in name only.

Yet it continued to serve one function: collecting and storing knowledge.

"Here, take this."

Zhou You was gazing at the Angel Holy Church in rapt attention when Yang Tianxiong pressed something into his hand.

He looked down and saw that it was a badge etched with three pairs of silver wings.

"Wear this and you can come and go freely. Remember, there's only one of these badges. If you lose it, you won't get a replacement," Yang Tianxiong cautioned.

"Got it." Zhou You waved at him. "I'll be going, then. Thank you, senior brother!"

Yang Tianxiong watched him go. Only when he was almost out of sight did he suddenly click his tongue. "Tch, that little brat isn't easy to fool."

He felt his approach just now had been a bit of a misstep. Who said children were easy to fool? That kid had a mind of his own. Yang Tianxiong had talked until his mouth was nearly dry, yet Zhou You's expression hadn't changed, and he hadn't budged an inch.

"Old man She, you really can't blame me for failing to get the job done this time..."

Regardless of how Yang Tianxiong reflected on himself there, Zhou You had already arrived at the Holy Church.

The Angel Holy Church's overall structure resembled Romanesque arches. Its main entrance was tall and heavy, with double doors carved from solid wood. There was no telling what kind of wood had been used, but the doors were white all over, blending almost seamlessly into the equally white main building.

No one guarded the Holy Church. It simply stood there in silence, like a giant of few words.

Zhou You stepped forward, placed both hands against the doors, and pushed with all his strength.

It had to be said that the two doors were quite heavy. As he pushed them open, he could clearly hear the hinges creaking.

The doors opened, revealing a spacious corridor before Zhou You.

It was still daytime, and sunlight streamed through the glass dome into the Holy Church, lighting the corridor brightly.

Zhou You walked in and continued straight along the columns, looking around as he went. He found no one else, only a great many angel statues and countless murals.

Even the dome and the glass of the tall windows all around were covered in colored paintings of angels.

Some stood, some reclined, some appeared to be flying through the heavens, and others were shown subduing demons. Their faces differed as well, some male and some female, but all were beautiful.

The only thing they had in common was the same compassionate expression, with their eyelids half lowered.

Honestly, if the paintings hadn't depicted only angels, with no Jesus or Virgin Mary, Zhou You really might have mistaken this for a return to his first life.

The sense of déjà vu was too strong.

Still, the murals and carvings truly were highly artistic. Surrounded by them, it was easy to feel immersed in the scene and experience a sense of the sacred.

Mm, the religious atmosphere had suddenly grown thick.

But every road had an end. Before long, Zhou You arrived at the great hall, where he finally saw a living person.

"Excuse me..."

Hearing his voice, the person slowly turned around. He was a very handsome middle-aged man.

He wore a simple gray robe, and his black hair was combed back. When he saw Zhou You, his expression showed not the slightest surprise, and the faintest hint of a smile lingered on his lips.

"Child, have you come to pray to the Angel God?"

Zhou You looked up and saw a statue of a Six-Winged Angel standing before the man, more than three zhang tall. The statue had an elegant, beautiful face, its brows and eyes lowered as it gazed upon all living beings like a loving mother.

Zhou You was dazed for an instant. Something seemed amiss with his Consciousness Spirit, and, in his daze, he heard a murmuring voice by his ear. It was gentle and lovely, like a lullaby sung by a mother.

He noticed it at once. His brows creased slightly, and he subconsciously recited the Nine Sequence Heart Method to himself, quickly cutting down the distracting thoughts that had begun to stir.

Hmm?

The middle-aged man was a little surprised, but he controlled his expression so well that Zhou You didn't notice.

Inwardly, however, he was intrigued.

This child was unusual.

"Sorry, I'm a newly enrolled student. My instructor is Liu Suxin. I wandered in here by accident. If I've disturbed you, I'll leave right away."

The disturbance in his Consciousness Spirit just now had made Zhou You wary. Although it hadn't led to any bad consequences, he was still preparing to slip away.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man couldn't help laughing.

"What a wary child you are. You have a badge on your chest that lets you come and go freely. Didn't you come here on purpose?"

Zhou You said nothing.

"Very well." The middle-aged man sighed. "If I don't explain, I'm afraid you'll remain uneasy about it."

"I imagine you must have noticed just now that a faint mental power was trying to make contact with you."

The middle-aged man turned and looked up into the statue's eyes. "That was the Power of Faith remaining on the statue at work. Child, please don't misunderstand. That power means you no harm."

"The Angel God fell many years ago. Those faint traces of power are now nothing more than a natural phenomenon."

He had actually revealed such a secret openly, just like that!