Late Level Nine

But Marina, as Cardinal Archbishop, did not live in the shadows and remain unknown like the deacons of the Inquisition.

The Cardinal Archbishop is the second most powerful figure in the Light Church after the Pope; he is the true face of the church.

The Light Church has lost face big time that such a figure was taken down right under their noses.

As the two top religious forces on the Yulan Continent, the Light Church, which has always been superior to the Darkness Church, cannot afford to lose face like this!

Secondly, judging from the scene of Marco and Marina's deaths, the person who ultimately destroyed the bodies and disposed of the evidence was likely a Dark Saint.

The fact that a Dark Saint was hidden on the territory of their own Holy Alliance, and that they hadn't discovered it yet, was not only a joke, but also a tremendous threat.

Inside the Light Church, Pope Hains looked at Wushenuo and asked, "Inquisition, have you made any discoveries?"

Before Wushenuo could answer, Leiming of the Zealot Legion said in a muffled voice, "What could we possibly find? Everyone in the Dark Saint is skilled at hiding and escaping; they're incredibly slippery."

"If he hadn't been exposed before, it wouldn't have been a problem, but now that he has, he must have run away long ago to avoid being caught by us."

Then his expression turned fierce and he said, "We've been made a Cardinal Archbishop under our noses this time, we have to get our revenge!"

"Just conduct a search, impose martial law for a few days to show your stance, and then prepare for the big battle!"

"Only the blood of war can wash away our shame this time!"

Wushenuo shook his head and said, "A Dark Saint hiding in our Holy Alliance is probably plotting something big. The other party may not have left yet, so we should investigate thoroughly."

Luoye Ye agreed, saying, "That's right. I don't believe that a Dark Saint could lurk right under our noses just to kill a Cardinal Archbishop. It's always good to investigate further."

"And my Ascetic haven't found any trace of the Saint Realm experts. Wushenuo, have your Inquisition found any clues?"

Seeing that the topic had returned, Wushenuo shook his head and said, "The other side did a very clean job. My people didn't find any useful information."

"The spies we placed with the Dark Alliance haven't provided any valuable intelligence, and we still haven't even figured out the identity of the Dark Saint lurking right under our noses."

"During this large-scale search, I also arrested and interrogated several spies from the Darkness Church that I had been keeping an eye on for a long time, but I still couldn't get any information related to that Dark Saint."

After a moment of silence, Heidens said, "Continue the search. I have arranged for people to prepare to activate the Brilliant Gaze Ritual. In three days, all the Saint Realm experts in the Holy Alliance will have nowhere to hide."

"If that Dark Saint doesn't escape, then it will be his death day."

"The blood of one Dark Saint is enough to wash away the shame we have suffered. If we still can't find any trace of them by then..."

Pope Hains of Light looked in the direction of the Dark Alliance and said, "Wushenuo, Leiming, if we still haven't found any trace of them by then, let's prepare for a great battle."

"Let those scumbags of the Darkness Church know what happens when they provoke our Light Church!"

This massive search, which was initiated by Fengyun, had absolutely no impact on Fengyun.

While the Light Church was mobilizing its army to prepare for war with the Darkness Church after failing to locate the so-called Dark Saint despite initiating the Brilliant Gaze Ritual, Fengyun was using the Dark Star Grass to break through to the Level 9 and carefully comprehending the trace of Darkness Law contained within it.

As a specialty of the Darkness Church, Dark Star Grass, like the Aurora Crystal of the Light Church, possesses a slight ability to guide users to comprehend the laws. However, compared to Aurora Crystal, its effect is slightly weaker. If Fengyun had not already grasped the Dark Element Law, he probably wouldn't have received this benefit.

Apart from that, Dark Star Grass is similar to Earth Origin Fruit; it can only increase the user's battle qi energy but cannot improve the user's physical strength.

Two months later, Fengyun, feeling his strength that had barely broken through to the mid-stage of the Level 9, murmured, "I never thought that the difficulty of cultivation would increase to this extent after reaching the Level 9."

"Fortunately, I was well prepared this time and managed to get a Dark Star Grass from the Darkness Church."

"However, even with my physical strength and the efficiency of absorbing Heavenly Treasures, I could only break through to the mid-stage of Level 9 with the help of Dark Star Grass."

"If an ordinary warrior absorbed this, he would probably only be able to barely break through to Level 9!"

As he spoke, he took out the Earth Origin Fruit and tossed it around, saying, "I was originally thinking that if the Dark Star Grass was powerful enough to allow me to break through to the Saint Realm directly, I would save this Earth Origin Fruit for Lin Lei and Huihui!"

"But now, sigh, I'll just use it myself!"

"Next, I hope the energy from this fruit will be enough for me to break through to the late stage of Level 9 and push my battle qi to its peak to achieve the Saint Realm."

A month and a half later, Fengyun emerged from seclusion, feeling the Dou Qi within his body, which had just stabilized at a little over the late stage of the Level 9, and sensing the faint connection between himself and the world.

Fengyun frowned and scoffed, "Dawson Merchant Guild misled me. This Earth Origin Fruit is definitely a substandard product that has been preserved for a long time and has lost a lot of its energy."

"The energy contained within only allowed me to break through and stabilize at the late stage of the Level 9. If I had more, just a little more energy, allowing my battle qi to naturally break through my body and connect with and draw upon the elements of heaven and earth to form a cycle, I would be a true Saint Realm powerhouse!"

In his frustration, Fengyun cleaved the nearby river with a single stroke, creating a giant wave hundreds of meters high, and cracking open a large gap in the riverbed below.

Looking at the effect of his slash, he muttered, "How strange, my attack, which I actively controlled to connect with the elements of heaven and earth, is so powerful."

"If we take the power of Archangel's Sword magic of Archbishop Marina as a benchmark, my strike is far beyond that of Level Nine Expert; it should have reached the level of the Saint Realm."

"Actively using battle qi to draw upon the elements of heaven and earth for cultivation is dozens or even hundreds of times faster than my previous cultivation speed. I should be no different from a true Saint Realm, so why do I always feel like I'm still a little bit short of the Saint Realm?"

"I still can't fly, and I can't project my soul!"

"It's clearly just a difference in battle aura, is there something I don't understand about the difference between Level 9 and the Saint Realm?"

After frowning and thinking for a while but still unable to figure it out, Fengyun Yun simply gave up and muttered, "Forget it, once I accumulate enough battle qi, I will naturally be able to break through to the Saint Realm. It will only take a year or two at most. Why think so much?"

"Just cultivate gradually!"