The Plan

However, although the three of them had successfully escaped Locke Territory and entered the sphere of influence of the Temple of Light, Cross and Marik had already been captured by Locke.

According to the information Gask and the others had received, Cross and Marik were already being escorted to the Imperial Capital.

At most, within two months, Cross and Marik would arrive at the Imperial Capital to face His Majesty Ceres's judgment.

Berkeley sighed. "Perhaps we simply weren't fortunate enough. After all these years, we still haven't found a Soul of Purity."

"Otherwise, even if there were only one, any one of us brothers could advance to the Saint level."

"By then, whether it was gaining status within the Temple of Light or secretly rescuing Cross and Marik, neither would be difficult."

Dahl could not help but agree. "There's nothing we can do, Berkeley."

"Since even we were able to obtain such information, it's obvious that among the noble class of the entire Frost Snow Empire, searching for Souls of Purity is hardly a secret."

"Over all these years, there have only been a handful of people who successfully escaped to the Temple of Light and became Saints. That shows just how rare Souls of Purity are."

"It's not strange that we failed to find one."

"It's just a pity..."

At this point, even Dahl could not help sighing.

"If Cole hadn't betrayed us, then with the noble titles we held in Locke Territory, we could have secretly searched among our own territories. We might still have had a chance of finding a Soul of Purity and gaining a sliver of hope of breaking through to the Saint level."

"Now that we've come to the sphere of influence of the Temple of Light, we no longer have any hope of breaking through to the Saint level."

That was indeed the case.

Searching for Souls of Purity was practically an open secret among the noble class of the Frost Snow Empire. How much more so within the sphere of influence of the Temple of Light?

The common people of the Temple of Light were merely tools for the nobles to produce Souls of Purity.

Whenever a Soul of Purity was born, it could not escape the notice of the nobles within that territory.

No, rather, unlike the Frost Snow Empire, the Temple of Light was fundamentally a nation founded upon faith.

All the people here were forcibly made to worship Augusta, the Light Lord God.

To them, if their child was the reincarnation of an angel under Lord Augusta, then offering that child to the lord would earn them an extremely generous reward.

For Gask and the others, who had no territories of their own, the probability of finding a Soul of Purity within the Temple of Light was infinitely close to zero.

Even if they were lucky enough to happen upon a newly born Soul of Purity, they would likely be hunted down by the lord of that territory before they even reached the grand cathedral of the Temple of Light!

At that point, let alone three Ninth-level Warriors like them, even thirty or three hundred Ninth-level Warriors would not be enough for a single Saint-level Expert to kill.

Hearing his two brothers' conversation, the anger in Gask's eyes instantly faded considerably.

In its place came immense excitement.

At that moment, Gask felt incomparably fortunate about the decision he had made more than ten years ago.

The others had not handed a Soul of Purity over to Cole because they had never found one.

Gask had not handed one over because he wanted to leave himself an opportunity.

The facts had proven that no one else in this world could be relied upon.

With the trump card in his hand, turning his fortunes around would not be difficult.

He might even rise to a higher station after completing the sacrifice and enjoy an endless lifespan from then on.

But before that, they had to reach the grand cathedral of the Temple of Light.

The Pope of the Temple of Light was in the grand cathedral.

Only the Pope of the Temple of Light could conduct the sacrificial ritual.

Thinking of this, Gask was about to say something.

But just as he was about to speak, Gask suddenly recalled that among their group, the strongest were himself, Berkeley, and Dahl.

If Berkeley and Dahl learned that he had a Soul of Purity in his possession, they might join forces and snatch that Soul of Purity from him.

Thus, Gask abandoned his plan of coming clean to Berkeley and Dahl.

However, Gask did not want their group to split up either.

This was the Temple of Light, after all. They were strangers here, and with three peak Ninth-level Warriors sticking together, their safety would increase severalfold.

"Berkeley, Dahl..."

"Big Brother Gask, go ahead."

"I thought about it just now. Within the sphere of influence of the Temple of Light, it's almost impossible for us to find a Soul of Purity."

"But that doesn't mean we have no chance of obtaining a Soul of Purity."

Berkeley and Dahl exchanged a glance, each seeing the surprise in the other's eyes.

"Big Brother Gask, tell us."

"As long as what you say is true, Big Brother Gask, we'll follow your lead without question!"

Gask was very satisfied with Berkeley and Dahl's reactions.

At once, Gask laid out the excuse he had just come up with to Berkeley and Dahl.

"Berkeley, Dahl, listen to me..."

"According to the information we've gathered, only the cathedral where the Light Pope resides can hold sacrificial rituals in the entire Temple of Light."

"In other words, no matter who finds a Soul of Purity and wishes to perform a sacrifice, they must go to the cathedral."

"Besides the Temple of Light's own forces, there must be people like us among them—people from the Frost Snow Empire who have found Souls of Purity to sacrifice for greater strength."

"We can't recklessly touch the Temple of Light's current forces."

"But we can absolutely make a move against the Frost Snow Empire nobles who come to perform sacrifices."

"After all, the Light Pope only cares about the sacrificial offering, not who brings it."

"As long as we can successfully complete the sacrifice with the offerings we seize before anyone reacts, then once we break through to the Saint level, we'll have enough strength to deal with the trouble caused by taking those offerings."

"Big Brother Gask, you really are something!"

Berkeley and Dahl's eyes lit up as they gave Gask a thumbs-up.

Indeed, just as Gask had said, this might be their only chance to obtain a Soul of Purity and break through to the Saint level within the Temple of Light's sphere of influence.

Nearly every force within the Temple of Light had Saint-level Experts behind it.

If they made a move against the Temple of Light's forces, the Saints within the Temple of Light might all come after them.

Even if they successfully advanced to the Saint level then, they would not live long.

But if they set their sights on people from the Frost Snow Empire, there would be no such future trouble.

After all, anyone who could think of using sacrifice to break through to the Saint level could not possibly belong to a Saint-level family of the Frost Snow Empire!

Once Gask and the others seized the offering, successfully completed the sacrifice, and advanced to the Saint level, even if the Frost Snow Empire's people found out, they could only swallow their anger in silence.