Huangfeng Road was one of Hess City's main thoroughfares, with carriages constantly passing by and pedestrians flowing endlessly through the streets.
After the beast tide had passed, Hess City had returned to its former prosperity.
A pure white carriage moved slowly beneath the escort of a small squad of Radiant Church knights.
Inside the carriage sat a middle-aged man with curly brown hair. He had a high nose bridge and a faint smile always lingering at the corners of his mouth, making him seem exceedingly approachable.
He was Gilmer, one of the Radiant Church's cardinals.
After Fenlai City was destroyed, the Radiant Church had lost its holy capital.
To prevent the tragedy of the Day of Destruction from happening again, the Radiant Church decided to establish "Holy Island" on an overseas island far from the Yulan Continent.
From then on, that place would become the Radiant Church's core.
Holy Island had not yet been fully constructed, but Pope Heidens had already sent Gilmer to Hess City.
Hess City stood on the front line between the Holy Union and the magical beasts, making its location immensely important. A cardinal was needed to oversee it.
At the same time, two matters extremely detrimental to the Radiant Church had occurred near Hess City during the beast tide, and an important figure was needed to deal with them.
The first was finding Linley.
The Radiant Church only knew that Linley had killed Fenlai's king, Clayde, and six special-class deacons of the Religious Inquisition in Hess City before vanishing without a trace.
The Radiant Church was deeply wary of Linley's talent, so it had constantly sent people to search for news of him.
Hess City was the last place Linley had appeared, so naturally, the search had to begin there.
The second matter was the loss of an 8th-level body.
An 8th-level body could fully withstand the power of a Six-Winged Angel.
A Six-Winged Angel was equivalent to a peak Saint Realm expert and would be of immense help to the Radiant Church.
Heidens attached extreme importance to this matter and demanded that Gilmer recover it.
After arriving in Hess City, Gilmer had tried many methods, but neither matter had made any progress.
There was no news of Linley, and the 8th-level body had vanished without a trace. Even the two 8th-level warriors and one 9th-level ascetic who had escorted it were missing, dead or alive unknown. South of Hess City was already magical beast territory, making any investigation difficult.
Gilmer only felt a headache coming on.
Fortunately, one piece of news made Gilmer feel slightly better.
He had learned that when the magical beasts attacked Hess City, there had been a 9th-level expert within the city whose strength was extraordinary.
He was now going to meet this 9th-level expert in the hope of recruiting him into the Radiant Church.
The carriage turned off Huangfeng Road and headed toward the outskirts of Hess City, eventually stopping before an ordinary residence.
"I am Gilmer, a cardinal of the Radiant Church. I wish to meet Viscount Lewin Andrew. Please announce me."
Gilmer stepped down from the carriage, stood before Lewin's residence, and spoke with a smile to the servant who had opened the door.
Upon hearing that the visitor was a cardinal of the Radiant Church, the servant was frightened out of his wits.
In the Holy Union, a cardinal's status was even higher than that of a kingdom's king.
How could the servant have ever met such a great figure? He stammered nervously, "Y-you, please wait a moment. I-I'll report this to the master immediately!"
The servant hurried into the residence.
At that moment, Lewin was playing with little Laina in the main hall.
Half a year had passed since the beast tide receded. Hess City had regained its former prosperity, and Lewin had hired some servants again.
Over the past half year, he had cultivated in peace. During breaks, he would amuse little Laina. His days had been comfortable.
Little Laina was nearly two years old. Her small face looked as though it had been carved from jade, her pale blue eyes resembled crystals, and her fair skin carried a faint rosy flush.
Little Laina could already walk and talk. She was curious about everything and somewhat mischievous—the age when she was an angel while asleep and unbearably troublesome when awake.
Whenever Lewin finished cultivating, he would think of playing with little Laina. Three minutes later, he would lose patience and hand her over to the wet nurse.
"Master, Cardinal Gilmer is outside the residence. He says he wishes to see you?" the servant said breathlessly as he rushed in.
The servant was also curious. Who exactly was Lewin, to have a cardinal come visit him?
He had worked at the residence for three months. Lewin had always kept a low profile and rarely went out, nor did he have any friends coming and going.
The residence was not located in Hess City's central district either. He had always thought Lewin was merely an ordinary man with a little money.
Until today, when a cardinal came to the door, he was truly shocked.
"Cardinal Gilmer called the master a viscount. Could the master be a noble? But even a viscount shouldn't be important enough for a cardinal to visit personally, right?" The servant could not understand it.
"Gilmer?" Lewin was slightly startled.
He knew of this man. Back when Linley graduated from the Ernst Institute, Gilmer had represented the Radiant Church in extending an invitation to Linley.
Gilmer had thought highly of Linley.
Later, because of Linley's mother, Linley and the Radiant Church had become irreconcilable enemies. Gilmer had felt some regret over it as well.
However, he was a cardinal of the Radiant Church, so naturally, he stood firmly on the Radiant Church's side.
"Let him in." Lewin had not expected Gilmer to suddenly visit either, and he wanted to see what the man wanted.
"Yes."
The servant hurried toward the gate, afraid of making the cardinal wait too long.
Lewin gestured for the wet nurse beside him to take little Laina away.
Led by the servant, Gilmer entered the main hall of the residence.
Gilmer wore a warm smile that made others feel as if touched by a spring breeze, and he politely bowed to Lewin.
"Viscount Lewin Andrew, it is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Gilmer, a cardinal of the Radiant Church."
Lewin stepped forward and returned the bow politely.
"Welcome, Lord Gilmer. Come, please sit."
Lewin extended a hand toward a nearby seat and guided Gilmer to sit, while secretly remaining on guard.
In Hess City, he had no acquaintances or friends and rarely left home. Virtually no one knew his identity.
Yet Gilmer had immediately identified him as Viscount Lewin Andrew. Clearly, he had specifically investigated him.
Since the other side had prepared so thoroughly, there had to be a reason.
"May I ask what brings Lord Gilmer here?" Lewin asked directly after they sat down.
Gilmer smiled and did not beat around the bush. "I have come to invite Viscount Andrew to join the Radiant Church."
Hearing this, Lewin understood at once and instantly figured out many things.
When the magical beasts attacked Hess City, he had also taken action to hunt magical beasts. Naturally, he would have been seen by the Radiant Church's people.
His strength far surpassed that of ordinary 9th-level warriors. Upon discovering an unfamiliar expert like him within Hess City, the Radiant Church would naturally investigate him.
It seems the Radiant Church found nothing suspicious about me, so they want to recruit me, Lewin thought.
That was indeed the case. From the church experts in Hess City, Gilmer had learned of the scene when Lewin took action.
He was certain that Lewin had already reached the Saint Realm in terms of cultivation. That meant becoming a Saint Realm expert was only a matter of time for him.
After investigating Lewin's background and finding nothing suspicious, Gilmer decided to recruit Lewin into the Radiant Church.
Faced with Gilmer's invitation, Lewin did not refuse outright.
He did not wish to join the Radiant Church, but to make it easier to obtain magical beast Essence Blood and Magical Crystal Cores, he planned to live in Hess City for several years.
After the beast tide, Hess City had been left with many magical beast corpses, and materials from those corpses had already entered the city's markets.
In the current Hess City, purchasing either Magical Crystal Cores or magical beast Essence Blood was easier than elsewhere.
Moreover, he needed to look after little Laina, making it inconvenient to wander from place to place.
Since he intended to remain within the Holy Union, it was necessary to maintain a surface-level harmony with the Radiant Church.
"Joining the Radiant Church would be my honor. However, I do not wish to leave Hess City for the time being. Could I temporarily serve the Hess Kingdom instead?" Lewin said.
Gilmer smiled. "Of course, that won't be a problem."
The Hess Kingdom belonged to the Holy Union. For Lewin, joining the Hess Kingdom was no different from joining the Radiant Church.
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