The Church of Light Takes Action

Taylor, sitting in the courtyard, watched Leiluo walk away and complained to Lynn.

"Not long ago, the boss was all 'Senior Sister Nina this' and 'Senior Sister Nina that.' Now that news of Senior Sister Nina's death has barely arrived, he's already turned around and changed his affections."

Faced with Taylor's complaint, Lynn smiled and said pointedly, "I recall that Senior Sister Xili and the late Senior Sister Nina seemed to come from the same family, both from the main line, though Senior Sister Nina's talent was a bit stronger than Senior Sister Xili's."

"She's already dead, why are you focusing on that?" Taylor looked blank.

Looking at the simple-minded Taylor, Lynn smiled helplessly. "Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything. When you have time, you should go visit Old John more often."

If Lynn remembered correctly, Old John was also of commoner origin, and now that the elderly man had no children, the person who accompanied him most often was Taylor, whom he frequently called over.

Faced with Lynn's reminder, Taylor couldn't help but mutter, "I don't want to see Old John at all. He lectures me all day long and tells me not to have too much contact with you guys, saying that noble children have deep, calculating minds—but you're not even a noble, Lynn."

Hearing Taylor's muttering, a strange look flashed through Lynn's eyes.

The older one gets, the more cunning one becomes; Old John must have noticed something. Lynn didn't take the matter to heart. After all, at most, Old John only felt that Lynn had some secrets; he couldn't possibly touch upon Lynn's bottom line.

Without thinking further, Lynn fell back into his bitter training.

...Several months ago, the main hall of the Church of Light branch in Starfire City.

In front of a massive statue of the God of Light, Cardinal Dialuo led a group of black-robed priests in prayer on the ground. Dialuo's face was full of piety, his lips moving as if he were chanting a prayer.

"Your Eminence, news has arrived from the academy." A black-robed priest walked quickly into the hall.

Cardinal Dialuo's expression remained unchanged until he finished chanting the prayer, only then rising from the ground.

"Speak, what is it?"

"According to reports from our spy inside the Dragon Knight Warrior Academy, after several months of probing, it has been confirmed that Albert's disciple, Xiao Yan, has left the academy."

"Xiao Yan?" Dialuo recalled this somewhat familiar name.

"Is that the disciple Albert took in a few years ago?" The cardinal rubbed his brow, finally recalling the information regarding Xiao Yan.

"Yes," the black-robed priest replied respectfully.

"Over half a year ago, my subordinates organized a group of students to challenge him, including several level four and five warriors, but they were all easily defeated by him. His strength is not to be underestimated; he is at least a level five warrior!"

"Level five warrior... level five warrior." Dialuo rubbed his brow, a cold glint condensing in his eyes. "How old is he now?"

"At the time of the probe, he was twelve. He just turned thirteen not long ago."

"A genius!" Dialuo's expression turned grave, and terrifying killing intent filled the hall.

"A twelve-year-old level five warrior, with the potential of a Saint-level! I never expected that old fool Albert to actually stumble upon such a usable talent!"

"But he shouldn't have stood on the opposite side of our Church of Light!"

"Pass on my order: all branches in the Starfire Kingdom are to search their respective jurisdictions one by one. Once Xiao Yan is discovered, kill him on the spot."

"Additionally, send word to headquarters to arrange personnel to focus on searching the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the Sunset Forest, the Raging Grasslands, the Aurora Desert, and other gathering places for magical beasts. Even if you have to dig three feet deep, you must strangle this Saint-level seedling in the cradle."

"Yes!"

Azeron Continent, Holy Alliance, Rose Principality, Holy City, Rose City, headquarters of the Church of Light.

Pope Abraham of the Church of Light finished reading the information sent from the Starfire Kingdom, a trace of dissatisfaction flashing across his face. "This Dialuo is truly useless; he can't even handle a tiny level five warrior."

"Come here, order the various Church of Light branches to investigate in secret. Once Xiao Yan's specific location is discovered, report it directly."

"Also, send several teams of special deacons to the Zhongyuan Empire and the Roland Empire, focusing on searching the Sunset Forest and the Wild Plains."

Pope Abraham did not choose to send more personnel to other regions because he believed that as long as this boy named Xiao Yan wasn't a fool, he couldn't possibly leave the spheres of influence of the Zhongyuan Empire and the Roland Empire.

Panshi Town was an ordinary small town located on the border of the Zhongyuan Empire, south of the Sunset Forest.

The morning sun was rising, casting warm light onto the maple leaves on both sides of the road. Many adults were already up working, while children played in the small alleys—a scene of peace.

Suddenly, thick smoke billowed on the road outside the town, and the sound of violent hoofbeats arrived. More than twenty knights wearing silver-white armor and holding seven-foot-long spears charged into the town.

The leading knight was a tall, middle-aged man with blonde hair, a hideous scar at the corner of his eye, a cold face, and sharp eyes.

Leonard swept his gaze over the townspeople and shouted loudly, "Listen, residents of the town! We are from the Order of Light Knights of the Church of Light. We have come here under the orders of the Pope to search for hidden heretics."

"I ask... you answer!" After Leonard finished speaking, he didn't wait for the many residents to react before continuing.

"During this period, have there been any outsiders in your Panshi Town?"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a commotion in the crowd. After a long while, a white-haired old man was pushed forward by the others. He walked up tremblingly and said, "My lord knight, our Panshi Town is located fifty miles from the Sunset Forest. There are many people coming and going; it is truly impossible to count the outsiders."

Hearing the old man's explanation, Leonard frowned deeply. He hadn't expected that investigating even a small town would be so troublesome.

After thinking for a while, Leonard, having no better plan, simply waved his hand and gave the order for his knights to disperse and search house by house.

Leonard looked at the old man. "You organize everyone and have all the residents go to the open space next to the town. Don't try any tricks. We will search the houses as well. If I find that you are hiding people, regardless of whether the person hidden is our target, it will be considered a provocation against the Church of Light and you will become an enemy of the Church."

"Yes... yes." The old man nodded repeatedly, then hurried off to organize the people.

The residents left in the open space of the town gathered together nervously under the surveillance of several knights, while the remaining nearly twenty knights, under Leonard's instructions, scattered like hungry wolves.

The knights rudely kicked open door after door, rummaging through cabinets and boxes inside the houses, searching for places where people might be hidden. Everywhere they went was left in a mess!

The residents watching this scene were both terrified and angry. In an inconspicuous corner of the crowd, Xiao Yan, who had changed his appearance and was using the alias Yang Guo, also wore a look of terror and fear, blending perfectly into the crowd.

One level seven warrior, two level six warriors. Twenty level five warriors...

The Church of Light's actions are truly swift. They sent a team of special deacons into the Sunset Forest the day before yesterday to force out those training there, and then immediately sent knights to search the surrounding towns. If it weren't for my clone being able to change appearance and aura, I might have really fallen into your trap.