Harvest 2

A light rain fell, and Lin Sheng hurried forward, using the sound of water dripping from the eaves to cover his footsteps.

He quickly judged that he was in the noble district of Black Feather City. The Valen Small Temple he was heading for was less than two hundred meters away.

"Pretty lucky!"

His heart lifted. After making sure no one was around, he immediately broke into a run toward the Valen Temple.

Pat, pat, pat, pat.

The patter of his footsteps seemed to disturb something inside the city. As the echoes rang out, he could vaguely sense movement spreading quickly through the dark buildings on either side.

Lin Sheng couldn't worry about that. The worst that could happen was death.

He had been too cautious, and his strength had advanced slowly. Even if he died on this trip into the city, he had to take a chance and see if he could find the Valen Temple.

He reached the spot two hundred meters away in no time.

Lin Sheng made a sharp turn in the rain, rounded a street corner, and soon stopped in front of a gray-white church with a pointed roof.

The church looked no different from an ordinary Catholic church. The only difference was a dark gold metal ring surrounding the top of the building.

The enormous ring encircled the church, enclosing the whole structure. It looked like a collar around the building.

Lin Sheng also noticed that a great many mysterious, intricate symbols seemed to be inscribed on the huge ring.

He had only to stand at the church entrance for the strange commotion behind him to quickly die down.

Soon, the area around him was quiet again.

It's as if everything here is in awe of this place, Lin Sheng thought.

But he feared nothing. He wasn't afraid to die, anyway.

He had never planned to make it back alive when he rushed in. He might as well use the chance to find out what was going on.

Without another thought, he gripped his sword and strode toward the church.

He passed through the open entrance and the rusty iron gate, then stepped into the courtyard. Looking around, Lin Sheng slowed his pace.

To his surprise, the moment he entered the courtyard, he felt a lightness throughout his body and a faint sense of security welling up inside him.

Beneath the silver moonlight, the church, more than ten meters tall, seemed to emanate a sacred, gentle aura.

The area within dozens of meters of the church, everything inside the dark yellow ring, gave off a mysterious sense of security.

Lin Sheng walked slowly to the church doors and looked up at the door panels, which were over two meters tall.

A sorrowful, helpless human face was carved into the black metal doors. It was drawn in a simple style, with few details, yet its sorrow seemed strikingly real.

A small stone pillar stood upright on the ground to the right of the door, with a sentence carved into it.

"Believe in the light, and cut away the darkness!"

The words were arranged in a ring around the pillar's round surface. They were so neat they looked as if they had been printed.

Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly, put a hand on the door, and pushed harder.

Creak.

The doors made barely a sound as they swung inward from both sides.

A neat, silent church hall appeared before Lin Sheng.

Standing at the entrance, he looked past the rows of seats on either side and saw the Prayer Altar at the far end.

A thick, gold-edged book lay on the white Prayer Altar. A diamond-shaped blue crystal was set into its cover, and the edges were filled with mysterious runes similar to those on the ring outside.

Maybe it was his imagination, but when Lin Sheng looked at the diamond-shaped crystal, he felt as if it were glowing.

He carefully stepped forward into the hall.

The instant he entered—

An invisible ripple swept over him and vanished at once.

"What was that!?" Lin Sheng was startled. The ripple had been unmistakable, like some kind of inspection.

He froze in place and didn't move.

Only after several minutes had passed without any further disturbance did he move again, walking toward the Prayer Altar.

His shoes left dirty black prints on the dark red carpet.

Soon, Lin Sheng stood before the Prayer Altar, facing the thick, gold-edged book.

"This thing must be special. It might even be the source of whatever's strange about this place." Lin Sheng stared carefully at the golden book, then slowly reached out and touched its cover.

The cover felt warm and soft, almost like human skin.

Lin Sheng paused, then slowly turned to the first page.

Whoosh.

The snow-white first page came into view.

"The city is growing more and more chaotic. I can't waste any more time here. Outsider, whoever you are, if you were able to pass through the Holy Ring, it means you haven't been infected.

"I've left a Gray Seal here as the foundation for teaching at this church in the future. If possible, I ask you to leave a seed for Black Feather City. May Hill protect you."

The fine, elegant handwriting in Guren Script was clearly that of a woman.

Lin Sheng noticed a red seal below the writing. Tiny words were carved into it: Light of Hope, Anselia.

"Anselia? Light of Hope?"

Lin Sheng frowned, stood at the Prayer Altar, and slowly turned through the book, page by page.

The more he read, the more he realized that the book was completely different from what he had first expected.

Titled the Dawn Canon, it was an item the Temple used specifically to pass down its teachings and train Temple Knights. Apart from that, it had no other function.

Lin Sheng skimmed through the pages quickly, soon wearing an excited expression.

The book recorded a method of cultivation unique to the Temple—the Gray Seal Method.

A Gray Seal was a special, mysterious symbol. As long as one kept it in the depths of one's mind and meditated on it regularly, it could grant all kinds of wondrous powers and strengthen the self.

The Gray Seal Method was the Limit Breaking Method the Temple used to train Temple Knights on a large scale.

According to the book,

even people with ordinary physiques could use this method. Meditating on a Gray Seal could rapidly increase their physical strength.

The degree of improvement depended on which Gray Seal they meditated on.

According to the book, there were many Gray Seals. Each had a different symbol and its own special effects.

Meditating on different Gray Seals produced different effects. Naturally, the improvement varied as well.

The Gray Seals seemed like a shortcut to power.

But as Lin Sheng continued reading, he soon noticed that the person named Anselia had written many notes in the blank margins of the pages.

Some concerned the conditions required for meditating on a Gray Seal.

"To select candidates for the Temple Knights, the most important prerequisite is mental strength. Only those with a strong mind and will can successfully meditate on a Gray Seal."

Another note revealed Anselia's concern.

"The Gray Seal must be passed down by directly facing the original version of its symbol. But the Gray Seal in Black Feather City's Book of Inheritance won't last much longer. Lis, have you heard back about your application to the Holy City?"

"There's another name—Lis?" Lin Sheng's attention was caught, and he continued reading.

Soon, he found another note among the pages.

"My third application has been rejected again. Lady Anselia, I have a bad feeling."

Lin Sheng paused, then continued turning the pages.

He soon found the page containing the Gray Seal.

It was an extremely unusual page. A complex, delicate, strange symbol was drawn in the center of the snow-white paper.

It looked like a giant bird with wings outstretched, ready to fly, or a giant snake crawling across the earth. At a glance, it also resembled an immovable, sturdy church.

The entire symbol was dark red, striking against the page.