Harvest 2

Drizzle fell continuously, and Lin Sheng quickened his pace, using the sound of water dripping from the eaves to mask his movements.

He quickly deduced that he must be in the aristocratic district of Black Feather City. He was less than two hundred meters away from the Valen Temple he was searching for.

Lucky!

His heart leaped with joy. Confirming that no one was around, he didn't hesitate and bolted toward the direction of the Valen Temple.

Pat, pat, pat, pat.

The crisp sound of his footsteps seemed to disturb something within the city. As the echoes reverberated, he could vaguely sense movement rapidly spreading through the dark building complexes on both sides.

Lin Sheng didn't care anymore; the worst that could happen was death.

He had been too cautious, which was why his progress in strength had been so slow. Even if he died, he had to take this chance to see if he could find the Valen Temple.

He reached the two-hundred-meter mark quickly.

Lin Sheng made a sharp turn in the rain, rounded a street corner, and soon came to a halt before a gray-white, spire-topped church.

The exterior of the church looked no different from an ordinary Catholic church, save for a dark yellow metal ring encircling the top of the structure.

The massive ring surrounded the church, enclosing the entire building as if it were wearing a collar.

Lin Sheng also noticed that the enormous ring seemed to be inscribed with a multitude of mysterious and complex symbols.

Just by standing at the church entrance, he felt the large-scale, inexplicable movements behind him rapidly subside.

Soon, the surroundings returned to peace.

It's as if everything is in awe of this place, a thought suddenly flashed through Lin Sheng's mind.

However, he felt no fear; he wasn't afraid of dying anyway.

He hadn't intended to leave alive when he charged in. He would treat this as a reconnaissance mission to uncover the truth.

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

He walked through the open gate, passed the rusted iron fence, and stepped into the courtyard, slowing his pace as he looked around.

To his surprise, upon entering the courtyard, his body felt lighter, and a faint sense of peace welled up within him.

Under the silver moonlight, the ten-meter-tall church faintly exuded a sacred and gentle aura.

Within a radius of several dozen meters around the church, every area inside the dark yellow ring gave one a mysterious sense of security.

Lin Sheng walked forward slowly, reached the main entrance of the church, and looked up at the doors, which were over two meters high.

On the black metal doors was a depiction of a sorrowful, helpless human face. It was a simple sketch without much detail, yet the expression of misery was incredibly vivid.

To the right of the door, a small stone pillar stood on the ground, with a passage carved into it.

'Believe in the Light, purge the darkness!'

On the rounded surface of the stone pillar, this text was carved in a ring, exceptionally neat, as if printed or engraved.

Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly, reached out, pressed his hands against the doors, and pushed with force.

Screech.

The doors made a faint sound as they parted inward from the center.

A neat and tranquil church hall appeared before Lin Sheng's eyes.

Standing before the entrance, he looked past the rows of pews and saw the prayer altar at the very end.

On the white prayer altar lay a thick, gold-edged tome. The cover was inlaid with a diamond-shaped blue crystal, and the edges were covered in mysterious runes similar to those on the ring outside.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but as Lin Sheng's gaze fell upon that diamond-shaped crystal, he felt as if the object were glowing.

He stepped forward cautiously and entered the hall.

The moment he stepped into the hall, a layer of invisible ripples washed over him and vanished instantly.

What was that!? Lin Sheng was startled; the ripple had been extremely distinct, feeling just like some sort of inspection or scan.

He froze in place for a moment, not daring to move.

After several full minutes passed with no further movement in the surroundings, he began to move again, stepping toward the prayer altar.

His shoes trod upon the dark red carpet, leaving behind stains of black marks.

Soon, Lin Sheng stood before the prayer altar, facing the heavy, gold-edged book.

This thing is definitely extraordinary; it might be the source of the anomalies here. Lin Sheng stared intently at the golden book before him. He reached out slowly and touched the cover.

The cover of the book felt warm and soft, as if he were touching human skin.

Lin Sheng paused for a moment, then slowly flipped open the first page.

Swish.

The snow-white first page appeared before his eyes.

'The city is becoming increasingly chaotic, and I cannot waste time here. Outsider, whoever you are, being able to pass through the Holy Ring means you are not infected.

Here, I leave behind a Gray Seal as the foundation for future teachings in this church. If you are able, I implore you to leave behind a seed for Black Feather City. May Hill bless you.'

The handwriting of this Guren Script was slender and elegant, clearly written by a woman.

Lin Sheng noticed a red seal at the end, with small characters carved inside: Light of Hope, Anselia.

Anselia? Light of Hope?

Lin Sheng frowned, stepped onto the prayer platform, and slowly began to flip through the massive tome page by page.

As he read more of the content, he realized that this book was completely different from what he had previously imagined.

Titled the Dawn Canon, it was a tool specifically used by the temple to pass down the training of temple knights. Aside from this inheritance, it served no other purpose.

Lin Sheng scanned the pages rapidly, and soon, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

The book recorded a unique cultivation system exclusive to the temple—the Gray Seal Method.

A Gray Seal was a special mystical symbol. By simply retaining its memory deep within one's heart and meditating on it constantly, one could receive various marvelous feedback of power and strengthen oneself.

The Gray Seal Method was the Limit Breaking Method used by the temple to train temple knights in large numbers.

According to the book.

This method could be used even by those with ordinary physical constitutions. Meditating on a Gray Seal could rapidly increase one's physical strength.

The nature of this improvement depended on which Gray Seal was being meditated upon.

As recorded in the book, there were many Gray Seals, and different Gray Seal runes possessed different special effects.

Meditating on different Gray Seals produced different feedback, and naturally, the resulting improvements were also different.

The Gray Seal seemed like a shortcut to becoming powerful.

However, as Lin Sheng continued to flip through the pages, he soon discovered that the person named Anselia had made many annotations in the margins.

Among them were the prerequisites for meditating on a Gray Seal.

"The most important prerequisite for selecting a seed for a temple knight is the spirit. Only those with a strong spirit and a strong will have the possibility of successfully meditating on a Gray Seal."

Another annotation revealed the worry in Anselia's heart.

"The inheritance of the Gray Seal requires facing the first edition of the Gray Seal rune directly, but the Gray Seal in the inheritance book of Black Feather City will not last much longer. Lis, has your application to the Holy City not been approved yet?"

Another name, Lis? Lin Sheng's heart stirred, and he continued reading.

Soon, he found another annotation on a flipped page.

"My third application was rejected again. Lady Anselia, I have an ominous premonition in my heart."

Lin Sheng paused, then continued flipping downward.

Before long, he found the page containing the Gray Seal.

It was an extremely special page; on the snow-white paper, an exceptionally complex and intricate, bizarre symbol was carved in the center.

It looked like a giant bird spreading its wings to fly, yet also like a giant snake crawling across the earth. At a glance, it also resembled a sturdy, immovable church.

The entire symbol was dark red throughout, making it incredibly striking.