A ball of purple flame hovered at the tip of Chen Feng’s finger, reflecting sharply in the cathedral.

“Who are you?” Father Hasse’s face was as dark as stagnant water.

He could sense that this youth was absolutely not someone easily trifled with, so while shouting in anger, he was secretly on guard.

“Father Dela cannot die!” Chen Feng stated calmly.

He didn't want to meddle, but this was a situation he had to intervene in; if Father Hasse killed Father Dela, his plan to utilize the [Natural Gate] would become significantly more difficult.

“He cannot die… then you die first!” Father Hasse shrieked, concentrating a black mist in his hand and slashing it toward Chen Feng.

The flame at Chen Feng’s fingertip suddenly flared tenfold, making the cathedral seem to erupt in fire. Simultaneously, his domain suddenly expanded, enveloping everyone within.

“Boom!”

The black mist and the flame collided within the domain and vanished into the air simultaneously.

“You have some tricks up your sleeve!” Father Hasse sneered, his body turning like air, instantly merging with the natural surroundings, seemingly vanishing in a flash. At the same moment, Chen Feng immediately felt his domain being churned by a peculiar force, making it difficult even for him to maintain control.

“Die!” Father Hasse roared. A wave of light instantly materialized before him, crashing violently against Chen Feng’s body.

“KABOOM!” A tremendous sound erupted around him, like a landmine detonating.

“What kind of reckless brat dares to seek death like this!” Father Hasse said with a cold laugh.

He knew this light wave was bestowed by a divine envoy and was called the “Death Wave.” Against anyone with the strength of a Venerable Ming, it was guaranteed to kill once struck. It was his most potent life-saving trump card.

Seeing the youth’s purple mist was strange, he dared not prolong the fight and deployed it immediately.

“No wonder you were so aggressive earlier; you were holding back a move. But don't count on him either. Once you’re hit by my Death Wave, there’s no chance of survival!” Father Hasse fixed his gaze on Father Dela, who lay on the ground, letting out a sinister chuckle.

He assumed Chen Feng was Father Dela’s subordinate.

“Is that so?” Suddenly, a cold voice sounded from behind him, startling him greatly.

“How can you be completely unharmed? Impossible…” Terror bloomed on Father Hasse’s face. He distinctly saw the Death Wave strike the opponent, yet the youth hadn't changed in the slightest. How could this not send shivers down his spine?

“Since you seek death, I won't hold back!” Chen Feng shouted coldly. The flames within the domain suddenly intensified, instantly making Father Hasse feel as if he were trapped inside a furnace exceeding ten thousand degrees.

“Hmm, it actually merged with my flame?” Chen Feng was momentarily stunned. As the flame approached, Father Hasse’s mental fluctuations grew violent, and he managed to transform himself into a ball of flame in an instant, rendering Chen Feng’s flame energy utterly useless against him.

“But merging with my flame is still useless!” Chen Feng declared. His eyes snapped open, and the heat of the flames abruptly increased by nearly tenfold!

It was a furnace of zero degrees just a moment ago; now it instantly shot up to one hundred thousand degrees!

“Ah…”

Even if Father Hasse could merge with nature, there was a limit. One hundred thousand degrees was definitely beyond what he could endure. With a miserable cry, his entire body was forced out of its merged state, his clothes burning fiercely.

Chen Feng moved in a flash, retracting his domain, and a streak shot towards his opponent in an instant.

Crack! Crack!

With a series of crisp sounds, both of Father Hasse’s arms were crushed into powder by Chen Feng.

“I’ll leave the rest to you!” Chen Feng casually tossed Father Hasse to White, who had just walked into the cathedral. He never liked to involve himself in matters of interrogation.

Father Dela, injured on the ground, said faintly, “Thank you for saving me.” He rose and walked before Father Hasse, placing his hands together: “Heretic, if you can return to the embrace of my Lord, I believe my Lord will forgive you!”

Chen Feng shook his head, surprised by such devout faith, so devout that it bordered on foolishness.

Upon hearing this, Father Hasse snarled, “I told you, your god has perished; only my god is eternal!” As he spoke, a stream of black blood erupted from his eyes, and he died instantly.

It seemed he was prepared for death, carrying potent poison on his person to prevent any information from being extracted through interrogation.

“Alas!” Father Dela displayed a look of pity as he watched him die. “May my Lord bless him so he may awaken soon!”

After muttering for a while, presumably performing some rite of passage, Chen Feng and White exchanged glances, both feeling a sense of helplessness at Father Dela’s rigid adherence to form.

“You two are…” After concluding his rites, Father Dela finally noticed Chen Feng and White, asking with curiosity.

White quickly stepped forward to explain: “Reverend Father Dela, we are traveling companions intending to go to Kejia City, so we came to ask to borrow passage through the [Natural Gate]!”

Travelers were the term for free cultivators who did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Holy See.

Father Dela said, “You saved my life; I am deeply grateful!”

White quickly replied humbly, “It was only what we ought to do!” At the same time, he rejoiced internally, sensing hope.

“The [Natural Gate] of the cathedral is only for use by internal personnel of the Holy See. Although I owe you a life, my life is dedicated to my Lord, so I cannot break the rules!” Father Dela shook his head.

The meaning was clear: no access.

“We are also believers in the God of Justice, and this trip is specifically to utilize the [Natural Gate] to make a pilgrimage to Kejia City!” White, being smooth and versatile, piled on lies as easily as breathing when dealing with this type of person.

“Since it is a pilgrimage, you may use the [Natural Gate]!” Father Dela stated. “However, I must test your devotion.”

“Devotion can be tested?” Chen Feng was momentarily taken aback, but he saw White wearing a look of bitter resignation.

“Follow me!” Father Dela said, turning and walking into the depths of the cathedral.

“What is this devotion test?” Chen Feng quietly asked White.

White rolled his eyes. Seeing Father Dela had walked some distance ahead, he whispered, “It’s a test of one’s piety toward the deity. When the test comes, you must keep thinking about the God of Justice… But I don’t think we can pass,” he added with helplessness. “I really didn’t expect this old man to be so stubbornly traditional; we saved his life, and he still makes us go through this procedure!”

Chen Feng was about to ask more details when he saw Father Dela standing inside the cathedral interior, turning to face the two men. (Read novels all the way, PC site w\w\w.1\6\k.c\n)

“The glory of my Lord is omnipresent; justice endures in the world!” Father Dela closed his eyes, praying sincerely. He suddenly pointed his right hand upward, and a pure white pillar of light shot down from above the cathedral. Under the illumination of this beam, his figure flickered in the air, looking like an immortal descending to the mortal realm.

“So this old man isn't entirely inflexible; he knows how to pull a fast one!” Chen Feng swept his mental perception across the area and instantly knew the source of these beams.

The ceiling of the cathedral was inlaid with some luminescent crystals, though they weren't very bright. With a gesture just now, he had used the power of nature to manipulate them, gathering the light to form the pillar before him.

If common folk saw such a beam, they would certainly deem it a miracle and fall into involuntary belief.

Stories of gods and ghosts have always utilized such petty tricks to deceive the populace and siphon off their faith.

As Chen Feng was contemplating this, he felt someone tugging at his coat sleeve. Turning, he saw White lowering his head, a look of intense piety on his face.

He immediately understood and hastily lowered his own head, speaking along with White in pious tones: “The glory of my Lord is omnipresent; justice endures in the world!”

Father Dela opened his eyes, turned around, and retrieved a piece of transparent crystal stone, about the size of a chestnut, from a table in front of him.

When Chen Feng saw this crystal, a sense of familiarity washed over him—it was a Faith Crystal!

However, this one was vastly inferior in both quality and appearance; it was worlds apart from his own, perhaps by a hundred thousand miles.

Back when the “Luminous God’s Mansion” was shattered by a single finger strike from Jin Xuanhu, the Faith Crystal controlling the mansion was destroyed along with it, disappearing. Chen Feng had felt it was a pity, never expecting to encounter such a stone here.

“My faithful believers of the Lord, if you place your hands on this crystal and sincerely recite the words we just spoke, the crystal will turn blue. The deeper the color, the more devout your faith proves to be!” Father Dela explained.

Chen Feng then understood how the degree of devotion was measured. It made sense: the more devout a person, the more power of faith they possessed, which the Faith Crystal could absorb more readily, thus causing the crystal to change color was logical.

“You first!” Father Dela pointed to White.

White wore a look of deep distress. He was a non-believer; asking him to test first meant the crystal wouldn't change color at all. Yet, cornered, he had no choice but to tough it out.

Taking the Faith Crystal from Father Dela’s hand, he closed his eyes. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he recited the devout words: “The glory of my Lord is omnipresent; justice endures in the world!”

When he finished, he cautiously opened his eyes slightly and glanced at the crystal in his hand. It hadn't changed at all; it remained clear and transparent.

“You are someone who does not trust my Lord, so you cannot pass through the [Natural Gate]!” the Father said calmly, taking the crystal back from his hand and handing it to Chen Feng. “May the Lord bless you!”

Clearly, through White, he had deduced that these two men were fundamentally without faith. If Chen Feng hadn't saved him, he probably wouldn't have given them even this chance to test.

Chen Feng took the crystal stone and glanced at White, who shrugged with a look of dejection.

Looking at the crystal in his hand, Chen Feng suddenly thought, “As long as I have the power of faith, it can change color. I have no faith, so how can I produce such a thing? However, my bloodstream fused with a lot of faith power back then; perhaps that can have some effect!”

With this thought, he controlled his blood, letting a single drop seep from his fingertip, aiming it slowly toward the Faith Crystal.

“The glory of my Lord is omnipresent; justice endures in the world!” he said in the manner of a charlatan.

Before he could finish speaking, the Faith Crystal began turning increasingly blue, instantly shifting to a deep blue-black.

“CRASH!”

The chestnut-sized Faith Crystal exploded in that single instant!