211: Heading towards the Papacy

The next day.

The aroma of toasted bread wafted through the cracks in the door and into Xu Le's nose.

"What a childish tactic!"

Xu Le shook his head. Stepping outside, he saw Little Fatty from a distance, holding toasted bread and constantly fanning the scent toward him.

Seeing Xu Le approach, Little Fatty hurriedly put away the bread and picked up a solid wood greatsword.

"Spu, repent!"

Xu Le: "..."

Little Fatty: "Stubborn fool, accept a Knight's judgment!"

Little Fatty seemed to "adhere" to the Knight's code of fairness, tossing a short solid wood sword over to Xu Le.

Length being barely half aside, the blade also had several deep saw marks. It would likely snap into pieces after just one or two hard clashes.

Worried Xu Le would complain about the unfairness, Little Fatty immediately launched a charge followed by a cleave.

Xu Le's current vessel was only at the Mortal level, and he hadn't even undergone Awakening for a class yet. However, possessing the "Indestructible Battle Staff," he could spot hundreds of flaws with just a single glance.

With a slight shift of his body, the short sword in his hand struck Little Fatty's right hand.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

Xu Le hadn't used much force, but Little Fatty gasped in pain. He began swinging his greatsword to seek revenge.

A minute later, Little Fatty had failed his charge thirty-two times. No matter how brave he was, he felt discouraged now.

"Despicable Spu! You agreed to become a Priest, yet you've been secretly training in Knight's swordsmanship. I won't give up!"

Little Fatty forced himself to rush toward the bedroom. A fat woman came out of the kitchen and hurriedly asked upon seeing this, "What happened?"

"None of your business!"

After shouting, Little Fatty ran back to his bedroom sobbing, followed by loud wailing.

"You useless trash, what did you do?" The fat woman was furious and about to continue her tirade, but she met Xu Le's cold gaze and immediately swallowed her words.

Time flew by, and three days passed.

Xu Le had completely learned the language of this world.

Over these days, he repeatedly defeated Little Fatty's challenges and realized the boy wasn't as detestable as he had imagined—he was just a spoiled, misguided big boy.

The truly malicious one was his mother.

Every scheme against Xu Le was her careful design. She even put weakening poison in his bowl and whispered in Old John's ear every night, trying to hire an Assassin to kill Xu Le.

Xu Le planned that when the Assassin arrived, he would make him "betray his principles for profit" and kill the employer instead.

Unfortunately, although Old John usually followed the fat woman's every word, he strictly forbade her when she truly intended to kill.

Xu Le had no choice but to change his plan.

One day, while both Old John and Little Fatty were away, Xu Le found the fat woman.

Amidst her terrified expression, Xu Le cast "Universal Salvation" on her.

"God, I have sinned!"

Xu Le: "If you have sinned, then tell me all about it."

The grudge between her and Spu was much as Xu Le had guessed. He had no interest in knowing more and directly asked for information about this world.

After some conversation, Xu Le gained a basic understanding of this place.

There was no ceremony for Awakening at age 18 here.

To become transcendent, one had to join the Holy See and become a Knight or a Priest.

Knights tempered their Physical Bodies, while Priests cultivated Divine Arts. The two complemented each other, jointly maintaining the security of the Holy See.

Others, such as Hunters, Archers, and Assassins, were merely trained ordinary people.

This world was sparsely populated. While crop yields were not ideal, they were barely enough to sustain life.

But to become literate and gain more knowledge, one had to join the Holy See.

Here, people only knew of the Pope and Priests, not kings or lords; perhaps there were no lords or kings.

Joining the Holy See required not only a large registration fee but also passing the Holy See's testing.

The registration fee was simple enough, but the testing... what did they test?

Xu Le knew that this world had angels and deities, beings no less powerful than big shots like the Death God.

He had no certainty at all about whether he could pass the testing.

But when Xu Le thought about how long he would need to lay low before he could break out of here, his scalp tingled.

Living in the countryside was fine for a while, but if he spent centuries here, he feared he might forget he was a god.

"I want to register for the church."

"Yes, God!"

A hint of hesitation flashed across the fat woman's face. The family's savings were only enough for one person to register, which was one of the reasons she had targeted Spu.

"Your faith isn't firm enough!"

Xu Le rubbed his chin and cast another "Universal Salvation" on her.

Thinking of Little Fatty, who wasn't inherently bad, Xu Le gave the fat woman a sum of money.

"In the future, keep your respect for me in your heart. No need to pray; just treat me as you did before."

Since there were many angels in this world, Xu Le decided not to covet that bit of faith value. Safety first.

"Yes, God!"

The fat woman nodded respectfully.

"I said, treat me as you did before."

"God, I have sinned!"

The fat woman was terrified, looking as if Xu Le were asking for her life.

"This is a divine decree!" Xu Le emphasized.

Only then did the fat woman reluctantly agree.

That evening.

The fat woman prepared a sumptuous feast.

"Tomorrow, I will send Spu and Hodgelin to register at the Holy See, striving to let them fulfill their dreams."

"That's wonderful!"

Old John slapped the table excitedly, but soon calmed down.

The Holy See's registration fee was not cheap. Many ordinary families might labor their whole lives and still not accumulate enough wealth.

They could afford it because of the wealth left behind by Spu's parents.

Over the years, his wife had been scheming, quarreling, and even resorting to underhanded tactics, all for that money.

Now that she was generously bringing it out, it seemed more and more eerie... The next day.

John hitched up a carriage and took Xu Le and Little Fatty toward the Holy See in the small town.

The carriage traveled for nearly two hours before finally arriving at the town.

Many classes were coming and going in the town, making it look prosperous, but looking at their crude equipment, one could tell they weren't doing well.

However, the Knights and Priests maintaining order on the streets—the former in heavy, thick armor and the latter in ornate, noble robes—were clearly superior to others.

After arriving at the Holy See, Old John earnestly told them many things about the assessment. Xu Le even heard a story about an ordinary person who was favored by a Bishop because he picked up a piece of paper and threw it into the trash.

Little Fatty: ٩(*´◒`*)۶

Xu Le: ⊂[┐'_'┌]⊃

After the two paid the high registration fee and signed a non-disclosure agreement, they were led into the examination hall.

The hall was clean and tidy, without a single scrap of trash, and the floor was so polished it could reflect a person's image.

Little Fatty leaned in secretly: "Spu, in a bit, you drop a piece of paper, and I'll pick it up and throw it in the trash bin next to us. Then we'll switch, how about it?"

Xu Le turned back in "astonishment": "What? You're asking me to litter here?"

Little Fatty was shocked and hurriedly tried to cover Xu Le's mouth, but how could he possibly reach it?

The Nun leading the way remained expressionless, showing no emotion. Little Fatty lowered his head in dejection.