344: Chapter 345 A monster with all attributes at level 5? High Priest: Everyone, use potions and gang up on him!

The mining pit was larger than Lin Qi had expected.

From the edge to the center, the linear distance was nearly two kilometers. The pit was terraced, sinking down layer by layer, with the deepest point roughly three hundred meters underground.

Mining equipment from the old era lay scattered across the pit walls—the wreckage of giant excavators, rusted conveyor belt frames, and collapsed control consoles. Covered by the dark red Shi Gu soil, these industrial remains looked like metallic skeletons half-devoured by some living tissue.

Lin Qi stood at the edge of the pit and glanced down.

There was light at the bottom of the pit.

It wasn't the dark red light of the Shi Gu soil—it was a more distinct, purplish light.

That was the light of the faith channel.

A purple pillar of light shot straight into the sky from the deepest part of the pit, but after reaching a certain height, it was pressed back by some force, forming a hemispherical dome.

The dome—it was set up by the Church itself.

It was used to conceal the existence of the faith channel and prevent it from being discovered by the outside world.

But to Lin Qi, this dome was like a neon sign erected in the wilderness—'There is a BOSS here, please enter.'

On the terraced walls of the pit, the concentration of Shi Gu soil was a level higher than the periphery. Those low-level faith creations were also larger and more densely packed here.

However, what truly caught Lin Qi's attention were four special locations.

At the four cardinal directions of the pit's terraces—East, South, West, and North—there was an area clearly different from the surrounding Shi Gu soil. Those four areas were regular circles, and at the center of each was a small altar built from dark red Ore.

Four altars, four Deacons.

The layout in Ashes' memory matched the actual situation.

But there was one variable.

Lin Qi's perception told him that only three of the four altars were occupied.

The fourth one—the one on the east side—was empty.

One Deacon was missing.

Out on patrol? Out on a mission? Or had they already been reassigned?

Lin Qi didn't know the reason, but he didn't like this uncertainty.

One missing meant he might be ambushed from behind while clearing the scene.

"Fine then."

He didn't spend too much time dwelling on the issue.

If one was missing, then one was missing. He'd deal with it when it happened.

Lin Qi lifted his foot and stepped onto the first step of the pit's terrace.

As his foot landed, at the bottom of the pit two kilometers away, beside the purple pillar of light, a cross-legged figure opened his eyes.

The figure wore a large grey robe, with a hood covering most of his face, revealing only a sharp chin and pale lips.

A bronze mirror was placed in front of him.

Reflected in the bronze mirror was not his own face, but a real-time image of the pit's edge—a young man was walking down the steps.

"He's here."

The High Priest's voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself.

He didn't stand up; instead, he reached out a hand and tapped the ground three times.

Three soft taps.

They were very light, but they conducted far across the Shi Gu ground.

At three of the four cardinal directions where the altars were occupied, a person looked up.

On the southern altar, a tall man wrapped in iron-grey armor slowly stood up. His armor wasn't worn; it grew out of his skin. The surface of the armor was covered in dark red patterns, identical in color to the Shi Gu soil.

Code name: 'Shi Gu'.

On the western altar, a thin woman—yes, a woman—floated cross-legged half a meter above the altar. Her body was enveloped in a semi-transparent membrane, with dark purple liquid flowing inside.

Code name: 'Nirvana'.

On the northern altar, a being of indiscernible gender slowly rose from the Shi Gu soil. It had no fixed form—one moment it was humanoid, the next a cloud of mist, and then it became a mass of writhing tentacles.

Code name: 'Rift'.

The three inner-circle Deacons simultaneously received the High Priest's alert.

But none of them moved immediately. An outsider intruding into the mining area had happened before. Usually, the low-level creations in the peripheral Shi Gu soil could solve the problem. There was no need for a Deacon to act.

'Shi Gu' leaned against the edge of the altar, staring lazily at the small black dot walking down the steps at the edge of the pit.

"One person?" His voice sounded like metal scraping.

"One person," the High Priest replied.

"Just let the things in the Shi Gu soil bite him to death."

"They can't."

Shi Gu's brow twitched. "What are his stats?"

"5."

"...5?"

"All attributes are 5. An anomaly that the System cannot analyze."

Shi Gu was quiet for two seconds. Then he remembered something.

Three days ago, three peripheral Deacons—Eye of the Abyss, Ashes, and Bone Crown—went to attack that stronghold in Tianhai City. They never returned.

Only a brief intelligence report was received via the Church's internal communications: All three were wiped out.

That report didn't detail the opponent's identity. But Shi Gu knew that anyone who could wipe out three peripheral Deacons was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Now, an anomaly with 'all stats at 5' had walked into the mining area alone—

"Boss," Shi Gu said to the High Priest, "is the one who came the same guy who took out Eye of the Abyss and the others?"

The High Priest didn't answer.

He simply lifted the bronze mirror, aiming it at Lin Qi's figure and zooming in on the image.

In the mirror, Lin Qi walked down the steps step by step. Wherever he passed, the Shi Gu soil automatically receded. Those low-level creations that lunged at him dissolved silently upon contacting the purified area beneath his feet.

He walked very slowly, very casually.

As if he were taking a stroll in his own backyard.

The High Priest watched for a long time.

"It's him."

In the bronze mirror's image, the entrenching tool slung over Lin Qi's shoulder was clearly visible.

The High Priest recognized that shovel.

To be precise, he recognized the Law patterns on the shovel—they were recorded three days ago when Eye of the Abyss sent back a final image to 'Our Lord' through the faith channel.

That shovel had severed a dimensional connection.

Cleanly, one strike per target.

The High Priest put down the bronze mirror and finally stood up.

His height was ordinary, his build lean; standing next to the purple pillar of light, his shadow was stretched very long.

"Shi Gu."

"Present."

"Call Nirvana and Rift. All three of you go together."

Shi Gu paused.

"All three of us?"

In his memory, the High Priest had never given such an order. An inner-circle Deacon acting alone could sweep across an entire city. Three together—what kind of concept was that?

"Boss, aren't you overestimating him? It's just one person."

The High Priest didn't explain.

He reached out and swiped the bronze mirror, and the image disappeared. Then he looked up at the figure above the pit who was purifying the Shi Gu soil with his footsteps.

Across a distance of two kilometers, the High Priest looked as if he were watching a distant, dangerous, and unpredictable thing.

"Eye of the Abyss's Law Vision was personally carved by me. His Law of Causality attack could shake the Foundation of a fourth-turn powerhouse."

"That young man snapped it with his hands."

Shi Gu's mouth hung open.

"Are you sure the intelligence isn't wrong?"

"I saw the playback with my own eyes. High-definition footage sent back through the faith channel."

Shi Gu fell silent.

He looked down at the iron-grey armor growing from his flesh. This armor could withstand a full-strength strike from a fourth-turn Peak. He once felt that nothing in this world could break through it.

But now, he suddenly wasn't so sure.

"Is three of us enough?" he asked a question he had never asked before.

The High Priest turned back and walked toward the core of the faith channel.

"Whether it's enough, we'll only know after the fight."

His hand pressed against the edge of the purple pillar of light.

"But before you take the field—"

His fingers sank into the pillar of light, and dark red patterns began to spread along his arm.

"I have to raise the channel's output power to the maximum first."

"And give each of you a shot of stimulant."

At the bottom of the pit, the purple pillar of light suddenly brightened.