349: Chapter 350 One shovel shatters thirty years! Recruiting the deacon as a security guard

The High Priest heard Shi Gu's words.

He wanted to say something—like "Giving up is not allowed" or "Our Lord will give us strength," standard lines from their doctrine.

But he opened his mouth and couldn't say anything.

Because he looked down at his own hands.

His hands pressing against the surface of the beam of light no longer had any effect.

The formatting speed of the Dao Source far exceeded the repair speed of his Soul frequency calibration.

He was like a man trying to plug a crack in a dam with his bare hands—the water had already risen above his head.

The diameter of the faith channel's light beam was now less than a meter.

Thirty years.

He had stayed in this desolate mine pit for thirty years.

No companions, no entertainment, no social interaction between living people.

His daily life consisted of maintaining the channel, strengthening the roots, and expanding the vein connections.

Thirty years, day after day.

He had welded his Soul to this channel.

Now—a young man walked in carrying an entrenching tool and, in less than twenty minutes, scrubbed it all clean.

The High Priest suddenly laughed.

Not a bitter laugh, not a crazy laugh—it was a very light, faint laugh.

Perhaps because he felt it was too absurd.

Thirty years versus twenty minutes.

Every day of scheming and persistence couldn't compare to the violent cleansing of a single strike from the other person's shovel.

"What are you laughing at?" Shi Gu looked at the High Priest and asked.

"Laughing at myself." The High Priest took his hands off the light beam. He stopped blocking it. "Shi Gu, you're right. We lost."

He turned his head to look at Lin Qi, who was busy with the full-power formatting.

"You won."

Lin Qi didn't reply.

It wasn't that he didn't want to talk—it was that the formatting had entered its final stage, and the last batch of roots deep in the mineral vein were being cleared. At this moment, it required maximum focus and the most precise control of the Dao Source.

The consequence of being distracted was the possibility of missing one or two roots.

Any missed roots could regrow within a few months, making all previous efforts go to waste.

So Lin Qi chose to ignore him.

The High Priest didn't mind. His gaze shifted away from Lin Qi and looked at the sky above the mine pit.

The sky was beginning to turn white.

He had watched many sunrises in this mine pit.

The sunrise underground came late—the sun had to rise to a certain angle before the light could reach the bottom of the pit.

Today was probably the last time he would watch the sunrise here.

"Our Lord will not let you go," the High Priest said softly. "What you pulled out today was just one root. The Throat of Devouring Heaven has three High Priests and three faith channels. You pulled out one, but there are still two left."

"And—"

His voice became even quieter.

"The Sowing Ritual is not as simple as you imagine. Activating all seven seeds is just one of the conditions. The true descent requires—"

He didn't finish.

Because his body shattered.

It wasn't shattered by an attack.

It was the moment the faith channel broke—the binding between the channel and his Soul was forcibly ripped apart—and the Soul backlash tore his Physical Body to pieces.

Purple fragments drifted in the air.

It was like a porcelain doll dropped from a height, shattering into countless pieces.

Something fell to the ground from within the fragments.

That law seed.

The one the High Priest had pressed into his chest cavity to strengthen himself earlier.

It rolled out from the High Priest's shattered body and landed on the gray-brown rock.

The writhing patterns on the surface of the dark purple seed—stopped.

It turned into a dead object.

The High Priest had consumed a large amount of energy using it to strengthen himself just now, and with the faith channel breaking, the seed's energy supply was cut off—

This seed was ruined.

Seven became six.

Lin Qi didn't look up until the formatting was completely finished.

He pulled out his entrenching tool and scanned the bottom of the mine pit.

The purple beam of light had disappeared.

All Earth Erosion had faded away.

The mine pit returned to its most primitive state—a dusty, unremarkable abandoned mine pit.

After the essence vein deep underground had been cleansed by the Dao Source, it was as clean as new.

The High Priest had shattered into a pile of purple fragments.

A dull, inactive law seed rolled on the ground.

The three inner deacons—Shi Gu stood in the distance, having retracted his armor; Silence floated in mid-air, curled inside a membrane; Rift lay paralyzed on the ground, a puddle of sludge.

Lin Qi bent down and picked up the seed.

It felt cold to the touch, with no energy fluctuations.

It was dead through and through.

He put the seed into his pocket.

"Although it's a dead seed, it's still good to take it back and show that money-grubber Zhang Wei. At least let him know what this thing looks like." Lin Qi muttered to himself.

Then he looked at Shi Gu.

Shi Gu stood there, without his armor, covered in scars, his hands hanging by his sides.

His posture didn't look like he was going to resist, nor did it look like he was surrendering—he was just standing there.

"You're called Shi Gu?" Lin Qi asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you guys still going to fight?"

Shi Gu was silent for two seconds.

"The boss is dead. The channel is broken. Who are we supposed to fight for?"

Silence descended from mid-air and landed next to Shi Gu. She also released the membrane wrapping, revealing a very young, pale woman's face.

"We were recruited into the church by the High Priest." Silence's voice was much more normal than imagined. "He died, and the Law contract between us and the church broke along with him."

"Does that mean you're free?"

"You could say that." Silence tilted her head. "When we first joined the church, the contract was bound to the High Priest, not to 'Our Lord.' Once the High Priest dies, the contract automatically expires."

Lin Qi understood.

The church's low-level followers were brainwashed using law seed fragments, and their contracts were bound to Soul anchors, with no possibility of release.

But the inner deacons were different—their contracts were signed through the High Priest, and the High Priest himself was the anchor of the contract. With the anchor gone, the contract naturally dissolved.

In other words, these inner deacons weren't true believers—they were mercenaries bound by contract.

"So you guys don't actually believe in the Throat of Devouring Heaven?" Lin Qi asked.

Shi Gu rubbed his bald head.

"Believe? Believe in a mouth? Do I look like that kind of idiot?"

"Then why did you join the church in the first place?"

"I was poor." Shi Gu's answer was simple and brutal. "Before joining the church, I was a fourth-turn Loose Cultivator, with no sect or affiliation. Every time I took a mission, the guild would undercut my pay. The High Priest found me and said that if I joined, he'd give me resources and Law enhancements, and I could get stronger. So I came."

"So what are your plans now?"

Shi Gu thought for a moment.

"Do you provide meals?"

Lin Qi looked at him, neither saying yes nor no.

He turned his head to look at the puddle of sludge on the ground—Rift.

"What about that one? Can it recover?"

"Yes," Silence said. "Rift's true form is a collection of spatial fissures. Your Dao Source sealed its fissures, and it needs time to reopen them. It should be able to recover its mobility in a day or two."

"Is it also bound by a contract?"

"Yes. But Rift doesn't have much intelligence. If you don't manage it after it recovers, it will run around everywhere. If you manage it, it will follow you. It's like raising a dog."

Lin Qi withdrew his gaze.

Three inner deacons—a meat shield, a ranged attacker, and a pet.

Plus one who wasn't present, "Abyssal Fang"—whereabouts unknown.

"Abyssal Fang isn't in the mining area. Do you know where he went?"

Shi Gu and Silence exchanged a glance.

"We don't know. Abyssal Fang is the High Priest's personal guard and isn't under our command. He often acts alone, sometimes disappearing for months at a time."

"What are his abilities?"

"Spatial type," Silence said. "He specializes in long-range spatial jumps and setting spatial traps. His strength is greater than all three of us combined, and he is the closest among the inner deacons to the High Priest's level."

A spatial-type expert whose whereabouts were unknown.

Lin Qi filed this information away.

He walked over to where the High Priest had shattered and crouched down to rummage through the remains.

Among the fragments, besides the dead seed, there were the remains of a bronze mirror and some miscellaneous personal items.

The bronze mirror was broken. The Law patterns on it had lost their effect.

There was nothing else of value.

Lin Qi stood up and slung the entrenching tool back over his shoulder.

"You guys, are you coming with me or staying here?"

Shi Gu looked at Silence. Silence looked at Shi Gu.

"Going," Shi Gu said.

"Where to?" Silence asked.

"Back to my place," Lin Qi said. "D-3 Region in Tianhai City. I'm short on security."

Shi Gu's mouth twitched.

"Security?"

"Yeah. Room and board provided, but no social security or benefits."

The puddle of sludge in the distance made an indistinct "gurgle" sound.

It was probably Rift expressing agreement.