354: Chapter 355 Violent Soul Search Causes Instant Stupidity; Lin Qi Single-Handedly Handles the Inhuman Prophet's Great Secret

Area A, Underground Level.

When Lin Qi arrived, Instructor Su Qing was already waiting at the interrogation room door.

"The three of them are held separately. Eye of the Abyss is in Room 1, Bone Crown in Room 2, and Ashes in Room 3."

"How are their conditions?"

"Eye of the Abyss hasn't spoken much since he went blind. Bone Crown's regeneration circuit was severed by your Dao Source, so he's covered in festering sores and howls two or three times a day. Ashes became semi-idiotic after you soul-searched him; sometimes he answers questions, sometimes he doesn't."

Lin Qi nodded.

He went to Room 1 first.

The iron door opened, revealing a single room less than ten square meters. Eye of the Abyss was curled in a corner, his eyes covered with a dirty cloth—even though he was blind, he seemed unwilling to let others see his empty eye sockets.

Hearing footsteps, Eye of the Abyss's body tensed.

"Who's there?"

"Guess."

Eye of the Abyss's lips trembled. Of course, he knew who it was. There was only one person in the D-3 Region who could make him so afraid.

"...What do you want to do?"

"Just chat." Lin Qi squatted in front of him. "How many years have you been with the church?"

Eye of the Abyss didn't answer.

"How many High Priests does the church have in total?"

"Three. You know that."

"What's the relationship between the three High Priests? Are they independent of each other, or is there a hierarchy?"

Eye of the Abyss hesitated.

"You've already searched Ashes' mind. You know the answer, yet you still ask me?"

"Ashes knows external information. He's not clear on the internal structure. But you—Eye of the Abyss. Your 'eye' isn't just for combat, is it? You can see things at the Law level. The church made you a monitor, not for fighting."

Eye of the Abyss remained silent for a long time.

He knew he had no room to negotiate. The Dao Source seals were on his limbs, all his Law circuits were locked, so he couldn't run or fight. And—he was genuinely afraid of this young man. Not afraid of losing a fight, but afraid of the violent soul-searching method. He had seen what Ashes looked like after being searched—half-idiotic.

"The three High Priests are independent of each other, each managing a faith channel and its corresponding sphere of influence." Eye of the Abyss's voice was dry. "But they have a common superior—the 'Prophet'."

"Prophet?" Lin Qi raised an eyebrow.

"The Prophet is 'Our Lord's' spokesperson in the mortal realm. All commands for the three High Priests come from the Prophet. The Sowing Ceremony, deacon assignments, seed distribution—all are coordinated by the Prophet."

"Where is the Prophet?"

"I don't know. I really don't know." Eye of the Abyss sped up his words. "The Prophet is never in a fixed location. He conveys commands directly to the High Priests through the faith channel; no one has ever seen his true form. Not even the High Priests."

"Have you seen him?"

"I've only seen his Law outline remotely with my 'eye'." Eye of the Abyss's voice dropped even lower. "That outline—it doesn't belong to a human."

"Doesn't belong to a human?"

"Yes. The Prophet's Law layer outline is distorted. A normal human's Law layer outline is circular or oval; the Prophet's is—I don't know how to describe it—like a crumpled ball, its surface covered in cracks, and something seeping out of every crack."

Lin Qi mentally noted this information.

"Prophet." The coordinator above the three High Priests, with an abnormal Law outline, not human-like.

"Do you know the complete conditions for the Sowing Ceremony?"

"I don't know. That's a secret for High Priests and above. I only know it requires seven seeds and a God Kingdom-level spatial node."

"The High Priest said half of it before he died—'The true descent requires'—he didn't finish the rest. Can you guess?"

Eye of the Abyss thought for a long time.

"I can't guess. But I heard a High Priest mention once—that the descent isn't as simple as opening a door. 'Our Lord's' true body is too vast for the mortal realm to contain. So, the descent requires a 'Container'."

"Container?"

"A sufficiently large Container that can temporarily hold a part of 'Our Lord's' power. It could be a place, or it could be a person. What exactly it is, I don't know."

Lin Qi stood up.

"If what you said today is true, you can continue to live."

"What if it's false?"

"Then I'll search your soul again."

Eye of the Abyss's body trembled.

"It's true."

Lin Qi left Room 1, skipping Rooms 2 and 3. Bone Crown, covered in sores, had no intelligence value, and Ashes was already half-idiotic, so nothing could be extracted from him.

He stood in the corridor for a while, going over the information Eye of the Abyss had provided.

Three High Priests. One Prophet. Abnormal Law outline. Descent requires a Container.

A few more pieces were added to the puzzle, but the crucial parts were still missing.

"Boss." Instructor Su Qing followed behind. "There's one more thing."

"Speak."

"Of the thirty-seven living captives in Area B, I've interrogated thirty-four. You said you'd handle the three stubborn ones—are you dealing with them today?"

"Let's go, take a look."

The two turned to Area B.

The three stubborn captives were held in the same room, tied separately. Two men and one woman, all around forty years old, with fierce expressions.

When Lin Qi pushed the door open, the three of them glared in unison.

"Our Lord will descend." The man in the middle spoke first. "You ants—"

Lin Qi walked up to him, extended his right hand, and pressed it on his head.

Dao Source surged in.

Violent soul-searching.

The man's eyes instantly widened, his mouth opened to scream, but his throat was locked by the Dao Source, emitting only a hissing sound.

Three seconds later, Lin Qi withdrew his hand.

The man's head drooped, saliva drooled from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were vacant. Like Ashes—he was half-idiotic.

The expressions of the two stubborn ones next to him immediately changed.

Lin Qi looked at the woman on the left.

"Do you want to talk, or do you want me to use force?"

The woman's lips trembled several times.

"I...I'll talk."

"Good." Lin Qi stepped back, leaning against the doorframe.

The woman intermittently confessed all the information she knew—most of it repeated what had been previously interrogated, but there was one new piece: the Church of Calamity had more than one stronghold in the Federation besides the Eastern Continent mining area. The "Rotten Wood Forest" in the west and the "Ice Rift Valley" in the north each had a High Priest stationed there.

Three strongholds, three High Priests, three faith channels.

Lin Qi had eliminated one; two remained.

Moreover, those two High Priests had been operating longer than the one in the Eastern Continent mining area—possibly with more than ten years of Foundation.

"Brother Qi."

Lin Qi turned his head. Zhang Wei had appeared in Area B at some point, holding a terminal, his expression both excited and conflicted.

"What is it?"

"Chen Shu sent a message. High-ranking officials from the Federal Military Department want to have a video conference with you."

"When?"

"Now. They've been waiting for half an hour."