Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 354 New skills acquired!
【Deathrattle Demon·Mourner】, after Luo Xiu touched his fingers, and his spirit had transformed into a biting snake as a link of the contract, his complete faceplate also appeared in Luo Xiu's faceplate at the same time——

That is the demon that controls death.

For Luo Xiu, such a powerful demon can be used by him more, provided that he has enough control over him and obtains enough interest or loyalty from him.

After the snake of the covenant merged into his body, the Mourner withdrew his finger.

"...I will wait for your orders."

He said.

His four hands returned to the posture of double palms, and he bowed slightly to Luo Xiu, performing some strange etiquette. Then his figure gradually faded and disappeared.

He has returned to the abyss.

The chaotic light around him dimmed immediately, and the moment the mourner disappeared, a shrill sound like a ghost crying surged into Luo Xiu's ears.

The surrounding temperature dropped suddenly, but this strange phenomenon did not last long and soon returned to normal.

Luo Xiu then turned around and left the altar.

The dragon claw mark on the back of his hand floated away, then returned to the real world.

……

When I opened my eyes again.

He has returned to the Red Maple City Church and returned to his "Holy See".

And it is still late at night in the real world.

Luo Xiu recalled the real phantom created by the "Shadow Raven" and then went to the "Holy Room" in the Bishop's Throne where the blank scrolls were stored.

He had just promoted [Abyss] to the fourth level of destiny and mastered several new skills and knowledge. According to his plan, now was the time to expand his skill list.

After a while, he arrived at the holy training room, took out a blank scroll, and began to input and engrave several skills and knowledge.

That's not just the [Abyss] skills, there's also the new [Glory] skills that were acquired before, Luo Xiu has already roughly drafted a few skill items that he will invest in to create his own skills.

——[Glorious Inscription] + [Sublime Judgment] + [Holy Confinement] + [Soul-Devouring Eyes]!
【…】

[Obtain: Soul-Captivating Holy Eyes (Glory, lv.2)]!
[Soul-catching Holy Eyes (Glorious, lv.2): The unique divinity grants you the golden eyes that can open your soul.]

[Your right pupil has been blessed by the gods. When you activate the skill "Soul-stealing Holy Pupil", the target you are staring at will have its "divinity", "perception" and "resistance" attributes judged - if any one of the target's "divinity", "perception" and "resistance" attributes is lower than yours, 20% of mana will be lost and skills at level 2 and below (except authority) will be sealed for 10 seconds; if all three attributes of the target's "divinity", "perception" and "resistance" attributes are lower than yours, 50% of mana will be lost and skills at level 4 and below (except authority) will be sealed for 20 seconds.]

【…】

——[Glorious Inscription] + [Lofty Prayer] + [Holy Confinement] + [Extreme Evil Corrosion]!
【…】

[Obtain: God's Redemption of Silence (Glory, lv.3)]!
[The Silence of God's Redemption (Glory, lv.3): Make them repent, make them silent, and stop blaspheming. ]

[When targeting a non-【Glorious】Destiny Extraordinary, the target will undergo a "divine" attribute determination - if the target's "divine" attribute is lower than yours, it will fall into a "holy silence" state, unable to use skills below lv.3, and when using skills at lv.3 and above (except for authority), the required prayer time will be extended by 50%, the cooldown time will be extended by 50%, and the mana consumption will increase by 50%, lasting 20 seconds; if the target is a 【Glorious】Destiny Extraordinary, the target does not need to pray or consume mana when releasing skills at lv.3 and above (except for authority), lasting 20 seconds.]

【…】

——[Abyss Inscription] + [Holy Light Affinity] + [Noble Prayer] + [Spiritual Vision]!
【…】

[Obtain: Shadow of Divine Glory (Abyss, lv.2)]!
[Shadow of Divine Glory (Abyss, lv.2): The depth of the dark side of Divine Glory, born with a holy color.]

[You can use the prayer of the Holy Sanskrit to release the [Abyss] destiny skill. If you release the [Abyss] skill with the Holy Sanskrit, its light will change to the holy colors of pure white and gold, and its effects will not change, but the "Dark Corrosion" damage type caused will change to the "Holy Light" damage type. ]

【…】

——[Inscription of the Abyss] + [Darkest Realm] + [Realm of Extreme Evil] + [Bath in the Styx] + [Soul Frenzy]!
【…】

[Obtain: Embrace of the Blood River (Abyss, lv.2)]!
[Embrace of the Blood River (Abyss, lv.2): The teeth of the mother river bite you, and He swallows you gently. ]

[Using the selected target as the origin, summon a projection of a corner of the Styx to descend as a "domain" - within a large range, all targets (including the caster) have their "strength", "agility" and "divinity" attributes increased by 30%, their "wisdom" and "resistance" attributes reduced by 30%, and cause "corrosion" attribute damage of 1% of the upper limit of health per second (the damage to the shield is doubled, and the caster's health will not drop below 10% due to this domain), which lasts for 300 seconds.]

【…】

So far, Luo Xiu has successfully completed the engraving of four blank scrolls.

He obtained two new [Glorious] skills - [Soul-stealing Holy Eyes] and [Silence of God's Redemption], and two [Abyssal] skills - [Shadow of Divine Glory] and [Embrace of the Blood River]. Obtaining them also completely drained away the little experience points that Luo Xiu had left. This was all he gained.

That strengthened the control-type sacred arts of [Glory] that Luo Xiu had always lacked, and also allowed him to obtain his first [Abyss] destiny domain skill. In addition, it allowed a series of [Abyss] skills to finally be used with the special effects of [Glory], and his tactical combinations that could be used in the open battlefield increased a lot.

Luo Xiu was quite satisfied with the result of this self-creation, but he also had some regrets - he wanted to try to invest in [Demon Summoning], [Glorious Inscription], and [Holy Light Affinity] to try to make a [Glorious] vest of "Deathrattle Demon·Mourner", but he failed for the time being...

Perhaps it was because his [Abyss] was only the fourth level of his destiny, or perhaps it was because he lacked some key [Abyss] or [Glory] skills and knowledge, the success rate shown on the panel was only 3% to 5%, and the experience points required were huge. Luo Xiu had already used up all the blank scrolls in the holy training room for this.

This was not something that needed to be completed urgently. It was something that could be expected in the future and would be done next time... Luo Xiu put it aside for the time being, then left the holy room and returned to the bedroom on the third floor of the Holy See, grabbing the last bit of sleep between early morning and dawn.

……

Early morning hours.

The sun's rays had just covered the outline of the eaves and the morning mist had not yet dissipated when Luo Xiu woke up.

He then got up from the bed, went to the bathroom to wash up, changed into the "bishop's" robe, and went to the church's holy office.

In the Holy Office Hall of the Red Maple City Church.

After entering the "bishops' room" and sitting on the main seat, Luo Xiu asked the "guiding pastor" Colen to call Hubert, Anthony, and three "priests" Fran, Gracia and Howard to come here to hand over some affairs. After a relatively short wait, Hubert, Anthony, Fran, Gracia and Howard arrived one after another and sat down in the seats opposite Luo Xiu.

Luo Xiu first asked Hubert about the recent situation of the church, and Hubert gave a detailed answer.

Luo Xiu has understood.

During the days when Hubbard served as acting bishop, he made some new adjustments to the church's clergy.

The current number of clergy in the church has exceeded 300, officially entering the threshold of a "large church".

Therefore, Hubert referred to the regulations of the General Church and combined them with the resolution left by Rossio before his departure, and determined the church's clergy system - a system in which the "bishop" presided over the church, "priests" presided over various sanctuaries, and the "high priest" supervised other priests.

Previously, Luo Xiu had issued the order for the priesthood - 'Knight of Enlightenment' Fran was appointed as the priest of the Secret Hall, 'Fire Priest' Grasha was appointed as the priest of the Mission Hall, and 'Pastor of Purification' Howard was appointed as the priest of the Holy Inquisition Hall.

Now that they were basically familiar with church affairs and were able to perform the holy office of "priest", Hubert abolished the position of "chief officer" of the sanctuary and arranged more specific holy offices for former "chief officers" of the sanctuary such as Pamier, Mayev, and Olga.

For example, Pamier now serves as the Grand Inquisitor, commanding other Inquisitors, while other Inquisitors command Inquisitors.

Connor, who had just successfully advanced to the triple destiny, was promoted to "Captain of the Holy Guard".

When he was still in the second destiny, he was appointed as the "Captain of the Holy Guard" by Luo Xiu - but the players who served as "Saint Protectors" suddenly disappeared, causing Connor's holy position to become meaningless. But this was also Luo Xiu's intention, and Hubert just followed his instructions.

For example, the former chief of the "Missionary Office", Maeyev, now serves as the 'Grand Treasurer' to manage the church's finances and props, equipment and material reserves; Olga, the former chief of the "Secret Office", serves as the "Holy Secret Envoy", in charge of diplomatic affairs between the church and the "Border Court" of the [Supreme] and the "Fangbei Court" of the [Wisdom].

To some extent, this was considered a "demotion" of Pamier, Mayev and others, but in reality it gave them more real power.

Because they are still the clergy centers most familiar with church affairs, and many executive matters are also required of them, Hubert also increased their benefices respectively.

As for the "priests", Fran, Gracia and Howard, who are the current "priests", they have completely replaced the management, taking over most of the planning and decision-making matters of the church, and distributing them according to the circumstances.

In this way, the church's authority allocation becomes clearer and efficiency is improved.

After listening to Hubert's narration, Luo Xiu nodded in approval.

These arrangements he made were reasonable decisions based on his status as "Vice Bishop". Although Pamier and Maiefe were no longer involved in the management of the upper levels of the sanctuary, Anthony still held the position of "high priest", which would prevent the three priests from threatening Rossio's influence and control over the church.

Luo Xiu looked at Anthony, and then at the three priests sitting beside him, Fran, Gracia and Howard. Their expressions were normal, and their spirituality was as stable as ever. Luo Xiu did not sense that there was any "discord" among them.

It seems that they get along well... Luo Xiu thought.

He had been worried that the three priests might put too much pressure on Anthony, but now it seems that this worry will not be realized.

"……bishop."

Just as Hubert finished explaining the current situation of the church to Luo Xiu, Anthony spoke:
"There is something I don't know if you know."

"What?" Luo Xiu turned his gaze to him and asked.

"That's about the refugees you asked the clergy to bring back from outside the city."

After organizing his words, Anthony said:

"On the morning of a few days ago... one day after you left Hongfeng City and headed for Songyuan City, they disappeared and no trace of them has been found since then."

"Disappeared?" Following Anthony's words, Luo Xiu showed a look of surprise and asked, "You mean... those 'Saint Guardians' disappeared? No wonder, I didn't see them in the church."

As he said this, Anthony, Huberte and the three priests beside him did not doubt anything, and Anthony nodded and continued:

"...Yes, they disappeared. They didn't 'disappear'. Some clergy witnessed them. Their bodies became illusory and transparent, and then they spread out like silk threads being unraveled, and soon disappeared."

"This is a vision, Bishop. Fortunately, not many clergy have seen these visions. Lord Hubbard has ordered that all clergy who have seen the scene must remain silent."

"I am still investigating this matter, Bishop...but we are all a little confused and don't know what to do."

"..."

As Anthony spoke, Luo Xiu's eyes immediately turned to Hubert, and the holy deacon nodded lightly.

"Keep the 'Holy Guards' for now. We can wait."

With his hands crossed and resting on his chin, Luo Xiu said to Anthony and the three "priests":
"Recruiting those refugees was my instruction from Suyou. We have already witnessed their vision of 'immortality'. Now it seems that the miracle does have a secret and a price."

"Just keep investigating, Anthony, but don't panic. It doesn't affect us, at least not now."

"...Yes." Anthony nodded and responded:

"Then, as you said, I will organize people to continue investigating these."

"And Howard."

Luo Xiu looked at the "Purification Patriarch" in front of him and said to the new priest of the Holy Inquisition:

"We will keep the residences that we built for the 'Guardians' in the far suburbs for them, as well as their identities and names. Give them a month. If they still haven't returned by then, we will make other decisions."

"I understand, Bishop." Howard nodded in response, and said with piety and respect:

"The glory will not abandon any believer, and neither will you."

……

(End of this chapter)