10.11

The answer to how many butterflies can actually thrive in a forest is hundreds of millions.

A party out on a training trip stood on a high hillock, watching a storm swept by magical butterflies in the distance. They circled and fluttered, rumbling and stirring their wings, corroding the surrounding trees into ashes. The roiling, highly toxic smoke drifted out, turning dozens of kilometers around into a land of death.

However, in the center of the land of the dead, there was a round ball of light that existed from the beginning to the end, which hadn’t expanded by half a point or cut down by half a point, moving forward at a gentle speed. Devil butterflies whistled and rolled towards it, and whistled and turned into dust. The demonic aura and poison on their bodies were purified and turned into golden powdery points of light that disappeared.

The group hiding on the high hill breathed a huge sigh of relief when the ball of light went farther and farther away, also drawing away the swarms of magical butterflies.

“Look! The God of Light is above, I can’t believe my own eyes!” The team’s guide pointed downward and exclaimed in shock. Everyone squeezed over to take a look and were also dumbfounded.

One could only see an emerald green trail left behind where the caravan passed by, the color of reviving grass and trees, full of vibrant life. This scene was nothing out of the ordinary a few hundred years ago, but in the present, where demonic energy was rampant, this green color that ran through the entire darkness looked like a miracle.

“Oh my god, who exactly is that Priest of Light? He’s too powerful!” The crowd speculated.

“I think this person should be Priest Joshua of the Sakya Empire. Have you heard that the God of Light himself held a baptismal ceremony for him, and when he stepped out of the holy pool, he held an absolutely unique scepter in his hand and was clad in divine robes. He is the messenger of God the Father in the mortal world.” The knowledgeable guide said.

“Quick, hurry up and catch up with that group!” The captain ordered without hesitation, and a group of people hit their horses and ran down the hillock, chasing after them along the green channel, but they didn’t dare to chase them too close because there were still countless devil butterflies flying around the golden boundary.

They had chased them for a day and a night, and the boundary had supported them for a day and a night, so it was evident how unfathomable strength this Priestess of Light possessed. This further validated the legend that sounded extremely unbelievable.

Berwyn’s team followed on both sides of Zhou Yunsheng’s carriage, keeping quiet for more than twenty hours. They silently observed the teenager’s every move, and the more they watched, the more alarmed and suspicious they became.

He was not at all a vile and shameful, jealous little man, as Paulette relates. On the contrary, he was quiet and peaceful, gentle and affectionate, and, though occasionally aloof, had a faith more devout than any man’s, and spent a great deal of time in prayer every day.

The Light Boundary that he supported was indestructible, and after being continuously hit by hundreds of millions of magic butterflies for so long, it didn’t even see the slightest damage. Where the boundary covered, grass sprouted, flowers bloomed, and trees stood tall and green, leaving an unseen green channel behind them.

A surge of vitality spread through the air, making the elves and beasts who were close to nature feel comfortable. Right now, they couldn’t hate Priest Joshua at all, and they even began to have doubts about Bao’er.

As long as there was light, the magical butterflies would never disperse until they were all extinguished in the flames of light. They didn’t disperse for a long time, but the group got tired of walking and had to find a flat clearing to rest for a while.

Zhou Yunsheng didn’t feel tired, on the contrary, supporting just a Bright Boundary was easy for him. He could tell from the surprised expressions of High Priest Berwin and the Pope that his strength should be far above theirs, meaning that the current Joshua was the most powerful priest on the continent, bar none.

Only at this time would he truly thank Brainwashed Sheng for those stupid moves. If it wasn’t for him shamelessly hooking up with the God of Light, he definitely wouldn’t be able to walk sideways on the continent right now.

He marched to a tree and before he could take his seat a martial artist spread an ornate cushion on the ground so as not to soil his white priestly robes.

He smiled his thanks and turned his face to see a thick magical vine dangling from the treetops. Its winding and writhing vines were covered with huge buds that opened and closed, revealing sharp teeth and sticky black venom flowing down from them. It was the most common and most terrifying magic plant in the forest, and as soon as one appeared, it signaled that there was another one spreading around.

High Priest Berwyn’s face changed greatly. Knowing that Joshua had supported the boundary for dozens of hours by himself, if the demon butterflies plus the demon vines attacked together, he was afraid that something serious would happen.

He and several other Light Priests immediately took out their scepters and tried to inject light power into the boundary, but they saw that Priest Joshua just lightly wiggled his fingers and flicked a small golden spark into the huge bud of the magic vine.

With a loud boom, the sparks rose into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye, burning the countless vines hidden in the treetops to the point where not even ash remained. Seeing the dazzling flames, the Devil Butterflies rushed forward and rushed in.

A few minutes later, countless golden powders drifted down from the sky, while the verdant trees and grasses that had been expelled from the demonic aura by the divine power were not harmed in the slightest. They fluttered and trembled in the golden powder, and their joyful mood made the elves unable to hold back their smiles.

The adventurer squad that hurriedly arrived saw such a beautiful scene. They reached out their hands to catch the roiling gold dust, only to find that they turned into points of light and disappeared in midair, leaving behind only a slight warmth.

Light, warmth, and hope had not been felt by the races living on the continent for hundreds of years. They were so excited that they wanted to shed tears, but they desperately held them back.

“May I ask if it is Priest Lord Joshua up ahead? We are a squad of adventurers from the Grand Duchy of Danadus, and would like to escort Priest-sama through the Forest of Elves, I wonder if we have the honor?” When he said this, the captain’s cheeks burned red and his heart was weak. If it were any other Priest of Light, he would naturally need the protection of a powerful martial artist or mage, but in the case of Priest Joshua, it would not be a problem for him to cross the entire continent thought alone.

He knew that others must be laughing at him for being cheeky and trying to take advantage of him. But he admired Joshua too much, and if he could catch a glimpse of him, he would have no regrets even if he died.

“Please come in. In a continent ravaged by magic, all living beings should watch over each other. Thank you for your generosity and selflessness.” It was prayer time, and Zhou Yunsheng was particularly good-tempered.

The tips of the ears of everyone in the adventure squad couldn’t help but tremble. This voice was just too good, I’m afraid that even the Elf King’s singing was just like this. Because of the light film blocking their sight, they couldn’t see what Priest Joshua looked like, but they were already mesmerized just by the sound.

Humans are still so, not to mention the voice control face control attribute is very serious elves. Bowen is the high priest, stopping power is very good, only red ears, hairs stand up, did not produce other more embarrassing physical reaction, a few juniors but dizzy, even walking unsteady, seemingly randomly sit down, but to choose the closest position to Joshua priests, but also almost fought.

They had just forgotten who had shot them with arrows of light a few days ago.

The team of adventurers tried to touch the knot and found that it accepted them with a slight wiggle, the warmth spreading from their fingertips all the way to their hearts. They forced themselves to walk in, and when they saw the teenager sitting under the tree, they just felt that the bard’s praise for him didn’t even come close to the millionth part of the man himself.

He was like a beam of light that illuminated everything around him, you just knew he was beautiful and couldn’t find any words to describe it. Immediately, the small band of adventurers bent down and greeted him with the highest etiquette of Danadus, taking a hasty look and then never daring to take a second look.

The teenager smiled and waved his hand, then proceeded to carve the puppet in his hand.

The air inside the knot was fresh, with the astringent smell of grass, the scent of flowers, and the sweetness of ripe fruit. One of the elves picked a few wild fruits, wrapped them in leaves and gently placed them beside Priest Joshua. Because they had almost hurt him before, they didn’t dare to speak to him at all, even though the grass was growing in their hearts with impatience.

The Pope was the most powerful man on the continent, his head was topped in all the temples, and there were even civilians who posted his portrait in their homes in order to banish the demonic aura. Every few years, he had to travel to various countries to spread the gospel, and there were very few people on the continent who did not recognize him.

The adventurer squad naturally quickly recognized his identity, if it was usual they would have already kneeled down in fear, but now they only nodded their heads and called out ”His Holiness the Pope”, their tone implying contempt.

The matter of the Pope and Bao’er being punished by the God of Light and making a fool of themselves had long been rumored among the human races, and only the two races of elves and orcs who were cowering in the depths of the forest had no knowledge of it. What God’s favorite, the future most powerful Light Priestess, said out simply laugh off people’s teeth.

Berwyn found something wrong with the way these humans treated their old friend. These days, the suspicion in his heart grows heavier and heavier. Bao’er and Herman had repeatedly implied that Joshua had harmed them by underhanded means in order to compete for the bishop’s position, but after seeing how powerful Joshua was, Berwyn was extremely skeptical of this claim.

Not to mention a bishop’s seat, if Joshua was willing, the pope’s seat was something he was qualified to sit on. Then, could it be that Herman and Bao’er felt the threat from Joshua and intended to turn against him? Joshua said that they had angered God the Father and had already had their power of light withdrawn by God the Father, was this true or not?

If so, I’m afraid that the two clans of elves and orcs that took in Bao’er and Herman would be angered by Father God.

Burwin was so disturbed that he took the Pope aside to heal his wounds and cast a sleep spell mixed in with the healing spell on the Pope. A few more days passed, the last bit of the power of light in the Pope’s body disappeared without a trace, and he was now just an ordinary man, so he slept unnoticed.

Berwin immediately held his wrist and input a trace of light power along the meridians, and was shocked to find that this body was devoid of the slightest bit of light attributes.

This was his old friend, and no one knew better than Berwin how powerful and dazzling he once was. To be able to turn a demigod into a mortal overnight, no one but Father God could do it. Herman had indeed been disliked by God the Father, so what about Bowen?

Berwyn’s sensitive nerves couldn’t stop twitching.

He let go of his best friend’s wrist and walked over to the fire to sit down in a seemingly unusual manner. Joshua was tired and curled up in the grass in a deep sleep, and a mage was putting a thin blanket over him. But even as he fell into sleep, he was still relying on his instincts to support the Bright Boundary. There was no doubt about his power.

Berwin withdrew his gaze with a complicated expression. He still remembered Bao’er Brandt standing under the mother tree in her white holy robes, using the pure power of light to bring the mother tree back to life. When he withdrew his hand, a ripe elf fruit fell onto his palm and cracked in half, and a thumb-sized elf flapped its wings and flew out to kiss his white cheek. It was the first newborn born to the elf clan in nearly a thousand years.

At that time, he was so holy and lovely, gentle and kind, bringing hope to the desperate elf race. How could he have been disliked by the Father God? What exactly did he do?

Berwyn was having a hard time, his brow furrowed into a frown.

The adventurer squad from the Grand Duchy of Danadus and the squad from the Sagaya Empire had gotten acquainted by now and were chatting while drinking.

One man asked curiously, “I heard that the God of Light himself performed the baptism of Priest Joshua, is this true?”

“Of course it’s true, when Priest-sama stepped out of the holy pool, he was wearing a divine robe identical to the God of Light’s, and the red moonflower petals flying in the sky blocked out the sun, that pomp and circumstance is something I can’t forget in my life.” A mage from the Sakya Empire described it in a reminiscent tone.

“I also heard that Bao’er Bright had privately seduced the Pope in order to become the bishop of your empire. The Pope then snatched the bishopric belonging to Priest Joshua and gave it to Bao’er, despite the opposition of your old bishop. Is it also true that they committed adultery the night before the coronation ceremony, angered God the Father, and asked him to send down divine fire to almost burn them to death?”

“The truth is hundreds of times nastier than you can imagine. Bao’er Bright was burned out of her clothes by the divine fire, revealing her body covered in hickeys, and her lustful appearance was like a bitch in heat. The Pope refused to admit that he was having an affair with Bao’er Bright, saying that it was the second prince’s doing. The second prince, who was relegated to a civilian, immediately came forward to accuse him, saying that Bao’er’s guests in addition to him and the two also include the Beast Emperor, the young prince of the Beastman race, and even, ”Speaking of this the man paused for a moment, surreptitiously glancing at Bowen and the others, and seeing that they did not pay any attention, before continuing, ”There is even an Elf King. No one is cleaner than anyone else. Father God knows in heaven, sooner or later he will burn them all to death.”

The adventurer squad hissed and huffed, unable to imagine just how much charisma that Bao’er Bright had to gather the continent’s top powerhouses between his legs. Was he particularly good in bed?

Various fragrant images flashed in their minds, and after savoring them for a while, they exclaimed, ”How is such a lewd-slut qualified to serve Father God? No wonder the Father God is descending in wrath. The way I see it, his identity as God’s Favorite is probably fabricated as well.”

“Even if that’s true, he betrayed God the Father when he did that and deserved to be burned. I heard he escaped, do you know where he fled to?”

“I don’t know, but I heard that the one who saved him was a powerful demonic creature, and judging from the aura it should be a certain Demon King in the Dark Abyss. It’s not likely that he has become a Dark Priest now and is prostrate under the Demon King’s wave-screaming.” The person from the Sagaya Empire laughed coldly and opened his mouth.

The elf and orc clans had particularly sensitive ears, and even though these people tried their best to lower their voices, Berwin and the others still heard their conversation clearly. His face was grim, his heart trembled, and he desperately wanted to deny those words, but a single doubt automatically jumped out to tell him that those were true.

Bao’er was rescued by a demon king, so who exactly is Duke Hubert, who has been inseparable from him these days? Is he really a human? How is it possible that the Elf King is also Bao’er’s guest of honor?

Berwin covered his face and felt that he was simply fooling himself. The ambiguous relationship between the king and Bao’er was obvious to all the elves. He had seduced so many people with his flesh and had betrayed Father God, his soul was already filthy. In human society, he represented filth and evil, an existence that was completely rejected by Father God.

And it was disgusting that such a person was now living carefree in the clan lands of the elves and orcs, loved by the King and the Beast Emperor in the palm of their hands! Berwyn’s stomach began to throb vaguely.

“Yikes!” An elf shrieked, causing everyone to look over, even the extremely sleepy Priest Joshua moved his fingertips.

The elf hastily covered his mouth and stared at the Lord Priest’s slightly furrowed brow with a worried and apologetic gaze. The other elf immediately walked over to the Lord Priest and chanted a lullaby for him.

Slowly, the Priestess-sama fell asleep again, and everyone looked over with condemning gazes as they breathed a sigh of relief.

“Splashed by a spark.” The elf was very young, and his pitiful expression was a good way to garner sympathy.

“Make any more fuss and noise about the Priestess, and you will leave at once.” The leading mage lowered his voice in warning. Herman was still the Pope now, they couldn’t do anything to him, but couldn’t wait for these elves and orcs to take him away.

The elf couldn’t bear to leave Joshua Priest. It was too warm to be around him, as reassuring as being nurtured on a mother tree.

Berwyn apologized in his place and waited for everyone to avert their eyes and continue chatting before walking over and inquiring quietly, “What happened to you?”

“High Priestess, do you remember the difference between the Elfin Forest half a month ago and the Elfin Forest now?”

Although the Elf’s Forest half a month ago was also suffering from the erosion of demonic qi, the situation was nowhere near as serious as it was now. At that time, as long as Bowen made his daily rounds and rounds and cast a few purification spells, he was able to effectively curb the spread of the demonic qi. But half a month ago, on the day of Bao’er’s arrival, the demonic qi of the entire Elf’s Forest boiled over, expanding outwards at an extremely fast speed, almost engulfing one-third of the forest in the blink of an eye, with black land and lakes visible everywhere, the scene was as if it was hell.

Berwyn was worried about this, but did not think much about it. Right now, however, when the elf asked, a thought surfaced in his mind that doubled his horror.

I am afraid that this disaster was brought about by Bright, the treasure. He angered God the Father, but the elves and the orcs took him in and gave him shelter, instead treating Joshua the priest, who was loved by God the Father, as an enemy. The all-knowing Father must have been angry with both tribes.

That’s why the demonic aura began to go unchecked.

What was even more worrying was that the one who had rescued Bao’er was a Demon King. It was well known that when a Demon King wanted to hide his identity, not even the Pope in his heyday would be able to see through him. This Demon King had followed Bao’er to the Forest of Elves, and the demonic aura would surely flock to him when summoned.

If these speculations were true, the Elves and Orcs were now in danger of extinction.

Berwyn was in a cold sweat of fear, and the little elf cowered beside him, shivering, on the verge of tears.

“High Priest, we must go back at once!” He urged anxiously while rubbing his eyes.

“If it’s really the Demon King, I can’t deal with him. We have to bring Joshua Priest back.” Berwin waved his hand feebly.

“But I’m afraid he’s guessed that Bao’er is in our clan, and he won’t go. He, like Father God, will loathe us.” The elf choked.

When they attacked Joshua Priest earlier, they broke their purpose of avenging Brett the Bao’er. If they didn’t know what had happened to Bao’er and why they were so enraged, they must have come into contact with him after Bao’er escaped. Treasure Bright, who had been completely disliked by human society, simply had no other place to stay other than hiding in the Forest of Elves. Any fool could have guessed that.

No wonder these humans are desperately trying to get rid of them. They must have already defined the Elves and Orcs as blasphemers.

The more the elf thought about it, the more fearful she became, and she couldn’t stop crying as she clung to the High Priestess’s arm.

The other clansmen gathered silently around the High Priest and wore expressions of despair. How could two races that were loathed by the Father God be victorious in the Dark War? When the Forest of Elves was completely engulfed by demonic energy, that was when their clan was extinguished.

“It’s fine, Joshua Priest is kind like that, he won’t see death.” Berwin spoke with certainty, but in his heart, he was a little uncertain. He hadn’t forgotten about Joshua’s previous incident of standing idly by while the Pope died or lived. He could see that Priest Joshua was only most affable when he was praying, and the rest of the time was unusually cold.

It’s better to wait until it’s time for him to pray and then plead.

The next day, Zhou Yunsheng was awakened by his biological clock. Determining that there was no danger outside, he raised an index finger and retracted the golden boundary, strands of golden light draped around him like swimming dragons before scrambling into his fingertip, a sight that shocked Bowen, the Pope, and a few Priests of Light.

Onlookers might not have too intuitive feelings, but as a Light Priest, there would be no one who understood better than them how difficult a force of light was to control. Once it was released, it would dissipate, and there was no way it could ever be recovered intact. I am afraid that the only one who can do this is Father God.

What realm of light priest is Joshua now? Dharma saint, demigod, or has he become a god?

Berwin’s eyes flashed and he tried his best to suppress his inner agitation. The current Joshua Priest was not at all easy to talk to.

Sure enough, when the caravan had rested and continued on its way, he sat on the carriage and spoke without lifting his head, “The danger has been lifted, you may leave.”

A group of elves and orcs rushed around and gazed at him with watery eyes, as if to say, “Please have mercy on us!”

Zhou Yunsheng simply got into the car and ordered, “Let’s go.”

The guide was busy driving forward.

Berwin pulled back the clan members who intended to chase after him, waiting for the group to walk away before saying, “Let’s follow quietly and wait for Priest Joshua to pray before we beg him.” The words fell as he looked to the Pope and spoke unflinchingly, “Herman, return to the Central Church yourself, I won’t see you off.”

“Why? You know my current situation, I can’t even make it out of the Elven Forest safely with this amount of manpower.” The Pope lost his voice and shouted. There was only one mage and two martial artists left by his side, and they were both severely injured, so he didn’t even have the ability to defend himself much less protect others.

“We have urgent business to attend to and we cannot delay. Herman, you will pay accordingly for your choices. God the Father is watching from the heavens, and none of us can escape his eyes.” Berwin brushed off these words and quickly disappeared into the jungle with his people, leaving the exasperated and fearful and desperate Pope hissing in place.