Chapter 166: Recruiting a Light Priest, A Grudge Between Two Women

A moment later, two words were squeezed out from Putana's mouth, "Thank you…"

Cao Xing waved his hand, signaling her not to mind it.

Including Andrew, Renice, and Blot, they all looked at Cao Xing with expressions of gratitude.

A long string of system notifications appeared.

[Due to your generous gift, territory member: Lasbi's loyalty has increased. Current loyalty: 88]

[Due to your generous gift, territory member: Rabino's loyalty has increased. Current loyalty: 85]

[Due to your generous gift, territory member: Putana Carson's loyalty has increased. Current loyalty: 89]

[Due to your generous gift, territory member: Blot Brimstone's loyalty has increased. Current loyalty: 100]

(Loyalty is maxed out. The other party will now unconditionally obey your commands.)

"Very good, I have one more subordinate with maxed-out loyalty."

Cao Xing was very satisfied.

Then he said: "Now, all of you, start using the items in your hands to breakthrough."

"We will continue to explore the forest for a while longer."

Upon hearing Cao Xing's command, everyone replied solemnly.

"Understood! Lord!"

Then, they one after another patted the souls into their bodies or crushed the Heart of Strength.

Most of the people on the field began their transformation.

Cao Xing glanced at the countdown above his head.

[Time until nightfall: 3 hours 24 minutes]

[Current temperature: -53°C]

"There are only three hours left until dark."

"It will take at least an hour and a half to return to the camp, plus the weather forecast says there will be moderate snow today, so we need to head back a bit earlier."

"In other words, I only have about an hour of exploration time left."

Although with their current strength, staying outside for a night wouldn't be a problem.

But now, during the [Dragon Awakening Expansion], Ice Nests descend near the territory every so often.

So Cao Xing decided not to linger outside.

"This Witch Forest hides a few too many secrets. Even the Church of Light values this place so much; it definitely isn't simple."

"But with my current strength, I still can't explore all the secrets of this forest…"

"However, my harvest this time is already enough!"

"Not only did I pick the Ice Phoenix Flower, but I also harvested a large amount of beast meat!"

"When I go back tonight, I can also use the Human-Faced Tree Heart to accelerate the growth of Volibear and the Pale Tree."

Thinking of this, Cao Xing couldn't wait to return to the camp.

Just as he was thinking about these things.

The auras of the two Wild Boar Warriors rose simultaneously!

System notifications appeared,

[Your territory members: Rabino/Lasbi have successfully advanced to Elite-grade creatures. Learned new skill: Dual Blade Waltz]

Cao Xing was delighted.

"Very good. After experiencing one failed breakthrough, they can be considered successful."

"Now that all four Wild Boar Warriors are Elite-grade or higher, later when I form the entire Wild Boar Warrior legion, I will let them act as squad leaders to take command."

However, it was a pity that the aura from Putana's side came to an abrupt halt.

She failed to breakthrough to Leader-grade.

At this moment, this tall woman looked at Cao Xing with an apologetic face.

Cao Xing waved his hand and said: "It's fine, don't take it to heart."

Although he still had one Leader-grade soul in his hand, Cao Xing had other candidates.

So Putana would just have to wait for later.

Meanwhile.

System notifications appeared again.

[Your territory member: Renice Hawkeye has successfully advanced to a Tier 3 creature. Basic attributes increased by 100%]

[Your territory member: Blot Brimstone has successfully advanced to a Tier 3 creature. Basic attributes increased by 100%]

Joy appeared in Cao Xing's eyes again.

"Good, good, good! Two more Tier 3 generals under my command!"

He glanced at their attributes.

[Ascalon Archer: Renice Hawkeye]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 20, 0/100000 (Tier 3 Leader-grade)]

[Detailed attributes: Click to view]

[Black Smoke Shaman: Blot Brimstone]

[Race: Shael]

[Level: 20, 0/100000 (Tier 3 Leader-grade creature)]

[Detailed attributes: Click to view]

"Not bad, not bad! Both have over 1500 attack power!"

"Now, one critical hit from Renice is at least 2000 damage!"

From Tier 2 to Tier 3 is also an important transformation.

Cao Xing nodded with satisfaction again.

Now, he was just waiting for news from Andrew's side.

This also made Cao Xing feel a bit uneasy.

After all, Boss-grade creatures are still hard to encounter, let alone dropping a soul…

Praying in his heart, don't fail, don't fail…

However, it was a pity that the aura from Andrew's side came to an abrupt halt.

At this moment, Cao Xing was suddenly furious.

Damn it! A Leader-grade soul and a Boss-grade soul actually both failed!

Andrew walked over with an apologetic face, knelt on one knee in front of Cao Xing, and said: "Lord, Andrew has failed, wasting such a precious breakthrough opportunity."

Cao Xing patted his shoulder and said: "It's okay Andrew, this isn't your fault."

He also knew that Boss-grade souls only have a 45% success rate, so the probability of failure is higher than the probability of success.

Breaking through to Boss is not an easy thing.

However, although Andrew failed his breakthrough, it didn't stop Cao Xing from having other items!

So, he took out the [Light Priest Recruitment Scroll (Gold)] from his backpack.

This was the second Boss-grade recruitment scroll he had obtained after the leaderboard rewards!

The scroll itself radiated a strong aura of holy light, giving people a strong sense of holiness.

System notifications appeared.

[Use the Light Priest Recruitment Scroll?]

"Yes."

The next moment, the recruitment scroll in Cao Xing's hand disappeared.

Meanwhile, light came from the sky.

A beam of holy light seemed to shoot down from the top of the firmament in front of Cao Xing.

Illuminating the entire Wild Boar Warrior tribe, making it look incredibly holy.

Even the nearby Beast God statue began to radiate brilliance again.

This beam of light attracted everyone's attention.

Meanwhile.

Cao Xing saw pure white wings falling from above, and solemn singing echoing in his ears.

"Damn… such a big spectacle?"

This also made him start to feel a bit expectant.

The next moment, from that beam of light, a woman wearing a white long dress with a tall and well-proportioned figure floated down.

Above her long, fair legs was a waist belt wrapped with flower crowns.

Her upper body was covered in thin gauze, billowing and surging.

Looking up, everyone saw a face so beautiful it was indescribable.

Her eyes, bright as yellow gemstones, were piercing and spirited.

Pale yellow eyeshadow, along with those delicate features, was full of exotic style.

In her hand, she was also holding a staff.

An ethereal voice sounded.

"Dark blood once twisted my soul, causing me to fall into the abyss of sin for a time…"

"Until she arrived, she placed her hand on my head and began to sing, granting me holy blessings."

"Bathed in holy light, I was thoroughly purified."

"Following the guidance of the holy light."

"Light Priest: Isabelle Gospel, greets you."

…

The beauty of this Light Priest stunned everyone on the scene.

She possessed beauty not inferior to Liu Muxue.

Coupled with the holy light radiating from her that made people unable to look directly at her, she appeared incredibly holy!

However, at this moment, the Blood Spider Queen Hilda said from the side: "That glowing woman, restrain the aura on your body."

"It's hurting this Queen's eyes!"

Hearing this, the Light Priest looked at Hilda, a smile curling at the corner of her lips.

"Oh? The Blood Spider race? You have such a strong smell of blood on you."

"It seems that in the past, you committed quite a lot of murderous sins!"

Hilda glanced at her indifferently, seemingly disdaining to reply at all.

The Light Priest looked at Hilda, a thoughtful expression flashing across her eyes.

"I seem to know your identity. In that invasion war ten thousand years ago, there was a Blood Spider Queen who wreaked havoc in the Gandara war zone."

"She destroyed six Giant Cities in one month, slaughtered all the living creatures in two principalities, and turned that region into a paradise for Blood Spiders."

"Because of the murderous sins you committed, it even attracted the attention of our Holy See."

"Later, when I rushed there, I found that you had already been killed by those invaders!"

Hilda sneered upon hearing this: "Tsk! If it weren't for those guys besieging this Queen and calling a Necromancer to target my self-detonating Blood Spiders."

"Otherwise, this Queen could have devoured all those guys directly!"

The Light Priest listened and raised her staff, "Hmph! Blood Spider Queen, don't think that this matter is already over."

"The sins of ten thousand years ago still need to be repaid even now."

"So now, let the holy light wash away your sins!"

As she finished speaking, the Light Priest raised her staff, and a rich power of holy light aura gathered towards her.

And Hilda, who was on the side, also instantly entered battle state.

The two women, both Boss-grade, instantly became at daggers drawn.

Cao Xing didn't even know what was going on with these two women.

What invasion war, what destruction of six Giant Cities, what Gandara war zone.

Cao Xing didn't understand at all.

But as their Lord, he quickly stopped them: "Hilda, Isabelle, you are both my territory residents. Our attacks can only be aimed at outsiders."

"Now, I order you both to put down your weapons!"

Hearing Cao Xing's serious tone, the two women stood in a standoff for a while.

Then, they both turned their heads away at the same time.

"Hmph!"

"Tsk!"

Cao Xing saw that they were no longer confronting each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "Fortunately, as a Lord, I still have some face."

And just at this moment, a system notification appeared.

[Due to discord among your subjects, your territory member: Hilda Bloodkiss has had her loyalty to you reduced by 5 points]

[Due to discord among your subjects, your territory member: Isabelle Gospel has had her loyalty to you reduced by 5 points]

…

"Damn it!"

Cao Xing cursed under his breath, unable to contain his indignation!

"Dammit, what does it have to do with me that the two of you don't get along?"

"I worked so hard to get Hilda's loyalty to over 80!"

At this moment, Cao Xing took deep breaths repeatedly.

Then he told himself to calm down, to stay calm.

He kept a smile on his face and said, "Welcome, Isabelle, let us build a territory full of holy… full of redemption together."

Isabelle turned around, a gentle smile reappearing on her face.

"Thank you, Lord, for giving me the chance to be reborn."

"May the Holy Light guide you."

Cao Xing nodded, then began to check her attributes.

[Holy Light Priest: Isabelle Gospel]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 23, 10054 / 160000 (Tier 3 Boss-class creature)]

[HP: 22760 / 22760]

[Attack: 2342 ~ 2451]

[Armor: 344 ~ 367]

[Attributes: Strength 551, Agility 602, Spirit 750, Constitution 663]

[Skills: Advanced Holy Light Control (Mastered the power of Holy Light, can freely change it into various forms of attacks.)]

[Repentance (Activates the power of the soul, making the target repent for their sins. For targets with lower Spirit than the user, it controls their mind for 1~5 seconds. Note: If the target's will is on the verge of collapse, there is a chance to force them into a deep control state, where their thoughts and actions will be controlled by Isabelle for 5~60 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.)]

[Chain of Holy Light (Condenses the power of light to shoot a chain of Holy Light, connecting five targets along its path. Deals 154% damage to enemy targets and restores HP equal to Spirit * 2.5 to friendly targets. Cooldown: 60 seconds.)]

[Holy Light Cinder Shield (Condenses the power of Holy Light to summon a shield of light in front with durability equal to Spirit * 5. It can move forward quickly, pushing enemies, and then deal 214% explosive damage to all enemies within range. Cooldown: 2 minutes.)]

[Sacred Locking Ring (Condenses the power of Holy Light to create a ring of light in front. The ring will rapidly shrink, binding all enemies within range for 1~5 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes.)]

[Song of Rebirth (Creates a large healing circle with a diameter of 20 meters centered on the user. Restores HP equal to Isabelle's Spirit * 5 per second for 10 seconds. The healing effect disappears after the circle ends. Cooldown: 10 minutes.)]

[Talent: Heart of Holiness (Only those who have experienced the deepest darkness and still maintained hope can awaken this talent. Reduces damage taken from mental attacks by 50%.)]

[Satiety: 77]

[Loyalty: 63]

(Character Introduction: Isabelle was once just a villager in an unknown village. One day, the Dark Cult came to her village and took all the young girls as sacrifices. They slaughtered their relatives right in front of them, crushed their corpses, and then smeared the blood mixed with their relatives' body parts on the girls. The Dark Cult admired the fear on the girls' faces, taking their pain and moans as hymns. Isabelle watched as the girls around her were tortured to death one by one, then offered as sacrifices. At her most desperate moment, she heard a voice in her ear for the first time in her life—it was a demon's voice. The demon told her that if she offered her soul, she could possess powerful strength, the power to destroy everything. That day, she became a witch of vengeance and slaughtered everyone and all livestock in that Dark Cult and that village! After this, Isabelle was completely consumed by the flames of vengeance in her heart and began her path of slaughter. However, as Isabelle continued her slaughter against the Dark Cult, she increasingly felt that she had lost her way. She could now kill everyone and every animal in a village, or even a city, without batting an eye. Because of her vengeance, countless civilians died. Isabelle felt lost and pained, but the killing desire in her heart drove her to kill more living beings. At her most painful moment, she heard a voice in her ear for the second time in her life. It was a beautiful song. The voice asked her if she was willing to join the Church and use her power to benefit the world and wash away her sins. Isabelle accepted. At that moment, the blood and wounds on her body disappeared. From then on, the world lost a witch of vengeance, and gained one: Isabelle Gospel.)

…

"Damn…"

Looking at the long character introduction, Cao Xing was shocked for a long time.

This new boss-class Holy Light Priest had a surprising background, and her life experience was extremely rich and tortuous.

This had shaped the current Holy Light Priest who hated evil with a passion.

Her set of skills was truly terrifyingly powerful.

The most terrifying one was her Song of Rebirth skill!

What kind of concept was restoring HP equal to Spirit * 5 per second?

With Isabelle's current attributes, it was equivalent to a recovery of over three thousand per second!

In other words, within these 10 seconds, Cao Xing and his party were practically unkillable!

However, except for the [Repentance] effect which was a bit strange, similar to a demon's mind control.

Isabelle's other skills were also not weak at all.

Holy Light Cinder Shield could block attacks, push monsters, and cause explosive damage!

Sacred Locking Ring could provide crowd control and gather monsters.

"Too overpowered!"

Cao Xing was extremely excited!

Moreover, he could make her even more powerful!

Then, suppressing the excitement in his heart, he said solemnly, "Isabelle, you possess the powerful strength of the Holy Light."

"Now, let me bestow a blessing upon you."

There was a look of confusion in Isabelle's beautiful eyes.

Cao Xing did not explain much, but instead pulled Liu Muxue and Blot to apply a series of statuses to Isabelle.

Even Hilda, under Cao Xing's order, reluctantly cast Queens Will on Isabelle with a look of unwillingness on her face.

Like the others.

Isabelle was surprised at first, but after feeling those powers permanently remaining in her body, a strong shock appeared in her eyes!

Even though her personal experience was extremely rich, she had never seen such strange power!

Isabelle exclaimed, "You are truly a miraculous Lord. Even in the Church, I have never seen such miraculous power."

"If the Church had your help, the Holy Light could soon spread throughout the world."

[You helped Isabelle Gospel improve her strength, her loyalty has increased. Current loyalty: 71]

…

Not bad, this wave increased loyalty by 8 points.

It basically made up for the 5 points of loyalty lost.

At this time, Isabelle said softly.

"Lord, I wonder if you are interested in joining the Church?"

"The Church?"

Isabelle nodded slightly, then said softly, "The Church is an extremely ancient organization. Our members are spread across the four continents, and even include the Eternal Frozen Sea."

"From kings to nobles, from knights to commoners, there are members of our Church everywhere."

Hearing this, before Cao Xing could answer, Hilda on the side said softly, "Tsk! That was all ten thousand years ago."

"It's not even certain whether the current Church still exists."

Isabelle looked at Hilda with a smile, "Blood Spider Queen, you do not understand the Church, and you cannot comprehend how powerful the Church's strength is."

"It is one of the oldest organizations in the world."

"I can feel that the Holy Light is still guiding me, and it will also bring sanctions upon evil creatures like you."

Hilda's eyes still carried disdain.

Seeing that the two women were about to quarrel again, Cao Xing hurriedly stepped forward to stop them.

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