Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 811 Aheng
"Ah... Senior Ah Heng! You, how could you...!"

As the gentle voice fell, the young female knight who was guarding the entrance suddenly widened her eyes and looked incredulously in a certain direction behind her. Xin Lailai, who was standing next to her, also turned her gaze upon hearing the voice, and then she was taken aback when she saw the person's face.

"So...so beautiful." "It's Ah Heng from the Cult of Justice!"

"Quick, quick, what are you waiting for? Take a picture now!!"

"Mr. Aheng! Could you please sign this for me...!"

A noisy and excited commotion arose. As the young man appeared behind the entrance, the previously quiet city wall passageway suddenly became extremely noisy.

The newspaper staff who were originally filming the scene in the square swarmed forward excitedly, like sharks that had smelled their prey. Together with the Justice God Cult staff and contractors who had been attracted by the appearance of the young man, they surrounded the entrance, almost squeezing Xin Lailai against the railing.

However, Xin Lailai did not show any dissatisfaction. In her opinion, given the young man's temperament and appearance, this frenzied scene was not surprising at all, and even seemed a bit conservative to her.

Yes, that's conservative.

Upon first glance at the young man, Xin Lailai was certain that if he were to appear in a densely populated area, his mere presence and appearance would likely cause a huge sensation.

This is not an exaggeration. Xin Lailai believes she has seen all kinds of people, including some who could be described as bringing ruin to a country. But even beauties like Saintess and Deathbringer would probably find it hard to compare with the young man in front of her in terms of beauty.

Yes, beautiful.

Before this, Xin Lailai had never imagined that he would use such words to describe a man. Even the people of Sanshui thought he was only incredibly handsome, not so handsome as to require the word "beautiful".

But for the young man in front of her, Xin Lailai felt for the first time that the phrase "breathtakingly beautiful" was surprisingly fitting and natural when applied to a man.

Whether it's her long, wavy, silvery-white hair, her features more delicate than a woman's, or the noble aura she exudes, her mere presence evokes a certain feeling in others:
—If there were truly perfect humans in the world, they would probably look like this.

"Excuse me, could you please be quiet for a moment? And please don't disturb other passengers, okay?"

A gentle yet solemn voice rang out again, seemingly possessing a certain magic that instantly silenced the previously boisterous crowd. The silver-haired youth at the back of the entrance nodded slightly, turning his gaze back to Xin Lailai, who had been pushed to the edge of the crowd. A gentle smile graced his flawless, artistic face, and under the watchful eyes of everyone present, he extended his hand to Xin Lailai.

"Nice to meet you, Aheng, from the Cult of Justice."

As the pleasant self-introduction faded, Xin Lailai looked at Aheng before her, nodded slightly, stepped forward, politely shook her hand, and said:

"The Cult of Lailai, Black Sword".

As soon as he finished speaking, Ah Heng smiled gently, nodded, looked into the corridor behind him, and said:

"It's a bit inconvenient to talk here. If Lord Black Sword doesn't mind, how about we move elsewhere?"

"Yes, thank you for showing me the way, Mr. Aheng."

In response to the silver-haired youth's invitation, Xin Lailai nodded slightly. Under the curious gazes of the crowd behind her, she walked with him towards the inner perimeter of the Righteous God Cult. Only after the two had completely disappeared from the crowd's sight did the previously quiet crowd stir again.

"Quick, quick, did you take a picture of what just happened? You know, Ah Heng's photos are highly sought after throughout the entire park!"

"Speaking of which, who was that black-haired guy just now? How come he was personally invited by Ah Heng?"

"Hey, you didn't know? That guy is Black Sword, the one who's been pretty famous lately."

"Black Sword? So it was him! No wonder someone could chat with Boss Aheng so calmly..."

A cacophony of voices rose from the massive city walls, where contractors and workers excitedly discussed their encounters, clearly thrilled to have just caught a glimpse of the silver-haired youth. For the two who had already departed, this provided perfectly fodder for conversation.
"I apologize for making you laugh, Lord Black Sword. Because of my appearance, every time I show my face, it always causes a commotion like the one just now."

“Mr. Aheng, you are too kind. In fact, it should be my fault. I asked you for help, but in the end, I caused you trouble.”

Xin Lailai shook her head gently and said with a smile, while curiously looking around at the magnificent complex of huge statues that stretched all the way to the end. Her eyes flickered slightly.

"Lord Black Sword, are you curious about the inner workings of the Church of Justice?"

Ah Heng, who was standing to the side, seemed to notice Xin Lailai's gaze and asked with a smile.

"Yes, I have indeed admired the Church of Justice, especially Your Majesty the God of Justice, who is the epitome of divine righteousness and has always been a role model for me."

Xin Lailai nodded slightly and admitted quite naturally that as a pioneer, he had learned about the information of various religions in the Holy Land, and in terms of favorability alone, the Righteous God Church was definitely in his top three.

"Haha, it's a pity that the God of Justice is not in the religion right now. Otherwise, if he heard what I just said, he would probably be laughing with great satisfaction in the temple. After all, for Him, being able to become a guiding light for others is the greatest recognition of His path."

"Mr. Aheng, you flatter me. I'm just stating the facts. But speaking of which, does Your Majesty the God of Justice of your religion often go out?"

Faced with Aheng's approval, Xin Lailai simply shook her head slightly, while glancing at the huge statue in the distance with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

In his memory, gods like the God of Justice, who belonged to the Temple of Gods in the Holy Land, usually lived in their own divine kingdoms. Even if something happened, they would usually send out avatars to solve it, rather than their true forms going out.

"Out of town? Ah, I apologize, Lord Black Sword, you misunderstood. When I said 'not here,' I meant that the God of Justice's consciousness had temporarily left the divine realm, not that His physical body had left."

“Although He always comes back to accompany us for a while during Mass every morning, in fact, just like the stories you occasionally hear, Lord Black Sword, the God of Justice is always busy with the affairs of his believers and maintains the state of being manifested in billions of divine thoughts, so he rarely has time to rest.”

As Ah Heng spoke, he gazed at the imposing, colossal statue in the distance, a hint of emotion appearing in his eyes:
"In fact, many of our fellow believers have thought about switching to the path of the divine to share His burden, but He has warned us that if we recklessly step onto the path of the divine without absolute awareness, it would be a desecration of the justice He wants to convey. Therefore, we can only forcibly restrain our thoughts and temper our will and awareness in the process of practicing our own path."

Did the God of Justice actually restrict members of his own religion from venturing into the divine realm at will?

Upon hearing the other person's story, Xin Lailai's eyes widened in surprise, followed by a look of admiration.

While there have been instances in the astral realm where subordinate gods have overtaken and usurped the power of the true gods, in most cases, this only occurs when the true god in charge of core powers has been negligent in their duties, leading to a large-scale loss of followers. Under normal circumstances, any developing true god would almost always prefer to have as many followers as possible embark on the path of divinity.

After all, no matter how powerful a single deity is, there is always a limit to the number of believers it can manage. If it wants to develop further, it must develop subordinate deities on a large scale and create its own pantheon.

Their Lai Lai Cult, for example, is in such a state because of a problem with their deity. Apart from him and Shan Xi, there is no third subordinate deity in the entire cult. As a result, although their cult has entered the top thirty thanks to the reputation of Mei Mu, the peak deity, they are completely unable to compare with other cults of the same level in terms of the scale and efficiency of their faith power.

"Well, I seem to have gone a bit off-topic. I'm sorry, Lord Black Sword, I've made a fool of myself here. Whenever we talk about the God of Justice, I tend to drift off-topic. It's one of my bad habits."

After chatting for a while, Ah Heng realized she had gone a bit off-topic and apologized, a helpless look on her face that could make even women feel ashamed. Then, she composed herself, looked at Xin Lailai beside her, and said:

"Speaking of which, Lord Black Sword, you came here this time to ask me to help you purchase a batch of team skill upgrade cards, right? I wonder how many you specifically need?"

"Well... I heard that the highest quality team skill upgrade card you can exchange in Lord Aheng's authorized shop is gold quality?"

"Well, based on my current exploration shop level, I can only buy 30 gold-level team skill upgrade cards for now. And since our team is also planning to upgrade our team skills, I'm afraid I can only sell about 20 to you, Lord Black Sword."

"That's enough. This is the transfer agreement for the exploration points. Please confirm it, Mr. Aheng. If there are no other issues, please help me exchange all the exploration points mentioned above for gold-level team skill cards."

Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai nodded slightly and sent over the virtual contract that she had prepared long ago.

On their way here, they had already told the Deathbringer and Yamu about the exploration points, and each of them had taken out 7000 exploration points. Combined with the 1060 exploration points he had left, it was enough to buy 15 gold-level team skill upgrade cards.

"This is the payment for the purchase, and I hope Mr. Aheng will not refuse it."

"Well then, thank you for your kindness, Lord Black Sword."

As Xin Lailai spoke, she took out a Soul Storage Crystal (complete) from her storage space. Seeing this, Aheng, who had finished checking the contract, did not refuse. It is written in the doctrinal text of the Righteous God Cult that one should not publicize unconditional help or gifts unless absolutely necessary.

[Note: Transaction complete. 15000 Exploration Points have been transferred to Pioneer Aheng. 15 Team Skill Upgrade Cards (Gold Grade) have been obtained.]

……

[Squad Skill Upgrade Card (Gold Grade)]

Origin: Sanctuary Paradise

Quality: Special

Category: Permissioned Items

Description: After use, if the squad reaches C/B/A level respectively, you will receive 2000/5000/10000 squad experience points respectively.

……

Great, now their team skills can finally be addressed!

Having received 15 golden upgrade cards equivalent to 150 squad skill points, Xin Lailai nodded slightly, a gentle smile appearing on her face, and said:

"Thank you very much, Mr. Heng. Now that the transaction is complete, I'll take my leave."

"Yes, Lord Black Sword, please take care."

Seeing Xin Lailai leave, Aheng didn't say much, only nodded slightly, watching her disappear into the pale golden teleportation beam. And as she prepared to leave...

"Hey, Senior Aheng? What are you doing here?"

A voice carrying a hint of surprise came from inside the teleportation pillar. A white-haired boy, wearing a sweat towel and training clothes, walked out of the pillar and looked at Aheng in surprise. He clearly did not expect to run into her in such a close place with the crowd.

"Lord Black Sword had something to discuss with me, and since I also wanted to see him, I decided to come here and pick him up."

"Hey? Brother Black Sword is here?!"

Ah Heng said with a smile. Upon hearing this, the white-haired boy's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Yes, it's a pity he seems to be in a hurry, otherwise I would like to talk to him more."

As Ah Heng spoke, she glanced at Bell, who was half a head shorter than her, and smiled:

"Argo, you have an enviable older brother."

"Well... it's not as exaggerated as Senior Aheng said, and I think Senior Aheng is amazing too!"

Hearing Ah Heng's words, Bell, who was rather shy, scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, lowered his head, and said bashfully. But this time, Ah Heng unexpectedly shook her head and denied it:
"No, Argo, you are wrong."

"Eh?"

"Perhaps you cannot understand it now, but your elder brother... Lord Black Sword's future will definitely be far greater than mine."

On the avenue paved with gray-white stone bricks, a silver-haired youth, as exquisite as a work of art, spoke. Beside him, a white-haired boy looked up, puzzled, gazing at the enormous golden dome that enveloped the entire park. A profound, timeless look flickered in his eyes as he murmured softly, as if to himself:

“I can say for sure.”

……

(End of this chapter)