I logged into the God panel.

"Trouble is brewing."

The high priest, his expression slightly somber, stood in the church nestled among the trees.

Today he wore a black robe with a sparkling diamond pendant hanging on his chest.

The knight commander was still wearing the same trench coat, his hood pulled down to cover most of his face, sitting on the log bench as if in prayer.

He said:

"So what if we didn't get the sealed item? Nobody else did either. We haven't even figured out the rules for the sealed item yet..."

The high priest shook his head and interrupted:

"The situation is far more terrible than expected. The secret holy mountain recently revealed specific information about the sealed artifact 101, the upside-down cross."

He took a deep breath:

"It is terrifyingly contagious."

"Contagious?"

"And those who see the mark will also be infected."

The knight commander was even more confused:

"Do you want to hear what you're saying? How can a mark invisible to the naked eye be seen again... Wait, clairvoyance?"

"right!"

The high priest said in a deep voice:

"It must also be a powerful form of spiritual vision."

The knight commander's expression changed.

Although he was an apprentice, practicing secret martial arts and physical training, he was not stupid and quickly realized what was happening.

This sealed object selectively infects, and to find those infected, only highly skilled superhumans can personally screen them, which is where the problem lies.

As long as screening is conducted and a mark is seen, one can become infected!

The knight commander frowned:

What happens to infected individuals after symptoms appear? Is there any way to remove the marks?

The high priest sighed:

"The secret holy mountain said that the Book of Omniscience did not provide too much detailed information about the sealed artifact 101, only some ambiguous descriptions."

"for example?"

"Those infected will become apostles walking between life and death, attendants of death, the antithesis of the living, and believers in the underworld..."

After a pause, the high priest said in a deep voice:

"As for removing the infection mark? It will require at least a sixth-tier [Saint] to personally intervene."

The knight commander remained silent.

A saint?

In an era when the gods have vanished, the outer gods secretly observe everything, and the saints sit in the central command; how could they dare to wander off at will?

It was even less likely that they would come to Donghai City, a small town.

"The Secret Mountain says that the Book of Omniscience also provides a crucial piece of information," the High Priest said softly.

"Seal Item 101: Within that dried corpse hanging upside down on the cross, dwells an ancient soul from the underworld."

The knight commander's eyes widened:

"So, he's Death's servant?"

"right!"

The high priest nodded:

"The secret sacred mountain says that the appearance of Sealed Item 101 might be related to the Grim Reaper. That ancient fallen god is probably plotting something..."

"His followers should arrive here."

…………

Donghe Residential Area, Building 1, Unit 1, Room 302.

Lu Daosheng stood in front of the mirror, gazing at his reflection.

To be precise, it was staring at the faint mark on one's forehead in the mirror.

On the upside-down cross, the mummified corpse's chest rose and fell slightly, and its eyes seemed to be opening, but very slowly.

"Mom's calling! Mom's calling!"

I tapped my watch and answered the phone.

"Daosheng, Dad's still working overtime here, he probably won't be home for the next couple of days, and neither will your mother... Has Lu Yu come back yet?"

"Not yet."

"Oh, right, I received a notification from your homeroom teacher that the field trip has been canceled, but classes have also been canceled. You and your sister have the two days off, so stay home and don't go out..."

Listening to his father Lu Tianyang nag on and on, Lu Daosheng simply responded quietly.

After hanging up the phone.

Lu Daosheng looked in the mirror and touched his forehead, but naturally couldn't feel anything.

"What is this? A curse from a sealed artifact?"

He muttered to himself, closely monitoring the Southern District Chief's every move through divine grace; the chief had indeed received several new reports.

It contains some detailed information about Seal Item 101.

Infection...brand...vision...

Lu Daosheng quickly processed the information, his brows furrowing.

If you activate your spiritual vision and see the brand, you will be infected?

He took a deep breath and heard breaking news playing on the living room TV.

"The Donghai Medical Administration has issued an urgent declaration that an unidentified pneumonia is spreading on a large scale in our city. The entire city has been placed under Level 1 control, all high-speed rail and air travel have been suspended, and all entertainment venues have been closed..."

"We urge all citizens to stay calm and at home, not to panic, not to hoard supplies, and to wear masks when going out. The city government will organize the delivery of essential supplies..."

After watching TV quietly for a while, Lu Daosheng went into the master bedroom and turned on his computer.

He first searched for news about the epidemic in Donghai City. Although Donghai City is a small city, the news of its lockdown had caused quite a stir online.

However, no useful information was found.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Daosheng recalled the forum he had entered at the internet cafe that day, typed in the URL, and pressed enter.

The page slowly refreshed, and it was still that yellowish-brown forum called "Hidden House".

I received a notification, and when I opened it, I saw that someone had replied to the question I had asked before.

[Shepherd: I'm more curious about the Spear of Destiny. Anyone know about it?]

The person who replied was someone with the ID "Guardian of the Heart".

[Guardian of the Heart: The Spear of Destiny is not to be inquired about. Its true name has always been a taboo, sealed and erased by all churches. It is said that as long as the true name of that spear is uttered, one will be locked by fate and summon the sleeping Emperor of Time and Space.]

Lu Daosheng raised an eyebrow. The Spear of Destiny, Odin's Spear of Destiny... If he remembered correctly, in Norse mythology from his previous life, it was called [Gungnir].

Myth says that when Gungnir pierces, it is unstoppable and will surely hit its mark, and any oath made to Gungnir will surely be fulfilled.

After thinking about it, he still didn't try to say those four words.

Who knows what will happen?

[Shepherd: No matter how much you try to block information, the Church of the Light of the Universe will eventually find out the gun's real name, so what's the point of blocking information?]

After replying to the post, I was about to close this forum.

A new message popped up.

[Heart Guardian: Looks like a newbie? How do newbies access and register on this forum?]

[Guardians of the Heart: The four major righteous churches have invoked the secret holy mountain and used the sealing artifact 011 to erase the knowledge of most life forms about the Spear of Destiny, especially the Church of the Light of Time. Even the Pope of the Church of the Light of Time has forgotten its true name.]

The four major orthodox churches?

Lu Daosheng was surprised. He did know this; the four internationally recognized mainstream denominations were the Sun Church, the Earth Church, the Crescent Moon Church, and the Deep Blue Church.

They worship the sun god, the earth mother goddess, the moon god, and the sea god.

Just as Lu Daosheng was deep in thought,

Another message popped up in the background, but this time it was a private message from the Guardian of the Heart.

[Guardians of the Heart: Are you the older brother or the older sister?]

Shepherd: Male

[Heart Guardian: Hey bro, do you know what happened in the northern suburbs? Any news?]

Lu Daosheng's expression hardened, and he gently tapped the keyboard.

[Shepherd: How did you know where I was?]

[Guardian of the Heart: ???]

[Heart Guardian: Don't you check IP addresses?]

Lu Daosheng was taken aback. He looked carefully and sure enough, he saw the line "IP: Donghai City" below his profile picture.

He was somewhat speechless, glancing at the Guardians of the Heart, who were indeed from Donghai City.

[Guardian of the Heart: Although I don't know who invited you to the forum, let's share any news we have. How about we meet in the spirit world?]

Lu Daosheng frowned. What exactly was this forum he had stumbled into?

Is this the forum for extraordinary individuals?

He thought for a moment, then briefly recounted what he knew about Sealed Artifact 101. As for the meeting in the Spirit World...

This serves as a reminder to myself.

Lu Daosheng touched the location of the mark on his forehead... The Spirit Realm!

After hesitating for a moment, he declined the Heart Guardian's invitation, then decisively cleared his browsing history, closed the forum, and went back to his room.

He pulled out the plastic mask he wore during Halloween from the closet, put it on, and then changed into the black robe.

Lu Daosheng slowly walked into the gate to the spirit world.

This time, however, he entered not as a spirit, but as his physical body.

"This damn mark can't possibly be more powerful than rampant spirituality and delirium, can it?"