A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

Fortunately, I did not put my future on the line of achieving merit and receiving rewards.

After all, the damaged divine nature is his confidence and trump card!

The author says:

Author's words: My father was admitted to the hospital yesterday for a minor surgery and I need your care, so I can only update once.

I can update twice today.

Chapter 291: Trophy 4

"By the way, what did you take?" asked the commander-in-chief.

"Nothing, just this thing." Thomas said casually, pulling out the core ball of the evil tree man.

A ball full of magic.

It's about the size of a volleyball, so it's a stretch to put it in a backpack.

As for the texture, it is like the resin or plastic that Thomas often saw in his previous life, hard, tough, and somewhat elastic.

During these days on the ship, Thomas clearly felt the hostility of others.

Hostility aside, public criticism still requires a proper and legitimate reason.

The main criticism leveled at Thomas was that he had hidden the spoils.

In the battle against the Deer-Headed Demon, although Thomas made great efforts and undertook the most dangerous task - but your efforts do not mean that others are lazy!

Everyone is working hard and taking huge risks.

It is unreasonable to say that Thomas kept the spoils for himself.

The Deer-Headed Spirit is naturally the most valuable trophy shared by the Knights, but other things cannot be taken privately.

If you were rewarded for your work afterwards, that's fine, but if you just pocketed it, what's that? Isn't that typical of a lack of organization and discipline?

The captain took the thing and looked at it again and again.

This thing is big enough that you can basically just stuff one into your backpack.

"There's a magical reaction..." the Grand Master said. "Where did this come from?"

"Dig it out from the evil tree man." Thomas replied.

There are eight such cores in total, seven of which are in the secondary plane.

The last time Thomas came, he killed an evil tree man and dug out another one.

This time, kill two evil tree people in the cave and dig out two.

Then on the way back, they dug out five more from the evil tree people killed by the knights.

The knights' main method was to use artillery to destroy the upper half of the evil tree man, which was almost equivalent to decapitation. They did not have much time to carefully study the remains of the evil tree man.

After all, without the right tools, it is difficult to decompose and study the evil tree man.

The Grand Master looked at the Core, then at Thomas's face.

"Leave this to me first, and I'll explain it to you tomorrow. To be honest, the value of this thing...isn't particularly great."

Although magic items are rare, not all magic items are useful.

There are actually a lot of useless magic items that can only be displayed at home as exhibits.

After the meeting, Thomas returned to his room.

As I walked past the cabin, someone came towards me.

Thomas recognized this man, Alexi, the head of the division.

He was the youngest of the Grand Masters in the Knights Templar. He was about ten years younger than the Grand Master, a little under forty. He was also the most hostile to Thomas.

Although he was called branch leader, he was actually only at the "branch leader level". He did not specifically command a branch in a certain place, but had always been at the headquarters of the Knights Templar, serving as an assistant to the Grand Master, responsible for some daily affairs of the Knights Templar.

"Thomas!" Alexey bumped into Thomas and had to say hello. "What are you doing with a backpack?"

"Nothing," Thomas said. "Captain Alexei, I have something to ask you."

He used a honorific, which made Alexi look him up and down for a long moment.

However, despite the hostility, the two sides did not fall out. And in this situation where everyone is in the same boat, there is no way to fall out.

Otherwise, you would be ignoring the overall situation and being selfish, and you would be despised by everyone in the Knights Templar. You would never be able to stay in the Knights Templar again.

"it is good."

"Into your room?" Thom suggested.

"Sure." Alexey didn't understand what Thomas was up to.

They soon entered Alexei's cabin.

Although he was the head of a branch group, the living standard on the ship was just so-so and all the furnishings were very simple.

In the room, there was only a table and no tea or drinks.

The two of them sat down at the table.

"Sir Alexei," Thomas spoke up. "I heard that before you became a monk and joined the Order... your family were prominent merchants in Kiev?"

"What does this have to do with you?" Alexey said with a bad look on his face.

"I was just mentioning it casually... Indeed, this matter has nothing to do with me. However, there are other matters that concern both you and me. You should already know something. Although the Grand Commander suppressed and sealed the monster, it came at a great cost."

"What do you want to say?"

"I think we can make a deal," Thomas said.

"What deal?"

"One hundred thousand florins," Thomas said. "In exchange for a chance to succeed the Grand Master."

"What?" Alexey's surprise was not feigned. "What did you say?"

"Speak more quietly, Your Excellency Alexei," Thomas said. "From what I've heard, you've always been fair and just, and you're loved and respected by everyone in the Order. Honestly, if the Grand Master passes away, then you're the most suitable successor."

"…The most suitable heir besides me!"

"You? You're just a small squad leader..."

"I am indeed the squad leader now, but when we return to Kiev, when this matter is settled and everything is over... do you think I will still be a squad leader?" Thomas said calmly.

As long as it comes down to rewarding merit, Thomas will definitely move up a level.

In this incident, he was the one who initially noticed the unusual movements, provided early intelligence, formulated mid-term action plans, and even took on the most dangerous and critical tasks during the battle.

Adding it all up, Thomas deserves a great achievement. He must be rewarded!

The next step up from squad leader is to become division commander, which means he has the same status as Alexi and is qualified to inherit the position of grand commander.

This is something that no one can deny, including Alexi.

He could only remain silent.

"And you know the Grand Master thinks highly of me," Thomas continued. "I don't want to elaborate, but if you examine yourself carefully, you'll know that I have the greatest chance of succeeding!"

"One hundred thousand florins, and I'll give up my inheritance. That's a fair price. And I'm willing to support you. Think about it: you're getting rid of your biggest enemy and gaining a reliable supporter. Kill two birds with one stone."

"Impossible..." Alexei said reluctantly. "Even if I were to pay the Patriarch or the Grand Duke to buy the position of Grand Master right now... it wouldn't be worth that much!"

"You're right, it's not worth it now," Thomas agreed. "But what about three years from now?"

"The Grand Commander now controls the monster. He can use its power to continuously produce potions for elite advancement. You're probably familiar with that potion... a single bottle costs ten thousand florins on the market... and you can't even buy one for ten thousand florins!"

"When the Grand Master passes away... forget about a hundred thousand, even if you give one or two million florins to the Patriarch and the Grand Duke, it won't buy you this position! In other words, as long as the Knights reach a consensus, the Grand Master won't need their appointment! Instead, he'll be elected from within the Knights."

Chapter 292: Trophy 5

"I don't have that much money!" Alexey replied through gritted teeth. "The most I can offer is 80,000 florins! Besides, how can you guarantee that you're not lying?"

"Eighty thousand is too little..." Thomas thought for a moment. "Then I'll demand an additional price! After you become Grand Master, you'll have me take charge of the Novgorod branch. As for the promise... I can have the Grand Master publicly announce that I'll be traveling to Rome to study soon. I think that should be enough. Wait for me to return in three to five years, and then everything will be settled."

"Okay!" said Alexei.

"Very good, Your Excellency Alexi, I think we have reached a consensus." Thomas smiled and extended his hand.

Two people hold hands together.

A few minutes later, Thomas came out of the room.

Alexei was still sitting in his room, thinking, carefully weighing the pros and cons of this deal. Neither party had signed any agreement, so they could still go back on their word.

So he didn't notice Thomas go to another room and knock gently on the door.

The door of the room opened, and it was another branch leader.

This time, the Knights were going all-in, risking their boss's life. With the exception of the Chief Judge, all the other mid-level and high-level personnel they could find participated in the operation.

"Thomas? You..." Before he could finish his sentence, Thomas had already slipped into the room and closed the door.

"Sir, I came here to discuss a deal with you..."

Smart people know that you can eat multiple meals from one fish and sell multiple products from one commodity.

More than ten days passed in a flash.

The Knights had truly invested heavily this time! They burned expensive magic communication scrolls almost every day without batting an eye!

Because the river was frozen, the boat had to dock at the coast. At this time, someone came here with a carriage and horses to meet them.

They traveled quickly all the way without stopping in Novgorod, but went straight to Kyiv.

They traveled day and night without stopping. If the cart broke down, they would throw it away and replace it with a spare. If the horse collapsed, they would throw it away and replace it with a spare. If they were tired, they would lie down in the cart to rest for a while, then get up and continue on their journey.

All the way back to Kyiv.

Instead of returning directly to the headquarters of the Knights Templar, he went straight to a monastery on the outskirts of Kiev.

This is a small monastery under the control of the Knights, located in the forest on the outskirts of Kiev. It has always been a remote little place.

But now, a series of high-ranking officials of the Knights Temporarily staying here, including the Grand Master.

Thomas didn't know the Grand Master's plan, but everyone was on high alert during this period.

The explanation given to the public was that the leader was ill and chose this quiet place for recuperation.

Even Thomas didn't know more. He was assigned to be on duty, guarding the perimeter.

There was nothing to complain about. Not to mention him as the squad leader, even the division commander had to serve as a guard outside.

From this we can see that the Knights have probably always wanted to break free from the control of their biological parents.

Getting rid of the grip is not as easy as you think.

The Knights' leaders had already reached a high degree of consensus on this matter. After all, if the Knights could partially break free from their constraints, they would undoubtedly be the biggest beneficiaries.

On the contrary, the middle and lower classes cannot be trusted.

Although some people regard the Knights Templar as their own home, their loyalty to the Knights Templar exceeds their loyalty to the Patriarch or the Grand Duke.

But most people don't care. They're going to be supervised anyway, so it doesn't matter who supervises them.

Not to mention the Grand Duke and the Patriarch, who are at least on the surface the superior organizations of the Knights Templar. So reporting the Knights Templar's secrets to them...that wouldn't be considered betrayal, right?

After staying in the monastery for a week, the tension finally eased.

Because now we can be sure that the whole thing has been successfully kept secret.

If the Grand Duke or Patriarch wants to snatch the spoils from the Knights, then this is the golden opportunity.

The current Knights cannot resist the power of the Grand Duke or the Patriarch.

Since they are not taking action now, it means they really know nothing about this matter.

In the second week, the Grand Master allowed some people to contact the Knights' headquarters.

In the third week, the Grand Duke sent a special envoy who seemed to know nothing about the situation to inquire about the Grand Commander's condition.

Of course, the Grand Commander looked weak, as if he was sick and needed recuperation.

By the fourth week, the atmosphere had finally relaxed. Regular communication had formed between the priory and the Knights' headquarters, with people coming in and out every day.

Although the Grand Commander was frail, he was still able to handle his daily work.