Afterward, Bai Hong took Xiao Huo Yuhao to perform the ceremony of joining the Unfettered Church.
In principle, this required swearing an oath before the Fantasist shrine in an Unfettered Church chapel, witnessed by a guarantor and church members, but the principle himself was right here.
Bai Hong stated that since those rituals were all invented by him, the final right of interpretation belonged to him, and he could be Huo Yuhao’s guarantor.
So, an exception was made.
Bai Hong taught Huo Yuhao to place his left hand on the divine emblem on the cover of “The Fantasist Bible” and his right hand over his own Mind, then led Huo Yuhao in reciting the vows together.
“Please remember our goal!”
“Awaken all numb Minds, until the flowers of life bloom in profusion!”
“Guide all ignorant selfish desires, until we unite and struggle for truth!”
“Inspire all suffering wills, until their fervent blood boils…”
Although Huo Yuhao didn't yet understand the meaning of the vows, he still knew the importance of swearing an oath.
Especially since these vows included an oath sworn with one’s Spirit, which could be said to be the most potent curse on the Douluo Plane.
But could Bai Hong harm Huo Yuhao? Absolutely not!
“May the Lord of Mind, Father of Insight, the great Fantasist, forever guide our way forward!”
After the last line of the oath was recited, Bai Hong smiled at Huo Yuhao and said, “Then, welcome to the Unfettered Church, Xiao Yuhao. Now you can acknowledge me as your Master. I am a favored one under the Fantasist’s God Position, the spokesperson of the Unfettered Church, and from now on, you are my disciple.”
Huo Yuhao nodded, about to kneel before Bai Hong with a thump, but Bai Hong stopped him.
“There’s no need to kneel. The Church doesn’t practice that. Even when meeting the Fantasist’s God Position, you don’t need to kneel. You just need to bow.”
“Disciple Huo Yuhao, greets Master.”
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and decided to perform three bows, similar to the three kowtows of a traditional apprenticeship ceremony.
Feeling that something was a little off, Bai Hong thought about it and decided to accept Huo Yuhao’s salute.
“Very good, Yuhao, from now on you are my senior disciple. I will teach you to grow and become talented, and even…”
Here, Bai Hong left a cliffhanger. Talking about the god-making plan with Xiao Huo now would be too fantastical.
But it didn’t matter, as long as Tianmeng understood it. Bai Hong had already communicated with him.
Bai Hong pressed two fingers to Huo Yuhao’s glabella, transmitting a “data packet” of mental force.
“This is our Unfettered Church’s mental force cultivation method. Study it well. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask me anytime. Even if I’m not by your side, you can contact me through the mental imprint I left in your Mind.
Next, I need to arrange for you to attend the school best suited for you, which will be the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. This is much better than entering Shrek Academy. Besides… don’t you still want revenge on the Duke White Tiger’s Estate? Then you can only go to the Sun Moon Empire. It can provide you with all the resources you need to become a high-level spirit tool Master.”
Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao, whose thoughts had been exposed, looked stunned, then nodded with determined eyes: “Brother Bai, then I’ll listen to you.”
…Although he said he would send Huo Yuhao to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy for enrollment, after leaving the Star Dou Great Forest, Bai Hong still took Huo Yuhao to Shrek City.
After discovering that the Plane’s consciousness’s care for Huo Yuhao, the Douluo Plane’s favored son, had been tampered with, Bai Hong decided that he must make a trip to Shrek Academy.
The Unfettered Church’s influence was quite extensive, and its church organizations often existed in business forms like merchant guilds, which also facilitated revenue generation.
The Audience Pathway was naturally adept at maneuvering and playing both sides, excelling at interpersonal relationships.
Shrek City was not only the location of Shrek Academy but also the most important commercial city at the border of the original three great Empires of the Douluo Continent. The Unfettered Church naturally put great effort into its operations in Shrek City.
Entering Shrek City from the west gate, Bai Hong led Huo Yuhao into the Unfettered Church’s branch in Shrek City, which was a five-story building named “Unfettered Merchant Guild.”
Entering the guild hall, Bai Hong took out the Unfettered Divine Emblem from his person. The receptionist immediately understood and led him and Huo Yuhao to the fifth floor, which was almost inaccessible to anyone else.
The bishop of the Unfettered Church’s Shrek City branch, and also the president of the Unfettered Merchant Guild’s Shrek City branch, was named Luo Qing. He was an elderly Spirit Saint who had originally lost hope of advancement but broke through to the Spirit Douluo level after joining the Church, thus experiencing a second spring. He was one of Bai Hong’s earliest team members in establishing the Unfettered Church.
“May the Father of Insight guide us.”
Luo Qing drew a circle on his chest—this was a common prayer gesture within the Unfettered Church—then said, “Lord Bai Hong, your subordinate has already arranged the transport team to Mingdu of the Sun Moon Empire, and they can depart tomorrow.”
“Very good, Bishop Luo Qing.”
Bai Hong nodded slightly, brought Huo Yuhao forward, and said, “This is Huo Yuhao, my student. Take him to rest here for a while. Also, have you handled the visitor application for Shrek Academy for me?”
“It has already been handled, Lord Bai Hong.”
“That’s good. I’m going to Shrek Academy now. I’ll entrust Xiao Huo to your care for now. Get him settled in neatly. I want to see results when I return.”
“Yes, Lord Bai Hong.”
After arranging for Luo Qing to take Huo Yuhao away, Bai Hong walked out of the Unfettered Merchant Guild and headed towards Shrek Academy.
Shrek Academy was located in the east of the city, with the east gate of Shrek City serving as its main entrance. Bai Hong walked for a long time before reaching the east gate area.
The visitor procedures had already been completed. Bai Hong only needed to announce his identity to enter. Before long, he had already stepped into Shrek Academy.
He had to be careful here. The row of statues standing two hundred meters from the entrance had some significance.
The original Shrek Seven Devils had all ascended to godhood, so Bai Hong had to avoid the Shrek Academy’s statues of the original Shrek Seven Devils. Who knew if God King Tang would look through his statue, which had received Shrek’s faith for ten thousand years.
The Fantasist God Position was too prominent to hide, but Bai Hong, as a “favored one” linked to the Fantasist God Position, had to be cautious to avoid being exposed to God King Tang’s perception.
Bai Hong, as a person, could be said to be the weakest link in the Fantasist God Position that had transmigrated.
But while caution was necessary, Bai Hong would still go out of his way to cause some trouble for God King Tang.
Soon, he reached the Sea God Lake and gazed at the distant, lush Golden Tree.
Bai Hong held a quill and a notepad, beginning to briefly borrow the authority of “Insight” from the Fantasist God Position, staring intently at that Golden Tree.
The authority of “Insight” permeated the Golden Tree from the outside in, allowing Bai Hong to glimpse the blue-silver soul deep within the ancient tree.
It seemed that God King Tang’s grand ten-thousand-year scheme had already been in motion since he planted this tree, otherwise, why would he have specifically arranged this Golden Tree as the foundation of Shrek Academy ten thousand years ago.
Bai Hong retracted his gaze, about to turn and walk towards the dormitory area of Shrek Academy’s Outer Court.
But at this moment, he felt a disturbance in his mental detection tendrils that were extending towards Sea God Island.
Bai Hong’s mental detection was not the low-end detection method of Xiao Huo’s original technique, which simply expanded mental force to a certain range. Instead, it mimicked the principle of modern phased-array radar from Earth before his transmigration, transforming his mental force tendrils into several thin, elongated main lobe beams that continuously extended outwards for detection, completing a 360-degree, all-encompassing scan with himself as the center in an instant.
With Bai Hong’s current Spirit Abyss Realm mental force cultivation, his mental detection range was extremely far, comparable to Xiao Huo’s seven-kilometer unidirectional extreme detection range during his Spirit Saint period, and the actual effect was still like a full-range area detection.
This method of mental detection also had an advantage: it was not easily discovered by powerful individuals. With such a small beam sweeping past rapidly, even a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse, unless they specialized in mental attributes, would almost certainly not be able to detect Bai Hong’s mental detection method.
In terms of mental force cultivation concepts and applications, the gap between Bai Hong’s Unfettered Church and the current Shrek Academy was roughly equivalent to the desperate gap in spirit tool levels between the current Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
Getting back to the main topic, Bai Hong activated his mental detection not only for early warning but also to sense acquaintances within Shrek Academy.
Bai Hong had no enmity with Shrek Academy; he always had some acquaintances there.
However, at this moment, he was more interested in meeting a certain person who was serving as the dormitory manager for the new students. This was his primary objective; he wasn't unable to meet others, but Bai Hong found it troublesome.
Even if the one whose mental tendrils felt a disturbance was actually a part of the Unfettered Church… or perhaps even a devout believer?
Sensing that the strength of the abnormal signal was at the eight-ring level, Bai Hong couldn’t help but feel a little speechless. Why was it coming in his direction!
An eight-ring Spirit Douluo’s perception, combined with being a devout Fantasist believer, and now having the bonus from the Audience Pathway Sequence 7 “Psychotherapist” extraordinary characteristic, along with the aggregation effect of extraordinary characteristics, it was indeed possible for them to perceive his mental detection.
The surface of Sea God Lake between the shore of Sea God Island and Bai Hong’s location in Shrek Outer Court was only about a thousand meters, which for an eight-ring Spirit Douluo, would take but a few breaths to traverse.
Therefore, Bai Hong stood by the shore, watching the figure in Shrek Inner Court’s fiery red school uniform fly across the water, approaching from a distance.
The figure came ashore and entered Bai Hong’s sight.
Long black hair cascaded down to her waist, her black eyes were bright and intelligent, her delicate face was fair and flawless, and her serene, gentle demeanor and proud figure made her unforgettable at first sight.
Zhang Lexuan, the senior sister of Shrek Inner Court.
She looked at Bai Hong in a daze, rubbing her eyes in disbelief, before finally nodding with certainty and walking quickly towards Bai Hong, exclaiming joyfully: “Bai Hong? It’s really you? After more than three years, how did you grow so tall? Even I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“Sister Lexuan, long time no see.”
Bai Hong responded indifferently, which counted as a greeting.
People on the Douluo Continent mature relatively early, and Bai Hong had a dragon Spirit and never lacked nutrition. More than three years ago, at nine years old, he was just over 1.5 meters tall, but now he had shot up to 1.8 meters, with a more mature temperament. At first glance, he looked like an adult, and unfamiliar people would not be able to tell his true age.
“Yes… long time no see. We haven’t met since that incident in the Star Dou Great Forest. Why did you decide to visit our Shrek Academy today? Are you here to preach the gospel of ‘the Lord’ to our academy?” Zhang Lexuan’s eyes flickered as she smiled gently.
“I’m here to see someone for business. Once I’m done, I’ll leave. Besides, with a senior sister like you from the Inner Court here, how could it be my turn to proselytize?” Bai Hong also laughed.
“Sigh, I thought you came to see us, the people you saved back then. Ruoruo and Ming’er, they really want to see you again,” Zhang Lexuan said wistfully.
“I remember I also saved several male students from your Inner Court back then. They haven’t forgotten me, have they?”
“Of course not, they’ve always spoken highly of you…”
The two chatted and laughed as they walked to the Outer Court dormitory area, attracting countless curious glances along the way.
Some busybodies quickly recognized Zhang Lexuan as the senior sister of the Inner Court. Seeing her chatting and laughing with the young man in the white coat, they began to gossip about the identity of this young man in the white coat, wondering how he could make the aloof and cold Moon Goddess smile so brightly… Walking all the way to the massive Outer Court dormitory building, Zhang Lexuan turned to Bai Hong: “Speaking of which… I haven’t asked you what business you have at Shrek Academy? Do you need my help?”
Bai Hong inadvertently glanced at the dormitory building’s balcony and happened to see Bei Bei peeking out. He chuckled, “I told you, I’m only here at Shrek to see someone for a matter.”
“Who are you looking for? Do you need to come all the way to the Outer Court dorms for it?”
Zhang Lexuan also noticed Bei Bei’s presence, but after merely nodding in greeting, she continued to question Bai Hong.
“The one I’m looking for is…”
Just as they reached the white unit building representing the first-year new student dormitories, Bai Hong tugged at Zhang Lexuan’s sleeve and pointed at the old man lying on a chair sunbathing in front of the white unit building.
“There, it’s him. Since Sister Lexuan is here, please help me wake him up.”
“Ah?”
Only then did Zhang Lexuan notice the old man lying on the chair sunbathing, her expression freezing: “Elder Mu… Elder Mu?!”
“Lexuan? Why are you here?”
The old man on the chair slowly sat up, casting a puzzled gaze at Zhang Lexuan, then turning to Bai Hong beside her, his dim eyes suddenly becoming sharp: “It’s you, young friend. After a few years, you’ve changed so much.”
“Elder Mu.”
Bai Hong nodded in greeting, his tone, however, held little respect for the old man. He spoke lightly, “You shouldn’t be sunbathing here. Let’s speak privately, anywhere other than the Sea God Pavilion is fine, if you find it convenient.”
“Heh heh, I didn’t expect you to seek me out proactively.”
The old man rose from his reclining chair, shaking out the wrinkles from his gray robe: “There’s a pavilion by the lake. Please, young friend, favored one of the Unfettered Church!”