Chapter 335: I Am the Pope
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
"If you want to kill me, then do it, I wish you good luck."
"Humph!" In the face of Faceless One's dripping sarcasm, Ferdinand angrily grunted and then, with great tolerance, restrained his anger.
Although he hasn't personally experienced the trial on the fourth pass, he also knew the outline. In that trial, fighting ability was actually not that important. The important thing was the ability to deal with all kinds of emergencies, and flexible use of rules to combat against the opponents. However, in this regard, Wang Lu's performance in the previous three passes was alarming.
The only one that could possibly contend with Wang Lu in this respect was Faceless One. Therefore, he had to restrain himself!
"Faceless, how confident are you in your ability to deal with that guy Wang Lu?"
Faceless One completely failed to appreciate Ferdinand's restraint. He scoffed and said with a smile, "That's a funny question. If I say not one hundred percent, will you give up? If I say one hundred percent, would you believe me?"
"Don't push your luck!"
Just as the situation became tenser, a gentle voice suddenly sipped through, "Faceless, I also want to know about this. Care to explain it to me?"
Upon hearing this voice, even Faceless One could not help but be startled. "Pope?"
Paul and Ferdinand were the first to bow down, not daring to be neglectful. Although everyone was in the legendary level, the Pope was the number one person in Holy Light Religion. At the same time, it was also most likely that, in the entire Western Continent, he was the closest person to the realm of God. His status was much higher than the other legendary level characters.
"No need to be overly courteous, I'm just an avatar projection. I come here to understand the situation. Faceless, what cards are you hiding in your sleeves?"
Paul and Ferdinand both looked at Faceless One. Since the Pope himself had asked it, he must not dare to conceal it. However, Faceless One still shook his head. "I can't say it. Because saying it would be boring."
"Presumptuous!" Ferdinand glowered. In the teaching of Holy Light Religion, the Pope was the personification of the Sea of Holy Light. Therefore, it was the greatest blasphemy to be disrespectful to the Pope.
The Pope himself was extremely magnanimous. "It's okay. Since you don't want to say it then so be it. But, this time…"
Faceless One disdainfully said, "Do you think I need you to remind me of that? If I had to be reminded to do anything like these two idiots, I would've not survived to this day."
"Hahaha!" Towards Faceless One's impudence, the Pope was actually relieved and laughed out loud. "Good, very good! I can finally feel assured in leaving this place to you."
Faceless One waved his hand. "Then hurry up and leave. It's a very serious thing over there so you shouldn't have a leisure time to show off here."
The pope nodded and his avatar gradually dissipated.
However, the Administrator of the King's Treasure House and the Supreme Inquisitor beside Faceless One were stunned.
Was there anyone else in this world who dared to speak like that to the pope? As the leader of the Holy Light Religion, the pope paid great attention to maintain his and the church's dignity. Anyone who dared to speak disrespectfully before him would certainly be punished harshly and justly, even the highest ranking archbishop was of no exception. They have personally seen it with the Red-dressed Archbishop.
In front of the Pope's scepter, he vanished into a puff of smoke, merely because when seeing the pope, he mistakenly used the wrong term of respect that sounded as a challenge to the authority of the Pope.
The pope's sternness was absolute, except for this scene before them. This was the first time they have seen a pope tolerated a person to such an extent that they even suspected if there was a relationship between the pope and Faceless One. Could it be...
Faceless One lightly said, "I am the pope."
"What!"
"That's impossible!"
"Humph, idiots." Faceless One coldly grunted. "Enough. Get ready yourself, the fourth pass is about to begin soon."
—
"Hah, this time's ladder is very long."
Stepping on the long ladder leading to the fourth pass, Wang Lu stopped and somewhat wearily sighed.
"Let's take a rest here first." With that, he directly sat with crossed legs on the ladder, and parts of his mind began to meditate, restoring his magical power.
Aya and the others looked at him in surprised—was Wang Lu really this tired?
He was indeed tired.
Although from outsider's view, crossing through the three passes was simply a breeze for Wang Lu, but as the one who did it, it was not as easy as it looked.
All the previous passes were indeed crossed very quickly. However, each one was like walking on a tightrope, a slight mistake would send them into the abyss. For example, counterfeiting the wine cup on the first pass. That stone guardian's power had nearly reached the legendary level after thousands of years of increasing his strength. A single roar could drive away all the clouds on the surrounding area with hundreds of miles radius. If he really strikes them, how could they resist?
On the second pass maze, Wang Lu used his original magical ability to chisel away the wall all the way to exit! However, breaking through the space barrier in the King's Treasure House with brute force certainly has its hidden danger, how could it be worry-free? A slight carelessness would cause the entire Treasure House to suppress them, and Wang Lu's Xudan Stage level ordinary magical ability would immediately fall apart!
As for the third pass, forging the gold medal to deter the golden guardians also has its risk. In case Tannu's control of the army was beyond his expectation, then he would immediately be defeated. Perhaps he himself with his Non-Phase Sword Defense could hold on for a moment, however, his tower defense strategy would completely collapse. And without the tower defense, it was impossible for Wang Lu to hold on until the end.
Every pass was like a strenuous activity that could take away his life at any time. Moreover, in every pass, he personally stood at the front, seemingly relaxed. However, the pressure on him was also real and huge. Even if Wang Lu has good psychological quality, it was inevitable that fatigue would overcome him.
"Senior Brother, are you tired?"
Liu Li cautiously asked.
Wang Lu touched her head and smiled. "Tired? What a joke. I can still fight three hundred rounds of fight with you. Liu Li, you never have to worry about me. You just need to stay obedient and take a good care of yourself, you understand?"
Liu Li nodded. "I know, that's what master said to me before going down the mountain."
"Mm, be obedient, go back and eat your fill."
In accordance with the usual practice, the dialogue between them was over. However, this time, Liu Li hesitated for a while and suddenly asked, "Senior Brother, can you give me more assignment? I… I've already become more powerful now."
Wang Lu was stunned. He completely did not expect Liu Li to say such words. After thinking for a while, Wang Lu took a careful look at Liu Li and then praised her, "After some time of not paying you attention, you indeed have become a bit bigger, completely in contrast to a certain someone who couldn't grow even after one hundred years."
Aya closed her eyes. "Does completely in contrast to a certain someone refer to me?"
Wang Lu comfortingly said, "Don't mind it, you can also be considered as rare." Then, he turned back and said to Liu Li, "It is so unlike you to put forward such a request. Liu Li, have you ever experienced something a while ago?"
Liu Li thought for a moment. "I found a dessert shop in Dragon City…"
Aya and Bai Shixuan could not help but smile. If it were other people, this inability to distinguish important from unimportant things would certainly give other people a headache. However, no one could be angry at Liu Li.
According to Wang Lu, the reason for this was very simple—Liu Li was just too beautiful...
"In addition to the dessert shop, there's also a barbecue stand that is very good. There's also…" Liu Li fell into memory lane as both of her eyes glittered.
Wang Lu frowned. "Wait a minute, I asked the wrong question… how about this, write down everything that you consumed in the last month in chronological order, including everything that you drunk."
Liu Li let out an 'oh' sound and, without asking why, immediately started writing down according to her memory. She was a sword cultivator, therefore, she has a nimble wrist. Very quickly, she had filled several pieces of paper with her writing. Finally, she wrote the last thing that she consumed that day.
Aya shook her head and, feeling strange, asked, "What's the matter? Why are you so serious? These days, Liu Li's progress is indeed fast and very soon she would reach Jindan. So, her taking an initiative now is very normal."
Wang Lu said, "Don't think that I'm fussing here. With her Brilliant Sword Heart… Liu Li is pure and spotless, she always says what she meant. However, conversely, if she is contaminated even with a speck of dust, it would be particularly conspicuous. According to her character, she would be at ease in any circumstances, always go with the flow, and indifferent to the matter outside herself. In addition to food and cultivation, have you ever seen her took the initiative to ask for anything? Especially when she came to the Western Continent, she entrusted by the elders on the mountain to obey all my orders, so she never took the initiative to ask anything… It's hard to imagine that she will say what she said just now."
"... So that's why." Looking at the solemn expression of Wang Lu, Aya inwardly sighed.
Wang Lu had always extremely pampered and spoiled Liu Li. Moreover, he took care of her down to the smallest detail. However, for a girl as likable as Liu Li, it was natural for Wang Lu to like her.
Before long, Liu Li had written down a thick pile of paper, everything that she consumed in one month was in it, even a cup of water was included there.
Wang Lu picked up the paper and began to earnestly read them. His reading was very quick. In a cup of tea's time, he had already read hundreds of pieces of paper. He closed his eyes to reorganized his train of thoughts and then opened his eyes and picked one page. He pointed at one of the lines and said, "Liu Li, that day was the day we just won the battle against the Bloodlust Holy Knight, so I let you eat and drink in the business district at night. But what about this drink?"
Aya leaned over to take a look and saw the very detailed records of diet by Liu Li. In addition to the food and drink that she consumed, she even clearly wrote the time spent consuming them. Her memory was truly amazing.
And the line that Wang Lu referred to read: A cold drink from a nice person. X hour, Y minute till Q hour and W minute.
"What's wrong with this passage?"
Wang Lu said, "Two problems. First, I told her to not consume anything that is given by a stranger or even easily touch it. I don't think Liu Li will violate my order for no reason. Second… it takes too long for her to finish that drink. How could drinking a cup of drink take such a long time?"
Aya said with a smile, "Of course it's to slowly drinking it, not just swallow it."
Wang Lu coldly said, "What do you think Liu Li is? It's not like you haven't seen her eat!"