273: Chapter 273 Both Sides Suffer

"How is what the Holy Light Monastery is doing any different from cheating?"

In the Origin Star Sea, on a platform constructed from branches of the World Tree, Mild, the headmaster of Time Book House, looked at the battlefield in the projection, and his face couldn't help but darken.

With his knowledge, he could naturally tell what was going on at a glance.

Normally, while the power of faith from a single planet wasn't weak, it shouldn't be able to reach a point where there was no ability to resist at all.

Clearly, that Saintess's status was too high, directly sublimating the power of faith in a short period, causing it to break through the boundaries of level 2 rules and, to some extent, possess the characteristics of level 3 rules energy.

Under the limited conditions of the trial world, those students naturally had no means of interception.

"Her Highness the Saintess upholds the will of the Great Holy Lord; naturally, everything has divine assistance."

The Paladin beside him had a pious expression.

"Heh."

Mild let out a cold snort and said with a hint of mockery:

"Even so, she still couldn't surpass my Junior Martial Brother in the first round."

"Ignorant mortal... that was merely the Saintess's grace."

The Paladin's gaze remained piously fixed on the holy figure in the projection as he spoke without hesitation.

"Is that so? Even with your so-called divine assistance, it's still just a one-for-one trade."

Seeming accustomed to these fanatics driven by faith, Mild didn't get angry, merely watching the students and Missionaries in the projection as they continuously met their Mutual Destruction, speaking calmly.

"How could we mortals understand the arrangements of Her Highness the Saintess?"

"I don't understand... but I am curious how the Saintess you speak of will face this situation."

Mild's gaze swept toward the High Priest of the Elf Race nearby, and he shook his head.

"It seems I should congratulate you."

"The outcome is not yet decided; it's too early to say such things."

The High Priest of the Elf Race said, looking at the projection in the sky, though the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

At some point, an endless black tide had appeared at the edge of the battlefield. Upon closer inspection, it was a dense mass of various hideous Insect Beasts crawling over one another, surrounding the Faith Legion and mechanical legion, which were both nearly at their limits.

Although the swarm had suffered heavy losses from Talix's fusion strike using himself as bait, they occupied the vast majority of the land. Supported by ample resources, they had completely recovered their losses and were at their peak.

Not a single one of the ten students had died.

From a surface perspective, Time Book House and the Holy Light Monastery, both of which had burned through their strength, had no chance of winning.

"You old fellow are still too steady; even in this situation you're... Hmm? This, this is...!"

Mild was about to jokingly scold him when a look of disbelief suddenly appeared in his eyes as he stared at the projection.

"This... I'm not seeing things, am I? This... this is really the Saintess of the Holy Light Monastery?"

The Elven Priest, whose face was usually as calm as a still well, now wore an expression as if he had seen a ghost.

The two of them turned their heads together to look at the Paladin, who was shrouded in a holy aura, their gazes somewhat strange.

"This is... Undead? Don't you believe in the Holy Light? Why does your Saintess master such a completely opposite power?"

As excellent Scholars, they naturally wouldn't hold biased views against power that ordinary people saw as evil; they were simply shocked to their cores.

"Why make such a fuss? The Holy Lord created everything; the power of the undead naturally belongs to Her Highness the Saintess as well."

The Paladin's expression didn't change at all, as if everything was perfectly natural.

"Heh..."

Mild and the Elven Priest gave a dry laugh, momentarily losing interest in speaking with such a faith-obsessed fellow.

"Forget it, now it's back to being evenly matched. I wonder who will win in the end."

The two fell silent and began to wait quietly for the result of the competition.

...

Inside the trial world.

The points of light gathered by the faith divine art, Sacrifice, flew toward the only remaining examinee of Time Book House besides Zhang Huaiyuan.

"Damn it!"

Fang Qingran, dressed in silver-white streamlined full-body armor, felt a sense of powerlessness in her heart.

This kind of level suppression left her with a thousand methods but no way to use them.

"No, I must take down the remaining one no matter what; I can't let them easily threaten my junior schoolmate."

Fang Qingran bit her lip, her gaze sweeping toward the last Missionary, a flash of coldness crossing her delicate face.

In the next moment, her body blurred, and she actually split off an identical body.

However, in terms of temperament, the original was full of a scholarly air, while the one that split off was full of a mysterious, cold aura.

One must know that the Silver Splendor Empire she came from was a powerful magic-based cultivation civilization.

Back then, in order not to affect her academic research, she had used a secret method to forcibly split her soul in half. The vast majority was for academic research, while the other part assisted in the cultivation of Rune Magic.

The two could share knowledge at any time or remain independent. If one died, they could rely on the other to be resurrected at a certain cost.

This was also one of her greatest trump cards. She hadn't originally wanted to expose it, but at this moment, she couldn't care about that much anymore.

The points of faith light merged into the first body like a torrent. That exquisite armor provided no protection at all as its owner stepped silently into the darkness.

In exchange, however, the divine art's effect completed its mission, as a Missionary vanished into nothingness along with a large amount of faith power.

"Ugh..."

The body that had split off let out a muffled groan. Without any hesitation, a violent elemental surge rose as she charged toward the last Missionary.

Bang!

A golden protective halo expanded around the Missionary, clashing with the violent elemental power, momentarily falling into a stalemate.

"Die!"

A hint of madness appeared in Fang Qingran's eyes. The smooth, rosy skin on her face instantly began to become covered in wrinkles, but in response, those wild magic elements became even more vast and immense.

Clearly, she was now like the previous native Gods of Magic, beginning to burn her life force to fight desperately.

The golden halo, which had been evenly matched, slowly began to lose ground, being compressed smaller and smaller.

"Straying souls who have turned from the Holy Light... very well, then..."

Seeing that the halo could no longer hold, the last Missionary shook his head gently. He took off his divine robe, carefully wrapped the nine hand-copied scriptures in his hand, and sent them to the very rear with a wave of his hand. Then, crystalline points of light began to rise around his body.

It was precisely the faith divine art, Sacrifice!

"The rest... I leave to you, Junior Schoolmate."

Fang Qingran looked back with a sense of relief, then calmly activated all her power and plunged headlong into the points of light.

Soon, like the previous body, she vanished into nothingness.

At this point, except for Zhang Huaiyuan and Saintess Jiang Nian, the last two contestants from Time Book House and the Holy Light Monastery had also been eliminated through Mutual Destruction.

At the same time, the small remaining Faith Legion below finally dismantled the last Thor-class mecha, and the entire steel wall collapsed with a crash.

Only a single command room remained, standing isolated and helpless at the rear.

"Kill these heretics!"

Those believers shouted fanatically, charging toward the final command room without stopping.

But just then, the entire ground trembled violently.

The earth split open, and countless branch-like tentacles burst out from underground, opening their bloody maws.

Amidst heart-stopping roars, an endless stream of Insect Beasts poured out.

The swarm had arrived!

...