How many butterflies could be multiplied in a forest? The answer was hundreds of millions.
An adventurer team was standing upon a high hill, observing the storm of demonic butterflies in the distance. They were hovering, flying, and thundering their wings, corroding the surrounding trees to ashes. Their poisonous scales drifted in the sky, turning a radius of dozens of meters around them into dead land.
However, in the center of death, there was a ball of light that never weakened, it never expanded nor contracted, it just moved forward at a gentle pace. The butterflies whistled toward it, then poofed into dust. The highly toxic demon fog released from their bodies also seemed to be purified, vanishing into gold-like dust.
When the light ball moved farther away, the group of demonic butterflies followed, giving great relief to the team hiding on the hill.
"Look at that! Light God above, I can't believe my own eyes!" The team's guide pointed below and exclaimed. Everyone rushed forward to get a look and were also stunned.
They saw that every place the light ball team passed left a green mark, it was the color of recovered vegetation, full of vitality. This scene would not be surprising hundreds of years ago, but the demon fog was raging all over the continent, this strip of green running through a sea of black was a miracle.
"God, who is that light priest? He's too strong!" The crowd speculated.
"I think this man should be Priest Joshua of the Sagya Kingdom. Didn't you hear? The God of Light himself baptized him at his baptism ceremony, and when he walked out of the holy pool, he had a unique scepter and was dressed in a godly gown. He is the messenger of the Father in the mortal world." After observing, the knowledgeable guide deduced.
"Quickly quickly, catch up to that team!" The captain didn't hesitate to order the group, they jumped on their horses and galloped down the hill, travelling along the green path, but they also didn't chase too closely, in fear of the numerous demonic butterflies surrounding the golden light circle.
They chased for one day and one night, and the light circle stayed up the whole day and night, they could see just how unpredictable the strength of the light priest behind it had to be. This also confirmed the credibility of the rumor.
Bowen's team followed Zhou Yun Sheng's carriage on both sides and kept quiet for more than 20 hours. They silently observed the boy's every move, the more they saw, the more scared they felt, and the more suspicious they felt.
He was not like Boel Britte described him, a despicable, jealous and powerful villain. On the contrary, he was very quiet and peaceful, gentle and amiable, and although he was occasionally very cold, he had more devout faith than anyone, he dedicated a lot of time to pray every day.
The light circle he supported was indestructible, even under continuous attacks from hundreds of millions of demonic butterflies for such a long time, it actually didn't have the slightest damage. Wherever the light circle covered, the grass would sprout, the flowers would bloom, and the trees turned green and stood upright, there seemed to be an endless stripe of green behind them.
Plus, a surge of power seemed to stir in the air, causing the racially in tune with nature elves and beastmen to feel very comfortable. Now, they were anything but disgusted with Priest Joshua, and they'd even begun having doubts about Boel.
As long as there was light, the demonic butterflies wouldn't retreat, unless they were all dusted with divine flames. They wouldn't disperse for a long time, and the team was tired, so they had to find a flat open space to rest.
Zhou Yun Sheng didn't feel tired, on the contrary, supporting a light circle was easy for him. He could judge from the expressions of the High Priest Bowen and the Pope that his strength should be far above theirs, in conclusion, Joshua was now one of the most powerful priests on the continent.
Only at this time did he sincerely thank Brainless Sheng for his stupid actions. If he hadn't acted so shamelessly and somehow managed to hook in the Light God, he absolutely wouldn't be able to travel so carefreely on the mainland today.
He walked to a tree, and before he sat down, a warrior laid a gorgeous mat on the ground, so he wouldn't stain his white priestly robes.
He smiled and thanked the man, then turned around and noticed a thick devil vine hanging down from the treetops. These types of devil vines had a huge bud, the bud opened and closed, revealing sharp teeth, and sticky black venom flowed from its teeth. It was the most common yet most frightening devil plant in the forest, as long as there was a hint of one taking root, it was treated as a harbinger for the destruction of the surrounding area.
The High Priest Bowen's expression changed greatly. He knew that Joshua had already supported the light circle for dozens of hours, if the demonic butterflies attacked together with the devil vines, a big event was inevitable.
He and the other light priests immediately took out their scepters and was about to inject light power into the light circle, when they saw Priest Joshua lightly shake a finger, launching a small golden light into the huge devil vine's flower bud mouth.
They was a loud boom, then a sea of fire suddenly appeared, and the countless vines hidden in the treetops burned up until not even ash was left. The demonic butterflies saw the dazzling fire and quickly crowed forward.
A few minutes later, a shower of golden powder was falling from the sky, and the green trees and grass that had been cleansed by divine power were not even a little bit damaged. They rustled vigorously under the streaming gold dust, causing the elves to smile in joy.
The adventurer team following behind also saw this magnificent scene. They reached out to catch the sky powder, but it turned into light and disappeared in the air, only leaving behind a warm feeling.
Joy, warmth, and hope, feelings that the races still living on the mainland had not felt so strongly for hundreds of years. They were excited enough to cry, but desperately held back their tears.
"Excuse me, is that Priest Joshua up in front of us? We are an adventurer team of the Grand Duchy, Dorados. We want to help escort the priest through the Elf Forest, would we be able to receive such honor?" Saying this, the captain's cheeks burned red, finding his own offer pointless. If it was any other light priest, they would naturally need powerful warriors and mages for protection, but since it was Priest Joshua, he was strong enough to travel through the whole mainland in leisure.
He knew that the others must be mocking him for his cheap offer. But he really admired Priest Joshua, and if he could see his charms upfront, he would die without regrets.
"Please join us. The demon fog is raging throughout the continent, all creatures should be banding together to fight against it. Thank you for your generosity and selflessness." It was his prayer time, the peak of Zhou Yun Sheng's good-naturedness.
The ears of the members of the adventurer team couldn't help but shake. The boy's voice was so beautiful, even the Elf King's singing would pale in comparison. Because the light barrier was blocking their line of sight, they couldn't see Priest Joshua's appearance, but his voice was already intoxicating.
If human beings were so affected, forget about the elf clan that were very sensitive to sounds. Bowen was the High Priest, he had excellent control, so his ears reddened and his hair stood on end, but he didn't exhibit any other shameful physiological responses. A few of the younger ones were dizzy and had difficulty walking straight, they had to stop to sit down and rest occasionally, but they still bickered over who got to sit closer to Priest Joshua, and a fight almost broke out.
They seemed to have forgotten that just a few days ago, he had used light arrows to shoot them into sieves.
The adventurer squad tried to touch the boundary of the light circle, and after slight shaking, it accepted them, a warm feeling spread from the tip of their fingers to the bottom of their hearts. They walked excitedly into the camp and saw a boy sitting under a tree. They felt that the bards' praise of him was not accurate, the person himself was even more spectacular.
He was like a beam of light, illuminating everything around him, they only knew that he was beautiful, but couldn't find any language to describe him. The adventurer team immediately bowed and greeted him with the highest courtesy of Dorados, and after a quick glance, they no longer had the courage to look again.
The boy smiled and waved at them, then continued playing with the carved puppet in his hands.
The air in the boundary was very fresh, with the astringent smell of rich grass, the pleasant fragrance of flowers, and the sweetness of ripe fruit. An elf picked a few wild fruit, wrapped them with leaves and gently placed them beside Priest Joshua. Because they had almost hurt him before, they didn't dare talk to him, even if their hearts were anxious enough to grow grass.
The Pope was the most powerful man on the continent, his portraits were in all the temples, and most of the civilians had his portrait posted in their homes in order to bring good luck. Every few years, he would travel around the continent to spread the gospel, so very few people on the mainland didn't know his face.
The adventurer team naturally instantly recognized him. If it was the usual circumstance, they would kneel in front of him, trembling with fear and excitement from the honor, but now, they only nodded, calling out 'His Holiness the Pope' with implied contempt.
The Pope and Boel had been punished and humiliated by the God of Light, these things had spread among the people, only the reclusive elves and beastmen who stayed in their forest didn't know about it. What Darling of God, what most powerful light priest in future, just saying it made people want to laugh out loud until you could see all their molars.
Bowen noticed that the humans' attitude towards his old friend was very problematic. These days, the doubts in his heart were getting heavier. Boel and Herman repeatedly suggested that Joshua had tried to kill them with despicable means in order to compete for the Bishop position, but after seeing Joshua's strength, Bowen was naturally skeptical of that claim.
Forget about Bishop, if Joshua wanted it, the Pope's position was also something he was worthy of. So, wouldn't Herman and Boel feel a threat from Joshua and want to kill him? And Joshua had said that they had angered the Father, losing all the power the Father had gifted them, was that true?