Even though Karen knew Neo was only putting on a performance, he still felt pointedly referenced, finding it hard not to suspect that a bit of targeted resentment lingered in Neo's words.
Perhaps Neo felt aggrieved that Karen hadn't tied his exposed intestines into a neat, pretty bow.
Seeing Neo fly into a rage, the captains of the two Whip of Order squads immediately ordered their men to resume the search, even though they had only just swept in from the perimeter to regroup here.
As Karen helped Neo limp outward, they crossed paths with even more Whip of Order squads, along with teams of priests from other departments.
Besides the Church of Order, priests from other churches with missionary posts in the York City Region also showed up. To avoid misunderstanding, however, they did not join the search. Instead, they kept to the periphery as if out on an idle stroll, practically wearing "I'm only here to look" across their foreheads.
A moment later, several formations of black falcons streaked across the sky, and a squadron of armored knights thundered past in formation. This was not a knight order, but the regional garrison—the highest-tier armed force a local region could mobilize.
The colossal dharma body towering in the distance had yet to dissipate; its gaze continued to sweep relentlessly across the ground below.
More and more forces were converging here, for the fallout of this incident was immense.
Last time, Mrs. Sidra had targeted merely low- to mid-ranking priests for assassination, yet that had already rubbed the Church of Order's rawest nerves. This time, an actual director of the Whip of Order had been slain, and a Light remnant had nearly wiped out a bishop's entire estate.
Strictly in terms of severity, this matter would be delivered directly to the desk of the Cardinal in charge of internal affairs—and barring any surprises, forwarded straight to the High Priest's desk as well.
Of course, if those below knew the meticulous, micromanaging work ethic of the current High Priest, they would be utterly certain that a report on this incident would reach him without fail.
At present, the mood among the search teams was heavy and tense, for the words shouted by that Light remnant as he attacked the bishop's residence had already spread among the ranks.
Although it was the most blatant kind of frame-up, given the raging struggle between the local regional faction and the Whip of Order faction in Yorktown, people could hardly help entertaining suspicions in that direction.
Especially as more people gathered and the search continued to yield nothing, minds drifted away from their duties toward other matters. Captains from different Whip of Order squads began conferring in low murmurs, and senior priests from the same department walked with hands cupped over their mouths, quietly exchanging theories.
With the arrival of even higher-ranking dignitaries, rounds of briefings commenced anew. For a time, the vast perimeter centering on the Norton villa transformed into an open-air tea party.
By the edge of a path, Karen helped Neo sit down and then took a seat beside him. His eyes flickered occasionally toward the massive dharma body. By now, whoever manifested it seemed to realize there was little point in searching further; the colossal form began to dissolve. Before fading away completely, however, its consciousness swept the area one last time—though the scan felt more like the perfunctory motions of someone watching the clock before clocking out.
"Envious?" Neo asked.
Dabbing the blood from his palms with the sleeve of his clerical robes, Karen replied, "It's so huge, taking up half the sky. Who wouldn't look?"
"You'll have one of your own in the future," Neo said. "Aren't you nearly an Adjudicator now? Once you hit the peak of the Jurist realm, you should be able to sprout that seedling. You've always progressed fast anyway."
Karen glanced at him.
Neo chuckled. "My mistake. You even deliberately break your rhythm and distract yourself just to slow down. Hahaha."
As he laughed, a few more loops of intestine spilled out from his abdomen. Neo could only shove them back in, but a portion still wouldn't fit, leaving him no choice but to keep cradling them in his hands.
Karen naturally knew what seedling Neo was referring to. Within the hierarchy of the Church of Order, the stages from Servant to Jurist were realms of cultivation as well as official ranks; especially at the stages of Adjudicator and Jurist, one did not necessarily have to attain the corresponding cultivation realm to hold the position.
Beyond that, there were only corresponding positions without corresponding cultivation realms—in other words, realm and office became entirely decoupled.
The tier beyond the Jurist realm was the birth of one's own Seedling of Faith within the body, like a seed breaking through the soil.
The primary way to achieve this stage was by using one's own spirituality, watered by the power of faith, to induce growth—which could also be understood as a new baptism of the power within oneself.
Once the Seedling of Faith appeared, one's ability to draw upon and wield the power of faith received a noticeable leap.
After that came the seedling's growth, a complex and protracted journey.
The next stage was Branching, followed by Spreading Leaves, then Flowering, and finally Bearing Fruit.
"Bearing Fruit" was what the vast majority of priests in this world dreamed of, something they dared not even imagine achieving in their lifetimes: condensing a godhead fragment.
In other words, successfully bearing fruit meant being guided through the gates of the divine temple, entering the Temple of Order to become a supreme Temple Elder.
In truth, this entire cycle from sprouting to bearing fruit was a replay of the initial stages: Servant, God's Revelation, God's Shepherd, and so forth.
The emergence of the Seedling of Faith marked a fresh beginning on the path of faith, holding the exact same significance as purification.
The growth of the roots and stalk was like embarking on a new quest, akin to receiving enlightenment from the deity during God's Revelation.
Branching meant one was prepared to bear one's own burden, virtually identical to the doctrinal interpretation of the God's Shepherd stage. Furthermore, upon reaching Branching, one could typically condense a phantom behind oneself, though that was not yet a true dharma body.
The form assumed once leaves sprouted was the massive dharma body before them. The leaf was an outward manifestation, signifying that one had acquired a new anchor.
Flowering was an even higher expression than Spreading Leaves. A dharma body manifested at this stage possessed distinctly greater vitality. If the former—like the dharma body hovering here now—was more like a somewhat rigid puppet, then after flowering, it was almost tantamount to possessing a self that existed in an entirely new mode.
As for bearing fruit—condensing a godhead fragment...
That was a colossal pillar of light, from which stepped a towering figure etched with flowing golden patterns, radiating a divine aura.
When sealing Raniedal in the cemetery near Mink Street, Diss had briefly attempted to condense a godhead fragment, summoning his colossal dharma body to confront three Temple Elders of the Church of Order and four elder-tier figures from other churches. In that moment, eight pillars of light radiating holy auras had pierced the sky above Rojia City.
Lord Theisen had been at the Flowering stage, though he had only managed to bloom a tiny flower right before his body and soul deteriorated, after which he went into immediate decline. This meant he would never have the chance to bear fruit in this lifetime—a fact he had known all too well. If the path from flowering to fruiting was a brutally grueling race, he had already been utterly spent standing at the starting line.
The reason there was no standardized ranking system for the sequence of stages beyond Jurist was that prior to Jurist, clear and distinct benchmarks existed; after Jurist, however, everyone took entirely divergent paths.
Did someone who sprouted a Seedling of Faith genuinely surpass a Jurist in strength?
Not necessarily.
Some exhausted every scrap of their accumulated foundation, even resorting to reckless methods that overdrew their potential just to forcibly spur the seedling into growth. Even if they produced a Seedling of Faith, their actual combat strength ended up weaker than before.
Moreover, the development of the roots and stalk varied from person to person. Some grew stunted, frail, and malnourished, yet branched out prematurely; others went a long time without producing branches, yet their root systems grew remarkably robust.
In such cases, it was perfectly normal for the latter to defeat—or even overwhelmingly crush—the former.
Even among those who had spread leaves or bloomed flowers, if the entire plant was sickly despite reaching that developmental phase, it was nothing out of the ordinary for them to be defeated by someone possessing merely a sturdy root system.
Only at the stage of Bearing Fruit, when a godhead fragment condensed, did a truly subversive transformation occur. That was an overall leap in one's plane of existence, a qualitative metamorphosis that transcended the human realm.
Consequently, the broad progression from Jurist to Temple Elder featured distinct changes in cultivation realms without corresponding demarcations in capability; it simply could not be measured in terms of tier or raw combat power.
A family faith system could only be benchmarked against the internal hierarchy of that specific family, as the upper limits of different forebears varied and lacked a uniform standard. One could hardly claim that a fifth rank in one family was stronger than a fourth rank in another.
Yet this major progression under the Church system possessed even less clear demarcation than family systems, because it was no longer measured by family units, but varied completely from individual to individual.
Take Lord Theisen, for example. Why had he pushed his depleted lifespan to its absolute limit, insisting on manifesting a dharma body and borrowing Mavaglio's Scythe of War to fight? It wasn't because he wanted one last wild hurrah before dying; it was purely because without doing so, he could not have brought the situation on Fire Island under control.
In his normal human form, disregarding any protective sacred relics, Philomena could have easily assassinated him, leaving him with an exalted cultivation realm he couldn't even put to use.
Thus, the further along one went, the more one had to examine a person's actual profile. To use an imperfect analogy, it was much like non-combat branches in the Wien Empire's army—pitting them in single-combat duels against frontline soldiers generally wouldn't work. Yet such clergy were by no means a minority; in fact, they made up the majority.
The Church was not an army. Within the clerical ranks, non-combat personnel formed the greater portion. After all, maintaining the operation of an orthodox church was impossible without force, but relying purely on force was equally untenable... Without building such a massive apparatus in the first place, an effective military arm could never be sustained.
However, because of Diss's preconceived influence, Karen felt a genuine aversion and resistance toward this entire progression.
*He plants a seed, and at last it bears fruit;*
*but who is that fruit ultimately meant for?*
The reason Diss had constantly restrained his own progress toward condensing a godhead fragment was that he refused to become His food. For a man as proud as Diss, that was an intolerable insult.
"Still a long way off," Karen said.
"It won't be long. I believe in you."
"You should be close yourself, Director."
"I'm still far off."
Karen raised a hand and set up a simple isolation barrier. This was neither unusual nor eye-catching; within sight, many little clusters were doing the same as they conversed.
Because this matter was so sensitive, and numerous factions and sub-factions existed under the two major camps, people preferred privacy when talking.
"You're not worried that you'll sprout a Light-attribute seedling, are you?"
"Stop talking nonsense."
"I think it's very likely. After all, I don't believe a desert can raise fish."
"Hah. Don't try to change the subject. Did you do that on purpose earlier? Tell me, why did you break my ribs—and break them inward, no less? Right now, forget talking, even breathing hurts."
"I told you, you shouldn't have inverted the word order."
"I could see you were having a grand time adding to my injuries."
"I was not."
"Don't deny it. You definitely were."
"Absolutely not."
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have run in this direction. I should've stayed back there and had a proper fight with you."
Karen spread his hands. "See? You're the one changing the subject."
"You cannot question my loyalty to Order."
"I hope that one day, when you're cradling a Light-attribute godhead fragment, you can still say those words."
Neo froze, then said with wry amusement, "For a moment, I honestly can't tell whether that's a blessing or a dig."
Just then, Terisen approached with a team of men from the Law Enforcement Department following behind him.
Karen waved his hand, dismissing the isolation barrier.
"Were you two the ones who pursued that Light remnant here?" Terisen looked down at Neo and Karen seated on the ground.
"Yes, Lord Terisen," Neo replied.
However, despite using the honorific, Neo showed no inclination whatsoever to stand and salute. Not only was he still cradling his intestines in his hands, but the Whip of Order possessed its own independence. Moreover, both sides had now completely torn off all pretenses; acknowledging your superior rank was one thing, but there was no longer any need to bow and scrape before you.
"What exactly happened?" Terisen asked.
Neo answered, "Our Law Enforcement Department Director, Lord Enzo, was ambushed by a group of assassins on his way to the Order Prison. When our reinforcements arrived, we pursued the ringleader—that Light remnant—all the way here, right to your doorstep. And then we heard that Light remnant shouting at your residence: 'You set me up!'"
Hearing this, Terisen frowned. "So, you suspect my Norton family is connected to this matter?"
The moment Terisen asked this, the law enforcement priests behind him immediately closed in around Neo and Karen.
"Heh," Neo chuckled. "My lord, I believe anyone with standard logic would suspect that first. Right now, I could swear on my conscience..."
Neo raised his hand, only to realize he was still holding his intestines.
He had no choice but to adjust his phrasing:
"Right now, swearing on my intestines,
"I suspect the Norton family is connected to this assassination of our Whip of Order Law Enforcement Director."
"Hah." Terisen let out a cold sneer. "It seems certain people truly don't know the rules. Perhaps a lesson is in order."
"Oh? And who might that be?"
Bernie's voice rang out.
Without even turning around, Terisen snapped, "Bernie, how do you manage your men? Biting everyone in sight like a mad dog!"
Bernie said nothing.
"Well now, does how the Whip of Order manages its own people require reporting to you or seeking your guidance?"
Harry's voice echoed through the air.
Terisen looked at Harry, grudgingly uttering, "My lord."
In principle, the Whip-Holder of a regional Whip of Order held a status equivalent to that of a regional bishop. Back in the Whip of Order's golden age long ago, the Whip-Holder had even stood as an equal to the Chief Bishop.
"I currently suspect the Norton family is heavily implicated in this matter," Harry stated. "The Whip of Order will be launching an investigation."
Terisen offered a faint smile. "My lord, can you really not see through such a clumsy frame-up?"
"Whether it is a frame-up or not will only be known once the investigation concludes."
"Very well. The Norton family will cooperate fully with the Whip of Order. I hope our family's innocence can be cleared soon."
With that, Terisen turned and walked away, his expression turning thoroughly grim. As the mastermind behind the curtains, even he was finding it difficult to read the situation.
Bernie walked over to Neo and Karen, squatted down, and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, channeling healing arts into them.
Neo couldn't help remarking, "I truly never imagined that you were so skilled in healing arts, Director Bernie."
Bernie replied impassively, "My original profession was that of a priest."
Neo: "Uh..."
"Are you disappointed?"
"Not at all," Neo answered. "As your subordinate, it actually makes me feel much safer."
Harry asked, "Are their injuries severe?"
Bernie replied, "Quite serious, but not difficult to treat."
"Enzo is dead," Harry said. "Take over his duties for now and oversee the investigation here. They've called an emergency bishopric assembly; I'm heading over to attend."
"Understood, Regional Director."
Once Harry had departed, Bernie asked, "What is the deal with that Light remnant?"
Bernie was aware of the overall scheme—though only the plan as it stood before events unfolded. Neo, however, had modified the operation on his own initiative. Or rather, Neo himself was the plan—a dynamic, improvisational one.
Neo sighed and replied, "The problem lies with him. The Nortons hired him, but he turned out to be an erratic wild card. He actually went and killed Lord Enzo."
"Mm," Bernie acknowledged. "I inspected the scene where Enzo was killed on my way here. He seems to have been ambushed and slain without any preparation—a truly pathetic way to die. So, did that Light remnant uncover the Norton family's plan, realize he was being played, and deliberately retaliate like this? Or did he simply show up to sow chaos, which would certainly fit the typical conduct of Light remnants?"
Karen spoke up. "My lord, I believe we can completely separate the influence of that Light remnant from the overall situation. As things stand, the development is very advantageous to us. We can use this incident to allow our upper echelons to intervene more deeply in regional affairs, while suppressing the Norton family's room to respond and tying the hands of the regional bishops. I suspect Regional Director Harry is heading to vent his fury at the bishops right now.
"Besides, before we catch him, any speculation on our part might be pointless, because... that Light remnant might very well be a lunatic; there's probably something wrong with his head."
Bernie nodded. "You're right."
Neo: "..."
Chapter 512