Chapter 009: Conclusion

Chenchen smiled faintly, a rare hint of tension appearing on her face. After staring at the angel statue for a moment, she whispered, “Do you still remember the myriad techniques I taught you? To sense the magical elements in the world. Since this Divine Origin is said to be the purest form of power, as long as you can pierce through the initial layer of protection with your mental energy, given your abilities, shouldn’t this Divine Origin belong to you?”
Du Fan thought about it and agreed. Although the Divine Origin sounded mysterious, it seemed nothing more than a slightly brighter spot at the moment. Using his mental energy to probe it seemed like a worthwhile attempt.
Without hesitation, he closed his eyes and sent his mental energy like a tide toward the point in the palm of the angel statue.
At that moment, Tasia also understood what Du Fan intended to do. Though frightened, she didn’t know how to stop him. Perhaps deep down, she also hoped that Du Fan could obtain this power.
Du Fan’s mental energy pierced toward that point of light like a thin needle. To his surprise, the outer layer of the Divine Origin was extremely weak, allowing his mental energy to penetrate easily.
In an instant, Du Fan’s entire body radiated an extremely pure light. His figure slowly floated upward, with countless little angels appearing around him. Yet amidst this purity, his body appeared strangely distorted.
It was as if he had merged into a crack in space—his body appeared oddly twisted to everyone’s eyes. Every part of his body seemed to be trembling slightly, sometimes bulging here and collapsing there. Black, viscous liquid seeped out from his pores, only to turn into wisps of smoke the moment it left his body. In the face of such pure holiness, all evil could not defile it.
No more liquid came out of Du Fan’s body, and his seemingly distorted form gradually returned to normal. His hair changed from black to white, then back to black. In the blink of an eye, the transformation was complete. It seemed as though something had stuck to his otherwise unremarkable hair.
Finally, everything returned to calm. Du Fan’s floating figure slowly descended. The moment his feet touched the ground, he slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes were silver bright—his black pupils had turned silver-white, radiating holiness akin to that of the gods in heaven.

Yet this change still happened in an instant; by the time his feet fully touched the ground, even the last trace of light had vanished. Du Fan closed his eyes and then slowly opened them again. This time, his eyes regained their usual expression, but those present could sense a slight difference about him, though they couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was. The glow in the palm of the angel statue behind him had disappeared, and the entire sanctuary grew dim. Fragments of space appeared around them at some unknown moment; everything had changed the instant the divine essence was lost. Du Fan let out a soft sigh. He could sense a distinct bright spot in his mental space. Although it didn’t seem unusual for now, he had a vague feeling that the spot resembled a strange rotating shape. It made his mental energy extremely vast but failed to grant him even the slightest increase in strength. Yet the explanation of purest power within the divine essence allowed Du Fan to glimpse a corner of a world. He knew well that this fragment of divine essence was like a seed of power—it had already taken root in his mental realm, and its benefits in the future would undoubtedly be immeasurable. Of course, the prerequisite to reaping these great benefits was to leave alive at this moment. Du Fan sighed and, facing the puzzled looks of the others, said, “Let’s discuss this outside. If I’m right, this sanctuary, existing between spatial rifts, relies entirely on that fragment of divine essence. Now that it’s gone, if we don’t leave, we’ll never be able to go.” Chenchen smiled faintly. With a gentle wave of her hand, a silver crack appeared in the air. Turning back with a smile, she said, “Let’s go.” Beyond that crack lay the ice fields of the northern lands of the Roland Continent. Du Fan glanced back at the sanctuary for a moment before grabbing the angel statue and stuffing it into his storage ring, then leaving without looking back. … Chenchen’s magic was astonishing. The spatial linkage spell she used brought Du Fan and the others right to the entrance of the valley. As soon as they stepped down, they looked back at the distant divine palace, feeling uncertain about what to think.

After a moment, Du Fan let out a low sigh and said, “We’ve managed to get out of this divine palace, but there are still some matters between us that need to be properly settled.”
Du Fan slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over Ferre and Tasia. Suddenly, he smiled faintly and said, “You two… we’ve already shared hardships together, and everyone is aware of certain things. By rule, I, Du Fan, shouldn’t say anything more at this point. But as you all know, I’ve taken the most valuable things in this palace. If I don’t give you an explanation, you’ll surely feel uneasy, right?”
Ferre, not caring about Nicholas in his hands, quickly bowed and said, “Lord Du Fan… I’ve said before that as long as you can avenge us… then my life belongs to you from now on. Believe it or not, I will be part of your Green family from this day forward… and I will never betray you.”
Du Fan gave him a brief glance and suddenly smiled, saying, “It’s good that you think so. You must be aware of who I am and how many things we’ve gone through together. If you’re loyal, I certainly won’t treat you poorly. But if you plan to turn on me, then it’s better to pray that I never find out about it.”
Ferre nodded in agreement, not daring to say more.
Du Fan glanced at Tasia again and said, “Well… what do you think, Miss Tasia?”
Tasia’s expression was strange. She stared at Du Fan from head to toe before finally letting out a soft sigh and saying, “Since you’ve already taken those things, how could you possibly spit them out? Even a fool would understand that. But Lord Du Fan, even if I keep your secret… how do you plan to explain this to Lord Anthony? We’ve lost so many people in this palace—will we just return empty-handed?”
Du Fan smiled faintly and said, “Who said we’re returning empty-handed? At least we’ve removed a major cancer within the Church. As for Saint Nicholas, we’ve shown Lord Anthony some respect by sparing his life. With these two points in mind, I doubt Lord Anthony will cause me trouble.”

Tasia shook her head slightly and sighed suddenly, saying, “Lord Du Fan… you don’t understand this… There must be his reasons for Lord Anthony aiming at the Divine Palace this time. How could just two points of yours possibly impress him? Unless you can come up with something extremely valuable, otherwise… I’m afraid we’ll both be in big trouble. Du Fan… you don’t get it… Ever since we came to this northern land, you and I have been as tied as ants on the same string…”

Du Fan stared at Tasia for a moment, as if trying to see through her thoughts. After a while, he sighed softly and said, “So, Miss Tasia… you don’t plan to report these matters?”

Tasia gave a bitter smile and said, “Report them? It would be fine if I didn’t report them, but if I do, according to the rules of our Divine Might Prison, I’ll surely be blamed for failing in my duties… Don’t worry, Lord Du Fan. Whether for your sake or my own, I certainly know what should and shouldn’t be said about what’s happening in the Divine Palace…”

In truth, there was another reason: if the person before her were not Du Fan but someone else, how would Tasia be willing to keep secrets for them?

It was a pity that although Du Fan considered himself charming, he still couldn’t read women’s hearts. Despite Tasia’s efforts, she still had to be coerced by him. Her distress was unknown to many.

However, Du Fan wasn’t really worried about Tasia. Now that he knew Chenchen’s strength and counted on his own abilities along with the Green Family’s backing, he felt quite confident—even if it meant urinating on Old Anthony’s head, Anthony might not dare do anything. He truly felt unafraid.

At that moment, Du Fan sent Fei Lei to bring back the Temple Knights who had been recovering in the valley. He also asked Chenchen to hide Isella, covering Chenchen’s face with the hood of her robe. With all preparations in place, Fei Lei arrived along with the other Temple Knights.

The remaining Temple Knights were those who were injured and couldn’t enter the Divine Palace together. Fei Lei was smart enough to explain the current situation before arriving, giving the knights a clear understanding.

It was unclear what Ferre had told them, but the Templars at that moment seemed somewhat panicked. Du Fan knew exactly what was going on, but he didn’t reveal it; instead, he casually made up a story about Chenchen’s background. Then the group set off southward in the snowstorm.