The Wind Elemental redirected its attention to Amon. Like a gust of wind, it swept toward Amon, attempting to encapsulate him inside its intangible body.
Amon spun while performing Infinite Phantom Slash. Flashes of light accompanied by bursts of fire spread everywhere. A strange howling sound was heard. The Wind Elemental felt no pain, but Amon’s slashes affected it somewhat.
The Wind Elemental sucked the surrounding air and turned it into a raging tornado. Amon was tossed around in this tornado like a ragged doll.
The priests who had been blown away quickly returned. With the Bishop’s lead, they performed the Xin Lai Palm again. Circular Yin-Yang symbols revolved around the tornado. It redirected the winds and channeled them away, robbing the Wind Elemental of its natural weapon.
In retaliation, the Wind Elemental released the remaining energy in the tornado. A second explosive wind was unleashed, again forcing the priests away. Only the Bishop resisted the force and remained in his place.
Despite the intervention, the Wind Elemental’s main target remained Amon. The winds under its command coalesced into a fist and punched into Amon.
"Oof...!" Amon was still off-balance from the tornado. He couldn’t dodge the assault. He felt like a physical fist had punched him. The punch sent him crashing into the ground. He quickly rolled back when the wind fist attempted a second punch.
This surprised the bishop. He sensed Amon was only an Intermediate King Stage. Amon had a similar power level to the subordinate priests accompanying him on this journey. He knew for sure that if his subordinate had taken a punch from a Higher Primordial Beast, they wouldn’t be standing up anytime soon, let alone rolling with such agility.
While Amon used only divine aether for his assaults, his physical body could already compete with someone at the Overlord Stage, which was equivalent to the Ancestor Stage of the Demigod Realm.
Amon performed another Infinite Phantom Slash once he was back on his feet. This time at a range using the Xian Chains. When the burst of light and fire was over, only a small sliver of swirling winds remained.
"Venerable Bishop, its spirit core!" Amon called.
The bishop snapped out of his surprise. He realized then that the assaults of Amon’s weapon had ground the Wind Elemental to a small size. It was unable to reform its body as swiftly as before. Only the part where its spirit core was located could withstand Amon’s slash. But since that part was now a much smaller portion, it was much easier to locate the spirit core.
The bishop immediately acted. He executed the finger attack. Despite the area where the spirit core could be located having decreased significantly, he still missed.
Amon continued slashing, preventing the Wind Elemental from reforming. He also instructed the returning priests, "Esteemed Priests, use your Xin Lai Palms to obstruct the air!"
Under normal circumstances, these Holy Temple Priests would consider it great disrespect for a commoner to give them an order, but current circumstances were not, and Amon’s instructions made sense, so they complied.
Under their cooperation, the Wind Elemental couldn’t regain its strength. After trying several more times, the bishop finally got lucky and struck the spirit core. The Wind Elemental released another wind howl before fizzling out altogether.
The six surviving priests panted. They were not without wounds. The Wind Elemental’s wind attacks were sharp. Countless slash wounds grazed the priests’ bodies. Amon also suffered many cut wounds when he was trapped in the tornado.
The bishop was again astonished by this fact. The tornado the Elemental Wind unleashed was fierce. If it were any of his subordinates, their bodies would have been torn apart. Yet, Amon’s King Stage body survived the punishment with only shallow wounds.
He was intrigued, but there were pressing matters. He uttered a prayer. As he did, a light descended from the sky. Glowing words of power were seen within the light. This light washed over the priests. As it did, Amon saw the cut wounds on the priests’ bodies close, and their bruises healed.
Amon raised his eyebrows. He had seen such a technique before. Xin Wuyun, a past member of the Temple of Divinity, had also used this ranged healing art.
After healing the priests, the bishop took out two talismans. The priests brought their two dead comrades and put them before the bishop. The bishop uttered another prayer before activating the talismans. They released bright white flashes as they turned into dust.
Two large circular diagrams appeared in the air. These diagrams were filled with words of power. The diagrams descended upon the two dead priests, enveloping them. The diagrams slowly seeped into the priests. When they were completely gone, the two priests opened their eyes. The wounds in their bodies also vanished.
’Resurrection talismans,’ Amon thought. He knew about this talisman. It could resurrect someone so long as the person’s body wasn’t completely gone and had died no longer than ten minutes.
The talisman’s grade was high-tier ancient. Amon was surprised that the bishop used such a talisman on a priest, who was the second-lowest rank within the Holy Temple’s hierarchy. This showed that such a high-grade talisman was a common tool for the Holy Temple members.
Only after healing and resurrecting his priests did the bishop direct his attention to Amon.
His voice was authoritative and haughty. "Commoner, you have fulfilled your responsibility when you helped us. That is appropriate. If you had turned away instead of helping us, you would have been subject to punishment. Considering this..."
The bishop turned to the caravan, which had stopped. Nao Pei and the villagers who pretended to be hired hands remained there.
Amon said, "Please forgive them, My Lord. Our caravan master and his lieutenant are sick. Aside from them, I am the only one with Demigod Realm cultivation. The others are still at the Martial Realm. They would only be a hindrance if they joined the battle. Please show them leniency."
The bishop looked at the caravan again, this time with a condescending expression. "Martial Realm? What are they doing serving as a caravan’s hired hands? It’s embarrassing."
Amon faked an awkward laugh. "Our caravan is facing a tough time. We don’t have sufficient funds to hire expensive helpers. Even though they are weak, they can still help with cleaning and other chores, so it is still better than nothing."
"Mm... The caravan master can afford you, though, and I can see that you are not ordinary, especially that weapon of yours. Might I take a look?"
"I am a good friend of the caravan master. I work for him for free," Amon replied with the same awkward laugh.
"Mm-hm..." The bishop put forward his hand, indicating that his demand hadn’t changed.
Amon nodded submissively before offering the Corrupted Justice with two hands. All his manner showed deference. However, that was only an outward display. The Xian Chains connected the Corrupted Justice to his vambrace. If the bishop demanded he submit his weapon, he would have no choice but to take the violent route.
"Hm... It’s a good dagger," the bishop remarked as he held the Corrupted Justice in his hands. "I am not a skilled smith, but I guess this weapon is divine grade?"
"It’s a low-tier divine weapon," Amon replied truthfully.
The priests gasped upon hearing it.
"Mm... While the Holy Temple has plenty of divine weapons, they are reserved for those with the highest ranks," the bishop uttered. "A few from the warrior caste do possess some, but they are all famous individuals. You, on the other hand, I have no idea who you are. To top it off, you are only a King Stage cultivator. Isn’t this weapon a bit too out of your league?"
"My Lord is right. I am indeed unworthy of such a fine weapon," Amon said. "This weapon was originally my father’s. I inherited it after he passed away. I only have that dagger left to remember him by."
"Your father? What’s his name? Someone with a divine-grade weapon is surely not a nobody."
"I’m afraid he was one. He was someone who preferred living in solitude. His name was Hei Gong, and my name is Hei Mo. He built a hut in the wilderness and lived there with my mother and me, away from cities. Hence, I doubt My Lord knows his name."
"An outcast, eh? I did hear some fools live that way. Instead of accepting the light provided by the Divine and living in his grace, they chose to live outside his influence. What fools... Considering that you are now accompanying that caravan, you no longer live that way?"
"I never thought of living a reclusive life like that as the correct way. After my father passed, I decided to venture out. I wish to learn more about the Divine and follow his teachings."
The bishop nodded approvingly. "That is the correct attitude. You might still have hope. Well, I have seen you in action. Though your cultivation level is low, you showed promise. I will let you keep this weapon. I see that it is imprinted as well, so you are the only one who can use it. Use it for the Divine. If I learn that you fail to do so, I will confiscate it, imprinted or not."
Amon bowed to show his gratitude. "My Lord is wise. I thank you for your trust. I will not disappoint you."
The bishop nodded approvingly. He turned to the caravan again. "Mm... Now, where is that caravan heading?"
"We are heading to Galmier Town," Amon answered.
"Change of plan. You will be taking us to Ceollach City."