Amon thought about the matter for a few seconds. He then asked Nao Mei, "You mentioned a payment cut and punishment. Do you know their details?"
"I did check their minds about it, but they themselves are not sure," Nao Mei answered. "That is because they have never been late before. What they knew they heard from rumors. The payment cut is based on how many days they are late. If it were only a day, the cut might be only a ten-percent payment cut. They had heard a case where the entire payment was forfeited due to a delivery that was one week late."
"I don’t really care for the payment cut," Amon said. "I’m not doing this for profit. Tell me about the punishment for late delivery."
"As for punishment, they also only knew through rumors. It can be as light as a verbal scolding, a forced discount on future transports, or being relieved of the freedom to choose their tasks. The heaviest one is getting the caravan emblem revoked."
"Wait, I thought there was originally no freedom in taking the tasks from the Holy Temple?" Nao Pei asked.
"The caravan masters are required to get their tasks first from the holy temple, but there is usually still limited freedom," Nao Mei explained. "The caravan masters can choose from a set of tasks with different destinations and different cargo. The Holy Temple members usually posted these tasks on a task board. When I mentioned that successful caravan masters have a good relationship with the Holy Temple members, I also meant that there are tasks the Holy Temple members hid so they can hand those tasks out to their favorite caravan masters."
Amon snickered. "Even in the realm of Gods, there is still corruption. I guess it is human nature."
"What should we do?" Nao Pei asked Amon. "Should we head to Ceollach City?"
Instead of answering, Amon asked Nao Mei, "Do the memories you dug up mention how many days late the caravan master is who got their caravan emblem revoked?"
Nao Mei shook her head. They only heard it from unconfirmed rumors. Their memories are kind of hazy about that information. They probably heard it in the tavern when they were drunk, so I can’t really tell."
"We will work with what we have," Amon said. "We will keep the caravan master and his sister. I will dispose of the other five. Nao Dou, you and Nao Kong will be in charge of our two captives."
Nao Kong was one of the defected villagers who joined Nao Mei’s side. He had a third-tier Sea of Consciousness and specialized in mind control like Nao Dou.
"Learn everything about them to the last detail," Amon told the two. "When needed, you shall use mind possession on them. For example, when we go through the checkpoints to enter a city."
"Uh... Didn’t I mention that an inquisitor normally uses their revealing artifacts when checking a large group? That includes a caravan master and their troupe," Nao Dou said.
"You let me worry about that. Just carry out my orders," Amon demanded.
Nao Dou shrugged. "You are the boss."
"So, where should we head to?" Nao Pei asked again.
"Galmier Town," Amon answered. "We will take our chances with the penalty. Let’s head out. Nao Pei, you will be the rider. I have made a copy of the map. Take this one. Use it to decide which road to take. Nao Mei, split your people into two. One group will act as this caravan’s hired hands. The other group will rest inside the caravan. They will switch roles every half a day. This way, we can travel without stopping."
Amon entered the caravan after he finished giving instructions. He opened the prison box’s portal and threw the five hired hands into it. He had informed Dao Su to fetch these five. He could do whatever he wanted with them. Peng Chi panicked and demanded to know what Amon did to his friends. Amon ignored him.
After everyone was clear on their roles, the caravan resumed moving again. Amon sat beside Nao Pei. He alternated between cultivating and having Nao Pei assist him with his Mind Blast power.
*
"There should be a fork ahead," Amon told Nao Pei. They had been riding for a few hours. "One heads to Ceollach City. The other is to Galmier Town. Take the one that heads to the right."
Nao Pei nodded.
When they neared the fork, they saw a commotion ahead. There was a battle between a group of people and a spirit beast. Upon closer inspection, the people turned out to be the group of Holy Temple members they had seen before.
They couldn’t get a clear look at the spirit beast they were fighting because it kept changing its shape. It had a body that seemed to be made out of fog, and it kept flying around as if it were weightless.
"What is that?" Nao Pei asked.
"A wind elemental," Amon answered. He had read about this spirit beast, but this was the first time he encountered one. It was classified as a Higher Primordial Beast.
"Why does it attack the Holy Temple members? I thought Nao Dou said that no spirit beasts would dare to attack them because they carry a Divine Emblem."
"Because it is a pure elemental beast. They are akin to a force of nature. Such a beast possesses no fear. They can’t be intimidated even by the aura of beings more powerful than them."
"Should we turn away?" Nao Pei asked.
Amon was thinking about this, but then he noticed the bishop, who led the group, looked in their direction and noticed them. He stopped considering his options and acted. He left the caravan and shot forward.
He observed during his approach. Out of the nine members of the Holy Temple, two priests had fallen. The others appeared to be struggling against the wind elemental. The leader, whom Nao Dou suspected to be a Bishop, emanated an aura of the Intermediate Ancestor Stage. The other surviving priests were at the King Stage. In theory, their group should have the power to deal with a Higher Primordial Beast, but elemental beasts were special because they didn’t possess a solid body like most living creatures. They were made out of pure energy.
The Holy Temple members didn’t use their weapons. The crucifix-shaped hammers remained strapped on their backs. That was because those weapons had little effect against the Wind Elemental. For the most part, they knew what they were doing. They used martial arts to constrain their opponent. The martial art they used was one Amon had witnessed before. They were using the Xin Lai Palms. The image of Yin-Yang symbols encircled the Wind Elemental, preventing it from moving freely.
Seeing the martial art, Amon refrained from using his Flying Sword art. Mu Qin probably taught those two martial arts to the members of the Temple of Divinity because they were legacies of the Holy Temple. Those two martial arts were prohibited from being taught to outsiders. He figured the Holy Temple adopted the same rule here.
The Holy Temple priests restrained the Wind Elemental rather than trying to damage it, knowing it was pointless. The Wind Elemental had no fixed body. It could reform easily when broken. It would be like punching the air. Instead, they were looking for its spirit core, which was the only way to defeat elemental beasts.
The spirit core of an elemental beast was, however, as small as a grain, and its energy signature was masked. It was extremely hard to locate. One must be extremely lucky or have an incredible sense to pinpoint the spirit core. To make matters worse, the spirit core could only be destroyed using a powerful and precise attack. A wide attack that hit everything in an area wouldn’t be strong enough to destroy it.
This seemed to be what the bishop was attempting. He performed a martial art that focused his power to a single finger before unleashing it, similar to Yao Ai’s Finger of Death. Yet, from the way he performed it repeatedly, it was clear he had trouble pinpointing the wind elemental’s spirit core.
One part of the Wind Elemental escaped the enclosure. That part formed a fog tentacle that wrapped around one of the priest’s heads. It then seeped in through the priest’s nose and mouth. The priest seemed to gag when that happened. The Wind Elemental was choking the priest from inside.
"Honorable clergymen of the Holy Temple, allow me to lend a hand!" Amon exclaimed as he arrived.
He brandished his Corrupted Justice and channeled divine aether into the dagger. Its blade shone brightly as its edge blazed with flames. He swung the weapon down. To everyone’s surprise, the slice severed the Wind Elemental’s fog tentacle. The wind dispersed, and the choking priest could breathe again.
The bishop eyed the dagger in Amon’s hand. It was undoubtedly a high-grade weapon. Outside the Holy Temple, some powerful cultivators of the warrior caste did own high-grade weapons, but he knew most of those people. He didn’t recognize Amon.
Nevertheless, it was not the time for that. The Wind Elementals became agitated after being cut by Amon’s weapon. It unleashed a powerful explosion, blasting the priests who were restraining it away.