Her snake staff is also a quasi-divine weapon, which was specially rewarded to her by the council of Lady Hel, due to her significant contributions. This made the other two heroic spirits envy her greatly. But having only one quasi-divine weapon, how could she compete with the other party?
At this moment, if she couldn't produce a "miracle" comparable to the other party's, this time's preaching in Obac City would end in embarrassment, and from then on, the Dark Temple in Obac City would surely be in decline. Obac City is not a famous city, but it is the gateway to the entire southern part of the empire. And once they were defeated in this battle, if Gronia failed twice in a row, she would also face punishment when she returned to the temple.
She hesitated for a moment. Obac City was not a famous city, and there were indeed no "sacred items" from the temple in this city. How could she compete with Rafillo, who had prepared in advance?
She looked at Rafillo, and sighed inwardly: It turned out that the Bright Odin Temple had long been eyeing the southern part of the enemy country.
"How about it, Miss Gronia?" Rafillo's tone was slightly frivolous, but at this moment, the audience below not only didn't resent it, but even chuckled gleefully. This was Rafillo's good control, just right.
Dinora pushed Gezheng: "Hey, are those twelve swords really quasi-divine weapons?" Gezheng nodded, "Haven't you figured it out yet? The blond man was well prepared." When Dinora heard this, she immediately exclaimed, "Are we just going to let this scheming man be so arrogant?" She was straightforward and naturally couldn't stand someone winning by scheming.
Gezheng shook his head, thinking to himself: I really shouldn't owe favors to people. Once you owe them, whether you like it or not, you have to repay.
Dinora was surprised to see Gezheng trying to squeeze past, and hurriedly caught up, "Hey, what are you doing?" Although Gezheng was agile, when it came to physical strength, he naturally had to look at the female warrior. Dinora moved people around as if she were a turning millstone, protecting Gezheng as she effortlessly made her way to the platform.
Gronia noticed some commotion among the crowd below and, when she looked down, she saw the tall Dinora. She couldn't help but be taken aback, as Dinora provocatively winked at her, as if teasing a little girl.
Gronia couldn't help but smile, but she quickly noticed that Gezheng in front was trying to squeeze past Rafillo's platform. Dinora had sent him over, then squeezed back, leaned on the platform and said to Gronia with a smile, "Beauty, do you need help?"
The platform was originally one person high, but Dinora's tall and slender figure just reached half the height.
Gronia felt uneasy: "What is he going there for?" Dinora recalled the words Gezheng had just said, "Flirting is a battle, it's either you die or I do. The first thing to do is to knock down all competitors, no matter what method you use." She thought to herself: I won't go out of my way to undermine you, but I can't speak for you, can I?
"Hehe!" She smiled, "He wants to use an ancient technique to rescue a damsel in distress." Gronia was taken aback, "Is he capable?" She knew Gezheng could produce excellent quality swords, but there was a big gap between high quality and quasi-divine weapons.
Dinora smirked, "I don't know." But in her heart, she wondered why she wasn't worried at all. Did she subconsciously believe he could do it?
Dinora was also surprised by her own thoughts. Those were quasi-divine weapons, all twelve of them! She looked at Gezheng, who was clearly pretending to be earnest as he struggled to climb onto the platform. In her mind, she smiled at herself: He's a weirdo!
Gronia's coachman snorted disdainfully, "He should look at himself in the mirror. How dare he have designs on our Lady, hmph, so ignorant..."
The people below burst into laughter. This world also had arenas, and now this platform was no different. The "heroes" who wanted to challenge it didn't even have the skill to hop onto the platform, yet they still had the nerve to do so. The people below laughed, thinking they'd see a real hero today, or maybe just a bear making a fool of itself.
Rafillo's forehead broke out in sweat as he watched the man struggling to climb onto the platform like a snail. He really wanted to kindly advise him to show some self-awareness and not play around.
Objectively, even though Rafillo was a godfather, he still had a compassionate heart. But the struggle between the churches was a totally different matter—it was a battle of faith, do or die. So when it came to church competition, the usually refined Rafillo turned into a devilish figure who could use any means necessary. In fact, all major churches were the same. There was a saying: infidels are devils, and when punishing devils, one should use devilish means.
So normally, Rafillo would be very merciful, but today he couldn't.
Doru, standing beside him, was angry and rushed forward to kick the man in the head, "With your abilities, get lost..." Rafillo pulled him back, "Don't be in a hurry, let him come up." This man was clearly a devout follower of the Dark Temple. If they were to completely defeat the Dark Temple in Obac City today, they must also crush the determination of their most loyal devotees!
Rafillo's handsome face turned frosty, and he stood silently behind the large tray, waiting for the man.
Gezheng took a deep breath and then exclaimed, with a burst of effort, "Ha!" as he leaped up. The audience below seemed very satisfied with this performance, laughing heartily and applauding Gezheng's effort!
Gronia was puzzled: A good alchemist may not be strong, but at the very least he should be a competent magician—couldn't he just use magic to fly up there?
The coachman grumbled disdainfully on the side, "He can't even look at himself in the mirror and dares to go after our lady, hmph, he doesn't realize his place..."
The people below burst into laughter as well. The gathering here was mostly commoners, and the nobles disdained such events, so no one recognized Gezheng.
Rafillo's face turned red with anger: "This boy is acting like a fool, but he's actually smarter than anyone else. By asking in this manner, he makes the sacred artifacts of the Odin Temple look like discarded veggie leaves in a market, open to anyone's picking. But he couldn't intervene, feeling as though someone was constantly blowing air into his chest, making it feel like he was about to explode!
"Okay, just this one." Ge Zheng aimed at a nearly divine weapon, the potato knife in his hand fell like lightning, making a clang sound...
Clang!
Two halves of the broken sword fell down. Ge Zheng's "potato knife" became two halves, and the nearly divine weapon on the tray also became two halves—both destroyed!
At that moment, the scene fell silent. Though the audience below found it amusing, no one really doubted the authenticity of the twelve nearly divine weapons. After all, the grand and righteous Odin Temple could not possibly use counterfeit goods.
But no one expected the nearly divine weapon to be cut through—cut through by a "potato knife." Raphilo, Doru, Gronia, Dinora, and the thousands of residents of Oban City were all astonished.
"See, I told you, it's not much different from a potato peeler..." Ge Zheng shrugged. Raphilo's eyes turned red, shouting angrily, "You've ruined the miracle, I will kill you!" However, Ge Zheng wouldn't give him the chance. He turned and leapt into the crowd, and instinctively, a dozen people caught him, all still reeling from the shock earlier.
Two figures rushed out, the glare of swords flickering. Dinora bellowed, "Hey, do you have no sense of honor? If you want to fight, come find me!" Gronia's snake staff had transformed from a poisonous snake into the illusory head of a red-feathered warrior, her highest-ranking war spirit. As soon as it appeared, it emitted a fierce killing intent, forcing Raphilo to retreat.
"You Odin Temple are despicable, actually using this to deceive believers!" Gronia declared loudly.
As Raphilo retreated, Dinora's sword flashes rolled over. Raphilo drew a glistening dagger from his sleeve, defending against Dinora's attacks and shouting, "Your Dark Zhen Temple is so despicable, actually ruining our miracles..."
The crowd below, still recovering from the shock, suddenly felt deceived by Gronia's words. They surged together, and thousands of people tore down the high platform of the Light Odin Temple in unison, demolishing it in a matter of moments.
"Eh, ah..." The platform collapsed with a crash, and Doru, lacking Raphilo's agility, also tumbled down when it collapsed. Gronia's coach had lost last night, with some bruising still visible around his eyes, and seeing Doru's mishap, he burst into laughter and applause.
The remaining eleven nearly divine weapons were also drowned in the angry crowd.
At this moment, Ge Zheng was hiding on the side, watching the chaos, simultaneously lamenting his flying sword: it may not be of the highest quality, but at least it's a flying sword. Fortunately, it wasn't connected to his life, otherwise, he would be severely injured if not killed.
An auntie squeezed out of the crowd, holding a nearly divine short sword. She muttered as she approached, "That damned Odin Temple, actually used a potato knife to deceive us!" Ge Zheng immediately stepped forward to comfort her, "Auntie, although it's a potato knife, it's the best among potato knives, you can definitely make good use of it when you take it back."
Upon hearing his words, the auntie took it back and found it extremely sharp and handy!
The scene was in chaos. Ge Zheng looked around and saw that Dinora was still attacking Raphilo fiercely. Although she couldn't overcome him, Raphilo was now in a sorry state, unable to unleash his full strength in the fight against Dinora, with Gronia also holding back. Ge Zheng thought for a moment and then left alone.
He went to the Adventurer's Guild to check on the goods he had ordered, then strolled around the streets and even paid a visit to the Grand Duke's mansion. He didn't return until it was almost dark. He hadn't eaten breakfast all day, and had managed lunch and dinner outside.
As soon as he entered, a group of people stood up to greet him. Ge Zheng sighed silently and shook his head. It seems he couldn't get away after all.
Gronia had put away her snake staff and changed into a red dress, with a snake-shaped belt around her waist, perfectly accentuating the proud figure of the elven girl.
Seeing her appearance, Ge Zheng felt a bit relieved: she hadn't come in her priest attire, probably intending to visit in a personal capacity. Dinora asked, "Where did you go, sister Gronia waited for you the whole day!" Ge Zheng felt a bit awkward, unable to say anything, and Dinora seemed to feel that she had gotten the upper hand, smiling at him.
Ge Zheng had no intention of competing with her over women. He just hoped that Gronia wouldn't come to find him, returning her favor and better off not having any debts between them. But it seemed she had different intentions.
"Master!" Gronia stepped forward, hand on her chest, bowing respectfully. "Thank you for your help this morning." Ge Zheng casually said, "It's nothing, yesterday we killed your horse, and today I helped you. It's just to repay your favor." Gronia was very smart, and immediately understood his words: we're even now, I didn't help you out of any particular feelings towards you.
If Ge Zheng had spoken these words to her this morning, Gronia would have left after thanking him, and then sent a gift the next day, never having any dealings with Ge Zheng again.
But due to Ge Zheng's wandering around all day to avoid trouble, Gronia already knew his name, as "Ge Zheng," who had previously run an alchemy store in Wangshan City and saved hundreds of thousands of residents of Wangshan City and Lolingel City—all because of Dinora's efforts to please a beautiful woman, and her irresponsible gossip.
Originally, it was a private gratitude, but now it had changed. Gronia, though proud, couldn't neglect the tasks of the temple. She was a bit uncomfortable with the chief's attitude, but as a subordinate, she couldn't say too much.
That night, Gronia went to sleep with a heavy heart.
In the middle of the night, a sudden scream startled her. Servants outside quickly asked, "Is everything okay, ma'am?" Gronia took a deep breath and said, "It's nothing."
She was still in shock, and the footsteps of the attendants outside gradually faded away. Grunya recalled the nightmare she had just had. Gezheng suddenly turned into a demon, wantonly slaughtering the followers of the Dark Temple from the chief of the temple to the lowest level, including herself. Everyone knelt on the ground, their hands tied behind their backs. Gezheng wielded a strange large knife, chopping off one head after another as if they were rolling down like balls.
She tried to struggle, but found that no matter how hard she tried, her body remained motionless. Gezheng killed more and more, and soon he was in front of her. He looked at her as if he didn't recognize her, and then swung the knife down...
The people of the Star Forging World believe in the special significance of dreams more than the people of Earth do. This nightmare kept Grunya restless the whole night.
For now, it seemed clear that an alchemist from the city of Oba, with no background or strength, could not possibly shake the vast Dark Temple. Yet, Grunya was still disturbed by the dream. As the dawn broke, she fell asleep in a daze. Before falling asleep, she made a decision: regardless of the attitude of the chief of the Dark Temple towards Gezheng, she would make sure that he felt respected by the Dark Temple.
Early the next morning, Grunya went to the bank, prepared a crystal card with 300,000 gold coins, and then bought a delicate breakfast at a tavern before arriving at Gezheng's doorstep.
The coachman carrying the breakfast complained, "Sir, a bumpkin from the city of Oba, it's hard to say if he can create a quasi-artifact. Do you really need to..." "Onu, shut up!" Grunya scolded him sharply. She walked up and knocked on the door.
The breakfast at Gezheng's house was different. The smallest Kang-Mingss hurried to open the door, just pulled the latch and didn't even say a good morning. The desert elf used a super speed that did not match his physique to rush back, and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Grunya raised her hand, a friendly smile frozen on her face.
There was no one in the yard, and Grunya cocked her ears. "What's that sound?" Onu also listened carefully. "It seems to be coming from the dining room..."
The two of them went to the dining room, and Onu couldn't help but worry, "Sir, this sounds like a large-scale monster!" Grunya looked at him and thought to herself, "It can't be, right?" He pushed the door open a crack, and there were five people in the dining room, but the table was piled high with food!
Grunya was surprised: it's just breakfast, what are they doing?
Gezheng was the first to quit the fight and patted his belly: "Alright, I won't fight with you. You can't eat too much for breakfast. It's against the principles of health, giving advice to a fool."
"Oh, Miss Grunya, you are here..." Gezheng awkwardly closed the door. "It's nothing, there are many wars in this world caused by hunger."
Onu was actually not wrong, Solgewrinn was indeed a large monster.
Grunya restrained herself, but still couldn't help asking, "Master, what's going on?" What's going on? Gezheng regretted it in his heart: it's all because of my meddling, Dino's tolerance was not small, but I just had to take in Solgewrinn. This guy truly became something, and he's such a big eater! A month later, even Kang-Mingss followed suit and became a glutton. Although his consumption was not as much as these two big eaters, when compared to his small stature, it was simply a huge amount! Even Dunk, often cooked a meal, yet was unable to grab a bite to eat, and of course had to join in the food-snatching war.
Grunya saw Gezheng's dark expression and quickly knocked Onu behind her, and the latter quickly brought the breakfast over. "Master, this is the breakfast prepared specifically for you by our lady..."
Grunya cursed in her heart: Onu was a fool, how could he say that? After all, she was a girl. This made it seem as if she had personally prepared the breakfast.
But Gezheng didn't pay attention at all, casually waved his hand: "No need, I've already eaten." Grunya was shocked, and at that moment Dunk walked out of the dining room.
Before, because of the mental stress, neither Grunya nor Onu had much of a reaction. But this time, as Dunk opened the door, a tantalizing smell wafted out. Onu couldn't help but sniff, "It smells so good..." Grunya hadn't had breakfast either. She had bought six breakfasts, intending to have breakfast with Master Gezheng and foster friendship. The waft of fragrance made Grunya feel hungry and she couldn't help but swallow.