The Heavenly Cong Divine Sword, under Zhang Ji's stunned gaze, slammed heavily onto the halo outside him. The next moment, the Gravity Staff, which he had called indestructible, simply shimmered and vanished into nothingness!
That clone shattered under Chen Fan's strike!
Zhang Ji's pupils contracted, and he shook his head in disbelief, "This is impossible!"
Chen Fan sneered, "A frog in a well!"
"There are many things in this world you don't know!"
With that, he didn't hesitate, his offensive unabated, and thrust fiercely towards Zhang Ji's chest—
A full-powered strike from a God-level expert!
Coupled with the power boost from the Heavenly Cong Divine Sword!
Zhang Ji had no way to evade!
"Pfft!"
The long sword pierced Zhang Ji's body, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Chen Fan sneered, slowly withdrawing his hand under Zhang Ji's terrified gaze, and then kicked him away—
Zhang Ji fell straight down from the sky, crashing into the midst of the Temple Guards still resisting the Dark Fox forces.
The entire scene fell into absolute silence!
This was Zhang Ji!
The most powerful expert in their Temple, second only to the Pope!
And he had just fallen at Chen Fan's hands!
Who else could possibly step up!
Who else would dare to step up!
It was in this moment of hesitation that Chen Fan raised the Heavenly Cong Divine Sword and swung it fiercely in front of him—
Rumble!
The sky and earth changed color!
The ground shook and the mountains trembled!
The Temple's forces staggered, unable to stand, and some were even knocked to the ground by Chen Fan's strike.
"Retreat!"
Seeing his advantage, Chen Fan shouted to Ge Jun!
Upon hearing this, Ge Jun and the others quickly withdrew the admiration in their eyes and continued to charge out of Haelstcher City—
As long as they left the Holy City!
They would scatter and conceal their presence, and even with the Pope's omnipotent means, he wouldn't be able to find them for a while!
Boom!
A light, as bright as day, streaked across the sky above the Temple.
The commotion made everyone involuntarily turn their heads.
Chen Fan looked at the scene before him with an extremely grim expression, "He's completed his breakthrough."
He was referring to the Pope!
The Pope had now reached the Supreme level!
Chen Fan's expression grew colder, "The time left for us is running out."
Fortunately, at this moment, they had already left Haelstcher!
Chen Fan looked out at the vast expanse of grassland before him, taking a deep breath, "Quickly notify all of Dark Fox to gather in Europa. The great war with the Temple is coming soon!"
...
Three days later.
Chen Fan exhaled a breath of turbid air.
On that day in the Heavenly Prison, he couldn't digest the potent spiritual energy within the Nectar Fruit, but time was of the essence, and he made the decisive choice to forgo the advancement.
He remained at the peak of the Temple level.
He was only one step away from the Supreme level, but Chen Fan had no regrets.
He took a deep breath.
Many things had happened in Europa over the past two days.
News of a team of apostates infiltrating Haelstcher spread throughout Europa like wildfire.
The Pope, in his fury, ordered all the Temple's Venerables to mobilize, determined to bring the blasphemers to the Temple to repent to the gods!
The golden-robed figures, rarely seen on the streets before, suddenly swarmed the streets of Europa, and Chen Fan's portrait became known to everyone in the continent.
At this moment, in Dark Fox.
Chen Fan sat in the main seat. Below him, in addition to Dark Fox's mercenaries, Luo Sheng, Ge Jun, and even Chris from the Mass family, and Ouyang Yuming from the Ouyang family, were all present.
It was worth mentioning that Luo Sheng had recently broken free from the Mass family's place of exile.
He had now advanced to the God level.
Upon hearing this news, Chen Fan sincerely rejoiced for him.
Chen Fan had heard about Chris's grievances with the Temple, so he was not surprised to see him here, but Ouyang Yuming—
Chen Fan looked at him, the uninvited guest, with surprise, "I recall the Ouyang family has always been on good terms with the Temple?"
Ouyang Yuming chuckled, "We are on good terms not with the Temple, but with a force that can protect my Ouyang family."
Chen Fan raised an eyebrow, "You need to think this through. You've already declared your stance."
"Even I cannot say with 100% certainty that I can defeat the Temple. Your choice to side with me is a risky one for your Ouyang family."
Ouyang Yuming shook his head, "My Ouyang family has been in business for generations, but we are not solely driven by profit."
"If it weren't for you before, I wouldn't be alive today. You have shown kindness to the Ouyang family, and I should repay it. Moreover—"
Ouyang Yuming chuckled, "We pay sixty percent of our family's annual income to the Temple. Such a vast sum is worth betting on with you."
This was the first time Chen Fan had heard of it.
Sixty percent?
Chen Fan roughly estimated the Ouyang family's annual income share and was somewhat astonished. He looked at Ouyang Yuming, and indeed, the Pope was truly earning a fortune by simply lying down each year, reaching the ranks of billionaires.
Chen Fan nodded in understanding, accepting Ouyang Yuming's explanation.
He had also heard from Yin Ping about the Ouyang family's frequent overtures to Dark Fox after the incident with Ouyang Xiu.
Everything seemed to have a traceable origin.
Chen Fan shifted his gaze from the others and looked at Ge Jun, who sat silently to the side, "Yin Ping mentioned that you did quite a bit during my confinement in the Temple?"
Ge Jun paused, then shook his head, "Compared to you killing Zhang Ji in Haelstcher, what I did is nothing significant."
"I merely raided a few branch Heavenly Prisons and released those fallen gods."