Kai Wusi's gaze shifted between Lan Qi and the statue.

Even the priests of their Resurgence Church knew that the Goddess of Destiny would never make such an obscene gesture as flipping someone off.

Yet, the guy who sculpted this thing seemed to be using the goddess to curse their Resurgence Church and the Annihilation Branch!

Kai Wusi's fingers tapped lightly on the table, making a "ta-ta" sound, as if he were measuring or judging something.

Lan Qi stood calmly in place, his face expressionless, only a flicker of a smile in his eyes.

Kai Wusi's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, full of incomprehension, the complex emotions rarely seen on his usually cold and hard face.

It wasn't until he observed the young man up close that Kai Wusi determined that this person, like his work, was abstract, making it impossible to tell whether he was simple-minded or unfathomable.

Kai Wusi hesitated for a moment, staring at the statue, and ultimately couldn't bear to discard it as a substandard work, placing it on the side of the qualified ones.

The ownership of these qualified works belonged to him.

Originally, he intended to use them for internal display.

But now he decided to collect Lan Qi's stone sculpture.

This young man would surely become the most outstanding sculptor in the Protos Empire.

At that time, the value of this work would be immeasurable.

He was certain that this young man's artistic attainments far exceeded his imagination, and his talent was as outstanding as the written test results.

"You're very good."

Kai Wusi praised, nodding slowly, "You passed."

Lan Qi smiled slightly, knowing that Kai Wusi wouldn't be willing to destroy this work.

Then he stepped down from the stage and returned to his seat, waiting for the end of the retest time.

Many of the qualified candidates cast glances at Lan Qi with different thoughts.

Some admired him, some were jealous and greedy, and others, like Xi De, didn't reveal any thoughts in their hearts, simply observing Lan Qi for a moment.

In the corner of the hall, the accumulated waste fragments resembled a small hill.

The last submitter nervously walked up to Kai Wusi, his hands trembling slightly, the statue of the Goddess of Destiny he held seeming to sense his tension.

If there hadn't been a time constraint, he wouldn't have submitted the semi-finished product, his face pale, his eyes full of pleading, hoping that Kai Wusi could see his thoughts.

However, Kai Wusi's eyes didn't seem to like this kind of weakness, he stared coldly at the submitter, then turned his gaze to the statue.

After a moment, he sighed and shook his head.

Immediately afterward, two tall, heavily armored priests stepped forward and swiftly seized the candidate's arms.

"My position is not a problem! High Priest Kai Wusi!"

Struggling and begging for mercy were in vain, and the last person was dragged out of the hall amidst screams.

As the heavy door leading to who-knows-where slowly closed, the clock also pointed to half-past, meaning that half an hour had passed since the starting time of the exam.

"Congratulations on successfully passing the interview and retest. Regardless of whether you pass the final assessment, you are qualified to become colleagues of the Annihilation Branch. However, those who achieve excellent results in the final assessment will have the opportunity to receive a fast-track promotion directly granted by the Annihilation Bishop."

Kai Wusi finally stood up, his gaze sweeping across the face of each candidate, and said.

His voice was slightly more peaceful than before, but still full of deterrence.

The candidates looked at Kai Wusi, waiting for him to announce the content of the final assessment.

They knew that the final assessment was the main event.

Compared to becoming a new priest who could only obtain a white, ordinary [Resurrection Certificate - Annihilation], they were more hoping to be quickly promoted to elite priests and high priests, to be valued by the Annihilation Bishop, to become direct soldiers, and even go further in the future.

"The final assessment, let me see your value, and this value is the best feedback on your overall strength."

Kai Wusi gently raised his palm, pointing to the crowd below the stage,

"You have one day to challenge any priest of the Annihilation Branch who holds a blue, precious or higher [Resurrection Certificate - Annihilation]. Without violating the law, you can use schemes, you can use any means. I want to see how much trouble your schemes can cause them."

This was a process of adapting to the current situation and policies.

It could also screen out the talents they most needed in the Protos Empire's bishop election process.

If, in the environment of the Protos Empire, they couldn't even deal with existing elite priests, then it could only be said that they were not the talents they urgently needed to find.

"But you must also choose your opponents carefully and be prepared to be killed."

In the hall, as Kai Wusi's voice faded away, his figure gradually disappeared into the corridor inside the hall.

At the same time, the main door of the hall reopened, seemingly indicating that the candidates could leave, or, that the formal final assessment had begun.

They would have 24 hours to choose, investigate their opponents, and set up, implement, and complete their plans.

"..."

Inside the hall, the candlelight on the candlesticks flickered, projecting the shadows of the candidates onto the stone-made cold wall paintings, forming distorted black shadows, as if demons were about to break free.

Each crystal in the iron chandelier reflected a faint light, reflecting their different expressions.

While savoring Kai Wusi's words.

Gradually, some of the candidates began to look at each other, without any communication between them, but with a hint of clear understanding in their eyes.

Having understood the rules, they quickly grasped the most crucial thing—

Compared to competition, candidates could cooperate.

They could work together to deal with an elite priest, and then deal with another elite priest.

Perhaps this was also what Kai Wusi hoped to convey, that the Annihilation Branch was an organization that emphasized collaborative killing of enemies.

However.

As one of the more watched members among the many candidates, Lan Qi stood up, stretched hard, then leisurely turned around and walked out of the hall door.

Seeming to have no intention of cooperating with anyone.

"Is this guy so arrogant?"

"I originally wanted to call him along, to see if a few more people could deal with a high priest."

In the subtle voices, Lan Qi's back slowly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The only one who was the same as him was Xi De, she didn't put anyone in her eyes and left the hall alone.

…

The temple architecture of the Annihilation Knights was magnificent and mysterious, the towering spires and frosted walls shining brightly in the sunlight.

Lan Qi walked out of the main entrance of the Annihilation Knights, in front of him was a cold town street.

The cold wind still blew in gusts.

He walked onto the center of the road, the sunlight shining diagonally from his left side, so that his shadow extended straight to the right of the road.

The town's stone road gradually stretched out from the front of the Annihilation Knights' temple, the low buildings on both sides of the road covered with snow-white frost.

After leisurely turning a few street corners, the little black cat in Lan Qi's shadow jumped out again and burrowed into his arms.

"Meow meow meow! Lan Qi! You can't get rid of the Annihilation Branch now!"

The Cat Boss was terrified in that exam room it almost couldn't get out of.

This organization, even if it doesn't let you pass, it will destroy you!

Having reached this point, Lan Qi had to complete the third round no matter what.

"Now that I'm here, I definitely have to finish the exam."

Lan Qi's pace didn't stop, he gently stroked the little black cat's head and said.

His posture appeared calm and unhurried, his steps as if walking on a soft carpet, in the wind, the ends of his hair gently caressed his white shirt, making the trim of his vest looming, leaving the Annihilation Knights he was the same as when he came, as if unstained from the mire.

His goal was clear, facing the upcoming assessment, he seemed full of confidence.

"You...then which elite priest are you going to deal with? What are you going to do about the final assessment?"

In the Cat Boss's opinion, Lan Qi wasn't the type to harm people secretly.

He was always aboveboard, doing things openly, in fact, if you had to say, his style of doing things was more like that of a Tyrant Branch priest.

The two of them cooperating, using force to subdue an elite priest wasn't difficult, but when it came to setting up a scheme to harm someone, it couldn't imagine what Lan Qi was going to do.

"It's already over."

Lan Qi said with a smile.

Cat Boss: "???"

…

That night, the Protos Empire received an anonymous report - High Priest Kai Wusi of the Annihilation Branch was privately hoarding artistic images of the Goddess of Destiny, the amount of money involved was extremely large, and he was suspected of being a cultist of the Goddess of Destiny Church who had infiltrated the high levels of the Resurgence Church, his faith was not firm and not upright.

Although the Annihilation Branch held a press conference to clarify the matter at the first time, under the consistent condemnation and suppression of the Tyrant Branch and the Mourning Branch seizing the opportunity, the Annihilation Branch had no choice but to thoroughly investigate the matter and dismiss High Priest Kai Wusi.

Written more than 10,000 words, Xi Zhi Ran Jin

(End of this chapter)