Mrs. Halder was a woman that left a deep impression on people. Luo Nan had the temperament of a homebody. He didn't really recognize people, but he never forgot her from the first time he met her.
Yes, it must be admitted that Mrs. Halder's image was quite good. She was around forty years old, and she was in the gym room right now. She wore a deep purple knitted wool dress and stockings of the same color. She paired it with black velvet high heels. Her hair was tied up in a seemingly casual bun, and a few locks hung down the side of her forehead. She was elegant and concise, like a noble woman who had been in a high position for a long time.
However, her somewhat westernized three-dimensional silhouette, her deep eye sockets, her quiet and serene gaze, and the strange slender bloody scar on her right cheek gave her a tough and callous aura. Upon closer inspection, she looked more like a strong woman who had experienced many experiences.
In the secular world, she was indeed a queen of the business world. The high-class fitness center they were in right now was one of her businesses. She had inherited her husband's Castle Financial Group, and it had rapidly expanded over the past ten years. She controlled several well-known fashion and sports brands, and her influence in the field of entertainment and sports grew more and more astonishing.
Luo Nan had once looked up information on Mrs. Halder. She was a legendary figure in Xia City. During the dark age when the Bloodflame Order was internally divided, the reigning Chief Oblatum of the Order cowered before the chaotic conflict of doctrines. This caused the Order's sacrificial vessel to be destroyed, causing irreparable losses.
In the moment of life and death, it was this Mrs. Halder who beheaded the previous Oblatum, her husband. Furthermore, with his strong conviction, he had withstood the violent backlash of the Bloodflame Will. Amidst the raging Bloodflame, he had inherited the position of Officiant. He had also relied on the rapidly expanding financial resources of the secular world to stabilize the situation during the Order's relatively weak stage, preserving this branch of the Bloodflame Order.
The bizarre bloody scar on her right cheek was the mark of the ultimate trial of the Bloodflame Will. It was the testimony of the soul-stirring events of the past.
Due to her actions of beheading and killing her husband, she became known as the Black Widow of the inner world. Her reputation was terrible, but within the Bloodflame Order, her prestige was unparalleled. Practically everyone was awed by her unyielding and iron-blooded nature. Even a senior elder like Mo Lun was extremely respectful toward her.
At this moment, aside from Madam Halder, who was seated on a chair, everyone else was standing. Vice First Oblatum Yin Le, who had once crossed paths with Luo Nan, leaned lightly on a treadmill beneath the floor-to-ceiling glass window of the wooden corridor outside. His body language was probably the calmest.
She had started her career as Lady Halder's confidential secretary. Although she no longer held a position within the financial group, she was the person in charge of the Frost River Reality project that the financial group had dispatched. In the secular world, her position was low but she held great power. Within the Bloodflame Order, he was one of the successors that Madame Halder paid close attention to.
Apart from Yin Le, the strong man standing respectfully to Lady Halder's right was also an important figure in the church. His name was Meng Chong, and he was one of Madam Halder's trusted aides. He had once been a security captain.
Some unreliable reports said that he was Lady Halder's lover, but in reality, Meng Chong was the only one in the Bloodflame Order, apart from Lady Halder and Elder Mo Lun, who had passed the final trial of the Bloodflame Will. Logically speaking, his physique should be on the monstrous level, but he was extremely low-key. He never participated in any sort of ranking, so it was very hard to make an accurate judgment.
As for the other three, there was an old man with a scholarly air. He was another elder of the order, Jiang Yuanzhen. He was a standard member of the primitive religious sect. He was over a dozen years older than Mo Lun, but he was more skilled in theoretical work. His qualifications in the order were a bit worse than Mo Lun's.
Jiang Yuanzhen used to be an advisor type of character. Later, Lady Halder raised his position in the order. Although he was useless in terms of combat strength, it was precisely because of his and Mo Lun's existence that this faction of the order gained a more orthodox atmosphere in this era of the collapse of sacrificial artifacts and conflicts of laws and logos.
Right now, it was this old man who was the most anxious. He was not worried about the injured Mo Lun, but about the Wraith Sign that was a substitute sacrificial artifact. Of course, in the Bloodflame Order, they called it the Mold.
"How's the Mold? Mo Lun, do you have any accurate information? How did you do it? "
Jiang Yuanzhen appeared to be very anxious and at a loss. He was a standard theorist. His own level of Extraordinary power was only at the C- level.
According to the observations and experiments of the order, under normal circumstances, the Human-Faced Arachnid's clone would exist on the mental plane at the border of the Abyss Region and the Polar Domain. That was the special domain of Extraordinaries or B-rank powerhouses who specialized in mental senses. Ordinary ability users were simply unable to sense it. It was only when hunting that the Human-Faced Arachnid would approach the material world.
In fact, strictly speaking, there was not a single person in the Bloodflame Order who fulfilled these two hard criteria. Lady Halder had gone through special channels to obtain the Herding Technique that could capture the Human-Faced Arachnid's clone and forge it into a sacrificial artifact Mold.
Right now, only Lady Halder, Elder Mo Lun, Deputy Oblatums Yin Le, and Ren Hong could use this technique among the core members of the order. Only these four people could see it under normal circumstances.
Mo Lun could not stand this old fellow. He was disinclined to respond. Lady Halder was deep in thought, so she had no obligation to respond. Yin Le was just about to respond when Ren Hong, who was close to Jiang Yuanzhen, spoke first:
"Old Jiang, the mold is very normal right now. It is currently digesting its food. The structure of the Bloodsoul Temple has become more complete. The sound of blood and fire is very clear. "
Ren Hong's age was close to Lady Halder's. He was around forty years old. His appearance was ordinary, but his words and actions were mature and appropriate. He normally did not reveal himself, but when he was preaching, he was extremely inciting. He was the backbone of the order purely by relying on its business. Normally, he would discuss the theories and preaching methods of the order with Jiang Yuanzhen. Their relationship was relatively close.
Jiang Yuanzhen did not have any misgivings towards Ren Hong. At his age, he really was like a child. He grabbed Ren Hong like he was seizing a toy. He wished he could stomp his feet: "Let me hear it! Let me hear it!"
Ren Hong glanced helplessly at Lady Halder. Lady Halder's eyelids drooped slightly. This could be considered as consent.
"Don't take too long!"
Ren Hong first warned Jiang Yuanzhen before grabbing Jiang Yuanzhen's wrist. He adjusted the frequency of the fluctuations of his soul strength, bringing Jiang Yuanzhen's soul strength inside. It was like an amplifier, allowing Jiang Yuanzhen to listen to the sound that came from the depths of the mental plane.
"Blood, blood, blood!"
"Fire, fire, fire!"
The monotonous, manic, and incessant sound was like a gradually rising platform that pressed down on the mental plane. Layer upon layer, there was no end to it. And because it was nothingness, it could collapse at any moment. After listening for a long time, one's internal organs would begin to convulse and contract.
However, in Jiang Yuanzhen's ears, this sound was like the sound of nature. He laughed so hard that his eyebrows could not be seen. "Aiyah, this is like eating a great tonic. The 2120 steps of the Bloody Soul Temple's Path of Blood Fire now has …"
"1755 steps." Ren Hong confirmed the number, then reminded him, "Time's up."
"How can it be so fast?" Jiang Yuanzhen wanted to act shamelessly, but Ren Hong gently and firmly refused Jiang Yuanzhen's request and even pulled away. Jiang Yuanzhen wanted to toss and turn again, but Ren Hong gave him a meaningful glance, reminding him that the Lord Oblatum was right in front of him.
Jiang Yuanzhen had been raised by Mrs. Halder, so he was afraid in his heart. His face twitched, and he finally stopped pulling. He turned to face the master seat and smiled. Then he began to count with a deadpan expression. "Last time Mo Lun reported the number of steps to be 1569. My goodness, this time it's 186 steps?"
Yin Le reminded him from the side, "Old Jiang, there was a successful hunt last week that didn't make the report. At that time, it was already 1605 steps."
"A whole 150 steps is too much. Especially the Bloodflame Path, which starts at the end of the 1600 steps. Even if it can't compare to the final 120 steps of the Bloodflame Altar, it still isn't easy to construct …. What in the world is this thing? It's so powerful! "
If Luo Nan hadn't used the Wraith Sign to spy on the high-level communications of the Bloodflame Order, he would certainly have been completely baffled.
Actually, the so-called Bloodflame Path was the quantitative standard of the Bloodsoul Temple structure that the Bloodflame Order had implanted into the Human-Faced Arachnid's avatar. It was divided into six levels. The first 400 steps were a stage, and the last 120 steps were the final sublimation stage.
Not only did it have numerical quantification, it also had an image.
Right now, the hell-like structure that had been assimilated into the Wraith Sign's body was piled up layer by layer from the center. It was like a mountain peak of cooled lava. The mountain path on top of the mountain twisted and turned. There were many pores in the mountain rocks, and lava flowed and spat out. It could be described as a river of lava and a stream of fire. It could change the mountain's terrain and shape at any time.
But no matter how it changed, there was a majestic and awe-inspiring building at every certain height on the mountain. It was either a palace hall or a cave. They were built next to the mountain, as if they were one entity.
This was the embryonic form of the Bloodsoul Temple. Right now, four buildings had been formed, representing that four stages had been completed. The next fifth stage was the formation of the altar on the mountain peak.
The final sixth stage was the 120 steps of the Bloodflame Altar. Through the blood sacrifice, the Bloodflame Will was internalized into the entire mountain peak, thus forming the complete appearance of the Bloodsoul Temple.
Luo Nan lacked a deep understanding of secret orders, but he could tell from his senses that this entire process was a step-by-step process. It was quite standardized. Aside from herding, there were endless sacrifices and refinements every day. They were mysterious and contained magical powers, reflecting the accumulation of the Bloodflame Order's laws and logos.
As an internal member of the Bloodflame Order, she naturally did not view the problem as simply as Luo Nan. Jiang Yuanzhen had been worrying about the future construction of the Bloodsoul Temple. "The first two thousand steps are fine. The 120 steps of blood sacrifice are the most difficult. Just based on the current scale of the order, it is a bit strenuous to perform sacrifices day and night. If we could have this kind of sacrifice …."
Ren Hong also agreed. "That's right. The Order of Justice acted earlier than us. It is said that before An Weng's accident, the Order of Justice had already sent the Human-Faced Arachnid to headquarters. In other words, no matter how we graze in Xia City, it will be hard to gather a complete Human-Faced Arachnid. If we want the mold to be effective, it is hard to avoid seeking other methods. Right now, it looks like the mold's devouring ability still has room for expansion. This is a good thing. "
Yin Le was a bit more pessimistic. "It's hard to make a judgment just by looking at an example."
Jiang Yuanzhen clapped her hands. "You'll have to ask Mo Lun about this. It was dangerous this time, but if we can really find a way to assist in the blood sacrifice, then it would truly be a boundless merit."
Just as her voice fell, a mass of light and shadow unfurled in the center of the room. Mo Lun did not participate in the conversation from start to finish. He just transformed the relevant memories into energy information that could be recognized by specialized equipment. Then he transformed it into an image, allowing the core members of the order to understand the situation at the time.
This sort of ability to reproduce memories seemed simple, but in reality, only those who had a deep understanding of the mind and the soul could do it. Luo Nan felt ashamed of his inferiority to Mo Lun's deep and ruthless ability.
As the light and shadow changed, it was tantamount to replaying Mo Lun's experience at the time. Due to the nature of human thought, it was hard to avoid subconscious processing and distortions. However, it was enough to serve as a reference.
Luo Nan found the scene of the incident familiar. He thought about it carefully and recognized that this was the recycling stratum of the Twin River District. This place was filled with gangs and negative emotions. It was indeed one of the best places for the Human-Faced Arachnid to reside.
Mo Lun gave a brief introduction of the background. He used the mental plane to directly transmit telepathically. However, Luo Nan could hear everything clearly due to the mental connection between him and the Wraith Sign:
"I was just doing my routine patrol at the time. Mold suddenly became very excited. I thought that it had discovered prey, so I immediately went over. But then I saw a bird..."
"It wasn't a bird, right?" Jiang Yuanzhen relied on his age to speak more casually with Mo Lun.
Mo Lun didn't bicker with him. He responded calmly, "Indeed. I only discovered that it wasn't a bird when I got closer.
It was a Winghand Bloodbat. "
Winghand Bloodbat!
Actually, Luo Nan was already stupefied when he saw the image. Mo Lun's explanation only gave him a confirmation.
It really was a Winghand Bloodbat. Luo Nan had participated in the Trigate Security conference last week. This was the first thing that was introduced. Luo Nan had the deepest impression of it. He knew that this thing possessed a highly contagious virus. It was a mutated type, and it could even control biological Aberrations. It possessed an extremely high level of threat. Among the rewards provided by Trigate Security, this thing's corresponding bonus was ranked at the top.
It couldn't be this coincidental, right?
Luo Nan found it a bit hard to accept this astonishing coincidence for a time. However, he found it even harder to imagine that such a dangerous Aberration had other channels to enter and exit Xia City at any time. If this really was the case, then the world line would change into Resident Evil...
If it really was the target that Trigate Security mentioned, then wouldn't there be any dregs left after the Wraith Sign made his move? Trigate Security had said that the Wraith Sign wanted to capture the Winghand Bloodbat alive and retrieve the corpse if it was dead.
Well, it didn't matter if it was the Wraith Sign or Mo Lun's out-of-body state. They were just wandering around on the mental plane. Even if they killed the Winghand Bloodbat, they shouldn't have taken the corpse away...
Luo Nan immediately became excited. He stared fixedly at the image of light and shadow. He wanted to find the surrounding landmark buildings and confirm the coordinates.
However, as he carefully observed, Luo Nan felt that the image was a bit strange. He didn't know what was strange about it for a time.
Jiang Yuanzhen was also very shocked. "It really is a Winghand Bloodbat? How did this thing enter the city? Even the city guards are blind... Oh, it seems a bit different? "
Mo Lun answered, "It really is different from the species found in the Wilderness. Actually, I've always wondered if this thing can even be considered a Winghand Bloodbat."
The image of light and shadow just happened to give them a close-up view. This time, whether it was the group of core members of the Bloodflame Order up close or Luo Nan, who was two or three city districts away, they all saw the problem.
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