Chapter 136: The Judgment Knight's Graduation Mission

No, it is a mutiny by the temple staff!

Sang Sang recalled the captive she had seized; the energy in his sea of consciousness clearly carried the aura of a cleric, though the faith was not pure—only slightly better than what she had collected before joining the temple.

"If they could come through even with the portal closed, it must have been via a fixed-point teleportation from the main brain. The intruder must be temple staff, and they certainly aren't lacking in funds or contributions."

"Lida has vanished; I can't sense him at all. Although he is in the early stage of the Void Rank, his 'Entangling Silk' manifestation could ensnare even a peak Void Rank expert. Could the intruder be a Profound Rank master? The Sunflower Star Region is remote and small. Would the higher-ups dispatch someone here at this time? Could there be someone with a special identity among the current batch of Judgment Knight interns?"

"God of Machines, go to the dungeon and ask those children who the black-robed Judgment Knight who escaped is."

"The Great Sun God Lord hasn't returned for so long. Could something have gone wrong?"

"Indeed. I've heard that the Profound Rank is common in the temple, and the Origin Rank is not rare either. The Great Sun God Lord is only at the middle stage of the Profound Rank."

"Should we look for a way out? There is a difference between an accomplice and a principal offender, and the punishment for dereliction of duty is vastly different from that for rebellion."

The interior of the rebellious cathedral was not a monolithic block, especially with the leader absent and out of contact. Everyone was anxious, and many were contemplating their escape routes.

Sang Sang found a secluded spot to set up a barrier and extracted the desired answers from the captive’s mind.

The Seven-Colored Civilization was a techno-martial society. Their technology was advanced, and the individual strength of the populace was not low. However, their civilization had taken a deviant path, commonly using semi-mechanical bodies to extend their lifespans. It was a free territory without a fixed faith.

It was precisely because the Seven-Colored Civilization was not valued by the temple, and the civilization itself was xenophobic, that clerics had built a small temple there. They did not follow the principle of fair exchange, instead engaging in personality cults and deifying themselves. Initially, they were stealthy and dared not act openly, but after realizing that the main brain was far away and no issues had arisen for decades, they grew bolder. They began calling themselves gods to deceive the populace, extract faith, and suppress or even slaughter those who resisted, eventually drawing the attention of the Judgment Knights.

When the Judgment Knights first arrived, they were still nervous and afraid, but the Great Sun God Lord had connections and knew that the visitors were only interns, all minors, and the strongest leader among them was only at the early stage of the Profound Rank. Thus, they led them into a pre-set net to trap the squad of twelve young knights. However, one black-robed young knight escaped, and the Great Sun God Lord went to pursue him, never to be seen again. Now, the one in charge of the cathedral was the Moonlight God Lord, the Great Sun God Lord's consort, who was also at the early stage of the Profound Rank.

Sang Sang shared the information with Xiao Jin. What Xiao Jin discovered was even more detailed than her own findings: the final assessment for this batch of Judgment Knights was to deal with this small temple. Because the Heavenly Emperor had been challenging others non-stop and skipping levels, he had been fortunate enough to join this term's final internship course...

The black-robed young knight who escaped was the Heavenly Emperor. The Great Sun God Lord's time origin had been mostly devoured by him, and he was now hiding in the capital planet of the Seven-Colored Civilization to recover from his serious injuries. However, the Heavenly Emperor had also been exiled to an unknown temporal rift by the Great Sun God Lord, who had retaliated at the cost of his own origin degrading, leaving him temporarily unreachable.

Sang Sang used holy light to bind the captive and threw him back into the "God's Tomb." She asked Xiao Jin, "Did the temple arrange for people to monitor their internship assessment?"

Xiao Jin gave a definitive answer. There were indeed masters from the Tribunal monitoring this internship. The reason they hadn't intervened yet was that it hadn't reached a point of life-or-death desperation.

"If the mentors intervene, they will all fail their final exam."

Sang Sang asked, "Will our intervention affect the Heavenly Emperor's grade?"

"It's uncertain. I don't know the mentors' grading criteria, but according to past simulations, Judgment Knights are expected to possess both wisdom and strength, and utilizing external forces is also a form of strength. Our intervention has a fifty percent chance of improving their grades."

Sang Sang narrowed her eyes. "That's good. The Heavenly Emperor is hard to find, but I want the Great Sun God Lord's cultivation insights."

"Leave it to me. 'A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation'—starting today, I shall recast the glory of my God of Networks! Hmm, the network of the Seven-Colored Civilization is quite good, almost at the level of a Level 5 civilization. If it were before, I would have had a headache, but now... wahahaha..." Xiao Jin chirped, his enthusiasm exceptionally high.

Sang Sang smiled. "The task of rescuing the Heavenly Emperor is left to you. Send me the route to the capital planet; I am going to find the Great Sun God Lord."

God Lord? God Lord!

To dare to call oneself a god at the Profound Rank, and even the Lord of All Gods—that was even more arrogant than the Galactic Civilization calling the Heaven Rank a "Sanctuary."

The Seven-Colored Civilization was technologically advanced; both civilian and military technologies far surpassed those of the Galactic Civilization. Sang Sang incidentally told Xiao Jin to collect some technology suitable for development in the Milky Way. Although there were good things in the temple, they were too high-level and could only be used directly; researching and reverse-engineering them was too troublesome.

In the capital stellar city of the Seven-Colored Civilization, seven primary stars—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet—guarded the central white Imperial Star. Each primary star had several satellite planets. From a distance, it looked like a sunflower, and this sunflower was located at the center of the Sunflower Star Region.

The cathedral was located where the energy of the Seven-Colored Star Cluster was most concentrated, not far from the capital stellar city. Sang Sang did not use the wormhole channels of starships; instead, she walked directly by folding space along the nodes. She wore a dark green cloak embroidered with silver runes, and her face, hidden beneath the hood, was obscured by a thick black mist.

The Great Sun God Lord was originally the son of the military and political leader of the Seven-Colored Civilization. Having fallen from the Profound Rank, he dared not return to the cathedral and was hiding in a fortress in his hometown to heal. Sang Sang appeared in the starry sky outside the fortress. She did not advance but instead looked toward the void to the front right and performed a cleric's salute.

Water-like ripples appeared in the void, and a tall figure wearing Judgment Knight combat armor emerged, nodding slightly to Sang Sang in return.

"What is your relationship with the Heavenly Emperor?"

Sang Sang did not remove her disguise, and the devouring mist on her body did not disperse. "We are companions. His affairs are my affairs."

The man thought for a moment and said with a tone of certainty, "Intern Saintess Sang Hongye."

Sang Sang did not deny it. "Is my reputation that great? Even the mentors at the Judgment Knight training base know me?!"

"The Heavenly Emperor is very special, and you are someone he values. We all know of you." Two more figures appeared behind the man. "Apologies, we wanted to intervene at the time, but the Heavenly Emperor refused outside help. We also wanted to see his limits, which resulted in his disappearance."

"There is no need for apologies. It is I who should thank you seniors for your protection. The Heavenly Emperor said he wants to be the strongest man in the galaxy, and he will definitely return." After saying this, Sang Sang cast her gaze downward. "I intend to meet the Great Sun God Lord. That doesn't break any rules, does it?"

"It does not. Please be careful. Although the target's origin has degraded, his time laws remain, and his deterrence is stronger than an ordinary Void Rank expert. You are a full level below him. Do not push yourself if things get dangerous; request reinforcements immediately. We are monitoring the situation in real-time. A promising Saintess should not fall here."

Sang Sang expressed her gratitude, locked onto the spatial node where the Great Sun God Lord was located, and departed by folding space.