Chapter 155: Tracking the Divine Seal

Twelve carriages sped rapidly through the pitch-black alleys of Brelly, their bodies crudely daubed in mud and piled high with black, grimy snow. Such vehicles were a common sight in the city; whether it was delivering water, vegetables, and firewood, or clearing out cesspools, these standard municipal utility carts were used for all the dirty work.

With the arrival of winter, these carts became even more ubiquitous. In the aristocratic district surrounding the Palace of Victory and the affluent neighborhoods near Holy Glory Avenue, the accumulated snow in these vital areas had to be thoroughly cleared every day, and the resulting piles of snow were hauled away in such carts to be dumped outside the city walls.

Therefore, amidst the biting winter night, although numerous Dragoons and Copper Hats still patrolled the streets and alleys, these twelve four-wheeled carriages failed to draw their attention. Public order in the imperial capital had always been reasonably good, and armed, sweeping raids on private residences were unheard of. Nor were there any formidable underground gangs operating here that would brazenly deploy twelve large carts for nefarious schemes.

Consequently, the twelve carriages smoothly approached the vicinity of the North Docklands. Instead of entering the docks themselves, they skirted the perimeter along a ring road heading north. The large vessel that Lin Qi had boarded upon his arrival was concealed in a desolate little river channel just over there. Once the wealth inside the carriages was loaded onto the ship and it drifted downstream with the current, these riches would belong entirely to Lin Qi.

Watching the final patrol of Dragoon cavalrymen slowly ride past the carriages, Lin Qi, peeking through a gap in the window curtain, let out a sudden breath of relief. With a wide grin, he sprawled across three massive chests brimming with gold, groaning in sheer satisfaction, "So much gold! We are truly wealthy!"

Clasping his hands over his chest, Lin Qi offered a pious prayer: "Thank the gods for bestowing upon us endless wealth; thank the gods for granting me boundless gold coins! Oh, I am so grateful to you both; I shall purchase many more indulgences!"

Long Cheng sat cross-legged beside Lin Qi, striving to steady the turbulent circulation of qi within his body. Breaking through the seals on those chests had not been difficult—Long Cheng had accomplished it with ease—but the divine statues shattered by the backlash of the barriers had actually concealed fifteen powerful strands of divine force, inflicting considerable injuries upon him. Silently revolving his esoteric inner arts in meditation for nearly an hour, he finally exhaled a long breath.

A crimson, blood-like mist carrying a thick, metallic tang expelled from Long Cheng's lips; this single breath purged all the stagnant blood within his body. Pulling back the window curtain to let the frigid wind scatter the bloody stench, Long Cheng narrowed his eyes at the chests. "With so much gold, how many gold coins is this worth?"

Lin Qi glanced at Long Cheng, then pulled out a large vase to cradle in his arms, turning it over and over as he muttered under his breath, "Don't you worry, I won't shortchange you. Look, haven't you already taken your share? Those glittering, sparkling treasures—didn't you already take your portion? Ah, this vase is simply adorable!"

Gold sparks danced in the corners of Lin Qi's eyes, and Long Cheng's gaze was inevitably drawn to the vase dating back to the Dark Era. Damnable as it was, even in Long Cheng's ancestral home, fine goods of this caliber from the Dark Era were nowhere to be found. Yet, hauling a bulky vase like this over thousands of miles back to the East was an absolute impossibility. Long Cheng had no choice but to swallow his grievance and let Lin Qi monopolize the profit.

After casting a resentful glance at the priceless vase, Long Cheng redirected his attention back to the chests overflowing with gold bars. What on earth were the church's intentions in storing such a massive quantity of gold in an underground vault? What purpose could this gold possibly serve? Could it be meant to bribe the high-ranking officials of the Gallic Empire?

Long Cheng's gaze flickered, a faint trace of violet light darting rapidly within his eyes. Suddenly, he shuddered, his right hand tracing an arcane symbol swiftly in the air before he brought his palm down heavily onto one of the chests. With a crisp chime, a faint divine radiance emerged from the box, revealing a thumb-sized holy cross emblem stamped upon the lid.

Horrified, Lin Qi blurted out, "What is that?"

Long Cheng's violet-tinged eyes swept rapidly over the other contents of the carriage. He sneered, "These chests holding the gold have been branded with tracking talismans. Fortunately, I practice certain spiritual arts, otherwise I would never have discovered this trick. Heh, if we hadn't cleared away these talismans and you had hauled these goods home, you would have brought the Church's crusading armies right to your doorstep!"

Lin Qi's expression turned grim, and he said in a low voice, "Hell, should we throw these chests away?"

Long Cheng's hands wove rapidly through the air, spinning out a series of runes as he swiftly investigated the properties of the talismans. After a long moment, he shook his head. "Throwing away the chests won't work. The gold bars themselves harbor identical divine tracking seals. How petty of them, to be so paranoid over such a paltry amount of gold!"

Sighing softly, Long Cheng continued, "We cannot use brute force to break these tracking talismans, or the backlash of every single seal will attach itself to me, and I'll end up hunted down by the Church's supreme experts!"

Lin Qi stared blankly at Long Cheng and asked in a low voice, "What about the other items?"

Long Cheng nodded. "The other items are safe enough, but this gold... Tch, what a pity I haven't cultivated the Church's divine power. If I had even a sliver of divine power to use as a catalyst, I could transfer all these talismans out. Do you happen to know anyone possessing exceedingly pure divine power, or an object of that nature?"

Someone possessing pure divine power? Father Palin crossed Lin Qi's mind, but hell, how could that fellow possibly qualify?

An object imbued with pure divine power? Lin Qi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he pulled out the oak holy cross emblem given to him by Father Mai of Wright Town. A circle of luminous, gentle light enveloped the amulet, and even Lin Qi could feel the heart-stirring, pristine power radiating from within it.

"Oh? Splendid!" Long Cheng's eyes brightened, and he nodded repeatedly. "It isn't too powerful, making it just right for me to control, and its purity is ideal for driving these talismans. Very well, have the carriage slow down; I am going to transfer all these talismans out. Hm, we will have to sacrifice a single chest, though!"

Lin Qi nodded vigorously. Sacrificing just one chest was a minor matter; with so many other chests of gold remaining, it did not pain him in the least.

With a solemn expression, Long Cheng stood up, bit the tip of his finger to press a drop of blood onto the oak amulet, and began chanting an esoteric incantation while his right hand traced intricate runes in the air. The oak amulet emitted a soft glow, which gradually condensed into threads of ultra-fine light that instantly shot into the metal chests stacked with gold inside the carriage.

Subsequently, those rays of light pierced outward through the carriage walls and plunged into the metal boxes piled within the other vehicles.

A sacred chant gradually arose from within the chests, and divine rays of light began to leak through their seams.