Chapter 425: God's Test!

Chapter 425: The Trial of a God!

Though he had spoken beforehand of breaking the apparatus, Karen was secretly uncertain whether he could truly achieve it; yet the moment his hand dipped into the water tank, assurance filled his breast.

As this testing machinery was configured specifically for the Knights' recruitment process, its upper limit was not exceedingly high—at least, for Karen, it was not absurdly beyond reach.

The Eye of Order spun, and his soul strength poured forth; it could be said that even in the midst of ordinary combat, Karen rarely mobilized the entirety of his soul power in such a manner, for there was seldom so tranquil and fitting an environment, nor would an opponent stand foolishly before him, watching him slowly gather his strength.

The water tank could not withstand Karen’s soul power, nor could the liquid contained within any longer manifest a spirit of this caliber; after a fleeting moment of stillness, it gave way directly to a violent explosion.

His "mediocrity" in the physical examinations compelled Karen to deliberately display his prowess at this juncture.

The sole miscalculation lay in the fact that the quality of the water tank was truly wretched; the bursting porcelain shards and splashing fluid scattered everywhere, and had Karen not swiftly drawn his hand into the sleeve of his divine robe while turning his body aside—and had the robe itself not possessed a certain measure of physical protection—his face and hands might now be marred by a multitude of lacerations.

Even so, he could not avoid being thoroughly drenched, and the liquid was moreover exceedingly sticky.

Karen stood up, shaking the jelly-like residue from his divine robe, as the entire surroundings fell into absolute silence.

The military doctor responsible for the records had tumbled to the ground, a clear wound tracing across his face.

Karen extended his hand, and the military doctor stretched out his own in return.

"The medical form," Karen reminded him.

"Oh, yes."

The military doctor withdrew his hand in some embarrassment, quickly scribbling the highest evaluation in this particular column of the medical form before handing the sheet to Karen.

Karen took the form, switched hands, and pulled the military doctor to his feet.

"My apologies for startling you."

"An issue with the apparatus, an issue with the apparatus..."

The team members erupted into a fervent cheer, though it was laced with a certain restraint and decorum; they were not surprised by Karen’s strength, nor was there any cause for wonderment that he could bring about such a state of affairs.

It was merely: I know it, I see it, and I am gladdened by it.

The director and those gathered around Philomena were utterly stupefied, and the other military doctors nearby wished to approach Karen to persuade him; the backgrounds of many doctors in this department lay within the formation-master sequence of the Knights, and they were intensely keen on discovering fine prospects for their own martial faction.

Yet the director was not a director for nothing; he immediately realized that while a single genius appearing in a crowd was understandable, two appearing together was highly suspicious, and the evaluations of those preceding them had also been largely of an excellent grade.

The director looked down at Philomena and inquired, "What manner of group are you?"

Richard, standing to the side, spoke up: "We are the newly established Whip of Order squad."

The newly established Whip of Order squad?

The director’s eyes rolled back and forth, and he reached out a hand to stop his subordinates who still intended to go and recruit them; facing his subordinates' incomprehension, he spoke:

"Have you not seen the documents from above? This Whip of Order squad was originally composed of excellent youths drawn from various systems; how could they possibly allow you to reverse-engineer their recruitment?"

Having explained this, the director waved his hand to signal the others to return to their duties, while he silently drew out a cigarette, lit it, and continued to follow along to watch the spectacle.

In the subsequent series of soul-related tests, Karen held nothing back, and to ensure safety, he always went last.

Yet because the news of the burst water tank had already spread to the other departments, and that director kept following them to remind every single ward, the responsible military doctors in the respective departments increased the protections on their testing apparatus by the time it was Karen's turn.

Furthermore, Karen no longer tested with the intent of destroying the machinery, and would even thoughtfully ask the testing doctor when a certain threshold was reached, "Is this sufficient?"

Consequently, in the ensuing series of examinations within the major category of the soul, Karen received an "11" for every single one; the maximum score was 10, and an 11 signified that his talent was so excellent as to overflow.

Because the Knights' recruitment medical examination possessed an age requirement—under twenty-three for believers of Order during peacetime—under normal circumstances, anyone capable of obtaining an "11" would directly alarm mid-level officers of the relevant branches of the current Knights to come and claim them.

The reason was that even if one underwent a medical examination here, one was not strictly bound to report to the local Knights; the Knights stationed in other grand districts were also universally compatible, and moreover, there was mutual competition among the different branches within the same Order of Knights.

Although the Church of Order had always maintained high-specification control over the Knights of Order, the various branches within a single Knight Order still possessed deep, interconnected influence in departments outside the military.

The Guman family possessed its own particularities and did not count, but under normal circumstances, there was bound to be profound communication between the grand district's formation department and the formation-master sequence of the Knights; the church hospitals and the Knights' hospitals certainly maintained contact as well, and the Demon Beast Research Institute where Aisly’s parents resided was actually a branch split off from the Knights, still conducting demon beast research to satisfy the needs of the military to this day.

Only this time, because of the director, he suppressed these reports beforehand, sparing those officers a wasted journey.

The final soul testing item was the 【Soul Inspection】.

Its purpose was twofold: first, to discern whether the soul possessed any "defects," and second, to observe whether you were "possessed."

In the era of the War of the Gods, both warring sides could employ all manner of underhanded tricks; possessing a soul within the body of an opponent's personnel to exert control and lie in ambush had long ceased to be anything novel.

In mythological narratives, there was even a record of such a campaign where a deity was possessed by the divine soul of another Chief God, directly detonating the divine formation and resulting in the failure of the entire battle.

Regarding this test, Karen was not the least bit worried; even if he did not believe in himself, he ought to believe in the Throne of Order, should he not?

If he, having been ordered by the Throne of Order, could be found by the Knights' hospital to possess a problematic soul, then one could only suspect that the Church of Order had already undergone a "peaceful evolution."

The testing apparatus was an eye, imprinted upon the ceiling, surrounded by a supplying magic circle; the person being tested would stand within the circle below, the massive eye on the ceiling would open, cast a glance at you, and then close, while the military doctor standing in another circle nearby would receive the resulting sensation and deliver an evaluation.

This eye was likely a branch of a "Divine Artifact."

The function of a complete Divine Artifact was immensely vast; to use an imprecise analogy, they were like a system running independently, capable of dispersing outward to grant support to various branches.

Just as his own recognition by the 【Scythe of War】 was, in essence, a manifestation of the expanded utilization of a Divine Artifact.

Therefore, once a Divine Artifact bore the word "damaged," even if it were the absolute slightest fracture, its value and efficacy would plunge drastically, for a modicum of damage could not sustain such large-scale branch utilization.

Muri walked into the circle, and the eye above opened, "looked" at him, and then closed.

In the other circle, the military doctor opened his eyes, first looking at the preceding sections of Muri’s medical form, and then inquired with great curiosity, "How was this achieved?"

Then, he saw the name column: Muri Benda.

His lips mumbled slightly, and he returned the medical form to Muri, asking nothing further.

Every man’s experiences differed, and every man’s scope of knowledge varied; even among the military doctors here, the sensitivity toward names and family surnames was not uniform.

Before Karen knew Muri, he had not known of the Benda family either.

Muri walked back holding his medical form, smiling at Karen; it was entirely normal that his physical attributes were all exceedingly excellent—after all, he came from the Benda family, and no matter how little presence he maintained within the clan, the family would not be so foolish as to deny him foundational resources.

As for his soul being excellent as well, that was entirely courtesy of Karen; it must be understood that he had not yet finished absorbing Gaetanbert’s "gift." As a warrior, if the shortcomings of his soul could also be mended, his future development would be all the more brilliant.

Next to go up was Richard, who received an evaluation of upper-middle after the "scan" was completed.

Karen noticed that Memphis beside him had already grown numb.

Perhaps he had already comforted himself in his heart that, as a father, it was quite enough for his son to be healthy and free from illness or pain.

Well, Richard had certainly achieved that much in this regard.

One by one they went up, and when it was Aisly’s turn, the eye above opened, and then remained open continuously; Karen felt that it was staring so long it was about to shed tears, if it had any.

For others it was a matter of ten seconds, yet Aisly consumed a full five minutes.

After the eye above finally closed, the military doctor responsible for delivering the evaluation in the other circle opened his eyes, cold sweat pouring down his face as he gasped heavily for breath.

Of his two colleagues beside him, one hurried to support him while the other hastily offered him a vigor potion; after downing two bottles in succession, the military doctor said to Aisly, "You nearly sent me into the First Order of Knights."

A colleague beside him remarked, "Wake up, you do not possess the qualifications."

The other colleague added, "Forget it, I have never heard that the First Order of Knights requires doctors."

Aisly stuck out her tongue; she naturally knew where the problem lay, which was the dense cluster of "tattoo stickers" upon her arms.

These tattoo stickers caused the eye, during its inspection, to investigate demon beast by demon beast, which was equivalent to this military doctor performing the workload of dozens of people simultaneously; that he had not directly fallen into shock was already a testament to his excellence.

"The foundation is very solid," the military doctor delivered his evaluation. "From the Research Institute?"

For so young a girl to bear the marks of so many demon beasts upon her body, it could not possibly be that she had captured them herself; it was bound to be the relations of her parents, and moreover, her parents must belong to the corresponding profession.

"Mm-hmm, yes."

"Heh, remember to give a heads-up next time, alright? Though there won't be a next time anytime soon anyway."

"Thank you for your hard work, sir."

Aisli took her medical examination form and walked down.

Next was Philomena.

Philomena's soul level was something even Muri, who had swallowed Gaetanbert, could not hope to catch up to.

With her upbringing and lineage, had she not possessed a sufficiently powerful soul, she would have long since gone mad by now.

Her innate bloodline was strong to begin with, and she had survived her grandmother's unceasing torments from childhood to adulthood.

The last one was Karen. He walked into the circle, and the eye above opened. Three seconds later, the eye closed, far faster than anyone before him.

The doctor who had newly swapped into the other circle to perform the evaluation looked at Karen in surprise and suspicion.

"Is there a problem, Doctor?" Karen asked.

"No, none. A very powerful soul, and highly attuned to the aura of Order. You must be a devout believer in Order; otherwise, there would be no way to make the aura of Order upon your soul so dense."

"Of course. I have always firmly believed that no one in this world is more loyal to the great God of Order than I am."

Having received his medical examination form, Karen walked out of this department.

The director did not continue to follow, but instead walked inside and asked, "What happened with the last one?"

"A very powerful soul, higher than everyone before him. I had to give him a score of '11'."

"So fast?"

"Lord Director, I explained just now, and I am speaking neither falsehoods nor polite pleasantries. The aura of Order upon his soul is remarkably dense—dense enough that Lord 'Eye' was entirely at ease and had no need to look further at all. There were absolutely no impurities."

"No impurities?"

"Yes. He reminded me of those elderly, weathered old believers of Order I've encountered in the past, who have spent their entire lives devoutly believing in Order. But even for them, wanting to achieve such purity in the aura of the soul is exceedingly difficult."

...

The final examination was faith, which was to say, the "political vetting process" of the Church of Order, though it did not require conducting investigations, visits, or issuing certificates.

Within the department, which was as vast as a basketball court, stood three small black rooms. Each room had only a single door for entry and exit, shielded not only by curtains but also surrounded externally by a layer of faint black mist that blocked all outside perception.

In truth, the hospital was not operating at full capacity right now, as the regular conscription period had not yet arrived, so the other departments basically only operated a single apparatus. Yet here there were three rooms, meaning this stage required a longer duration.

When Karen and the others arrived together, an old man was sitting there drinking tea, while a few young people beside him were cleaning the area.

The old man did not wear a white coat but was dressed in the divine robes of Order. He swept his eyes over Karen and the others as they walked in, spitting a bit of tea dregs to his side.

"You all hold medical examination forms in your hands. There are many small items within this major category of faith, but do not be anxious; everything can be resolved right here. There is no second department.

Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Da Vinci, and I am the vice president of this hospital. However, you do not need to remember my name. Although I am one of the eight vice presidents of this Knights' hospital, I only hold a nominal title. Aside from these few interns, I cannot command a single person in this hospital...

After all, the existence of my department is only put to use during conscription. Whether in ordinary times or during eras of war, who would run over to undergo faith therapy after being wounded?

Heh, alright, let us get to the point.

These three rooms are the 'Inquiry Rooms.' While you were undergoing examinations out front, I received notice and opened these three rooms to begin preheating them.

Buried beneath this room is a formation, within which lies a feather. It is a branch of Lord Tyranus's quill."

In the mythological narratives of the *Light of Order*, Tyranus was one of the four great attendants to the God of Order. He was very low-profile, lacking many glorious battle achievements, yet he had set about establishing the Church of Order.

It was said that the first edition of the *Light of Order* was written by him with a quill.

The York City District selection that Karen and Richard had experienced took place precisely within the Grand Hall of Tyranus.

Tyranus's quill ought to be a divine artifact as well. Although the Church of Order possessed only the one and only God of Order and had no branch gods, any single one among the four great attendants and the twelve Knights of Order, taken on their own, would not be inferior to the branch gods of other orthodox churches.

Da Vinci coughed, spitting a mouthful of thick phlegm into the trash can beside him.

Seeing this mannerism, Karen knew at a glance that it was caused by an old smoker smoking too much.

Only, at a time like this, no one would be foolish enough to go up and offer the old man a cigarette. Passing through the previous stages, pulling strings to beg for leniency was still understandable; arriving here, conversely, one could not let it show. It was the least important, yet carried the greatest taboos.

"The quill possesses a consciousness. Of course, it cannot chat, speak, and think with you like a normal person; the only thing it can do is commune with you in matters of faith.

Please believe in its ability, and even more so, believe in its authority. I do not know whether you will spoil in the future, but at this moment, you cannot hide from it.

I know you did not come for conscription. In fact, I find it quite strange too—why do you still want to walk to this point? It could actually have ended, so is it that you want a sense of fulfillment and perfection?

Of course you can, and I certainly support it. But I still must remind you to clutch your own chest and ask yourselves whether you are truly loyal to the God of Order. If you do not take this test, nothing will happen, and taking this test to get a score isn't of much use either, but if the score is very low and you fail... heh, then the trouble will be massive."

After Da Vinci finished speaking, he continued to drink tea. After a while, he said, "You've all considered it thoroughly, right? Come then, three by three, one person to a room. You will know once you go in."

Alfred walked to Karen's side and said in a low voice, "Master?"

"You want to go."

"Yes, Master. Since even my flesh has received certification, there is no reason my soul has not undergone sublimation."

"Alright." Karen agreed.

Alfred stood beside Karen.

"Then I will fill the vacancy." Richard stepped forward.

The three people participating in the first batch of testing were Karen, Alfred, and Richard.

Da Vinci stood up and waved his hand to activate the formation. For a time, the holy anthem of the Church of Order echoed within this environment, and a sacred, solemn aura flowed out.

"Rest assured, for this test, I can only obtain the test results granted to me by Lord Quill. I have no way of knowing what you communed with Lord Quill about inside, or what you confessed.

Because we permit doubt, skepticism, and losing one's way. The fundamental purpose of this test still lies in salvation.

Just like the priests in the black rooms of the churches outside, they will certainly help keep your secrets. Oh, at least, Lord Quill has far more professional ethics than those priests.

When you walk out of this small room, Lord Quill will self-erase its previous memories. So, relax, commune to your heart's content, and lay everything bare without reservation.

Additionally, once you go inside and establish mental intercommunication with Lord Quill, the speed of communication will become very fast. It might feel like only half an hour inside, but in reality, you may have already chatted for four or five hours.

The communication of thought is always that swift; otherwise, how could sparks be struck, heh.

Alright,

Come,

You three, please enter."

Karen and Alfred bowed to Da Vinci; toward political cadres, one certainly had to show an extra measure of respect.

Da Vinci returned the bow.

Richard was two beats slow; he had already taken two steps out when, seeing this, he retreated back to follow with a bow.

Seeing this scene from behind, Mr. Memphis sighed. He had realized that every time he saw his son standing together with Karen, it was very easy for him to get angry.

Karen walked into the small room, and the light dimmed instantly, followed by a sensation of being completely isolated from the outside world.

Inside stood a chair and a table. Karen sat down upon the chair.

Upon the table lay a copy of the *Light of Order*. At this moment, it flipped open automatically, and the phantom image of a quill floated forth, radiating a solemn and profound aura.

...

Richard took a deep breath rather nervously. At this moment, it seemed even the most devout believer in Order would feel nervous. His fists clenched tightly, already dripping with sweat.

The quill looked down upon Richard from on high, speaking with immense majesty:

"Let me ask you a few questions first."

...

Alfred pulled out his notebook, gripped his fountain pen, and crossed his legs. Gazing at the quill floating before him, he took a deep breath, a smile spreading across his face; he truly adored this atmosphere.

He had to commit this feeling to memory, so that when the next opportunity arose to recruit a newcomer into the order, he could recreate a similar scene.

In a calm and measured tone, the quill spoke to Alfred:

"Let us first commune regarding our first topic."

...

After a series of rapid flickers and violent distortions, the phantom image of the quill before Karen finally regained its composure, yet even after Karen had sat there for a long while, the quill before him remained utterly silent.

Was the apparatus broken? Or had something gone wrong with the formation?

Leaning forward, Karen inquired with a touch of perplexity, "Excuse me, may we begin?"

The quill offered its response:

"Please grant your instructions, sir."