When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 687: Chapter 76: Clear Soup Aiwass Chapter 687: Chapter 76: Clear Soup Aiwass Under the guidance of Cardinal Matilda, Aiwass passed through a green light barrier once again.

He once again felt that strange sensation, like the feeling of a finger passing through a soap bubble.

Taking advantage of the presence of a Cardinal Archbishop, Aiwass curiously asked, “May I ask…

what is this, Cardinal Matilda?”

“The Restraining Barrier?”

Matilda glanced at it and answered, “This is a blessing from the Gemini Mirror…

Simply put, anything moving too fast cannot pass through it.

The faster it moves, the stronger the force that bounces it back.”

“So things that move quickly cannot pass through, but slower things can…”

Aiwass murmured to himself.

…So this is basically like a speed bump?

“That’s right.

This way no one will run in the corridors, thus preventing collisions with others.

If an intruder were to come in, their attacks couldn’t penetrate this light barrier either.”

Matilda spoke warmly, “If you manage to learn Advanced Divine Arts, you can set up your own Restraining Barrier as well.”

Clearly, Cardinal Matilda knew why Aiwass was here.

She led Aiwass, winding this way and that, until they arrived at a building resembling a palace… or rather, a bathhouse.

The surroundings were decorated with plants, with only a bath at the center of the room filled with steaming golden liquid—emitting a gentle glow.

It was obviously consecrated Holy Water, currently giving off the scent of citrus and a strong aroma of alcohol.

And it had several tied bundles of vines floating in it… it looked like a pot of soup.

“This is Holy Water infused with Calendula and orange blossom picked at noon.”

Cardinal Matilda revealed a gentle smile and extended her hand to introduce to Aiwass, “Mixed with over thirty years of stored wine, ginseng, blackberry leaves, holly, and grapevine.

It has been brought to a boil with the burning pine bark and Bishop’s Herb.”

…Are they planning to cook me in this?

Aiwass looked at the blue-haired elf woman and momentarily found himself at a loss for words.

The pool was clearly still boiling!

As Aiwass watched, Matilda manipulated something, and the boiling stopped.

She instructed Aiwass, “Take off your clothes, including your underwear.

Soak in first and I’ll go get the other items.

The temperature should be just right, do not worry about contamination…

this pool is for single use only.

“You can leave your clothes here for now.

They will also be brought to you when you leave.”

And with that, she pointed at a wooden basin nearby and considerately left the room.

Aiwass breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Cardinal Matilda’s age was probably many times greater than his own with an extra zero at the end… having her watch over him would’ve made Aiwass feel rather uncomfortable stripping.

Not knowing when Matilda would return, he hastily stripped off his clothes and dove into the hot spring.

The intense aroma of orange flower mixed with the smell of alcohol provoked a comfortable groan from Aiwass.

The water in the pool was over eighty degrees Celsius, akin to freshly steeped hot tea.

It could scald the skin of an ordinary person instantly.

But to Aiwass, it felt like regular warm water.

He didn’t even need to adjust to the temperature; he could just dive straight in—this surprised Aiwass himself.

He noticed that his skin didn’t even redden.

He closed his eyes and soaked for a while, feeling his spirit relax, but Matilda had not yet returned.

Bored, he opened his eyes and out of curiosity, submerged himself below the surface, blowing bubbles like a child.

Since the completion of the transformation ritual, all the excess hair on Aiwass’s body was gone and his skin had become even whiter and more tender than before.

But in reality, it had become even more resilient.

Now, not just ordinary people, but even Transcendents wielding ordinary daggers or swords would find it difficult to cut through Aiwass’s skin.

Although he had not been attacked yet, Aiwass was very confident—currently, the majority of bullets could not penetrate his skin’s defense.

Even if engulfed in flames, Aiwass wouldn’t get burned…

Even if tied to a stake, he couldn’t be burned to death.

Rather than burning to death, the likelihood of dying from suffocation was actually higher.

He still couldn’t survive without oxygen.

Therefore, if he were sunk at sea, it would still be dangerous.

However, with his current physical condition, Aiwass could probably swim directly back to the nearest land.

From that moment on, he had truly transcended humanity—no longer could he be killed by mere mortals with weapons due to chance or conspiracy.

No wonder Transcendents in various countries tend to hold high positions after reaching the fourth energy level…

Now Aiwass fully understood why.

Aiwass soaked a while longer.

When the water temperature continuously dropped to around forty to fifty degrees Celsius, Cardinal Matilda finally arrived, albeit belatedly.@@novelbin@@

She looked at Aiwass in the pool, completely unfazed.

She simply reached out to test the water temperature, then let out a sigh of relief, “No problem, the water is still warm enough…”

As she spoke, she took out a box of something strange, “Drink this.”

“…What is this?”

Aiwass looked dismally at the distance, resembling a bowl of watery tomato broth with beans.

He immediately felt resistant.

It was not that he worried about poisoning, but mainly because it didn’t look appetizing…

“This is pomegranate juice with cooked vegetables beans,” said Matilda, explaining to Aiwass with the gentleness and meticulousness of a kindergarten teacher, “We use pomegranate juice as the Blood of Candle Master, and the beans can be seen as the seeds of Sin Thorn.

They’re not fully cooked, therefore slightly toxic.

But for you, it doesn’t matter…

Quick, drink it while it’s hot.”

With a bitter face, Aiwass drank it down.

The undercooked beans had a bitter flavor, and the boiled pomegranate juice was tart enough to be painful rather than sweet.

Drinking them was like swallowing medicine—a sensation he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Following that, Matilda stuffed a dried date into Aiwass’s mouth.

He chewed on it instinctively, feeling the sweetness cascade down his throat, which slightly eased his furrowed brow.

“Come out, Aiwass.”

She pointed to the open space with red carpet, signaling for Aiwass to come out from the pool.

Despite feeling somewhat shy, Aiwass nonetheless pretended to be nonchalant as he emerged from the pool.

Without seeing Matilda do anything, the water on Aiwass’s body completely evaporated.

His skin gave off a visible white steam, exuding an intoxicating scent of orange blossom.

Matilda took out a dish of ointment with swift movements and skillfully rubbed it over Aiwass’s body.

–Well, if Matilda looked a bit older, Aiwass would not have felt so embarrassed.

But she looked too young, which made Aiwass feel like a child being cared for.

Fortunately, Matilda continued to explain to Aiwass, “This is a special consecration oil made of cinnamon essential oil mixed with coconut oil.

It’s only used during the ‘Ordination Ritual’…Symbolizing the joint protection of the sun and moon, it can also be extended to signify the collective guardianship of the Nine Pillar Gods.”

The [Ordination Ritual]refers to the ceremony for the promotion of bishops and above, which is why Cardinal Matilda is called the Ordinator.

Soon, she finished applying the ointment on Aiwass.

Afterwards, she brought out a complete set of bishop’s garments.

Emitting heat as if they had just been toasted by fire, Aiwass felt a burning sensation at the point where the clothes touched his skin, as if he had just soaked in water spiked with Sichuan peppercorns, or smeared with chili oil.

Aiwass looked down and noticed that there was something off about the style of the clothes.

He had worn a bishop’s attire once before during a previous promotion ceremony.

And now, the style of the clothes he was wearing seemed somewhat different…

“Wait, Cardinal Matilda.”

Aiwass reminded her, “Could it be the wrong clothes?”

The garments, although mostly red, were adorned with many gold embellishments.

And the biggest difference from a bishop’s was that its ceremonial cloak was gold, not dark red.

–This was not a bishop’s attire, but that of an archbishop.

That is, at the same level as Bishop Mathers, fit to be responsible for the capital church of a country’s region.

This is usually the highest rank humanity can achieve under normal circumstances.

Indeed, it’s only at the fourth energy level that one could be promoted to archbishop, but not all fourth-level individuals are archbishops.

Typically, the pace of promotion through the church’s ranks is slower than the advancement of extraordinary abilities.

Or rather, much slower.

Because advancing to archbishop means becoming the spokesperson of the Nine Pillars Divine Church in that region.

Therefore, it’s necessary to consider a variety of factors such as merit, personality, experience, faith, and influence, and the Longevity Species tend to procrastinate too much in their meetings…

As a result, in some places, bishops have long been qualified for promotion, yet the process is dragged out.

It’s not deliberate, or like the kind of haggling seen in meetings at the Round Table Hall.

It’s simply a case of procrastination.

–There’s no hurry; we’ll talk about it in a few years.

“It’s not the wrong one.”

Cardinal Matilda looked deeply at Aiwass and answered, “It’s His Holiness the Pope’s will for you to be directly promoted to archbishop.”

As a student at the Theological Seminary, Aiwass could be considered at the level of an acolyte.

From acolyte to priest, from priest to bishop, and from bishop to archbishop…

Aiwass’s promotion was effectively a jump of three levels.

Aiwass did not feel any joy.

On the contrary.

–He felt only a shiver down his spine.

Anomaly heralds a monster; this was completely against the Holy Nation’s rules and traditions!

Something was very wrong, most definitely wrong!