The more they oppose, the more it shows that I am doing the right thing

The old Priest wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and muttered an apology. Then, he took out a magic extinguisher from the side and sprayed it frantically at the three candles. To his surprise, the candles fought back as sparks flew everywhere.

The ceremonial candles were made from the rendered fat of high-rank powerful beings, and ordinary water magic couldn't extinguish them. When the sparks landed on the nearby desk, the fire blazed up in an instant.

An Su, caught between pity and confusion, stayed in the center of the array, thinking to himself, "Why is this so different from what I expected?"

The young man now found himself surrounded by a ring of fire, like a little piglet being roasted.

The fire blazed higher and higher, and since the alchemic magic circle was drawn with a generous amount of mercury, the liquid evaporated into toxic mercury vapor at high temperatures, quickly poisoning the air and nearly causing the old Priest to suffer from metal poisoning.

The old Priest had been in this line of work for thirty years and had seen all types of esoteric religion geniuses. Yet, he had never encountered a heavyweight curiosity like An Su, who almost landed himself in the hospital!

His face turned as purple as a pig's liver.

The other youngsters who pretended to be weak but were actually strong just slapped people in the face, but you, you're actually playing with people's lives!

Space magic completely isolated the space from the outside world, creating a completely enclosed area with no ventilation.

An Su's actions caused the smoke from the flames and the toxic mercury vapor to instantly fill the entire space, subtly changing the expressions of the twenty-four geniuses of the esoteric religion present.

Only An Su stood in the center of the array, as if nothing had happened to him.

He was of a better constitution and had received multiple blessings and baptisms from the Mother Goddess. This kind of poison was just a sprinkle of water to him.

"Legend says that when a magic Tao genius is born, there will always be omens and disasters."

Lister pulled out a specially made mask and put it over his mouth and nose, analyzing seriously, "It seems Brother of the Stairs is indeed a true magic Tao genius."

"We should help Brother Ansu!"

Arthur was an athlete with the inherited physique of a Sun Knight, and the poisonous gas had no effect on him.

He thought Lister made good sense, but then he saw how fierce the flames were. Thinking it was time for his own moment of glory to assist An Su's prestige, he immediately took out the last bottle of 'Fire Dragon Brew' from his pocket and hurled it towards the burning circle. Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire

"Big Brother An Su, I'm here to help you!"

The eyes of everyone there suddenly went awry.

The Fire Dragon Brew made by Archduke Annand, also known as Fire Dragon Brew, was made from the heart of a high-rank Fire Dragon. Now, it smashed right onto the saintly rank human fat fire, fueling the flames and instantly increasing the power of the sun.

The blazing fire engulfed the spirits and corpse oil, causing walls of fire to build upon each other and wildly spread out, with dense smoke and poisonous gas filling the air. In an instant, the entire space was engulfed in smoke.

The faces of the esoteric religion geniuses turned ghostly pale.

You arsonist!

Although they had just sworn brotherhood with the intent of dying on the same day, they hadn't expected to die so soon—just having sworn in before finding themselves on the verge of death.

While a bit of poison had no effect on their lives, breathing too much of it would still cause dizziness.

Beyond the poison, what was even more discomforting was that the flames grew fiercer. The ceremonial fire couldn't be extinguished by ordinary magic, and since the space wasn't ventilated and was narrow and cramped, they felt like crabs in a steamer.

It wouldn't kill them, but it was torturous nonetheless.

Other geniuses' candles might not go out, but how did yours manage to start a fire?

The two bishops, who had projected themselves into this space, couldn't extinguish the fire of the ceremony either.

Now, unless the gaze of the Mother Goddess withdrew on her own, the flames would not go out. But what puzzled the bishops was why the great Mother's gaze wouldn't leave!

Dripping with sweat, An Su stood between the arrays and cursed inwardly, "Dear Mother Goddess, stop peeping at me, will you!"

"Hehe, how interesting."

As for the Hierarchical Holy Daughter, Elf, she was laughing so hard tears were about to come out. Her crimson eyes were filled with delight; she wished the fire would burn even more vigorously.

She hadn't expected such a tedious ceremony to witness such a joyful scene of chaos. These folks had potential!

Especially that 'Chaotic Elevator'—she never expected such a remarkable talent to emerge from the Ladder Sect!

It was completely beyond Elf's expectations.

The flames burned more and more intensely, and the geniuses' faces grew increasingly desperate.

They stared blankly at An Su in the center of the flames, never expecting to meet such a heavyweight figure in their lives.

Especially the one who had acted like a big brother earlier. He had just claimed he would look after the younger An Su, but now, the youngster was costing him his life.

Bishop Rada, the organizer of this ceremony, was brimming with pride.

This was when the greatness of the Gorilla Cult was truly reflected; the believers of the pain sect didn't have body hair and were not easily burned.

Bishop Bram of the Oceanic Sect hurriedly said, "We have to open the space now and give up the stronghold of Crow Alley."

He feared that if they waited any longer, the esoteric religion geniuses might suffer even more.

They wouldn't fetch a good price if sacrificed in that state.

When it came to giving up the stronghold, Bishop Rada felt the sting. After all, it took several months for the believers of the pain sect to set up this spatial stronghold, and to abandon it after just a few days was a waste of manpower and resources.

Moreover, it wasn't being abandoned because of a search by the Order Church.

It was because of an internal fire!

If these facts were to spread, it would be a great loss of face for the Gorilla Cult.