Chapter 152: Brute Force Breach

Behind the door of the secret chamber stood over a dozen Divine Idols arranged in a semicircle. These idols were only as tall as ordinary people. They stood on high stone platforms, looking down on the roughly hundred-meter-long and wide chamber. Because of the Magic Arrays carved on them, strong fluctuations of Magic Power continuously radiated from the statues.

Lin Qi quickly glanced over these stone-carved idols. He roughly recognized some of the main Deities worshipped by the Church. For example, the idols of the God of Dawn, the God of Flames, and the God of Ice and Snow stood in the center. Surrounding them were twelve idols, which were the Subordinate Gods of these three Chief Gods of their respective pantheons. For instance, the Subordinate Gods of the God of Dawn included the Goddess of Dawn, the Subordinate Gods of the God of Flames included the God of Lava, and the Subordinate Gods of the God of Ice and Snow included the Goddess of Frost, among others.

There were fifteen idols in total. In front of each idol, varying numbers of large bronze chests were placed. These chests, one meter long and wide and half a meter high, contained nothing else but neatly stacked Gold Coin bars, each as thick as a thumb and half a foot long. Each Gold Coin bar was carved with clear Holy Cross Emblem and scale emblems—this was the reserve fund of the Church bank!

“Gods, my gods, I love you all so much!”

Lin Qi’s eyes instantly turned pale green. He almost rushed forward, but fortunately, Long Cheng, who stood beside him, reacted quickly and grabbed him by the hair, pulling him back. There were at least sixty large chests here, filled with Gold Coin bars—a staggering amount of gold reserves. However, these chests shimmered with a faint Divine Power glow; all of them were protected by Divine Power restrictions.

The eyes of the idols flickered, emitting two faint beams of Divine Light, which enveloped all the chests.

Long Cheng picked up a Copper Coin and threw it toward one of the large chests. When the Copper Coin was still two or three inches away from the chest, a faint glow flashed, and the Copper Coin vanished without a trace. Long Cheng shot Lin Qi a glare and shouted in a low voice, “If you want to die, go ahead and rush in. This should be a secret stronghold of the Church. Damn, why did they store so much gold here?”

Lin Qi took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. “No mistake, it should be the money the Church earned from selling Indulgence Scrolls and other items. Within the Church, it’s said that the Dawn Pantheon, the Flame Pantheon, and the Ice and Snow Pantheon are allies, which is why the idols of the three Chief Gods and their main Subordinate Gods are erected here. This is a secret stronghold where the Clergy, who worship the God of Dawn, the God of Flames, and the God of Ice and Snow, store their money.”

Snapping his fingers mockingly, Lin Qi shook his head and sighed. “So many shiny Gold Coin bars in this secret chamber, yet those guys are almost starving! Well, the Church’s rules are strict; they probably don’t dare to use the Gold Coin bars here.”

Long Cheng knew who Lin Qi was referring to. He sneered, “Not just dare not, but probably can’t use them, right? The Divine Art restrictions here are extremely strong. Back in The East, I only had such strong Spirit Arts restrictions set up in my own treasury by the Spirit Arts masters from the Celestial Temple.”

Lin Qi glanced at Long Cheng with a strange expression. Long Cheng’s heart skipped a beat. He glared fiercely at Lin Qi, thinking to himself that after returning to The East, he must relocate his treasury and hire several more Spirit Arts masters to strengthen the restrictions even further.

Clearing his throat lightly, Lin Qi pointed at the chests and sighed. “How do we take them? After we take them, you get thirty percent. I’ll convert it into Gold Notes for you to take with you!”

Long Cheng looked at the Gold Coin, his eyes also gleaming with a golden light. He gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll risk breaking the restrictions here, but I want fifty percent. The Divine Art restrictions here are extremely powerful; only someone with my strength can break them. I want fifty percent, and you convert it into easily portable jewelry for me to take.”

Glaring fiercely at Lin Qi, Long Cheng said angrily, “When I leave, can I take Gold Notes with me? Your Western Gold Notes are only good for wiping my ass over there, and even then, they’re too smooth to wipe clean.”

Lin Qi shrugged and took a deep breath. “Then hurry up. You break the restrictions and take forty percent. My men have to move these Gold Coin bars, melt them down again, and exchange them at various banks in different countries. There’s still a lot of trouble involved, so it’s reasonable for me to take sixty percent. I also have to convert it into easily portable jewelry for you. Do you think it’s easy for me?”

Fifty percent or forty percent? Long Cheng nodded and took a deep breath.

The air in the chamber seemed to be sucked dry by Long Cheng in one breath. Long Cheng’s body suddenly grew an inch taller. Thick Purple Qi with faint golden light sprayed out from around his body, transforming into a misty purple cloud that enveloped him completely.

Lin Qi’s face twitched. Purple Qi with golden light—this guy was almost breaking through to the Heaven Rank Upper Stage! Looking at his age, he was much younger than Blackbeard. Who knew how he cultivated? Not to mention he was a monster who practiced both body and magic arts—his strength was truly terrifying.

A cold wind rose from the ground, and fine purple ice crystals began to drift down slowly in the chamber. These ice crystals were extremely fine, looking as delicate as dandelion seeds floating in the spring breeze. However, the cold contained within these ice crystals was incredibly fearsome. Lin Qi only lightly touched a small piece of ice crystal with his finger and shivered all over from the cold, feeling as if the warmth inside his body had been drained away.

Frightening strength. Lin Qi quickly called for everyone to retreat from the chamber, leaving Long Cheng to handle it alone.

Low, strange chanting sounds rose. The fine ice crystals gradually condensed into thumb-sized, diamond-like sparkling crystals. The cold in the chamber became even more terrifying. Although they were far away, Lin Qi and the others still shivered from the cold. Thick frost spread out from the chamber, instantly sealing the entire corridor under half a foot of ice.

With a light shout, the purple cloud spun rapidly. Lin Qi couldn’t clearly see Long Cheng’s movements, but he saw the purple cloud rise gently and circle lightly around the fifteen idols. A series of cracking sounds filled the air. The Divine Light on the surfaces of the idols shattered, and the idols were frozen into fine stone powder. Accompanied by a low rumble, fifteen beams of Divine Light descended from above and heavily struck the purple cloud. The purple cloud shattered from the impact, and Long Cheng drifted toward the corridor entrance like a falling leaf.

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Long Cheng trembled all over and staggered back a few steps. He shouted sharply, “What are you waiting for? Scrape it clean! Don’t leave even a single Copper Coin behind! Damn, the restrictions here… are really fucking weird!”

Lin Qi also saw it. Just now, Long Cheng had forcefully broken all the restrictions like splitting bamboo, but when the idols collapsed, fifteen beams of Divine Light shot out from them and injured Long Cheng. Lin Qi didn’t know how strong those Divine Light beams were, but seeing that even Long Cheng was struck until he spat blood, he knew it wasn’t something he could handle.

Waving his hand forcefully, Lin Qi gave a few light shouts. His subordinates immediately stepped forward, lifting the chests with the effort of two or three people each, and quickly carried them out.

Fifteen minutes later, twelve Four-Wheel Carriages left the International Botanical Garden from a remote side gate and disappeared into the vast night.