Chapter 1011 - 568: Shafuri’s Thoughts, Agricultural Training Session

At this moment, she suddenly remembered Zong Shen.

The man who had rescued her from the pursuit of the Dragon Descendant Knight Order riding a huge Wild Boar!

Although they didn’t have many interactions, Zong Shen left a deep impression on Shafuri’s heart.

He was different from the believers, deacons, church elders, and even the archbishop within the church.

The people in the Calamity Raven Church were mostly fanatical and obsessive.

Their respect for her was based solely on her identity as a Saintess.

Every time she faced the archbishop, Shafuri felt like she was merely a toolman.

In contrast, Under the Pope’s Crown treated her exceptionally well, making her feel a sense of kinship.

Prior to this, Shafuri had also vowed to devote herself completely to the development of the Calamity Raven Church.

Tasks executed by her rarely failed, with the majority being completed successfully.

The only true crisis where she almost got captured was in Odu Village.

As for Zong Shen, he gave Shafuri a completely different feeling.

It was as if she saw the outside world through him.

Yes, the outside world!

The monotonous, fanatical, and obsessive church life felt like a cage.

When she first had such thoughts, Shafuri’s heart was filled with panic.

She felt as if her piety and certain beliefs were collapsing, inducing a sense of guilt.

But after a period of contemplation, Shafuri could now calmly accept these thoughts.

Whatever her complex thoughts about Zong Shen might be, she would never use the fanatic conversion ritual on Zong Shen!

This is an extremely domineering faith conversion ritual.

Once completed, anyone would develop a frenzied belief and worship toward the Raven God.

In Shafuri’s heart, she still hoped the action in Lentax Giant City would be successful!

Yet she didn’t want Zong Shen to become a fanatic.

Shafuri didn’t want Zong Shen to turn into someone devoid of humanity.

Thinking of this made her mood increasingly heavy.

It felt like the time when she had just turned fourteen and followed the Apostle Corps to attack the church of other congregations for the first time, watching the Cold Crow Halberd Warriors decapitating the priests of other churches.

As for those deacons, they were publicly executed by fire.

Even now, closing her eyes, she can vividly recall those faces twisted in pain amidst the flames, and in the air, there seems to linger a persistent burnt stench, while her ears echo with chanting, curses, and heart-wrenching wails.

The village belonging to the other church was trampled by the iron hooves of the Heretical Giant Power Knights.

All believers of the opposing church were slaughtered to extinction.

The earth in the Northern Lands, perennially hardened by frost, softened under the warmth of fresh blood, only to be trampled over by the Heavy Shire Horses, mixing into a red-black sludge.

The air carried a metallic, bloody scent.

At that moment, her heart didn’t feel the joy of victory.

Only disgust.

The nausea rose from her stomach to her throat, finally reaching her head.

Everything made Shafuri feel nauseated and dizzy.

Her real reaction at that time was just that.

Although Shafuri had grown up with the church’s faith and indoctrination.

Even then, Shafuri realized something.

No matter how she pledged and determined to fight for the church all her life.

After witnessing the scene, she felt uncomfortable deep down.

This sentiment took her a long time to barely adapt to.

Until she became accustomed to life and death, able to calmly view death and carnage, did the feeling of nausea disappear entirely.

Now, Zong Shen had induced a feeling of entanglement within her heart.

A feeling unrelated to romantic emotions.

She merely possessed a window.

A window through which she could see beyond the church.

"Hoo..."

Shafuri heavily exhaled a turbid breath.

The warm breath spread like white fog in the cold air.

Raven Saintess Shafuri turned and continued leaning against the stone parapet of the tower.

The stone surface was already covered in a layer of solid ice, glimmering with a ghastly glow under the moonlight.

This church tower was the quietest place in the entire Cold Crow Valley.

And also a vantage point with an excellent view.

Standing here, one could overlook almost the entire valley.

The Cold Crow Valley appeared extraordinarily tranquil under the night sky.

In the illumination of the silver-white moonlight, Shafuri could even see the peripheries’ frozen soils and the snow-covered forest.

Having yet reached the Frosty Winter Period of the Northern Territory.

The silver-white covering on the forest was all hoarfrost and ice layers.

And when the Frosty Winter comes, the Cold Crow Valley shall be enveloped by snow.

The Frosty Winter in the Northern Territory would last for approximately four months.

Snow would accumulate one to two meters thick if left uncleared.

Each year, many incidences of snow collapsing houses occur.

Furious icy snowstorms and fierce frost cyclones also arise above the sky.

The reason Cold Crow Valley doesn’t build walls is plain enough.

It’s because it’s a secluded and isolated area.

Heading south requires crossing a vastly expansive forest.

Inside the forest dwell powerful Magical Beasts and various Icefield Beasts.

To the north lies the Icefield Plateau, and those Northern Barbarian Races are no pushovers.

No direct routes are constructed from here to the outside.

The most convenient way in or out is to use the Space Transmission Array.

Otherwise, one would have to traverse the Icefield Plateau or the Frozen Soil Forest.

During the Frosty Winter Period, both ground and air would be nearly unreachable in the Cold Crow Valley.