Surrounded by a retinue of cardinals, a frail, withered old man in white-and-gold vestments stepped slowly—painfully slowly—out from the cathedral.
He appeared to be in the twilight of his life, needing assistance just to walk. His face was etched with deep wrinkles, and his eyes were barely open. Yet, the moment he appeared, the legendary monarchs and high-level deities on their thrones stood to welcome him, bowing with a reverence that spoke of absolute fear. Around the perimeter of the plaza, tens of thousands of ancestral spirits fell to their knees in unison, worshipping him with eyes filled with pure devotion and fanaticism.
A look of surprise flickered across Chen Xuan’s face. He had not expected the supreme Pope Viken to be such a frail-looking old man. Like Dugu Ye, he was a master of hiding his true strength beneath an unassuming appearance.
Chapter 4113