"Because of fate. Martin smiled and gave an answer that made Richard blush.

"Fate?"

"Yes, fate! Your presence in St. Louis at this time is fate. And being able to blow up my holy scriptures shows that you have the abilities that your destiny needs. Not all chance encounters are coincidences, Mr. Richard. ”

"Yes, not all chance encounters are coincidences. But since God's prophecies are difficult to confirm my whereabouts, how can I believe that it is fate? Richard said unceremoniously.

Martin said with a holy face: "Fate is not all in the hands of God, and sometimes, even the gods have to submit to the arrangement of fate. In the face of the power of fate, we either rebel or obey in awe. Before there is no strength to resist, it is clear that the latter is the right choice. Ignoring fate is an arrogant and worst way to do it. ”

Richard frowned and said nothing. Martin's words seem to be unassailable, but the point is that it is difficult to prove it wrong, and if it were a different person, he might have unceremoniously refuted Martin. And the logic is very simple, Richard can't falsify it, and Martin can't prove it. However, Richard couldn't refute it, because he thought of the quicksand that might have been walking in the dark region at this moment. Including Fan Lin, they all believe that quicksand's trip to the dark region is an inevitable fate that cannot be escaped.

But what is fate? Standing at Richard's level, he can already look directly at the gods of the plane, but the arrangement of eternity and the dragon of time is fate in his eyes, because it is difficult to escape and cannot be resisted. But if you stand on the level of the dragon of eternity and time, will you also see the arrangement of fate? And further up? This is like a spiral, spiraling upward, endless.

Richard pondered for a moment and said to Martin, "Thank you for your help, but you have also caused me a great loss. So we'll settle the matter this time. ”

Martin shrugged his shoulders and said, "Looks like you still don't believe me." ”

"I can't trust you. ”

"Good luck then. Ah, by the way, I almost forgot one thing! After these holy relics have condensed into divine crystals, can you tell me the number?"

Richard was stunned, this was a strange request. And it seems to be a suspicion of blasphemy, and as a cardinal of the Church of the Holy Radiant and a candidate for the Pope, Martin should turn a blind eye to such acts, why would he be so zealous?

"What do you want?"

Martin smiled, "I don't know your method of condensing the crystallization of divinity, and I don't care. But I'm interested in your efficiency, there are a number of holy relics, and I've seen them all. So the number of divine crystals you have condensed exceeds our methods, then we have a basis for cooperation. I'll send some holy relics every once in a while, and you can condense them into divine crystals. What do you think of the excess we share?"

Richard's eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked, "How many divine crystals can your way produce?"

"That's about that. As he spoke, a milky white crystal appeared in Martin's hand, and in it he could see the energy flowing like a mist, which was the divine crystallization of both divine and radiant power, about ten units.

Richard said quietly: "I can only say try it, but not sure." And what I condensed may be the crystallization of non-attribute divinity. ”

"That's even better, we don't lack the crystallization of divine attributes. ”

The two men with their own hearts shook hands, and the deal was simply reached.

Martin and the Church Envoy left in a carriage, and they didn't even have a coachman, but the Messenger took on the role of charioteer. But if any of the robbers on the road had taken a fancy to the carriage, it would have ended much better.

Inside the carriage, Martin faked sleep with his eyes closed and a happy smile on his face. The cardinal archbishop who served as the secretary was actually above Martin, but he was very respectful to Martin, and did not hesitate to serve as a coachman himself. At this time, he was respectfully asking, "My lord, do you really want to make a deal with Richard?"

Martin said lazily, "What's the problem? we can both benefit, and now the relics are piled up and the warehouse is almost overwhelmed." ”

The cardinal hesitated and said, "But those are holy things after all, and we are servants of God, and it makes sense to deal with them." Richard was not a believer, which seems to be contrary to the canon......"

"It's dead, and it's not an oracle. As long as we are working for the benefit of our lord and the principle remains the same, then it is fine. It doesn't matter what you do. ”

The cardinal said, "Yes, my lord. You are the only one who has the ability to be flexible with the rules. I can only do what I have set the rules, at least not wrong. ”

Martin praised: "You are doing what you can and it is very sensible. ”

"Your Excellency, you seem to be in a good mood. ”

Martin laughed and said, "Of course! It's a lot easier to finally give away the Book of Calamity." And I have a hunch that Richard will surprise us quite a bit when it comes to the crystallization of divinity. ”

"You're talking about...... The cardinal was stunned. The Holy Canon summoning ability in Martin's hand is extremely powerful, and it is one of the seven great artifacts of the Holy Radiance Church. But Martin called it the Book of Calamity.

"The Holy Book is only its appearance, and its true face is a strange thing called the Book of Calamity. Hmph! The Dark Messiah must have seen this, too, and I didn't notice it at the time, but I fell into his trap and took the book in my hands. Now I have finally escaped from this trap, and I can slowly clean him up in the future. When Martin said this, there was a surprise grimace on his face.

"That book of calamity, has a great influence on you?" asked the cardinal cautiously.

"It's extremely powerful, and we're probably only half of it. But precisely because it is so powerful, it has reached the point where it has begun to affect fate. In other words, its bearer, because of its great power, will henceforth stand on the opposite side of fate. And even I don't change hope for the outcome of the confrontation with fate. So I've been cautious all these years and only now have I found an opportunity to give it away. Martin sighed.

"Isn't it okay to send it away?"

Martin shook his head, "This book of calamity has magical powers, and it is harsh on the recognition of its bearers. If you want to control it, and if you want to transfer it, you need to meet the requirements of the rules. It's not something you can just send out. ”

The cardinal was surprised and delighted at this time, Martin confided such a big secret to himself, apparently because he had gained his trust. With the Book of Calamity gone, Martin is more likely to become Pope, and his future fate will naturally rise to a higher level.

"Congratulations then!" said the cardinal.

Martin smiled reservedly and said, "The matter of divine crystallization will be handed over to you in the future." ”

With that, he closed his eyes and began to think about things related to the Dark Messiah. And the cardinal was full of surprises at the moment. For him, the crystallization of divinity is not just wealth, but also represents great power. As the person in charge of trading divine crystals with Richard, occasionally missing one or two units of crystals between his fingers does not attract much attention.

At this moment, inside the Black Rose Castle, Richard came to a well-guarded chamber and began to examine the holy objects placed on the shelves one by one. All the holy relics obtained from the Holy Radiance Church are placed here, even the holy scriptures that have been used up many times.

Richard first picked up the ancient chalice and examined it, recalling every detail of his meeting with Martin. It was only in the end that Martin revealed his true purpose: the crystallization of divinity. The crystallization of divinity condensed with holy relics can actually provide the strong with the opportunity to touch the rules, which is an important means for the strong to assist in breaking through when impacting the legendary realm. It's just that trying to do so is costly and the consequences are severe. First of all, the crystallization of divinity was extremely expensive, and the only way Richard knew was to sacrifice it from the dragon of eternity and time. Needless to say, the cost of doing so is that at least eight out of ten powerhouses are estimated to be unaffordable. And even if the power is increased by using the Divine Crystal, the possibility of suddenly being legendary does not increase much, and even if the breakthrough is successful, the range of legendary abilities obtained will be greatly limited, and it will become similar to the attributes of the Divine Crystal.

All in all, this kind of legend after relying on external forces to break through will eventually shrink in strength. Martin did not look like the kind of guy who was willing to be mediocre, on the contrary, the young cardinal's strength was unfathomable. Richard was suspicious, and although he had not reached the legendary realm, he had already begun to touch the rules.

And thinking of this, Martin's purpose for needing divine crystallization is very obvious: he wants to ignite the divine fire!

Igniting the Divine Fire is a step after the legend, but in a master plane like Norland, there are only a few people who will try to ignite the Divine Fire. Because once you embark on the path of becoming a god, it means that you have become a part of the rules from now on, and you will no longer have the freedom of legend. However, for the vast majority of the so-called strong people, they will never be able to go that step in their lives, so in the absence of a choice, igniting the divine fire still has a strong temptation.

But looking back at Martin's expression, Richard only had a gut feeling that maybe what he wanted was more than that. Beneath his innocuous exterior lies an incredibly large ambition. Perhaps, he wants to become the new Lord of Radiance?

Thinking of this, Richard shook his head, there are many people with ambitions, but there are very few people with the strength to match ambitions. There are not a few people with outstanding talent like Martin in Norland, but even if you want to go to legend, you need something called destiny.

Richard swept the chalice in his hand and smiled playfully. Martin must not have guessed what he really thought. Richard's choice of these relics all has a common characteristic, that is, the divinity is rich enough. So Martin mistakenly thought that Richard had the method of condensing divinity, but Richard's real purpose was not divinity, but to analyze the rules represented by the Lord of Light. (To be continued)