As the gate opened, the Holy Light spilled out like a tangible flow, with the melodious sound of wind chimes echoing through the air and lingering in the long hall.

The psychic resonance in the air seemed to be responding to the rows of neatly aligned black sarcophagi. The moment the "wind chime sound" rang out, all the Holy Coffin Devices emitted a low hum, and the lights on their surfaces began to flicker synchronously as if breathing.

Erin was startled on the spot and instinctively grabbed Yu Sheng's hair: "Hey, hey, hey, what's this! This scene seems familiar to me—"

When Yu Sheng heard this, he didn't care about the problem of hair loss with this little thing anymore and widened his eyes on the spot: "You're familiar with it? You've seen this place?!"

Erin: "The last time I saw a scene with this art style, the background music started playing immediately! Then, out of nowhere, a monster with a foot bigger than me appeared, with a health bar longer than the life of a plan, and it stomped me to death..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

He directly ignored the little thing's subsequent babbling, raised a Blood Needle Launcher in one hand, and held a Blood Grenade in the other as he cautiously approached the gate.

Hu Li approached from the side, holding two large tails in her arms, and stepped ahead to shield Yu Sheng: "Savior, be careful, I'll take the lead."

She was worried that Yu Sheng might die from some unknown AOE attack—it's fair to say the fox girl's concern was justified.

Arriving at the door, through the shimmering light screen, Yu Sheng finally saw the situation on the other side of the gate.

He saw a hall completely out of sync with the rest of the facility—it was more like a "cavern" cast from light rather than a hall.

Solidified sacred brilliance gathered into tangible forms like crystals, the flowing light forming the path beneath his feet and the hazy dome above, with semi-transparent silvery-white curtains encircling the entire space. Between the curtains, runes flowed, and streams of light, like some kind of spiritual bodies, weaved and circled around.

It looked almost like a part of this mysterious facility, as if connected to an Exotic Realm.

In the center of the Light Casting Hall, Yu Sheng saw a familiar figure.

A tall and hazy spiritual body was imprisoned between columns of light, supported by streams of light, floating in mid-air, with sacred white light wings gently moving behind it. The resonating psychic sound around was emanating from here.

"Living Saint!"

Yu Sheng instinctively exclaimed in a low voice. The demon fox girl beside him immediately raised her two tails, clusters of ghostly blue flames appearing around her, while Erin, who had been chattering about her gaming experience a moment ago, instantly got into action, wielding a frying pan in one hand and grabbing a golden thread in the other as she swung into the air.

However, the "Living Saint" in the center of the hall showed no reaction.

Yu Sheng noticed that he seemed to be in some kind of sleep state, with the surrounding light beams that supported him appearing to be some kind of restraint device. He also saw that there seemed to be a large crystalline transmission system hidden above the entire hall, with streams of light continually traversing the sky, converging into the columns of light surrounding the spiritual creatures.

A slight hum came from the side, and Yu Sheng followed the sound to see a crystal prism near the entrance lighting up rapidly, with a holographic projection appearing around it.

The figure of the "Living Saint" appeared in the holographic display, with a mass of data and charts scrolling and refreshing alongside, few of which he could understand, capturing only a few easily comprehensible words like "stability," "personality suppression," and "mind mode."

"What the hell is this..."

Erin clutched her frying pan tightly, watching the scene ahead with a tense expression as if fearing that a health bar might pop up above the Living Saint's head the next second.

Yu Sheng didn't speak, just watched the image projected by the crystal prism thoughtfully.

The delicate connection established through blood fluctuated on the edge of his mind, seeming to transmit some information to him continuously, while the resonating psychic energy echoed in the air like whispers, issuing reminders.

With a slight furrow of his brows, Yu Sheng stepped towards the crystal, raising his hand: "Luna..."

However, this time, the Holy Lady, who would usually rush over with a quick jab before he could finish half a syllable, remained unresponsive.

Yu Sheng turned his head and saw Luna still standing dumbly at the hall entrance.

He called again, and Luna finally responded, quickly coming to his side.

Yu Sheng raised his hand.

"I need to establish a connection with this setup."

Luna hesitated rarely but still raised her hand: "Be careful, I remember, many sisters disappeared here."

The blade sliced through his palm, and blood immediately flowed out. Yu Sheng nodded lightly, then pressed his hand against the crystal without hesitation.

Gentle humming instantly transformed into a tumultuous surge, vast and chaotic thoughts and memories arose like a storm, but gradually subsided into a single "voice."

Yu Sheng saw a figure standing within the illusion, a vague and small silhouette.

There were more blurred phantoms standing behind that figure, even more ethereal and transparent.

Yu Sheng heard whispers.

He didn't know their names, didn't know their lives, nor where they came from.

The mind-erasure technology cleared away all data that might lead to 'loss of control'. The prolonged service had already completely mutated their minds—'Living Saints' were meticulously crafted psychic weaponry, powerful, efficient, and stable.

Originally, there shouldn't have been any problems.

But a mind, one that had undergone aberration and had a seed planted within it, mixed into the furnace.

This mind received a gift from death at the end of life.

Hum—

A pleasant soft hum, the illusion before his eyes dissipated, and Yu Sheng opened his eyes, gently exhaling.

Erin immediately turned her head: "Yu Sheng, what did you see..."

"Living Saints are creations forged from the soul of the Artificial Saintess." Yu Sheng spoke up before the little puppet could finish.

Erin: "...?!"

The little thing stared with wide eyes, holding back for a few seconds before exclaiming: "Damn beasts!!"

Yet Yu Sheng wasn't finished. After briefly collecting his thoughts, he continued explaining: "Strictly speaking, Living Saints are the actual final 'product' designed by these cultists—the Artificial Saintess was actually a semi-finished product created for the eventual synthesis of Living Saints."

Erin: "?!"

"All of this is meant to control the energy extracted from the Shadowless Skeleton," Yu Sheng said slowly, lifting his head to look at the holy radiance gathered at the hall's ceiling, "All the psychic technology and forbidden knowledge of the Hidden Monastery come from that Dark Angel, but human minds can't wield the immense power from an Angel, so... they found an indirect method."

The psychic wind blew through the Light Casting Hall, and the Living Saint, modeled after angels, unconsciously fluttered its wings lightly.

"The first step is to extract the human soul and fuse it with the Mechanical Soul to form an artificial mind resistant to psychic pollution; the second step utilizes memory fragments extracted from the Shadowless Skeleton to form a cognitive shield, allowing these minds to grow and gradually 'synchronize', enabling them to adapt to the next stage of the fusion process; the third step is harvesting and placing the cultivated soul into this furnace."

Yu Sheng lightly took a breath and then slowly exhaled bit by bit.

"Yu Sheng, your face looks a bit grim..."

The little puppet murmured quietly beside him, then climbed onto Yu Sheng's shoulder, fiddling with his hair with her little hands.

"C-type buckle," she turned her head to Luna, "For the next two days, I won't argue with you."

Luna was silent for a long time before she slightly turned her face: "Erin, arguing technique, generally, just a foul mouth."

"C-type buckle, you really need to fix this accent issue..."

Yu Sheng ignored the chatter from his shoulder, and after brief contemplation, he extended his hand toward the light column at the hall's center.

The light streams flowing within the hall instantly reacted, and the luminous shackles surrounding the Living Saint immediately began fading away, while the tall figure suspended between the light columns slowly descended, directing its gaze this way.

The fox girl instinctively felt a bit nervous, holding her two large tails and moving closer to Yu Sheng: "Savior, is this safe?"

"A Living Saint in complete status has no independent will and will fully obey the commands inscribed in its mind by the Hidden Monastery, protecting church group property and attacking any invading entity, yet..." Yu Sheng paused before continuing, "Do you all remember that nameless Saintess we encountered in the underground parking lot holding candy and game coins?"

Hu Li: "...Ah?"

"Luna and I waited for a long time on the Soul Wilderness, but never managed to find that lost soul," Yu Sheng smiled, "Back then, I was wondering where she went..."

The towering Living Saint floated down from the light, hovering about ten centimeters off the ground, floating leisurely before Yu Sheng, silently yet seemingly curiously looking at the group before it.

"A soul I've marked can no longer be reforged by this Furnace System, and the secondary contact during the Star Gate encounter awakened this already fused mind," Yu Sheng smiled, extending a hand to the Artificial Angel before him, "Long time no see—though you might not remember me, nor can you grasp the current situation, we now need your assistance."

The 'Living Saint' tilted its head slightly, seemingly considering, then handed Yu Sheng a handful of colorful, translucent candies condensed from psychic illusions.

Yu Sheng: "...Well, not this, that's not what I meant."

The Living Saint hesitated for a moment, then added some game coins to the candies and handed them over.

"Not this either..."

Yu Sheng broke into a cold sweat, frantically gesturing as he explained to the other party: "We need to destroy the Hidden Monastery, liberation, you understand, liberate this place—and those still controlled Artificial Saintesses and Knight Order, and we are searching for a passage to the planet's interior..."

Just as he was furiously explaining halfway, he saw a flash of white light before his eyes.

The Artificial Angel, who a second ago held candy and coins in its hand, suddenly conjured a blazing Holy Light Greatsword from nowhere, swung it round, and fired a light cannon in a certain direction in the hall.

Yu Sheng: "...Alright then."