This waterfall didn’t last long.

It’s not that the river on the surface ran dry, but rather the fissure Bai Pu opened was quite narrow, and as the water rushed through, debris gradually blocked the gap.

In such a vast underworld, unfamiliar terrain was indeed troublesome.

Fortunately, Bai Pu had made preparations in advance. In his mind, he had a 3D map of the entire Original Sin Continent, constructed using data from the Thorn Church, along with the operational trajectory of the Lost City.

Next, all he needed to do was follow the calculated trajectory to search the way forward.

Bai Pu always kept four Bishop’s Servants in a state of spiritual resonance with each other, projecting spiritual power for long-distance detection.

This place, which Bai Pu referred to as the Earth Vein Corridor, certainly had significant dangers.

The reason was simple: Bai Pu came here to complete the "rank promotion mission."

The rank promotion mission, besides the standard task process, had three derivative branches.

Among them, the standard task was to kill three Otherworld Travelers, and the Bronze Branch task was to kill an Advanced Lord from the Thorn Church, both of which Bai Pu had already completed.

He was not satisfied with the Bronze Major rank and wanted to try the Silver Branch:

Explore the secrets of the Lost City and obtain a Holy Artifact from it!

Just think, the Bronze Branch was to kill an Advanced Lord, so imagine how difficult the Silver Branch must be?

It was conservatively estimated to be more than one Lord Level enemy!

So, caution was essential.

Quickly, the Bishop’s Servant who was mentally linked with Bai Pu — Bishop Yajino from Miulan City — sent a mental fluctuation indicating that several bishops had detected "living beings" approximately two to three kilometers ahead.

Bai Pu lightly tapped his forehead, releasing a thread of spiritual power. The spiritual link with the four Bishop’s Servants locked onto Bai Pu, and instantly Bai Pu felt his spiritual power being "pushed" by several times, rapidly dispersing forward.

This was Bai Pu’s spiritual link with the Bishop’s Servants, the spiritual power sharing mode.

In this mode, Bai Pu could temporarily possess Advanced Lord Level spiritual detection intensity.

Bai Pu’s inherent spiritual power talent was extremely excellent, able to vividly reflect the areas where the thread of spiritual power scanned, recording them in his mind like taking photos.

Coupled with Bai Pu’s powerful intelligence extraction and analysis capability, almost every valuable clue within the detection range couldn’t escape his observation.

"So it’s them."

In Bai Pu’s spiritual power view, he could "see" a group of people busy behind a mountain pillar in the distance. All of them, without exception, were wearing robes of thorn pattern, yes, they were Thorn Believers!

In fact, it wasn’t surprising that the Thorn Church discovered the Earth Vein Corridor and speculated that the Lost City might appear there.

Because Bai Pu himself came to this conclusion based on intelligence observed by the Thorn Church.

Bai Pu’s data was merely intelligence seized from several Thorn Branches in the Southwest Jungle, while the Thorn Church held the entire Original Sin Continent, and their data was far more detailed than what Bai Pu had.

Furthermore, Bai Pu hadn’t forgotten that the Thorn Church’s Master of Suffering was a genuine Divine, and His Divine Envoy sent to the Original Sin World — Our Lady of Thorns — was a powerful existence far beyond the Awakened.

Whether it was the Master of Suffering or Our Lady of Thorns, deducing the operational trajectory of the Lost City from so much data wasn’t a difficult task.

"They might also grasp many things I don’t know."

Thoughts swiftly spun in Bai Pu’s mind, "Based on the fervor of Thorn Believers, expecting to suppress them in order to extract intelligence through interrogation is almost impossible. In that case... change the strategy, shift from direct confrontation to infiltration!"

...

This group of Thorn Believers was busy, divided into several teams, measuring around the "mountain pillar" that supported the ground and the dome.

One believer scratched his pants, muttered a few words, and ran to a hidden place on the side, pulling open his clothes.

The sound of flowing water hitting the ground echoed, remarkably clear in this underworld.

Suddenly, the believer shivered as if sensing something. Just as he was about to shout, a strong iron elbow hooked his neck forcefully, while a large hand covered his mouth.

Without drawing attention from other believers, the black-clad believer was dragged to the corner.

A dozen seconds later, another "believer" wearing a black hood and wrapped tightly in a black robe emerged from the corner.

"Whew... as long as I don’t encounter perceptive Lords skilled in spiritual investigation, I won’t be exposed."

Bai Pu kept his head down, blending into the group of black-clad believers.

His choice of this believer was deliberate. From his observations, this black-clad believer seemed to be the lowest tier lackey; no one would consult him on what to do, only order him around.

Especially considering this black-clad believer’s submissive personality, many believers of the same status would boss him around, pushing their duties onto him.

After Bai Pu "rejoined" the group, no one questioned where he had been, nor did anyone notice his flaws. Soon, someone barked orders for Bai Pu to help them dig pits.

Bai Pu complied without a word, enduring various belittling and scolding in silence.

Soon, Bai Pu learned some useful information.

It turned out, since the last appearance of the Lost City, the Thorn Church had found a passage from the bottom of the sinkhole leading to the Earth Vein Corridor!

Afterward, the church leadership dispatched countless devoted believers to survey, excavate, and bury strange Rune Stones at key earth vein nodes throughout the corridor.

The Rune Stone of this team was guarded by the team leader — a Warrior Level Holy Warrior who was highly cautious, refusing to let anyone approach the Rune Stone! Bai Pu could only glance at it from afar, feeling that it resembled the Rune Characters inside the Lost City. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

However, Bai Pu couldn’t remember the exact shape of the Rune Characters, so he couldn’t be sure.

"What is the Thorn Church doing with so many Rune Stones?"

Bai Pu frowned, irresistibly reminded of the Lost City.

"If... the Lost City is a living entity with self-awareness..."

"The Thorn Church’s purpose in such actions is likely singular: to capture the Lost City!"

Bai Pu’s eyes suddenly widened, and he immediately consulted the Spirit Realm Will: "Is the Lost City a Matrix Curios of the Original Sin World?"

The Spirit Realm Will seemed to stutter, taking a few seconds to provide feedback:

"Not entirely."