Lord of Prayer - Chapter 91 - 81: The Only Light

Chapter 91: Chapter 81: The Only Light

Obsidian Round Table Hall.

Zhou Chen materialized the Wish Bottle and placed it on the table, carefully counting the number of stars inside.

Fifteen.

He started with ten. He’d used two to learn Alchemy and one to wish for Lin Ya’s recovery. After she conceived of the notion of being “saved,” she provided two more stars.

That brought the total to nine.

Zhou Chen speculated that the remaining six came from helping Lin Ya uncover the truth about her strange illness, freeing her from its torment, letting her destroy the Curse with her own hands, and satisfying her obsessive desire to be saved by a god.

This was the first time he had received so many wish points from a single person at once. It was hard to imagine just how much pain and suffering Lin Ya had endured over the years to be so desperate for salvation.

’Abyssal Curse Technique… It seems there was something fishy about the death of Lin Ya’s family back then. Someone secretly targeted a cultist of the Goddess of Life. Was it a personal enemy, or the Abyss Church? It’s strange. Even if the Life Church didn’t notice in time, as a believer, Lin Ya’s mother should have had time to contact the Church or the Star Association for help. At the very least, her father could have run for help…’

Thoughts flickered through Zhou Chen’s mind. He felt the reasons behind it all must be incredibly complex, and the thought of Lin Ya looking like she was about to become his Fanatic gave him a bit of a headache.

’Followers, huh…’

He tapped his fingers lightly on the round table, murmuring to himself, ’Gathering followers would certainly be beneficial for me, but the only problem is, if there are too many, I risk being exposed. After all, I’m just a Tier One Ascender. I don’t have the divine power of the Gods…’

’What’s more, even a Tier Five Ascender has to go through layers of approval from the Star Association to establish a church. Otherwise, it’s considered an illegal religious organization, and they’ll get hit hard…’

After some thought, Zhou Chen came to a conclusion.

It was doable, but not right now.

’Maybe I could start a small, secret gathering for Ascenders to exchange materials and information… That has some potential. But I’ll need to plan it out for the long term. The people I bring in must be trustworthy, or I’ll be reported as an Evil God. I might even be captured on the spot by Jiang Che…’

Only now did Zhou Chen begin to feel mentally exhausted.

The mending of his Soul had enhanced his Spiritual Power, extending the time he could remain in this Mysterious Space.

Before leaving, Zhou Chen glanced around the place he had recently constructed.

In this space, the Wishing Pool fountain was the only creation he couldn’t control or hide. So, he had simply built a second floor above the fountain. Once the doors were locked and the windows were shut, no one would be able to tell what was there; they would just assume they had been pulled into a sealed, Mysterious Space.

He called this place the Round Table Hall.

He had originally wanted to call it the Roundtable Hold, but then he remembered how the Roundtable Hold in the game got completely wiped out, so he dropped the idea. It was bad luck…

He had also considered modeling it after the Firelink Shrine, but the process was too complicated, and there wasn’t enough space here, so he had to give up on that as well.

·

After his consciousness returned to reality, Zhou Chen performed Meditation for half an hour to recover his mental energy.

Next, he planned to use a wish to improve his Soul Quality—something related to Advancement.

Tier One Ascenders could increase their Spiritual Power through methods like Meditation, and once they reached a certain level, they would face Advancement.

Spiritual Power was, to a certain extent, linked to Soul Quality. Therefore, improving Soul Quality was equivalent to increasing Spiritual Power.

In truth, Zhou Chen could have also wished to increase his Spiritual Power directly, but by comparison, making his Soul stronger was the better choice, as it would result in a more comprehensive improvement.

Through deep Meditation, he entered his Spiritual World and looked up at the Stars. Many star regions were nothing but a void of darkness, representing the fragmented parts of his Soul.

“I wish to improve my Soul Quality,” he wished without much hesitation.

As a star merged into his Soul, the entire Spiritual World brightened slightly in the next second. The light emanating from the other stars seemed to grow more brilliant.

Zhou Chen took a moment to feel the change. If this were a game, text notifications for ’Soul Quality +1,’ ’Spiritual Power +1,’ and ’Essence Capacity +1’ would have definitely popped up above his head.

He then used nine more stars to wish for and improve his Soul Quality nine more times.

In his Spiritual World, the countless stars twinkled, growing ever more brilliant and dazzling, but it seemed he still had a long way to go before Advancement.

Advancement was no easy feat, especially since his Soul was still in a fragmented state.

The good news, however, was that improving his Soul Quality would alleviate the tormenting sense of emptiness caused by his fragmented Soul.

Secondly, his Essence Capacity—his Mana Bar, so to speak—had finally returned to the level of a normal Ascender. A joyous occasion, truly.

Finally, his Extraordinary Abilities had also improved to a certain degree. The temperature was higher, and the lethality was greater.

Now, if he went all out, he could engulf his entire body in the Cyan Flame and become one with the fire.

’Five stars left. I’ll save them for now. Don’t want to run out at a critical moment…’

Zhou Chen muttered as his consciousness returned from his Spiritual World to reality. He then heard his phone vibrate on the nightstand.

It was the list of available Forbidden Objects sent by Jiang Che.

’It’s finally here.’

He felt a jolt of excitement and rubbed his hands together gleefully.

’Let’s see which lucky one gets chosen by me…’

·

「Meanwhile.」

Lin Ya, dressed in ragged clothes with messy hair, looking as though she had been wandering for a long time, arrived at the entrance of an orphanage and was stopped by an old gatekeeper reading a newspaper.

“And you are?” the old man asked, eyeing Lin Ya warily.

Lin Ya timidly handed him a flyer with a job advertisement on it.

“I saw… saw you were hiring… so I wanted to try…”

“Ah, looking for a job,” the old man realized. “Wait here a moment, I’ll go get the priest.”

“A priest?” Lin Ya was bewildered. ’Why would there be a priest at an orphanage? This doesn’t look like an orphanage run by one of the major Churches.’

A short while later, the old gatekeeper emerged from the orphanage with a Priest in black robes who had European features. The Priest looked very old, with graying hair, but he had a very sturdy build. His back was ramrod straight, and his eyes glinted with a sharp light, full of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

“This is Father Daun,” the old gatekeeper said.

Father Daun’s expression was solemn as he scrutinized Lin Ya with a serious and stern gaze, making her bow her head, twist her fingers together, and tremble with nervousness.

Lin Ya mustered her courage and stammered, “I-I’m here to apply for the job…”

Father Daun nodded. “Come in first. You need a hot bath, and then we can talk about the job.”

After she had bathed.

Lin Ya changed into a set of clean clothes, dried her hair, and tidied herself up a bit. It was clear she had fine features.

She went to the orphanage’s backyard and saw Father Daun watering the vegetables planted there.

“Start by introducing yourself,” Father Daun said without turning his head.

“My name is Lin Ya. I’m seventeen…”

“Seventeen?” Father Daun interrupted, turning around to ask in confusion, “Shouldn’t you be in school at that age?”

Lin Ya had no choice but to recount her past, though she concealed a great deal. She didn’t mention that her mother was a cultist of the Life Church, that her strange illness was the work of a Curse, or that she had just met Mr. Lamp God…

“I see,” Father Daun said, slightly moved. “In that case, you can stay here. Come with me, and I’ll arrange some work for you.”

“Thank you…” A delighted smile appeared on Lin Ya’s face. She finally wouldn’t have to sleep on the streets or worry about her next meal.

Over the next half hour, Father Daun introduced her to the children at the orphanage and showed her around the various locations: the dormitories, the classroom, the dining hall, the study… and a prayer room.

“Do you have any Gods you believe in?”

Father Daun asked suddenly as they stood before the prayer room.

’I believe in Mr. Lamp God…’ Lin Ya only thought this to herself, shaking her head on the outside.

“I am a cultist of the Dawn Church. I believe in the former Sun.”

Father Daun’s expression was solemn. “If you are interested, you can look at the relevant books in the study.”

“Okay,” Lin Ya nodded. She didn’t refuse outright, as that would be impolite. Besides, Father Daun had only mentioned it in passing and wasn’t trying to force his faith on her.

To thank Father Daun, she decided to look at the books when she had time and then politely decline his offer to convert by saying she wasn’t interested. After all, she already had a god to whom she would be faithful for the rest of her life.

He was her only light in the long darkness.