Chapter 5: Alfonso's Letter
“You’re about to advance to Gold-rank?”
Joshua raised an eyebrow, seizing the key point of the matter.
No matter the time or place, a bishop of the Church of the Seven Gods was always Gold-rank, or at least a Silver Peak who could definitely break through to Gold. There had been no exceptions over the years, and the man before him fit the criteria perfectly.
“Indeed. In fact, while you were preparing to set out and reinforce the fortress, I found a hint of the breakthrough sensation.”
Atanis did not conceal his power. He gathered blazing white Holy Light in his hand, forming it into a warm orb of radiance, waves of heat rolling off it. The white-haired priest gazed at the dancing light in his palm, his eyes filled with complex emotions: “Over the years, I’ve fought orcs, fought White Dragons, fought deep-diving Fishmen—I’ve even been to the Abyss once with His Grace the Archbishop…”
He fell silent for a moment, then clenched his fist, extinguishing the light orb. Atanis let out a long, wistful sigh: “Fierce battles didn’t make my faith purer. Instead, it was quietly teaching apprentices in the church all these years that let me see my own soul clearly.”
“A calm heart brings stillness; stillness gives birth to wisdom… The fire of wisdom is the source of power. Within a few months, I’ll begin transforming my Transcendent Body and advance to Gold-rank.”
So he was walking the path of wisdom.
“Regardless, stepping into the Transcendent realm is a new beginning. Congratulations.”
Although their chosen paths differed, Joshua still offered his sincere congratulations, adding with a teasing tone: “Looks like my territory will have a Gold-rank priest. I wonder how much envy that will stir up.”
“I can’t compare to you.”
Shaking his head with a wry smile, the white-haired priest adjusted his wooden-framed glasses: “Let’s not even mention that I, a bishop, don’t have a single subordinate—they’ve all been taken by the Holy Mountain. I’m completely a commander without an army right now. Joshua, you entered the Gold Realm before you were even twenty-five. You’re even more monstrous than I imagined…”
“And you’re the one…”
The two of them suddenly began shamelessly flattering each other.
Chatting with Atanis felt relaxing to the warrior. But even as they traded compliments, his mind was occupied with another matter.
—What exactly is the Far Sea Holy Mountain up to right now?
The Holy Mountain, stationed in the distant deep seas, was the headquarters of the Church of the Seven Gods and one of the five largest powers in the world. This organization, whose main base sat on a remote island in the far sea, was almost completely isolated from the world. Yet even so, as the only sacred ground capable of mass-producing Paladins, Holy Warriors, and priests, everyone knew the Holy Mountain’s reputation well. The good revered it, and the evil feared it from the depths of their hearts.
In his past life, they had been extremely active. They not only suppressed all kinds of deep-sea behemoths and civilized the countless natives across the four seas and thousand islands, but also helped the Far South Kingdom subdue and pacify the Dragon Calamity, and assisted the Western Mountains in launching a holy crusade against the followers of the Evil Gods. Moreover, the Holy Mountain was the first faction in his past life to send an expeditionary holy army against the Abyss Demons. Because of this, Joshua knew this unusually vigorous organization quite well.
But even he didn’t know why the Holy Mountain, at the end of Starfall Year 831, had recalled the vast majority of its stationed clergy in the Northern Lands—at least, this hadn’t happened in the Far South back then.
“Could it be because of the upcoming Mad Dragon Calamity?”
As a transmigrator with foreknowledge, Joshua quickly found a possible explanation.
Indeed, judging by the previous Space-Time Gate incident, there were definitely Chaos followers near the Far South coast. The Abyssal Demon Dragon in the depths of the ocean had likely been mostly corrupted by now. Add to that the Five-Color Dragon God, who might already be leaning toward the Chaos side, and the Holy Mountain, originally located in the far sea, would indeed need to gather all its resources to deal with the upcoming major event—the world-class epic event marking the opening of the second chapter of the Continent of Strife, 【Dragon God Falls, Mad Dragon Calamity Rises】.
As the center of this event, the clergy in the Far South didn’t need to be recalled; on the contrary, they should be sending a large reinforcement team.
Thinking this over, Joshua’s gaze unconsciously drifted toward the locked cabinet Atanis had used earlier, where the translucent rune disk made of spiral crystal sat.
“Being able to freely convert the type of Holy Light is indeed a strategic resource. Judging by the old priest’s cautious behavior, it seems the Church of the Seven Gods doesn’t have many of these either. No wonder I barely heard of such a peculiar piece of equipment in my past life. It must be in the hands of the various Archbishops, or used as a core component in the divine arrays of the sacred grounds.”
Clenching his left fist again, the warrior felt that the muscles and bones in his arm had indeed improved significantly. Atanis’s divine arts were effective—though it was a bit unorthodox for a priest of the Punishment Council to be so skilled in powerful healing divine arts.
Generally speaking, clergy who used Holy Light were distinguished not only by the god they worshipped but also by the type of Holy Light they possessed.
Take Atanis, for example. Because the Holy Light he had awakened was the 【Heavenly Blazing Holy Light】, the most lethal type, he had become a Punishment Priest of the Punishment Council. Without the spiral crystal rune disk for conversion, not only would he be unable to heal Joshua, but even if the old priest’s unorthodox healing divine arts had reached a level where… did Divine Mechanisms not need to eat or sleep?”
Shaking his head with a smile, the warrior didn’t dwell on it. Just because it wasn’t necessary didn’t mean it couldn’t happen. Ying had shared tea and a meal with him before without any issue. After so many days of battle and the exhausting journey back, she was a bit tired. It was only natural that she would fall asleep once she relaxed.
Looking at the silver-haired girl’s peaceful sleeping face, Joshua gently patted Ying’s little head. He couldn’t bear to wake her up now. But as if sensing someone touching her, Ying immediately opened her eyes, rousing from her light sleep.
“What…”
She didn’t seem fully awake yet.
“Awake? Next time, be careful not to fall asleep outside. You can rest properly once you’re home.”
Seeing Ying’s still-dazed expression, the warrior gave her a word of advice. After the Divine Mechanism girl, her cheeks slightly flushed, stood up, he turned and walked to the door, waving goodbye to Atanis: “Well then, farewell. I hope you break through to the Gold Realm soon.”
“Thank you for your blessing. Until next time.”
—West City, Secondary Residence
Due to the abysmal construction efficiency during winter, the Lord’s Manor still hadn’t been rebuilt. The warrior could only continue to stay temporarily at the secondary residence in the west of the city.
In the study of the secondary residence, Joshua had changed into a fresh set of clothes. He sat at the desk, gazing at the piles upon piles of documents and letters covering the entire surface, and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
Although the main city had its own military and administrative team to handle governance issues, after being away for over a month, some matters that required the lord’s personal decision had piled up into this mess. As for the letters, most were meaningless greetings and replies from various nobles. Only a few were relatively important, which the warrior had singled out.
“Alfonso…”
Picking up a beige letter, Joshua softly read the name written on the edge of the envelope.
This was a letter from the Chamber of Commerce President he had entrusted to purchase some peculiar items at the spring auction in the Imperial Capital.
But it wasn’t spring yet, and the auction shouldn’t have started. Was there some urgent matter?
Thinking this, Joshua tore open the letter. (To be continued.)