Looking at the cramped and somewhat dilapidated church before him, Mu Xuan couldn’t help but frown.
He had thought that, as one of humanity’s top powers, the church’s branches—even if humble—would at least have some sense of propriety. After all, appearances were important.
Clearly, the church’s influence wasn’t doing too well in this place…
Still, what surprised him was that, despite its run-down state, there were quite a few people coming and going. And once inside, the atmosphere was completely different from that of a tavern or the city itself.
The moment he stepped inside, Mu Xuan felt a wave of holy power brush against his spirit, soothing his tense mind and bringing him a rare sense of calm.
“Sir, are you here to pray?” At the side of the door stood an elderly nun, dressed in a black-and-white habit, her expression devout.
“I’m here to see the priest,” Mu Xuan replied.
Upon hearing this, the elderly nun looked at Mu Xuan for a moment longer, but didn’t ask why. She said directly, “Father Ander is currently hearing confessions in the confessional. If you wish to see Father Ander, you’ll need to wait a while.”
Mu Xuan nodded and smiled. “There’s no rush. I can pray first.”
Hearing this, the nun lowered her head reverently and pressed her hands together. “May the Goddess bless you.”
Mu Xuan nodded in response, murmured, “Praise the Goddess,” and walked straight toward the interior of the church.
Inside were two rows of benches for the faithful to sit on during sermons. For prayer, however, one had to go closer to the statue.
There, kneeling on the prayer mats before the statue, were quite a few worshipers, their hands clasped together in prayer.
All of them were poor, dressed in tattered clothes.
In places where the church had little power, the wealthy showed no respect for the church or the Goddess. The same principle applied everywhere: “When the Emperor is far away, heaven is high.”
That Silvermoon Knight must be quite troubled, too. After all, with no subordinates to command, everything fell to him alone.
Standing before the prayer mat, Mu Xuan looked at the statue. Another statue nearly a meter ninety tall…
Mu Xuan’s lips twitched as he silently grumbled about the Goddess in his heart.
Noticing Mu Xuan’s arrival, the woman kneeling on the mat quickly moved aside. In the minds of people at the very bottom, someone well-dressed equaled someone rich; someone rich equaled someone powerful; and people with power were best not to offend.
Mu Xuan sighed helplessly at the sight.
To think that even in a place plagued by the strange, such things still happened…
He said nothing, nor did he kneel where the woman had moved aside for him. Instead, Mu Xuan quietly moved to the far edge, knelt on the mat, pressed his hands together, and began to pray.
In an instant, a bizarre aura enveloped Mu Xuan.
His brows twitched, but he didn’t let it show.
Damn it, aside from the statues he’d made himself, it seemed every other one was problematic.
That was what he was thinking, but in the next second, Mu Xuan froze.
A wave of sacred warmth swept away the strange aura that had covered him.
What’s going on?
Before he could think more, a surge of pure faith flowed from the statue, continuously channeling through Mu Xuan and his staff, and into the staff itself.
Then, a vast tide of Light flowed back from the staff.
Like hot water poured over him in winter, Mu Xuan immediately felt every inch of his body relax.
The amount of Light feeding back into him far exceeded the sum of all the Light he’d received before, so much so that the radiance surrounding Mu Xuan couldn’t hold back the visual “effects” brought by this sudden influx.
At that moment, the light emanating from Mu Xuan was bright enough to illuminate the entire church, echoing the glow from the statue itself.
Naturally, Mu Xuan’s change drew the attention of everyone present in the church.
“That’s…”
“The Goddess has answered!!”
“Praise the Goddess!”
Some worshipers, seeing this, prayed even more devoutly.
Others looked at Mu Xuan with envy in their eyes.
The nun at the door was also visibly moved, her aged body trembling slightly. She had served the Goddess her entire life, and now she’d finally witnessed a miracle!
After praying to the statue for a moment, she quickly hurried off to the confessional to find the priest.
This kind of thing had to be reported at once. Confession could be interrupted if necessary!
Mu Xuan quickly realized the Light was spilling out from him, so he drew on his own power and slowly guided the overflowing Light into himself.
Soon, both the statue’s glow and the radiance on Mu Xuan’s body dimmed.
When everything returned to normal, Mu Xuan glanced at the now even more devout worshipers beside him, his expression complicated.
He hadn’t expected such pure faith to exist in a place shrouded in strangeness and turned into a tale of rules… All their faith was stored in the statue, which was why it remained uncorrupted.
Could it be that this city’s normalcy, compared to other bizarre tales of rules, was due to these reserves of faith? But Mu Xuan quickly shook his head.
The limitations of faith were considerable, and it was clear that there wasn’t nearly enough to protect the entire city.
The real reason for Mu Xuan’s complicated mood was these worshipers themselves…
He could sense that much of this faith was generated recently. That meant these worshipers weren’t part of the strange…
So, just what was going on in this town…
Everything hinted at something odd, yet everything also seemed completely normal.
If they truly were normal people, how could they fail to notice the black mist outside the town, or the oddities within it?
While Mu Xuan was lost in thought, a voice called out to him.
“Sir, may I have a word with you?”
Hearing this, Mu Xuan raised his head slightly.
A priest, accompanied by two nuns. As expected, this was Father Ander, the one in charge of this church.
Looking at the priest’s deeply lined face, Mu Xuan nodded and stood. “Praise the Goddess!”
The priest smiled, the wrinkles on his face bunching up, yet he didn’t look the least bit frail.
“Praise the Goddess!”
The elderly nun returned to her post by the door, resuming her duties. The younger nun, meanwhile, watched Mu Xuan with curious eyes.
Following behind the priest, Mu Xuan frowned faintly.
He felt as if he’d lost something… But, keeping up this appearance, it wouldn’t do to break his disguise and check himself with others present…
Hopefully, it wasn’t anything bad…
With these thoughts, Mu Xuan trailed after the priest and soon arrived at the side chamber where guests were received. Like the rest of the church, it was quite simple.
Once Mu Xuan was seated, the priest finally spoke, “Sir, did you just receive the Goddess’s Grace?”
The so-called Divine Grace was the full term for the Goddess’s Blessing.
It was what every member of the church yearned for.
Father Ander’s tone held a trace of excitement… After all these years, this was the first time he’d seen anyone receive the Divine Grace!
And it had happened in his very own church!!!
The young nun by his side watched Mu Xuan expectantly, curiosity written all over her face.