Chapter 76: The Power of Faith Renewed

Disguising himself with the power of Light once more, Mu Xuan followed Cistrin as they walked slowly toward the direction where Lusach and Morsen had gone.

However, Mu Xuan’s brow remained furrowed throughout the journey.

He had originally thought the Messenger Sparrow might be some sort of logic-capable aberration monitoring him, but he truly had not expected the dwarves to be the ones behind it.

‘When exactly did that “Messenger Sparrow” start monitoring me…?’ Mu Xuan was unsure.

What he could confirm, however, was that it was definitely earlier than the time he and Griffinder had first encountered the bird.

But why had the dwarves targeted him first?

Furthermore, it was highly likely they had been watching him even before he had transmigrated to this world.

There were many points that could not be deduced with his current information, and many things simply did not make sense.

Most importantly, after he donned his disguise, Cistrin had become much more distant toward him again. She was nowhere near as enthusiastic as she had been when he was the Saintess.

‘So, am I still the Saintess?’

The Goddess had never mentioned anything about that!

Moreover, he had already lifted the rules of this place and obtained the scepter, so why was he still unable to contact the Goddess?

His heart was full of doubts, but at that moment, Mu Xuan and Cistrin reached their destination.

The Light Palace that Mu Xuan had previously established was now like a candle in the wind, swaying and on the verge of collapse.

No matter how much Morsen and Lusach tried to soothe them, the panic among the people continued to spread.

This was unavoidable.

Because of the Tears of Arlurus, a false light had been implanted within them. Now that the dream was shattered, even though Mu Xuan had cleansed the contamination, a large portion of the people could not accept the cruel reality.

This was mainly because they were people who had lived in the world before the descent of the Calamity; they simply could not adapt to this world of extreme darkness and no sunlight.

Some were wealthy merchants, lords, and the like. After realizing that their accumulated wealth had gone up in flames and that money was now useless, they fell into extreme despair and confusion.

Mu Xuan stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath, the scepter in his hand glowing faintly. He knew well that the people’s panic stemmed from their fear of the dark and their obsession with the wealth of the old world.

Morsen noticed Mu Xuan and Cistrin’s arrival from a short distance away. After receiving a nod from Lusach, Morsen gave up on the idea of blocking Mu Xuan.

Since his teacher had agreed, it would be improper for him to go against his teacher’s wishes.

Mu Xuan looked at Morsen and Lusach in the distance. After responding with a nod, he walked slowly toward the center of the crowd and held the scepter high.

A soft power of Light emanated from the tip of the scepter, illuminating a small area of the surroundings — this time, it was no longer the false dream constructed by the Tears of Arlurus, but a real, warm light.

The dazed and panicked citizens looked up at the source of the light one after another. Feeling that warmth, they couldn’t help but fall silent.

“Citizens of the Light Church! I am the forty-second Pope of the Light Church! I know your hearts are filled with fear! Darkness shrouds us, and your former wealth has turned to nothing. It seems as though only despair remains in this world.” After a pause, Mu Xuan glanced at the solemn Cistrin beside him. He felt a sense of relief and continued.

“But please remember, the Goddess’s radiance has never left us. As long as your faith is devout enough, the Light will protect you and allow you to survive this disaster.”

“The loss of wealth is not terrifying. What is terrifying is losing the will to live. Now, under the protection of the Goddess, we have rebuilt our base. Think about what you once possessed. Since you had it once, is it impossible to try and possess it again?”

“Furthermore, the Goddess’s radiance will be bestowed upon those who are devout and contribute to the Church! Whether you are a powerful Knight or a member of the clergy, you can strive for it through your own efforts!”

As Mu Xuan spoke one sentence after another, the emotions of the crowd finally began to stabilize.

“Your Eminence… may I ask… is it truly possible to become a Knight and obtain the power of the Goddess’s blessing?”

Naturally, there were still those who did not dare to believe.

Their mindset was still stuck in the era before the Calamity. In their eyes, class division was severe, and the gap between classes could not be bridged no matter how hard one worked.

A lord would always be a lord, and a servant would always be a servant.

As for those transcendent powers, they never even had the chance to see them.

“Yes. As long as you are willing to contribute to the construction of the base, the Goddess will not be stingy with her rewards.”

Although his Power of Faith had been exhausted during that crisis where he had given his all — even draining his own heart’s blood — to barely manage…

And even though his power had dropped back down to the Deep Sea Tier…

After the source of contamination here was cleared and the rules were broken, a massive amount of Power of Faith poured into Mu Xuan’s scepter.

This was the Power of Faith provided by the home base.

Adding to that, the faith of the people before him also contributed a portion of Power of Faith.

Therefore, the amount of Power of Faith Mu Xuan currently possessed was quite considerable.

After a moment of thought, and once he confirmed the man was a devout believer, Mu Xuan extended his scepter. Five strands of Power of Faith descended, instantly bringing the believer to the Ash-White Level.

When the layer of armor covered the believer, the surrounding crowd instantly erupted with a sense of fanaticism and anticipation for the future.

However, a few individuals still maintained looks of solemnity, disdain, or gloom… without exception, they were all dressed better than the rest of the crowd.

Mu Xuan silently transmitted the appearances of these few people to Cistrin using the power of Light, signaling her to keep an eye on them. He then continued, “Now, in the name of the forty-second Pope of the Light Church, I officially appoint you as a member of the Dawn Knights! Are you willing?”

“I am willing to serve the Light! I am willing to serve Your Eminence!” the believer answered without hesitation, his voice filled with pleasant surprise.

He hadn’t harbored much hope, but who would have thought that a simple question would earn him a reward from His Eminence! Feeling the very real, powerful strength within his body, his faith in the Goddess climbed almost to its peak.

“Very well. Now, the Goddess’s grace shall descend once more upon those devout believers!”

With that, Mu Xuan waved his scepter. Several specks of light immediately fell into the crowd, and several more armored figures appeared.

“Praise the Goddess!”

Almost simultaneously, the voices praising the Goddess erupted, nearly drowning out Mu Xuan’s voice which had been amplified by the power of Light.

There were too many people here! It was roughly twice the total population of the current base!

And this was even after more than half of the people in this town had died!

This also demonstrated the power of the Tears of Arlurus… even if it wasn’t a Divine Artifact, it was at least a Quasi-Divine Artifact that possessed divinity!

Precisely because there were too many people, it was impossible for Mu Xuan, Cistrin, Morsen, and Lusach alone to organize them all.

Even with the establishment of nearly forty Knights, escorting them back to the base would be extremely difficult.

This meant they had to be escorted in batches!

As for why they didn’t just establish a base here… Ha.

As long as one wasn’t afraid of the contamination generated simply by “His” sleep, then one could indeed rebuild a base here.