Chapter 99: A Rare Victory

“Say it already!”

Walking out of the room and closing the door, Muxuan looked at Qiansitelin with a look of complaint.

“With this thing, can’t all the clergy use meditation to increase their strength?”

“His Holiness, I never said there weren’t any limitations ~” Qiansitelin replied with a soft smile.

“Hmm? What limitations?” Muxuan asked, somewhat confused.

He really hadn’t expected there to be limitations; he had assumed that only being able to sense light elements was the restriction itself.

“No need to rush, His Holiness. We can talk after we leave this place ~”

Qiansitelin did not answer directly.

She squinted her eyes, glancing at the tightly closed door behind them, and then smiled.

‘Is it necessary to be this vigilant…’

Muxuan grumbled in his heart, but he still obediently followed Qiansitelin and left the area.

Afterward, led by a nun, the two of them arrived at an empty room.

Once she confirmed the nun had left, Qiansitelin finally spoke, “His Holiness, do you know which element was affected the most after the Strange Calamity descended?”

“Light.”

Muxuan answered without hesitation.

In this entire world, one didn’t even need to guess to know that light had been almost entirely consumed by the Black Mist.

“That’s right ~ His Holiness is so smart ~”

“Can you be a bit more serious!”

Unable to stand her teasing tone, Muxuan turned his head slightly.

‘What’s with this tone, as if she’s coaxing a child?’

“Other elements can still be sensed more or less, but light is the only one that has become almost non-existent.”

“Similarly, as a true Divine Artifact, Lyrasel theoretically should never run out of power.”

Listening to Qiansitelin’s words, Muxuan nodded thoughtfully.

Many originally scattered doubts quickly snapped together in his mind like puzzle pieces.

“It’s very simple. Within the Black Mist, it is impossible to absorb Lightforce at all.”

“One of Lyrasel’s characteristics is its ability to quickly absorb Lightforce from the air to ensure it remains at its peak state.”

“But in the Black Mist, where there is no Lightforce, Lyrasel will eventually reach the moment its power is exhausted.”

Qiansitelin’s tone gradually became heavy.

Although she hadn’t taken out Lyrasel, Muxuan could feel a trace of regret in her voice, as if the Divine Artifact were right before their eyes.

“So… your power will become less and less in the Black Mist?” Muxuan asked.

“Yes. If we are within the light, our own Lightforce can slowly recover.”

As she spoke, Qiansitelin let out a soft sigh.

She had a Cardinal she was on good terms with in the original Church; by now, his power had likely been exhausted, and he had died within the Black Mist…

Muxuan did not press her on how she had managed to survive until now.

Anyone could figure that out.

Her soul Fragment had merged with the Fragment of Lyrasel, so her power was naturally maintained by the Divine Artifact.

There was no need to stir up her painful memories — she had already paid too much to suppress those two sources of Corruption.

“The Meditation Method is basically for the knights to use,” Qiansitelin continued.

“The clergy, on the other hand, are strictly controlled by the Pope and can almost only increase their power through Divine Favor.”

She paused, offering no further explanation.

“Divine Favor?”

Muxuan understood instantly.

Simply put, the prerequisite for increasing strength through the Meditation Method was still that he had to provide the Faith Power himself.

Since that was the case, there was nothing that couldn’t be said.

Why did she wait until now to tell him…

“His Holiness, if I’m not mistaken, you should be able to take back the Divine Favor you have bestowed, right?”

Qiansitelin suddenly leaned in, looking at Muxuan with a meaningful gaze.

Muxuan fell silent.

This ability was something he had only discovered when he ascended to the Deep Sea tier — he could reclaim all the power of those he had previously endowed with Faith Power in a single thought.

Qiansitelin… what did she mean by this?

Looking at her, Muxuan suddenly felt that she seemed to hide many secrets, and he didn’t truly understand her at all.

Furthermore, the relationship between her and the Goddess seemed exceptionally subtle…

This forced him to think more deeply.

The trump card he had worked so hard to master had been pointed out by his closest companion before he could even hide it for long — that feeling was indeed unsettling.

Is she reminding me?

The Faith Power he bestowed was the foundation of the Meditation Method; with just a single thought, the other party would lose all their power…

It was very unfair, but it could indeed prevent certain accidents.

For example — internal rebellion.

Beikeze…

Muxuan murmured the name in his heart, instantly locking his target onto Beikeze.

Qiansitelin had only given him this reminder after coming into contact with Beikeze — this was almost a direct indication that something was wrong with him.

Muxuan sighed, feeling a bit of a headache.

Beikeze’s position was indeed the one most easily swayed.

Holding a key position, he could mobilize the power of almost the entire Church.

Even if his initial intentions were good, it was inevitable that other thoughts would sprout.

“Let’s wait and see…”

At least, before the other party made any out-of-line moves, Muxuan would not strip him of his power based solely on suspicion.

Doing that… would be truly unfair.

He didn’t like this feeling of controlling everything.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Muxuan’s tone was slightly cold as he looked at Qiansitelin helplessly.

Qiansitelin covered her mouth and chuckled, then stood up.

“Alright, His Holiness, we still have things to do ~”

Having said that, she was the first to push open the door and walk out.

She stopped at the doorway and looked toward the distance of the hallway, her eyes turning slightly dark.

She would not allow her Little Saintess to be threatened — especially not by an “ungrateful wretch they had raised.”

“How was it? He didn’t hear anything, did he?”

After a moment, Muxuan walked out and stood beside her.

“The moment he heard us say we had things to do, he naturally ran off in a hurry — Beikeze, that is.”

Qiansitelin gave him a look.

Her own Your Highness clearly knew the truth, yet he insisted on asking.

Hadn’t that sentence just now been a deliberate act of playing dumb because he sensed someone approaching?

“So, what should we do next?”

Muxuan smiled and looked at her, his mood becoming a bit lighter for once.

This time, he finally hadn’t lost out in their verbal sparring.

Even though most of the time they were discussing serious business, this could be considered a rare victory, couldn’t it?