“How do we proceed now?”
Looking at the colorful long steps ahead, Truth quietly tugged on Aisia’s sleeve, which made the latter grumble in irritation:
“You didn’t listen to a word I said earlier, did you? Now you have to climb up to the twelfth step and show the followers what you look like. Then you have to figure out how to gather their Faith. Only after collecting enough Faith will the Goddess of Life’s Divine Domain open!”
“How did you gather Faith before?”
“Hmph, I promised them a bright future where no one would suffer from illness, and I pretty much delivered. The health level of Wangdu’s residents is way above other places now, and I’ve been the most popular Saintess here!”
“You personally cured everyone in Wangdu with magic? Wow, that sounds exhausting.”
Truth had no intention of doing that. Healing ordinary people wouldn’t yield much experience once her level got higher.
“What? Do you think I’m an idiot? Do you really think I had every single person in Wangdu line up one by one for treatment? That would be so inefficient.”
Of course, she improved Wangdu’s sanitation—fixing the sewers, raising public health awareness, pushing for medical insurance reform, improving the treatment of low-tier Priests, and so on…
Aisia rattled off a long list, causing a cold sweat to break out on Truth’s forehead. Huh, that’s actually… pretty scientific?
Then what should I do myself? Just give a speech like “I have a dream”?
Forget it, better just get on stage first. Truth pinched Aisia’s mouth to silence her, then leisurely stepped onto the first colorful step.
Suddenly, Aisia grabbed Truth again:
“Here, a rare Echo Stone. If you need to give a speech, take it with you. Crushing it will let your voice carry across the entire Deya Plateau.”
Truth nodded and equipped the Echo Stone…
“The Ninth Saintess is beginning her ascent!”
“Great! Another loli this time, odds 1.8, I win again!”
“Huh? Why isn’t the Ninth Saintess wearing the Saintess Robe?”
“You don’t know? The Ninth Saintess has social anxiety. She was so shy that she wouldn’t come out of the church for a long time, and even the nobles begged for a glimpse but couldn’t see her.”
“I guess she doesn’t wear the Saintess Robe to keep a low profile. Probably letting us get used to it now by not wearing it.”
“Too bad. That means we won’t hear the Saintess’s voice…”
On the twelve colorful steps, Truth stepped up to the twelfth one and saw a faintly glowing pale gold door before her.
This must be the entrance to the Goddess of Life’s Divine Domain.
A cool breeze from above lifted her blue dress, and with the sunlight and the Miracle of the Goddess of Life surrounding her, Truth gave off a uniquely pure vibe.
She looked like one of those ethereal rich girls who seemed completely innocent and gullible.
The prepared followers with their monoculars began scrutinizing the Ninth Saintess’s appearance, marveling at the Goddess’s taste—each chosen Saintess was cuter than the last.
Meanwhile, Truth lightly tapped the step beneath her feet and murmured:
“This skill… hasn’t fully activated yet, has it?”
Because she could sense the presence of Faith Power, Truth quickly realized that the spell progress of these twelve colorful steps was only halfway done. The other half…
Truth looked again at the pale gold door—the entrance to the Divine Domain—and noticed it was part of the same skill as the twelve steps.
This meant the missing half was because the Divine Domain’s entrance hadn’t fully formed yet.
Suddenly it all made sense. No wonder Aisia said she had to collect enough progress to meet the Goddess of Life. So that’s how it is!
The Goddess of Life had cast only half of the Miracle after gathering a large amount of Faith Power; the rest had to be completed by the new Saintess herself…
“Tch, I thought it would be some deep and profound trial, but it’s just about helping you gather Faith Power?” Truth said disdainfully.
Now she had to figure out how to collect Faith from the followers, or she couldn’t enter the Divine Domain. Maybe give a stirring speech?
But wouldn’t that be too cliché? Truth always felt the followers were a selfish bunch. Just empty words wouldn’t work well. She had to come up with something to really intimidate them…
Got it. Let the small monsters from the Mist all rush out and attack the followers, then she could wave her hand and drive them away herself……
No, that would be stupid, and her monsters were weak anyway—wouldn’t have much impact.
Probably a mid-tier magician could just cast a fire wall and wipe them out instantly.
What about acting cute and coquettish? Twisting her body a bit and using the Echo Stone to sweetly say, “Big brothers and sisters, could you please worship me?” or something…
“Ugh—that’s absolutely out of the question!” Truth shuddered at the thought.
Meanwhile, the followers in the crowd watched Truth dazedly standing on the steps with confusion:
“What’s wrong with the Saintess?”
“Probably another bout of social anxiety. Give her some time to calm down.”
“Hope she’s as capable as the Eighth Saintess…”
“Roar—”
Suddenly, a bright dragon’s roar echoed from Fire Dragon Valley, capturing everyone’s attention.
On the city wall, Tia immediately ordered Aisia’s two Eighth-Rank Guards to keep an eye on the female Fire Dragon.
The female Fire Dragon had been restlessly searching nearby for some time, making everyone uneasy, even during the Divine Selection Ceremony……
Wait, Tia noticed something was off about the Fire Dragon today……
At a small pond on the Edge of Mist, Omili, who had just dealt with the fourth assassin trying to cause trouble during the ceremony, frowned at the Seventh Tier Fire Dragon:
“Why does that Fire Dragon look so agitated, and why is she staring at Truth like that?”
After sinking the assassin’s body to the bottom of the pond, Omili moved directly to Tia and asked bluntly:
“The Fire Dragon seems to have some feelings about Truth. Did they have some past conflict?”
Tia was startled again:
“Whoa! Senior, can you not just appear like that all of a sudden? Um… well, Truth and the Fire Dragon’s conflict… uh…”
Tia recalled the scene where the Hermit had seized control of Truth’s body and pinned the Fire Dragon down in the Mist:
“Maybe… a little?”
Actually, the one who had a grudge with the Fire Dragon was Tia herself…
“Look, the Fire Dragon is flying toward us!” a soldier shouted, and everyone immediately gripped their weapons.
Aisia’s two Eighth-Rank Protectors moved before Omili and said:
“Senior, if it’s a Seventh Tier Fire Dragon, we can handle it.”
But Omili told everyone to hold their positions and squinted at Truth in the sky, who was lightly waving her right hand toward the Fire Dragon.
“Look up there—the Fire Dragon seems to have been summoned by the Saintess,” Omili warned the crowd, who all turned to Truth, stunned.
Huh? Summon a Fire Dragon? Wait, how can the Saintess even summon a Fire Dragon?!