Sunrise. As the distant horizon gradually turned red, two brown-haired men dressed in black formal attire, each wearing the Sun emblem on their chests, appeared on a small hill southeast of Deya City.
They looked at the massive, densely packed crowd gathered at the city gate and began to converse with each other:
“This must be at least eighty or ninety thousand people, right? It feels like everyone from the southwest region has gathered here. Truly, the Saintess’s influence is incredible.”
“It’s not just the Saintess—many people are here hoping to receive the blessing of the Goddess herself. But the Ninth Saintess is really a bit of a recluse. Last night, I checked every noble gathering in the city and didn’t see any sign of her. Even some major figures who went to the church to request an audience with the Saintess were politely turned down by the High Priest of Deya City.”
“Seems like the Ninth Saintess isn’t in any rush to assemble her advisory council. Or perhaps… she’s actually a little socially anxious?”
“Social anxiety? Yesterday you were saying she was such a fun person! Whatever, no matter what, we have to be the first to make contact with the Ninth Saintess.”
At present, many prominent families were pulling out all the stops to make first contact with the Saintess.
Some had even taken their disputes outside the city, choosing to settle conflicts quietly beyond the city walls to give the Saintess a kind and benevolent impression.
No one dared gamble whether the Ninth Saintess would accept an olive branch extended by a rival family, so the safest plan was to bury their enemies’ envoys outside the city.
Even now, battles involving mid-tier fighters and above were raging in the eastern forest.
“Making first contact is definitely possible. Don’t forget, I’m a sixth-rank Paladin about to become seventh rank. By the way, any news about the Fourth Young Master?”
“There’s actually a lot. My people in Deya Magic Academy found a student who resembles the Fourth Young Master in about 40% of his traits. According to his classmates, this one called Reg is a first-rank warrior, around seven feet tall, with short brown hair, and he’s never used magic before but is very strong.”
“That sounds like the physique of a hero. We immediately looked for that student, but after searching all over Deya City, he’s nowhere to be found. It’s really strange.”
“Maybe he’s right here among these ninety thousand believers?”
“That’s possible. After the audience with the Ninth Saintess, we should stay a few more days and look for this Reg. Then we can assess the qualifications of the newly selected reserve heroes and see if they’re worth recruiting.”
“No, the family’s resources aren’t enough to cultivate another reserve hero. Better not bother.”
“True. By the way, did you see those flickering lights in the sky last night? They didn’t look like lightning at all…”
……
The two men continued chatting on the hilltop.
Meanwhile, by a campfire shrouded in mist, Reg, the Fourth Young Master of the Sun Family, was casually roasting meat.
A fragrant left front leg of a mist wolf rested on the fire—it was a trophy from his recent hunt.
“I can’t stay in Deya City any longer. I need to leave quickly and change my identity again. The only problem is I haven’t laundered all my gold coins yet. Guess I’ll have to hand them over cheap to that Anderson guy…”
Reg sprinkled spices onto the wolf’s leg.
When he returned to Deya City yesterday, he spotted a group of very familiar faces—a scouting squad from the Sun Family.
No wonder the Saintess could command her family to cross the entire kingdom of Sylvia, traveling directly from the easternmost border to the west.
Reg guessed the scouts must have used an expensive teleportation array; otherwise, it would have been impossible to arrive in Deya City within three days.
Based on the strength of his family’s scouts, Reg knew it was only a matter of time before he was discovered. He had to leave Deya City as soon as possible.
Once the Divine Selection ceremony ended, he planned to blend in with the main pilgrimage group and depart together.
As for Truth… well, he’d explain it to her later through the Mark.
“Vuuu—”
Suddenly, a long, soothing, and peculiar sound echoed over Deya City. It even penetrated the mist surrounding the campfire.
Moments later, the great bell atop the Life Goddess’s Cathedral began to toll.
The bell’s deep and resonant chime stirred excitement among the believers both inside and outside the city. They all knew what it meant:
“The Goddess herself is about to manifest again. This is my first time seeing it!”
“Wonderful! The last time I witnessed the Goddess’s miracle was at the previous ceremony!”
“Please, Goddess, I hope this Ninth Saintess isn’t a little girl again.”
“Bring on the little girl! Bring on the little girl!”
……
Inside the Life Goddess Cathedral, Truth was anxiously preparing for the Divine Selection ceremony.
With Tia and Aisia’s help, she was trying on dresses brought from the royal capital in Aisia’s carriage.
The two were similar in build, so the dresses fit Truth fairly well, but she was quite picky:
“This one won’t do—it’s too flashy… This one’s no good either—why is the back so exposed… No, it’s not dignified enough… And no, I’m not wearing a miniskirt!”
After learning that her attire would affect the amount of faith generated by the believers, Truth was determined to wear something nice. But none of the dresses met her standards.
Damn it! Was there really no dress in this world that was neither flashy nor revealing, yet dignified and flattering?
Wait, maybe the Saintess’s robe would work…
Truth looked thoughtfully at Aisia, who was helping her select dresses. Aisia’s reaction was swift: she crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head.
“You can’t steal my robe to wear—I won’t let you embarrass yourself in front of the believers!”
Aisia believed that the Saintess had to appear before the believers wearing the Saintess’s robe. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be a qualified Saintess.
Hmph. Truth disdainfully looked away. Besides, it wasn’t the right time to openly snatch Aisia’s robe.
“Vuuu—”
An even longer sound suddenly drifted into the cathedral from outside. Tia hurriedly said,
“The Goddess is about to display a miracle. You all need to quickly head to the highest point in the northern part of the city!”
Truth reluctantly chose a somewhat pleasing light blue long dress to wear. Tia mentioned that blue was the favorite color of the people from the southwest region, so this dress might help her generate more faith.
Aisia babbled on beside her, reiterating the details of the Divine Selection ceremony:
“Listen carefully. The Divine Selection ceremony only serves to announce to the world that the Goddess has chosen you as the Saintess.”
“First, the Goddess will show a miracle. Then the Divine Selection Steps will appear. At that point, you must find your own way to collect faith from the believers. Only after gathering enough faith can you ascend the Divine Selection Steps to open the gates of the Divine Realm and pay homage to the Goddess.”
“There are many ways to gather faith. For example, promising believers a prosperous future or occasionally doing something awe-inspiring…”
Two minutes later, above Deya City, a beam of multicolored light pierced through the clouds and illuminated the highest point in the northern district, where the Life Goddess’s Sanctuary stood alone.
“Look, it’s the Goddess!”
As the clouds shifted to reveal the Goddess’s human form, the believers immediately knelt and worshipped. At once, the faith of over ninety thousand people began to swell.
As devout followers of the Life Goddess, they had grown up listening to her stories and teachings that spanned countless ages, but most had never witnessed any miracle that proved her presence in the world.
Now, the miracle was right before their eyes. Today, they finally saw their faith made manifest—the Life Goddess!
A gentle breeze infused with life essence swept across the faces of the believers like a mother caressing her children, brushing over the entirety of Deya City.
After a few breaths, a cry rang out from the crowd:
“Ah, my leg, which has been crippled for many years, has… has been healed!”
The believers erupted in excitement:
“My back can straighten again! I can straighten it!”
“Hey, my cavity is gone! Thank you for your blessing, Goddess!”
“Wait, how come you all got blessed, but my leg, which’s half broken, didn’t heal?”
The Life Goddess blessed all present believers, curing many wounds and illnesses.
Except for those with severe injuries—those missing entire arms or suffering multiple cancers.
Their limited faith output could not offset the power needed for their healing; it was simply a losing proposition. Hence, the Life Goddess ignored them.
For a moment, the faith that had long been building among the ninety thousand believers shot into the sky.
The miracle manifested on them, leaving no reason for anyone not to believe in the Life Goddess.
Those who weren’t healed simply thought their faith wasn’t devout enough.
Soon, the massive faith began to slowly build one multicolored step after another in the air.
Since only deities and Saintesses could see the faith, to others the colorful steps seemed to materialize out of thin air.
“Look, it’s the Divine Selection Steps! Just like the book described! So it’s real!”
Twelve brightly colored steps formed neatly at the highest point north of Deya City.
Bathed in sunlight, these steps looked so holy and magnificent.
Then, two small figures appeared before the steps. The girl in the light blue dress looked around in amazement:
“Wow, there’s actually a little garden above the Sanctuary, and the view’s pretty nice.”
Truth now stood atop the Life Goddess’s Sanctuary, the highest point in the northern district of the city.
Right beneath her was the secret private dungeon secretly dug by Deya City’s previous Divine Conduit, Klar.