Faith is a rather mystical concept. In essence, it’s just the transmission of believers’ “willpower” to the object of their belief.
It completely disregards any “law of conservation of mass.”
Even an ordinary eight-year-old girl like Di’an can provide faith that is purer and more condensed than a thousand pan-believers combined.
So… maybe this thing shouldn’t be judged by common sense.
“Hmm…”
After thinking for a moment, Ileya extracted a bit of faith power and threw it toward a mountain peak on the side of the underworld!
Whoosh!
The pale golden faith shot out like an arrow from a string, vanishing instantly into that mountain peak.
There was no attack effect at all. Or rather, with such crude manipulation, faith power simply lacked offensive capability.
Maybe it could be converted into another form of energy?
If so, perhaps…
While Ileya was pondering after this simple experiment, she suddenly noticed…
On the mountain peak she had just experimented on, several undead were constantly climbing up from below…
Even the surrounding undead had all gathered there. Judging by their behavior, they all seemed to want to reach the top.
What was attracting them to the summit… Wait, wasn’t it the very faith power she had just released?!
Realizing this, Ileya immediately acted.
Like grabbing a chick, she snatched a small, seemingly dazed skeleton that had just reached the foot of the mountain.
And she placed it on the summit.
At first, the skeleton was confused, looking around at everything in bewilderment.
But then it seemed to notice the faith power permeating the area.
In an instant, it perked up and opened its empty mouth!
The soulfire in its skull spun wildly.
It had almost no will of its own, only subconsciously absorbing the surrounding faith power.
Gradually, its body began to change.
It was clearly noticeable that the skeleton’s bones turned much whiter.
The soulfire, originally enclosed by the skull, now blazed up and engulfed its entire head.
Crack!
As soon as the evolution was complete, the skeleton seemed to sense something.
It looked down at a fellow undead that had just climbed to the summit.
Whoosh!
It bent down, reached out, grabbed its kin’s arm, and tore the entire limb off!
Holding it in its hand…
“This is…” Ileya watched the evolved skeleton with interest.
Suddenly, the creature raised the stolen skeletal arm into the air!
Whoosh!
In that instant, three wisps of soulfire appeared around the skeleton!
Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!
It seemed to be declaring its strength, lifting the “staff” high.
But a bare skeleton really had no deterrence. If only it had a cape or something…
“A 2nd-order skeleton mage?!”
Ileya was a little surprised. She had only flicked out a tiny bit of faith power, and this guy absorbed it…
Not only did it evolve, but it became a rare skeleton mage as well.
The lady thoughtfully rubbed her chin.
It made sense. Faith in [Death] itself would naturally strengthen undead.
Without any hesitation, Ileya extracted a large mass of high-quality faith and found Insmouth in the underworld, sitting blankly in front of the Blackwater River.
After spending time with these undead, Ileya had discovered that although their intelligence was lacking, each had its own basic personality.
For example, the small skeleton on the mountain was a bit dull, but after gaining power, it showed off wildly.
As for big guy Insmouth… when not fighting, he was always a silent guard, almost never making a sound.
She wondered if they inherited the personalities of the deceased…
Thinking this, Ileya directly tossed the glowing mass of faith into Insmouth’s body.
Gulp…
Instantly, the flesh inside Insmouth’s armor began to writhe!
“Roooar…”
A low, deep-sea-monster-like growl escaped his mouth. In Ileya’s vision…
It seemed that Insmouth’s flesh had melted all the armor into itself.
Even the pitch-black giant armor sprouted rows of sharp, barbed fish scales.
Creak… Creak…
Amid the grating, ear-piercing sound of tearing metal, the visor over Insmouth’s mouth was ripped open, revealing a massive maw filled with irregular, jagged teeth.
If one word could describe Insmouth at this moment…
It would be [Monster].
Chaotic, evil, primal, ferocious…
“Roooar…”
4th-order early, 4th-order mid…
It wasn’t until 4th-order high that Insmouth’s advancement finally slowed down.
Sensing his current power, Ileya nodded with satisfaction.
Though she had never seen a pure [Adamantine Knight] who wasn’t a Transcendent, she estimated…
In terms of raw physical strength alone, Insmouth now could rival an Adamantine rank.
Plus, with his fearless, pain-ignoring combat style—unless someone could completely overpower him, Insmouth would be the nightmare of any close-combat Transcendent.
“But… is this the limit now?”
Watching Insmouth, who seemed to have reverted to his amphibian nature and jumped into the Blackwater River, disappearing, Ileya rubbed her chin.
She could sense that if she injected any more faith power into him, he would collapse from being unable to bear it.
He needed time to adapt. Once his body and soul truly aligned with the 4th-order high intensity, she could use this method to boost him again.
“Hmm…”
Of course, this method could not only upgrade her undead but also her believers.
It was about the same. They provided her with a hundred points of faith, and she returned one point… That should be enough, right?
Ah~ She was so good to her believers~
Just then, Ileya suddenly felt the force binding her body lighten slightly.
Oh? Did Mother wake up?
Thinking this, Ileya’s consciousness gradually returned to her real body.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Lady Shuderian’s face—gentle, with a faint smile.
“Yaya was sleeping like a little baby~”
The moment she spoke, she almost made Ileya, who was already feeling embarrassed, lose her composure.
“I remember when you were little, you always cried to sleep with Mommy. And you especially disliked your father. It made him sulk like a jealous wife every day.”
Ugh… Can we not bring up things like that?
If it were anyone else, Ileya would have a hundred ways to shut them up.
But since it was her own mother in front of her, the lady could only put on a pitiful expression, burying her head in the blanket like an ostrich.
“Speaking of which…”
Seeing her daughter retreat in defeat, Lady Shuderian smiled softly, slowly got up, and stretched.
“Mmm~ It has indeed been a long time since I slept so well~”
“Really? How do you feel now? Any discomfort?”
Ileya immediately popped her little head out from under the blanket, like a rabbit spotting a carrot, and asked rapidly.
“Hmm… My chest still feels a little tight, but compared to before, it’s worlds better…”
Lady Shuderian replied with a smile, then looked puzzled.
“That Mr. Arthur… wasn’t he the one you brought back from the slave market? How does he have such an ability?”
“I’m not entirely sure either. I just know he seems to have some connection with the Leidun family. I brought him out of the slave market on a gut feeling.”
Ileya shrugged. She really didn’t know much about Arthur.
“That guy is definitely mysterious and powerful. At the very least, being able to suppress Amisa effortlessly means he’s at least 6th-order, or even 7th-order.”
In the lady’s understanding, the only one who could compare to him might be that Belli, the [Heresy Inquisition Leader] who could burn the sky itself.
Of course, Arthur’s value wasn’t limited to combat.
There were also his bizarre techniques, the knowledge and history in his mind.
And that was one of the main reasons Ileya kept him by her side, even knowing he wasn’t on her side.
Now, it had proven to be the right decision.
Without Arthur, her mother would have been tortured to death by this “atavistic” bloodline.
The chain reaction that followed could easily have been the trigger for the Marquis Castle’s collapse.
But…
Arthur had also said he could only “suppress” it, meaning he couldn’t cure it completely.
She still had to find a way to resolve her mother’s crisis once and for all.
The most direct method might be to find the awakened [Saint Witch] and force her into slumber again—or even kill her.
But that was obviously impossible.
Even if she had a few more years, Ileya had no confidence she could kill a [Supreme Being].
Another option was to find other Transcendents.
Amisa had also said the Transcendents in this world were diverse, with all kinds of bizarre abilities.
Maybe she could find one capable of removing her mother’s bloodline curse.
But the risk was simply too high.
Ileya hadn’t even fully trusted Arthur, let alone other wild Transcendents.
So, after searching, there was actually one method that was the most stable and safest!
Ileya sat up abruptly, her red eyes burning with intensity as she looked at her mother.
This left Lady Shuderian bewildered.
“Mother! Let’s start training!”
“Huh?”
Lady Shuderian blinked her beautiful eyes, confused as she looked at her daughter.
“Since Mother’s body can’t withstand this Transcendent power, and we can’t solve the problem at its source…”
Ileya’s smile was exceptionally gentle.
But it sent a chill down Lady Shuderian’s spine.
“Then… we’ll solve the problem from your side!”
Whoosh!
She suddenly stood up, planting herself on the bed and looking straight at her mother.
“Mother! While Arthur is still here to suppress it… build up your physique! Then you can truly awaken as a Transcendent!!”