Chapter 109
As an offering for the Light God, it naturally needed to be the best.
Behind the Light Temple was a large orchard and any tasty fruit grown on the continent could be found there, it was meticulously cared for by strong plant mages. Every two weeks, they would pick out the best and sweetest fruit and place them on ice so the temple maids could select them.
When they saw that the priest personally came, the two plant mages were surprised and quickly bowed down.
“I want the freshest fruit, preferably some that was picked seconds ago.” The young man was very haughty and aloof to anyone but his Father.
However, all the light priests were like this, so the two plants mages didn’t feel it strange, they quickly picked a few baskets of fruit and placed them in front of him.
Zhou Yun Sheng bowed to look, tasted a few fruit and determined that they were good before putting them into his basket. He returned to the temple, washed the fruit with the water in the holy pool, then he put it aside and prepared to make pastries.
“Your eminence, pour the buckwheat flour and water into the pottery bowl and knead into a dough, then twist out large egg sized balls and flatten into a circle.” The maid feared he couldn’t do it, so she took out some flour dough and placed it on a tray to demonstrate.
Zhou Yun Sheng stared at the maid with an incredulous gaze. Was this the so-called pastries that was dedicated to the Father? No seasoning, no letting the dough rest, no shaping, no rising. After the pastries dried it would be harder than stone, how could he give this to his Father? This was simply blasphemy against the Father!
The moronic fanboy was filled with anger, he pushed the maid aside and brought out all the cooking skills in his mind. He shared out a very precise proportion of flour and water, used his light power to cover his palm, and kneaded the dough until it was elastic and soft.
“Your eminence, why would you waste your power of light priesthood!” The maid saw the golden light on his palm and felt a painful headache. As the power of light was becoming increasingly rarer today, a country often had to exhaust all their resources to cultivate strong light priests, and the light priests never used their power unless it was an emergency or the last resort. That was because each use took directly from their supply that they had accumulated after years of prayer, a single spell could sometimes cost more than a decade of worship.
A priest like Joshua who would use his power of light to knead flour was simply brain damaged.
Zhou Yun Sheng’s mind was indeed broken. Because he hypnotized himself every day, he was crazy for the Father, he loved him passionately, senselessly in love, so he couldn’t stand the slightest neglect of his God.
Even a pig would be unwilling to eat the pastries, yet they dared use it in worship, that was simply intolerable for him.
He swore that he must make the world’s most delicious and exquisite pastries and dedicate it to his Father, he coldly opened, “What waste of light? All my strength is a gift from the Father, I naturally should wholeheartedly return it to the Father. In the future, you will not prepare offerings for the Father, this is my job.”
The maid saw his cold look, knew that he was angry, and had to retreat to the corner in panic.
Zhou Yun Sheng experienced so many reincarnations, cooking such an insignificant thing didn’t need mentioning. He loved to eat, and his taste was very picky, so he’d honed extraordinary cooking skills.
He was not idle while the dough rose, he picked a few fruit and beans, pounded and squeezed out their juices, and because he found the white dough a little monotonous he used some of the fruit juices to dye it yellow, red, purple and other colors.
He was skillful and graceful, as if he had done it thousands of times, the two maids could only look on foolishly.
The dough rose, and he stuffed them with fillings and pinched them into a variety of shapes- flowers, birds, fish, all sorts of small animals, each one that was neatly stacked on the tray looked very cute.
He pinched the dough, leaving only one portion of white dough. He looked at it for a moment, then after unknown thoughts, his cheeks actually flushed. He took the dough into his hand, carefully kneaded it, kneeled on the ground in prayer, then got up and placed it in the center of the tray.
The two maids’ expressions had changed from dumbfounded to admiring, and now speechless. They could see that the priest’s attachment to the God of Light had gone beyond the point of obsession.
In the Ninth Heaven above, the God of Light was staring at the busy at work boy, his mouth tilted in a profound smile. Looking at the boy personally preparing his offerings, his cold heart had become as soft as the dough, and some sweetness overflowed.
Zhou Yun Sheng washed his hands and carried the tray to the steamer. In the steaming process, he went to the garden to pick flowers for the Father.
According to legend, the beautiful white rose was the God of Light’s most favorite flower, in flower language it meant – respect, nobility, and purity, it was a really good match with the Father. Zhou Yun Sheng smiled cheerfully and tiptoed to reach up and pick the most beautiful one.
“Your eminence, the roses have thorns, you should use scissors.”
Unfortunately, the maid’s reminder was too late, Zhou Yun Sheng frowned and recovered his stinging finger, a drop of bright red blood slowly beaded and overflowed, it looked very eye-catching on his white skin.
The two maids came forward to help him bandage it.
“It’s just a small injury, no harm done.” He shook his head and sucked on his injured fingertip, he looked at it again and the blood drop had disappeared.
The maids felt lingering fear, they immediately handed him scissors and told him not to touch the thorns. Light priests were the most important property of the Kingdom, even if only a drop of blood was shed, they couldn’t afford for the Bishop to find out.
In the Ninth Heaven above, the Light God’s slight smile straightened out, when the young boy carried the flower basket out of the garden, he lifted his finger and a black light beam entered through the water mirror and fell on the wall of pink, white, red, and yellow fragrant roses.
In the blink of an eye, the blooming flowers withered, the green leaves withered, until only the stems remained, and even those eventually become black dust that sprinkled to the ground.
A passing attendant saw this scene, their eyes filled with horror, and they immediately ran toward the Bishop’s chamber.
At the same time, Zhou Yun Sheng placed the carefully prepared offerings one by one on the altar. He picked up a small man shaped pastry, blushed in shyness, then placed it in front of all the other pastries.
“Father, please do not despise these simple offerings. I want to give all of my dedication to you, but my body is too insignificant, too lowly, how could I qualify for your mercy. If you can hear my prayer, just give me a glimpse of the Ninth Heaven, and I’ll be satisfied.” He knelt before the statue, his hands together in obeisance, and his shyness was replaced by bitterness.
There were so many creatures in the world that needed salvation, how could the Father notice him? The Father returning his love was just an impossible desire.
Thinking of this, he frowned, wanting to cry, he crawled to the Light God’s statue and clung to the Father’s ankle, looking very melancholy.
The Light God rubbed his eyebrows, he didn’t know how to get his Little Believer to realize his blessings. He was so charming and cute, but also very sensitive and fragile, he thought of himself as lowly, causing the Light God to feel both amused and infuriated. Does he think that every light priest can receive a gift from the God of Light after prayer?
The Pope, the man who governed all the light priests and temples, only received a glimmer of light after thirty years of devotion. As for his Little Believer, if he wasn’t afraid that his huge divine power would break his body, he would eagerly pour all his love and light into him.
How can he think that his Father doesn’t love him?
The Light God was very upset, he stretched out his fingertips and gently pointed to the spot between the Little Believer’s eyebrows, and a ray of tender golden light crossed through the mirror.
Zhou Yun Sheng moaned from the divine power. His frowning brow relaxed, his pale cheeks grew rosy, and his mood turned joyful, he kissed the Father’s feet with a tranquil smile. When he finally woke up from the feeling of being loved, he found that the offerings on the altar were all gone.
He was so shocked that he immediately ran out and asked the two maids where they went.
In the Ninth Heaven above, the Light God watched him hurriedly run back and forth with a helpless smile, then he held up the small man shaped pastry for scrutiny. The pastry had not yet cooled, a strand of white mist floated in the air, bringing out the unique fragrance of buckwheat. Even without tasting, the God of Light could already imagine how sweet it was.
The little person was vividly shaped, because of the heat it had expanded a little, but it made the image of the boy look very round and lovely. The Light God gazed at it for a long time, gently turning it, an electric current seemed to pass through his heart, giving him an itchy and soft feeling.
After observing for more than 10 minutes, he brought the little face to his lips, kissing it cautiously and gently, then he looked at the god standing to the side and asked, “Isn’t he cute?”
Using ‘he’ rather than ‘it’, the god immediately understood that the small man shaped pastry was probably shaped in the image of the mortal the Father had been peeping at recently. Plus, the tone the Father used held a little pride and pleasure, like how those nobles in the lower plains loved to showed off their treasures.
This was not an ordinary interest, but sentimental attachment. The god’s heart trembled in fear and he quickly answered with a smile, “Very cute. I have never seen such a lovely boy. I’m afraid that none of the servants in the temple can be compared with him.”
The Light God’s curved up mouth straightened into a harsh line, and dark gold filled his eyes.
The god immediately knelt down to beg forgiveness, and tried to think of what he’d said wrong.
“How could those humble servants compare with my beloved child?” He took the small man shaped pastry and left, waving his sleeves, casually placing a ban on the god, forbidding speech.
The god felt no resentment in his heart, just relief. The gods who had annoyed the Light God in the past were burnt to ashes, so he was extremely fortunate to be able to keep his life. It seemed that the Father’s love for that priest in the lower realms had gone beyond his imagination. He couldn’t imagine how beautiful and elegant the man must be.
If this love continued, he was afraid that the Father would give the boy the godheads he’d plundered from the other gods. Those godheads were treasures that every god, and even the god servants, dreamt about.
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Zhou Yun Sheng searched for a long time but didn’t find the offerings, he was vexed, but then he saw the Bishop and the Deputy Bishop, accompanied by a group of martial arts soldiers, rushing through the hall.
He immediately bowed to the two elders. The Bishop didn’t ask him to get up, he just stared at him with odd and slightly vigilant eyes.
The Deputy Bishop couldn’t restrain himself, he raised his chin with a haughty look, “A servant just reported that after you picked some roses, demon fog appeared and corroded the plants. It is well known that where there is demon fog, there must be a demon. It can live as a parasite in any human body, including a light priest. We came here to let you prove your innocence.”
Since he needed to travel with the Second Prince, he had to rid of Joshua now, otherwise, when he reached adulthood in two years, he would inherit the Bishop’s position. This made the Deputy Bishop very anxious, so when he got the news, he immediately thought up a poisonous plan.
Zhou Yun Sheng’s brain only short-circuited when dealing with the Father, he could deal with others with ease, he calmly asked, “Then before I prove my innocence, may I dare ask the Elder Bishop and Elder Deputy Bishop to prove their own innocence? The demons are very cunning, and their favorite thing to do is to lure other races to fight amongst themselves.”
“We’ve all drunk holy water.” The Bishop handed over a pure white porcelain bottle and softly said, “My son, drink it.”
If you were infected with a parasitic demon, after drinking holy water your whole body would be covered in painful ulcers, and the demon would be poisoned and forced out of the body, and on rare occasions it could directly kill the demon. But holy water needed to ferment for at least a century in the purest light, causing it to transform from transparent liquid into a brilliant golden liquid. As light priests were becoming increasingly scarce, and those with the strength to expel demons were even rarer, the Church treated holy water as a very precious treasure.
The Bishop only managed to create three bottles in his lifetime, and he’d intended to leave them to the royal family, but now he had to use them. Light priests were the most important resource to ensure that the continent didn’t fall under the dark war, especially the Sagya Kingdom that only had three light priests, they couldn’t afford to lose one.
Zhou Yun Sheng pursed his lips and was about to reach out to the porcelain bottle when the Bishop’s attendant suddenly staggered and fell down, his arm twisted severely, causing the porcelain to shatter. The golden liquid fell through the floor gaps, no longer recoverable.
The servant knelt down and begged for forgiveness, but nobody answered him.
This was obviously premeditated, what do they want to do? Zhou Yun Sheng turned his head to look directly at the Deputy Bishop, the Bishop also thought of a possibility and instantly paled.
“That was the last bottle of holy water. The level of a parasitic demon that can withstand the power of light and invade a light priest’s body should be very high. Even if I and the Elder Bishop use our light together, we might not expose it. To prove your innocence, please use the trial pool in the main hall.” The Deputy Bishop said politely.
“No!” The Bishop hoarsely reject him.
A thousand years ago, the trial pool could help light priest greatly improve their cultivation speed. As long as they soaked in the water, their bodies and souls would be hardened and grow stronger. A thousand years ago, the light priests had very high prestige and strength, they didn’t have to hide behind the mages and warriors like now, and their light circles were solid and unbreakable.
It was reasonable to say that the trial pool was the go to place to practice, but at an unknown date and for unknown reasons, whenever a light priest entered the pool, as long as their soul had a little flaw or selfishness, the water would burn them to ashes like magma.
In this world, except for the gods, no one’s soul contained no impurities, no one’s heart didn’t have ulterior motives. The light priests didn’t understand why their Father had become so harsh, but they couldn’t do anything to fix it, so they had to give up the trial pool and pray instead.
The amount of divine power you could get from prayer was very weak, and it often required decades to gain a small stream of power. This was the reason why the overall strength of the light priests was getting weaker.
The Deputy Bishop turned so many corners, but his ultimate goal was to get rid of Joshua! When the Bishop finally realized this, there was already no way to protect Joshua. He could possibly convince everyone to ignore the report of demon, but his sense of responsibility didn’t allow him to do that.
He waved his hand, as if to take back the ‘no’ he’d just said, and was silent for a moment before opening with difficultly, “Joshua my child, you know that this is my role as the Bishop of Sagya Kingdom. I cannot let go of any demon, even if it is hiding in the King’s body.”
“I understand, as you wish.” Zhou Yun Sheng bowed, then walked with a steady pace towards the depths of the hall.
If he hadn’t gotten the energy from the B-Class world to quench his soul, he might be worried, but now the trial pool was nothing in his eyes. He knew his soul was very pure, he was able to withstand the erosion of the water, and after his deep hypnosis, except for crazy love for God, there was no trace of distractions.
His love for the God of Light would frighten even himself if he dwelled on it.
He took off his shoes and robe, and walked slowly into the pool wearing only a thin silk undergarment. The pool of water was pure black, bubbling yet extremely cold. When it found an unclean soul it would immediately boil and become blood red, its amazing temperature melted mortals, and probably even the gods couldn’t drink it.
The Deputy Bishop hid his hands under his large robe and trembled with excitement. As long as Joshua died, without an heir, he would be able to sit on the Bishop throne and have kingly sovereignty over the Sagya Kingdom. Ever since his illegitimate child was exposed, he had been thinking about killing Joshua, and today he finally got his wish.
He seemed to see the path of light unfolding before him.
In the Ninth Heaven above, the God of Light stared at the mortals in the hall, his pupils were dark gold one moment, then pure black the next, his unmatched divine power went out of control for a second, destroying his gorgeous divine chaise. If he didn’t need to protect his Little Believer when he went in the water, he would have already lost his mind in anger.
The so-called trial pool was, in fact, demon fog concentrated into a liquid state. Demon fog could search for the darkness hidden in a man’s heart and use it as nutriment to breed a demon in the human’s body. Bluntly, the demons were not born in the Dark Abyss, but born in the hearts of mankind.
But even the ultimate darkness could promote the light, so a thousand years ago, when the God of Light was not so evil, he’d placed a ban on the trail pool to ensure that the demon fog could only promote the light priests’ power, not erode them. But one day, suddenly, he felt very tired of the world, so he took off the prohibition and killed all the other gods.
In eons of years, the God of Light never found a truly pure heart. He once took the heart of a spring nymph and soaked it in the water, but was surprised to find that, within a second, the red heart turned black and melted into sludge.
He’d found it very interesting and smiled at all the melting mortals, but now, he wished he had destroyed all the trials pools left in the Temples of Light. If he had done that, his Little Believer wouldn’t have to suffer such a sinister treatment.
His Little Believer’s soul was very pure, he could withstand the first wave of erosion, but then what? As long as his heart produced even a trace of distraction or fear, he would be attacked.
The Light God accumulated a ray of golden light on his finger, ready to tightly wrap his Little Believer. But before his golden power could reach into the mirror, he was shocked and amazed.
His Little Believer exuded a crystal clear white light from inside his body, pushing away the black pool. This was a power only the most pure heart could have. What made his mind so clean and focused? Is it because of his devotion to his Father?
The Light God dug into the Little Believer’s heart to read it, an action that was not difficult for him, but he was unable to read his thoughts. He didn’t find it odd or felt fear. On the contrary, he was pleased with his Little Believer’s uniqueness. He had to speculate on someone’s thoughts for the first time, which made his long dead soul leap in unrestrained joy.
He leaned his cheek on his hand and stared at the boy with a smile, he saw him clasp his hands and knew that he was praying to him. It was a pity that he couldn’t speak his sweet prayers out loud because of the outsiders.
In the tumbling black water, only his head and hands were exposed, he looked so petite and pitiful. The Light God wanted to wade into the pool, wrap him with his tall and mighty body, and give him a warmer power.
As he thought this, he separated a wisp of his essence and sent it into the mirror. In the hall, a tall and magnificent figure formed, and while everyone stared in horror, it walked to the Little Believer’s side and stroked his warm cheeks.
The Little Believer, immersed in prayer, didn’t open his eyes to see him, which made the God of Light feel slightly regretful. He wanted to continue caressing his platinum-blond hair, but he feared that interrupting his prayer would cause the black water to invade him, so he had to restrain himself.
To be able to stay and practice in the trail pool while the ban was lifted, the light power it required was difficult for ordinary people to imagine, but more importantly, those who could withstand it would greatly improve their potential. A light priest’s body was like a container, and their potential determined the amount of light that container could hold.
The Little Believer already had top qualifications, but after being quenched and tempered in the water, he would still continue to improve. In other words, he could inject more power into the Little Believer’s body in the future without worrying about hurting him.
That was the God of Light’s goal, so even if he was eager to embrace his Little Believer, he would never interrupt his practice.
“Who are you? The God of the Dark Abyss?” The Bishop and Deputy Bishop questioned in horror, at the same time they began to chant the Holy Light Arrow spell. The higher the level of the demon, the more beautiful its appearance, and the beautiful appearance of the man who’d suddenly appeared had surpassed the limits that human beings could imagine.
If he was a demon, his rank must be above the saints.
The Light God lifted a finger to his lips and made a silencing gesture. Suddenly, the Bishop and the Deputy Bishop lost their ability to speak and were unable to sing the spell they’d started up to attack the demon. The two people wanted to run and get help, but found that they couldn’t move.
How terrible must his power be to be able to instantly incapacitate two high level and alert light priests? The two men widened their eyes in despair.
But soon, they were no longer afraid, and just stared in disbelief.
The blond man walked silently to Joshua’s side, the position gave a vivid view of his delicate and exquisite facial features, then he lowered his head and planted a kiss between Joshua’s eyebrows. His expression was so gentle, his eyes were so affectionate, as if he was looking at his child, but also looking at his lover.
He gazed at the boy for a long time, and kissed him again and again, because of the restless joy in his heart, his body started exuding a golden light.
The light contained a strong divine power, burning the Bishop and Deputy Bishop’s skin where it touched them, but it didn’t hurt Joshua in the slightest, instead, it gradually entered his body.
Joshua’s lips slightly parted and he revealed a comfortable expression, which made the blonde man even happier. He chuckled, his vigorous and sexy voice invading everyone’s ears.
He lifted a lock of Joshua’s hair and wrapped it around his finger, happily fondling it. Joshua’s eyebrows twitched, showing signs of awakening. He remembered his other identity, and suddenly felt unexpected timidity. He’d remembered that he was not as good-natured as Joshua imagined him to be.
He let go of Joshua’s hair and restlessly paced in the temple, passing by the five-meter-high statue. But when he looked up and saw the ordinary looking, middle-aged uncle, the so-called God of Light, he shook and froze as if struck by lightning.
This isn’t me!
As soon as he thought of Joshua pouring out his love for him at this stature every day, calling out his name, he wanted to destroy every God of Light statue in existence, along with the Light Temple of Sagya Kingdom!
But as long as his Little Believer was inside the temple, he couldn’t bear to hurt him, so he restrained his rage and waved his sleeves, turning the statue into a beautiful copy of himself sitting on an ornate chaise.
He went back into the pool, pointed his finger at the Deputy Bishop, withdrawing the light power stored in his body, then bowed to kiss between the Little Believer’s eyebrows again, filling him with more pure divine power, before slowly disappearing.