Dragonstone, the Glass Garden.
Beneath the weirwood tree newly transplanted from the mainland.
"Sevenfold stands empty-handed, so what does he hold?" Qizang asked.
"That day, the Holy Mother only taught you one move to subdue enemies, 'First Light of the Sacred Radiance' (Song of Light). Today, on behalf of the Holy Mother, I will teach you three more divine palm techniques: 'Tempest Sweeps the Clouds' (Song of Wind), 'Raising Fire to Burn the Heavens' (Song of Fire), and 'Turbid Waves Surging' (borrowing the Water God's power from the Prime Minister Turtle)."
Holy Dany pointed lightly at Qizang's forehead. Three seven-pointed star sigils were imprinted in succession at the center of his brow, then combined into a more complex rune.
"Thank you, Holy Mother. Thank you, Your Majesty!" Qizang knelt and performed a grand salute.
"You should also stop chanting scriptures all day long. Practice the 'Divine Palm' the Holy Mother taught you more often. On the surface, you have only obtained four forms, but through combinations, you can derive at least eleven additional minor variations."
"Your Majesty, the Divine Palm consumes divine power. How can I practice it often?" Qizang asked with difficulty.
"Indeed, divine power is precious. Wasting it on empty strikes is a pity. You can spar with those evil gods. Focus on training your palm force while clearing out demons along the way. It achieves multiple goals at once," Holy Dany instructed earnestly.
Qizang suddenly understood. "I have been enlightened."
The dwarf's lips twitched.
Holy Dany gestured to the side, and several Unsullied stepped forward.
The foremost carried a wooden tray, upon which lay a splendid, richly embroidered robe. It was inlaid with luminous pearls, emeralds, wish-fulfilling jewels, mani pearls, red agate, purple coral, and gold essence stones, dazzling to the eye.
Holy Dany unfolded the garment, but from within came the crisp clatter of chains. It turned out to be chainmail covered in brocade.
"This is the Brocade Monk's Robe. When you go out to spread the teachings, you must wear it. It both displays the majesty of the Seven Gods and protects you from falling into hell or suffering torment."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Qizang understood the dangers of preaching in the Eastern Lands and carefully accepted the brocade Valyrian steel chainmail.
Holy Dany then took from the second Unsullied a long blade as tall as Qizang. "This is the Nine-Ring Tin Blade. When sheathed in its ornate scabbard, it can be used as a walking staff, making you look like a refined gentleman.
But once the sheath is removed, it becomes a warrior's blade.
The handle is hollow, with a matte surface and a layer of calfskin that absorbs sweat and blood for grip. Its total weight is only twenty-five jin."
Clang, clang.
As the Nine-Ring Tin Blade was handed over, the golden rings on its spine swayed gently, chiming like wind bells.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Now Sevenfold finally holds something in his hands!" Qizang smiled with satisfaction.
"No, it is still not enough." Dany beckoned behind her and took a golden object shaped like a Hercules trophy from an Unsullied's tray.
Holding it by the end, she swung it like a club a few times. "This is the Purple-Gold Alms Bowl. Unscrew the front, and inside is a hollow bowl structure. Normally, you can hang it at your waist and use it as a goblet or a bowl for eating.
In special situations, fill it with sand or stones, tighten the lid, and it becomes a hammer.
The Nine-Ring Tin Blade cannot break armor, but one strike from this Purple-Gold Alms Bowl will shatter an enemy's organs."
"Your Majesty's foresight is truly thorough." Qizang happily accepted the alms bowl.
Then Holy Dany looked at the dwarf.
The dwarf looked back at her expectantly.
"You already have armor and an axe. That is enough to protect yourself," she said.
"At least give me one Divine Palm technique!" he could not hide his longing.
"You lack even a trace of enlightenment. Even if I gave it to you, could you use it?" Dany sneered coldly, then looked at Arya and beckoned. Another Unsullied stepped forward.
The Dragon Queen raised her chin, and the Unsullied directly handed the tray to the young girl.
"This is a set of Stranger's Divine Armor, Valyrian steel infused with the Stranger's divine power. Wearing it, your physical body can enter the world of death.
There is also a rapier. In the mortal world, it is the sister blade to your Needle.
But once you enter the world of death, it becomes the scythe of death that you are very familiar with.
It is a physical manifestation formed entirely from the divinity and power of death.
The stronger your will, the tougher it becomes. The colder your heart, the sharper it grows.
When facing a baby, if you feel compassion, it will be as soft as a feather. When facing an enemy, if your killing intent surges, it can split heaven and earth."
"So miraculous? You can forge such a weapon?" The dwarf looked at the plain white Valyrian steel sword at her waist with suspicion.
The meaning was obvious. You use an ordinary sword yourself, yet claim to give others divine weapons. Does that make sense?
"Mortals cannot forge such divine artifacts. This was created jointly by a blacksmith and the Stranger, a weapon to protect the one who spreads the teachings," Holy Dany said solemnly.
"As for me," Dany glanced down at her own sword, "one loaf of bread is enough to fill the stomach. Why buy two and waste one?"
The dwarf's expression twisted.
In truth, what Dany said was accurate. It was a divine artifact fused with a great amount of death divinity and power.
Saint Matthew could draw upon the power of belief from all living beings to forge the indestructible "Golden Body of the Holy Mother." As long as belief endured, the golden body would not perish.
In other words, the concept of the "Compassionate Holy Mother" exists within the thoughts of all beings. The golden body shaped by Saint Matthew through the "power of concepts" exists and fades together with those thoughts.
If everyone were to forget the Holy Mother, or change their understanding of her, the concept would vanish, and the golden body would disappear without being destroyed.
The "Compassionate Holy Mother" is a unified concept, just as "a sharp blade" is also a unified concept shared by all beings.
In recent days, through Saint Matthew, Dany had drawn upon this conceptual power to forge a "thought weapon."
Not all beings can access the concept of "the thoughts of all living beings." Without access, one cannot draw power from it.
So far, Dany had only encountered Saint Matthew who could do this. Even she could not access that concept, though things might change once she became the sky of Westeros.
After the Three-Eyed Raven became her subordinate, Dany had asked Bran about this.
Bran told her that Matthew was not an exception. Only those of extreme faith can access the collective belief of all beings. In other words, only those who dedicate everything to their faith can touch the "conceptual world" beyond the material world.
The world we can touch, smell, see, hear, and taste is the material world. But are these five senses the only human perceptions?
Of course not.
There is the sixth sense of intuition, the seventh sense of mental awareness, perhaps even an eighth or ninth.
If the material world is defined through the five senses, then should not the "sensory worlds" defined by the sixth and seventh senses be considered equal worlds?
For example, the death world, a shadow of the material world, can be defined because the soul and intuition can perceive it.
The conceptual world is defined in the same way.
It is a strange realm that can only be perceived when one completely empties oneself to feel the concepts of all beings.
Just as mortals cannot access the death world, the gods also find it difficult to access the conceptual world, because gods cannot abandon the self and thus struggle to enter a state of emptiness.
Moreover, the gods are not particularly interested in that world. The benefits are small, and the cost is great.
Just like Dany's small golden body, which she always gave to Saint Matthew to use. It was of little use to her unless a god possessed a world-level source of faith and nurtured it for tens or hundreds of thousands of years.
In the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, only the Seven Gods and the Red God currently have the potential to become world-level faiths.
"Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty. This is truly a divine sword!" Arya excitedly hung the blade at her waist.
Dany looked at Varys and handed him a palm-sized iron token. "You are going to infiltrate the camp of the evil gods as a spy. Wearing overly fine equipment would arouse suspicion.
This token belongs to House Balerion of the Fourteen Flames. It is a family heirloom and has special effects when facing mechanisms built by the Valyrians.
I have heard there are many Valyrian ruins in the Far East. It may be useful. Normally, you can keep it against your chest as a protective plate."
Varys understood he was not favored by the Dragon Queen and accepted the token obediently.
"Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty. I will do my utmost to assist Master Qizang and complete the glorious mission of spreading the scriptures to the East."
The Queen added, "Varys is an inauspicious name. Do not use it anymore. I grant you the Dharma name 'Wuneng.'"
"Inauspicious how?" the eunuch asked in confusion.
"I do not like hearing it. It makes me angry, and that could lead to very bad things happening to you. Therefore, it is inauspicious," Dany said calmly.
The eunuch touched his nose and shrank back.
"Hound, this is Valyrian steel armor and a greatsword. You are Master Qizang's attendant. You must ensure his safety at all times.
Also, as a surgeon-priest, you should take on the role of a healer in white robes, using your extraordinary medical skills in the Eastern capital to build goodwill and save lives."
"I will protect Master Qizang with my life," the Hound declared with firm resolve.
"Very good." Holy Dany nodded with a smile. "Now you should all understand your roles in the scripture mission team, correct?
Qizang will focus on developing the faith. Tyrion will handle political and social issues. Wuneng will gather intelligence. Arya will deal with enemies in the shadows. The Hound will ensure Qizang's safety."
Seeing them all nod, Holy Dany clapped her hands. Two Unsullied carried over a pole, bringing with it the scent of fresh paper and ink.
It was a load of neatly stacked books.
"These are the scriptures you will spread to the East. There are forty-nine works in total, amounting to 777 volumes."
They were startled and asked in confusion, "Are there really that many Seven-Star Scriptures?"
"Including annotations, the Seven-Star Scripture only has seven major sections and forty-nine volumes. The rest are 'Thus Spoke the Seven Gods,' which record the words and deeds of the Seven Gods and their holy sons," Holy Dany explained.
The dwarf stepped forward and casually pulled out a book from the middle, looking at the cover in surprise. "This is clearly a mathematics textbook."
"Mathematics is a tool given by the Seven Gods to help humans study the laws of the world," Holy Dany said calmly.
The dwarf put down "Second Grade Mathematics, Volume Two" and picked up another. "This is 'Elementary Natural Science'?"
"This is an introductory summary of the rules of creation by the Seven Gods. After this, there are middle school physics and chemistry. Is there a problem?" Holy Dany replied as if it were obvious.
"What about this?" The dwarf helplessly set down "Natural Science" and pulled out another book, "How a Paladin Is Forged," staring blankly at the Dragon Queen.
"A paladin is a high-ranking knight of the church. This book is very important. It teaches moral character, explaining how to establish a correct outlook on life, values, and worldview."
"Fine, paladins are related to faith. But what about these two?" The dwarf held up "Vegetable Root Talks" and "Everyone Knows."
"These are the legal codes of Slaver's Bay and the Dothraki, simplified versions of the Queen's Code and the Horsefolk Code. Commoners do not understand law, but they can understand 'what everyone knows.' I hope the people of Yi Ti, and even the whole world, will know them."
"But what do these have to do with the Seven Gods?" the dwarf's lips twitched.
"I wrote them. Do you think they are unrelated?" Dany said lightly.
The dwarf was shaken and found himself unable to refute her in the slightest.
(End of Chapter)
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