Why was it that after Master Qizang comprehended the Law of Compassion, it was the Holy Mother Daenerys, who had seemingly done nothing, that sang the Song of Law?
Not only because Qizang was a subordinate deity of the Holy Mother, but more importantly because he believed in her with his entire being.
Qizang had even offered up his life imprint to his faith. Compared to a life imprint, a Song of Law was merely an external possession.
This was the greatest value a believer could offer to a deity.
If one insisted that believers were pitiful, that was not necessarily true. At this moment, Saint Matthew was extremely happy, immersed in the genuine joy of being acknowledged by the Holy Mother. He was even happier than Holy Mother Daenerys herself, who had unexpectedly awakened the Song of Compassion.
Ordinary people might never experience such a state of happiness in their entire lives.
With the Song of Compassion having only just begun and its progress at merely 1%, Qizang naturally underwent a spiritual ascension, advancing from a Level Two Archangel to a Level Three Authority Angel. The Holy Mother was not stingy with her rewards either.
She told Qizang: "Well done. I am very satisfied. Continue working hard. You are walking the correct path."
The Holy Mother was sincere.
On one hand, he slew demons and exterminated evil for her, providing vast amounts of spiritual essence and divinity. On the other, he cultivated himself and developed entirely new Songs of Law. How could she not be satisfied? How could Qizang's path be wrong?
This kind of "recognition," which cost her absolutely nothing, was the greatest reward for Qizang.
He grinned like a fool.
Well, the old man was a bit skinny, so probably not a hundred-pound fool.
In the eyes of his disciples, their master had only been dazed for a moment when golden runes lit up between his brows. His skin radiated a soft holy glow, and the majestic sacred aura made them instinctively revere him, not daring to make a sound.
After quite some time, the phenomenon faded. Qizang was still grinning foolishly before they finally snapped out of it.
"Master Qizang?" the disciples called out one after another.
"Oh, the Holy Mother bestowed grace upon me. I gained new insight into the Path of Compassion and was promoted by her to a Level Three Authority Angel," Qizang explained casually.
Tyrion's eyes turned red with envy. "An archangel is equivalent to a lord among ordinary angels. But an Authority Angel is basically a king!"
"Congratulations, Master, on reaching an even higher level," Varys said with a face full of envy.
"Master Qizang, when you have time, please teach us more about the Path of Compassion. I want to learn too," the Hound said expectantly.
Arya could no longer keep her indifferent expression and said conflictedly, "Master Qizang, when we encounter evil gods in the future, can you let me kill them instead? Those priests give too little experience."
"What experience?" Qizang and the others all looked puzzled.
"The Stranger designed a merit calculation system for me. Killing enemies, protecting you, spreading the teachings of the Seven Gods, and comprehending the path of the Seven Gods all grant digitized experience points.
"He said that although I am the 'Wife of the Stranger,' I have no faith in him.
"So he uses visible benefits to motivate me to work hard. Through long-term work, I'll gradually come to love the work. Once I love it, faith will slowly emerge," Arya explained.
"His Majesty the Stranger truly put great thought into this!" Qizang sighed emotionally before frowning again. "But you also said that spreading the teachings of the Seven Gods and comprehending their path both grant experience points. Why are you so fixated on killing?"
"Killing levels up faster. Comprehending doctrine is slow, and there's no visible hope," Arya answered honestly.
"Nonsense!" Master Qizang's face darkened as he sternly rebuked her. "You've completely reversed priorities! How can comprehending doctrine be slow? How can there be no hope? Am I not a perfect example?"
"Yes, you're a perfect example," Arya nodded enviously.
She watched him slay demons every day and level up immediately afterward. She was practically dying of envy.
"Arya, you're still young. Why rush?" the dwarf said anxiously. "Leave the evil gods to me. I need to level up too.
"If I don't raise my level now, how am I supposed to survive once we reach Yi-ti?"
"Why can't you understand? True power lies in understanding the path of the Seven Gods. True strength comes from spiritual ascension," Master Qizang sighed, stamping his foot.
"Just tell us directly. Are you willing to let us have the evil gods or not?" Arya asked expressionlessly.
The dwarf also looked at him pitifully like a husky begging for food.
Qizang shook his head solemnly and said in a deep voice, "I bear the responsibility of guiding you. I cannot watch you walk down the wrong path.
"From now on, only I may deal with evil gods. None of you are to interfere.
"As long as circumstances permit, I will use love and compassion to redeem them rather than mercilessly exterminating them."
After the meeting ended, Qizang brought the eager-to-learn Hound before the Holy Mother's statue to pray. Varys was ordered to handle luggage preparations and arrange how the small temple would continue operating after the scripture team departed.
The dwarf pulled Arya into a side room and ground his teeth angrily. "We have to resist him. He's trying to wipe us out!
"He talks about compassion, but every evil god we've encountered these past few days died in a single move. He doesn't even give us a chance to steal the kill."
Arya remained silent.
She felt Qizang was somewhat hypocritical, but not nearly as sinister as the dwarf claimed.
"Arya, you're smart, so I'll speak to you as one smart person to another." Tyrion cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "Do you know the real reason for this journey to spread scriptures in the East?
"It's not about spreading the faith of the Seven Gods, nor helping the suffering people of Yi-ti.
"To put it plainly, slaying demons and exterminating evil is the Seven Gods' true objective."
Arya shot him a disdainful glance. "Playing schemes in front of true gods? You've got some nerve."
"I'm telling the truth! The Holy Mother personally told me," Tyrion swore.
"Heh..." Arya's smile grew even more mocking. "You? Meeting the Holy Mother?"
"I..." Tyrion stomped his feet anxiously but could not give a reasonable explanation.
"What did the Stranger tell you?" he asked helplessly, changing the topic.
"The Stranger told me to slay demons, eliminate evil, and ensure Qizang completes the scripture mission."
"Well..."
There was nothing wrong with that statement.
Sighing, Tyrion spoke bluntly, "Let's put it this way. Yi-ti must be more dangerous than the Free Cities, right?"
Arya nodded.
"So as we travel, stopping along the way, establishing faith channels is only one reason. More importantly, the Holy Mother wants us to grind monsters and level up.
"We have to raise our levels throughout the journey so we can face the final crisis: Yi-ti.
"So do you understand now? If every evil god along the way gets stolen by that bald donkey Matthew, we won't level up. And if we don't level up, going to Yi-ti will be dangerous."
The more he spoke, the more reasonable the dwarf found his own argument.
"Think about it. How weak was that snail demon today? It was practically tailor-made for me. A special gift package arranged by the Holy Mother.
"If I had killed the snail demon today, I would've leveled up instead of Matthew.
"Tomorrow, when we encounter a stronger god, I could handle it too, then level up again. Step by step, by the time we reach Yi-ti, I'd become a demigod and deal calmly with the hordes of demons there."
"This is the Holy Mother's arrangement, but Matthew insists on hogging everything. He's already an archangel and still not satisfied. He advanced to an Authority Angel and became a king among angels. He's even greedier than the High Sparrow!"
The dwarf was filled with righteous indignation.
"Advancing as an angel requires enlightenment and spiritual ascension," Arya said.
"I know, but the Holy Mother's rewards can accomplish it too. Don't doubt me. I have insider information." The dwarf revealed a smug, mysterious smile. "Think about your brother. He isn't a follower of the Seven Gods and naturally has no comprehension of their teachings, yet he still became an archangel."
Arya seemed somewhat convinced and hesitated before asking, "So how do you plan to resist Qizang? He's our master, stronger than us, and has those 'Fiery Golden Eyes' that can identify evil gods more accurately than we can."
"Exactly. He's our master. So when we encounter an evil god, you grab his waist before he uses the 'Holy Mother Divine Palm' and shout, 'Protect the Master!' He absolutely won't strike you.
"Then I'll start slaying demons and exterminating evil. After I kill one evil god, the next one will be your turn." The dwarf chuckled slyly.
"We can try it," Arya nodded slowly.
The opportunity came quickly.
"Something's wrong. It feels like something is following me!" Varys's fat face was pale as he staggered into the temple.
They were leaving tomorrow, yet the temple had only just opened for business. There were many things that needed to be arranged before departure.
For example, official-commercial cooperation: persuading the Trade Prince to secretly support this small temple while the church provided certain benefits in return.
Varys had grown into a master intelligence broker in Pentos, so the task of handling social arrangements naturally fell to him.
As soon as the sermon ended earlier, he had gone to the residence of Trade Prince Jacob.
The scripture team's chosen partner was Darkskin Jacob.
"Someone following you isn't that strange. We've been pretty high-profile these past few days," Tyrion said.
"No. When I looked back, I saw nothing. Think about it. Does anyone capable of hiding from my eyes even exist?"
"Maybe you're overthinking it," the Hound said.
"If I couldn't even tell whether I was being followed, how could I still call myself the Eight-Clawed Spider?" Varys snapped angrily.
"So according to your years of experience as an intelligence chief, you can sense someone tailing you and even feel danger, but you can't find any trace of the stalker?" The dwarf's eyes gradually lit up.
Varys nodded fearfully. "What are you thinking?"
"No one can fool you. If something can, then it means they aren't human. There's an evil god!" The dwarf excitedly pulled the axe from behind his waist.
"Perhaps it's only a supernatural being," Master Qizang said.
"You all stay inside. I'll go out and probe them." Tyrion waved his hand and jogged straight outside.
"You little bastards, get out here!"
"I'm your grandpa Tyrion. Come out and taste my mighty axe!"
"You spineless cowards only dare sneak around as stalkers. Don't you dare come out and duel a mere mortal like me?"
The dwarf's arrogant provocations drifted in from outside, his voice moving farther and farther from the temple entrance.
"Tyrion, don't be reckless. Come back quickly!" Qizang stepped forward and shouted loudly.
"Master, don't be afraid. We're here to protect you," Tyrion immediately replied.
That was the code phrase. Arya instantly understood and grabbed Qizang's arm. "Like you said before, there can't be that many evil gods. Maybe they're just a few thieves with supernatural abilities."
Though Arya was small, she was far stronger than Qizang.
After all, Qizang was a man over sixty, while Arya was a martial artist with muscles throughout her body.
It was also because Qizang himself lacked physical strength that when he dealt with the snail demon earlier, despite intending only to injure rather than kill it, he still had to activate the "Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon."
"But even if they can't hurt an evil god, killing or injuring supernatural spies would still create bad consequences!" Qizang struggled.
"The spies haven't even shown themselves yet. Why are you in such a hurry?" Arya said.
Helpless, Qizang turned to Varys and said, "Wuneng, you've always been clever. Go outside and keep an eye on Tyrion for me."
A moment later, Wuneng screamed in terror:
"Master, this is bad! Senior Brother has been captured by a demon again!"
(End of Chapter)
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