Chapter 641: The

Jier saw that the powerful Divine Power of several Old Priests condensed together, gradually changing from a chaotic collection of light bands into a spherical ball of light.

The Vice Dean, who had not made a move until now, joined the ritual at this moment.

He raised his hands high and spread them outward, his mouth open but making no sound; it seemed as if he were doing nothing, yet Jier felt an invisible force, powerful enough to be suffocating, rising from the elderly Vice Dean toward the center of his brow.

Unlike the cyan light emitted by the Agricultural God's Divine Power of everyone else, this invisible, powerful Divine Power was invisible to the naked eye, yet it truly existed; Jier felt as if his brow were being pressed by a sharp blade, and an indescribable pressure rushed toward him.

Fortunately, this was only a ritual being performed, and he was not the target of the ritual.

But Jier realized the next moment that the person currently receiving the ritual was Bata'er Jiaoshi, but would it be his turn soon?

Terrible.

Would he really have to face this power?

No way, surely not?

Jier was overthinking; the Vice Dean's power far exceeded that of the others, and of course, it was not the powerful force required for a single person's Blessing Ritual; in reality, the Divine Power of his few attendants was enough.

This power of his existed more as an intervention and insurance force outside of the ritual.

In the Energy Field invisible to Jier, the Vice Dean's Divine Power was under his control, like several human hands emerging from his body and then extending forward.

These powerful, invisible hands kneaded the cyan Divine Power gathered by the other priests in front of him, molding the originally chaotic and disordered Agricultural God's Divine Power together into a single, unified "dough."

It would be possible not to do this, but the time and quality of the ritual would be prolonged and diminished.

Since he was here himself, he would naturally provide some extra help.

At the same time, behind the Vice Dean, the tall Baishi Statue of the God of Agriculture—whether it sensed someone performing a Blessing Ritual or not—also provided an extra portion of Divine Power generated by the priests' daily worship of Him to support it.

This Divine Power support from the Statue of the God further increased the intensity of this blessing, making it a notch stronger than a blessing generated without performing the ritual here.

As the Divine Power Light Ball in mid-air gradually became pure and rounded, it signified that the power of the several Agricultural God priests had been unified. Seeing this scene, the few priests performing the ritual took crop seeds from somewhere and held them in their hands, presenting them toward the sphere in mid-air as if offering treasures.

They whispered something repeatedly, and when Jier listened carefully, he heard that they were chanting the name of the blessing produced by this ritual: "Blessed Grain."

As they repeatedly chanted this blessing name, that ball of light also began to change rapidly.

The grain seeds in the priests' hands were sucked in by an invisible force and merged into the Divine Power Light Ball. Immediately, the light ball erupted with bright radiance, forcing Jier to close his eyes.

While Jier closed his eyes, Bata'er Jiaoshi kept his eyes wide open, his gaze seemingly unaffected by the bright light, staring straight at the light ball.

The light ball dropped downward, and two streaks of Divine Power shot into Bata'er Jiaoshi's eyes like lightning, seemingly pouring something or some kind of knowledge into Bata'er Jiaoshi's mind.

At this moment, Bata'er Jiaoshi's entire body even floated slightly upward, the whole person bathed in powerful Divine Power.

In an instant, the white light vanished abruptly, but it did not enter Bata'er Jiaoshi's body; on the contrary, the power within these Divine Power light balls all entered the few crop seeds that had just been absorbed.

These small seeds emitted a cyan glow, and they themselves became vastly different from before; energy circulated, and they vaguely turned translucent.

These seeds then dropped downward, like a hammer striking a nail; after each made a thumping sound, they were embedded one by one onto Bata'er Jiaoshi's left chest.

Several crop seeds formed a circle the size of a walnut, and within this circle embedded on the skin, a pattern composed of the Agricultural God's Divine Power soon emerged, showing through the skin.

It was a cyan Divine Power pattern; although small, the Divine Power depicted it in extreme detail: an aged pair of hands cupping a handful of grain, the grain slowly sliding off the edges of the palms, yet the grain in the palms never seemed to diminish.

That's right, this pattern was even an animated image.

"Is Bata'er Jiaoshi alright?"

Seeing that everything was over, Jier watched as Bata'er Jiaoshi slumped weakly onto the grass, his consciousness not very clear; Jier walked over and waved his hand in front of the priest's eyes, which were like those of someone who had drunk too much alcohol—blurry one moment, then focused the next.

Jier helped him up and moved him a little further away to lie on the soft grass.

"He is fine, he has just learned the usage method and scope of this powerful blessing. You must know, although it seems like just a usage method and scope, the information contained within is vast. While we let the Agricultural God grant him the blessing through the ritual, we also informed him exactly which crops can be used with this blessing."

Jier still didn't understand, so the Vice Dean added a sentence to enlighten him: "You must know, in this world, there are very many plants or plant-like things that can serve as crops. There are at least tens of thousands of types."

Once he said this, Jier understood why Bata'er Jiaoshi was in such a dizzy state; it turned out he was dazed because he had been infused with too much knowledge by the ritual.

It was exactly the same as when he was a student in high school in his previous life and had been studied into a daze.

Jier then thought of himself: "Lord Vice Dean, will I be like him? It looks very uncomfortable and painful! And does this knowledge just enter the brain of the blessed person like this? And they can't forget it for a lifetime?"

Jier's words seemed to amuse the surrounding Old Priests: "Where would such a good thing happen? If one could know the knowledge of most of the world's crops in a short time by receiving a ritual blessing, then countless Agricultural God priests would scramble to obtain this blessing. We wouldn't do anything else; we would just do this all day long."

The Vice Dean shook his head: "First of all, not every ritual blessing contains knowledge; secondly, this knowledge will be quickly forgotten once the time limit of the blessing is reached. You don't think this knowledge is memorized by the brain, do you? It is actually maintained by the Divine Power infused by the ritual."

"Blessings have time limits?"

Everyone nodded: "They all have time limits. Unless the great Agricultural God acts personally, we priests are all mortals; how could we cast permanent Divine Arts or blessings that transcend time?"

"Then how long will this blessing of Bata'er Jiaoshi last?"

The Vice Dean pointed behind Jier: "Let Bata'er tell you that himself."

Jier turned around and found that Bata'er, who had been lying on the ground dazed just a moment ago, was now sitting up. He was rubbing his cheeks with a pained expression, but Jier noticed that Bata'er's eyes had become sharp again.

"How is it? How long can this blessing of yours last?"

Jier crouched down halfway and asked curiously.

Bata'er Jiaoshi looked down at the dynamic pattern on his chest created by the embedded crop seeds: "I'm alright, I just feel like I've received a great shock. As for the duration."

"Half a year! The blessing can last for half a year. As long as I use my Divine Power now, I can continuously produce the grain I hold in my hand. Although it cannot supply too many people, it seems there is no problem for the population of a village."

Bata'er Jiaoshi carefully touched the pattern maintained by Divine Power with his hand: "It's amazing, these seeds have accumulated quite a bit of Divine Power to maintain the blessing, and they will automatically supply some Divine Power that doesn't belong to me to drive the blessing."

He suddenly looked up at the Vice Dean; although he didn't speak, the Vice Dean nodded: "Correct, it is just as you think. This ritual blessing can not only be used by Agricultural God priests, but also by others who are not priests or believers."

"How is that possible!!"

These words surprised Bata'er Jiaoshi immensely.

But the Vice Dean ended Bata'er Jiaoshi's shock with just one sentence.

"Who do you think this ritual blessing was originally for? You? Me? Or the other priests present? No, it was for the countless disaster victims, the countless victims who had to flee because of crop failures. A little bit of grain can turn one into a hundred, and a hundred into a thousand. Bata'er, half a year is enough for a season of crops to be replanted and harvested."

Hearing this, both Jier and the other fell silent.

It is not hard to imagine how many people the effect of such a blessing could save in crop-failure regions where the starving were everywhere. And how many Agricultural God priests such a powerful blessing could liberate from their duties in times of crisis, preventing them from being tied down to one place and thereby allowing them to save more people.

"Alright, Bata'er's blessing is complete; it is your turn, young warrior Jier."

The Vice Dean said to Jier.

Jier nodded and asked a question he had wanted to ask since just a moment ago: "My Lord, do I need to take off my clothes as well?"

"What do you think? It is naturally best for the ritual to generate powerful Divine Power to enter your body without any obstruction; of course, taking off your upper garments is enough. At the same time, the blessing will temporarily produce a blessed pattern on the surface of your body. They need a little space."

Jier smiled amusedly: "My lord, that is fine for a man, but what should be done when a female Priest receives a blessing?"

The Vice Dean laughed and scolded: "You little brat, for a female Priest or a blessed lady, we will have them lie down as much as possible, and let the back bear the Divine Power and the blessed pattern. Satisfied? Strip!"

Only then did Jier begin to move.

He unbuckled the metal belt at his waist, on which hung the Hunting Sword and the Heart Fire Magic Dagger, as well as many sturdy small Leather Bags made of hard cowhide.

Afterwards, Jier placed the Elven Metal Shield and the Yueshui Skull Two-Handed Axe he had been carrying on his back onto the grass to the side.

Then he took off his metal Helmet, carefully removing the Neck Armor along with the Helmet.

Next were the metal Gloves on his hands, followed by the Arm Guards, elbow pieces, Upper Arm Armor, and shoulder armor.

After these were all removed, he carefully unfastened the metal locks between the Chest Armor and the Skirt Armor that had been protected by the metal belt, and bit by bit took off the sturdy, heavy Chest Armor that primarily protected his body.

The Vice Dean noticed a black Bird Wood Carving hanging around Jier's neck.

"That ornament must also be removed; it contains the power of other gods."

Seeing through it without exposing it, the Vice Dean did not directly point out the truly strange nature of that thing, only telling Jier to take it off.

Jier hesitated for a moment, then removed the Wood Carving along with its lanyard and tossed it into the Helmet with a clatter.

A faint, dissatisfied bird cry seemed to ring out; Jier just shrugged. He had previously risked his life to do a task for the great bird god inside, but Jier was actually not very satisfied with the reward this god had given him in the end.

It was a temporary enhancement ability.

While wearing the bird statue, reciting a Prayer taught to him by the other party could temporarily enhance his vision.

What was this supposed to be?

Eagle Eye?

Was this thing Magic or a Divine Art?

It looked pretty good, right? But this vision-enhancing ability provided not a single bit of reinforcement to Jier's combat; he was not an archer or a crossbowman.

Acting on the thought that something is better than nothing, Jier had asked the logistics clerk for two sets of bows and arrows and crossbows when setting out this time.

Otherwise, he preferred close-quarters combat, defeating his opponents sword by sword.

After getting everything settled, Jier came to the middle of the Priests, put his hands on his hips, tilted his head, and said confidently: "Vice Dean, come on, what ritual blessing can I be matched with?"

The Vice Dean nodded: "I heard your and Bataer's request earlier. Considering that after you, this warrior, are injured in battle, Bataer can perform Divine Magic Healing on you, so a powerful blessing in healing will not be selected. However, the loss of physical matter and the consumption of energy after Divine Magic Healing are major problems that limit combat capability and duration."

"I have decided to give you the 'Grass and Wood Source' ritual blessing. It is a blessing ability that allows you to release it autonomously; after the ability is released, for a certain period of time, you will possess infinite energy for fighting, traveling, crafting, and laboring. I think this should be able to pair very powerfully with Priest Bataer's Divine Art, and at the same time, it can also assist you well in battle."

"Infinite energy for a short time, huh? Fine, very good, then I will trouble you, Priests. Come on."

Jier puffed out his chest, hands on his hips, looking like he was telling them to hurry up and start.

The Old Priests laughed for a while, then dispersed.

Previously they had only been loosely surrounding Bataer, but now they stood to Jier's left and right.

"Warrior Jier, the source of physical strength is the human lungs. The ritual begins now; listen to my voice and act according to my arrangements." The Vice Dean's voice rang in Jier's ears, but the other party's mouth did not open.

Jier nodded in surprise.

Thus, the 'Grass and Wood Source' ritual blessing officially began.

The Old Priests stood in rows to the left and right, but did not move.

The Vice Dean, however, tapped his Knotted Wood Staff, causing several emerald green leaves to sprout anew on the staff.

Once these leaves grew to the length of a finger, they fell off the Knotted Wood Staff and fluttered through the air into the hands of the other Old Priests.

These Old Priests grasped the newly grown emerald green leaves in their hands and began to chant.

"From where comes all food that can satisfy hunger."

"From the many grasses and woods of the earth."

"From where come all beasts that can satisfy hunger."

"From the many grasses and woods of the earth."

"From where come the birds."

"The many grasses and woods."

"From where come the swimming fish."

"The many grasses and woods in the water."

"Thus, the God of Agriculture receives the revelation of the Earth Mother."

"The many grasses and woods are the food for the growth of all things."

"As grasses and woods grow, they nourish all things."

"Listen, they are quiet and face the sun."

"Swaying branches and blades of grass."

"Listen, they are few in words and face the water."

"Roots reach toward the earth."

"Listen, they are silent and face the soil."

"Stems transport nutrients."

"The growth of grasses and woods is the source of energy for all beasts and all humans."

"This source, the God of Agriculture now bestows upon you."

"Please run upon the earth."

"Please labor in the fields."

"Please move, stretch your limbs."

"Just like the grasses and woods, stretch your branches."

As the words fell, the tender leaves in the hands of the Priests left their grasp, and the Divine Power on their bodies began to circulate; miraculously, the entire lawn of the central ritual ground began to wither from the edge of the courtyard, the yellow color moving inward.

The blades of grass swayed rapidly, the withered yellow starting from the roots and swiftly extending up the blades, after which a tiny, most tender green speck of light detached from the tips of the grass, swaying and drifting toward those Old Priests.

The Vice Dean waved both hands at this moment, and those tender green specks of light quickly gathered from around the Old Priests onto those tender leaves.

The tender leaves turned emerald green, even becoming as if they had broken through the limits of color.

Jier only glanced with the corner of his eye and felt that his eyes had been harmed by the extreme color; in just an instant, his entire field of vision was left with nothing but green.

Other colors gradually faded and disappeared, leaving only a scene of varying shades of green.

Only then did the Old Priests release the Divine Power from their bodies, each person infusing Divine Power into a small, tender leaf. It seemed that having their eyes assaulted by the extremely vivid color was merely an ordinary matter.

The Vice Dean stretched out both hands to gently point at the suspended tender leaves one by one, making them accelerate the infusion of Divine Power.

At this moment, the Baishi Statue of the God of Agriculture emitted a wave-like ripple of Divine Power; all the Humans present were completely undisturbed, but the lawn on the ground that had been rapidly withering quickly returned to its previous emerald green appearance under this ripple of Divine Power.

It was as if the Statue of the God could not bear to see the place where it resided be a patch of withered yellow.

Jier felt that the surroundings were filled with powerful force; compared to every Old Priest around him, the Divine Power of the God of Agriculture within his own body did not seem to be that much anymore?

Of course, it still could not compare to the intangible Divine Power of the God of Agriculture of the Vice Dean before him; that was an extremely powerful force. Previously, from many meters away, he felt as if he were being pressed by swords and blades, and now that the Vice Dean was just four meters away from Jier, he felt, even with his eyes closed, like a child playing on a railroad track while a freight train in the distance was charging toward him at full speed.

Jier was raising his hand to block his eyes, seemingly wanting to use his body to obstruct the powerful force coming toward him.

But the Vice Dean's voice rang in his ears: "Warrior Jier, please do not release your Life Energy; this is not conducive to the subsequent ritual of infusing Divine Power and the generation of blessing abilities."

Without the Vice Dean's reminder, Jier had not even noticed that the Life Energy throughout his entire body was surging and boiling at this moment.

Although it could not be seen on the surface of his body with the naked eye, in reality, beneath his skin, the Life Energy was like the army of his body's Kingdom, currently having all entered a state of war, each one fiercely shouting beneath the skin to fight to the death against the invading enemy.

Regardless of whether what was coming over was a friend or partner that was good for them, anything external had to be defeated and driven out!