Chapter 642: The Descent of the Agricultural God, the 'Summoning the Spirit Beast Within' Blessing Ritual

Jier received the reminder, only then composing his spirit and doing his utmost to soothe the boiling Life Energy within his body.

"Warrior Jier, can you communicate with the Nongshen Divine Power Seed inside you? Can you make it form a connection with the tender leaves on your left and right?"

The Vice Dean's voice continued to ring out, but this was something Jier could not do, so he had no choice but to shake his head.

"Very well, then restrain your Life Energy; the blessing is coming!"

No sooner had the words fallen than Jier felt his hands being maneuvered by the Vice Dean's Divine Power, lifted high to the left and right, exposing his armpits and both sides of his ribs to the Old Priests.

Subsequently, those extremely emerald-green tender leaves, having absorbed their fill of Divine Power, drifted slowly toward Jier's body.

Sss—

One Divine Power tender leaf made contact with the skin of Jier's ribs, and then it fiercely produced a sensation akin to flame scorching against his skin.

But it was not pain; pain was far inferior to what Jier was feeling at this very moment.

Because the instant the Divine Power tender leaf touched his skin, a massive amount of information was forcibly transmitted from Jier's ribs to his brain.

It was miraculous, as if a tongue had suddenly grown on his ribs, tasting the sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy all at once; it was also as if a nose had grown between his ribs, with the scents of fragrance, stench, sourness, and oddity all surging in together; it was also as if a pair of eyes had grown there, seeing through all the myriad colors of the world in a single instant.

Compared to this, pain seemed far too monotonous and low-level.

But unlike with Bata'er Jiaoshi, the blessing of the 'Grass and Wood Source' did not require corresponding knowledge and information, so this feeling came quickly and went just as quickly.

Jier had just felt this incredible perception in an instant, but the very next instant, all the necessary knowledge and information from one tender leaf came to an end.

"Ah? That's it?"

Jier had just formed this question when the next tender leaf made contact with the other side of his ribs.

And so, the sensations from just a moment ago were visited upon him once again.

"Warrior Jier, control your Life Energy." The Vice Dean reminded him once more.

Jier then took a deep breath with all his might, keeping the Life Energy throughout his body from approaching his torso and ribs, driving it to move toward his limbs, and keeping it busy by providing his limbs with strength support exceeding his original body.

Just as these tender leaves were making contact with Jier's rib area one by one, the Vice Dean pressed his palms together and began to mutter something.

Around his body, the air gradually began to ripple, just like air on a hot day, twisting and deforming.

Yet there seemed to be no obvious changes appearing in the surroundings, until Jier felt that the Nongshen Divine Power Seed deep in his abdomen seemed to undergo a change after the Vice Dean's low chanting.

It began to move; this Divine Power energy core, half-solid and half-illusory, began to move upward from the abdomen bit by bit.

Although the movement was slow, Jier's body was not large, so very quickly this sprouted Divine Power seed bud moved to Jier's stomach, and from the top of the bud, it extended two slender grass leaves toward its own left and right sides with all its might.

Its grass leaves wrapped around a large amount of the Nongshen Divine Power originally inside Jier's body, extending to his lungs and then to his ribs, allowing the Divine Power to make contact with the incoming blessing Divine Power tender leaves.

Upon contact, the Divine Power of the blessing gradually underwent a change, gradually becoming less like the Divine Power provided by the Old Priests around him, and more like the Divine Power already present in Jier's original body.

"Phew, good, this step is complete. Warrior Jier, you can stop controlling your Life Energy. Let me see if your Life Energy will still produce a rejection toward the blessing and the Divine Power attached to it."

The Vice Dean's voice made Jier understand what this whole process had been about.

He relaxed his control over the Life Energy, and immediately the Life Energy in his limbs flowed back to his torso along with his nerves, Blood Vessels, and body tissues.

When they made contact with the several blessing Divine Power tender leaves on his ribs, they seemed somewhat strange, so they all surrounded them, gathering in large numbers.

Jier closed his eyes, worriedly sensing the situation inside his body.

But fortunately, his own Life Energy had always been like well water that did not interfere with river water regarding the Nongshen Divine Power within his body; upon discovering that these new blessings were still the original 'old tenants,' they gradually dispersed after gathering, filling Jier's body evenly.

Several Old Priests seemed somewhat exhausted, sitting cross-legged on the lawn one by one to rest.

The Vice Dean also withdrew his powerful and unfathomable invisible Nongshen Divine Power.

Jier stood in place with his eyes closed, his arms held high to the left and right gradually relaxing, resting on the Skirt Armor at his waist. On his left and right ribs, several small, emerald-green tender leaves were shining, each leaf bearing dynamically changing patterns.

Those were blades of grass and wood constantly growing upward; the plants on each leaf were different—some were green grass, some were flowers, some were shrubs, some were large trees, some were vines, and some were wheat.

Jier opened his eyes and let out a heavy breath.

"The ritual is complete. This 'Grass and Wood Source' blessing can provide at least one opportunity per day to trigger infinite energy. The duration depends entirely on how long your own body can bear it. Although this blessing is powerful, it will also place a burden on your body, especially your lungs and heart."

Speaking to the end, the Vice Dean's expression was somewhat strange, but Jier did not notice.

He curiously lowered his head, looking at these things that had appeared on the surface of his skin at his ribs.

"These leaves tell me they can last for at least a month. If I use them less, can the duration be extended?"

Jier asked the Vice Dean; as the leader presiding over the ritual, the Vice Dean, who was high in both status and strength, must surely understand these situations that were not explained within the blessing leaves.

The old man nodded: "Correct. In fact, it has a total amount of Divine Power. If you use it every day within a month, its total Divine Power will just happen to last for one month—a full month of a long month."

Jier knew that the local months were divided into long and short months. Because there were three moons and Three Moon Goddesses, the lengths of the months were quite complex; short months had as few as ten-plus days, and others had twenty-plus days, with no fixed length. And long months had at least forty-plus days, with some as long as sixty-plus days.

Of course, of course, no matter how complex the celestial movement laws seemed, they had long since been calculated by intelligent beings. Most priests in various places had a moon calendar that could be projected a hundred years into the future, clearly recording whether each month was long or short, how many days it had, what the moon phase was, whether it was a Small Full Moon or a Large Full Moon, or a Hidden Moon, and whether it was generally a waxing moon or a waning moon.

That was a thick, large book; Jier had seen one when he was in Kendall County, and he knew that slightly larger churches would all have such things prepared.

Because this was not only a record of the changes in days, but also a major consideration affecting many ritual activities.

On days with a Large Full Moon, people could conveniently conduct activities at night.

Because it was truly very bright.

But on days of the Hidden Moon, every household had to keep their doors and windows tightly shut; those were days very convenient for Thieves to operate. Traveling merchants active outside had to be careful; such days were when wild beasts and Monsters were most active.

"Do you want to try it, Jier?"

Bataer Jiaoshi saw that Jier's ritual had ended, so he asked curiously from afar.

Jier shook his head: "Infinite energy, let's save it for when it's needed. In general situations, it's really not necessary."

The Vice Dean smiled: "How is it? If you feel alright, then shall we continue?"

Nodding heavily, Jier tilted his head up: "Come on, what is the next ritual blessing you recommend?"

"You have what you should have. The remaining areas that need supplementation can be fully compensated for by relying on some blessed weapons and equipment. So, Jier, what kind of abilities do you think you need?"

The Vice Dean looked at Jier, letting Jier himself take the initiative to propose the blessing abilities he needed.

Jier scratched his head and began to think carefully, considering what shortcomings still existed in his current combat system.

"Ah! I've thought of it!"

Jier shouted, drawing the attention of everyone present.

"Thought of something? Looking at your expression, it must be a very important part, right?"

The Vice Dean stood in place, fiddling with his beard; the Knotted Wood Staff beside him stood on the lawn all by itself, even though the Vice Dean wasn't holding it.

Although it didn't show off its power, everyone who saw this Knotted Wood Staff understood that it was certainly a powerful weapon blessed by Divine Power.

Perhaps it was not just a weapon, but also possessed more abilities and functions.

Jier smiled slightly and said, "Lord Vice Dean, I feel that what Bataer and I need most for this trip is the ability to scout!"

"Mm, yes, that's right, that's right."

The elderly Vice Dean fell silent for a moment and nodded, seemingly not having expected Jier's words to exceed his imagination.

Seeing this powerful Priest act this way, Jier felt that while the other party might be powerful, he perhaps, maybe, likely did not have rich experience in combat and adventure.

"How so? The ability to scout."

The Vice Dean blinked his eyes, looking at Jier, waiting for his explanation.

Jier said, "First of all, it has already been some time since the tragedy occurred at Changmai Village, where Bataer Jiaoshi is stationed."

"It happened over half a month ago."

Bataer Jiaoshi added.

"That's right. After such a long time, plus the fact that it is now spring and there is frequent rainfall, even if the defeated army had taken away a large number of villagers and left very obvious signs of withdrawal, after so long, they must have already blurred. Furthermore, where is the base of the defeated army? Where did they take the villagers? Are they keeping them under control as slaves, or did they shamelessly sell them to some people or groups? And where are those villagers now?"

Jier paused, letting everyone present understand what he had just said: "Therefore, the mission to rescue the villagers requires not only sufficient logistical food support, but also sufficient military guarantees, and most crucially."

Jier held up a finger: "Effective scouting ability."

Jier spoke with great logic, and his reasons were very sound, yet it put the Vice Dean himself in a difficult position.

The reason was simple: the Agricultural God and the Agricultural God Church were not good at this.

It was not among the Divine Essence of the Agricultural God, and the various affairs of the Agricultural God Church rarely required this kind of ability or preparation.

"The ability to scout, huh."

The Vice Dean put his hands behind his back and walked in circles around his Knotted Wood Staff in silence.

Seeing his appearance, the others remained silent for the time being, and Jier also realized something, looking a bit awkward.

The elderly yet spirited Vice Dean walked in small circles on the spot, then stopped, looked up at the tall Baishi Statue of the Agricultural God in the Central Ritual Field.

"Wait a moment, I will ask our deity."

The Vice Dean said so.

Jier widened his eyes, while the other priests of the Agricultural God Church lowered their heads, hands clasped together, muttering something.

Jier had sharp ears and heard the words of an Old Priest beside him.

"Great Agricultural God above, your follower implores to hear your words."

Thus, they repeated this sentence over and over.

But unlike the others' performance, the Vice Dean just looked up at the Divine Statue, making no other movements.

The tall white stone statue made of Baishi began to glow slightly, and soon, a thin beam of light descended from the sky, shining down.

The landing point was exactly the head of the statue.

Jier widened his eyes and looked up at the head of the statue, not expecting that this Vice Dean could really initiate communication with the deity.

And the Agricultural God actually responded in person!!!

It wasn't that he hadn't seen the deity manifest before; just last year at the Harvest Festival, the God of Craftsmen and Forging arrived in person, causing a climax.

But what kind of day was that, and the reason for the deity's arrival was also very important.

But he didn't expect that on this ordinary day, because of an 'ordinary small matter', an elderly Vice Dean of a local parish who usually kept a low profile—a tall, thin old man—said he wanted to talk to the Agricultural God, and the Agricultural God actually came.

Jier swallowed subconsciously, not knowing whether he should be surprised by the descent of the Agricultural God or by this elderly and powerful Priest before him.

Others could not interfere with the communication between the Vice Dean and the Agricultural God; it seemed to be a communication of consciousness or soul. The old Vice Dean just looked up at the head of the statue, and the statue just looked down at the tiny Human on the lawn as usual.

The exchange was completed just like that.

"Mm."

The Vice Dean let out a breath and turned to look at Jier.

"The great Agricultural God has spoken: He will provide a blessing, and I will perform the ritual. How about it?"

Jier smiled reluctantly, raised his hand like a primary school student, and asked, "Then, I would like to ask, what is the blessing? How is the ritual done? I'm just asking."

Jier looked up at the head of the tall Divine Statue; at this moment, the cyan beam of light falling from the sky was still continuously shining on the head of the statue.

Jier blinked; he seemed to see the face of the statue, which was originally blurred, curl its mouth slightly, as if it were smiling.

Smiling at what? Was it smiling at him?

What was there to smile about?

The Vice Dean looked back at the face of the statue, then said to Jier: "The blessing is called 'Summoning the Spirit of the Heart'. It seems that when the blessing is activated, it will summon a Spirit that takes the form of the summoner's inner image. This Spirit has its own magical abilities, and only the summoner or a powerful existence can see it. It is most suitable for scouting and searching."

The Vice Dean continued: "As for the ritual, with the great Agricultural God stepping in, I alone am enough. Moreover, the ritual will definitely succeed, and the effect will definitely be the best. Of course, this is all because of the great Agricultural God, not my credit or ability."

Jier took a deep breath: "Then what else is there to say? Let's do it."

The other priests present all stood up and respectfully retreated to the entrance of the Central Ritual Field.

At this moment, the entrance was not peaceful either. Usually, no one came here; except for the Novice Priest who cleaned here every day, no one came over.

But ever since the Vice Dean brought his men to start performing the ritual blessing for Bataer Jiaoshi, young Agricultural God priests had been curiously peeking inside from outside the gate of the Central Ritual Field.

They had no other intentions; they just wanted to see the ritual and gain some knowledge and experience.

Because one day, they would all become members of the ritual actions. Or members receiving the ritual blessing.

Both were good; the young priests just wanted more contact with powerful rituals and blessings, as well as the powerful strength of the Agricultural God and the Church behind them.

Unlike Bataer, the Village Priest from the Southern Province, these young priests active in the densely populated large parish of Mengtuoka City were under no small amount of pressure.

The most elite, smartest, and most capable young priests in the entire parish were gathered here, and everyone hoped that they could gradually become stronger by leveraging the power of the local parish.

That was true, but these clever young priests might not understand that competing within such a large parish like Mengtuoka wouldn't really amount to much.

Under the Agricultural God, there are at least fifty, if not a hundred, such similar parishes; the more densely packed the Priests are, the less they can achieve any real, effective merit.

Ever since the Vice Dean communicated with the Agricultural God a moment ago, and the Agricultural God truly manifested by descending a pillar of light in person, the Priests and other powerhouses within Mengtuoka City who had reached a certain level of strength all took notice of this matter.

But since the Agricultural God manifested in the core area of the Agricultural God Church, no one else had any way to go and take a look or spy on it.

Their own Priests, however, did not have this worry; the Priests who were idle in the area walked quickly or even jogged toward the Central Ritual Field, all gathering outside the main gate, not daring to enter and disturb.

Thus, under the gaze of dozens of local Priests outside the gate of the ritual field, Jier stood generously in place, while the Vice Dean himself smiled, facing Jier with his back to the Statue of the God.

The Vice Dean summoned his Knotted Wood Staff, then held it high horizontally with both hands.

Without the Vice Dean doing anything else, the emerald green light of the Knotted Wood Staff flared brightly, and the grass surrounding the Vice Dean's body instantly grew rapidly and drew close to the Priest himself.

Tender leaves and tree buds also sprouted from the Knotted Wood Staff at an extremely fast speed.

These tender leaves and tree buds grew rapidly, then wound downward to cover the Vice Dean's arms, and subsequently his body, but they left his head and face exposed.

With grass leaves from below and tender leaves and tree buds from above, in just a few breaths, they covered and enveloped the Vice Dean himself.

But this covering and enveloping did not bind the person in place; on the contrary, it was as if the Vice Dean had been dressed in a plant coat, or a tender green Cloak.

Jier watched the changes before him with great interest, guessing that this was likely not yet part of the ritual, but perhaps a means for the Vice Dean to enhance his own strength.

After all, since the Agricultural God was performing a ritual blessing through his hands, enhancing his own strength so that the deity could act without restraint was only to be expected.

No sooner had this thought crossed Jier's mind than the head of the Statue of the God, which was enveloped by the pillar of light descending from the sky, emitted a beam of the purest Cyan Divine Power from its eyes, aimed directly at the Vice Dean who was undergoing the transformation.

In just an instant, after the Vice Dean, dressed in his "green clothes," received the Divine Power personally descended by the deity, that surge of Divine Power made a turn and struck straight toward Jier.

Boom!

Jier was struck by the Divine Power, his entire body surrounded by the powerful Cyan Divine Power, and he lifted off the ground, floating in the air.