Chapter 644: The Teachings of Priest Minggu and the Underground Storage Hall

Jier first put on his armor neatly, then proceeded to equip his weapons one by one onto his body.

Not far away, the Priests had not yet dispersed; because the Agricultural God had departed, they finally dared to whisper and discuss what had just happened.

The Vice Dean's old companions did not keep it a secret either, explaining the cause and effect of the event. Since it was not something that needed to be kept secret in the first place, many things might seem to have slow information transmission, but that is simply because the news only spreads within one circle; people outside that circle cannot get any information at all.

No one would pass on such information.

Not to mention that the social structure of this other world is clearly stratified, and this point is even more exaggerated. The price of information and knowledge has always been this expensive from ancient times to the present.

Knowing the reason for the continuous ritual that even disturbed the Agricultural God, many people showed pitying expressions toward Bata'er Jiaoshi. But it was precisely this expression that caused Bata'er Jiaoshi's originally excited expression to cool down, and he pulled a long face.

"Jier, I have already thanked the Priests for their assistance; let's go after we collect our items!"

Seeing the fully armed Jier walking over slowly, Bata'er Jiaoshi stepped forward and grabbed Jier's iron armor shell, wanting to walk out.

The Vice Dean smiled and waved to one of his old companions, and so this old Priest, whose name was unknown, led Jier and the other through the layers of spectating Priests and walked toward a certain direction in the Church.

A young Priestess named Qing Tian looked curiously at Jier, who was very different from yesterday, and frowned while pondering the question of whether Jier was a good person or a bad person.

The Vice Dean beckoned, letting the crowd of Priests outside the main ritual hall gate come in. Firstly, it was for them to experience at close range the scene of the Divine Power residue left by the high-level ritual blessing, and secondly, he took this opportunity to lecture the young Priests, who usually didn't pay much attention to his lessons, on just how powerful these rituals and blessings—which they were unwilling to listen to properly—actually were.

He actually understood in his heart why the young Priests preferred to spend more time on Prayer Divine Arts rather than ritual blessings; the reason was that they could come into contact with Prayer Divine Arts every day, but ritual blessings had quite high minimum requirements for a Priest's qualifications and strength.

Moreover, when he gave lectures, he could only dryly recite from books summarized by predecessors; it was impossible for him to actually release a powerful ritual during a lecture.

The Divine Power consumed by ritual blessings far exceeds that of Prayer Divine Arts, and its consumption is on par with Battle Divine Arts. Both are high-level techniques that require young Priests to weigh whether the Divine Power accumulated within their bodies is enough to release them.

Fortunately, today's opportunity was good; although he and his old companions had consumed a lot of long-accumulated Divine Power, by doing proper work and doing things arranged by the gods, the Agricultural God would provide various compensations.

Gods are all great and generous; they would not tell you to do something without giving you benefits.

Many young Priests could not see this point, but an old guy like him had long understood this principle; otherwise, he himself would not have reached today's strength and status.

"How should I address this old Priest?"

Walking in the stone corridor entwined with vines, Jier asked Bata'er Jiaoshi in a low voice about leading them to collect the Blessing Tool they had agreed upon earlier.

"What old Priest! This is Apprentice Priestess Minggu. Don't look at the title Apprentice Priestess; in fact, the vast majority of Priests spend their entire lives in the position of Pastor, and simply have no opportunity to qualify as an Apprentice Priestess."

Speaking of this, Bata'er Jiaoshi's mood became depressed, as he seemed to realize that he himself had a high chance of never being promoted to the position of Apprentice Priestess in his lifetime.

Although he became a Pastor at a young age, most others were also in this position; everyone was much the same, that was all.

Jier ignored Bata'er Jiaoshi's melancholy and walked faster, coming to the side of the silent, leading old Priest Minggu.

"Priest Minggu, where are we going to collect the items that have received the blessing? By the way, is the blessing from the ritual blessing just now the same thing as this blessing?"

Facing Jier's question, the old Priest was expressionless. Although her expression was a bit tired, her walking pace was the same distance every time. She nodded slightly, then shook her head, and under Jier's puzzled expression, the old Priest still answered him.

"Warrior Jier, they are similar, but also very different."

"How so?"

They happened to walk to a relatively open garden at this time. Many pine trees grew in the garden, and on the garden ground covered with pine needles, many cold-climate plants and flowers grew, relying on scarce sunlight and rotting pine needles to survive.

There was a small stone fountain in the center. The old Priest happened to want to take a shortcut through the garden, so she led Jier and the other two to sit down by the fountain, sitting on the stone fence of the stone fountain.

Jier sat on the stone fence with a clatter, making the old Priest's eye twitch, fearing that Jier would sit down so recklessly and collapse the fountain directly.

Fortunately, it was built by erecting a whole piece of rock and was very sturdy.

Bata'er Jiaoshi sat on the other side of the old Priest.

The two of them saw that the old Priest was a bit tired, so they complied with the other party's wishes and sat down to rest for a while.

As it happened, although the surrounding pine garden did not occupy much space, the overlapping pine trees blocked the surrounding Church scenery, instead giving people the feeling of having arrived in a cold northern region.

The surroundings were quite silent; except for the sound of water falling in the fountain, it was extremely quiet. The Agricultural God Church was originally a very quiet place, and here, it was estimated that the sound-absorbing effect of the pine trees made it exceptionally quiet.

"How to put it."

After the old Priest sat down, she took a breath and explained her confusion to Jier.

It seemed that although this Priest Minggu did not have many expressions on her face, she was actually a warm-hearted and kind old person who would still provide answers to a young person's questions.

"Simply put, they are both external manifestations produced by an orderly aggregation of the Agricultural God's Divine Power. As for the origin of Divine Power, that is not something you or I can ponder. Just speaking of the orderly aggregation of Divine Power, the difference between the two lies here."

The old person paused, bent down, reached out to scoop up a small handful of water from the fountain with her hand, and drank it slowly and gently.

"The object receiving the Divine Power; the degree of the internal weaving rules of the Divine Power; the tightness of the aggregation; the amount of Divine Power; the external effect."

Jier felt a headache as soon as he heard what the old Priest said, as if he had returned to his previous life in university, listening to lecturers talk about those profound contents in a broad and generalized way.

Bata'er Jiaoshi, however, could roughly understand, counting on his fingers as the old Priest spoke. After listening, he seemed to discover that the knowledge he had learned many years ago had been forgotten for the most part during his time stationed in the village.

Thus, he showed a sheepish, awkward smile.

"Ritual blessing, blessing. Although the names look similar, this easily makes an outsider like you, Warrior Jier, feel confused. But in fact, the difference is really huge. Simply put, a ritual is difficult for one person to complete. If multiple people cooperate, there is also the issue of coordination. The ritual you just saw went smoothly because we who participated in the ritual are old companions who have been familiar with each other for many years. We have held many similar different rituals for many people every year, so it looked easy."

The old Priest shook her head: "But didn't you notice? The Divine Power that each of the six people needs to release must be consistent and error-free; at the very least, it cannot differ too much. This in itself is difficult to achieve. Not to mention who goes first and who goes second; the movements cannot conflict at all. The ritual itself is actually a measure woven by the gods for us to collectively overcome the lack of human strength."

The old person raised her hand and gestured toward the sun: "We humans, in fact, are neither high nor low among all intelligent races. Although there are no shortcomings, there are not many advantages either. There is only one benefit: in human society, adults at least have a certain ability to think and intelligence. And there are enough of us."

"As for the blessing, this is just a name. It is actually a gathering, weaving, and transfer of Divine Power that a single Priest can complete. By gathering the Divine Power usually accumulated onto some objects, and continuously performing Divine Art releases or prayers, the Divine Power controlled by the Priest will simply be influenced and gather on the object, and under certain conditions, possess a small internal cycle."

Jier carefully scratched his cheek with his finger; he felt he had roughly understood, but also hadn't quite understood. In short, it seemed he had understood.

"So that's how it is! I understand!"

A smile appeared on the old Priest's originally expressionless face: "Really understand?"

"Yes, I understand!"

The old Priest nodded, and after resting for a while, the group walked toward the place where valuable materials and items were stored.

That was a small house behind a tall Church.

They detoured from the Church where music could be heard from inside, and walked from the stone path outside the Church to the back of the Church.

On a small open space here, there was a small house made of stone.

Around the house were stone pillars with the Agricultural God and the four Season Goddesses carved on the tops.

And the house itself looked like it had been carved out of a single giant rock; outside the house, except for a metal gate on the front, there were no seams or entrances and exits.

Priest Minggu walked in front, and without seeing any movement from her, she just waved her palm, and the metal gate at the entrance of the small house obediently fell downward.

Behind the door was a spiral stone staircase leading downward.

As expected, the important places are all hidden underground.

Jier smiled and walked at the very back, being the third to enter the stone stairs and head down.

The spiral stone stairs were not steep; it was likely considered that many Priests with high strength and status were elderly, so they would not build this passage leading to the storage of supplies and items to be difficult for people.

The two-meter-wide downward stone stairs had very limited height for each step, and the stairs were quite wide; while convenient, it was quite uncomfortable for a young person like Jier to walk down.

They walked down about ten meters deep, and the surrounding lighting relied entirely on the green light of the Divine Power of the Agricultural God emitted from the two Priests in front. Only then did Jier understand why there were no lighting facilities installed in this staircase; it turned out that for the Priests, if they needed lighting for a short time, they could simply let the Divine Power of the Agricultural God within their bodies shine out.

Although the glowing green light was not very bright, it was more than enough to illuminate the path.

Jier fiddled with the Sword Sheath of his Hunting Sword and the Yueshui Skull Two-Handed Axe on his back, making them emit a faint glow as well. If others could glow, he couldn't fall behind, could he?

What if he were looked down upon?

After reaching the bottom of the stairs, there was another metal gate in front of them.

Priest Minggu did not open the door as easily this time. He pressed his palm against a certain spot on the metal gate, and as the light of the Divine Power on his body expanded and contracted, the metal gate descended once more, revealing the situation behind the door.

Behind the door was a relatively spacious and square underground hall; the hall was quite empty, with only some stone bookshelves against the walls.

Directly facing the metal gate, at the end of the underground hall, there was also a Divine Statue of the Agricultural God carved from white stone. In the four corners of the hall stood four other statues of goddesses, each with different appearances and poses.

Jier didn't need to think to know they must be the statues of the Goddesses of the Four Seasons.

Sure enough, as he walked into the hall, he easily identified who the four statues were.

The one to the back-left upon entering, with both hands raised in a gesture of bestowing items, had piles of harvest crops at the feet of the statue; haha, this one must be the Goddess of Autumn—Solitude.

And the one to the back-right upon entering was a robust goddess carrying a logging axe; a hearty smile appeared on her face, one hand carrying the logging axe, while the other hand heroically held a Dwarf-style wine cup, looking as if she could log wood and drink at the same time. This one must be the Lady of Winter—Cuinaisi.

The statue at the front-left of the underground hall was dressed in cool, beautiful attire, wearing sandals, one hand lifting the hem of her long skirt, and the other hand holding a lady's noble sun hat on her head; clearly, this was the Summer Goddess who represented summer—Luxuriance.

Finally, on the front-right was the Goddess of Spring—Joy. This goddess stood with a dignified posture in a Robe, standing quietly in place, only this goddess was holding a paper umbrella made of thin sheepskin to block the rain. A faint smile was on her face.

The lighting inside the underground hall relied entirely on the bright white light emitted by these five statues.

Only then did Jier understand why the locals said the Baishi City Wall Guanka on the east side of Montoka City was bright regardless of day or night.

If that city wall made by Dwarfs could emit bright light just like these statues, that would indeed be a strange sight.

There were people in the hall.

It was just that when they came down, the few Priests here were sitting or standing before the Divine Statue of the Agricultural God, engaged in Prayer.

However, when they officially entered the hall, these few quickly ended their Prayer and turned to look at the three of them.

"It is Apprentice Priest Minggu. You bring these two here; what is the important matter, and is it by the intention of the Vice Dean?"

The one speaking to Priest Minggu was an equally elderly Priest, but unlike the general Agricultural God Priests who wore light-colored Robes, the Robe of the Priest who asked the question was pitch black; if not for the emblem of the Agricultural God embroidered on his chest, Jier would not have recognized him as an Agricultural God Priest.

The other four Priests standing to the left and right were all middle-aged men; looking at their Robes, they seemed to be of the Pastor rank like the old man.

"Yes, these two are heroes who have received the mission of the great Agricultural God to carry out a dangerous task. This is the hero Qiao-Jier, the 'Comer' personally appointed by the great Agricultural God, assisting Priest Luosa-Bata'er of the Southern Province on this trip to save the believers and commoners abducted by the rebel army."

Priest Minggu reached into his sleeve and took out a Small Nongshen Statue that could represent the Vice Dean.

Upon seeing this item, the five Agricultural God Priests responsible for the work here all acknowledged it. They then nodded and asked what help they needed.

"Give these two young people some blessed weapon items capable of handling this trip."

Priest Minggu stepped aside to let the people opposite see clearly the two people, Jier and his companion, following behind him.

"This one, hero Jier. With your equipment complete, what else is needed?"

Jier stepped forward two paces and said: "I need some auxiliary items that can facilitate activities in the Southern Province, which has many mountains, rivers, and forests."

Once he said this, the people opposite understood. The five of them discussed in low voices, and then the youngest one walked to a wall of the hall; not knowing what he did, that thick rock wall protruded and slid to one side.

It revealed a room behind it.

The entrance to the room was blocked by a metal railing with a Lock; the Priest found a key on the key ring at his waist, opened the metal railing, and walked in.

After a while, he walked out carrying several items.

After the person came outside the door, he first put the things down, locked the metal railing again, and only after the stone wall closed did he walk over carrying the items.

The elderly Priest wearing a black Robe reached out and gestured, and the ground in the middle of the hall rose up a large piece; after being raised by more than a meter, it became a stone table that could hold items of a moderate size.

The items taken out were placed on the stone table one by one. Jier saw that the most important ones were two mottled plant cloaks with many branches and shrub twigs.

Besides that, there was a combination item consisting of metal nails and several stone balls.

There were also two small Wooden Agricultural God Statues.

A miniature house toy no larger than a palm.

Jier's curiosity was greatly aroused, and he opened his mouth to ask what these things were.