Chapter 404

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

"Exemption" brings divine-art-level pressure; the energy cluster hovering around Yin Senyong had no choice but to enter his body, altering and fusing with his physical structure.

"How many times have you advanced?" Chen Yi asked as he watched the light cluster fully enter, then withdrew "Exemption."

"The...?"

"Of course." Chen Yi asked with a beaming smile: "How is your cooperation with Quan Cong? To become a Divine Art Knight, the key is having sufficient faith, right?"

"Yes. My cooperation with Quan Cong is not bad; he has me help people pick things up and give up seats on buses... but humble and modest faith was originally my weakness. Also, without raising faith in loyalty to the Temple, I fear I cannot receive the High Priest's nomination. A Divine Art Knight only faces this subjugation to the High Priest once in a lifetime, and too many Temple Knights have been disappointed over candidate nominations. Yin Senyong's worry is natural."

Humble and modest faith is actually not suitable for him to cultivate on Earth, because Chen Yi is a celebrity in Jiangning, while Yin Senyong is just an ordinary person. Just as a smiling high official is called a modest leader, while a smiling commoner is just a silly passerby.

Chen Yi had long had the idea of winning over Yin Senyong; he patted his shoulder and asked inducively: "Do you know where I became a Divine Art Knight?"

"At your local temple. You seem to have obtained four divine arts—truly impressive." Yin Senyong had prepared six faiths, but exactly how many faiths would receive the gods' favor depended both on the degree of faith and on some element of luck.

Chen Yi smiled like an old cat fishing: "That's right, at the local temple, obtaining four divine arts, very easily."

In Yin Senyong's doubtful and expectant gaze, Chen Yi said softly: "If I can make you a Divine Art Knight and obtain more than two faiths for you, what are you willing to pay?"

Yin Senyong's eyes simply stood up like a tree.

Impossible!

That was his first impression.

Then came long hope...

Like most knights, Yin Senyong hoped to obtain three divine arts, corresponding to offensive divine art and defensive divine art, and preferably one adaptive divine art as well. For example, Chen Yi's current "Freedom of Movement" is an extraordinary adaptive divine art; whether slaying a dragon in magma or crossing thousands of mountains and rivers to attack an army in the vast mountains, it is very useful.

However, three divine arts means occupying three faith slots. At least half of the Divine Art Knights on the West Continent can only obtain one or two divine arts, which makes the combat power of different Divine Art Knights vary enormously.

As for how many Combat Knights can become Divine Art Knights? The West Continent has no such statistics, and can never have any; that is a happiness that a city-state might achieve only after decades of effort.

Yin Senyong spoke with extreme lack of confidence: "Really... possible?"

This was very different from his usual demeanor, for a Divine Art Knight was too important to him and his family.

Chen Yi shrugged and said: "This is not a promise, but there is indeed a very great opportunity."

Yin Senyong's head went "buzz," as if time had stopped.

Only now did he remember that Chen Yi was a Holy Knight with the "Honesty" attribute, and absolutely could not lie about such an important matter, otherwise the deducted faith would make his divine art "Comprehend Languages" worse than konjac.

"I... I... I am a member of the Yin Sen Family; I must believe in the Wood Dragon Divine Temple." This was Yin Senyong's only problem, but he immediately added: "As long as a knight who has made one attempt does not receive the Wood Dragon's favor, he can choose another temple; at that time... at that time I could... You know, the Wood Dragon Divine Temple has a huge number of commoners, with tens of thousands of Temple Knights participating each year, and only three or four people obtain the title of Divine Art Knight... so..."

"You don't need to choose the faith of loyalty to the Temple." Regarding religious fanatics, modern people have some experience. Chen Yi bypassed this issue: "You must choose the faith of loyalty to your oath, and at the same time make a strict promise; if you are willing, I will, in an established manner, do my best to help you become a Divine Art Knight."

Yin Senyong's eyes were opened so wide that his pupils seemed to bulge. The number of Divine Art Knights a temple receives each year is within a certain range, usually determined by the number of believers. Although there is some difference, a temple with millions of believers holding a large religious gathering of 100,000 people may not necessarily obtain two Divine Art Knights. The Wood Dragon Divine Temple occupies more than thirty city-states, with nearly ten million believers, and produces only three or four Divine Art Knights each year—a proportion even lower relative to Temple Knights. Precisely because the quota for Divine Art Knights is so scarce, unless a knight chooses the faith of "Loyalty to the Temple," the priests will not let you into the venue to undergo the god's test.

Chen Yi's words clearly broke Yin Senyong's conventional understanding.

"If it is truly as you say, I promise you." Yin Senyong did not think too much; the promise slipped out.

Chen Yi turned his back and took out "the strict promise" from his Space Storage Ring—a servitude contract of 268 pages written by a professional lawyer, every word carefully considered and refined, possessing all the attributes of a harsh legal document. It was so precise that almost every noun had a specific definition, nitpicky down to the level of sentence breaks, detailed enough that the appendix considered handling methods for almost every possible conflict with other faiths, not just principles. It was more concrete and rigorous than the divine art of "Loyalty to the Temple," more comprehensive, and even more shameless.

Yin Senyong's pupils bulged completely, like a good-looking yellow eel awaiting slaughter.

A 268-page promise—Yin Senyong was certain that if he completed it, his power of faith would rise by leaps and bounds.

When he looked at Chen Yi again, Yin Senyong was no longer so grateful.

Chen Yi shrugged and smiled: "See, gratitude dissipates; sometimes it dissipates naturally, even without any return. But a promise is different, which is why priests require loyalty to the Temple. Although the temple I speak of does not require loyalty to it, I have such a requirement. If you agree, you might even gain an extra faith."

Yin Senyong lowered his head in embarrassment.

Loyalty to the Temple and loyalty to an individual actually have no essential difference; it is just that years of education made his thinking hard to change.

Yin Senyong gently flipped through the agreement, thick as a book, and said: "After all, I am a child cultivated by the Yin Sen Family; if I always stay on Earth, I fear it will be difficult to remain loyal to the family."

"You don't need to personally be loyal to the family; have they developed to the point of needing a Divine Art Knight? You being here will naturally bring resources to provide for your family—there is no doubt about that." Chen Yi replied thoughtfully: "The ultimate value of a Divine Art Knight lies in deterrence; deterrence comes from the force he is loyal to, not merely his own martial power; otherwise more than half of Divine Art Knights would starve to death, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes."

"We don't even know what faith you will ultimately obtain, so whether you can effectively use it within the family is uncertain. But one thing is certain: you must be loyal to me to have a chance to become a Divine Art Knight."

This very straightforward explanation happened to suit Yin Senyong's taste.

Knights are used to being direct, because most of them believe in "Honesty" or "Words and Deeds Consistent"; although it adds a bit of constraint, at times it can also help them. At least knights can put drinks on their tab without the boss worrying they'll welsh like gamblers and drunkards.

Yin Senyong no longer looked at the thick loyalty document, but turned to ask: "Where to take the oath? When can the gathering be held?"

"First we need to increase your faith. How about Mercy?"

"Mercy?" Even Yin Senyong himself was surprised: "The Mercy faith is very difficult to increase, and it costs a lot of money."

"It's different here." Chen Yi shrugged and said: "On Earth, there are foundations."

"Is it a temple?"

Chen Yi laughed heartily, drawing the juniors in the room to look over.

The next day.

Chen Yi began searching for local religions in Jiangning. Without an existence as powerful as the Pope of the Vatican, making Yin Senyong advance to Divine Art Knight required a large temple.

Yin Senyong himself, accompanied by two foundations long prepared, began wandering around Jiangning City.

China's foundations are semi-official; this not only means their managers may be state-employed, but also represents that their funding sources may be official—not necessarily from state appropriations; in fact, Chinese foundations usually have their own assets, and state or local compulsory fundraising is frequent. For example, the Red Cross, with a world-renowned name, is actually a Chinese-style institution independent of it, and possesses qualifications such as blood collection; whether earning price differences or using it for advertising, both are enough to cover its expenses.

To a certain extent, as long as a charitable institution's income covers its expenses, it's fine; whether in China or the United States, it's perfectly natural for a foundation to spend 90% or even 98% of its own money—who can resist?

The foundation controlled by Fang Manyi also consumed over 60% of its funds for its own expenses, mainly due to a bloated personnel structure, a situation she could not reform, because these salaried people did not appear out of nowhere for no reason, nor were they recruited legitimately; they were usually exchanged as conditions—if the foundation wanted to get money from an organization, not necessarily given by them, perhaps just needing to pass their approval, then the foundation had to help them solve several people's employment issues. And from the perspective of the foundation's employees, they were not corrupt; as a job rather than a contribution, they hoped to receive wages equivalent to ordinary civil servants, bonuses equivalent to central enterprises, and if on business trips or overtime, they hoped to receive triple pay as stipulated by the state, even if this time was spent dining and dancing at a hotel—in fact, if dining and dancing, they would usually fight to pay the bill, giving money to anyone, why be stingy.

Chen Yi did not intend to reform such an institution; as long as he wasn't paying out of his own pocket, their corruption was the state's business.

Now the key point was that the foundation's money went to anyone; if it could be given through Yin Senyong, then "Mercy" might be a good faith.

... (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian; your support is my greatest motivation.)