Chapter 37: Prayer

After leaving Violet House, Lei En went to a tailor shop and bought himself several new outfits; his figure had grown a size, and his old clothes no longer fit.

His carriage had just entered Keshom Street, and he cautiously surveyed his surroundings to avoid encountering the fighter Huo Gen who might be looking for him.

He arrived smoothly at the foot of the apartment building, and there was no trace of Huo Gen at all.

"Maybe that Huo Gen doesn't know I live on this street; I overestimated his abilities, fighting wits and bravery against thin air."

Lei En gave a self‑deprecating smile.

When he went upstairs he ran into a few neighbors, but none were familiar enough to notice his change.

Back in his room, Lei En preened in front of the mirror for a long time, very pleased with his current appearance, before contemplating his next plans.

The top priority was to deal with the trouble caused by the Conflict Mark.

Earlier outside, Lei En used his Soul Eye to observe many people, paying particular attention to their fire of faith, and found that most people, whether ordinary or transcendent, worship the Empire's three gods—either one of them or multiple at once.

Among them, followers of the God of Magic were the most numerous, the Earth Mother next, together accounting for over eighty percent, while about ten percent worshiped the God of Justice.

The remaining ten percent had very chaotic beliefs, not belonging to the three gods.

Lei En's knowledge of deities was limited; he could not identify which deities these people worshiped, only roughly judging from the feel of their fire of faith whether they were righteous or evil deities.

And then, he was quite frightened.

Because the number of people worshiping evil deities was far greater than he had imagined!

From Violet House to the apartment, Lei En discovered over a dozen suspected evil‑deity followers, both ordinary people and transcendants.

As for distinguishing righteous from evil deities, Lei En could not be very certain.

In Ai Lun E Si there are many deities, each major race has its own divine system, and the difference between righteous and evil deities is a subjective judgment made by humans based on their sense of good and evil, influenced by the local church powers.

Any deity that is hostile to the gods worshiped by the church is called an evil deity.

These deities are all native to Ai Lun E Si, but due to different clerical roles they have different codes of conduct.

Some objective followers call deities they do not worship "foreign deities," and those who worship foreign deities are "heterodox believers."

The only deities regarded as evil by all races of Ai Lun E Si are the four terrifying deities from the Abyss!

The over‑dozen people Lei En found were heterodox believers, none of whom worshiped the deceiver Luo Xi, so they could not sense the Conflict Mark.

"Conflict Mark…"

He suddenly thought that since he could now see the fire of faith, perhaps he could also locate the Conflict Mark?

He activated his Soul Eye and searched his own body for a long time, but found nothing abnormal.

"Still not working?" Lei En said, a bit disappointed.

All this time the Soul Eye could only see others' soul states, not his own; he could only judge his own soul condition from the information on his phone interface.

"If only I could see my own soul too."

Lei En scratched his head, his gaze sweeping the mirror, then had a sudden idea, stood again before the mirror, and focused his Soul Eye on his own head.

In an instant, his reflected head became ethereal, a sphere of light appearing.

"Damn, I should have discovered this ages ago; I look in the mirror every day and never thought to use the Soul Eye on myself," Lei En said, slapping his palm in annoyance, then carefully examined his soul.

Like others, his soul was also a sphere of light, but its strength far exceeded that of ordinary people; even among transcendants, few could match it, roughly equivalent to a third‑tier transcendant.

Deep within his soul, Lei En saw a familiar red flower.

"This must be my Little Red Flower.

'

Lei En looked at the red flower with curiosity; it resembled a peculiar and powerful Element, situated at the very core of the soul, merged with the whole soul.

"If the Little Red Flower is also an Element, what grade would it be?"

Lei En suddenly thought of it, nodded confidently, and said silently, "At least a legendary Element, perhaps even higher!"

The red flower's eight petals unfurled, and from its center sprouted a vibrant sapling, which had only one branch and three leaves, each leaf bearing an Element rune.

The world tree formed of soul power occupied most of the soul, and not far beneath it Lei En detected the presence of the Blood Soul Curse.

He sighed inwardly; even as a transmigrator, he could not escape the Lord of Darkness's curse.

Immediately, Lei En finally found the Conflict Mark!

Above the soul hovered a black‑and‑red pattern, a twisted black skull encircled by blood light, exuding an ominous aura.

It was this outward‑radiating aura that allowed Luo Xi's followers to sense its existence.

Lei En studied it for a long time, still unsure what to do; the mark was bound to his soul, visible but immovable, leaving him helpless.

As he stared at the mark, he suddenly recalled that he seemed to have forgotten something.

Others' souls all contain a fire of faith, but his did not!

"Could it be because I have no deity I worship?"

Lei En remembered his former self had worshiped the God of Magic, but not devoutly; he prayed rarely, and since inhabiting this body, he had never prayed at all.

Too long without prayer, so the fire of faith extinguished?

The Conflict Mark is also formed of divine power; its location in the soul coincides with the fire of faith—if he never has a fire of faith, will it remain forever, never dissipating?

Lei En felt a vague worry, thinking that lacking a fire of faith seemed rather ominous.

Yet he was reluctant to worship any deity.

Having been transmigrated for so long, he gradually understood certain things.

In Ai Lun E Si, the fate of the non‑believer is terrifying. People must worship some deity, whether righteous or evil, to gain protection; otherwise after death the soul would fall into the Abyss and become an eternal slave of an evil deity.

Lei En had once been a staunch atheist, but after all this he was shaken.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally decided to pray.

If he had to choose a deity, the God of Magic was the best choice.

This goddess is a very tolerant deity; she does not impose strict demands on her followers, hardly interferes with their daily lives, and because her divine office includes "wisdom," "knowledge," and "magic," she favors well‑educated followers, and if they also possess great magical power, that is even better.

Therefore, the vast majority of human spellcasters are followers of the God of Magic, especially Wizards.

The God of Magic's Divine Chosen were almost all the most powerful Wizards.

In the Oriense Empire, faith in the God of Magic ran deep, yet His church was not as prominent as those of the other two true gods. Most churches were established in the form of libraries, and the organization among believers was not as rigid as in other churches.

Furthermore, all the Empire's schools were in fact also the goddess's churches, spreading the glory of His wisdom.

Lei En's mother, Malinda, was a devout follower of the goddess and a teacher at a church school. Under her guidance, the entire family were followers of the goddess.

He carefully recalled the goddess's prayer, crossed his hands, pressed his index and middle fingers together in pairs to form an upward gesture, half-closed his eyes, and silently recited the prayer in his heart.

After praying three times in succession, Lei En felt a strange power within his heart.

This power was extremely faint, yet it brought calm to his heart, along with an indescribable sense of mystery and security.

He looked at himself in the mirror and discovered that an invisible flame like iridescent light had ignited within his soul, forming an illusory thread above his head that vanished into the void, extending to an unknowable destination.

"It actually works!"

Lei En was overjoyed. Once his flame of faith was produced, it immediately began to repel the Mark of Strife, and its aura noticeably weakened by a portion.

He patiently observed for a moment; under the opposition of the flame of faith, the Mark of Strife had become less stable.

Though it would still be a long time before it completely dissipated, this was a good sign.

Lei En decided to pray regularly from now on, but not too frequently—just enough to sustain the flame of faith. At least for now, he had no intention of being overly devout; being a shallow believer was perfectly fine.

After staying in the apartment for a while, Lei En went out again, making a trip to the Basil Inn.

The shotgun was still hidden in the room at the inn, and he needed to go back and see Roger. Since he hadn't become a Demon Hunter, he should at least let the other party know.

Taking a bus to the Lien District, Lei En noticed that in this slum area, the number of heretics was enormous—it was practically a breeding ground for evil god followers.

As always, the Basil Inn was as lively as ever, with the lobby full of people playing cards.

However, there was one change: there were noticeably more women than before.

Their attire was very bold, or rather revealing. Some were flirting with the men, while others had joined the card games, exchanging suggestive glances with their opponents while playing, distracting the men and occasionally provoking peals of raucous laughter.

"Whoa, what's going on?"

Lei En was dumbfounded. He'd only been away a few days—how had the Basil Inn turned into a brothel!

He didn't spot Roger, so he walked over to the counter and saw the dwarf Zoltan flirting with a plump woman who, by human aesthetic standards, looked somewhat overweight.

"Zoltan," Lei En called out.

The dwarf saw it was him and told the plump woman to step aside for now. He showed not the slightest embarrassment and laughed heartily, "It's you, lad. If you hadn't paid your room fee, I'd have thought you weren't coming back."

"My things are still here." Lei En's gaze swept across the flock of women in the hall, and he asked curiously, "Is the Basil Inn planning to change its business?"

"Ahem, it's just a way to attract customers. As you can see, everyone likes it, hehe..."

Zoltan put on a "you know what I mean" expression, his mohawk swaying back and forth as he said cheerfully, "You want some? I'll call two over for you!"

Lei En shook his head repeatedly and hastily refused.

Zoltan's taste was questionable at best, even somewhat on the heavy side.

Most of the women in the tavern were on the plump side, with looks that were below average, each and every one of them aggressive and predatory. In just this short while, at least four or five women were staring straight at him. He truly couldn't muster any interest, nor did he dare to provoke them.

Besides, after having seen Viola, these plain and vulgar women couldn't even catch his eye.

"Where is Master Roger?" Lei En changed the subject.

Zoltan pointed toward the courtyard behind the inn and replied lecherously, "He's out back."