Chapter 78: Prayer Divine Technique

Lei En's self‑control is quite good; he quickly calms himself.

"Alright." He sits at the bedside and says lightly, "You sit down and speak too; don't worry, I won't eat you."

Viola sits properly on the opposite chair; the two are a few steps apart, her gaze flickers, seeming hard to speak.

Lei En does not urge her, waiting patiently.

After a few minutes, she finally decides and says, "Lei En, I told you before, I am a follower of the Longhaired Lady."

"Hmm, I remember." Lei En nods.

Generic believers in Ai Lun E Si are common; many worship multiple deities, as long as the deities and the church aren't hostile.

Longhaired Lady Freya is the deity of art and love, also presiding over kindness and beauty; she is popular among mortals and maintains good relations with many deities, so her followers are mostly generic believers, the church is loose, and its influence is far less than the Empire's three principal gods.

Speaking of faith, Viola's expression turns serious: "A few years ago, I was already a deacon of the Longshande Art Association, officially becoming a priest of the Beauty and Goodness Church."

Lei En silently listens to her account.

Longhaired Lady Freya is also called the God of Beauty and Goodness, so her follower organization is called the Beauty and Goodness Church, which evangelizes worldwide in the form of art associations, building temples and growing believers.

Priests of the Beauty and Goodness Church are already high‑rank believers.

However, the Longhaired Lady does not possess the mighty divine power of the Empire's three gods, so she cannot create exclusive transcendent professions for believers, only bestow Divine Technique upon high‑rank believers.

Priests are the church's administrators, holding some authority and eligibility for Divine Technique.

But Viola's experience is too shallow, her contributions insufficient; although she has become a priest, she must wait several more years to hold the formal prayer ceremony, receive the Longhaired Lady's blessing, and obtain the corresponding Divine Technique.

Divine Technique is a spellcasting system entirely different from magic; the two do not conflict and can coexist.

All principal deities of Ai Lun E Si grant Divine Techniques that apply the power of life, including abundant healing arts, supportive Divine Techniques, and protections and expulsions against evil deities, serving to protect believers.

Divine Techniques granted by deities require consumption of their own divine power.

Divine power is the source of a deity; a deity's strength depends on its divine power level, and granting Divine Technique to believers means the deity's own power is diminished.

Therefore, unless a deity is extremely powerful, it rarely bestows Divine Technique lightly.

The weaker the deity, the more stingy it is with believers.

The Longhaired Lady's divine power ranks mid‑level among the gods, and she is relatively generous to believers; with sufficient contribution or long enough faith, promotion to priest, seniority, etc., one can generally obtain Divine Technique.

Viola sighs and says, "I've been a follower of the Longhaired Lady since I was ten, have been in the Beauty and Goodness Church for almost twenty years, and have been a priest for three years."

"I donate a Gold Shield to the church each year, but the church values the spread of art more; a Gold Shield, while good, cannot directly bring the Longhaired Lady more followers, so by doctrine my contribution isn't considered large."

"Of course, having donated so many Gold Shields, I only need to wait two more years to obtain Divine Technique; that's already very fast."

"It's just that I don't want to keep waiting; I hope to hold the prayer ceremony earlier."

Lei En's expression turns odd; Viola unintentionally reveals her age, laughing, "So you're thirty this year…"

He is only nineteen, a few months shy of twenty; does that count as being taken advantage of?

Viola gives him a cold look, scolding, "I'm talking about serious matters."

Then she hurriedly explains, "I am a Half-elf; although I cannot easily live five hundred years like a pure elf, I still have at least two hundred years of lifespan. I just passed thirty, which is roughly equivalent to a ten‑year‑old human, so you can't disdain my age!"

"Ten years!" Lei En immediately starts to fantasize; isn't that a legal loli?

"I haven't despised you." He quickly stops his wild thoughts, speaking earnestly, "Anyway, in two more years you'll get Divine Technique; why be anxious?"

"Of course it's for greater power."

Viola shows no concealment of her craving for power, saying, "I am a Ten Thousand Spirits Wizard; if I can wield Divine Technique, I can imbue it onto my summons. Moreover, Divine Technique is not limited to healing and augmentation; there are many offensive Divine Techniques that boost my casting ability, and combined with magic, can raise my strength by at least half!"

"Besides enhancing power, obtaining Divine Technique means entering a deity's sight, gaining divine attention, and having more rights among mortals."

"Anyone who dares to act against me may anger the church and the deity."

At this point, Viola looks at Lei En, as if about to reveal crucial information, and whispers, "If you receive the deity's blessing through the prayer ceremony, performing a Soul Transformation within three days after the ceremony not only raises the success rate but also improves the effect."

"I am a sixth‑level Wizard; my soul power has hit a ceiling, and last year I could have performed the third Soul Transformation, but I haven't done it, waiting for the deity's blessing."

Lei En is very surprised; this must be a considerable secret.

The difficulty and effect of the Soul Transformation have always been the most vexing problem for human transcendants, with no satisfactory solution.

If what Viola says is true, it could explain many things.

The church's transcendent professions, such as the Justice Church's Holy Swordsman, the Earth Church's Earth Nun, the Loxi Church's Trickster, and the Sun Church's Sun Knight, were created by deities for human believers and are far stronger than most professions.

Now it seems the strength of church professions, besides the unique fused magical soul, also stems from divine blessings that yield better Soul Transformation results.

Lei En roughly understands Viola's thinking.

She wants to leverage the church and deity's power to boost her strength and her family's influence, thereby gaining more attention from the Title: Duke, possibly overwhelming other rivals and directly winning the conferment of Dong Ting Bo Ju Ling.

Such a result can be called a win‑win.

However, the problem is how Viola can hold the prayer ceremony earlier.

And what does this have to do with me?

Viola sees Lei En's confusion and says proactively, "The Longhaired Lady's formal prayer ceremony must be held in her temple; behind the Song Opera Theatre where the Longshande Art Association resides, there is a temple of the Longhaired Lady."

"Using the temple for the prayer ceremony is a major church matter; it requires approval from more than half of the priests and the endorsement of the Longshande Art Association's president."

"I am confident I can obtain the president's and priests' permission, but my contribution is still a bit short; I'm afraid that after performing the ceremony, the Longhaired Lady might not respond and not grant Divine Technique."

"There are many such precedents; not every prayer ceremony receives a response. If this fails, the next will require at least another three years."

Concern flickers in Viola's eyes.

Her gaze falls on Lei En's face, and she says softly, "The Longhaired Lady's prayer ceremony has several different methods; one of them most pleases her, offering a high chance of blessing."

Lei En notices her face turning increasingly red, and he is somewhat stunned.

He instinctively asks, "Which one?"

"Hmm…"

Viola's ear tips tremble slightly, she bites her lip, and finally says, "Have your lover also join the prayer, performing a purely romantic love scene for her."

"How does one perform love?"

Lei En is initially stunned, then quickly recovers and asks, "It won't be the kind of performance I have in mind, will it?"

"Yes……" Viola lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly, not daring to look Lei En in the eye, and said softly: "The deeper this love, the better; if both are experiencing it for the first time, the Longhaired Lady will be even more pleased."

Lei En stared dumbfounded, can you really play it like that?

Viola, blushing red-faced, told him that the Longhaired Lady Freya holds the divine office of "Love," delighting in seeing followers reap love, and, like performing music or dance, treats love as an artistic performance.

If love can be performed in the prayer ritual, the Longhaired Lady greatly enjoys watching it.

This is also a prayer method commonly used by many priests of the Beauty and Goodness Church; before meeting Lei En, Viola had no lover, so she had never used it.

Lei En felt his scalp go numb.

He secretly complained, isn't this just voyeurism?

Viola opened her heart, sat beside Lei En, took his hand and said: "I've been considering the prayer ritual since half a year ago; I wanted to start a serious relationship, but I never found a suitable partner until that day, when you came to the Violet House..."

"You like me because I'm handsome, right?" Lei En said with a smile.

He suddenly realized, no wonder Viola, having just met him two days ago, was so proactive; it turned out she was then in "heat," looking for a man to join her in the prayer ritual.

Viola, slightly annoyed, slapped Lei En and said: "The Longhaired Lady also has the divine office of 'Beauty,' so she favors followers with excellent looks; you meet that condition."

"That's only natural."

Lei En felt quite pleased, wanting to boast a few words, but then suddenly thought of something and asked: "Why did you later pull back? Don't lie to me—I can tell you changed your mind back then."

"Because you were too forward." Viola's eyes showed some helplessness: "Just as I showed a little affection, you immediately came on strong, even enthusiastically learning the zither from me, with many little gestures, like a veteran of love, which scared me."

Lei En couldn't help but be speechless, wondering if he had really appeared that eager.

"Um, it seems I really went a bit overboard."

"It's not all because the half-elf is too beautiful; he simply couldn't hold back, afraid of missing the chance."

"I'm afraid you don't truly like me, but only want my body; if the Longhaired Lady discovers the deception in the prayer ritual, you won't obtain the Divine Technique and may even incur divine punishment." Viola's expression grew softer, she said emotionally: "Of course, I now know you are a man willing to give your life for me; there is no love more true or profound than that."

Lei En looked back at her, a warm smile appearing on his face.

He actually felt a bit guilty, asking himself sincerely whether he really liked her.

Of course, he also indeed lusted after her beauty, um, and other things, but it was certainly not feigned affection; he simply hadn't reached that depth of love, his initial motives were impure.

Viola, unaware of Lei En's thoughts, gazed straight at him and said candidly: "I've told you everything; no matter what you want to do now, I won't refuse."

(End of chapter)