Chapter 756 - 112: Abundant Faith
[Harvesting faith from shallow believers, +300]
[Harvesting faith from shallow believers, +300]
[Harvesting faith from shallow believers, +300]
...
Ever since the mass recruitment of followers began, Su Changxing’s mysteriousness has been steadily increasing.
This rate of increase is frightening, giving an unreal feeling.
Even though Su Changxing had anticipated it, he still felt that acquiring mysteriousness this easily was akin to using a cheat to modify the value of mysteriousness.
From the moment Nobu and the others entered the city to recruit the first believer, to now, it had been already two or three hours, and his mysteriousness had risen to 360,000, surpassing the mysteriousness needed for Tier Six.
The new believers in East City were of poor quality, with maybe only one or two out of ten even qualifying as shallow believers, but the problem was the sheer number.
Many people had died, yet tens of thousands remained in East City, and Su Changxing’s ultimate goal was to convert all the people of Maelon to the All Beings Sect, becoming followers for him to harvest faith from.
He risked helping Kasmin seize Maelon for some personal gain, otherwise, he might not have acted, especially since Eric was backed by a Divine Spirit.
To harvest faith, he inevitably had to oppose these Divine Spirits, who were naturally adversarial to each other, and he could be considered a half god, a despicable half god stealing faith.
The significant rise in mysteriousness was unsurprising; he effectively used methods several levels higher than his current one to obtain mysteriousness.
Harvesting faith is an act reserved for Divine Spirits, yet he achieved it as a mortal.
The massive increase in mysteriousness naturally brought with it even greater power.
Compared to before, Su Changxing was at least half as powerful more, and if he were to confront Eric again, he should be able to break his powerful magnetic field in a short time.
Eric’s powerful magnetic field, with its formidable defensive power, was something Su Changxing intended to steal, but unexpectedly, he acquired another ability, one of the core abilities of the Ultra tech race.
[Stolen Heart of Extreme Science: Grants mechanical creations extraordinary abilities, with perfect control over them, possessing immense creativity and understanding abilities, capable of comprehending and learning various knowledge, even that of the Divine Spirits!]
Eric was indeed impressive; the White Tower’s purpose was probably to hypnotize everyone in East City, yet he secretly transformed it into an Energy Tower capable of harming the Shadow of God.
If not for the plague, Su Changxing would have had no way to deal with the Shadow of God, which was, after all, a direct creation of a Divine Spirit.
Yet in such a circumstance, Eric thought of a way to severely wound it.
Indeed, knowledge is power, a truism that holds in any context.
With the Extreme Science Soul, Su Changxing could directly control and modify Rune Warriors, inheriting part of Eric’s knowledge.
As night gradually descended, everything quieted down, leaving only a long line in front of the church, with anxious expressions on many faces.
"I heard becoming a believer of the All Beings Sect can indeed cure the plague, but with such a long line, who knows how long we’ll have to wait."
"No matter how long, we must wait. After all, the plague is fatal. Who knows when the Divine Power of this god will run out; maybe it won’t work later."
"That’s true, so we must queue, even if it means no sleep."
"Hopefully, the church won’t close."
"It won’t. A believer came over earlier and said the All Beings Sect would keep recruiting followers for the next few days; as long as we go, they will accept us, and there are no prerequisites."
Two simply dressed men chatted intermittently, while the people queuing around them appeared rather solemn.
Since the plague spread, there had been many strange occurrences, forcing even atheists to believe.
Su Changxing gave the long line a glance, then walked into the church, placing the newly made clerical gowns in the adjacent room.
Nobu saw Su Changxing, walked over with a beaming smile, and said, "Sir, we have now recruited over 8,000 followers, probably as many as the entire Housheng Sect combined."
In his view, the more people, the better, just like an army, the more believers, the better.
Furthermore, the larger the All Beings Sect, the higher his status as High Priest would be.
A king of a small country with only tens of thousands of people cannot compare to a king of a nation with millions.
It’s akin to a pyramid model; the more who offer tributes below, the higher those at the top of the pyramid stand.
Su Changxing nodded thoughtfully, "Good job, but don’t only focus on quantity, make sure to explain to everyone the significance of joining the All Beings Sect."
"There’s no need to rush the recruitment process, take your time. Maelon is too large; one church is certainly not enough. Tomorrow, select some loyal believers to establish a church in every part of Maelon, and recruit believers according to the current rules."
The coverage area of the complete divine statue was vast, able to encompass all of East City and most of Maelon.
So placing this divine statue at the very center of Maelon was enough to cover the entire region, and the current location of the cathedral was virtually in the central area of Maelon.
Other small chapels do not need to display a real divine statue; it only needs to be a replica, allowing believers to have an object for prayer.
Moreover, he thought, more small chapels would need to be built in the future, enabling all believers to pray conveniently every day.
"Alright, no problem," Nobu nodded and agreed.
Su Changxing trusts him to get things done; he is quite a capable person.
Additionally, some extremely devout believers like Mike have certain issues; they seem to have been significantly impacted spiritually by Karis. Though they follow Su Changxing’s words absolutely, their minds appear dull, and they are not flexible in their actions.
Mike’s situation is quite decent; at least he maintains his original overall cognition, just feels somewhat like he hasn’t fully awakened.
And there are few extremely devout believers who only know to kneel and pray by Su Changxing’s statue every day, constantly repeating as if possessed.
To outsiders, such situations appear quite eerie, yet it also makes many believe the existence of a divine spirit behind the All Beings Sect is indeed real.
Several identical black-cover books appeared in Su Changxing’s hands, and he handed them to Nobu, saying, "This is our new doctrine of the All Beings Sect, roughly the same direction as before, only more detailed expansion."
"Distribute these to those faithful believers, and let them recite during their prayers."
"Later, I will place more copies of the doctrine in the church to distribute to all believers, including every new member."
This doctrine can’t be said to be randomly made by Su Changxing; most of it is integrated and modified from the doctrine of their world’s religious sects.
Such things exist for their reason, likely enabling believers to deepen faith and integrate into the church more quickly.
He could roughly understand why the Housheng Sect is so strict with its believers.
That divine spirit doesn’t convey faith through a statue, thus failing to receive faith from shallow believers, hence only cultivating devout believers.
And to cultivate a devout believer, generally, requires extreme strictness.
Just in terms of the statue, for those divine spirits, it’s incredibly valuable.
Nobu respectfully took over the dozen or so not too thick doctrines from Su Changxing’s hands: "I will surely memorize and strictly abide by the doctrine."
Su Changxing smiled relaxedly: "There’s nothing too strict, merely some guiding content, as we are a church, we must have certain moral standards, this way, others can be convinced."
To make more people recognize the All Beings Sect, its doctrine must align with most people’s moral views and society’s values.
This can be considered a kind of compromise and convenient approach.
The divine spirit’s aim isn’t to convey the morality they hold but to harvest faith; everything else is just a means.
Unless the All Beings Sect expands massively to the point it can overturn the Empire, it need not concern itself with how the doctrine should be.
Nobu’s eyes moved slightly, seemingly wanting to say something.
"Do you have any suggestions?" Su Changxing asked.
Nobu looked around to ensure nobody else was present: "Master, I think stricter would be better; leniency always brings various problems."
"The Empire used to be lenient on sneaky offenses, merely imposing fines and a few days of detention, leading to more sneaky offenders. Eventually, penalties had to be increased for conditions to improve."
"I mean, the All Beings Sect needs stricter rules, with corresponding methods of reward and punishment."
Su Changxing nodded: "Makes sense, spend a few days thinking, compile something about the rules the All Beings Sect needs, then I’ll have a look."
Nobu bowed to Su Changxing, then left holding the thick doctrines.
Afterward, Su Changxing toured around the church surroundings, felt there were no issues, and prepared to leave.
"Hello!"
A voice called from behind.
Su Changxing glanced back to see a woman with a severed arm wearing the uniform of the All Beings Sect.
Recognizing her, he realized she was the woman he helped during the day.
"You saved me earlier, didn’t you? I’m deeply grateful," the woman approached fully grateful, holding Su Changxing’s arm.
These new believers didn’t know he was the Great Sect Leader of All Beings Sect, so not recognizing him was normal.
However, Su Changxing was a bit puzzled: "No need to thank me, it’s what you deserve."
The woman shook her head: "Without you, I might’ve died, and my daughter would be motherless."
"Are you also a believer of the All Beings Sect? Why aren’t you wearing a uniform?"