Lord of Prayer

Fifteen minutes later.

The office was illuminated by the light of a projection, revealing a holographic figure. It was a woman in her thirties with slender eyebrows and brown hair coiled into a bun, giving her a mature and elegant air.

"You have ten minutes," White Bird said bluntly.

Zhou Chen gave the dean of the local Life Church a polite smile. "Dean Wang, would you mind leaving us for a moment?"

"Please, talk amongst yourselves." Dean Wang nodded and tactfully left the office.

Afterward, Zhou Chen conjured a sound-insulating Matrix that covered the entire room. Only then did he begin to explain the situation in detail.

After listening, White Bird’s gaze lingered on the blue notebook in his hand. A flicker of complex emotion crossed her eyes. She remained silent for a moment before speaking slowly.

"If you want to investigate this matter, go to Feng City. If you don’t find any useful clues within three days, drop it."

’Feng City... within three days...’ A thought struck Zhou Chen. He asked tentatively, "Senior, can you give me any more hints?"

White Bird didn’t answer. Instead, she left him with a final sentence—"Give the notebook to Wang Xuan"—before the projection cut out. Wang Xuan was Dean Wang’s full name.

’This is going to be difficult...’ Zhou Chen couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

From White Bird’s words, he could deduce that the Life Church definitely knew more about this incident. The fact that she knew where to look for clues indicated that the Church had been hunting the perpetrator all along, and had even grasped their movements to some extent.

The Life Church was no pushover; it was a bona fide world-class religion. Yet, for such a behemoth to have pursued the culprit for over a decade without making an arrest was a testament to the perpetrator’s power and cunning.

Furthermore, White Bird’s attitude was obvious. She clearly didn’t want him meddling in this affair. This wasn’t because she worried he was too weak and would be killed by the culprit, but simply because she didn’t want an outsider digging too deep. If not for the Token from Father Daun, she probably wouldn’t have revealed a single word.

Combined with the fact that the Life Church had destroyed the case files and suppressed all information...

All the known clues pointed to the fact that this was no simple matter.

’What exactly is the Life Church hiding...?’

·

「Afternoon.」

A steel train sped past on the tracks, kicking up a howling gale.

On the high-speed train to Feng City, Zhou Chen watched the scenery blur past the window for a while. Finding it uninteresting, he closed his eyes and let his consciousness ascend to the Round Table Hall.

He took out the Hammer of Forging and the Forging Hammer given to him by the Prophet. He struck them against each other. With a CLANG, the ancient fire patterns on the Hammer of Forging lit up with a blazing glow, shining brilliantly.

The Secret Power contained within this Forging Hammer increased the Hammer of Forging’s repair progress by 5%. Unsealed forging knowledge flooded Zhou Chen’s mind.

As he digested this knowledge, he contemplated the unique aspects of a Tier Three Ascender.

Generally speaking, there were two unique aspects to being a Tier Three Ascender.

First was the Golden Soul. The coalescence of the Golden Soul brought about a complete metamorphosis in a Tier Three Ascender’s level of life. Even a damaged soul could repair itself, and even if the physical body was destroyed, they could survive as a Spirit Body. They were incredibly difficult to kill.

Second was Essence Materialization. Essence Materialization allowed an Ascender to break free from the inherent shackles of a human body and achieve an Extraordinary state. It was also an important combat technique.

Most importantly, only by permanently converting one’s entire body from flesh and blood into Essence, becoming an "Extraordinary Body," could one qualify to touch the Rules and gaze upon the gate of a Tier Four·Crowned King.

"Eva, how many Prayer points would it take to completely convert my body through Essence Materialization?" Zhou Chen asked.

[Prayer points required for wish: 50,000] Eva replied.

’Fifty thousand...’ Zhou Chen raised an eyebrow. "That expensive?"

[The Extraordinary Body is the entry ticket to becoming a Tier Four·Crowned King. It’s normal for it to require a high number of Prayer points. Eva suggests that Master converts on his own. With Lady Li Xiye’s personal guidance, Master’s conversion speed will certainly not be slow. All things considered, it is more cost-effective than making a direct wish.]

"Hmm... that makes sense."

The benefit of the Bonds Ring was on full display now. The two of them shared everything. Li Xiye could enter his body through the Bonds Ring and personally demonstrate how to achieve permanent Essence Materialization. By the same token, he could enter her body in reverse to experience the state of permanent Essence Materialization and learn from it.

This would definitely be far more cost-effective than making a direct wish, saving him a huge amount of Prayer points.

"How’s the Prayer System doing now?" Zhou Chen asked as he opened the system’s control panel to check.

[Forging Workshop online. Weapons forged: 4/45]

[Combat Simulation online. Current users: 123]

[Dream Come True House online. Current users: 55]

[Library online. Current users: 39]

[Task Hall updated with 42 new tasks.]

[Exchange temporarily holding 1,872 items for sale.]

[...]

Zhou Chen nodded in satisfaction.

As the number of people who had obtained the Prayer System grew, its various functions had entered a period of feverish activity. The most popular was undoubtedly the [Combat Simulation] module. Most new Ascenders were apprehensive about real combat, so they could use this to practice, get a feel for it, build up their courage, and familiarize themselves with the various factors to be aware of during a fight.

Once they grew stronger, they could train here, developing Skill combos and derivative Skills. It was extremely convenient.

[Currently, there are 859 official owners of the Prayer System. As Master’s strength increases, the scope of this space has grown ever larger. Eva is preparing to build a Prayer Plaza, an Arena, and friend-teaming functions in the future.] Eva said.

"You can handle it as you see fit." Zhou Chen had full confidence in his creation.

·

「At 3:30 in the afternoon, Zhou Chen arrived in Feng City.」

Feng City was located in the southern part of the Eastern Continent. It was only early April, but the weather was already starting to get hot. Especially now, with the sun beating down mercilessly in the afternoon, it made one wonder if summer had arrived early.

Zhou Chen walked down the street, silently making a wish: ’Let me find the location of the clue...’

[Insufficient Prayer points]

Eva’s reminder came.

Zhou Chen wasn’t surprised. Since the end of his trip to North Carolina, his Prayer points had recovered to around 5,000. However, his target was a fugitive the Life Church hadn’t been able to catch for ten years; they were bound to be carrying an anti-divination artifact.

He bought a popsicle from a roadside supermarket and squatted in a shady spot, munching on it while browsing the local forums for clues. After scrolling for half an hour, he found no useful information and was nearly soaked by a passing sprinkler truck.

"Forget it. I’ll just close my eyes and search blindly."

Zhou Chen decided to trust his trouble-magnet constitution.

He possessed two creations of Authority alone. And while the Book of the Dead wasn’t a creation of Authority, it was still an extremely high-tier Extraordinary item. These things possessed a so-called "Destiny Gravity," which meant that no matter where he went, he would be sucked into a vortex of trouble.

So, Zhou Chen simply closed his eyes, started walking randomly, and left everything to fate—to "gravity."

He didn’t know how long he had been walking when someone suddenly yelled at him.

"What do you think you’re doing?!"

He opened his eyes and found himself standing at the entrance of a luxurious grand hotel. The person who had stopped him was the hotel’s security guard.

’Happiness Sea Hotel...’ Zhou Chen glanced at the hotel’s name, thought for a moment, and replied, "I’m here to check in."

With that, he walked straight inside.

The grand hotel was a five-star establishment. The decor was luxurious and magnificent, illuminated by brilliant lights. The staff were all handsome men and beautiful women. When a female attendant in a cheongsam saw Zhou Chen enter, she immediately came forward to greet him.

"Sir, are you looking for a room?"

"Yes, just any room will do."

"This way, please, sir. I’ll handle your check-in," a female receptionist called out.

Within minutes, the receptionist had completed Zhou Chen’s check-in. She respectfully handed back his ID and room key. "Sir, your room is 907. The elevators are over there."

Zhou Chen turned to look and saw people getting into an elevator, so he hurried over.

Once inside the elevator, he took a closer look and noticed there was no "4th floor." This rather unusual detail immediately caught his attention. He mulled it over for a moment, then stepped out just as the doors were about to close.

"Sir, is there a problem?" an attendant asked, walking over.

"You don’t have a fourth floor?"

"That’s right. Our boss is rather superstitious about that number, so the fourth floor was converted into a staff lounge. It’s not open to the public and can only be accessed through the staff corridor," the attendant patiently explained.

"I see..." Zhou Chen nodded, realizing he had been overthinking it.

An ordinary person might not pay it any mind, but for an Ascender—especially one investigating an Extraordinary case—no anomaly, no matter how small, could be overlooked. One had to remain vigilant at all times, or risk learning a painful lesson.

Zhou Chen waited a moment and took the next elevator. Since a group had just gone up, he had this one to himself.

After pressing the button for the ninth floor, the doors slid shut. A slight feeling of weightlessness came over him as the elevator began to ascend.

Zhou Chen tilted his head back, bored, and watched the floor numbers on the display.

First floor, second floor, third floor...

The red numbers kept changing. Then, suddenly, it switched to a number that was an excessive, blood-red, as if it were about to ooze blood.

—4.

Zhou Chen’s expression froze.

The elevator shuddered to a stop.

The doors slowly creaked open.