Lord of Prayer

Morning.

Bright sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. Everything was as beautiful as a dream.

Her morning exercise complete, Li Xiye collapsed onto Zhou Chen in satisfaction. A fine layer of sweat beaded on her fair skin, shimmering transparently in the sunlight. She looked like a flawless, sacred, and captivatingly exquisite statue.

"Can’t you just take a long vacation?" Li Xiye asked lazily. "It’s only been three days since the North Carolina incident. Even the Salvation Army is still busy with disaster relief and hasn’t had time to make a new move. But you? You’ve already taken on a new mission."

"I didn’t expect this mission to turn out like this, either. I thought I’d just do a quick check and be done with it..." Zhou Chen sighed. "I’ll try to wrap this up as soon as possible. Besides, it’s not like I won’t be home at night. And you could always come with me."

"Forget it. I should go back to the company," Li Xiye said. "We recently landed a huge contract to help turn a Restricted Area into an amusement park. If we pull this off, we might just break into the top 100 companies in the World. There’s a new plant launch event in a few days. I’ll go make an appearance and let the world know I’m still alive—and that I’m Tier Four."

"Let the whole world know? Is it necessary to be so high-profile?"

"Of course it is. Hype is king these days. If you’re riding the wave, even a pig can fly, let alone a corporation. I used to be world-famous, and now I’m a Tier Four Ascender. All I need to do is get a few media outlets to stir up some buzz, and I’ll be the headline for the next week. I won’t have to worry about finding investors or partners then."

"How many days will you be gone?"

"Three or four days," Li Xiye said with a smile. "What, you’re going to miss me already?"

"Yeah," Zhou Chen admitted, not hiding his reluctance to see her go.

Having tasted the Forbidden Fruit, Zhou Chen had developed a craving for more. Now, he wished he could spend all twenty-four hours of the day with Li Xiye.

Li Xiye felt the same way, but unfortunately, they both had their own business to attend to.

"Then let’s go one more time. No, twice. It doesn’t matter if you’re a little late for work... How about three times? Just skip the Star Association and say you went straight to the investigation."

As she spoke, Li Xiye propped herself up and looked down at Zhou Chen. Her shoulder-length hair fell forward, hiding her face so he couldn’t see her expression, only the pleased smile playing on her lips, like a predator about to devour its prey.

·

「Noon.」

Zhou Chen arrived at the entrance of the Life Church in Jinzhu City.

It was less a church and more a modest hospital. The grounds weren’t large, and there were only three buildings, but countless patients came seeking treatment. A long line snaked out from the entrance, and some family members had even brought patients on hospital beds.

Zhou Chen glanced at one of the patients on a bed. He could feel fluctuations in their Spiritual Power, but their cerebral nerves seemed to be damaged. This left the patient conscious but unable to wake up, as if trapped beneath a layer of ice. A regular hospital would have no cure for this, but at the Life Church, it would probably only take a single Healing Technique.

A patrolling security guard, an old man, glanced at him and shouted, "Young man, if you’re here for kidney deficiency, I suggest you go to a men’s health clinic. We don’t treat that kind of thing here."

SWISH!

In an instant, many curious eyes turned toward him.

’Damn, old man, would it kill you to keep your voice down...’ Zhou Chen’s face remained impassive, but he immediately made a wish to restore his energy. Color and vigor quickly returned to his face.

"I’m not here for treatment. I’m looking for someone," he said, taking out his phone to show his appointment code.

"Oh, you should’ve said so." The old security guard scanned the code with his phone, read the appointment details carefully, then nodded for him to go inside.

Just like any hospital in the World, the air in the Life Church’s lobby was thick with the smell of medicine. Every seat was taken, people bustled to and fro, and the atmosphere was one of perpetual tension and haste.

’Erin is studying in the emergency room. I’ll go see her first...’ Zhou Chen quickly found the ER.

The hallway outside was crowded with patients seeking treatment, all of them bearing bloody injuries. One person’s thumb had been severed, another’s face was a bloody mess, and blood was steadily pouring from a wound on someone else’s head...

Inside the emergency room, Erin wore a surgical mask and a stained white coat. Her long, golden hair was coiled up for convenience, and her sapphire-blue eyes were filled with exhaustion.

She seemed to have grown numb to the various gruesome scenes.

A man with a deathly pale face sat in a chair. His five toes had been crushed into a "meat patty"—a horrifying, bloody mess of shattered muscle and bone.

Erin spread her fingers, and a holy, milky-white halo of light, as gentle as ripples on water, appeared in her palm. She pushed the light forward, and it landed on the crushed toes. Something miraculous happened. Under the light’s influence, the mashed-together muscle, bone, and nail fragments slowly separated. The nail fragments fell away, the shattered bones were rewoven and pieced back together, and flesh then regenerated, covering the bones. In a short while, a layer of complete skin had formed, though the toenails had not yet grown back.

"You’ll need to watch your diet for a while. Don’t do any strenuous activity until your nails grow back," Erin instructed in a flat tone, her manner somewhat reminiscent of Jiang Che.

"I understand. Thank you, thank you so much..." The honest-looking, middle-aged man was so grateful he was about to kneel. His family’s entire income depended on him. If he had become disabled, their livelihood would have been in jeopardy. The young woman before him had arguably saved his entire family!

Erin waved him off and was about to call in the next person when her vision suddenly went black. She staggered a few steps, nearly falling over.

"Erin, you’re almost out of Essence," said a slightly older female nurse beside her. "We can take it from here. You should go get some rest."

"Okay." Erin didn’t argue. She had been working nonstop since last night, and her Essence and Spiritual Power were nearly depleted. Staying wouldn’t be much help, so it was better to go rest.

As she walked out of the emergency room, Erin spotted Zhou Chen in the crowd at a glance. Her tired eyes immediately lit up with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you."

Zhou Chen frowned as he looked at her exhausted, bloodshot eyes. "How long has it been since you slept?"

"I’m an Ascender. My body can handle it. I’m fine," Erin said with a smile, but she was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.

"Even Ascenders need to rest," Zhou Chen said seriously. It was obvious Erin had been working long hours and frequently using her Extraordinary Abilities. No Ascender could keep that up for long.

"I was just about to go to sleep. Why don’t you come sit in my dorm for a bit?" Erin said in a low voice.

"Okay."

As the daughter of Grand Duke Elizabeth, Erin received preferential treatment from the Life Church and had her own private dorm room.

The room wasn’t large, but it was very tidy and filled with a pleasant, sweet fragrance. Her desk was piled with books related to the Healing Type.

Erin took off her white coat, quickly washed her face, and lay down on the bed. Closing her eyes, she said slowly, "Zhou Chen, I’ve been so tired these past few days, but I’m also really happy. Being able to heal patients in need, one after another... it’s a wonderful feeling. I’m even a little proud."

"You should be proud."

"Really?"

"Of course," Zhou Chen told her in a serious tone. "Take that man from before. He looked like a laborer, probably not from a well-off family. If he’d lost his toes and become disabled, he wouldn’t have been able to continue doing physical labor, and his family would have instantly lost its pillar of support. So, you didn’t just heal his injury; you saved his family.

In these past few days, you’ve saved countless people and rescued countless families. Believe me, there’s nothing you should be more proud of than that."

Being praised like this by Zhou Chen, Erin smiled, a little embarrassed, but his words also strengthened her resolve.

An unforgettable image surfaced in her mind again—in a black sea of Curses, at a moment when she had given up on herself, a blood-soaked Zhou Chen had appeared by her side and saved her from the clutches of death.

After waking from the Darkness, she had resolved to practice the path of healing diligently. If something similar ever happened again, she would be able to help Zhou Chen instead of just being a burden...

"Go to sleep. Get some rest," Zhou Chen said again.

"Can you... stay with me for a little while?" Erin asked, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.

"Of course," Zhou Chen nodded.

Only then did Erin relax and drift off to sleep.

She was so exhausted that she fell into a deep sleep within seconds.

Zhou Chen didn’t leave. He stayed by her side quietly for a long time.

Perhaps knowing he was there with her, Erin wore a faint smile the entire time she slept.

·

·

「The Office of the Life Church’s Director.」

Zhou Chen took out a blue notebook and stated his purpose to the director before him.

"I’ve come with a Token from Father Daun. I wish to see the senior known as ’White Bird’."