Lord of Prayer

·

At his workstation, Zhou Chen rapidly scrolled his mouse wheel, reading through files on the Life Church.

The archives stated that the "Goddess of Life" ascended to godhood during an Abyssal invasion in the year 035 of the New Era. That catastrophe was the largest-scale Abyssal war humanity had faced since entering the new age, spanning the entire globe and nearly leading to the World’s destruction.

Countless people made enormous sacrifices to resist that terrifying catastrophe, and the ferocity of the conflict still ranks first in all of history.

At the time, there were only two Gods in the World—the "War God" and the "Silent Moon." The number of Tier Five and Tier Four Ascenders was also far lower than in modern times, and research into both science and Extraordinary Studies lagged far behind the present day. Facing the Abyssal invasion, they could only throw lives at the problem. Millions of soldiers charged forward in wave after wave, dying on the front lines, using their very lives to desperately hold back the Abyssal Army’s advance.

However, as time went on, the human side fell into a disadvantage. The forces of the Abyss relentlessly poured in troops day and night, crushing the human defense lines at all costs. They drove deep into human territory, and city after city fell under the iron hooves of Abyssal Demons, plunging into a Hell of blood and fire.

Humanity immediately established a second line of defense, but within a week, it too was on the verge of collapse. If the second line was also breached, more than half the World would be assimilated by the Abyss and become a paradise for Demon Fiends.

And in that momentous battle for the future of the entire World, at the most desperate moment of crisis, "Rebinya" took the drastic step of burning her own Soul, casting a rain of light that covered the entire battlefield and healed all the wounded.

She dissolved into motes of light within the radiant flames of her burning Soul. Just as everyone thought she had sacrificed herself, she returned from death, activated her Advanced Secret Ceremony to cross the final Ascension Ladder, arrived before the great gate to the Divine Forbidden Area, and pushed open the door to godhood.

From that day forward, She became the "Goddess of Life."

With the addition of a True God, the tide of battle turned swiftly. The morale of the human army surged, and they drove the Abyssal Army all the way back beyond the first line of defense.

During the counterattack, another event worthy of the history books occurred—with the help of the "War God," the "Thunder and Ocean God" ascended to godhood.

The old saying "hard times create heroes" proved to be true. This global Abyssal war not only produced two new True Gods, filling the void in humanity’s top-tier combat power, but also gave rise to several Crowned Kings and Uncrowned. At the same time, it spurred rapid advancements in humanity’s research into Extraordinary Studies, laying the foundation for the stability of future eras.

After the war, the "Goddess of Life" traveled all over the World, healing the wounded and soothing their pain. This brought Her prestige to an unprecedented peak. The adoration of the masses swept across the globe like a tsunami, and believers who worshipped the Gods began to appear.

Later, with the intervention of the Star Association, the "Life Church" was formally established.

To this day, the "Life Church" is one of the most famous religions in the World. Its network of connections is unimaginably vast, with members in almost every medical organization worldwide. Practically any medical practitioner, to some degree, believes in the "Goddess of Life."

For Healing Ascenders, the "Life Church" is without a doubt a sacred place. With just a few short months of instruction, it can turn a novice who doesn’t even know how to control their Extraordinary Abilities into an outstanding Healing Ascender. Over the years, the Church has trained an unknown number of talented individuals, making its network terrifyingly influential.

The "Garden" within the Church is considered the highest temple of the medical world, so advanced that even the Star Association’s medical department can only look on in envy. Countless people would kill to become a member. It’s even said that a medical miracle of "resurrection" once occurred there.

Furthermore, every ten or so years, the "Life Church" selects a new Saintess to serve as the Church’s public face and walk among the people. Each Saintess is given the title of "Earth Angel" because their actions are like those of benevolent Angels. They constantly travel to disaster-prone regions, treating the injured and spreading the "Life Church’s" influence.

After the civil unrest in North Carolina ended, the current Saintess of the Life Church, who had only recently taken up her post, went there to provide active assistance. She earned the love and support of the masses because she truly got things done.

After reading through the files, Zhou Chen had a better understanding of the "Life Church." However, investigating such a cold case would still be quite difficult.

’Why would the Life Church erase the files? Could it involve some important figures within the Church? Something disgraceful?’

Zhou Chen leaned back in his office chair and closed his eyes to think.

Jiang Che’s intelligence network was terrifyingly effective. Even though the Life Church had destroyed all related files without a trace, she had somehow managed to obtain information on victims of similar cases from that time.

Including Lin Ya’s family, the intelligence mentioned eight victim families. There was no pattern to the locations, which seemed to be random occurrences within the Eastern Continent. The common threads were that each victim’s family had devout followers of the "Life Church" and that all family members had died one after another from an unknown disease.

As for this so-called "disease," Zhou Chen had already discovered its true nature in the Prayer Space. It was actually a Curse disguised as an illness to Deprive people of their lives. This was enough to prove that someone had deliberately orchestrated these cases.

’Lin Ya was only seven when her family got sick, which was about ten years ago... Ten years. The trail is beyond cold; it’s practically nonexistent.’

’And out of the eight cases, Lin Ya was the only one who stubbornly survived. The other seven families were all wiped out. There’s nowhere to even begin a field investigation...’

Zhou Chen felt a headache coming on. How was he supposed to investigate something from ten years ago? Fortunately, this wasn’t a mandatory assignment. He didn’t need to dig too deep, just find a few clues to show Lin Ya and gain her trust.

’I’ll go to the orphanage and find Lin Ya first. If she’s willing to be Jiang Che’s new Secretary, then I won’t have to waste my time on this.’

Having made up his mind, Zhou Chen prepared to head to the orphanage to explain the situation to Lin Ya. Just as he stepped out of the office building, he saw a melancholic, world-weary old man smoking next to a trash can by the entrance.

"You punk..."

Old Yang, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, raised his eyebrows. His expression became animated, as if he’d just witnessed something incredible. "Long time no see. How come you’re not a virgin anymore, kid?"

Zhou Chen froze, subconsciously touching his face. An involuntary smile spread across it. "Is it that obvious?"

"Look at you. It’s *sooo* obvious, alright?"

"So that’s why Jiang Che and the others have been giving me weird looks..."

Old Yang leaned in, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Spill it, who was it? Can’t be Jiang Che, right... Erin? My god, kid, you’ve got some serious nerve. Aren’t you afraid Grand Duke Elizabeth will have your head?"

"Erin’s studying at the Life Church..."

"Then who was it?" Old Yang mulled it over for a moment, then quickly recalled the girl he saw during the time overlap in Hong City. A look of realization dawned on his face. "That cool-looking girl?"

Zhou Chen spread his hands. "She’s a cool-looking *woman* now."

"Attaboy, kid." Old Yang patted his shoulder, gratified, as if watching his own little brother finally take his first step into adulthood.

But then, his expression froze and shifted to shock. "You’re Tier Three?"

"Just had my Advancement a few days ago."

"Holy shit," Old Yang swore. "It’s only been a few months since you awakened! How are you already Tier Three? I’ve been awakened for years and only just hit Tier Three a little while ago... How is that fair!"

Zhou Chen patted his shoulder, consoling him in return. "If you ran into a minor crisis every three days and a major one every five, you’d advance this fast too."

Anyway, I’ve got things to do. I’m heading out."

Leaving Old Yang to stare after him with a resentful gaze full of envy and jealousy, Zhou Chen happily hummed a little tune, waved goodbye, and left.

·

「At the orphanage entrance.」

Zhou Chen straightened his clothes and walked toward the elderly gatekeeper with a broad smile, showing his Star Association ID. "Sir, I’m from the Star Association. I’m here to see Lin Ya about something."

"Oh, oh, I know you! I seen you on TV!" The old security guard recognized Zhou Chen immediately and chuckled as he opened the gate. "That lass is teachin’ the kids right now. You can wait out here for a bit."

"Alrighty."

Zhou Chen found a chair in the courtyard, sat down, and pulled out his phone. He chuckled as he scrolled through memes posted by random netizens, forwarding some to Li Xiye, who wasn’t even out of bed yet, and to Erin, who was in class at the Life Church.

Just then, the light beside him suddenly dimmed. He looked up to see a burly figure who had appeared there at some unknown moment. It was a Priest with European features, dressed in black. His hair was graying, his face was solemn, and his gaze was intense and severe, as if he were scrutinizing him.

Zhou Chen’s heart skipped a beat. He shot to his feet and hastily performed the greeting of the Dawn Church.

"Father Daun."

Father Daun stared at him without speaking.

After a moment, he said in a deep voice:

"You carry the scent of Noah."