Gradual Eastern Dawn

A total of one hundred First-tier Esoteric Cultists and ten Second-tier Esoteric Cultists were sacrificed.

Affected by the 'Blood Moon Day' and 'The Newborn' title, the sacrifice effect increased by 40%.

Life Points obtained: 60

Available Life Points could be exchanged for blessings or added to the body's attributes.

Because the birthday gifts sacrificed today were abundant, Mother Goddess of Life was delighted and granted you a God-Bestowed Title.

Title: The Dawning East of Death Approaching Perfection

Title effect: Could stack the effect of the same Dark Magic buff once on the target of a spell. Usable once per day.

Ansu was very satisfied.

In a single short night, he had gained more than he had in the past few weeks combined.

He had gained sixty Life Points alone.

Over at the Radiant Holy See, even without the bonuses from the title and Blood Moon Day, he would have at least forty Faith Points.

That was enough for him to become a Second-tier Sorcerer!

However, Ansu knew that such an opportunity only came once a year.

Only during the three days of Blood Moon Day would Esoteric Cultists conduct large-scale sacrifices at their strongholds. If he came at any other time, he would often find nothing.

Blood Moon Day was a grand occasion, and the Holy See would also organize large-scale witch hunts by holy knights during these days.

However, Ansu knew that the Holy See would have a hard time gaining anything from this one.

Obtaining a new title was an unexpected delight. This was an offensive title, different from a resource-type title like "Novice Life Sacrificer."

It could stack Dark Magic buffs.

For example, after casting a curse on an enemy that reduced their defense by twenty percent, he could use this title.

It could apply the same curse to them once more, stacking the effects and lowering their defense by forty percent.

However, that was merely the conventional use. Ordinary players would probably use it that way.

Ansu was a Heretical Player with a more advanced way of thinking, and in an instant, he came up with many more interesting combinations for this title.

This is going to be interesting, Ansu thought.

It'll be very fun.

First, he used Name Change Magic Baptism to rename the title. It could only retain three characters.

The two characters "Eastern Dawn" sounded rather positive, so he could keep them. That made two characters already.

"Death" definitely had to go.

He needed to choose one from "Approaching Perfection."

No matter how he thought about it, none of them sounded right. In the end, he simply followed his heart and chose whichever was more fun—"Gradual."

"Gradual Eastern Dawn."

The eastern dawn rising gradually sounded quite Positive Energy. At first hearing, he even sounded like a respectable member of an orthodox church.

Besides, Ansu really needed a new title. He was currently using the new identity "Xian Zong" to sacrifice and hunt Esoteric Cultists, doing the sort of thing that drew resentment.

Although he hid his face with a Mimic Mask, the title "The Newborn" above his head could not be concealed.

If his tracks were exposed and someone used Scouting Magic to discover The Newborn, then throughout the entire Border City, who else could The Newborn be?

Naturally, only Ansu.

Once equipped, a title could not be removed, but it could be replaced with another title.

His new identity needed a new title. "Gradual Eastern Dawn" truly arrived just in time for Ansu.

Once he had sorted out his thoughts, dawn had already broken.

Pale white rays of dawn completely scattered the lingering light of the blood moon, dividing the sky into several blocks of color:

The innermost sky was orange-white, accompanied by mountains and the rising sun. The middle layer was gray-white, while the outermost sky was murky black, still the sky of night.

A few tiny, sparse stars still hung in the gray-white sky, caught between murky black and orange-white, between night and day. Belonging to neither day nor night, they glimmered faintly with their scattered light—there was an idiom for exactly this: Few and far between.

Ansu took off his Mimic Mask, changed into fresh clothes, and returned to the church to receive the Goddess's reward.

Though dawn had only just broken, there were already quite a few people at the church. Aside from a handful of believers there for Morning Prayer, there were even more onlookers who had come to watch the excitement. They were all waiting for the holy knights to return.

Last night had been Blood Moon Day, as well as the day the holy knights had collectively hunted witches. This time, the operation had even been led by the Son of the Priest, Saint Calvin, known as The Radiant One. Expectations were at an all-time high.

They stood on tiptoe, craned their necks, and eagerly awaited the heroes' return, ready to offer them cheers and applause.

Some even held flowers in their hands.

Most of them were lovestruck maidens.

"When will Your Excellency Calvin return in triumph?"

"Do not know."

"He must have slain many evil villains."

They chirped and chattered, whispering among themselves, occasionally bursting into crisp giggles. It seemed Calvin was quite popular among the girls.

"Good morning, my Young Master. Did you sleep well last night?"

Father Danny spotted Ansu from afar. There was a trace of sour mockery in his voice. "You must have slept quite well, after all, the true Saints were protecting our night."

"I slept wonderfully last night."

Ansu smiled as brightly as the sun, as though he had not caught the hidden meaning in the priest's words and felt no anger or humiliation whatsoever.

"I truly must thank those heroes. Still, I hope they can sleep tonight as well."

"Hmph." Father Danny snorted coldly to himself. What a pretender.

Clearly, Father Danny had not caught the hidden meaning in Ansu's words either.

"See you later."

Ansu walked straight into the church, knelt on one knee before the statue, clasped his hands together, and began to pray.

Ansu

Magic Points: 6

Probationary believer. Can exchange for Low-tier blessing or add points to the body's attributes.

Faith Points: 42 (eliminated one hundred First-tier Esoteric Cultists, ten Second-tier Esoteric Cultists, and one Third-tier Esoteric Cultist)

Very good.

He could become a Second-tier Sorcerer just like that.

A smile hung on his lips.

Going from a First-tier Sorcerer to a Second-tier Sorcerer in a month was practically rocket-speed growth. If word got out, it would shock the world.

After all, his method of leveling up was completely different from that of other Saints. He leveled up purely through killing, killing, and more killing.

Other Saints could not be assigned so many Esoteric Cultists to kill and sacrifice.

The lion's share was taken by the noble families within the Holy See.

Their method of leveling up was to train and pray day after day, slowly increasing their Magic Points bit by bit.

Even if they occasionally killed a few Esoteric Cultists, they would be reluctant to use them for leveling up. Most would choose to exchange them for blessing magic instead.

The greatest benefit of becoming a Second-tier Sorcerer was that the Memory Slots his soul could carry increased by two.

A First-tier Sorcerer had four Memory Slots, while a Second-tier Sorcerer had six.

Thus, Ansu could now equip six spells.

The allocation and use of Memory Slots was also of utmost importance.

After reaching the second tier, the exchange ratio between Faith Points and Magic Points would also become 20:1.

However, those were matters to worry about later.

"Exchange."

Ansu felt his entire body grow lighter. His soul breathed in the fresh morning air, exhaling faint dawnlight.

He could feel that both his perception and reaction had reached their peak at this moment. Every cell in his body sang with joy.

He could hear waves of cheers coming from the entrance.

Oh, it seemed the great hero Calvin had returned.

Hopefully, they could sleep tonight.

There were some data issues in these two chapters, so Raindrop revised them.

Please forgive any data errors. Raindrop wrote while feverish and dizzy, too muddled to think clearly.

Relatives came over for the new year and infected Raindrop's whole family with a virus, hahaha, hehehe. I'm in great spirits.