Can't I Cultivate Myself?

After all, while Transcendents were not numerous, there were still quite a few across the entire empire.

They could not possibly keep tabs on all of them. That was unrealistic.

They even had to find ways to recruit some neutral Transcendents into the League of Fire.

If "Lin Qi" had not belonged to the Gate of Janus and had instead been an unaffiliated Transcendent, he could have considered recruiting her as an Investigator.

But that was probably unlikely. Forget it, forget it. People like that were too troublesome to recruit... Jonathan glanced at the dead Cultists, then at Ryan. Compared to "Lin Qi," he would much rather recruit a promising and loyal newcomer like Ryan.

"Keep looking. Don't miss a single corner."

At one in the afternoon, the preliminary investigation of Black Ding Street No. 228 concluded. Ryan followed Jonathan back to the Bureau of Investigation.

Then, using "going to the bathroom" as an excuse, he opened the game while squatting on the toilet.

Start!

"Hm?"

The moment he Took Over "Lin Qi," Ryan discovered a new title above her head—"Gate of Janus Priest."

"???"

A string of question marks appeared over Ryan's head.

"What's going on?"

He opened the Idle Record and kept reading, his expression gradually turning strange.

According to the AI Standby log, a Janus Cultist corrupted by Corruptive Power had come to the church for help that morning. His condition had been extremely dangerous, and the two Priests had been helpless... After all, they were just charlatans. It was already impressive enough that they could recite a few lines from the Holy Scripture. Could anyone expect them to actually do a Priest's job?

Just as that Believer was suffering so badly he wished he were dead, "Lin Qi" cast a Purification Spell and saved his life.

In truth, Corruptive Power was not uncommon in this world. Even to Transcendents, Outer Gods remained extremely mysterious. The Game Official explained that these Outer Gods were all "conceptual" entities. For example, the Blood God worshipped by the Blood Cult was a collection of "war" and "slaughter." Any bloodshed born of brutality, rage, and conflict pleased the Blood God.

The stronger the powers born beneath those concepts, the stronger the Outer Gods' power became. That was why They were so eager to spread Their faith and stir up religious conflicts across the continent.

However, because Outer God Power truly existed, under certain special circumstances, that power could distort living beings in reality. That was what was known as corruption by Corruptive Power.

Those who were corrupted would turn into all manner of "monsters" and lose their sanity.

Ryan remembered that the game had quests to clear out such "monsters"—octopuses, ratmen, creatures with two heads or three, and certain war maniacs driven berserk. If one could imagine it, one could encounter it.

If the Corruptive Power had not penetrated too deeply, it could be removed with a Purification Spell.

Then came the interesting part. Somehow, a High Priest of the Gate of Janus in Berman City learned of the matter. After verification and testing, "Lin Qi" became a proud Gate of Janus Priest on her recommendation.

The other party had barely left when Ryan arrived.

As for why it had happened so quickly, he could only marvel at the Gate of Janus's efficiency. It was also most likely because "Lin Qi" had a clean background. With the system fabricating her Character Setting, there was no need to worry about that at all.

"So people with Transcendent talent really are popular in this world."

The High Priest had left, but not entirely. Ryan knew she was lurking in Berman City, because he knew exactly who she was—Lia Mansdeka, an early member of the Protagonist Group and a genuine Third Tier Transcendent.

Lia came from Baron, the capital of the Augustus Empire. She was lurking here to hunt down a core member of the Blood Cult.

Ryan truly had not expected the world to be so small. "Lin Qi" had run into her just like that, and with AI Standby controlling "Lin Qi," it was no different from playing the game. Wasn't this just completing a quest to earn a title? Joining a faction and advancing the plot—the AI was an old hand at this.

"So she's really become a Janus Priestess now." Ryan stroked his chin. Fine. This identity would make things easier in the future.

Did they think "May Goddess Janus forgive your sins" was just something she said casually?

But after joining the Gate of Janus, "Lin Qi's" class advancement path was basically locked in. She definitely could not become a Soul Eater anymore.

Ryan discovered that a passive skill called "Janus's Blessing" had appeared in "Lin Qi's" Attribute Panel. It increased Mana strength and Mana Recovery speed by 5%.

This skill could be upgraded. He remembered some expert on the Game Forum had raised the boost to 50%, but that required earning considerable achievements and glory within the Gate of Janus.

As for now... she was merely a Lesser Camilla who had yet to change classes.

Of course, things were different for ordinary Believers.

"Priest Lin Qi, please listen to my sins!"

"Priest Lin Qi, I have sinned!"

"Priest Lin Qi..."

Inside Janus Church, unlike the usual scene where everyone sought out the Priests, nearly everyone in the church had gathered around "Lin Qi." Meanwhile, Father Peter, who was supposed to listen to All Beings' troubles and relieve their worries, was doing a Nun's work instead, assisting Priest Lin Qi.

Clearly, they knew Lia and understood just how noble her status was.

Although "Lin Qi" had not yet been transferred away, she had become a Gate of Janus Priest at such a young age and stepped onto the Bright Path. Lesser Camillas at their level could only look up to her from now on.

Watching those fanatical Believers, Ryan's mouth twitched. Damn it, his Alt Account was actually more popular than his main account.

"What's the use of being popular?"

[Charm +1]

"Wonderful. Get even more popular!"

Cassidy: This Priest Is Very Special

The Charm attribute in Empress Online did not directly affect a Game Character's abilities, but it had one very important purpose: it could increase a player's success rate in First-Person Shooter.

It was a shooting game, so naturally, one had to build favorability.

To build favorability, one had to complete quests and progress through the story.

But many quests could not be triggered without sufficient Charm.

For instance, if a character had 8 Charm points, their favorability with the female lead might only be enough to hold hands.

If their Charm reached 10 points, they could kiss.

And so on.

Every character's favorability had hidden Charm requirements. However, Charm did not rise with levels. It could only be increased through various quests, items, and story events.

Like now, "Lin Qi" had gained 1 point of Charm because her popularity had increased.

Do not underestimate that 1 point. Sometimes, it could change the direction of the plot.

Ryan was certain that if "Lin Qi" had started with only 8 Charm, she probably would not have become a Janus Priest so smoothly.

"Come to think of it, this girl's starting Charm really is ridiculously high."

He remembered that in the game, a newly created character's starting Charm was rarely above 8. Most were below 8. Reaching 10 was already quite high, and anything above 10 was monstrous. "Lin Qi's" 13 points—if she was not devastatingly beautiful, then she at least had an innate charm physique. In the game, she could directly clear most characters' favorability quests.

"Better than nothing, I guess. It's not like she can clear the game through favorability like in the game."

Ryan did not care much about Charm. Its effects were too intangible, nowhere near as practical as Constitution and Mana. What, was he supposed to make "Lin Qi" seduce those Game Characters to clear their Walkthroughs? Please! All the important characters in this game were Girls. Their genders did not even match!

After setting "Lin Qi" back to AI Standby, Ryan finished on the toilet, left the restroom, and headed for Jonathan's office.

Meanwhile.

At the entrance of Janus Church.

Two figures appeared to the left of the entrance. One wore a Wide-brimmed Hat pulled low, concealing her face.

"Your Highness, do we really need to come this early? There are a lot of people in the church right now. It's too dangerous for us to go inside," Echo said softly.

"There's no need to worry. Very few people here know me. We just need to avoid drawing attention."

Cassidy was not worried about ordinary people recognizing her. As the Fifth Princess of the empire, she had rarely appeared before the public. She had also spent the past few years studying at St. Marian Academy, so even fewer people could recognize her.

Of course, it was not that no one had seen her face. People simply knew too little about her and were likely to overlook it. It was like searching for someone one had only met once. If too much time had passed, even if they met again, one might have to pull out a photo to compare and ask, "Is this you in the picture?"

Cassidy adjusted the brim of her hat and peered curiously into the church. "I haven't seen Uncle Bill in many years either. We stopped contacting each other after Mother died. I'm not sure about his situation, so it's better to come early."

"Your Highness is worried that Mayor Bill has sided with..."

"Just be cautious. Don't casually say things without evidence."

"Sorry..."

"It's fine, Echo. Your suspicion is necessary. My current situation is too dangerous." Cassidy frowned. "What's happening inside?"

Echo looked into the church and only then noticed that a group of Believers had gathered together.

"It seems to be a Nun."

"Go and ask around."

"Yes."

Echo entered the church and asked a Believer standing at the outer edge.

"You're not from Central City, are you?" the Believer said excitedly. "You have no idea how amazing Priest Lin Qi is!"

"Priest Lin Qi?"

Echo froze. As far as she knew, the Gate of Janus Priest in Berman City had died during a Cultist operation. That was why the church had sent people to investigate and track the matter down.

The Gate of Janus and the Hand of Darkness had been fighting in secret, and many Transcendents knew about it.

One reason Cassidy had come here early was related to that.

But Echo had not heard that the Gate of Janus had sent a new Priest to take over.

"Your Highness, she's a newly appointed Priest."

Echo explained what she had learned.

"A Priest? So young?"

Cassidy tilted her head. From afar, she could see that "Lin Qi" looked very young. Generally, anyone who became a Priest at that age had a bright future ahead of her.

"A Janus Priest..."

Cassidy pondered quietly. She had recently been considering recruiting the Gate of Janus and building up strength for the coming struggle over the throne.

Unfortunately, the Gate of Janus had always kept its distance from imperial power struggles and never involved itself too deeply. That was also why various countries maintained relatively lenient policies toward the Gate of Janus's expansion. Otherwise, if they interfered in everything day after day, anyone would be wary of them.

Cassidy had intended to use the Hand of Darkness incident to establish ties with the Gate of Janus, but she had arrived a step too late. That mysterious person had beaten her to it.

Just then, Echo suddenly lowered her voice, sounding somewhat urgent. "Your Highness, that person looks like the one I encountered on Heiding Street!"

"Who?"

"That Priest!"

Similar. Too similar. The more she looked, the more similar she seemed!

Echo stared at "Lin Qi" inside the church. She did not need to get close to confirm "Lin Qi's" appearance, because she had not seen her face that night anyway. But from this distant view, that feeling immediately reminded Echo of Last Night.

Silver hair, a Maiden, that height, that build.

Cassidy frowned. A Gate of Janus Priest fighting Cultists did seem explainable, but... would a Priest kill people with a gun?

Cassidy did not know whether a Priest would kill people with a gun, but she knew she needed to confirm it.

What if? What if this Priest was the person from Last Night?

For some reason, the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Janus was already dealing with the Hand of Darkness, so it was not impossible for a Priestess to appear at a Cultist ritual site and slaughter everyone... Well, according to Echo's description, the other party did not seem strong enough to slaughter everyone.

There were doubts, so they needed proof. Since she still had time, Cassidy entered the church and slowly approached the crowd.

She did not confront "Lin Qi." Instead, she stood to one side and listened as the Priest solved All Beings' troubles.

After listening for a while, she found nothing wrong. The Priest was beautiful, her voice was pleasant, her interpretations of the Holy Scripture were accurate, and she was patient... Wait, wait, wait. Wasn't this too perfect? Cassidy was stunned. Shouldn't this girl be Janus's Saintess rather than a Priest?

"Strange. Why do I always feel that she's somewhat special?"

The Maiden's gaze passed through the crowd and met the eyes "Lin Qi" had turned toward her. The latter nodded politely.

It had to be said that "Lin Qi," standing at the front of the crowd, was truly beautiful. Her eyes were pure and clear, and her temperament was unique. Wearing a Nun Outfit gave her an even more sacred air.

Cassidy blanked out for a moment and found herself staring. By the time she came back to her senses, "Lin Qi" had already walked up to her.

"Lady, do you have any troubles?"

Leave Request

I have a fever. The whole family has been sick recently. I really don't have the energy to write, so I'm taking a day off.