It was barely dawn.
Yanis nervously made her way to the Twenty-First Ring.
The higher up one went in the Theocracy, the smaller the ground became, and the fewer people there were. The Twenty-First Ring was like a massive palace... and this was precisely the Candidate Saintesses' nursery.
After verifying her identity, presenting her token, and registering her blood and soul fluctuations, Yanis put on a specially made gemstone brooch capable of recording everything. Guided by two Pope Guards, she followed the designated route to the appointed location.
Every Candidate Saintess underwent all kinds of closed-off study here until she learned how to communicate with the Nine Pillar Gods and fully developed every ability—or was eliminated for failing to meet the standard in any area. Only then would she be released.
The Saintess training was exceptionally rigorous. Not a single assessment could be failed.
Under such a high elimination rate, every qualified girl would be recruited here once she reached the required age—and any Saintess recruited could be eliminated at any time.
The reason only women were accepted was that the highest-level inheritance of the Eternal Saintess required the Inheritor to be a young woman who was pure, detached, and quiet. Although the Pure White Saintess was active outside, there were still at least twenty or thirty Candidate Saintesses here.
Those who had not been eliminated were considered candidates. If anything happened to the current Saintess, the best among them would immediately take her place.
The cruelest part of this place was that even if one met every standard, even if one had made no mistakes, even if one had achieved the best results in every assessment... if one ultimately exceeded the age limit while waiting, one would still be eliminated on schedule.
To ensure that their thoughts remained pure