Sea of Light (Continued 1)

It all started from the beginning. Pastor Elvin had woken up very early this morning. Like the other pastors in the church, he carried a bucket of cold water to the washroom built from bluish-gray stone. He rinsed his mouth, washed his face, then poured most of the icy well water over his head and body.

He dried the water droplets from his skin and changed into a clean linen pastor's robe. He went to the chapel to begin his prayers. The morning prayers were generally divided into three parts: first, reciting the hymns praising the Holy Light God; second, reciting the hymns praising the God, whom some sects also called the God of Gods; and finally, extolling the great achievements of the sages. After finishing the morning devotions, he filed into the dining hall with the other pastors for breakfast.

His breakfast was very simple: clear water and bread. Although this church followed the ascetic tradition, the quality of the bread was still excellent—soft whole wheat bread, not the kind of black bread that could double as a self-defense weapon. Moreover, the pastor in charge of breakfast had thoughtfully baked the bread early in the morning and kept it warm in a basket covered with a quilt.

After eating, he washed his ceramic plate and wooden cup in the water channel with running clear water and put them back on the wooden rack in the dining hall. Then he found himself at a loss.

Other pastors began to file out. Some went out today to collect alms or preach, some went to work at the church's hospital, others went to the scripture hall in the back to copy sutras. Some would go to the welfare home run by the church to teach the children. By the way, Elvin was also a child selected from that welfare home.

Usually, someone would come every day to arrange his schedule, but today no one told him what to do. He thought maybe he could go find Alice to play...

"Elvin, do you have anything to do today?" An old man with gray and white hair walked over.

"Greetings, Bishop. I was thinking of going to copy sutras today." Elvin bowed respectfully, offering a reasonable excuse.

"And do you think copying sutras is cultivation?" the old man asked with a smile.

"Reciting sutras, copying sutras, preaching, and spreading the faith—aren't these all forms of cultivation?" Although Elvin loved to joke and play tricks on others, he was very well-behaved before this old man, who was both his teacher and a father figure.

"What you said isn't entirely correct. These are only 'cultivation' in the sense of inner refinement; you still need 'practice.' So-called 'practice' means traversing thousands of mountains and rivers, experiencing the myriad facets of the world." The old man continued with a smile, "A child your age shouldn't be cooped up in one place all day. You haven't been out since you returned from the Southern City-states last time. You should go out and walk around more."

"Are you trying to send me somewhere?" Elvin asked, puzzled.

"It doesn't matter where you go. Just go and see. Remember to come back for lunch."

And so Elvin left the Holy Light Church. He thought to himself, He gave me a whole lecture on philosophy, but it turns out he just gave me half a day off. Perfect, I'll go find Alice. But just as he stepped out of the church, he suddenly changed his mind. Since this was about cultivation, why not embark on a true cultivation journey?

So he cast a divine spell on himself—a unique spell of the Holy Light God's church called Holy Light Protection. Its effect was actually very simple: as long as he walked in sunlight, it would reduce the caster's presence. In fact, every church had a similar skill, since "healers" were better off being as inconspicuous as possible on the battlefield. At the same time, this skill could effectively "turn invisible" against ordinary people and low-intelligence magical beasts. But if someone used it while collecting alms... well, the effect was predictable.

Elvin walked along, taking in the scenery. The weather was truly beautiful today. The sky was very blue, without clouds or wind. The sunlight fell warmly on his body. He reached Fountain Square and sat down on the steps of the circular fountain. Since it was winter, the water in the spring pool had frozen into thick ice. He just sat there, listening to the cries of seagulls and the chatter of passersby. Watching the bustling street, with no one noticing him at all, he found it very amusing. Ever since he learned this divine spell, he often played like this, and sometimes Alice would catch him red-handed...

He didn't know how long passed before he entered a state of ethereal emptiness—so profound that even he himself wasn't aware of it. Elvin stood up and walked in a certain direction, because he felt that something seemed to be waiting for him there.

He passed the church, walked through Flower Cross Street, and finally came to a small alley. In the alley was a very famous bakery, renowned for never mixing anything else into its bread—truly genuine ingredients—with a history of nearly a hundred years. Many people were lined up here to buy bread. The noise grew louder, the idle chatter of those waiting in line. His pace gradually slowed, because he sensed that he was about to find whatever was waiting for him. He threaded through the crowd like a fish swimming through aquatic plants. The "fish" was silent and invisible, and the "aquatic plants" remained completely unaware. At that moment, a few snippets of conversation reached his ears.

"Bread is getting more and more expensive now. It's already up to three copper coins a pound. A few days ago, it was still one copper a pound."

"That's because there are more and more immigrants. The immigrants from the southern city-states are only increasing more than here in White Eagle. More mouths to feed means less grain shipped over. Who knows how much it'll cost per pound in a few days!"

"Exactly, exactly. I think we should stock up on some grain. At worst, we can just bake bread at home."

"Yeah, yeah. I heard that alchemy shop on City Gate Street sells something called—what was it? Right, an Automatic Bread Maker. But it's way too expensive..."

Finally, all sounds vanished. Elvin was unknowingly cut off from the rest of the world. Because he had found it!

It was a little boy—more precisely, a child less than a year old. His mother was holding him in her arms while carrying a basket, waiting in line.

Elvin walked up behind the mother. The little boy was lying on his mother's shoulder, sucking his thumb. The boy had curly chestnut hair, chubby cheeks that were pink and fair. His large, gray-blue eyes were very clear, like a spring flowing from mountain rocks.

Elvin gazed at the little boy, and the little boy saw him too, responding with an innocent smile. Elvin felt that he could see the entire world reflected in the boy's eyes.

Until a soft pop—the boy pulled his thumb out of his mouth.

The whole world that Elvin saw began to collapse. The sky turned gray, and the surroundings started to decay. The people around him, once full of life, withered and shriveled one by one, like walking corpses. Even the little boy gradually turned into the shape of a dried corpse. Finally, they all dissipated before Elvin's eyes.

Elvin finally understood what this was. It was an oracle. The God was showing him the near future. The scenes before him brought back memories buried deep in his childhood—the disappearing passersby, reminding him of his relatives who had also died of illness and starvation. He wanted to struggle, to cry out, to reach out and hold onto everything before him. But nothing changed. It was just like the helplessness and despair of his childhood.

Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably, blurring his vision. The shimmering light before him turned into a gray-blue Sea of Light.

He sobbed weakly, wanting to walk away from that light, but his body couldn't move at all. Until a pink figure burst in.

She patted his shoulder, stroked his head, and softly comforted the crying child.

At that moment, he felt that figure was so vivid and alive. He finally found strength and instinctively hugged that warmth tightly.

At that moment, in Elvin's heart, it was as if a rainbow had shone into the cold, dead Nether Sea...