Paladin of Precepts

Regardless of why Otto had given the gift, it was far too generous, so Nigel had always held a favorable opinion of him.

And to some extent, that had made Nigel less diligent in keeping an eye on Otto.

Aboard the Sky Whale, every village and town had a church. On one hand, they guided people's faith; on the other, they monitored the local "supernaturals."

Demons didn't appear every day. Many stationed Paladins might not even catch a whiff of a Demon for more than a decade.

But supernatural ability users who broke the rules were never in short supply.

One of the Church of Precepts' doctrines was to teach people to "conserve energy."

The God of Precepts had spoken of the world's truth: resources were limited, especially after the Great Cataclysm on the ground, when people had moved onto the Sky Whales.

Under such circumstances, conserving energy was the healthy way to live.

But the human heart was never satisfied. In order to gain more for themselves, there would always be people who broke the rules to obtain all manner of supernatural power.

For example, if a Black Stone Breed's stat had risen above nine and hit a bottleneck, then he discovered some prohibited thing that could let him break through his limits and ascend into a Steel Breed.

There was a high chance he would take the risk.

Of course, more violations involved the excessive extraction of nonrenewable resources.

Most ways to make a fortune were written into the criminal code. Naturally, the more something was forbidden, the more people pursued it.

Otto had most likely gone down that path.

Dorsal Fin Village lacked renewable resources, aside from some medicinal herbs on Dorsal Fin Mountain. But that didn't necessarily mean it lacked nonrenewable resources.

Nigel didn't even possess that much foresight. It was only natural that someone like him had failed to make anything of himself.

Naimus narrowed his eyes slightly, then broke into a smile.

"I'll get to the bottom of it."

"Good. You're a good child, so don't go down a road of no return!" The Old Priest's eyes seemed to grow murkier.

He was old, after all. That impassioned Holy Chant earlier hadn't come easily.

A priest's system lay in the Meditation Technique. They needed to meditate upon the glory of the gods, then nurture Holy Light from within their spirits.

Every use of Holy Light was a challenge to one's mental will. If one's faith wasn't firm enough, Holy Light would only become harder and harder to bear.

Many elderly priests developed traits of lightification in their bodies because their gradually decaying flesh could no longer bear the weight of Holy Light.

"Also, during this battle with the Demon, I discovered my own weakness. So I wish to advance to become a Paladin of Precepts." Only then did Naimus reveal his true purpose for coming to the church.

Having Downs come over to test things with the Demon's aura was only one reason. The other was naturally to investigate how the God of Precepts' Power of Faith affected the power of the Precept Divinity.

The Old Priest was a Steel Breed priest. He looked like nothing more than an old man, but his very existence had already surpassed that of an ordinary human. He could even be considered a supernatural creature.

Given Naimus's current resources, he would need at least ten days to half a month of growth before he could kill the Old Priest without suffering any losses.

If he wanted to bypass the Old Priest and steal faith on a large scale, he couldn't do it in secret. He had to do it openly.

And from the information Naimus had gathered from various sources, becoming a Paladin of Precepts was currently the only relatively easy path.

A Paladin of Precepts had to make a Precept Oath under the witness of the gods, fully activate all of their Life Essence, and willingly draw the God of Precepts' faith into their body, becoming a humanoid divine statue and gaining power beyond the limits of their stats.

It was an extremely radical method. Even when Naimus had fought Kurog before, he had been reluctant to use too much Life Essence. This stuff was finite.

Once it was fully activated, it meant all of one's potential had been converted, and it also meant the path of supernatural advancement would end from then on.

At the same time, one's lifespan would be drastically reduced.

Generally, only fanatics within the Church who had reached their own limits would choose this path.

Although the former Nigel had given up on himself, he still clung to a sliver of hope of advancing into a Steel Breed, so he had never considered such a thing.

"Are you sure?" The Old Priest froze, saying in disbelief, "Even the limit-breaking power of a Paladin of Precepts might not be enough to defeat a Steel Breed!"

"I know, but this is already my last chance!" Naimus wasn't the body's original owner. Naturally, he would get back on his feet and start kicking as quickly as possible.

"Today?"

"Today!" Naimus nodded, his expression resolute.

The Old Priest rose to his feet and paced back and forth before the divine statue. From time to time, he turned to look at Naimus, as though considering something.

"Ah..." The Old Priest let out a long sigh before finally making up his mind.

"Come! Go shut the door!"

"Consider it me repaying what I owe you." As he said that, the Old Priest's face seemed to grow even more sallow.

The Old Priest then had Naimus sit on the kneeling cushion before the divine statue and begin circulating the Paladin's Secret Breathing Technique.

Naimus's breathing continually shifted, each breath stimulating the Aura of Life within his body and trying to convert it into physical stat power.

But breathing at this level might require years before it could truly convert even a little.

That was the bottleneck of this body.

Ordinary Breathing Technique cultivation basically couldn't mobilize more Aura of Life, while the Secret Breathing Technique previously used against the Demon treated the aura as a temporary buff. It was even less worthwhile.

His breathing continued to circulate, quickly reaching its limit.

At that very moment, a mass of Holy Light suddenly appeared before the Old Priest.

The Holy Light transformed into blade after blade and stabbed into Naimus's body.

Then, as though oil had been poured onto a fire, the Breathing Technique's pace rapidly intensified.

A considerable amount of Aura of Life was instantly squeezed out. This was actually similar to the Secret Breathing Technique from before. The Aura of Life abruptly extracted this way was unstable and would quickly dissipate rather than rapidly increase his physical stats.

But at that moment, the Holy Light changed again.

"God of Precepts above, today a believer is willing to inscribe Precepts with his faith. Please Bestow your glory!!!"

At the Old Priest's words, the faith accumulated within the divine statue was stirred. Following the changes in the Holy Light, that faith then drove into Naimus's body.

The method of the Paladin of Precepts—Holy Nail!

Naimus silently recited his Precept of Forgiveness. The Holy Nails forged from faith responded at once and rapidly nailed themselves into the Aura of Life, stabilizing it.

As the Aura of Life stabilized, immense power surged forth from his body.

His stat rapidly rose from eight to nine, then ten, quickly broke through the limit, and finally stopped at thirteen.

[Precept information updated]

Your continued reading is Xu Ming's greatest support. Thank you!