Come See Bronya

After getting up, Jing Yan felt refreshed.

As the Aeon of Eros, Jing Yan could draw sustenance from matters of passion. Of course, it was mutually beneficial.

As he rose for the day, Jing Yan remembered his sign-in task: the sign-in location was Bronya's lips. That was certainly a unique location.

Jing Yan immediately set out for the Upper District.

Bronya, the current nineteenth Supreme Guardian, had asked Jing Yan to discuss the reconstruction of New Belobog. After all, he was a hero in the eyes of Belobog's people, and for Jing Yan, this was also a way to gain divine power.

According to the system's explanation, he now understood how he could obtain power. In addition to combat and what the system provided, he could also gain it through other believers—for example, by gaining an Emanator like Natasha, or by earning the faith of the people in a region.

Of course, this was also a reciprocal process.

The same was true of the eighteen existing Aeons.

It was just that even though their power was already immense, they had too many territories and followers to bless anyone except Pathstriders. They would not bless regional believers who had not embarked on the same Path.

The eighteen Aeons did not expect most Pathstriders to provide them with much in return. Instead, they relied more on people like Emanators and Lord Ravagers to carry out their aims, since that was far more efficient than relying on weaker followers.

As for Jing Yan, he likewise had no plans to seek faith on a large scale for now. The reason was...

The planet where Belobog was located, Yarilo-VI, had once been visited by the Mourning Actors, an organization blessed by Elation. They had watched the war between the Antimatter Legion and the Architects from beyond the atmosphere.

Furthermore, Jing Yan's enemy, Elation, had another organization, the Masked Fools. They enjoyed disguising themselves as people following other Paths and getting up to mischief. So there was no guarantee that the Masked Fools weren't still in Belobog—apart from Sampo, who was more or less confirmed to be one of them.

Still, although Jing Yan did not plan to announce his faith in Belobog, he did have a way to gain divine power there: Extract Emotion.

He could extract the intense emotions caused by him and absorb them as divine power.

Belobog was currently immersed in an atmosphere of joy, for example. But Jing Yan felt that too much of a good thing could be harmful, so he decided to extract some of it.

This ability was an advanced form of [Emotion Control].

At present, it should be a second-tier Eros ability, just like [Verbal Domination].

The only third-tier abilities Jing Yan had were [Seven Deadly Sins], which he had created by combining [Extract Emotion] and [Illusion Domain].

As for the "shadows" he had created by combining [Illusion Domain] with Fragmentum energy, they still basically counted as second-tier abilities.

That was because the shadow he had created for himself was modified from another Fragmentum shadow. As for the "Shadow of Cocolia" he had previously sent to fight Cocolia, the Fragmentum had originally copied and created it. Jing Yan had merely used his power to infiltrate the Fragmentum and take control of it.

Still, Jing Yan felt a little hesitant about his new sign-in task for the day.

The task was certainly tricky—signing in "on Bronya's lips." But in his understanding, it should count as long as he made physical contact; a kiss wasn't necessarily required. Otherwise, Jing Yan would have regretted that the task hadn't been assigned on the day he rescued Bronya from Cocolia—yesterday's task. He could have completed it far more naturally then.

If he had used "mouth-to-mouth resuscitation" as an excuse.

Belobog's Upper District.

Administrative District.

Qlipoth Fort.

The nearby square was noticeably more crowded, and quite a few people there were from the Underworld.

With the ban between the Upper District and Underworld lifted, they could now visit the Upper District.

Some of them had come to the Upper District for the first time in their lives, and everything around them seemed fascinating.

The moment Jing Yan appeared, people nearby came over to greet him enthusiastically.

Even the surrounding shopkeepers, several reporters, children, and publishing-house editors crowded around him.

"Mr. Jing Yan, is that you? I'd like to ask how you and Supreme Guardian Cocolia's team managed to resolve the Stellaron crisis."

"We're from the Crystal Daily. Could we interview you, Mr. Jing Yan?"

"Since you're from the Underworld, Mr. Jing Yan, how did you get invited to join the team that resolved the crisis? Is there any connection between you and the Lamshtin or Landau families?"

Jing Yan didn't answer.

The person beside him turned to the crowd behind them and continued, "See? This definitely has something to do with the great families. There's a lot more going on here than meets the eye..."

"Hello, Mr. Jing Yan. I'm Walaus. Forgive me for imposing, but I happen to own several private residences in the Administrative District. I find renting them out troublesome, and they're full of antiques that I'm afraid might get damaged. So I'd like to invite you to my home to look them over. What do you say?"

"Hey, hey, Mr. Jing Yan, don't go! I also have a gold pocket watch that belonged to the third Guardian. I traded three houses with Lord Simon for it, but in my opinion, no matter how precious a pocket watch is, it needs the right owner to do it justice. If you like it, Mr. Jing Yan, I'd be happy to give it to you!"

"Hello, Mr. Jing Yan. My name is Nikolai, and I'm an editor at a publishing house. Adventure Tales of the Snow Country is one of our publications. It was just unbanned, and I've invited some people from the Administrative District to discuss it with us. The fantasy novel is currently being adapted, and I thought we could include your story in it. Would you be interested..."

Jing Yan: "..."

Jing Yan paid little attention to the overly enthusiastic passersby. Instead, he spotted Bronya laying flowers in front of the Monument of Everwinter.

She hadn't seen Jing Yan yet, but another staff member nearby had.

It was Pela, the intelligence officer of the Silvermane Guard.

The bespectacled young woman hurried over, clutching a notebook, and asked, "Mr. Jing Yan, may I ask what brings you to the Upper District today? Oh, does Supreme Guardian Bronya know you're here...?"

Pela asked with some confusion, her manner a little apprehensive. The reason was that she, as a supposedly excellent intelligence officer, had known so little about Jing Yan. She felt she had been terribly remiss in her duties and wanted to make up for it.