Come See Bronya

After waking up, Jing Yan felt refreshed.

As the Aeon of Eros, Jing Yan could derive nourishment from acts of passion; naturally, this was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Rising from bed, Jing Yan recalled today's check-in task. The location was Bronya's lips—a truly peculiar spot.

Jing Yan immediately set off for the Administrative District.

The current nineteenth Supreme Guardian, Bronya, had asked Jing Yan to discuss the reconstruction of New Belobog. After all, Jing Yan was the hero in the hearts of the people of Belobog, and for him, this was also a channel to acquire divine power.

According to the system's explanation, he had already understood his path to gaining power. Beyond combat and the system's provisions, there were other believers—for instance, increasing the number of Emanators like Natasha, or gaining the faith of the local populace to enhance his divine power.

Of course, this was a reciprocal process.

For the existing eighteen Aeons, the situation was the same.

However, even though their power was already immense, because their jurisdictions and followers were too vast, they could only bestow blessings upon those who walked their Paths. If there were regional believers who had not embarked on the same Path, they would receive no such blessing.

As for the eighteen Aeons, they did not count on the majority of Pathstriders to provide them with much feedback. Most tasks were realized through individuals like Emanators or Lords; such efficiency was far greater than relying on relatively weak believers.

As for Jing Yan, he had no intention of seeking widespread faith for the time being, and the reason was...

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

Furthermore, Jing Yan's enemies, another organization of "Elation," the "Masked Fools," enjoyed disguising themselves as people of other Paths or identities to seek amusement. Thus, it could not be ruled out that there were still Masked Fools in Belobog today, beyond the basically confirmed Sampo.

However, even if Jing Yan did not intend to start proclaiming his faith in Belobog, he still had a way to obtain divine power from this place: extracting emotions.

Any massive surge of extreme emotion caused by him could be extracted by Jing Yan and absorbed into his body as divine power.

For instance, Belobog was currently immersed in an atmosphere of joy, but in Jing Yan's view, too much of a good thing was harmful, so he intended to extract a wave of it.

This ability was considered a high-level skill, surpassing [Emotion Control].

Currently, it could be considered a second-tier "Eros" ability, on par with [Verbal Domination].

At present, only the [Seven Deadly Sins], created by combining [Extract Emotion] and [Illusion Domain], was a third-tier ability.

As for the "shadows" created by combining [Illusion Domain] and Fragmentum energy, they were basically still considered second-tier abilities.

This was because the shadows he created of himself were also modified from other Fragmentum shadows. As for the "Shadow of Cocolia" he had previously sent to fight Cocolia, it had been imprinted by the Fragmentum itself from Cocolia's creation; Jing Yan had merely controlled it by permeating the Fragmentum with his power.

Of course, Jing Yan still felt some hesitation regarding his new check-in task for the day.

Even though this task was extremely tricky—checking in "on Bronya's lips"—in reality, it should be understood that as long as there was physical contact, it would count; it did not necessarily require a kiss. Otherwise, Jing Yan would truly regret that this task hadn't been assigned on the day he saved Bronya from Cocolia—that is, yesterday—which would have made completing it much more logical.

If he used "artificial respiration" as an excuse, for instance.

Belobog Upper District.

Administrative District.

Qlipoth Fort.

The surrounding plaza was noticeably more crowded, and among them were many people from the Underworld.

Since the ban between the Upper and Underworld had been lifted, they were able to come to the Upper District for sightseeing.

Some of them were visiting the Upper District for the first time in their lives, and they felt a sense of wonder at everything around them.

When Jing Yan appeared, the people around him immediately came over to greet him warmly.

This even included local shop owners, as well as some reporters, children, and publishing editors, all of whom crowded around him.

"Mr. Jing Yan, is it Mr. Jing Yan? I'd like to ask, how did you and Supreme Guardian Cocolia and the commanders manage to resolve the Stellaron crisis before?"

"This is Crystal Daily; could we conduct an interview with Mr. Jing Yan?"

"I wonder, Mr. Jing Yan, as someone from the Underworld, how were you invited to join the crisis resolution team? Is there any connection between you and the Lamshtin family or the Landau family?"

Jing Yan did not answer.

The person next to him turned to the group behind him and continued, "See? This matter definitely has something to do with the great families; the waters here run very deep..."

"Hello, I am Mr. Walaus. Forgive the intrusion, Mr. Jing Yan. I am a humble man, and I happen to have a few private residences in the Administrative District. Because I find renting them out troublesome and I keep antiques inside, I fear problems might arise if I lease them. Therefore, I hope to invite Mr. Jing Yan to my home for a viewing. I wonder what Mr. Jing Yan thinks?"

"Hey, hey, Mr. Jing Yan, don't walk away! I also have a gold watch left behind by the third Supreme Guardian. I traded three houses to Lord Simon for it. But in my opinion, no matter how precious a gold watch is, it needs a suitable owner to be worthy of it. If Mr. Jing Yan likes it, how about I gift it to you?"

"Hello, Mr. Jing Yan, my name is Nikolai. I am an editor at a publishing house. Adventure Tales of the Snow Country is a work released by our firm, and it has just been unbanned. I have specially invited some personnel from the Administrative District for discussions. Currently, this fantasy work is being adapted, so I feel that Mr. Jing Yan's story could be added to it. Does Mr. Jing Yan have any interest..."

Jing Yan: "..."

At this moment, Jing Yan paid little attention to these overly enthusiastic passersby. Instead, he spotted Bronya offering flowers in front of the Monument of Everwinter.

She had not yet seen Jing Yan, but another staff member nearby certainly had.

It was the Silvermane Guard's intelligence officer, Pela.

The bespectacled girl hurried over, clutching a record book, and asked, "Mr. Jing Yan, I wonder what your purpose is in coming to the Upper District today? Also, I wonder if Supreme Guardian Bronya knows you are here..."

Pela looked somewhat puzzled, her attitude tinged with a hint of trepidation. The reason was that, as an excellent intelligence officer, she had previously known nothing about Jing Yan, and she felt her work had been a dereliction of duty, so she wanted to make amends.