Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 343: The Temple Priest

On the last day of April, several lines of text appeared silently before Li Wei.

[Your territory has completed construction of the Two-Star Temple. However, the spread of divine favor still requires a believer to serve as its conduit. Do you wish to search among the Freemen of the entire territory for a suitable divine-favored individual and appoint them as Temple Priest?]

[Friendly reminder: The search for a divine-favored individual may take up to six months. If no suitable candidate is found within that period, you may pay a fee to request a Temple Priest from Weir City.]

[Note: The criteria for a divine-favored individual are as follows: they must be someone who has died and been resurrected through the power of the gods; they must be resolute in will, with deep goodness and love in their heart, yet fierce in their hatred of evil; they must be capable of keeping their word, like a devoted ascetic; they must be a Stonemason with a Stonemason Destiny Grid greater than 30; they must hold an Executioner Destiny Title; they must be a native Freeman of this world.]

—

What?

That many requirements?

Li Wei was dumbfounded. He had assumed completing the temple was enough. The Temple Priest conditions were absurdly specific. How was anyone supposed to meet all of these?

He had thought Leon might be a candidate — his Executioner Code Name did carry a sacred quality, and Stonemason seemed to be a special profession. But Leon wasn't a native of this world, wasn't a Freeman, and had never died and been resurrected.

Might as well just go request one from Weir City — though the cost for that would surely be enormous.Li Wei was resigning himself to the wait when—

A result?

Already? It had only been a few seconds.

[Fourth Squad Captain Mark: he is a person who once died and was resurrected through divine intervention; his will is resolute; he holds deep goodness and love in his heart; he is fierce in his hatred of evil; he is capable of keeping his word, like a devoted ascetic; he is a Four-Star Stonemason with a Stonemason Destiny Grid of 45; he is a native Freeman of this world; five days ago, in an intense battle, he obtained the Executioner Destiny Title. The divine favor of the gods has locked onto him. He will become the Temple Priest. He has received the special Priest Profession Card.]

[Note: The Priest Profession Card is not subject to the standard rules. His existing professions are unaffected, but he will be unable to bind any additional Profession Cards going forward. His Priest Profession Card will continue to advance as the territory's faith grows.]

[Congratulations: your Level 1 Territory has advanced to Level 2. To advance to Level 3, you must construct at least two military fortresses around the territory perimeter and garrison them, ensure your sphere of influence exceeds 50 square kilometers — meaning enemy forces cannot directly penetrate that zone — and maintain sufficient troops, supplies, and population to sustain the military.]

[Congratulations: because you possess a Two-Star Temple, you have received the formulas for Two-Star Life Elixir and Two-Star Stamina Elixir.]

[Congratulations: because you possess a Two-Star Temple, you may now invite one additional Lord-type player to join your territory.]

[Congratulations: because you have advanced to Level 2 Territory, you may now rename your territory. If city construction is eventually completed, this name will become the city's name.]

[Friendly reminder: Within a 50-kilometer radius of the Two-Star Temple, NG status no longer applies.]

[Friendly reminder: Now that your Two-Star Temple has a resident Temple Priest, your Pioneering Card's effect will radiate outward from the territory to a radius of 500 kilometers. Any kill of a mutant creature, Ability User, or invader by your soldiers or advisors — from Level 5 and above — will now trigger normal Universal Gold Card drops.]

[Friendly reminder: Now that the Temple has a Temple Priest, important Freemen within the territory — such as Riverside Knights or designated advisors — who die in battle may be directly resurrected at the Temple. There will always be a drop penalty. You may designate up to ten names on the resurrection list.]

—

Remarkable.

Li Wei stared, genuinely shaken. He hadn't expected Mark to qualify as Temple Priest. Truly — with all those specific conditions, he had almost assumed it was designed to be impossible. And yet Mark met every single one.

Yes — Mark had once been a Level 3 Ability User, had become a Magic Zombie, had been essentially walking dead. He had died once.

But Zhao Xuanxuan had shattered his stone body, and Li Wei had used him as a test subject and brought him back.

And because of his past transformation by Rock Giant genetics, he had naturally chosen Stonemason as his first profession. Though he'd only been a Stonemason for a short time, his innate talent was extraordinary — Rock Giant heritage. He had advanced to Three-Star quickly, with a starting Stonemason Destiny Grid of 36. Six months of combat and labor had brought it to 45. Perfectly reasonable.

As for the Executioner title — before Leon left, he had trained Benjamin, Santiago, and Mark. When Leon unleashed his Executioner ultimate, everyone present could see it. Mark had accumulated it piece by piece, and finally manifested it in battle. Entirely logical.

Most importantly: Mark couldn't speak. That naturally satisfied the condition of keeping one's word like a devoted ascetic.

Excellent.

A process that should have taken six months had resolved in seconds.

Li Wei smiled, genuinely pleased. His luck really was extraordinary.

But was luck the right word?

If he hadn't kept his promise and helped Leon complete his Code Name upgrade in the rookie mission, Leon wouldn't have given him his full support in the pioneering mission.

If he hadn't won over Zhao Xuanxuan in the rookie mission, Night Owl wouldn't have gone to the trouble of transferring her from the Logistics Department to help him.

Without Zhao Xuanxuan, the Rock Giant would have been killed outright rather than having its stone body shattered. Mark would never have been saved as a test subject.

So many inevitabilities had to align to create this one coincidence.

To have this kind of luck, you first had to do a great many things right.

"With the Temple and a Temple Priest — everything changes."

"But renaming the territory — should it be called Flame Territory? And eventually Flame City?"

The thought passed through his mind without lingering. No rush on that.

In a few more months, his Level 2 Territory could advance to Level 3. He was already thinking about building a Southern Fortress along the river on the territory's south side, or perhaps a fortress at the great bridge to the east to control that road.

According to the city-building mission requirements, once he reached Level 5 Territory, he could upgrade it to a Level 1 City and complete the pioneering mission entirely.

"But the real challenges start now."

Li Wei reflected on this, then let his attention shift. Over three hundred character cards materialized in his mind, one by one.

With the Prestige Card system, even five hundred kilometers away, he could monitor the current status of every important person in the territory and handle basic management.

At the top of the list was Zhao Guozhu. Right now he was sharing a meal with Liang Yuzhi, Zhao Xuanxuan, and Thomas. Month-end — even without the formal settlement, everyone had gotten into the habit of sharing a meal together.

Li Wei was far away at Riverside Fortress, so he could only sit on the fortress rooftop in the blazing sunset and say his farewell from a distance.

Today was the day Zhao Guozhu's contract ended and he departed. His payment had been prepared. All that remained was the goodbye.

He was the last free player in the territory.

Through the card, Li Wei watched Zhao Guozhu slowly rise, clasp his hands in a formal farewell bow, and turn away. The moment he turned, his character card dissolved.

Next came this month's academy mercenaries.

This was already the third consecutive month Li Wei had recruited academy graduates.

First month: base price 10 gold coins each.

Second month: bidding had driven it to 18 gold coins.

Third month: the price had exploded to 35 gold coins per month. Academy mercenaries had become scarce and coveted.

These three months were the window the Weir Duke had given them — and the face Li Wei and the other new Lords had given the Duke in return.

The Three-Star Tavern's monthly rewards had been generous. The first month: a treatise on combat and warfare. Zhao Xuanxuan's cavalry squad had drawn heavily from it over the past month, to great effect. All current soldier training — veterans and recruits alike — referenced it. Even Li Wei read his handwritten copy when he had time. Mark's achievement of the Executioner Destiny Title was partly owed to it. An invaluable resource.

The second month: ten retired "cart horses" — actually One-Star Warhorses, including one stallion and one mare, laying the foundation for a horse-breeding program.

The third month: ten varieties of vegetable seeds, ten kilograms each — cabbage, radish, celery, scallions, green beans, kohlrabi, chili peppers, eggplant, and more.

In early April, as the earth thawed, both the main base and Riverside Fortress had each planted over ten mu of vegetable plots — enough to supply the territory's daily needs for the year.

But there would be no fourth month.

The fourth month had no reward. The academy mercenary designation no longer applied — everyone became ordinary mercenaries.

So even the most restless rookie mercenaries had to seriously reconsider this month, and somewhat reluctantly choose to apply for citizenship.

In the end, out of a hundred mercenaries, nearly 97% applied for citizenship. They simply couldn't afford to be stubborn any longer.

Three individuals still refused — choosing instead to remain ordinary mercenaries. For ordinary mercenaries, citizenship involved considerably more conditions and procedures.

No drama. No waves.

Month one: 50 citizens. Month two: 60. Month three: 97. Li Wei's territory population had cleanly crossed the 1,100 mark — a significant milestone and a reflection of the territory's overall strength.

The main base currently held around 600 people, with over fifty newborns among them.

Riverside Fortress had also crossed 500 people.