NOVPUB
Chapter 363: Power of Faith
After two hours of pounding and screaming in ecstasy, Sylphia was utterly exhausted, unable to move even an inch. Her sacred hole had been filled with Aldrian’s seed multiple times, causing her body to twitch occasionally from the lingering pleasure. Sweat and traces of their passion covered her skin, making it glisten.
"My love, your stamina is no joke! And you always hit the spot. How did your cultivation improve so drastically? What happened over the past year?" Sylphia asked through gasping breaths.
"Did you know you caused a huge commotion last year? Many people rushed to the main church and gathered in front of it. That place was in chaos, even the church was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people wanting to offer their prayers inside. They thought the heavens had descended. Even now, people are still flocking to this city as if on a pilgrimage."
Aldrian wasn’t surprised. It had been unexpected that he could directly connect to the heavens and cause such a grand phenomenon.
"I had an enlightenment and couldn’t pull myself out of the comprehension state at that time. I just wanted to seize that rare opportunity. I never expected it to last for more than a year," he answered, half-truthfully.
He wasn’t lying about enlightenment and cultivating, but he chose not to mention his conversation with the heavens—or with that figure. He feared that telling Sylphia about it would place an unnecessary burden on her karma and destiny.
Sylphia nodded, but then suddenly narrowed her eyes at him.
"You seem close to the Saintess, huh? You even brought her here in disguise to avoid drawing attention."
Aldrian smiled at her and leaned in closer to her pointy ear.
"Jealous?" His warm breath against her ear made her shiver, but she only pouted at him.
"Who’s jealous? I was just wondering how someone of her status who rarely steps outside ended up following you. Even the Pope allowed it, which means he must trust you immensely. I can only imagine that for a woman of her status and special ’condition,’ the Pope would be extremely strict."
"You’re not wrong, but let’s just say I managed to earn their trust—aside from their prophecy about me."
Aldrian then began telling Sylphia about his time at the church. He explained how he built his relationship with the Saintess, how she shared her story with him, and how he became both a good listener and entertainer. He also mentioned healing the Pope and receiving a sign from the heavens, though he left out the details. This event ultimately led to him to stay in the church’s most sacred ground.
Sylphia was surprised upon hearing more details, but then her expression turned sad.
"I didn’t expect the Saintess to have such a tragic past. She’s truly pitiful... No wonder you wanted to bring her here. Even without you asking, I would gladly be her friend," she said.
Aldrian nodded and kissed her temple.
"Good girl." He then suddenly remembered someone.
"Ah, by the way, where’s Elena? I haven’t seen her since earlier."
Elena, who had accompanied their group, hadn’t shown herself when they greeted him and Angelica.
"Ah, yes! I almost forgot to tell you," Sylphia said. "After news of the coup in the Atria Empire spread, she left immediately. She said her family is in the empire and that they need her to return. She only left a message saying that if you’ve come out of seclusion, she hopes you can spare some time to visit her family."
Aldrian nodded. When he hadn’t seen Elena earlier, he had already suspected that she had returned to her family. What Sylphia said only confirmed his guess. However, he still didn’t know which faction her family belonged to, and he could only hope that, whichever faction they belonged to, they would still be there when he arrived, as they might hold a clue to his origins.
Aldrian then smiled, and they continued talking for a while until Sylphia eventually fell asleep. He gazed at her sleeping face with a gentle smile before turning his thoughts inward.
He hadn’t had time to inspect his gains after emerging from the Shrine of the Beginning, so now was the perfect moment before he had to leave again tonight to capture Cardinal Carsius.
"Let’s see what I’ve gained."
He then sensed a foreign force concentrated within his body. This power that boosting his overall strength. Even outside his domain, he could already feel that he was far stronger than before.
Aldrian immediately recognized the nature of this foreign force that was amplifying his power.
"The power of faith... The collective faith of many people has gathered within me, strengthening me."
This was a power that no mortal should possess and only divine beings could wield it. If someone from a higher realm were to witness this, they would be utterly shocked. Aldrian’s existence alone defied common sense and overturned established knowledge. There was no precedent for a mortal wielding such power, even in the higher realms.
For divine beings, the power of faith is one of the most important forces for increasing their strength, it is also a privilege exclusive to them. The more people place their faith in or worship a divine being, the stronger that being becomes.
This is why divine beings constantly compete to gain as many followers as possible. Unlike mortals, they don’t necessarily need to cultivate in the traditional sense; they can rely solely on the faith of their worshippers to strengthen themselves.
Aldrian took a deep breath as he felt the power of faith surging within his body. He could sense that this faith came from many people—he estimated their numbers to be in the millions. Such an overwhelming amount of devotion, concentrated in him alone, was enough to boost his power immensely at his current stage. 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
Taking another deep breath, he expanded his senses across his entire domain, which now covered nearly half of the continent.
He felt as though his eyes were positioned at the highest point within his domain, gazing down upon the continent with his Eyes of Heaven. At this moment, he resembled a god watching over the mortal world. Sweeping his gaze across the land, he tried to sense every being within his vast domain. He wanted to test his limits with his current Duke-stage cultivation and newly enhanced strength.
After more than half a minute, he finally stopped, feeling a sharp headache that nearly caused him to fall toward where Sylphia slept. He steadied himself to avoid disturbing her, though his eye twitched from the pain. Despite the discomfort, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"I can now detect most of the population of one empire, which numbers around 25 billion people and process over five hundred thousand pieces of information simultaneously. This is a massive improvement from before."
Previously, Aldrian had only been able to sense hundreds of millions of people and process the information of more than 20 thousand individuals at a time within his domain.
He felt satisfied, knowing that this new ability would make his life easier in the future, should he need to utilize it. For instance, if he needed to find someone in a densely populated region, he could locate his target much more swiftly than before, as the number of objects he could detect and analyze had increased.
Aldrian took a deep breath to rest his mind after the headache he had felt. Closing his eyes once more, he reflected that although he had only tested his limits for less than a minute, his mental condition had already been drained, and he felt a wave of sleepiness—something he found understandable.
He decided to close his eyes and rest for a while. This would be his first sleep in over a year, and he thought it would be okay to indulge for now. It was still noon, and his only planned activity was with the paladins later that night.
Before long, his breathing steadied as he rested his head against the headboard of the bed and drifted into sleep.
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The day quickly turned to night as the sun sank below the western horizon. Aldrian slowly opened his eyes and glanced toward the side, where the sunlight had already disappeared. He knew the time had come for him to return to the church.
Looking around, he saw that Sylphia was no longer by his side, leaving only the lingering fragrance and the traces of their passionate moments.
He smiled and extended his senses to the room where Angelica was. He saw that Sylphia had already joined her, listening attentively as Angelica spoke. The other ladies were still there, while Xin Haotian had already returned to his room to cultivate.
Aldrian stood up, deciding to visit them. He wanted to inform them about his mission tonight, it wouldn’t good if he simply disappeared without a word.
"Sorry, ladies, to interrupt your conversation, but I just wanted to let you know that I have to leave again," he said as he opened the door to their room. He had a hunt to carry out tonight!
