His consciousness immediately returned to the television, and Edrick asked, "What's going on?"
"This stone statue, according to the believers here, is an idol of an evil god, and it houses an evil supernatural power. The statue itself is the earthly form of the god, the incarnation of the god, and no matter which deity incarnated in it and was buried in feces for who knows how long, it's bound to have some resentment (◕ᴥ◕)/"
After the Wealth-Scattering Lad finished his reply, he added a gloating emoji at the end.
"What should I do?" Edrick resisted the urge to curse.
"You are the Village Deity, also a deity. A mere statue marinated in feces is no threat to you." The Flower Maiden looked unconcerned. "Just grab the statue and run."
Edrick nodded, returned to reality, and kicked Griff to the ground with a single blow. The statue rolled onto the floor. Free from the statue's control, Griff twitched like a stranded eel for a moment before coming to a stop, lying on the ground and gasping for breath.
Edric took advantage of this moment to wipe the feces off the stone statue with Griff's jacket. Sure enough, as soon as he touched the stone statue, even through the clothes, the statue's power was able to impact Edric's mind.
Faced with the impact of the evil god, the candles in the Sanctum of the Village Deity burned quickly, and in less than two seconds, the statue became docile and no longer reacted.
In those two seconds, Edric lost nearly 200 Faith Essence Points.
"I need Faith Essence Points here!?" Edrick was stunned.
The kind-hearted Wealth-Scattering Lad explained, "Faith Essence is like air for deities, and every move consumes it (o^▽^o)."
Edrick didn't bother arguing with these two little things. At this moment, he just wanted to go back and rest, but he still had something to tell Griff.
Originally, Edrick wanted to find a cesspool to bury Griff, but after thinking about the layout and the amount of shit he would have to dig out, he changed his mind and decided it would be better to let the guy atone with his body.
Moreover, Flower Maiden's words made Edrick very curious. Could the stone in the cesspool be a god statue? Although it looked like a god statue, it was lying in a cesspool. Was it to escape from the church?
In his fragmented memories, Edrick recalled the awe-inspiring Luminous Pontificate, a huge organization comparable to the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, but with magical powers.
The patroler who had caused the Croft family's turmoil and Edrick's death belonged to an organization affiliated with this church called the Watchpost of the Luminous Covenant. They were religious police responsible for inspecting everything that was prohibited by the Covenant.
Did the followers of this deity throw their idol into a dung pit to escape the patroler's pursuit?
Edrick took advantage of Griff's drowsiness and returned his consciousness to the television in the Sanctum of the Village Deity. "You said this thing has divine power?"
"You don't understand, do you? Let this Mama tell you, this kind of divine material is not easy to find. It can only be created after a long period of being blessed by the power of the deity and imbued with faith. There is no such thing as natural divine material! You should cherish it!" said the Flower Maiden impatiently, "This kind of stone has the highest Faith Essence conversion efficiency!"
Edrick felt a little resistant. He never imagined that his first idol was actually a stone from a latrine!
"Okay, what should I do?" Edrick was not an indecisive person. Once he made up his mind, he didn't hesitate. At worst, he could just scrape off a layer of skin from the statue.
"A very simple ritual will do. Let me think... There are some things you won't be able to get, so I'll find some substitutes."
Edrick had a new understanding of what Flower Maiden meant by "simple."
The entire ritual, including finding those random substitutes and gathering the necessary items, took him nearly three hours—longer than he had ever spent exorcising demons at the textile factory!
Edrick crouched in his secret hideout, the stench of rotten wood and sewage mingling with the acrid smell of coal smoke from the distance. At his feet lay several old newspapers he had scavenged from the tavern, serving as a makeshift altar for the ritual.
The stone statue before him, emitting a foul odor, had a grayish-green hue, its surface still stained with dried-on grime. This was the "divine image" he was about to imbue with a connection. Moonlight filtered through the warehouse's broken window frames, casting mottled shadows on the stone, as if foretelling the beginning of this special ritual.
He pulled out a rusty nail—it had been scavenged from a pile of junk at a carriage repair shop. Gritting his teeth, he drove the nail into the palm of his hand, and seven drops of blood trickled down the nail's grooves, landing one by one on the seven corners of the stone.
According to ancient texts, this was the "Seven Stars Enlighten the Spirit Ritual
" which must be completed before the midnight bell tolled; otherwise, the blood pact would become invalid.
He listened nervously to the church bells ringing in the distance, each toll sounding like a countdown to destiny.
When the seventh drop of blood fell, the stone surface glowed faintly, as if responding to his devotion.
He pulled out a half-broken wooden comb from his chest—it had been found in a trash bin in the slums. Using a piece of iron he had sharpened for a long time, he carefully carved mysterious symbols onto the teeth of the comb.
These symbols represented "protection" and "blessing." Each stroke had to be made in sync with a specific breathing rhythm to channel the energy within his body. The slightest deviation would cause the symbols to lose their power, forcing him to start over.
He was completely focused, sweat dripping from his forehead and spreading dark stains on the newspaper. When he reached the fifth rune, the iron plate suddenly slipped, leaving a deep scratch on the wooden comb, rendering the rune useless. He took a deep breath, picked up the comb again, and started over. After repeating this four times, he finally succeeded in carving the complete rune.
He took out five old clay pots—these were all defective items he had begged from street vendors.
He filled them with various items he had collected from different places: dust from the streets, soot from chimneys, wheat bran discarded by bakeries, paint residue from dye shops, and leftover wine from taverns, symbolizing the five elements.
He scattered the debris around the stone, muttering, "The five elements return to their places, and the spirit is forever secured."
Finally, he took out a talisman drawn with charcoal—the charcoal was picked from the fireplace ashes, and the paper was from the inner pages of an old ledger.
He set the talisman ablaze, allowing the ashes to drift onto the stone.
As the ashes settled, faint patterns emerged on the stone's surface, emitting a faint glow.
Edrick collapsed onto the ground, exhausted, gazing at the rudimentary "divine statue" before him, his heart filled with emotion.
This ritual did not involve any advanced magic or precious materials, only substitutes for trash that could be easily found on the streets of 18th-century London. It was accomplished with the perseverance and belief of a mere mortal.
He knew that this was only the first step on his path to becoming a god.
After resting for a while, Edrick kicked Griff awake: "Take this... Pray to Him every day."
Originally, Edrick had considered asking Griff to help him preach and gather more followers, but considering the patroler of the Luminous Pontificate, with Griff's brain, he would be caught and burned at the stake the next day.
Preaching was not something that could be rushed. His survival was still an issue, so he had to take it slowly.
Griff took the god statue with some fear and nodded blankly.
What had just happened was too bizarre. Griff, who had little education, was like a bird startled by a bowstring, and dared not disobey Edrick.
But Edrick still wasn't entirely at ease. Possessing a divine statue was a capital offense if discovered.
If Griff betrayed him, even without concrete evidence, the church would conduct a thorough investigation. Moreover, Edrick had tattoos of unknown origin on his body, which was a sin in itself.
"I wonder if the Cat Control Spell works on humans..." Edrick had a sudden thought. After lighting another candle, Edrick discovered that he could connect to one more cat.
Edrick turned his gaze toward Griff, making his scalp tingle.
"It actually worked." While connecting with Griff, Edrick felt an unusual sensation. Unlike normal cat control, he had greater control over Griff. If he wanted to, he could even use Griff's fur to strangle him.
"Is this... the ability of the loom ghost, mutated when it came to me?" Edrick had some guesses, but he wasn't sure. After all, he knew nothing about mysticism and magic, and the Flower Maiden seemed disdainful of explaining anything, while the Wealth-Scattering Lad was equally clueless.
"These two little things said that these Ghosts were born because the influence of the Divine Authority below had taken effect, so after absorbing the corresponding Divine Authority, it was understandable that my abilities had been slightly strengthened."
Edrick could only explain it this way when faced with the unknown. At present, he urgently needed to supplement his knowledge of magic and mysticism in this world.
As for Griff, he was even more frightened. He looked at Edrick with eyes full of awe and admiration.
"You... you're a path seeker!?" Griff said tremblingly.
Edrick was no stranger to the term 'path seeker.' It was what people in this world called those with supernatural powers.
It wasn't an unfamiliar term. In fact, path seekers were not uncommon in this world. If you had to compare them to the real world, they were like doctoral students, not very numerous, but not particularly remarkable either.
Path seekers needed to spend a lot of money and time to train, but even after training, they weren't necessarily useful. After all, the industry in this era was already quite developed.
Once glorious, now seemingly in decline, such were the path seekers.
To make it easier to understand, one could imagine path seekers as a group of wizards who could use magic, but there were many different types of path seekers, not just wizards, but also shamans, priests, paladins, and the like.
"If you dare to tell anyone, I'll rip your testicles off with my pubic hair," said Edrick, turning away. He knew he already had Griff's balls in his hand.
It was already early morning, and Edrick's head ached at the thought of having to go to the docks the next day.
He returned home, handed the 13 shillings and 11 pence he had stolen from Griff and the other three thugs to Hannah, then collapsed onto his bed.
"Ten shillings!? Where did you go? Where did you get so much money? You smell so bad. Your clothes are filthy—take them off so I can wash them…" Hannah's voice seemed distant as Edrick's consciousness began to fade.
"I… found a… not entirely legal… but… well, not very safe way… to make money… Don't worry… It'll be okay… I'll explain when I wake up…"
Seeing Edrick's exhausted state, Hannah couldn't bear to say anything else. She clenched the heavy coins in her palm tightly, tears welling up in her eyes.
In his dream, Edrick returned to the temple and plopped down in front of the TV. Now his TV had an extra channel—a channel he was extremely familiar with: the God Statue Perspective.
In his dream, he saw Griff obediently move the statue into his dilapidated room and pray devoutly.
Gained 0.1 Faith Essence Point.
Seeing the number pop up on the TV, Ederick was furious. With a single thought, he made Griff's pubic hair wrap around his balls.
Griff rolled on the ground in pain, screaming like a pig being slaughtered. Someone downstairs was awakened by the noise and banged on the floor.
After Edrick let go of Griff's balls, Griff didn't dare to have any more thoughts and prayed devoutly to the indistinct god statue, contributing 2 Faith Essence Points.
But he was still very puzzled. Why only 2 points? This was not scientific, not right, not theological!
"I'll rip your testicles off!" Edrick rolled up his sleeves, preparing to give Griff a lesson he would never forget.
At this moment, a dialog box popped up on the screen with the Wealth-Scattering Lad saying, "A normal adult can only provide 2 Faith Essence Points at a time, and cannot provide them every day."
"Two points?" Edrick was stunned, suddenly realizing the value of the 1,000 Faith Essence Points he had earned last night, and then he thought of someone, "But Miryam can give me 10 Faith Essence Points every day."
The Wealth-Scattering Lad typed very hesitantly, seeming very unsure of himself: "Um... there are special circumstances... Devout virgins can provide 4 Faith Essence Points, which is why the holy maidens of the temple are all virgins. And... and the transmission rate of the statues is different. The original statue was made of the highest quality stone!"
"As a deity, you actually discriminate based on gender! And you have a virginity complex!?" Edrick couldn't help but criticize this from a modern perspective.
"Generally speaking, the more special and powerful an individual is, the more Faith Essence Points they can provide."
The Flower Maiden couldn't stand it anymore and finally typed, "This power does not refer to physical strength, but to the level of life. For example, if you can make a dragon become a believer, it can give you 50 Faith Essence Points a day."
"Only 50 points for a giant dragon?!"
Edrick couldn't understand it. He even wanted to take the god statue back from Griff and let Miryam and Hannah worship it.
However, keeping the god statue with Griff would help him with his future plans.
"Yes, and it doesn't provide Faith Essence every day. Generally speaking, it can only provide you with Faith Essence on the 1st, 9th, 15th, and 24th of each month..."
For normal people, they could only provide it four times a month, which was why most of the church's followers only went to church on weekends.
But why was Miryam able to provide Faith Essence Points every day?
There must be something else about this girl... Edrick couldn't help but think of a possibility. Perhaps it wasn't a coincidence that Miryam found his god statue here.