Chapter 85: Aftermath and New Rewards

However, despite the many restrictions, mass resurrection was an unfathomably powerful ability—one that Link dreamed of mastering. Unfortunately, he had no way to learn Holy Light skills from the Paladin Hall, so he could only gaze longingly or wait until one of his subordinate paladins reached the pinnacle of the ninth tier. That, however, seemed beyond reach for now.

The incarnation effect was impressive, yet its activation conditions were far too stringent. Most importantly, every use required a year-long cooldown; to use it again, one would have to patiently wait or acquire a new advanced building, something that was utterly unrealistic in the short term.

After these changes, Link's faith value had risen to over sixty-five thousand. It should have reached seventy-five thousand, but he had spent ten thousand last time to enhance the power of destiny, so his maximum faith value hadn't increased much. Even so, it was a good thing—his short-term goal of a hundred thousand faith was ever closer. Once he reached it, the system shop would unlock the Spirit Pet feature. When that time came, he’d be sure to buy several spirit pets with special powers, especially those that could fly, so as not to be helpless in situations like today.

As the increase in faith ceased, the system's voice sounded by Link’s ear.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host. Achievement unlocked: Savior of the Masses. You protected believers and congregants during the Rift Catastrophe, ensuring no casualties. You receive a reward of Intermediate Divine Power. Matching... Matching successful. Congratulations, Host. You have received the intermediate divine skill 'Book of Holy Light,' which will be granted together with the regular midnight lottery."

"Ding! Congratulations, Host. The number of fanatical believers has surpassed seven thousand. Tonight’s routine lottery is upgraded to an Intermediate Draw."

Two rewards—not of the highest tier, but still enough to delight Link, especially the first. He had seen the Book of Holy Light in knockoff games before; it was a very advanced divine skill item. As its name implied, it taught Holy Light skills—the very thing Link desired most at present.

Though it didn’t contain high-level skills like mass resurrection or radiance of Holy Light, it had many useful abilities, particularly those auxiliary spells that Link sorely lacked. Currently, he didn’t lack offensive means, but he had few defensive or support skills. With Holy Light magic, he’d no longer have to watch his paladins wield the Holy Light while he could only envy them from afar.

"Archbishop, how should we arrange the townspeople?" As Link was rejoicing over his rewards, a sudden voice interrupted him. Turning, he found it was Elia. She wore a nun’s habit and looked solemn—completely unlike her usual self.

Link’s good mood vanished, and he sighed inwardly. Of all the changes these past months, Elia had changed the most—not in appearance, but in spirit. Having chosen her future path, Elia now spent every day under the tutelage of the three Cardinal Bishops, growing ever more serious. Though she still showed affection in private, calling him "brother," she was now a consummate professional in public, with an imposing presence and formal address, making others feel pressured. No one treated her as a mere fourteen-year-old girl anymore.

Link had tried to persuade her many times, but Elia wouldn’t listen. Once, she even lost her temper, claiming he didn’t understand her. This left Link frustrated and helpless. The stubborn child had resolved to be a competent assistant to Link, and would see it through, no matter how hard it became.

Looking at Elia, Link didn't bother to fuss over titles. He nodded to show his understanding and summoned all the church's upper echelons to arrange for recovery efforts.

Though the crisis was over and nearly all the deceased had been revived, the destruction of Kinko Town was undeniable. Many people lost their homes and possessions to the monsters. Despite their faith, many fell into despair, which was dangerous. As a transmigrator, Link knew well that if post-disaster issues weren’t properly handled, other problems would soon arise.

During the Rift Catastrophe, the Church of the Father suffered no casualties, as everyone who died was revived. Yet some townsfolk of Kinko still perished. Among them, the mayor’s family—all but Jack—was wiped out. During the evacuation, Mayor Tony Sparrow was more concerned with moving his valuables than his family’s safety. Relying on his guards, he ordered the church members to help other townsfolk while he, his family, and servants took precious belongings.

This reckless greed cost his entire family their lives—they were attacked by a pack of hellhounds who circumvented the defenses, and their souls and bodies were burned by hellfire. Not even Titus or Sivis could save them.

With Kinko Town now leaderless, the wealthy and minor officials were in shock, with no thought of seizing power—in fact, most had become fanatical believers, looking to the Father or the church for guidance. None would attempt to manage the populace in the mayor's stead.

Thus, all authority and responsibility fell to the Church of the Father. Every townsman hoped the church would help them and was willing to obey any arrangement. At this point, Link was the undisputed local emperor of Kinko Town.

This troubled Link. He could manage a few hundred people, but leading thousands in post-disaster reconstruction was another matter—he was unprepared and lacked management experience.

Fortunately, he had talented subordinates. After losing their superiors, the former government officials joined the church and took orders, so Link wasn't overwhelmed. Still, he could forget about getting any decent sleep in the coming days.

Link didn’t dwell on it. Having decided to develop the Church of the Father, he wouldn’t shrink from responsibility. He quickly convened his people, assigned tasks, and began recovery work. The first priority was to return to Kinko Town to search for survivors and supplies, especially food. The church’s stores would last a few hundred people for twenty days, but for over eight thousand, it would be gone in a day. They had to find more provisions at once.

At the same time, Link dispatched personnel to other towns to purchase grain and relief supplies. Money was the least concern now—settling the people came first.

The townsfolk didn’t just leave everything to the church; those with energy volunteered to help, and the rest cooperated fully. Even when assigned to sleep outdoors due to lack of housing, they uttered no complaint.

In facing disaster, the people of Kinko Town displayed unprecedented unity and initiative—partly due to human nature, but mostly because their devout faith filled them with light and hope. They firmly believed that no matter how great the calamity, the future would be bright.

Thus, the entire town began its post-disaster life in this atmosphere. Amidst the busy recovery, Link found time to slip away to his room to receive his rewards and lottery draws—thank goodness he remembered, or he’d have cried if he missed them.

At midnight, the system handed him the Book of Holy Light. After Link accepted it, the routine lottery commenced, and, as expected, both draws were upgraded to Intermediate.

Link had no time to savor the joy of his rewards; there were countless people waiting for him outside. He quickly tapped for his two draws. The results: neither was particularly impressive. The first was a piece of equipment—a long-handled warhammer, silver-white, dignified and stylish, called "Messenger of Light." It was a paladin weapon that enhanced Holy Light, but, like the holy armor, it required steadfast faith—in other words, another item for his subordinates.

Faced with this, Link couldn’t even be bothered to complain about the system’s penchant for trolling. He realized something: the system could make him stronger, but not omnipotent. Often, it gifted him features that specifically empowered his followers, as if reminding him that he was a leader, not to do everything himself. More than his own strength, cultivating, commanding, and employing talent was what he truly needed to master.

Link couldn’t say for certain if the system was intentionally reminding him, but he felt it was reasonable. With the expansion of his religion, though his demand for personal strength remained high, he no longer believed sheer power alone could solve everything. Even if he were omnipotent, he couldn’t handle every matter himself—otherwise, he’d wear himself out like Zhuge Liang.

Talent was the key to a church’s growth. Only by cultivating and commanding talent could the Church of the Father thrive. With the system’s help, Link could save much effort compared to others. So now, he was already delegating most authority and tasks to his subordinates, retaining only the highest control—like the supreme leaders of major nations on Earth.

After pondering talent over the Messenger of Light warhammer, Link glanced at the second lottery item—a skill familiar to many from China: Golden Bell Shield, a top-tier defensive technique.

Had he not received the Book of Holy Light, Link would have been thrilled. But now, the skill was somewhat redundant, as the Holy Light system already included several defensive spells; adding Golden Bell Shield wouldn't make much difference.

The system's martial arts from China didn’t become godlike and unbeatable just by arriving in another world. Though powerful, their limits remained. Never mind the system’s own array of strange items—the skills and magic native to Solacon were formidable too. While lower-level abilities might be outclassed by the system’s divine arts, at high levels, even mastering the Nine Yang Divine Skill was only average. This wasn’t to disparage Chinese martial arts, but rather to avoid underestimating other civilizations. Solacon boasted millennia of history and culture, with countless extraordinary individuals and dazzling martial arts and magic. Even a bunch of fools, given ten thousand years, would devise powerful techniques; Solacon never lacked for geniuses.

According to Jin Yong’s novels, no matter how exquisite martial arts are, their strength is limited, and even the oldest disciplines rarely last beyond a thousand years, with many lost to history—let alone improvements and inheritance. In Solacon, seventh-tier experts could easily live to 150, eighth-tier to 200, ninth-tier to over 300. These centenarians, crafting and refining skills over centuries, would hardly produce inferior techniques to those of a martial arts world.

Solacon, strictly speaking, was a high-martial world. Its traditions over thousands of years were extensive. Even disregarding the most ancient, in the last two or three thousand years, many renowned skills had been preserved by various factions, often improved by top masters. In this context, how could martial arts from a wuxia world hope to surpass them?

Never overestimate your own civilization’s skills, nor underestimate those of others—Link firmly believed this.

(P.S. This description of the power system reflects my own views. Some readers recently argued that I intended to use internal energy to crush battle qi and magic, which left me speechless. So far, though I’ve described Chinese martial arts as mysterious and powerful, have I ever belittled the things of other worlds? Even if someone gets instantly defeated, it’s because of tactics and surprise, not because of any so-called “crushing.” If an analogous skill from Solacon were used, wouldn’t it be just as effective? How strong a skill is depends on its wielder, not the skill itself. Dugu Qiubai could wield a stick as masterfully as the Heavenly Sword; a third-rate martial artist could wield a peerless sword as poorly as a peerless 'shovel.')