Chapter 350: Faith

"Chu Qiguang! I'm going to beat the shit out of you the next time I see you!" Jin Haitian spat through gritted teeth before returning to his training with renewed vigor, fueled by his anger and desire for vengeance.

After a morning of intense training, Jin Haitian applied Hundred Refinement Ointment at noon to speed up his recovery.

As the days passed, Jin Haitian continued to hone his body and mind, eagerly anticipating a rematch with his rival.

One day, around noon, a middle-aged man dressed in a tight-fitting robe came to visit him.

"How've you been doing, Haitian?"

The man's name was Gu Ruohe, and he was an advisor at the Cloud Midst Military Base.

He was also a member of the Vast Heavens Faction and had received guidance from Zhou Junyan in the past, so he was technically a senior brother of Jin Haitian's.

Jin Haitian twisted his right arm into a spear and plunged it straight through a suit of armor before replying, "I've been doing great! Better than ever!"

"That's good to hear. I'm glad you haven't been affected by all the rumors," Gu Ruohe said with a nod. "Listen, I need you to come with me to the Heavenly Melody Manor tomorrow morning."

"Why?" Jin Haitian asked. "I just came back from there."

"Don't ask questions! Just follow your orders!" Gu Ruohe snapped, leaving Jin Haitian with no choice but to nod.

***

The next morning, Jin Haitian and Gu Ruohe set off for the Heavenly Melody Manor on horseback.

On the way there, Jin Haitian learned that his mission was to protect someone.

"Who requires both of us to protect him?" Jin Haitian asked curiously.

"You'll find out when we get there," Gu Ruohe replied.

The two of them arrived at a small courtyard, where over twenty people had already gathered, many of whom were familiar faces to Jin Haitian.

After briefly chatting with the others, Jin Haitian was shocked to discover that every single one of them was a fifth-state martial artist. There were even several Heavenly Master Religion abbots among them who were armed with talismans.

***

Inside Spirit Province's archive building, Chu Qiguang had just finished reading the final scripture that was of interest to his Ring of Ignorance.

In total, he had accumulated four deep boons, one dark boon, and one cursed boon.

After accumulating his fourth deep boon, he discovered that the Undying Seal had become available as an option, and that he could elevate it all the way to the fourth level. However, instead of doing so, he decided to continue saving his boons to see if he could upgrade anything else.

Unfortunately, he would have to wait, as there were no longer any useful books for him to read here.

As he inspected the newly acquired cursed boon, a description appeared before his Dao pursuer eyes.

"Cursed boon, a boon bestowed upon Dao pursuers. It's said that in order to pursue knowledge, Dao pursuers must possess inhuman power."

The description was rather vague, so Chu Qiguang guessed that the boon would most likely grant him a special ability, similar to his Dao pursuer eyes, dragon ocular power, and dragon snake skin.

Like the other boons, the cursed boon could also be stored in the Ring of Ignorance. However, he saw no reason to hold onto it, so after some thought, he decided to activate it.

The boon flowed into one of his vertebrae, altering its structure.

"Zealot vertebra, allows one to accumulate faith through prayer. It's said that some religious zealots have a habit of engraving gospel onto their vertebrae. Anyone who possesses a zealot vertebra will be mistaken for someone blessed by the gods."

Chu Qiguang was ecstatic upon seeing this. His lack of faith in the Profound Origin Dao Lord had prevented him from using the talismans of the Heavenly Master Religion, which had always been rather disappointing to him.

However, judging from the description of the zealot vertebra, it seemed that it could serve a medium through which he could accumulate faith by praying.

If that were truly the case, then even as a non-believer, he would be able to use things like the Heavenly Master Religion's talismans, the Imperial Heavenly Dao's talismanic water, and other faith-related powers from different religions.

Excited to try out his new ability, Chu Qiguang made his way to the nearest Daoist temple and began praying to the statue of the Profound Origin Dao Lord.

Having read a vast number of Heavenly Master Religion Daoist scriptures, he was already extremely familiar with the rites and etiquette of prayer. As he began reciting a Daoist scripture, he immediately sensed a difference.

A slight numbing sensation spread through his zealot vertebra, almost as if it were being charged with electricity. Except in this case, the electricity was the power of faith.

After around fifteen minutes, he could sense that his zealot vertebra was fully charged.

Given Chu Qiguang's current status, getting his hands on some talisman paper wouldn't be difficult, so that was his next order of business.

If this works, I'll request a batch of talismans from the Heavenly Master Religion.

The Heavenly Master Religion talismans were undoubtedly very expensive, but Chu Qiguang had no shortage of wealth, and was more than willing to spend money on anything that could enhance his powers.

Upon emerging from the Daoist temple, Chu Qiguang discovered that Wang Cailiang was already waiting outside.

"The helpers you summoned have all arrived. Do you want to go see them now?" Wang Cailiang asked.

"Sure," Chu Qiguang replied, setting aside his plans for the talismans for the time being.

Wang Cailiang led Chu Qiguang to the designated courtyard, where the latter addressed the gathered crowd.

"I'm sure you've all been informed that you'll be coming to the Heavenly Melody Manor to protect someone. Well, I can tell you now that the person you'll be protecting is me. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chu Qiguang. Given my current position, I've realized that certain nefarious individuals may target me for one reason or another, so I have sought the help of some of the shareholders to gather all of you here..."

"We have to protect Chu Qiguang?!" Jin Haitian spat through gritted teeth.

"Compose yourself! This is an order!" Gu Ruohe said in a cold, stern voice.

"But why?" Jin Haitian demanded furiously.

Chu Qiguang was the culprit behind all of his recent suffering and humiliation, and the thought of having to protect him was enough to drive him up a wall.

"If something happens to him, our entire military base will lose money," Gu Ruohe said.

"Is money that important? Even more important than my dignity as a martial artist?" Jin Haitian snapped.

"Of course! Is that even a question?" Gu Ruohe asked with a puzzled expression.