The junior acolyte glanced left and right, then lowered his voice, saying, "That's the church's beautified version."
"Actually, according to historical records and what the officiating Father Vitas said, before this temple was built, Mother Earth only had a small shrine here."
"After Saint John saw the dilapidated temple, he vowed to build a magnificent hall for the deity."
"He borrowed the scepter from the goddess statue's hand in the temple as a hiking stick and embarked on a journey of wandering and fundraising."
"It took him a full sixty years to raise enough funds and return to build this temple. It was because of this piety that he was canonized as a saint after his death."
Upon hearing this, Arthur couldn't help but smile. The phrase "borrowed" was truly marvelous.
He stroked his chin, muttering to himself, "If that's the case, this scepter shouldn't be returned to the statue in the main hall, but to the original one…"
"What did you say, Your Excellency?"
"Child, tell me, where is the oldest statue in the temple?"
The junior acolyte pondered for a moment and replied, "It should be the one in the side hall."
"The officiating Father Vitas always reminds us to be careful when cleaning it, saying it's too old and can't withstand rough handling."
"Very good, then take me to that side hall," Arthur said.
"But Father Vitas said…"
"Father Vitas isn't here," Arthur said with a mischievous grin, pulling out a silver Tael. "He won't know. Take me to the side hall, and this silver coin is yours."
The junior acolyte stared at the silver coin, his eyes wide. If he used this coin to buy candy, it would last him a month.
Seeing the junior acolyte tempted, Arthur suddenly put the silver coin away and urged, "Time waits for no one, child, make your decision quickly."
"This… this way, esteemed Sir!" the junior acolyte quickly said, turning and running towards the side hall.
-----------------
In the dilapidated side hall, only an elderly deacon was on duty.
After Arthur explained his intentions, the old deacon didn't make things difficult, only reminding him to be careful.
Inside the hall, the statue of Mother Earth was just over a person's height, carved with the visage of Shangtiya, the Goddess of Grain.
Unlike the magnificent statue in the main hall, this statue's right hand was empty; the scepter, composed of corn stalks, wheat ears, and potato leaves, which it should have been holding, was gone.
Arthur compared the wooden staff to the statue and thought, 'This must be it!'
Besides, he didn't have time to try anything else.
Then, under the astonished gazes of the junior acolyte and the old deacon, he directly jumped onto the altar and inserted the wooden stick into the goddess's right hand.
The moment the wooden stick returned to its place, the mottled statue suddenly burst into life.
Vines burst forth from the cracks, wheat ears and corn stalks grew wildly like a fountain, and greenery instantly covered the entire side hall.
Arthur, who didn't have time to let go, felt a strange energy flow into his body through the wooden stick.
The surging life force washed over his body, like the warm sun of spring, gently enveloping every inch of his skin.
The old deacon, witnessing all of this, was dumbfounded, and the junior acolyte's eyes widened in disbelief.
The plants growing from the statue had by now merged into a giant plant, breaking through the roof and still growing upwards.
Thick roots plunged into the ground, and the entire side hall's floor rose accordingly.
And Arthur, radiating a sacred light, was like an angel descended from heaven.
"A miracle! This is a miracle!" The old deacon came to his senses, knelt down excitedly, and prayed incessantly.
The junior acolyte also exclaimed, "A saint! A saint has descended!"
By the time the Bishop and a group of Fathers arrived, having heard the commotion, everything had returned to calm.
Arthur sat cross-legged on a large leaf, his eyes slightly closed.
The unassuming wooden stick, now covered in tender shoots, rested quietly on his lap.
You have gained the favor of Goddess Shangtiya. Daily intelligence acquisition quantity +1.
As the prompt appeared in his mind, Arthur could barely contain his inner ecstasy.
It proved that these mysterious intelligence reports were true and reliable; now he could obtain four pieces of intelligence every day.
This was undoubtedly a lifesaver in a desperate situation, greatly increasing his chances of survival in Qingfeng Valley.
Even more surprising was that the divine power of Mother Earth Shangtiya had awakened his magical potential within him.
She also imparted obscure and difficult-to-understand knowledge of life magic into his mind.
He had actually become a priest of Mother Earth… Arthur marveled inwardly.
With a thought, he checked the spells he had mastered.
In the world of Dungeons & Dragons, spells are categorized by spell level.
The lowest level, 0-level spells, are also known as cantrips.
Arthur currently possessed 4 cantrips: Light, Prestidigitation, Sacred Flame, and Mending.
In addition to cantrips, he also knew four 1st-level spells: Bless, Guiding Bolt, Cure Wounds, and Ceremony.
Unlike cantrips, which can be cast frequently without limit, spells of 1st level and higher require spell slots to cast.
Spell slots can be simply understood as mana, and Arthur can currently only cast two 1st-level spells per day.
Although he couldn't choose his spells like in a game, the fact that he could cast divine spells already put him above most people in this world.
One must know that in the entire Anm region, divine spellcasting clerics were rare, usually only individuals of Bishop rank or higher possessed such ability.
The local Mother Earth Church's Bishop Gutierrez could cast divine spells, but it required the cooperation of other clerics and complex preparatory rituals.
In other words, once recognized by the Mother Earth Church, Arthur's clerical rank would be at least equivalent to a Bishop, theoretically allowing him to oversee a diocese.
He then turned his gaze to the newly added intelligence:
【White Intelligence】 The castle blacksmith Honi will sell his niece Vanka into a brothel tonight for 10 silver coins.
Although he wasn't yet clear about the value of this intelligence, from the content, it didn't seem too difficult to resolve.
After organizing his thoughts, Arthur began to focus his attention on the Bishop and the Fathers.
The miracle caused by the Goddess's scepter had divided the Fathers present into two factions.
One faction believed that Arthur was a saint personally chosen by Mother Earth, and they should extensively publicize this event, as it would bring considerable influence to the Mother Earth Church.
The other faction, however, declared that a dissolute young man like Arthur could not possibly be chosen by the Goddess; if he were a saint, it would only cause catastrophic effects on the Mother Earth Church.
Both sides argued fiercely, and Bishop Gutierrez was trying his best to calm them down, but with little success.
A white-haired Father pointed at the giant plant that had broken through the roof, shouting hoarsely, "Look at all this! Are you all blind?
What else could such a miracle be but the descent of a saint?"
Another young Father sneered in retort, "Oh, come on, you Old Hutu.
Don't forget how many nuns he's ruined! How could the Goddess choose such a scoundrel?"
Bishop Gutierrez, flustered, tried to quell the argument, but to little avail.
Just then, the junior acolyte noticed Arthur had woken up and quickly whispered a few words to the Bishop.
The Bishop glanced over, then squeezed through the crowd and walked towards Arthur with a complex expression.
In Anm, true miracles had not been seen for many years, but charlatans using the guise of miracles to swindle money were endless.
This person who could trigger a miracle was both a talent the Mother Earth Church needed to win over and a variable they needed to be wary of.
Moreover, this person was Arthur.
Why Arthur? Gutierrez was at a loss.
When he arrived, the young noble joked, "They know I'm still here, right?"
At this moment, the opposition was slandering him with all sorts of harsh and sarcastic words.
Looking at his colleagues arguing behind him, the Bishop said awkwardly, "Don't mind them, Lord Arthur, it's just an academic discussion.
I think there must be some misunderstanding here, we…"
"Misunderstanding?" Arthur looked at the giant plant. "Are you trying to deny the miracle created by Mother Earth?"
The Bishop quickly shook his head, "Of… of course not, my meaning is that there have been too many recent events at the temple.
The New Temple is about to be completed, and we also need to receive high-ranking clergy from Esputa, so we simply don't have the manpower to handle your matter."
"Then what do you mean, esteemed Bishop?"
"You see, Arthur, perhaps we can reach a mutually beneficial solution.
Let's not publicize this matter for now, and discuss it again after the New Temple's inauguration ceremony. What do you think?"
The Bishop cautiously offered his suggestion.
Arthur's mind began to race, and he quickly guessed the other party's intention.
Clearly, Gutierrez wanted to be the protagonist of the inauguration ceremony, as he had put a lot of effort into the New Temple.
And Arthur, appearing out of nowhere, would undoubtedly steal his thunder, which was not something he wanted to see.
Arthur smiled and said, "So you want me to remain silent? That doesn't sound like it benefits me."
Gutierrez gritted his teeth and offered a condition: "100 gold Dantars. After the ceremony, I guarantee you will receive Mother Earth Church recognition.
At that time, you will be a Bishop, and after a period of further study, you can go and manage a diocese."
In the Bishop's view, one hundred gold coins was not much for the son of an Earl, but his subsequent proposal was a truly great favor.
Evil Wolf Earl had a total of five children, all boys, and as the youngest, Arthur's right to inheritance was practically a Waste paper.
Individuals like him either left the family to make their own way or entered the churches of various deities to become clerics.
Of course, he could also serve as a government official in various regional political centers, but Arthur had personally ruined that path.
So he was confident that with such generous terms, this youngest son of the Earl would surely agree.
Arthur pondered for a moment and said, "The position of Bishop is too heavy, and I also don't want the Mother Earth Church to be divided because of me."
"I only need the status of an ordinary priest recognized by the Mother Earth Church. Furthermore, I learned that you, Bishop, recently acquired a new four-wheeled carriage and two fine horses?"
The Bishop's expression froze. He had never imagined that this young man would give up a promising future for money!
What he didn't know was that after the ceremony, Arthur was to head to Qingfeng Valley to take up his post; he didn't have time to wait for these clerics to debate his identity, nor was it possible for him to become a Bishop.
For Arthur, one hundred gold Dantars was a tangible good; it was equivalent to a year's income for an upper-class yeoman family.
So-called upper-class yeomen were similar to wealthy landlords in Arthur's previous world; an annual income of over a hundred gold coins was enough for them to maintain an affluent life.
He was also confident that this was not the Bishop's bottom line; the Mother Earth Church's local income was quite substantial, and one hundred gold coins was merely pocket change.
After Arthur finished speaking, the Bishop quickly calculated in his mind. The carriage had cost him a full fifty-seven gold coins,
And those two fine horses, they were carefully selected from the Bull family's noble stud farm, each priced at eighty-five gold coins.
Adding the previous one hundred gold coins, this young man wanted over three hundred gold coins as hush money from him.
How shameless! He was practically extorting, making an outrageous demand!
But compared to helping him gain Mother Earth Church recognition, three hundred gold coins was truly not much.
Because smoothing things over through various channels would cost at least seven hundred gold coins, though that would be the Mother Earth Church's money.
But those three hundred gold coins were all his own money, accumulated through his hard work… and corruption.
Realizing this, the Bishop secretly cursed Arthur as a short-sighted fool while calculating how to bargain.
He whispered, "This is blackmail!"
Upon hearing this, Arthur softly chanted a spell, casting the cantrip Light, and the scepter in his hand suddenly burst forth with dazzling light.
The two factions, still arguing, were quickly drawn to this sudden light.
This was just a simple cantrip, but it was enough to astonish mortals unfamiliar with magic.
"Stop!" the Bishop hissed, gritting his teeth. "You'll only exacerbate the chaos…"
"Mother Earth above!" The elderly Father from before shouted again, "Open your eyes and see, see what this is!"
"Evil magic! The devil's trick!" the opposition shrieked.
"Esteemed Bishop, I'm thinking of performing this little trick at the inauguration ceremony, what do you think?" Arthur asked kindly.
Gutierrez's face turned from green to white. Seeing the situation about to spiral out of control, he had no choice but to compromise, "Alright, alright, you can have the carriage."
"And those two horses and the priest's certificate," Arthur emphasized.
"Fine, fine, the horses, the certificate, take them, take them all!" The Bishop finally waved his hand as if collapsing.
Half an hour later, two tall, magnificent horses pulled a beautifully decorated carriage away from the temple.
Arthur leaned back on the soft velvet cushion, clutching the priest's certificate personally signed by the Bishop, and listening to the jingle of gold coins in his money pouch, a smile involuntarily curving his lips.
-----------------
Meanwhile, in Evil Wolf Earl Castle's study.
The castle steward Bump pushed open the door with light steps, unable to hide the joy on his face: "My Lord! Black Mane has successfully given birth to three cubs, two males and one female, all very robust!"
"Three?" Earl William's quill suddenly paused. "Didn't they say she was only carrying two before?"
Direwolves already have a low reproduction rate; giving birth to three cubs at once was considered an auspicious sign.
He then frowned and pressed, "How is the she-wolf doing?"
"The veterinarian said she'll recover after two or three months of rest," Bump said, hesitating.
Only after the Earl's gesture did he stammer, "Uh, it's… it's related to Young Master Arthur."
"What trouble has that brat caused now?" As soon as he heard Arthur's name, the Earl's temples throbbed. "I knew he wouldn't meekly accept his appointment!"
Seeing the Earl's anger, the steward quickly explained, "The stable master said that the Young Master had previously warned that Black Mane's fetal position was abnormal and insisted on a thorough examination."
"As a result, the veterinarian discovered triplets and promptly arranged for an induced labor. If it weren't for the Young Master's warning, Black Mane would likely have been in grave danger."
The Earl's furrowed brow almost twisted into a knot; he wondered if he had misheard.
"Are you serious, Bump? Arthur? The Arthur who spends all his time in brothels and casinos? My youngest, most good-for-nothing son?"
"My Lord, how dare I lie to you? This matter is absolutely true; everyone in the stables heard it. Those animal trainers at the time… at the time…"
"At the time what?"
"They were laughing at the Young Master at the time."
William let out a heavy breath and said in a deep voice, "Reward the stable master and the veterinarian fifty silver coins each. As for those animal trainers who mocked him, give each of them three lashes—teach them how to respect nobles."
He paused, then added, "Tell Arthur to come see me."