Absolutely not to be burned at the stake

At this moment, Li Wei was not concerned about becoming the focus of everyone's discussion. He was sitting in his room by candlelight, looking at Hansen's diary and the book "The First Interpretation of the Divine Book" on the table.

After a slight hesitation, Li Wei reached out and picked up Hansen's diary.

Divine magic is not something that can be mastered overnight, but... he can learn divine magic directly by making two simple choices, so he has temporarily lost some of his mystique about it.

Currently, the option of becoming a church priest remains unresolved and has not yet been formally implemented.

During the day, he only skimmed through Hansen's diary, getting some general information.

Take another close look at Hansen's diary; now is the time to get down to business.

Hansen's diary is somewhat disorganized, and it is basically a record from the beginning of his arrival in Shadowtown, especially the early entries, which are mostly Hansen's complaints.

"Our Lord has not manifested His divine power for a long time, and all kinds of sacred artifacts have been severely damaged, especially war artifacts, which are now less than one-tenth of their original value. The Holy See has gradually declined from its position as the leader of the four religions, and the conservatives remain stubbornly unsettled..."

"We reformers have been repeatedly suppressed..."

Li Wei had only read a few pages when he felt the light was getting dim.

Looking at the tiny candle flame, Li Wei frowned, closed his eyes slightly, and with a wave of his hand, the small table lamp that could be used as both a plug and a flush lamp on the desk in his little house appeared in his hand.

I turned on the desk lamp, placed it on the table, and only then did I feel comfortable.

He wasn't worried about others seeing it.

Judging from Hansen's diary, the Alchemist Sanctuary mainly focuses on various holy artifacts, and using some lighting holy artifacts makes it easier for others to see.

At least in this Shadow Town, his family, as the only Alchemist Priest, had these qualities that could intimidate some people and make them more convinced of his title as a priest.

Under the bright lights, Li Wei gradually became engrossed in watching, and the expression on his face became increasingly interesting...

Just as he had imagined, the Sacred Heart Cathedral was indeed an extraordinary institution in its time, one of the five great cathedrals of the Alchemist Church.

However, it is unclear what caused it to gradually decline to its current desolate state.

Speaking of which, Father Hansen was quite an...unlucky man.

Decades ago, Father Hansen, in his early twenties or even before he turned thirty, entered the realm of intermediate-level divine magician, becoming one of the youngest intermediate-level divine magicians in the Alchemy Holy Court.

At that time, a cardinal of the Cardinal Order predicted that Hansen would definitely become a high-level divine mage in the future, and even have the hope of reaching the level of a saint, which can be described as a promising future.

However, at that time, the conservative faction of the Alchemist Church still held an absolute advantage in the Cardinal Order. Hansen, as an outstanding young representative of the reformist faction, was promoted directly to bishop when he was in high spirits, which was a good thing.

However, he was appointed as the presiding bishop of the Sacred Heart Cathedral by the conservative Cardinal Order.

In the past, being able to preside over the Sacred Heart Cathedral would have been an immense honor; during the height of the Alchemist Church, the presiding officer of the Sacred Heart Cathedral would have been a cardinal, and in certain special periods, he would have even been one of the inevitable candidates for pope.

However, when Hansen became bishop, the Sacred Heart Cathedral, although still holding a high status, was the most declining of the five major cathedrals. In fact, while the presiding bishops of the other four cathedrals were at least archbishops, the presiding bishop of the Sacred Heart Cathedral had been reduced to a position that only bishops could hold.

Although anyone who has served as the presiding bishop of the Sacred Heart Cathedral will inevitably be promoted to archbishop in the future, this position is usually filled by senior bishops who have no further hope of advancement.

For Hansen, who was in the period of rapid growth in strength, if he had just followed the steps, he would have had a great chance of advancing to a high-level divine mage within ten years, and then naturally becoming an archbishop based on his strength.

But after arriving in Shadow Town, a place where even the gods are helpless, five years of wasted time have greatly slowed his progress. In those five years, his strength only advanced from the fourth rank to the fifth rank.

Hansen originally thought that after completing his term, the reformist cardinals would find a way to transfer him back to the Holy See, and then within the next year or two, he could use this qualification to be promoted to archbishop, and with the help of the archbishop's resources and the support of the cardinals, make up for the lost years and quickly cross the sixth and seventh ranks to advance to the high rank.

At this critical juncture, the struggle between the conservatives and the reformers reached a crucial point. In order to secure the position of reformist archbishop, the cardinals of the reformers demanded that Hansen serve another term as bishop of the Sacred Heart Cathedral and, through this position, be directly promoted to archbishop.

Left with no other choice, Hansen had to stay and was directly promoted to archbishop. However, in the next five years, his divine magic strength only advanced from the fifth rank to the sixth rank. It was no longer possible for him to break through to a higher rank before the age of forty.

Once you're over forty and haven't advanced to a high-level divine mage, the chances of advancing to a higher level become much lower, let alone even trying to reach the Saint realm.

Therefore, Hansen completely fell from a promising elite sorcerer to an ordinary sorcerer.

Hansen then completely gave up hope and began to focus his resources on his son, who was far away in Lionheart.

By this time, the reformers had successfully replaced the conservatives, occupying most of the seats in the Cardinal Order. And Bishop Hansen, who had sacrificed himself for the reformers, was not forgotten by the reformers' leaders.

After consulting Hansen's opinion, the completely dilapidated Sacred Heart Cathedral and the town of Shadow, which was under the cathedral's jurisdiction, were placed under the independent administration of Bishop Hansen.

That's why we have the Sacred Heart Cathedral and Shadow Town as we know them today.

Bishop Hansen dismissed all his clergy and even the church guards, and put all the salaries and resources of the Sacred Heart Cathedral under his control.

Bishop Hansen even directly leased out the administration of Shadow Town, collecting only tithes and the town hall's annual offerings.

He provided all his resources to his son and family, who were far away in Lionheart.

Seeing this, Li Wei rubbed his eyes and sighed... This old Hansen is indeed a decisive person.

I closed Hansen's diary, then washed up and went to sleep in the next room.

However, he did not sleep in Hansen's bedroom, but instead prepared a small room for himself, giving outsiders the illusion that Hansen was really in seclusion.

Of course, he also couldn't stand the unpleasant old-fashioned smell in Hansen's room.

The newly made bed, though not wide and with slightly rough sheets, allowed Li Wei to sleep soundly.

In the sanctuary not far away, the moonlight slanted across the emblem, casting a quiet glow.

When the cool moonlight transforms into warm sunlight, shining precisely on the emblem through the stained-glass window.

Li Weizheng stood beneath the holy emblem, bowing his head and slowly reciting the Bible.

A cool, refreshing aura emanated from beneath the sacred emblem, descending upon him as he chanted, and then flowing into the faintly visible emblem between his brows, seemingly making it slightly more solid.

Moreover, the faint, wondrous aura surrounding the emblem seemed to have become even stronger.

Behind him, Rena and her daughter, along with five or six other townspeople from Shadowtown who were rarely seen on ordinary days, sat in rows of benches, attentively following Levi in ​​praying to the Holy Symbol.

After reciting the Bible once, Li Wei slowly turned around.

The townspeople quickly stood up, drew a triangular emblem on their chests, and then touched their foreheads with three fingers in a respectful bow.

"May my Lord protect you." Li Wei nodded slightly in return.

His gaze fell on Reina and her daughter standing in the front row, and he asked slowly, "Does little Ruimin still have a fever?"

"Thank you for your concern, Father. I haven't had a fever since I took your holy water yesterday," Rena said gratefully, bowing deeply.

Li Wei nodded: "Very good."

After saying that, Li Wei glanced at the people in front of him. Seeing that they all looked respectful and seemed to have nothing else to say, he nodded and prepared to leave.

"grown ups."

At this moment, a woman respectfully stepped forward and bowed again with a boy in tow.

The others were puzzled by the woman's actions.

Li Wei glanced at the woman before him and the slightly reserved boy beside her, and smiled slightly: "Seanna, is there something you need?"

Sienna said respectfully, "My lady, my son Nathan is fourteen years old. He is quite intelligent and diligent. If you don't mind, he can serve you."

Hearing Sienna's words, the townspeople behind her all realized what she meant and looked at Sienna with envy. Many of them secretly regretted not thinking of this.

Li Wei used to be a church servant, but now that he's a priest, there are no more servants in the church.

It's impossible to expect Father Li Wei to continue doing all the chores like cooking and burning firewood, is it?

The job of a church servant is always something that people envy. Although the salary is not high, it exempts the household from tithes. All things considered, a half-grown boy is almost equivalent to a strong laborer.

Although Father Hansen was eccentric and stingy, and didn't care much about anything except church affairs, the servants didn't benefit much from his services either.

But now, it is Li Wei who is the priest, and... Li Wei also started out as a maid, and in just two years, he has become a high and mighty priest.

Who knows, the next domestic helper might also have a chance.

Everyone could only admire Sienna's speed...