Absolutely not to be burned at the stake

The tavern in town was bustling with activity at that moment.

A tall, burly adventurer slammed his empty glass on the table and shouted, "Todd, give me another one!"

Hearing the call, the bartender skillfully took a glass of ale from the counter and watched as the customer tossed half a tal into a plate before smilingly placing the empty glass on the plate and returning the bartender.

"Hey Basque... you're a real man, tell me... is this so-called new priest of yours really that amazing?" The adventurer picked up his wine glass, tilted his head back and took a big gulp, then looked at the blacksmith across from him.

"Of course! Tritice, since you've been a regular customer, I can tell you more about Father Levy..."

Basque picked up his glass and took a slow sip before looking at the adventurer opposite him. Recalling that day, a look of amazement flashed in his eyes: "That day was Father Levi's first time presiding over a Sunday service."

"At that time, Father Levy was preparing to lead everyone in reciting the Bible... but then... old man Poker went mad..."

"It's not that old man Poker has gone mad, he's possessed by an evil spirit," Phoebe, a guard whose face was already flushed from drinking, reminded him.

Basque frowned and said, "Of course I know that old man Poker is possessed by an evil spirit. Otherwise, with that coward Poker dead and without his son, he wouldn't even dare to bully Sienna."

"Hey, hey, don't interrupt, keep going."

The adventurer next to him, whose eye was covered by a black cloth, also looked excited and curious: "I heard last time that the butcher Pok was burned to death by this priest; it's normal for the father to seek revenge after his son's death."

Phoebe scoffed, "Normal my foot! That old Poker has always been a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong. He only knows how to take advantage of Butcher Poker to get a little something out of town. Now that Butcher Poker is dead, old Poker is cowering at home and doesn't dare to go out."

"Hey... stop talking about that, hurry up and talk about the church," Tritice urged impatiently.

Basque raised his glass and said slowly, "Back then... that old man Poker went crazy, grabbed a dagger, and tried to assassinate Father Levy from the pulpit..."

"As a result, Father Levy, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, turned around and shouted 'Insolence!' Old Poker trembled and dared not move."

"Then, Father Levy simply said, 'Evil begone.' A cloud of black energy exploded from Old Poker's body, and it seemed... a piercing scream could be faintly heard... Old Poker sat down on the ground with a thud, and it took him a while to realize... that it wasn't him, that it had nothing to do with him..."

Tritis's eyes lit up as he looked at Basque and asked, "Really? Directly annihilating evil spirits with holy words?"

"Of course, there were hundreds of people watching! How could that be fake!" the Basque said confidently.

"It's absolutely true. I was there watching. If it's fake, I'll gouge my eyes out," Phoebe snorted.

The one-eyed man next to him laughed loudly: "I've lost my right eye, and you've gouged out your left eye, so we'll make a perfect pair."

"Pooh!"

Phoebe chuckled and scolded, then said with a hint of drunkenness, "I think Father Levy is so powerful now, he must have really received divine grace. Although he is young, his strength is no less than Father Hansen's... and... hehe, with him around, we are probably more secure than before."

Phoebe, a member of the town's guard, dared not say anything more.

But Tritice didn't care about any of that, and said excitedly, "If he's really that powerful, that's great. We'll have more protection if we get injured in the future. I don't think... Father Levi is as ruthless as Hansen."

"That's right, old Hansen used to be ruthless... Last year, I was injured by a moontail leopard and had to be carried to the church for treatment. That old Hansen used a healing spell and then charged me two gold pounds," One-Eye sighed.

"Two gold pounds?" Basque, standing nearby, widened his eyes in surprise. As the town's only blacksmith, he only earned a few gold pounds a year.

Trittis, standing nearby, couldn't help but exclaim, "Two gold pounds? Holy crap... in other churches, that's usually around ten silver crowns, or at most one gold pound!"

At the next table, old Gert the leatherworker, listening to their conversation, couldn't help but sigh softly, "Little... no, Father Levy is definitely better than Father Hansen. After all, Father Levy used to be really nice to people."

"That's right. Although old Poker was possessed by an evil spirit, Father Levy didn't blame him at all. I used to not really want to pray on Sundays. Now that Father Levy is here, I think the goddess will be more merciful." Rogers from the general store nodded repeatedly.

At this point, Rogers, already half-drunk, raised his glass and shouted to the crowd, "Come, let's drink to our dear Father Levy!"

"Cheers."

"Cheers to Father Li Wei!" Everyone laughed loudly, raising their glasses in a toast.

Inside the church, as the surrounding magical particles gradually thinned out and the rate of inhalation slowed considerably, Li Wei finally emerged from his meditation.

Looking at the time, I realized that this meditation session had only lasted about four prayer hours, and it was already dark.

I ate half a fried chicken and a slice of bread for lunch and haven't moved much since, so I don't feel hungry yet.

Li Wei frowned and thought for a moment, then looked at the "Introduction to Divine Arts" next to him, and then tried to learn one of the spells.

Of the several techniques, he chose the minor healing method.

This technique is quite useful for a priest.

Even minor healing requires constructing a spell model within the soul and then connecting it to the holy symbol, so that the relevant spells can be used quickly.

In addition to constructing the spell model, some related materials are also needed.

2 grams of moonflower, 2 ml of holy water, 1 gram of agarwood powder...

Looking at these materials, Li Wei couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. Shouldn't a basic divine spell be something he could summon with a wave of his hand? Why did it need materials?

But there's nothing we can do.

After thinking for a moment, Li Wei went to the cellar. He remembered that Hansen had left behind a lot of bottles and jars, which might contain moonflower and sandalwood powder.

Logically speaking, Hansen should have had such materials on hand.

Upon reaching the cellar, Li Wei indeed found moonflower powder and agarwood powder inside.

They each took some, and Li Wei nodded in satisfaction. This was the benefit of being an heir.

Although Hansen was a terrible person, Levi still wanted to thank him for leaving him such a valuable legacy.

As for holy water, that's even simpler.

Beneath the holy emblem in the sanctuary is a rather large jar containing holy water.

The source of this holy water is that Li Wei fills the jar with pure well water drawn every half month in the early morning. This water, imbued with the divine power of the holy emblem and nourished by the faith of believers, becomes holy water with a certain power to exorcise evil and purify.

Using a small balance, weigh out the medicine powder evenly, and then mix it with holy water in batches.

Having prepared the materials, Li Wei believed that with his already powerful innate magical abilities, learning such a small, basic spell should be a piece of cake.

But soon he realized that even though he was a divine summoner, learning divine arts was still quite difficult.

The process involves using divine power to catalyze the medicinal materials, then using the medicinal properties of these materials as the foundation to construct a special spell model within the soul. This model then catalyzes the medicine in turn, allowing one to unleash divine magic or spells using specific incantations.

As the fourth material turned to ashes, Li Wei rubbed his slightly dizzy head and saw a notification flashing gently in the upper right corner of his vision: Spirit: 3/11. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. This cultivation technique really consumes spirit very quickly.

But why is this magic so difficult to learn?

According to the book "Introduction to Divine Arts", the higher the concentration, the faster one can learn various spells and alchemy. Moreover, concentration and spirit represent the basic aptitude of a divine magician. The higher these two are, the better the aptitude.

His own focus value of 11 was probably a bit low. After thinking about it, Li Wei summoned the light screen again, preparing to exchange five points of faith for one point of focus.

But after summoning the light screen, looking at the rows of numbers, I was a little confused.

How do I exchange this?