The Great Worm Lich

“Unbeatable…” Zhang Lisheng looked at the ragged female merchant and smiled, “Yaj, it looks like the difficult life has not erased your exaggerated attitude as a merchant yet. Alright, tell me, what is the good news?”

“I’ve brought a person to see you, a person that will make you realize that I’m not exaggerating after you see him,” Yaj stared straight at the Wizard Li’s god and answered, “However, before you meet him, I hope that you can promise me a thing. If this person really is useful to you, then I hope that you will send a chief priest to save my father.”

“Your father? what happened to him?”

“After you exempted all forced labor, my parents returned to the Sea Haines City, and eight days ago, when he was working in the farm in the suburb, a carriage transporting fertilizer crashed into him and fractured his legs…”

“Wait a minute, Yaj. How do you know that my priest can cure external injuries?”

“It’s no longer a secret, Your Majesty. The mainland high priests patrolling in various cities often demonstrate the ‘Life Divine Power’ that you bestowed to them to preach your power. However, my father’s injury is too severe, to the point where it’s untreatable by ordinary priests. Besides, there’s no chief priest yet among the mainlanders,” Despite the unfinished sentence given by the female merchant’s words, Zhang Lisheng had already fully understood her.

With a strange expression, he said, “Looks like the mainlanders’ minds are indeed much more flexible. Alright, Yaj, just because you’ve told me a useful message, even if the person you brought to see me is not useful to me, I will still send out a chief priest to heal your father’s injuries.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty.” Yaj was stunned. Tears of pleasant surprise dripped down her tears as she looked at the butler next to them, “Mr. Sakni, please bring Bishop Tuan in.”

“Yes, Miss,” As though Yaj was still the manor’s owner, Sakni bowed and retreated naturally. When Zhang Lisheng heard the words ‘Bishop,’ he could not help but narrowed his eyes right away. Despite opening his mouth, he did not say a word at all.

After a while, the butler dressed in a straight black formal attire brought in a tall, thin, old man in a gray hemp robe into the living room. Before he could speak, the old man already stepped forward and piously made an ‘L’ gesture on his chest before kneeling in front of Zhang Lisheng.

In an instant, the young man felt the devout faith that the old man in the grey robe contributed at his feet.

After staring in bafflement for a while, Zhang Lisheng waved his hand and gestured to everyone in the living room to retreat. When there were no more people around, the young man looked down at his feet and smiled as he said, “Mortal, it looks like you’ve mastered a kind of shortcut that uses deception to gain strength.”

“Your Majesty, thank you for answering one of the two problems that have plagued me for a lifetime, so it turns out that the gods can really feel the devoutness of the believers. Not only that, but the so-called ‘belief’ is actually a state of mind, which can be imitated by techniques such as self-hypnosis,” The old man lowered his head that was covered with sparse white hair and asked respectfully without raising his head, “Then, can you tell me the answer to another puzzle in my heart? Does the god determine the amount of spellcasting power that he grants to the high priest based on the person’s degree of piety or the ability to spread faith?”

The young man was stunned again. Without warning, he burst into a hearty laugh. “What a good question. I don’t know about the other gods, but I’ve always been very realistic since when I was still a mortal. Because of this, I’ll base on the level of sacrifice of the high priest to determine his corresponding spellcasting power and status.”

“If that’s the case, then I think you’ve found your ‘proxy’ on the Green Leaf Mainland, Your Great Majesty Wizard Li,” Kneeling on the ground, the old man replied in a gentle yet indescribable, charming hoarse voice.

“Do you mean yourself? You don’t even look like a bishop, mortal,” The young man smiled.

“The human character is extraordinary, so, naturally, all bishops have different characters as well. Not only that, but even the gods also have joys, sorrows, desires, and cravings. In the myths and legends of the Gaia World, several bishops dared to talk and bargain with the gods, Your Majesty.”

“Mortal, I like smart people, but on the premise that he must have a sense of propriety. Although you’re smart, you’re too arrogant.” Zhang Lisheng’s expression changed as he spoke gravely.

In the face of the god’s anger, the old man said without fear, “If I can produce at least 500 high priests with the title of ‘Doctor’ in three days and expand this number ten times in ten days to erase the imprint of other gods in your faithful land within three years, will you still think that I’m too arrogant?”

Looking at the old man at his foot, Zhang Lisheng was baffled for the third time. After a long time, he finally murmured, “Oh, all this while I kept thinking about how to coerce the aristocrats to commit sincerity, but I’ve forgotten that there’s another ‘rich resource’ that I can fight for. Ah, damn it…”

“That’s right, Your Majesty.” The old man said in a self-deprecating tone, “Compared to the aristocrats who possess territories and inherit family honors of several generations, or even several dozens of generations, who are born with an amazing amount of authority but who are laden with heavy responsibilities, 80% of us bishops, particularly tapas bishops, are born from ordinary families and orphans. After all, only ‘children with poor lives’ will be more pious in serving those gods who are in deep slumber or who have long fallen. Not taking us into your wings is really a grave mistake of yours.”

“Tuan, other than you who have no fear of gods and who dare to create faith to scam the mortals, I believe it’s more difficult for most of the clerics and bishops of other religions than the aristocrats to adhere to my religion. After all, legends always tell that those who convert their beliefs are bound to go to hell after death.”

“Your Majesty, although I have no fear of gods, I fear and revere power. How can a god who can’t punish me when I’m alive have the ability to torture my soul?” Faced with the heartfelt words of the Wizard Li’s god, the old man spoke again in a low voice.

After being stunned for the fourth time, Zhang Lisheng marveled, “I’ve never met a person who can take me by bafflement again and again during the first meeting. Tuan, congratulations, your ambition and calmness have won my appreciation. Stand up and tell me how you want to inspire 5000 erudite priests for me within ten days and erase the footprints of other gods in my land of faith within three years?”

“Yes, Great God!” Tuan slowly stood up and took a deep breath. He gradually said with excitement, “Your Majesty, most of the good-hearted gods have priests with compassionate sentiments. With me as an example, I can let them sacrifice themselves and convert to become your priests to gain the authority to protect the general public. It’s actually not that hard. As for wiping away the footprints of other gods, it’s much more troublesome and can only be done through subliminal education. Well, your simple prayer movement is a great help to the expansion of faith, especially for the dull-witted hard-working poor people. However, some simple religious rituals are necessary. Because, to the general public, religious rituals are not only simply to offer their piety to the gods, but it’s also a kind of spiritual comfort and communication… No matter what, a religion must have a fundamental sacred script, and without this, religion will be like a tall building without foundation… When over three human beings live together, a fight will inevitably break out. It’s tough to eliminate the conflict between the Hellfire people and the mainlanders by coercing them together with force. the only way to do so is to direct the inter-race conflict to another territory, such as the difference in belief…”

Listening to the old man’s ceaseless description that was getting more and more digressive, a series of expressions flashed across Zhang Lisheng’s face. Even until Tuan had already finished talking, he was still stuck in his contemplation.

Time passed by slowly. Unknowingly, several dozens of minutes had passed by, and the young man finally returned to reality, “I’ve also recently discovered that my belief system is too simple. I’ve had some ideas for improvement, such as using clergy to bear the duty of offering solutions to my believers’ distress…”

Zhang Lisheng combined and described the systems of the three most successful religions on Earth, the Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. Finally, he spoke with a smile, “There are many contradictions in my plans, and I’ve never figured them out yet, so I have no way to improve the ‘belief’ yet…”

Tuan could hear the meaning implied in Wizard Li God’s unfinished sentence, so he respectfully kneeled to the ground again. “Your Great Majesty, with these wonderful ideas of yours, I promise that I can set up a religion that will satisfy you within one year…”

“Before that, can you tell me what kind of religion I want?” The young man interrupted the old man’s words and asked solemnly.

“First, there is only one object of faith in the religion, which is you. Second, the religious authority must be fully integrated with the ruling of the mortal world, that is, a theocracy. Also, the priest must replace the aristocrats to become the foundation that supports the entire civilization…” Tuan answered without hesitation.

“Looks like I’ve met another talented person,” Zhang Lisheng had a satisfied smile on his face. He raised both of his hands. At once, his body lit up with red, yellow, and blue-colored flames that transformed into streaks of brilliance in the air before it wrapped around the body of the old man, “Tuan, I’ll grant you a fifth-level spellcasting ability, that is the power of a chief priest. The original Kattaman City State—no, all of the territories occupied by the Wizard Li tribe on the mainland will become your parish, take it as your advance payment. Go realize your ambition then. I’m a god who values justness the most. You’ll get a reward that is corresponding to your offer, but if what you said today was only a shameless boast, then you’d soon learn what kind of cruel retribution you’d receive for provoking a god!”

“Your Great Majesty, I will not let you down,” Now that Tuan had achieved his goal and had gotten a satisfying reward by risking his life as a gamble, an ecstatic expression appeared on his face as he spoke, sincerely.

“Very good.” Zhang Lisheng nodded noncommittally. He casually drew a water bell in the air and rang it. Not long after, Yaj, the butler, and the servants returned to the living room.

“Yaj, Tuan has converted to my faith and has become a chief priest. I’ll let him go save your father now.”

“T-This… Master Tuan, can you really save my father?” When the female merchant heard this, she looked at the old man who had no changes in his appearance and blurted out in shock.

“Miss Yaj, the once familiarity has blinded your eyes and blocked you from seeing the greatness of His Majesty Wizard Li,” The old man showed a sad and a kind smile before drawing an ‘L’ shape on his chest. Without warning, streaks of blue water ribbons coiled around him, adding some kind of sacred and mysterious aura around him. “The power of the god is omnipotent. Since you are willing to offer your piety, you’ll be redeemed.”