I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

In front of the Wisdom Temple in Snow Ridge Town.

A group of children of various sizes stood quietly in line, waiting to enter the temple for testing. Although their eyes revealed tension and anticipation, they dared not make a racket in front of the temple. At most, they would whisper a few words to each other before promptly turning back and standing quietly in line.

If there was one person in the queue who stood out, it was Miles, standing at the end of the line. His delicate face was calm, his brows furrowed, as if pondering something.

Now the adolescent Lis, who was Miles, was sizing up the Wisdom God's temple before him.

The black stone temple was almost identical to the one in the Dream Space, the only difference seeming to be that the temple in front of Lis appeared to be newly built, lacking the sense of time's passage and the various phenomena present in the Dream Space.

However, it looked quite imposing among the surrounding low-rise buildings.

Lis calmly observed the surroundings, noting that the living environment in Snow Ridge Town now did not seem to be very good. He could tell from the children's status that there was a lack of food and insufficient garments against the cold.

It seemed to be late autumn by now, with the temperature dropping noticeably. But the clothing on these youngsters around him was quite simple, likely with limited insulation.

Several adults passing by were dressed similarly to the children, suggesting that the current state of Snow Ridge Town might be quite difficult, barely maintaining its existence on this land.

This matched the legend told about Snow Ridge Town.

So was this the period when the Wisdom God had exerted his great power to move the mountains, and the people were rebuilding their homes on this new land?

Lis silently mused, expecting that the development to come would involve the Wisdom God establishing his church, which, with the help of the priests, would lead to Snow Ridge Town's better and better development?

This newly built temple of the Wisdom God must be the home of the Wisdom God Sect; was the so-called test about checking if the children of Snow Ridge Town had the talent to become priests?

Lis turned his body to the side and poked his head out of the line to see the youngsters not too far away walking into the black temple one after another, but it seemed they were coming out not long after they went in.

The children who came out all had a dejected look, as if the results of the test were less than ideal.

"The test seems quite difficult..."

Rory, standing in front of Lis, also noticed what was happening not too far away and said with some worry.

"Yeah, I wonder what the content of the test is?"

Now it was Miles's Lis who whispered back, planning to get some information from his good friend Rory first.

After entering this dream, becoming Miles, Lis only knew a few familiar names, he was clueless about everything else.

"I don't know either, I heard Dad say that Priest Kelly is in charge of the content of the test this time."

Rory spoke in a hushed voice and then, looking forward with anticipation, said:

"I heard that the Wisdom God Himself would witness our performance in the test, I'm so nervous!"

Lis noted this in his mind, finding no specific peculiarities in this dream world thus far; it seemed that the Legendary Arcanist would be the key to this Dream Space, but where he was at the moment was anyone's guess.

Could he be in the temple?

Lis shook his head; he couldn't begin to guess the might and methods of a Legendary Strongman, especially a Legendary Arcanist.

The records from his past life proved that Legendary Strongmen had complete dominance over those below their legend, even the pinnacle Gold Level strongmen.

The gap between Legendary Strongmen and Gold Levels was even wider than that between transcendent Gold Levels and ordinary people.

It was an entirely different level!

So there was no need to fret over this—for the second trial, there was definitely a chance to succeed. He just had to calm down and search slowly.

With that resolved, Lis waited patiently in the line, moving forward with the crowd little by little.

Those who had entered the temple before hadn't taken much time, and it wasn't long before it was Lis's turn.

Rory, the boy who had gone before Lis, looked rather calm when he came out, not too different from the other boys earlier; but Lis noticed his clenched fists and excited eyes.

Had he passed the test?

Lis watched Rory, taking mental note.

Rory noticed Lis's gaze and nodded excitedly at him before leaving with a buoyant step, seemingly eager to share the good news with his family.

How curious, what could the test be?

Could it really be that the church established by the Legendary Arcanist was testing these children for priestly talent?

With such questions in mind, Lis did not hesitate and, like the others before him, he walked into the temple.

The interior of the black temple was dimly lit, similar in arrangement to the palace in the Dream Space. But in front of that divine statue stood a young man dressed in a white robe.

This must be Priest Kelly of the Wisdom Temple, right?

Beneath his pale-gold hair was a handsome face, he appeared to be in his twenties, and he seemed to be emitting a special charm with his smile.

Kelly nodded towards Lis and said softly:

"Child, stand over here."

Lis nodded obediently and walked to the spot indicated by the young priest, facing the Wisdom God statue squarely.

But Lis's mind was already alert.

Just by looking at the priest's appearance, it revealed a lot—the priest did not appear malnourished or pale like other residents of Snow Ridge Town. His skin lacked the look of someone weathered by the harsh climate, inconsistent with the conditions of the Northern Territory.

His white robe was clearly made from a special, expensive silk fabric, material not produced in the Northern Territory. It could only be found in the Elf Great Forest in the southern part of the Fanor Continent.

This priest was likely not a native of Snow Ridge Town.

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Was he an assistant to that Legendary Arcanist, or...

"Don't be nervous, relax."

Kelly's voice arose next to Lis's ear, and his gentle voice seemed to contain a power that made Lis's mood seem to calm down.

Was this... the influence of Extraordinary Power?

Lis was somewhat curious, but he did not ask aloud.

He was just a twelve-year-old child, so in his state of unclear understanding, it was better to continue pretending.

"Close your eyes, calm your heart."

"Come, recite with me."

"Oh great and benevolent Wisdom God Sphinx!"

"You are the embodiment of wisdom in the world!"

"You are the guardian deity of Snow Ridge Town!"

"You are the leader and pioneer of Mages!"

"Your believers here sincerely pray,"

"Seeking your gaze to descend,"

"Bestow upon me a new miracle!"

Lis committed the prayer to memory and slowly recited it following the priest's voice.

This prayer to the Wisdom God seemed no different from those of the Church of the Gods, as the three-part prayer distinctly and clearly directed the believers' prayers towards this deity.

But the content of the prayer was somewhat strange!

"The embodiment of wisdom in the world" should refer to the Divine Domain of Wisdom, [Wisdom].

Lis had suspected before whether anyone could truly master this special Divine Position?

The presence of this information in the prayer content also meant the Divine Domain that the Legendary Arcanist attempted to master was [Wisdom], but relying on this domain, Lis felt, was a bit too difficult.

To aim for the Divine Domain as a Path of God Sealing and reach the Demigod stage would be very hard, wouldn't it!

Next was the second part of the prayer mentioning "the guardian deity of Snow Ridge Town."

There was no problem with this positioning in prayer, as this section usually targets the positioning of God believers.

The Elf Clan's God believers are pointed to by this part of the prayer.

Just as the Human Clan's pantheon points to the Human Clan, only that there might be some qualifiers in front.

But in this restrictor "Snow Ridge Town" for the Wisdom God, it seemed too small.
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Are the believers only the people of Snow Ridge Town? This scope is too narrow to satisfy the Faith requirements necessary to become a divinity!

The more Lis thought about it, the more he felt that the one masquerading as the Wisdom God wasn't really trying to become a God but was undergoing some kind of special experiment.

"The leader and pioneer of Mages" should refer to the profession of the Wisdom God [Arcanist], but regrettably, Mages hardly have any faith, and they hardly provide much Power of Faith.

Lis's mind raced with these thoughts, but his actions appeared devoutly praying to the Divine Statue of the Wisdom God to outsiders.

While praying, Lis noticed a certain power forming within his body, slowly emerging from his forehead.

This power was familiar to Lis; it was the Power of Faith!

The Power of Faith is a special kind of soul power that everyone produces when praying to a special existence they believe in their hearts.

It is also the source of the Divine Power! It is the fuel for the divinities to sustain their existence and purify Divine Power!

According to each person's level of firm belief in divinity, they can be classified as Non-believers, Light believers, True believers, Devout believers, and fanatics.

The more devout the belief in the divinity, the purer and more powerful the provided Power of Faith.

And General Believers are those with weak faith, like Lis just before.

Therefore, the Power of Faith he provided was pitifully weak.

At that moment, Lis felt a special power flowing from in front of him, slowly seeping into his body.

Barely opening his eyes, Lis saw the Divine Statue in front of him emitting a multicolored glow, with an indescribable power converging towards his body.

Lis silently felt the Special Power merging into his body, and his brow slightly furrowed.

It was somewhat like Extraordinary Magic, but it also carried a bit of that Holy sensation like that of a priest.

Ding~

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[Special Power of Faith detected!]

[Activation check! Priest Profession specialty [Devout Faith]!]

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