Chapter 155: Strengthening Divinity

“Is this the power of faith?” Donald curiously poured a trace of his mental energy into those rays. At that time, he had no idea that this reckless move would cost him dearly.
As Donald’s mind extended through those rays of faith, the scene before him suddenly changed. What appeared was a series of truly tangible worlds, each with its own protagonist—adventurers from humble backgrounds, shop managers from middle-class families, or young men who had joined the militia. But the majority were ordinary farmers and commoners. Feeling the life experiences of tens of thousands of people at once dealt an immense impact on Donald’s will and soul. Fortunately, he didn’t absorb too much at once; he quickly severed that mental connection and avoided getting lost in it. Moreover, those people’s beliefs were merely expressions of worship and admiration, not prayers, so the impact was relatively mild. With the buffering power of divinity within his soul and the protection of the Book of Truth, his spirit remained stable and unscathed.
“What a close call!”
In fact, this happened because, no matter how powerful the Book of Truth was, it was still a weapon without independent consciousness and could not provide comprehensive guidance, acting as Donald’s teacher.
Thus, Donald didn’t realize that such an approach was also extremely dangerous from the perspective of ordinary demigods—one wrong step could easily lead to getting lost in the thoughts of these believers.
After this experience, he dared not be so reckless again, considering it a lesson.
In history, it was rare for someone to gain so many “believers” before becoming a demigod. Although most of them only held admiration for him, the power of faith generated from that admiration within just a few days was enough to unleash thousands of low-level divine spells.
Such a situation was only seen in ancient human heroes, kings of various nations, or powerful noble lords. Donald was still just a minor baron. His ability to reach this level was largely due to his status as a talented mage, the popularity of his Moonlight Wine, and his achievements in fighting orcs—all of which served as excellent ways to spread his positive reputation.
Of course, for now, this power of faith merely floated around Donald’s body in a scattered manner, unabsorbed and unutilized—something he himself was unable to do.

Among today’s human gods, several were once human heroes who, after gaining the admiration of the people, accidentally discovered the secrets of the power of faith and gradually ascended to the status of gods. Throughout tens of thousands of years of human history, countless heroes have emerged, including many of semi-godly strength. Yet, only a few have managed to embark on the path to immortality by simply understanding the power of faith.

This shows just how difficult it is to comprehend and master the use and mysteries of the power of faith on one’s own.

Fortunately, Donald doesn’t need to study it himself for now, as he possesses a supreme artifact that even the gods envy. The Truth Book itself is a supreme artifact; in terms of its rules and divinity, it is even more powerful and profound than some true gods with moderate divine powers in this world. Even though the artifact is now damaged and its power has diminished to that of a sub-supreme artifact, it can still exert many useful effects as long as it has sufficient energy supply. For example, it can detect the attributes and energy of various items and help its owner gain knowledge in the field of magic. Absorbing and transforming the power of faith obtained from mortals is also effortless for it.

“These powers of faith are truly valuable!” With the explanations provided by the Truth Book, Donald understands the functions of the power of faith better than most ordinary people who first encounter it, let alone those legendary strongmen who are still ignorant about it. First, the power of faith is also a form of energy, so it can naturally be harnessed like elements and magic. It is a source of power for the gods, and its primary function is to transform divine power. Divine power, as the name implies, is the power of true gods, representing the pinnacle of strength at this time. Only a few other forces can rival it, and those forces are beyond the control of mortals.

Second, concentrated powers of faith can be used to refine and strengthen materials and equipment, just like alchemical flames. Many sacred artifacts worshipped in the gods’ churches gain increased strength and power after being tempered by the power of faith. However, for Donald, this approach seems somewhat wasteful. For those below the level of semi-gods, the greatest use of the power of faith is not to transform divine power but to help those with divine bloodlines enhance their divinity and strengthen their bloodlines to achieve a perfect divine body, after which they can attempt to ignite a divine flame to reach the level of semi-gods.

But few those with divine bloodlines can wield the power of faith. The reasons are as follows: First, one must reach at least the legendary realm to initially utilize the power of faith for their own benefit, because below the demi-god level, unless in extremely special cases like Donald’s, only the power of a domain can capture the essence of faith. Second, the various godly churches on the continent strictly control the power of faith; those who attempt to spread their faith and steal it in human territories without reaching the demi-god level are called false gods, and the more extreme Glorious Three Gods Church even labels them heretical demons. These false gods have violated the interests of the gods as a whole and thus become targets of attack by all the gods. Even in regions not under the control of the godly churches, powerful forces are sent to eliminate these false gods. Unless one has a legitimate reason, such as being a noble lord or a renowned hero, scholar, or other famous figure, such individuals are rarely able to reach the legendary realm, let alone acquire the power of faith. This is one of the reasons why there are so few demi-gods and legendary warriors in this world, and why they always remain hidden. Donald’s advantage lies in his status and the help of the Book of Truth, which allows him to begin absorbing faith and strengthening his divine bloodline several realms ahead of time. With such a head start, his growth rate will save him hundreds of years compared to ordinary human warriors. It should be noted that after reaching the legendary realm, each step forward typically takes hundreds of years, and the lifespan of a human legendary warrior is only about five to six hundred years. If they fail to make progress during their lifetime, they can only pass away with regret. Thus, the advantage of these hundreds of years will be enormous, likely arousing envy and jealousy among many powerful warriors. After learning about the benefits of the power of faith, Donald immediately ordered the Book of Truth to extract some faith for him, attempting for the first time to nourish the divinity within his body. The true gods in this world do not personally collect the faith of believers across the land; instead, it is uniformly stored through the statues in temples and the sacred symbols worn by priests as intermediaries. Whether it is the statues in temples, the altars in villages, or the sacred symbols worn by believers, they are all tools for collecting the power of faith. Though not divine artifacts, some of the more powerful ones possess the strength of such artifacts.

Sacred artifacts are weapons and equipment bestowed by the gods for their believers to use, with the minimum standard being that of low-tier legendary items. The power of powerful sacred artifacts can even rival that of lower-tier divine artifacts. However, what sets sacred artifacts apart from ordinary legendary weapons and equipment is that their use relies on the power of faith or, even more directly, divine power. Once this power is lost, a sacred artifact is worth no more than an ordinary magical item.

Ordinary weapons and equipment, once reaching the legendary level, naturally possess the power of the laws imparted by their creators. Through these legendary items, users can exert attacks or defenses equivalent to those of legendary warriors who master those law attributes.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. The strength of sacred artifacts lies in their ability to draw on the power of numerous believers and true gods, enabling them to surpass ordinary legendary weapons. This is both their strength and their greatest flaw—without faith and divine power, sacred artifacts become worthless trinkets.

For powerful divine artifacts like the Book of Truth, it is easy to replace such tools with functions for storing and transforming faith. The Book of Truth can even refine this faith power into the purest form, similar to that generated when devout believers pray to the gods.

This refined faith power is of little use to mortals but is as precious as the finest delicacies to true gods, allowing them to grow stronger.

Pure faith power contains no impurities. Those who are below demi-gods, or even demi-gods without the divine essence to filter and purify it, can only absorb a small portion of the faith power, leaving the rest unattainable.

With the Book of Truth, Donald faces no such difficulties—he can obtain the purest faith power that only true gods can possess.

A phantom of a divine artifact appeared before Donald, absorbing the mist of faith power surrounding him. After a while, a strand of pure, crystalline liquid light reappeared, and Donald noticed that the mist around him had diminished by a quarter.

“This faith power really can’t be used lightly—already a quarter of the essence is taken. It seems it’s because I’ve gathered less faith on my own! Let’s begin!”

As a strand of pure faith power was absorbed by his divine essence, Donald felt its power growing. At the same time, he felt as though he had consumed a ginseng fruit—his 36,000 pores became refreshed and unobstructed, giving him an exhilarating sensation.

“No wonder so many people choose to become professionals. It turns out that improving strength not only grants great power but also such a wonderful feeling. Compared to that, things like drug use pale in comparison.”