Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Meeting Location: Lis Church Assembly Hall

Meeting Time: 13:00, April 19, 613 AD

Attendees: Lord Holy Son Ning Chan, Archbishop Miced, Bishops Maifeipu, Harry, Keladi, Knight Captains Han Ang Li and Hector

Meeting Topic: Inventory of Church Assets, Improvement of Church Living Conditions...

Before the meeting began, Ning Chan skimmed through their confessions and selected Keladi Xin.

"Keladi, your handwriting is excellent. You’ll be responsible for today’s meeting minutes. Don’t sit so far back—swap seats with Maifeipu so you can hear everything clearly."

Seated at the head of the table, Ning Chan tapped the surface and gestured for Keladi Xin to move there.

Maifeipu was annoyed at being displaced and shot Keladi Xin a glare, trying to pressure him into refusing. But Keladi Xin acted as if he hadn’t noticed, swiftly gathering his belongings and striding over to Maifeipu’s side. With a faint smile, he stared back, waiting for him to move.

Who wouldn’t want to sit a little closer to Lord Holy Son? After all, he was here to redeem their sinful souls.

If they could win Lord Holy Son’s favor, perhaps their crimes could be erased entirely.

Under that unwavering gaze, Maifeipu fidgeted in his seat before reluctantly standing up. As he moved, he glanced at Ning Chan with a resentful look—was he being snubbed? Why not make Keladi switch with Miced? They were on the same side of the table anyway.

Ning Chan paid him no attention, instead coaching Keladi on taking minutes.

Following Ning Chan’s guidance, Keladi Xin drafted an outline and, after receiving approval, proudly straightened his back.

He smoothed the edges of the lambskin parchment, basking in the envious stares around him, then gave them a smug grin.

See? Lord Holy Son praised his handwriting and specifically assigned him a task!

At Keladi Xin’s gloating, even Miced couldn’t help but regret not practicing his handwriting more. As for Han Ang Li and Hector, they had no such concerns—they were illiterate.

Ning Chan paid no mind to their petty squabbles. As long as they harbored no ill will toward him, he didn't care how they fought among themselves.

Still, meetings required focus—their attention had to remain on him.

"Enough. The meeting begins. Punishments are suspended."

With a snap of his fingers, Ning Chan halted the "Evil Seeds" within the attendees. The agony that had made it impossible for them to sit still lifted instantly.

The weight, exhaustion, and pain disappeared as if they had never existed, leaving them weightless and giddy, as if they could float away.

For the first time, they truly understood how blissful it felt to be healthy.

"We are grateful, Lord Holy Son."

"Lord Holy Son, your mercy knows no bounds to think of us this way."

"Lord Holy Son, name your desire. Whatever we have, we’ll offer it to you. If we don’t have it, we’ll... procure it for you."

Their eyes burned with fervor as they looked at Ning Chan, their despair replaced by determination—they could do this! They could endure!

Pleased with their enthusiasm, Ning Chan raised a hand to quiet them.

"Your gold and jewels hold no value to me. They are worthless worldly baubles, nothing extraordinary."

However, due to your heavy sins, those items have also been cursed by misfortune. To lessen your crimes, you must use them to perform good deeds and build virtue.

Therefore, after you hand over your property, I will not touch a single coin. Instead, they will later be used as wages for the workers.

Also, take stock of which lands are under the name of this church and which are under your private ownership.

After the meeting, organize the information and hand it in so I can make further arrangements based on the local situation.

As believers of the Upper Nine Realms, how can you lack food and clothing?

I will not bestow mountains of grain or meat, spoiling the simple nature of this world’s people. Instead, I will impart to them the sacred doctrines of the Upper Nine Realms, so they’ll never go hungry, be warmly clothed, and live to ripe old age.

Ning Chan’s tone was calm, but the congregation hung on his every word.

These were the very words they had once made up to trick the masses—except they had described them as heavenly blessings, never daring to promise their followers they could achieve such a state.

Yet now, Ning Chan said he’d deliver on it.

Truly worthy of Lord Holy Son—this is the power and boldness of a god.

The lies they had fed to the ignorant masses, this lord intended to turn into reality.

How fortunate those simple folk were to receive this lord’s care. Unlike them, still suffering punishment for their sins.

Damn, if only they had met Lord Holy Son sooner!

The meeting lasted over half an hour, and Ning Chan still had much left to discuss. Worried they couldn’t handle too much at once, he decided to proceed step by step.

In this "earth-shaking" revolution, he could not rush—he had to take it slow and steady.

The people of this era needed time to adapt to these changes, and he too needed time to grow.

After the meeting, Miced and the others began acting according to Ning Chan’s arrangements.

"A few days ago, the Sacred Plants in the church were all burned by celestial flames.

Now, we plan to rebuild the Sacred Plant Garden, and the bestowal of holy water will be temporarily suspended.

Under the divine influence, the new Sacred Plant Garden will gain extraordinary abilities, a hundred times stronger than the previous holy water.

It was our oversight that kept us from tapping into the power of the holy water.

Seeing our ignorance, the gods sent down celestial flames to destroy those inferior Sacred Plants, so we may gather new plants and establish a high-tier Sacred Plant Garden to enhance the efficacy of the holy water and speed up healing for the faithful.

The high-tier Sacred Plant Garden will occupy a unique space, capable of holding countless plants.

You may dig up all kinds of plants, with the dirt still clinging. For every new plant submitted, you will receive a reward.

If any plant shows potential to become a Sacred Plant, additional rewards will be granted.

The church will always be buying plants with Sacred Plant potential.

Rewards will range from a small piece of black bread to a gold coin, all paid out right then and there."

The thought of how many lives had been lost due to those fake miracle waters made Ning Chan realize the immense danger of their existence.

If any chaos erupted, this church might be ripped apart by an angry mob.

Now was not the time for Lis Church to collapse—he still needed this cover to work under. Thus, its reputation must be cleansed.

Since it's said that the holy water has healing properties, then let it truly become something that can heal.

The existence of Wood-element Superpower allows Ning Chan to clearly discern the medicinal properties of each plant and the health conditions of the human body.

Medical texts, as one of the things that expand his mental capacity, are enough to make him an expert theorist in this field.

The combination of multiple abilities enables Ning Chan to fully achieve precise treatments.

With these, Ning Chan saved many people in the midst of the apocalypse, yet at that time, many blamed him, even questioning why he didn’t simply use Wood-element Superpower to heal them directly, instead making them drink medicine for gradual healing.

Some even said that if he had used Wood-element Superpower, perhaps so many wouldn’t have died.

But how could they know that Ning Chan back then had insufficient control over his dual Superpowers? Short-term use was manageable, but under prolonged strain, the imbalance in his Superpowers would lead to loss of control—at that point, he'd be harming rather than healing.

His kindness was repaid with malice, time and again, until Ning Chan, disheartened, ultimately chose to go solo.

What did others' lives or deaths have to do with him? His mind was set only on killing zombies.

Now, in a different place, Ning Chan felt the urge to save people again.

It definitely wasn’t because of those guys’ constant flattery, calling him savior and Lord Holy Son with such flowery praise.

The worshippers who came to pay homage were stunned for a moment upon hearing Miced’s words, then grew anxious. But after understanding the reason, they felt a growing excitement.

"Can we bring any kind of plant?"

"Yes, for now, any new plant species will do. Later, it’ll have to be specific ones."

"Can we really get gold coins?"

"Of course. The coin's right here—it depends on how hard you work and how much you bring back.

Remember, those plants must be well-preserved. We won’t accept damaged ones."

"Understood, understood. Thank the gods for their grace. We’ll bring as many plants as possible."

Seeing the bag of gold coins Maifeipu opened, the dazzling gleam was almost blinding, stirring everyone present to beat their chests in promise.

With cold hard cash right before their eyes, not just the devout believers but even the local loafers outside were eagerly scrambling for containers, ready to dig up plants.

No tools? Didn't matter—they’d dig with their bare hands if they had to, yanking up eight, ten plants, wrapping them in ratty cloth, and carrying them over.

The next day, before first light, the gates of Lis Church were already crowded with people.