300: The church was newly built and 4399

"You better watch yourself during this time!"

"I recently had someone perform a divination; I'm afraid something big is going to happen in Grace City."

"So before I return to Grace, stay honest and don't do anything out of line, or else!"

Watching the Master scaring his son and the young Master too afraid to speak, Uncle Fu knew it was time to mediate.

"Master, weren't you planning to return soon? To suddenly say this over the comms, has the itinerary changed?"

Mentioning business, Wang Defu put away his anger. His face remained serious, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

"Recently, the School of Physics held a Truth Society meeting and announced the establishment of the 'Time School'. They used their veto power to force all schools to consolidate their strength and assist the Time School's latest research topic."

"The Truth Cult has been scattered for so long. Although it's impossible for them to fully integrate just because of one sentence from the School of Physics, this veto power can indeed bring about a temporary alliance."

"This also means that in the short term, the power of the Truth Cult will expand unprecedentedly."

"The cake has grown larger, and a veteran like me is naturally qualified for a piece."

"Originally, the requirement to be titled a King was only for those at the Body Integration Stage or above. With the expansion of influence, this threshold is likely to drop significantly."

"So I petitioned the Society to crown me as a King and promote Grace City to a second-tier city."

Speaking of this, Wang Defu's expression darkened, and anger surfaced again.

"But the Society replied, and they actually refused!"

"They see the School of Life growing stronger day by day, so they deliberately rejected my request!"

Wilde shrank back at the sight, but Uncle Fu saw through it; if things ended there, the Master wouldn't have smiled just now.

There must be a turning point.

Sure enough, Wang Defu's expression recovered, and his smile grew wider.

"But there's always a way out."

"My old boss, King Dong, gathered everyone from the School of Life for discussion. They decided to consolidate our school's resources before the grand integration, allowing all members' cultivation to advance by one stage."

"This way, our overall strength will increase, giving us more say after joining the grand integration. We can then trade that influence for actual benefits to offset the cost of the forced Breakthrough."

"Although the Society doesn't want me to be crowned King, once this is implemented, they won't have a choice but to agree."

"So, behave yourself during this time."

"In a while, King Dong's vanguard will come to harvest a batch of resources. Just cooperate with the operation."

"And stop tormenting those pariahs. Now, every single one of them is extremely precious; they will all become stepping stones for me to be crowned King."

Seeing the Master's entranced look, Uncle Fu sighed inwardly and then gave Wilde a subtle kick.

This kick was infused with a bit of mana, pulling him back from his terror.

Wilde, now awake, quickly stood up to offer his congratulations.

"Congratulations, Father, on being crowned King!"

"Jie jie jie, jie jie jie!"

With this flattery, Wang Defu laughed even more arrogantly. Wilde and Uncle Fu laughed along, and for a moment, the hall was filled with laughter.

District 24, Taiyi Sect Church.

"This is yours. May the Taiyi God bless you."

Mo Ran handed a portion of food and water to an old man whose left leg and left arm were both mechanical.

After thanking him with tears in his eyes, the old man limped away.

After seeing off the last wanderer of the morning, Mo Ran felt quite emotional.

He had spent the whole night walking through District 24, and Qing Xuan had selected the best location for the church.

Qing Xuan had originally planned to build it in a crowded area to quickly collect faith, but after the incident with the little boy, it changed its strategy and ultimately chose an area where homeless people gathered to establish the second church.

It had to be said that Wilde's business card was indeed useful.

Even though it was just a self-introduction card, it brought immense convenience.

At seven in the morning, he showed the card to recruit construction workers for the church, and the Inspection Bureau took the initiative to come to him.

Building a church required reporting to the Pastoral Area's Inspection Bureau. Since they found the usage record of Wilde's card and had instructions from above, the director personally received Mo Ran, assisted with the procedures, and simplified the process to an unbelievable degree.

A process that would normally take a month of preparation and a whole day to complete was finished in less than half an hour once the card was shown.

The director even called over the leader of the local Gangs, who was also the behind-the-scenes boss of the Tavern Organization.

Mo Ran had originally planned to visit the other party to avoid trouble later, but instead, the other party came to see him.

Seeing the fawning expressions of the two, Mo Ran just nodded, accepting their flattery and various benefits and care in a bit of a daze throughout.

Just after seeing off the Inspection Bureau director and the tavern boss, a magnificent church had already risen from the ground at his chosen location.

It was several times larger than his original church and had very complete facilities.

Now Mo Ran only needed to place the small yuanwu xielü on the altar to run the church directly.

No wonder Wilde was so fearless back then. If it weren't for that final condition, he might have had to return to the Grace Group this afternoon.

The whole process took less than two hours, which deeply shocked Mo Ran. Even Qing Xuan was somewhat surprised; it hadn't expected the other party's influence to be so useful. It seemed small places had their own advantages.

Thus, the second church was put into trial operation that same day.

Although they couldn't directly announce the opening of the church because of the agreement,

they could use the completion of the church and the influence of the director and the tavern boss to hold some small activities.

For example, distributing free food. Not only could wanderers receive it, but local residents could also participate; the only price was to pray to the Taiyi God.

This attracted a large number of homeless people and local residents.

Local residents mostly came to take advantage, contributing almost zero faith, but at least the name was made known.

The gains brought by the wanderers were quite astonishing. In just one morning, the Power Of Faith Mo Ran collected was already the sum of the previous half month.

Seeing this, Qing Xuan immediately set off for the main city, preparing to bring Yuan Chenling over to work.

The first day of food distribution had already collected a wave of faith, so the healing function of the yuanwu xielü could be put to use again.

Free medical treatment could earn a lot of faith even from ordinary Grace City citizens, let alone the residents of this Pastoral Area. Given their economic level, they didn't look like people who could frequently visit hospitals.

And while the wanderers might not be willing to cure all diseases, who wouldn't want to live when faced with a serious illness?

Thinking of this, Qing Xuan returned to the main city full of hope, leaving Mo Ran alone there.

After seeing off the last wanderer, Mo Ran became idle.

He had waited all morning and seen dozens of wanderers, but he never saw the figure from last night, and couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Fortunately, the worry was unnecessary.

A thin, small figure, wrapped in a heavy, ill-fitting, and clearly non-insulating homemade padded jacket, stumbled over.

There was still a palm print on his face.

Mo Ran wanted to ask, but didn't know what to say, just watching him slowly walk to the long table.

"Sir, sorry... are you still giving out food here?"

In the end, Mo Ran couldn't ask and just said,

"There's still some left. I'll go get it for you."

Watching the boy devour the food, Mo Ran waited silently, not speaking until he had finished eating.

"Have you decided now? To stay and become a member of the clergy?"

"The benefits are the same as before: room and board are included, ensuring you have enough food and warmth."

The boy still shook his head in refusal.

He wiped the corner of his mouth with the cuff of his old padded jacket, carefully smoothed his clothes, and then bowed deeply.

When he stood up, he closed his eyes and whispered a praise to the Taiyi God before turning around and stumbling away, disappearing at the end of the street.

Mo Ran didn't ask where the injuries on his body came from.

He knew that if they were truly fated, they would meet again, and it wouldn't be too late to ask then.

"Kid, snap out of it. The person is already far away."

The sudden voice beside him startled Mo Ran.

"Se... Senior? When did you get back?"

Qing Xuan said casually,

"I finished my business right when that kid was finishing his meal."

"It was just notifying that Stupid Lion to get ready for work and explaining the follow-up arrangements. It didn't take much time."

It looked at Mo Ran and changed the subject.

"I have a lot of information in my records about clergy in the Eastern Domain... they all seem to have a peculiar fondness for little boys."

"You haven't gone and followed the local customs, have you?"

"I'm telling you, this is against ethics. You'd better watch out for divine retribution."

Qing Xuan obviously knew Mo Ran didn't mean that; it was just teasing him.

But Mo Ran remained wooden-faced.

"Senior, I don't understand what you mean."

Then he looked blankly in the direction the boy had left.

"I just feel like he's very similar to how I used to be, and we share a bond, so I want to try and see if I can take him as a disciple."

"Because that’s how I came up, and Master said that’s how he came up, and Master’s Master is said to have come up the same way... only those who have lived through it can truly understand each other."

Seeing Mo Ran suddenly become solemn, Qing Xuan didn't know whether it should tell him that the kid was probably not simple at all.