The Fledgling Goddess

It had taken Cheong Suhyeon a few days to decide on a course of action, but once she had made her choice, she moved without hesitation. Rather than bringing along the entirety of her flock, she chose to let them follow her trail in pilgrimage, whilst she went ahead on her own. This markedly sped up the time which it would have taken her to get to Qinglong City. She was also one to prefer to be too early rather than too late, so she came to the meeting place a few hours before the agreed-upon time.

With her perception having always been outstanding–even more so after having been boosted by the faith of her believers–she of course took note of the almost imperceptible glance that had been sent her way, showing her goodwill to the one spying on her.

As she came closer, she finally saw three people waiting at her destination. One of them was Theodore, whose looks she was very familiar with–due to the image of himself which he had spread publicly. Then, there was a red-haired woman with runic tattoos, whose professional demeanour convinced her that she had to be Vigdis, the secretary she had spoken to a few days ago.

'But who is this Spirit girl? She doesn't give off a reliable impression. The way she's leering at her boss like that... it's creepy. Wipe that drool off your face at least, please!'

Raising an eyebrow at the degenerate behaviour which she was witnessing, she chose not to comment on it for now. Who knows what the circumstances here actually were? She'd much rather not accidentally offend her potential employer-to-be. In the future, there would still be plenty of opportunities to straighten out this miscreant.

"Mr. Winter, it's a pleasure. I'm Cheong Suhyeon–I assume Miss Rún told you that I would be coming? Apologies for being early, the journey was much smoother than expected."

Lifting the sides of her robes and curtsying beautifully, she showed a warm smile and lowered her head a little, her etiquette impeccable beyond question. Like a soft breeze, her elegant aura blew away the residual awkwardness which Navya's behaviour had brought along.

"No worries, I'm just glad you could make it here safely, Miss Cheong. If you'd like, you can call me Theodore–or Theo, whichever one you prefer. Thank you for your application and making this long trip. If I may ask, why did you elect to work for me?"

Not one to hit a smiling face, and also considerably relieved at finally talking to a respectable individual once more, he responded to her in kind. Especially compared to the one who had come before her, Cheong Suhyeon truly lived up to the image of a proper Heaven's Chosen which he had in his heart.

"Oh my, how could I possibly turn down such an offer? I'll go with Theodore, then. To answer your question: While I am confident in being able to put up a fight against a Pillar descendant–and perhaps even winning–I am under no illusion that I can become the final winner myself. The seat of Heavenly Empress is one which I cannot reach. Therefore, if I don't want to die, I need to find someone to work for."

Shooting him a meaningful glance, she grinned slightly.

"And you were the first one to reach out. Admittedly, if I didn't have quite some confidence in you, I would have ignored the offer and fled to another world, despite the painful price I would have to pay. However, I can see that you're optimistic about your chances. Therefore, I chose to throw my hat in the ring. I'm making a bet with my life, and it's on you–that's all."

Winking at him somewhat coquettishly, yet also calmly and without any outright superfluous affection, she directly reciprocated his gaze. There was nothing she needed or wanted to hide. Ever since she had made her decision, she had placed her fate into his hands.

Pleasantly taken aback by her confidence in her abilities, the corners of Theodore's mouth rose a little. The Cheong Family was not particularly renowned, nor had he been informed about any outstanding Heaven's Chosen hailing from their ranks. Still, he was aware that countless dark horses had entered the Heavenly Succession, so him not already knowing about an exceptional peer of his was par for the course.

"You are really self-assured. I certainly hope you can live up to these claims of yours–I'd very much welcome it, in fact. This brings me directly to the next question that I planned to ask you: Why do you think I should make you one of my people? Words alone are cheap, after all. Is it related to the aura of faith which is shrouding you?"

Tilting his head in slight intrigue, he scrutinized her closely. There was no inappropriate desire in his eyes, but purely an interest to find out what she was relying on.

There were many supplementary paths which one could progress on alongside their cultivation stages–and faith was one of them. In general, there were two distinctly different kinds of it: Personal Faith, which focused on one's own belief in something or someone, and Faith Receptacle, a path that fashioned oneself into a being others believed in.

Cheong Suhyeon evidently belonged to the latter category, and she was not at the very beginning of the road–at least judging from the aforementioned aura of faith which dressed her akin to almost entirely invisible, celestial garments.

"Yes, it is. Here, have a look at the tip of the iceberg."

Because she had anticipated his query, she was more than prepared to respond. Knowing full well how much danger revealing this would put her in, she waved her hand slightly and caused a Talent description to pop up in front of Theodore.

[ Let There Be Faith (Supreme):

• All beings targeted will develop a staunch and devout faith in oneself.

• The above will not be absolute if faced with a Unique-grade Talent, a mental resistance of at least Transcendent-grade, or an entity vastly surpassing one's own cultivation realm.

• Immune to all negative or controlling effects at or below Transcendent-grade.

• Perfectly suited to tread the path of faith.

• Faith accumulation difficulty: -99.99%

• Faith accumulation speed: +999,900%

• Faith-related Affinities: +99,999,900%

• Faith-related Technique cultivation difficulty: -99.9999%

• Faith-related Technique cultivation speed: +99,999,900%

• Faith-related Proficiencies improvement efficiency: +99,900%

• Faith-related Laws comprehension difficulty: -10% ]

Astounded by what he was reading, he had to double-check the grade of the Talent–it truly was 'only' Supreme-grade. Yet, it was indubitably a fair chunk better than most others which were classified as such. It felt like at least two Supreme-grade Talents had been crammed into one. While he himself wouldn't need to fear it, and Xie Mei would be barely capable of resisting its influence, Han Junqiao would fall for the brainwashing immediately.

'It's no wonder she's so confident. With this alone, she has the potential to become the foremost expert on the path of the Faith Receptacle. By all rights, if she aligns with the winner of the Heavenly Succession, founding her own new Supreme Pillar wouldn't be too difficult.'

But before he could speak a word of praise, his interviewee shot him another calculative, yet tender smile and broke the silence herself.

"There is a lot more where this one came from. I've been incredibly fortunate, having been born with a complete set of Talents that will guarantee me absolute dominance in this field. For reference, this second one is just a part of them. I am certain that I will be the exact opposite of a burden to you."

[ Devout Substitute (Transcendent):

• At the moment of death, can make a pious believer of oneself take one's place, cancelling out one's demise as a result and recovering to perfect health.

• Can switch places with any pious believer of oneself at any point in time without a limit.

• The above effects cannot be interfered with by any Talent at or below Transcendent-grade. ]

Even more so than earlier, Theodore couldn't help but be surprised by her actions. To reveal a vital lifeline such as this one to him before they had sealed the deal made him realize that she was completely serious about joining his side. She wasn't hedging her bets and keeping many of her cards close to her chest. Instead, she presented herself to him openly and honestly, certain of her success.

'... I like her more and more.'

His smile broadening, he dismissed the pop-ups, stood up and took a few steps closer to her, then reached out his hand. At the same time, a notification appeared in Cheong Suhyeon's field of view.

[ Theodore Winter has offered to become your Leader.

Will you accept this offer and become his Follower?

Warning: Your Heaven's Chosen Level will be transferred to Theodore Winter as a result, causing you to lose the qualifications to be a contestant in the Heavenly Succession. ]

"Thanks for having me!"

Taking his hand without hesitation, she immediately accepted the offer. A soon-suppressed hint of surprise flashed past her gaze as she felt the influx of a massive amount of Standard Attributes, yet she didn't let that interrupt their handshake.

"Welcome aboard, Suhyeon. Oh, you don't mind me calling you that, right?"

Although he was certain that Xie Mei would eventually christen this newest addition to their group with a nickname of her own, for now, he still needed to go through the proper motions.

"Of course not! Feel free to call me anything you'd like. I'm all yours~"

Squinting happily, she shot him a slightly amorous gaze, not yet bothering to release his hand. The two of them stared at each other for a while, until Navya, who was observing them from the side, begun to grow a little bit uncomfortable. Then, a smirk blossomed on both of their lips and the slightly amatory atmosphere between the two melted away amidst amused chuckles.

"All jokes aside, it's good to have you. Come, follow me inside."

With both of them having let go of each other, they relaxedly strolled into the city side by side, with Vigdis and Navya following a few steps behind. Everywhere they went, the regular citizens passed them by without registering their existence–even now, the Illusion Array was still running, albeit in a very limited capacity. All that the people experienced was a happy and safe life–one devoid of either the Imperial Han Family or the Heaven's Chosen.

"You'll need more believers, right? Then you can have everyone in the city, aside from the four of us here, and three others."

Noticing her glancing at the residents, he nonchalantly decided their fate, not sparing them a second thought. It had already been very kind of him to not eradicate them outright. As long as they stayed alive and weren't treated too poorly, he honestly couldn't care less about their circumstances. Becoming a Heaven's Chosen's believers was nothing but an honour for them.

"Thank you kindly~ Oh, that reminds me. Why exactly did you always leave behind the normal citizens after visiting a city? I have a few theories, but I'd like you to tell me."

Not yet activating her Talent, so as to not accidentally brainwash those other three individuals which her Leader had mentioned, Cheong Suhyeon inquired about something that had been slightly puzzling her.

"Basically, killing others benefits me a lot. But I'd much rather not harm the innocent if I can help it. So every time a city got cleansed, they inevitably remained afterwards."

In front of his own people, there was no need to hide this fact, therefore he came clean about it at the first opportunity.

"I see, so that's the secret behind the Winter Saint. Thanks for enlightening me."

With a polite smile, she nodded gently at him, many thoughts and plans flashing through her mind. Yet before she could continue to speak, his words entered her ears.

"Come to think of it, there are many dozens of cities I've been to until now. How about I travel to each of them with you, so that the number of your believers can increase further?"

As if she had just heard the most romantic words of her life, her gaze turned affectionate–pretty much dripping with fondness. Not caring a whit about appearances any longer, she wrapped her arm around his.