Lord of Prayer-Chapter 112 - 96: Advancement Direction

"An Advanced Secret Ceremony..."

Zhou Chen leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

Star Mangos were precious not only because they could repair the Soul, but also because they allowed an Ascender to advance a tier with no side effects, up to a maximum of Tier Four.

This was also why the Holy See was so powerful, and why it was targeted by various organizations; no one wanted to see them grow too strong. The Holy See actually had it pretty rough. Every year, they had to offer five Star Mangos for public sale and probably give a few more away in secret. Ending the year with three or four for themselves was likely considered a bountiful harvest.

This meant the Holy See didn’t actually have as many Tier Four Ascenders as one might imagine. But they didn’t care about this, because Tier Fours promoted via Star Mangos were... how to put it? They basically only had the title of Tier Four without the actual strength. To put it bluntly, they were frauds. They were fine for show, but were bound to cause trouble when things got serious.

Therefore, the Holy See had now shifted its focus and started using Star Mangos to cultivate talented Low Tier Ascenders. They rarely bestowed Star Mangos on Tier Three Ascenders anymore, unless it was someone on the verge of advancing. Otherwise, not even the Pope’s own mother could get a Star Mango.

It was worth mentioning that the best time to use a Star Mango was when advancing from Tier One to Tier Two, because at that stage, nothing else mattered. Whether one could advance or not depended purely on the strength of their Spiritual Power.

Zhou Chen had read the files. If he only wanted a simple Advancement, his current merits, plus the things he’d swiped from the Eternal Fire’s warehouse, would be enough to exchange for a complete Advanced Secret Ceremony.

But that would just be the basic version, not a custom-tailored, limited edition. It would only grant Advancement, without developing any Derivative Abilities, which would be a bit of a waste.

Every Ascender’s Extraordinary Abilities could be developed into Derivative Abilities through study and growth over time. However, this required a certain amount of talent and a great deal of time, so Ascenders began to put their efforts elsewhere.

One such result was the Advanced Secret Ceremony.

—To be precise, the custom-tailored Advanced Secret Ceremony.

It was "custom-tailored" because the Ascender themselves could choose the direction of their Derivative Abilities.

For example, if a Fire Type Ascender wanted to go for a burst damage build, they would be best off using materials with violent properties as the main component. If they wanted a sustained damage build, they should use materials that could burn steadily as the main component.

This was the general path. To be more precise, as long as you were willing to pay enough—and pay a *lot*—you could even pay your way to the specific Abilities you wanted.

For example, take a Spiritual Type Ascender whose only Extraordinary Ability was an unusually strong Spiritual Power. This was undoubtedly a useless Ability.

But if they added the eyeball of a Soul-Stealing Demon as the main component in their Advanced Secret Ceremony, supplemented by various other materials, they would have a chance to obtain a Psychic Ability like soul-stealing, hypnosis, or Mind Control. It would be a complete turnaround, transforming a useless Ability into a top-tier... "suggestive" ability.

—If not for the fact that a single Soul-Stealing Demon eyeball had a market price of around nine million, many Spiritual Type Ascenders would have probably taken action already.

And that was just for the main component, not counting the cost of supplementary materials and hiring an Alchemist.

This was why the Advanced Secret Ceremony bankrupted every Ascender. Even though it required you to spend an insane amount of money, who wouldn’t want to have a few more Abilities?

Zhou Chen wanted that too, but he hadn’t decided which path he wanted to take yet.

He scratched the orange cat perched on his head and asked, vexed, "Do you have any recommendations for my Advancement path?"

"Your fire is a type of Spiritual Attack, so I suggest you enhance its explosive power. Like that bomb you set off in Blue Diamond Manor, it could cause a large-scale Spiritual Attack."

Jiang Che took a plan out of her drawer and handed it to Zhou Chen.

He opened it and saw that it laid out several Advancement paths for him, with all the pros and cons listed in detail. It even had recommended materials noted under each path.

Zhou Chen looked up, stunned, his mouth falling open. "You stayed up all night to make this?"

’I can’t believe Jiang Che would help me plan my Advancement path. This must have been a huge, mentally exhausting project. But more importantly, it’s the thought that counts...’

"It only took me twenty minutes," Jiang Che said nonchalantly, taking a sip of her coffee. It was like when the top student in class points at a difficult problem and says, "This one’s easy, it only took me twenty seconds."

’Damn it, she’s such a show-off...’ Zhou Chen silently finished reading the plan, then looked at her with suspicion. "You’re not an Alchemist, are you?"

"I’m not." Jiang Che shook her head. "I just have a wealth of theoretical knowledge."

"Isn’t that the same thing?!"

’She understands all the theory, and she’s a Telekinesis Type Ascender. Her practical skills can’t be that bad. As long as she gets a conversion Matrix implanted and passes the certification exam, she’d be an official Alchemist.’

’And she can even plan out my Advancement path, right down to the specific materials... That’s already beyond the scope of a normal Alchemist!’

"Which Advancement path are you planning to take?" Jiang Che asked.

"I’ll think about it some more..." After reading the plan, Zhou Chen was still hesitant. This was a life-altering decision that required careful long-term planning.

Besides, he wasn’t in a hurry. Although his Soul hadn’t fully recovered, he was long past the critical stage and could afford to wait a little longer.

"Oh, right. Did everyone in the Eternal Commerce Mansion get rescued?" Zhou Chen suddenly remembered.

"Everyone was rescued. No casualties. They’re currently receiving medical treatment and psychological counseling. In a few more days, they’ll be sent home to reunite with their families." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"As long as they were rescued, that’s what matters." Zhou Chen nodded.

’If I had participated in that mission, I probably could have earned a lot of wish points from those people. But I don’t feel like I lost out. I’m just a weak, pitiful, and helpless Tier One Ascender, not one of the Gods. I can’t be expected to take care of everything.’

’The most important thing is that they escaped safely and can return to their families as soon as possible.’

Just then, Jiang Che changed the subject. "This morning, I contacted Duke Elizabeth. He expressed his immense gratitude to you. I then hinted that you were preparing for your Advanced Secret Ceremony, so he immediately decided to cover the cost of all the materials you’ll need."

Zhou Chen’s eyes widened. ’Are we fleecing Duke Elizabeth?’

’No, no, no, no, no... How can you call it fleecing? This is Duke Elizabeth’s thank-you gift for saving his daughter!’

’Wait a minute, does this mean I don’t have to worry about the materials for the Advanced Secret Ceremony anymore? I just have to pick a path and wait for the Secret Ceremony to be delivered to my door?’

’Can things really be this good?’

Jiang Che glanced at the silly grin on Zhou Chen’s face and shattered his daydream. "Listen up. I have a mission for you."

Zhou Chen’s heart instantly sank. Before he could even ask, he heard Jiang Che say, "For the foreseeable future, Erin Elizabeth will be staying in Jinzhu. You’re to be her bodyguard and show her what modern life is like."

"?" Zhou Chen tilted his head, nearly flinging Xiao Ju off.

"The royal lady’s personal bodyguard? No... wait... Why do I have to be her bodyguard?" Zhou Chen asked, confused.

"Many factors," Jiang Che said calmly. "And besides, you can also serve as bait."