Listening to the Gospel

Yaxiu had no idea that the Substitute's working conditions had deteriorated even further; he had more pressing matters at hand. After easing his psychological stress with Igola, the cult leader quickly sorted out his most urgent priority— Drawing cards! He had to immediately pull an item capable of healing the soul. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to enter the Void Realm at all to fulfill his contract with the Empress's Heroic Spirit, and the growth of his operators' strength would grind to a halt! Although his points had not yet reached the threshold to trigger the first-time double bonus, this was clearly not the time to maximize profit. If he didn't spend when he needed to, he wouldn't be able to clear this incursion event, "The Empress's Challenge"! In the past, whenever he was about to spend money on microtransactions, Yaxiu would usually seek out Igola for a sacrificial roll to boost his luck. However, he now had a better option—the Book of Gospel! It was worth mentioning that there was no gambling of any kind in the Gospel Country. After all, under the observation of the Book of Gospel, all gambling was equivalent to simply handing people free money. Those who listened to the Gospel were much like students educated in materialism—they did not believe in feudal superstitions like luck. The only difference was that the latter believed in human potential, while the former believed in the inevitability of the Gospel. Originally, Yaxiu had worried about having no Gospel points, but who could have expected that just as he grew drowsy, the young miss would offer a lap pillow? Five hundred Gospel points was truly a godsend! Back in his room, Yaxiu lay on the bed and directly summoned the Book of Gospel: "Gospel, Gospel, how can I increase my recruitment win rate in 'Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook'?" "Esteemed Lord Yaxiu Heath." The Book of Gospel replied, "Unable to understand your request." Eh? Was the Book of Gospel this polite? Because Yaxiu rarely used the Gospel, he wasn't very familiar with its attitude toward clients, but he also remembered that the last time he used the Book of Gospel, it certainly hadn't offered this kind of customer service. Or was it that because he now possessed five hundred Gospel points, the Book of Gospel immediately adopted a mercenary face? Did even the Book of Gospel know how to use tiered service to cater to a client's sense of superiority? Yaxiu repeated his question. The Book of Gospel replied with evident hesitation: "Your Eminence, Gospel cannot recognize the 'Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook' in your words. However, based on your description, may Gospel understand that you wish to obtain your desired items in a randomized draw event?" "That's right." "Then Gospel presents two preliminary solutions: 1. Increase your luck; 2. Amplify your heart's will." Yaxiu was somewhat puzzled. "I understand increasing luck, but what does amplifying heart's will mean?" The Book of Gospel: "Heart's will is a sorcerer's greatest power. This heart's will does not refer to the 'mind' of the mind faction, but specifically refers to the sum of a sorcerer's will, ideals, and soul. The most powerful sorcerers have no need to deliberately drive sorcery spirits; sorcery power is merely supplementary. A true miracle occurs when sorcery spirits actively cater to the sorcerer's heart's will, coordinating with one another and taking flight on their own. "When a sorcerer participates in any randomized draw, it is equivalent to the sorcerer using heart's will to interfere with the drawing mechanism. As long as the sorcerer's heart's will is sufficiently strong, it is possible for the drawing mechanism to proactively deliver the prize they need." Oh!? Although it couldn't directly increase his win rate, it could amplify his heart's will, thereby making it easier to pull what he wanted... Even though it didn't sound very scientific, it seemed to make some sense. Just like in card games, where a true duelist shared a bond with their deck, and when the moment called for a destiny draw, they would pull the exact card they needed! Yaxiu asked, "What's the price for increasing luck, and what's the price for amplifying heart's will?" The Book of Gospel: "Your Eminence, increasing luck is determined by your payment amount, ranging from 100 points to 1,000,000,000 points. If you choose the highest-tier luck enhancement service, it is equivalent to entering a state where every wish comes true. "Amplifying heart's will costs only 150 points. Because heart's will is intimately linked to the sorcerer, Gospel can only amplify the power of that will; the specific effect will vary according to the strength of Your Eminence's heart's will." Yaxiu asked, "Then how do I strengthen my heart's will?" The Book of Gospel: "Your Eminence, this question requires 10 points." Yaxiu was thoroughly displeased. "I have to pay before I've even gotten anything?" The Book of Gospel: "Deeply sorry, Your Eminence. Your feedback has been submitted." Despite grumbling, Yaxiu obediently paid the points. The Book of Gospel immediately replied: "Heart's will is closely tied to emotion. When Your Eminence's emotions are intensely agitated, the fluctuations of your heart's will will also reach their peak. Furthermore, it is best if your emotions are intimately connected to the item you desire; that way, your heart's will will possess a high degree of focus." Emotion, heart's will, desired item... Without a doubt, the item Yaxiu most wanted to pull right now was the "Pure Spiritual Light Special Drink." There was still one bottle left in his inventory from the last draw. It was currently the only item he knew of capable of healing the soul. This time, he had to pull several bottles, then use the "Alchemist's Refining Flask" to synthesize a higher-tier, more potent potion; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to recover from their soul injuries within a few days. But how could he get the emotions surging? Yaxiu thought about how, because they failed to enter the Void Realm in time, the Empress's Heroic Spirit would confiscate their Soul Summoning sorcery spirits and deduct their perfect attendance bonus. A tiny bit of emotion welled up. Yaxiu then thought about all of them getting captured by the Empress's Heroic Spirit, buried in a sea of beasts, dying without a whole corpse left behind. Because it was too surreal, his emotions only rose a tiny bit more. Yaxiu then imagined a scenario where he wasn't caught by the Empress's Heroic Spirit, but both of his operators accidentally died, leaving Yaxiu to clock in and work all by himself from then on, with no more operators for him to exploit. It was surging! The emotion was surging up! "I can't take this anymore!" Yaxiu gritted his teeth and said, "Please amplify my heart's will!" "There is no need to say 'please,' Your Eminence." The Book of Gospel responded immediately. "Heart's will amplification lasts for 10 seconds and costs 150 Gospel points. Please prepare yourself first, Your Eminence." Yaxiu opened his sorcerer manual and headed straight for "Supplies Procurement." Yaxiu currently had 238 points and could only purchase "A Bag of Origin Crystals," worth 198 points, which no longer had the first-time double bonus. That gave him 40 origin crystals, which, added to the 14 he had saved up, made 54 origin crystals in total—just enough for 18 pulls! Yaxiu didn't dare blow it all at once either, deciding to start with a ten-pull to see how things went. At the thought of having to spend money without any promotional bonus all because of this incursion event, Yaxiu grew even angrier! "I'm ready! Do it now!" "Your faithful Gospel will now amplify your heart's will. Countdown: 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second... You have entered the heart's will amplification state. Time remaining: 10 seconds!" Yaxiu immediately opened "Operator Recruitment," selected the limited recruitment pool "Dancing with Swords and Dragons," and tapped "Recruit Ten Times"! Ten purple beams of light! "Pure Spiritual Light Special Drink" ×9, "Energy Potion" ×1! Yaxiu was stunned. By the time he came back to his senses, ten seconds had already passed. The Book of Gospel prompted: "Your Eminence has exited the heart's will amplification state. May I ask if you are satisfied with this service?" "Satisfied." Yaxiu sniffled, moved practically to tears. "I couldn't be more satisfied!" No wonder everyone preferred living in the web woven by the Gospel. Was this the joy of the Gospel? This was simply too blissful! While a person ought to cherish their dignity, if one could cheat, dignity didn't seem quite so important after all! A beautiful day begins with listening to the Gospel! ... Meanwhile, the necromancer was also using the Book of Gospel. He had designed two advanced modification schemes for Alice, but was unable to make up his mind. In the past, he would collect a large pile of corpses, subject all of them to necromantic modifications, and recruit whoever adapted best to the new work environment. But that wouldn't work now. With no way to recruit new employees, he could only dedicate himself to cultivating his sole backbone worker. Harvey: "Of the two schemes, which is better suited for Alice?" The Book of Gospel: "50 Gospel points." Harvey thought about it and decided to break the question into parts, thinking it might be cheaper: "Is Alice suitable for the wraith modification scheme?" The Book of Gospel: "Not suitable (25 points consumed)." Harvey asked again: "Is Alice suitable for the ghoul modification scheme?" The Book of Gospel: "Also not suitable (25 points consumed)." The necromancer's near-frigid heart stirred with a flicker of heat—neither is suitable, yet you still deduct fifty points from me? Lighting a stick of cat grass smoke to calm his nerves, Harvey continued asking: "How should Alice be strengthened next?" The Book of Gospel: "100 Gospel points." Although the necromancer already had a few ideas, given the lesson from earlier, he decided to obediently hand over the points. The Book of Gospel: "Based on your current resources, ghoul enhancement should be performed on Alice's limbs, and vengeful spirit enhancement on Alice's torso." It was hot, hot! The necromancer's heart was practically ablaze! Isn't this just cobbling together the two schemes I already came up with?! Why did you say neither was suitable earlier? If you had just added a single line saying 'ghoul is only suitable for limbs, and vengeful spirit is only suitable for the torso,' wouldn't I have understood?! Did you really have to cheat me out of points like this?! A beautiful day ends with listening to the Gospel.