Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 770 - 35 Earth’s Praise_1

Chapter 770: Chapter 35 Earth’s Praise_1

For an instant, the silver-haired, black-eyed priestess Lina felt like she could do almost anything, when she perfectly bonded with the holy artifact, Earth’s Praise. This feeling surged from the depth of her heart, almost uncontrollably.

Everyone who had ever seen Lina knew that this silver-haired girl devoted to the deity always carried a silver magic book as if it were part of her. The book wasn’t thick, with a spine about a centimeter thick. The cover, made of mithril, was adorned with four arrays, making the whole book look mysterious. The pages inside, resembling paper in texture, were composed of an unknown material. It looked like paper, but neither tear, cut, fire, nor water could affect it. The book had thirty-two pages in total, a product of four and eight, with four representing the four directions of southeast, northwest, and southwest on Earth. Making a square on your chest during a prayer in The Church of the Earth Goddess symbolized the same thing. The number eight, however, represented the eight stages of life birthed by the Earth: conception, birth, growth, maturity, production or fruiting, decay, death, and decay or rot. These two numbers, the most important for the Church of the Earth Goddess Denia, multiplied to equal the total number of pages in the book, highlighting the significance of this book in the church and in the heart of the goddess. Each of the thirty-two pages bore an inscription or an illustration, and whether it was text or pictures, all expressed the praise and worship of the earth.

In the early Third Epoch, some intelligent beings built the Church of the Earth Goddess to express their gratitude towards the generous donation of the Earth, and to thank the loving goddess Denia, who is the incarnation of the Earth. They dedicated this valuable book to the goddess. On every page, the words filled with children’s love and attachment for the Earth Mother. Touched, the goddess accepted Earth’s Praise, but not long after, returned it to the church. Initially, the clergy were alarmed, thinking that the goddess was angry because she did not like their gift. However, when they received back Earth’s Praise, such alarm vanished. What the goddess returned, initially just an ordinary book albeit made of precious material, was a holy artifact. Each page was graced by the touch of the goddess, and every word and illustration contained her power, a nearly omnipotent force. Faint magical fluctuations emanated from the book, symbolizing the grace of the earth-loving goddess. As long as the Earth exists for one more day, the book cannot be destroyed. Even the most potent attacks and energies capable of annihilating everything else would land gently on the book, leaving not a single crease. As the book carried Denia’s divine power and had enormous power, only devout believers recognized by Denia could use it. Even if the book got lost, it would return to the hands of its user. If the user died, it would automatically return to Denia’s temple.

For these reasons, Earth’s Praise quickly became one of the most important sacred items in the Church of the Earth Goddess. Often, only the archbishop or their successor had the qualifications to use it. Of course, only the highest-ranking few in the church knew about these qualifications.

The power of the magic book Earth’s Praise was formidable. It had three basic functions: amplifying the power of a divine spell, absorbing and storing a large amount of mana as a storage device, and triggering a minimal consumption when needed for the continuous release of high-consumption divine spells. In times of crisis, it could also serve as a defensive tool against some minor but potent attacks.

If the user were mighty enough and had a high enough degree of bonding with the magic book—or the deity, for that matter—then they could use the advanced functions of the magic book. Each of the thirty-two pages contained a top divine spell. The later the position, the greater the divine spell’s consumption and the stronger its effect. Although using these divine spells did not require the consumption of the user’s mana or vitality and only needed a few prayers, there was a catch. While these divine spells did not consume the user, they consumed the energy of the magic book itself. After consumption, it would take a long time to recharge through the power of the Earth. Even so, this feature was so terrifying.

However, that was only for the advanced functions. Even the high-ranking members of the Church of the Earth Goddess and the successive users of the magic book seldom knew that once the user reached a perfect bond with the magic book, even for an instant, they could bask in the grace of the deity directly through the book. It was as if they were standing by the side of the deity, or even being the deity’s incarnation in the mortal world. Their every move carried the power of the deity. Of course, this perfect bonding might only occur in an instant, as a mortal’s soul could not maintain this state for long. However, even an instant was enough, for they would have power far exceeding their original strength in the next few minutes. This was the real grace from Denia to her devout believers. The Earth was kind and selfless. The embodiment of the Earth, the loving goddess Denia was the same. To her devout believers, she responded with the same generosity and selflessness, willing to share her divine majesty and power solely with the believers.

Therefore, when Lina took over the rest of Catherine’s task and blocked the way of the remaining Marsh Stalker for Freya, the silver-haired girl, facing a real demigod rank magical beast for the first time, reached the pinnacle state of spirit and will. At that peak moment, it seemed like her consciousness separated from her body, observing the battlefield in a more advanced way, yet still able to control her body freely. This feeling was very peculiar. Every grain of sand on the battlefield, every possible move the Marsh Stalker could make, was reflected clearly in the girl’s consciousness. Every moment, countless pieces of information flowed into the girl’s mind, tens of thousands to millions of times more than what she would usually observe. Within just a second, the silver-haired girl felt as if her consciousness was going to burst.

Fortunately, in the very next moment, the magical world before her eyes shattered dramatically, and the girl’s consciousness returned to her own body, observing her enemies once again with her own eyes. Even though she had left the state she was just in, and no one had explained to her, Lina naturally understood the cause of everything that happened. This marvelous state seemed to be the way deities view the world. Of course, this meant nothing to Lina, nor would she become a deity just because she shared the viewpoint of a deity. However, she still deeply remembered this unique experience, or rather, it was hard for her to forget it even if she wanted to.

The second Lurker, who was swiftly moving with its tentacles towards Freya, abruptly halted. Even its tentacles stopped wriggling. At a certain moment, the powerful magical beast felt a strong urge deep within its heart, urging it to flee far away. This was an instinctive reaction when a highly sensitive beast encountered an enemy it could never overcome. From the beast’s perception, the figure standing before it was no longer a puny prey, but a majestic deity. The solemn gaze of the deity froze its movements. However, after a mere second, the illusion disappeared, and the small prey was still there. Lurker’s simple consciousness didn’t make it question why it had such a ludicrous illusion. As soon as the illusion disappeared, it resumed its advance.

Unfortunately for it, an illusion had occurred, replacing the legendary-rank Priest in front of it with an individual who had just undergone a perfect union, now possessing powerful strength for a short few minutes. While a perfect union wouldn’t allow Lina to touch the realm of the Demigod prematurely, it significantly boosted her strength, putting her a notch above the legendary power.

"Law, slow." Lina’s left hand held up the book of magic, which floated on her palm, emanating a soft silver glow. The light pulsated with her heartbeat, appearing to move in rhythm by itself. The girl’s right hand pointed forward lightly, seemingly understanding this state automatically, no longer chanting prayers, but issuing a direct command.

Marsh Stalker’s body shook slightly, the surrounding air becoming sticky, feeling like it had returned to the familiar swamp, encased and protected by sludge. However, this sludge felt completely different, it only hindered its body and could not support it, preventing it from moving freely in the mud. It’s familiar yet hindering environment made the stalker extremely irritable, swinging its tentacles in vain, trying to break free from the surrounding hindrance, but struggling to do so. After all, these hindrances were not physical, and couldn’t be destroyed. One could only fight against it using more force, but lurkers were destined not to have a stable center of gravity, they needed to be careful even when walking quickly, let alone using a larger force to resist the slow effect.

Moreover, a physical obstacle was coming. Lina blinked her eyes and hummed softly. Her right hand outstretched, her index finger drew a circle in the air, loudly commanding, "Holy Words, Cage."

Even though this was Pannis’ Inherent Psychic Domain, the power of the deity still made its way here. Numerous stone pillars were generated out of thin air from beneath the ground under the divine will, forming a sparse grid of pillars, with the Marsh Stalker trapped in the center.

"Holy Words, Earth Burial." The third command came, and countless fine sands emerged from below ground. Just like a sand wave, it beat upon the trapped lurker, forming a conical sand dune tens of meters high. Thousands of tons of yellow sand buried the lurker underneath. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian.com to vote for it. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read).