The Five Hundred Eighty-First Temple
After Dorothy learned about the requirements for her promotion to the Red Tier level, she immediately began collecting all the necessary items. So far, out of the six divine blessing objects required for her promotion, two were already in her possession, and three could be obtained at any time.
The Deep Blue Heart of “Cup” and the Phantom Pulling Lamp of “Silence” were now in Dorothy’s magic box. The Holy Relic Scroll of “Lamp” was being kept by Vania. The Illusory Scale Incense Cage of “Shadow” had been taken by the little fox and successfully rematerialized by the Butterfly Sect; the little fox said it could be sent through the Artisan Guild at any time. Dorothy had gathered enough deposit and rent money from Mazale and Beverly to secure the divine blessing object of “Stone.”
In summary, Dorothy had five out of the six divine blessing objects she needed. However, except for the Deep Blue Heart which she had initially, none of the other divine blessing objects were what Dorothy had originally intended to obtain. What she originally wanted was a divine blessing object representing her spirituality, the “Enlightenment.”
When Dorothy was promoting to White Chalk, the Holy Emblem of “Enlightenment” was made through the system, so initially, she thought she could make a divine blessing object like she did with the holy emblem. She placed an item in front of her as usual and prayed to bless it, but the result was that the item only gained the traits of a holy emblem but did not become a divine blessing object.
After one failed attempt, Dorothy didn’t give up and started trying different items and prayers. However, none of them became divine blessing objects; they only turned into holy emblems at best.
At this point, Dorothy realized that creating divine blessing objects wasn’t as simple as making holy emblems. These objects, which supported major ceremonies, were treated with such importance that even the Artisan Guild would pay nearly 100,000 pounds in rent to lease them. Clearly, they weren’t something easily created. Dorothy decided to ask Beverly more specific questions.
“Creating divine blessing objects… This isn’t a simple task. It does require a ceremony—a ritual that communicates with deities. The priest needs to pray for the deity’s blessing during the ceremony, and once the deity grants it, the divine blessing object can be created. Moreover, this ceremony isn’t small in scale. Do you have the conditions to hold such a ceremony?”
Beverly’s immaculate handwriting appeared on the page of “Navigation of the Literary Sea,” as if printed, with an air of intrigue between the lines.
“You don’t need to worry about other things for now. Just tell me if you know how to conduct this ceremony. If you do, I want to buy it.”
Dorothy responded to Beverly, who promptly replied.
“I certainly know. Asking me this question is a good choice. If you go elsewhere to buy the creation ceremony for divine blessing objects, they might only sell you a single type of spiritual object. But I can tell you, many different types of spiritual ceremonies share the same principles and core, regardless of their outward differences. This includes divine blessing ceremonies.
“You just need to grasp the fundamental prototype and modify it according to the characteristics of different spirits and target deities. With my prototype and basic modification guide, if you need it, it will cost you 1,200 pounds.”
Beverly’s words appeared on the page of “Navigation of the Literary Sea.” Seeing the figure, Dorothy couldn’t help but swallow hard.
“1,200 pounds… For me… I’ve never bought something this expensive for knowledge before…”
“1,200 pounds… That’s quite expensive, can it be less? I’m a long-time customer,” Dorothy wrote back, and Beverly responded quickly.
“This is a large religious ceremony. It’s not expensive. I’ve already given you a discount on previous divine blessing objects. Consider it, please,” Beverly wrote, leaving Dorothy momentarily unable to argue further.
“Alright, 1,200 pounds it is. How do I pay?”
“You can directly send the payment to the local Artisan Guild. Once I confirm it, I’ll send the item to you via a special channel. It will arrive within two days. Stay in Adriah and pick it up the day after tomorrow.”
Beverly responded, and after reading the message, Dorothy thought for a moment. She was already waiting for Edward’s secret transmission in Adriah, so waiting a bit longer was no problem.
“Alright, I’ll go pay right away.”
“Thank you for your purchase.”
…
Afterward, Dorothy used a zombie puppet to retrieve the money, went to the Artisan Guild, and transferred the payment to Beverly’s account. She then spent another two days resting and enjoying herself in Adriah. When the agreed time came, Dorothy dispatched her zombie puppet to collect the item from the local Artisan Guild. Sure enough, she received the package sent by Beverly.
Back at the hotel, Dorothy immediately opened the package and found a thin booklet inside. Upon flipping it open, she saw meticulously neat Prit writing, clearly machine-printed.
“This can’t be written on the spot by that automaton, can it?”
Looking at the brand-new booklet, Dorothy thought to herself. Previously, the secret transmissions she received were old, handwritten books. The calligraphy of each author was impeccable, giving a sense of age and mystery, like something forbidden. This new booklet felt like an instruction manual or promotional brochure, something you’d receive on the street and throw away. Dorothy couldn’t fathom why this cheap-looking secret transmission would be the most expensive one she’d ever bought.
“If I tried to sell this, nobody would believe it’s worth over 1,000 pounds,” Dorothy mused, then sat down and flipped open the booklet to read its contents. Due to the neat font, there was no need to decipher messy handwriting, and Dorothy read the content quickly.
This secret transmission, which should have been transcribed by Beverly from some unknown source, detailed the principles and elements of divine blessing ceremonies. It explained the basic prototype of a divine blessing ceremony and introduced the characteristics of divine blessing ceremonies for different spirits, along with guidance on modifying the prototype for other spirits. Even the “Enlightenment” was included, and it listed fine-tuning references for different deities, including examples like the King of Light and the Goddess of Abundance. Clearly, this secret transmission was written near the end of the Second Era or early Third Era.
After quickly skimming through the content, Dorothy grasped the method of the ceremony. She discovered that a divine blessing ceremony has four key points. First, the deity’s approval is crucial—meaning the deity must agree to grant the blessing. The secret transmission states that the deity’s recognition is the foundation of the entire ceremony, upon which everything else is built.
Second, a devout priest recognized by the deity is essential. They will be the key figure in conducting the ceremony. Third, a recipient object that can accept the blessing must be prepared. This object needs to be an extraordinary item and must share the same spirit as the deity.
Lastly, the fourth point, the secret transmission states that a divine blessing ceremony is a grand ritual held at the temple level. Therefore, it must be conducted in a venue that meets the specifications of a temple.
After reading the entire secret transmission, Dorothy frowned and fell silent. While reading, she compared her situation to the standards in the transmission to see if she could perform the divine blessing ceremony.
“The first and most important point… deity’s approval… This isn’t a problem. The ‘Enlightenment’ deity is likely the system or something equivalent. Regardless, this mysterious system possesses some deity-like abilities, and anyone who can use it is like the deity Akasha. There’s no issue with recognition; why wouldn’t I recognize myself?
“Regarding the priest… This isn’t an issue either. As long as I recognize who the priest is and they believe in me, that’s sufficient. Neve, Vania… or even myself can handle this. Of course, the best effect would come from Vania, who is inherently a priestess. The main priest is critical, while auxiliary priests have no requirements; I can fully let the zombie puppet take on these roles.
“As for the recipient object, it needs to be an extraordinary item sharing the same spirit as the blessing deity. For me, this means an extraordinary item of ‘Enlightenment,’ which I already possess, so this isn’t a problem.
“But the last condition… This is problematic. A temple-level religious venue… I can’t find one…
“Thinking about the requirements for the divine blessing ceremony, Dorothy frowned, troubled. Out of the four conditions, she had met three. But the last one was exceptionally difficult for her.
A religious venue at the temple level was beyond the understanding of a novice in the Secret World. It was a classification system for ceremony requirements in mysticism. Different levels of religious ceremonies required different levels of venues.
These four levels, from low to high, were shrines, temples, cathedrals, and sacred sites.
Shrine level was the lowest requirement for a religious venue, generally referring to roadside statues, totem poles in forests, rune stones on mountains, and household shrines. Various small religious ceremonies, such as obtaining holy emblems, making holy water, or seeking minor blessings, were performed in these places.
Temple level corresponded to medium-sized temples. For example, the small city and town churches of the Radiant Church, the tribal totems of the Shamanism sect, and the sacrificial sites of various cults in ordinary cities. Religious ceremonies held here were of higher grade.
Cathedral level referred to large temples, corresponding to the core cathedrals of the Radiant Church’s dioceses, usually located in the capitals of major countries on the Main Continent, with archbishops overseeing them. Examples include the Prayer Cathedral in Prit and the Purification Cathedral in Iwig. In Shamanism, it was where “Wild Offerings” were typically held, and one of the Sea Abyss Cult’s temples was on White Tear Island. Notably, the Temple of the Judge of Heaven in Adis was a great cathedral, also classified as a cathedral level.
Finally, sacred site level referred to significant locations where deities left traces in the world and were considered holy sites by major religions. For the Radiant Church, this included the Four Sacred Sites, including Sacred Summit and Redemption Cathedral, corresponding to the Savior and the Three Saints. Other cults often had their headquarters in their own sacred sites. The location of the “Great Wild Offering” in Shamanism was also suspected to be a sacred site.
A divine blessing ceremony was a typical religious ceremony requiring specific venues. It was a cathedral-level ceremony, necessitating a high-standard venue, at least equivalent to the Radiant Church’s diocese cathedrals. This posed a significant challenge for Dorothy.
“Where am I going to find a cathedral-level venue? I’ve been wandering in the Secret World for over a year and don’t even have a fixed base, let alone a cathedral.”
As Dorothy pondered the requirements for the divine blessing ceremony, she frowned, troubled. Her Rosy Cross was essentially a hollow organization, and Akasha was an empty deity. Where would they get a cathedral to perform a ceremony? Not only did they lack existing ones, but building one was almost impossible.
Building a divine meaning cathedral required not only specialized extraordinary knowledge but also substantial manpower, resources, and finances. The entire construction process was itself a grand ceremony, not something casually constructed.
Setting aside whether Dorothy had the millions of pounds to build a cathedral, even if she did, it would take years. Furthermore, such a heretical deity temple couldn’t be built within the Radiant Church’s territory; otherwise, if discovered, the temple would be demolished, and people would be arrested. Building far from the Radiant Church’s territory meant working in underdeveloped regions, where productivity levels would ensure the project couldn’t be completed within a decade.
In summary, for Dorothy, building a cathedral was not a viable option. Without money or time, constructing a cathedral was out of the question. She had to find a solution for the fourth requirement of the divine blessing ceremony.
While thinking, Dorothy took out her “Navigation of the Literary Sea” and continued writing after turning to Beverly’s communication page.
“Hello? Are you there? The secret transmission you sold me says that a divine blessing ceremony requires a cathedral-level venue. Is this mandatory? If there’s no dedicated cathedral, are there any alternatives?”
