No matter the reason for the gifts, they were excessively generous, which had led Naimes to maintain a favorable impression of Op all this time. This had also somewhat caused Naimes to be less diligent in overseeing Op's activities.

On the floating whales, every village had its own church. On one hand, this was to guide people's faith, and on the other, it served to monitor local 'supernatural' activities.

Demons didn't appear every day. Many stationed holy knights might go over a decade without catching even a whiff of demonic presence. However, there was no shortage of supernatural practitioners who violated the rules.

One of the core doctrines of the Oath God's church was advocating 'energy conservation.' The Oath God had proclaimed the truth of the world - that resources were limited, especially after the Great Cataclysm forced humanity to migrate onto the floating whales. Under such circumstances, conservation was the healthy way of life.

Yet human hearts are never satisfied. To gain more for themselves, there would always be those who sought supernatural power through forbidden means. Take a Black Stone grade practitioner for example - when their attributes reached nine and hit a bottleneck, if they discovered some forbidden method to break through their limits and ascend to Steel Seed grade, there was a high probability they would take the risk.

Of course, more common violations involved over-exploitation of non-renewable resources. Most get-rich-quick schemes are prohibited by law precisely because the more something is forbidden, the more people chase after it. Op had likely gone down this path.

Beiqi Village lacked renewable resources, having only some medicinal herbs from Beiqi Mountain. But its non-renewable resources might not be as scarce. That Naimes lacked even this basic foresight only proved such people's inevitable failure.

Naimes narrowed his eyes slightly before breaking into a smile. "I'll get to the bottom of this."

"That's good. You're a good lad, so don't go down that wrong path!" The elderly priest's eyes seemed to grow more clouded. His advanced age made that earlier passionate hymn no easy feat.

The priestly system relied on meditation methods. They needed to meditate on the divine glory, nurturing Holy Light from their spirits. Each use of Holy Light challenged their mental fortitude - without firm faith, the Holy Light would become increasingly difficult to bear. Many aging priests developed light-infused physical characteristics as their decaying bodies could no longer support the weight of Holy Light.

"Additionally, this battle with the demon revealed my weaknesses. I wish to be promoted to Oathbound Holy Knight." Only then did Naimes reveal his true purpose for coming to the church.

Having Tangs come to test for demonic presence was one thing, but his main goal was investigating how the Oath God's faith power interacted with divine authority.

The elderly priest was a Steel Seed grade clergyman. Though he appeared just an old man, his existence surpassed normal humans - he could practically be considered a supernatural being. With current resource limitations, Naimes would need at least ten to fifteen days of preparation to kill him without losses.

To covertly siphon faith under these circumstances wasn't feasible - it had to be done openly. From the information Naimes had gathered, becoming an Oathbound Holy Knight seemed the most viable path.

An Oathbound Holy Knight must, under divine witness, swear an oath of discipline, fully activate their life aura, voluntarily channel the Oath God's faith into their body to become a living idol, thereby gaining power beyond numerical limits.

This was an extremely radical method. Even in his battle with Kullog, Naimes had been reluctant to expend too much life aura - it was finite. Full activation meant converting all one's potential, severing any future supernatural advancement while drastically reducing lifespan.

Typically only fanatical believers who'd reached their limits within the church would choose this path. The previous Naimes, despite his slacking, had still harbored hopes of advancing to Steel Seed grade and never considered this option. Follow current novels on NovєlFіre.net

"You're certain?" The old priest started, speaking incredulously, "Even an Oathbound Holy Knight's limit-breaking power doesn't guarantee victory over Steel Seed grade!"

"I know. But this is my last chance!" Naimes wasn't the body's original owner - he'd take the fastest path available.

"Today?"

"Today!" Naimes nodded with firm resolve.

The priest stood and paced before the idol, occasionally turning to study Naimes as if pondering something. Finally, he heaved a long sigh, having made his decision.

"Very well. Close the doors."

"I owe you this." As he spoke these words, the priest's face seemed to grow more sallow.

The priest had Naimes kneel on the cushion before the idol and begin practicing the holy knights' secret breathing technique. Naimes' breathing patterns continuously changed, stimulating the inner aura to convert into physical attributes.

At this rate, it might take years to achieve meaningful conversion - this was the body's bottleneck. Regular breathing practice could hardly mobilize more life aura, while that secret technique used against demons merely treated aura as a temporary buff, hardly worthwhile.

As his breathing reached its limit, the old priest suddenly manifested Holy Light before him. This light formed into sharp blades that pierced Naimes' body.

Like adding fuel to fire, the breathing technique's rate intensified dramatically. Life aura was forcibly extracted - similar to the secret technique, this forcibly drawn aura was unstable and would soon dissipate rather than permanently boost attributes.

But then the Holy Light transformed again.

"By the Oath God above, today a believer wishes to inscribe discipline through faith. May the God bestow divine glory!!!"

At the priest's words, accumulated faith from the idol stirred, channeled through the Holy Light before being driven into Naimes' body.

The Oathbound Holy Knight method - Divine Nails!

Naimes silently recited his forgiveness commandments, and the faith-forged nails responded, swiftly anchoring his life aura in place. As the aura stabilized, tremendous power surged through his body.

His attributes rapidly climbed from eight to nine, then ten, soon breaking past limits before finally stabilizing at thirteen.

[Commandment Information Updated]