As an offering for the Light God, it naturally needed to be the best.
Behind the Light Temple was a large orchard and any tasty fruit grown on the continent could be found there, it was meticulously cared for by strong plant mages. Every two weeks, they would pick out the best and sweetest fruit and place them on ice so the temple maids could select them.
When they saw that the priest personally came, the two plant mages were surprised and quickly bowed down.
"I want the freshest fruit, preferably some that was picked seconds ago." The young man was very haughty and aloof to anyone but his Father.
However, all the light priests were like this, so the two plants mages didn't feel it strange, they quickly picked a few baskets of fruit and placed them in front of him.
Zhou Yun Sheng bowed to look, tasted a few fruit and determined that they were good before putting them into his basket. He returned to the temple, washed the fruit with the water in the holy pool, then he put it aside and prepared to make pastries.
"Your eminence, pour the buckwheat flour and water into the pottery bowl and knead into a dough, then twist out large egg sized balls and flatten into a circle." The maid feared he couldn't do it, so she took out some flour dough and placed it on a tray to demonstrate.
Zhou Yun Sheng stared at the maid with an incredulous gaze. Was this the so-called pastries that was dedicated to the Father? No seasoning, no letting the dough rest, no shaping, no rising. After the pastries dried it would be harder than stone, how could he give this to his Father? This was simply blasphemy against the Father!
The moronic fanboy was filled with anger, he pushed the maid aside and brought out all the cooking skills in his mind. He shared out a very precise proportion of flour and water, used his light power to cover his palm, and kneaded the dough until it was elastic and soft.
"Your eminence, why would you waste your power of light priesthood!" The maid saw the golden light on his palm and felt a painful headache. As the power of light was becoming increasingly rarer today, a country often had to exhaust all their resources to cultivate strong light priests, and the light priests never used their power unless it was an emergency or the last resort. That was because each use took directly from their supply that they had accumulated after years of prayer, a single spell could sometimes cost more than a decade of worship.
A priest like Joshua who would use his power of light to knead flour was simply brain damaged.
Zhou Yun Sheng's mind was indeed broken. Because he hypnotized himself every day, he was crazy for the Father, he loved him passionately, senselessly in love, so he couldn't stand the slightest neglect of his God.
Even a pig would be unwilling to eat the pastries, yet they dared use it in worship, that was simply intolerable for him.
He swore that he must make the world's most delicious and exquisite pastries and dedicate it to his Father, he coldly opened, "What waste of light? All my strength is a gift from the Father, I naturally should wholeheartedly return it to the Father. In the future, you will not prepare offerings for the Father, this is my job."
The maid saw his cold look, knew that he was angry, and had to retreat to the corner in panic.
Zhou Yun Sheng experienced so many reincarnations, cooking such an insignificant thing didn't need mentioning. He loved to eat, and his taste was very picky, so he'd honed extraordinary cooking skills.
He was not idle while the dough rose, he picked a few fruit and beans, pounded and squeezed out their juices, and because he found the white dough a little monotonous he used some of the fruit juices to dye it yellow, red, purple and other colors.
He was skillful and graceful, as if he had done it thousands of times, the two maids could only look on foolishly.
The dough rose, and he stuffed them with fillings and pinched them into a variety of shapes- flowers, birds, fish, all sorts of small animals, each one that was neatly stacked on the tray looked very cute.
He pinched the dough, leaving only one portion of white dough. He looked at it for a moment, then after unknown thoughts, his cheeks actually flushed. He took the dough into his hand, carefully kneaded it, kneeled on the ground in prayer, then got up and placed it in the center of the tray.
The two maids' expressions had changed from dumbfounded to admiring, and now speechless. They could see that the priest's attachment to the God of Light had gone beyond the point of obsession.
In the Ninth Heaven above, the God of Light was staring at the busy at work boy, his mouth tilted in a profound smile. Looking at the boy personally preparing his offerings, his cold heart had become as soft as the dough, and some sweetness overflowed.
Zhou Yun Sheng washed his hands and carried the tray to the steamer. In the steaming process, he went to the garden to pick flowers for the Father.
According to legend, the beautiful white rose was the God of Light's most favorite flower, in flower language it meant – respect, nobility, and purity, it was a really good match with the Father. Zhou Yun Sheng smiled cheerfully and tiptoed to reach up and pick the most beautiful one.
"Your eminence, the roses have thorns, you should use scissors."
Unfortunately, the maid's reminder was too late, Zhou Yun Sheng frowned and recovered his stinging finger, a drop of bright red blood slowly beaded and overflowed, it looked very eye-catching on his white skin.
The two maids came forward to help him bandage it.
"It's just a small injury, no harm done." He shook his head and sucked on his injured fingertip, he looked at it again and the blood drop had disappeared.
The maids felt lingering fear, they immediately handed him scissors and told him not to touch the thorns. Light priests were the most important property of the Kingdom, even if only a drop of blood was shed, they couldn't afford for the Bishop to find out.
In the Ninth Heaven above, the Light God's slight smile straightened out, when the young boy carried the flower basket out of the garden, he lifted his finger and a black light beam entered through the water mirror and fell on the wall of pink, white, red, and yellow fragrant roses.
In the blink of an eye, the blooming flowers withered, the green leaves withered, until only the stems remained, and even those eventually become black dust that sprinkled to the ground.
A passing attendant saw this scene, their eyes filled with horror, and they immediately ran toward the Bishop's chamber.
At the same time, Zhou Yun Sheng placed the carefully prepared offerings one by one on the altar. He picked up a small man shaped pastry, blushed in shyness, then placed it in front of all the other pastries.
"Father, please do not despise these simple offerings. I want to give all of my dedication to you, but my body is too insignificant, too lowly, how could I qualify for your mercy. If you can hear my prayer, just give me a glimpse of the Ninth Heaven, and I'll be satisfied." He knelt before the statue, his hands together in obeisance, and his shyness was replaced by bitterness.
There were so many creatures in the world that needed salvation, how could the Father notice him? The Father returning his love was just an impossible desire.
Thinking of this, he frowned, wanting to cry, he crawled to the Light God's statue and clung to the Father's ankle, looking very melancholy.
The Light God rubbed his eyebrows, he didn't know how to get his Little Believer to realize his blessings. He was so charming and cute, but also very sensitive and fragile, he thought of himself as lowly, causing the Light God to feel both amused and infuriated. Does he think that every light priest can receive a gift from the God of Light after prayer?
The Pope, the man who governed all the light priests and temples, only received a glimmer of light after thirty years of devotion. As for his Little Believer, if he wasn't afraid that his huge divine power would break his body, he would eagerly pour all his love and light into him.
How can he think that his Father doesn't love him?
The Light God was very upset, he stretched out his fingertips and gently pointed to the spot between the Little Believer's eyebrows, and a ray of tender golden light crossed through the mirror.
Zhou Yun Sheng moaned from the divine power. His frowning brow relaxed, his pale cheeks grew rosy, and his mood turned joyful, he kissed the Father's feet with a tranquil smile. When he finally woke up from the feeling of being loved, he found that the offerings on the altar were all gone.
He was so shocked that he immediately ran out and asked the two maids where they went.
In the Ninth Heaven above, the Light God watched him hurriedly run back and forth with a helpless smile, then he held up the small man shaped pastry for scrutiny. The pastry had not yet cooled, a strand of white mist floated in the air, bringing out the unique fragrance of buckwheat. Even without tasting, the God of Light could already imagine how sweet it was.
The little person was vividly shaped, because of the heat it had expanded a little, but it made the image of the boy look very round and lovely. The Light God gazed at it for a long time, gently turning it, an electric current seemed to pass through his heart, giving him an itchy and soft feeling.
After observing for more than 10 minutes, he brought the little face to his lips, kissing it cautiously and gently, then he looked at the god standing to the side and asked, "Isn't he cute?"
Using 'he' rather than 'it', the god immediately understood that the small man shaped pastry was probably shaped in the image of the mortal the Father had been peeping at recently. Plus, the tone the Father used held a little pride and pleasure, like how those nobles in the lower plains loved to showed off their treasures.
This was not an ordinary interest, but sentimental attachment. The god's heart trembled in fear and he quickly answered with a smile, "Very cute. I have never seen such a lovely boy. I'm afraid that none of the servants in the temple can be compared with him."
The Light God's curved up mouth straightened into a harsh line, and dark gold filled his eyes.
The god immediately knelt down to beg forgiveness, and tried to think of what he'd said wrong.
"How could those humble servants compare with my beloved child?" He took the small man shaped pastry and left, waving his sleeves, casually placing a ban on the god, forbidding speech.
The god felt no resentment in his heart, just relief. The gods who had annoyed the Light God in the past were burnt to ashes, so he was extremely fortunate to be able to keep his life. It seemed that the Father's love for that priest in the lower realms had gone beyond his imagination. He couldn't imagine how beautiful and elegant the man must be.
If this love continued, he was afraid that the Father would give the boy the godheads he'd plundered from the other gods. Those godheads were treasures that every god, and even the god servants, dreamt about.