Count Karlo observed An Su for several days, feeling both satisfied and quite unsatisfied.
His emotions were complex.
What satisfied him was that An Su finally started staying out all night, returning home only after carousing with the maids until the early hours. With such behavior, Count Karlo felt that the day he'd be holding his grandchildren was not far off.
Count Karlo even took care to inquire about the situation from Enya, asking what the lad was up to every evening. The answer he got was:
'It's the naughty things that Master An Su told me not to talk about.'
With this, Count Karlo felt reassured, understanding most of the situation, and a satisfied smile spread across his face.
However, what made him quite unsatisfied was that as soon as the boy returned home, he would take a bath and then start studying. Despite the nightly frivolities, his efficiency and speed at solving problems had actually increased.
Was this lad's energy limitless?
Even after coming home from his nightly escapades, his complexion grew even better, his face more radiant, and his body even stronger—common sense dictated that it was usually women who grew more spirited and radiant with such activities, right?
How come it seemed to be the other way around with his son... Could it be that this lad was born with exceptional gifts?
It really was baffling...
Were it not for the sake of pride, he would have even liked to ask his own son for some advice.
Past middle age, many things had started to become challenging.
As these thoughts crossed Count Karlo's mind, he put down the newspaper in his hands and glanced at his son, who was dining at the table.
An Su was enjoying a serving of caviar. He gently scooped a spoonful and evenly spread it over freshly baked cranberry bread.
Sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting a slanted glow on An Su's figure, with his pure white shirt revealing his smooth skin and the faint outline of his muscles.
Despite not coming home the previous night, An Su appeared quite energetic.
Over these days, he had gradually gotten used to the painful blessings of the Mother Goddess.
Although it hurt, it was invigorating, so he experienced pain and pleasure simultaneously—when it hurt, it really was revitalizing.
However, during these past sacrifices, he did not see the sea of blood hallucinations like the last time.
This was quite strange.
In just one week, An Su had wiped out three Cultist hideouts.
He had sacrificed a total of forty first-tier Cultists and two second-tier Priests. With the experience bonus from the "Newborn" title, he had gained a total of twenty life points.
In terms of achievement, he truly was a pioneer in the fight against evil.
He spent ten points to acquire the "Gift of the Mother Goddess" he had been longing for and used magic to remove the words 'Mother Goddess' from the title, investing the remaining ten life points to strengthen his body.
His whole being felt improved.
No more back pains, no more sore legs, and no more getting out of breath when walking.
He was truly radiant with health.
An Su felt that if he continued to extravagantly invest life points like this, he might eventually cultivate a warrior's talents.
He also discovered an added benefit: not only did his physical condition improve, but his memory and reflexes enhanced as well.
This was especially apparent when he was studying; knowledge that would normally take a week to master could now be memorized in a day.
With the Church's written exam next week, An Su initially aimed for just passing, but now he felt he could make a push for top grades.
Reading by day, sacrificing by night, he was the study ace of the new era of the Light and Dark Priesthood School.
The dark magic "God's Gift," when combined with the previously obtained Holy Light Magic "Growth of All Things," allowed for summoning a void creature from the enemy's stomach, which would survive for a minute on the battlefield—this was An Su's first trump card.
But this combination couldn't be used lightly, first because it was highly damaging, and second because it consumed too much mana. Therefore, he needed to prepare some magic books for regular use.
On the Church's side, the rewards he received were not insignificant.
Forty first-tier and two second-tier Cultists equated to half a month's performance of a small team of saints.
In total, that was fifteen faith points, plus the five he had accumulated the previous days, summing up to twenty points, which could increase his mana by two.
That would make it six mana points.
Two uses of Growth of All Things consuming four mana points and one of God's Gift consuming two, for a perfect total of six points.
He had just reached the threshold necessary for casting.
But for An Su, six magic points were far from enough to wield the power of the Light and Dark Priesthood School.
It would be safe only once he became a second-tier Mage.
The minimum requirement for that was ten magic points.
Moreover, he still had to collect several important magic books from the Mother Goddess.
With these preparations, he could confidently pass all the tests of the Church in a week.
So, as of now, the quantity and quality of the sacrifices of the Cultists were still insufficient.
He had to double his efforts.
To level up faster and better.
Waiting for the Cultists to kidnap him was way too slow, and utterly inefficient.
It also lacked Huaxia players' crucial initiative.
Meanwhile, perhaps the nearby Cultists were alerted by rumors or noticed that those who kidnapped An Su were mysteriously meeting their demise, and they began to watch and wait.
The Cultists weren't fools; they were beginning to suspect that An Su was fishing.
In the past three days, only an idiot had attempted to kidnap him.
If the fish won't nibble at the bait, he will have to go to them.
The Blood Moon was approaching, and it was time to enter phase two of the plan.
Blood Moon Day, which is also the birth of the Mother Goddess, boosts the efficacy of sacrifices by thirty percent and lasts three days.
Therefore, many Cultists concentrate their sacrifices during the Blood Moon. An Su had not struck out because he was waiting for the Blood Moon to arrive.
An Su planned to sacrifice Cultists more efficiently, with more industrialization, systematization, and assembly-line methods.
Compared to the traditional Church witch-hunters, An Su had the informational advantage of the new industry and could utilize the advanced thinking of a new-era transmigrator, a spirit of enterprise missing from the Church.
Simply put, give him a map, and he would be able to identify all the Cultists' lairs around the border city. After all, he was a top-tier player on his seventeenth cycle in his past life, and spawn locations of newbie village monsters were etched in his memory.
Knowing these spawn locations is a fundamental skill for speedrunners.
And that was An Su's greatest advantage.
For a typical Church witch-hunt, identifying a Cultist stronghold often took more manpower, resources, and time than the actual hunt itself, simply because Cultists were so good at hiding.
With his plan in mind, An Su quickly finished his bread, wiped his mouth with a napkin, stood up, took his coat from Enya, and said to his father, "I'm off now."
He was about to rush out the door.
Count Karlo's gaze lingered on An Su with a complex expression, then shifted to Enya, his thoughts indecisive. He opened his mouth, then closed it, appearing hesitant for quite some time before slowly saying,
"Take care of your health, young man. You still need to exercise restraint..."
An Su couldn't fathom what the old man was talking about.
It was utterly baffling to him.
Restraint...
Restraint on what?
What need was there for restraint in leveling up?
He glanced at Enya unconsciously, suspecting that the maid had fed his father some nonsensical talk.
But the maid turned her face away, her gaze remaining on the parasol tree outside the window. She lightly pursed her lips as if intentionally pretending not to notice An Su's glance.
The warm and transparent sunlight filtered through the thin pleated skirt, untangling in the air with her lead-fine and smooth black hair.
Her exquisite profile reflected on the window glass looked as if it had been carefully outlined by the sunlight itself.
"I'm leaving," An Su gave up pondering and said to her, "It's time to go do my prayers at the Church."