After some time, a man appeared above the city gate. "Heilou City is closed."
One of the guards with Lou Xi stepped forward. "Open the gate. We are the royal guard." He then threw a golden token up to the man.
The man caught the token and inspected it for a moment. "Wait, I will show it to my captain." He then disappeared.
As everyone waited, Lou Xi rode his horse over to Gavin and Sterza. "There will be no inns open in the city under these circumstances. How about both of you stay with us?"
Sterza asked, "Are you sure?"
Lou Xi nodded. "Yes."
She glanced at Gavin, who gave her a nod. Sterza replied, "Then thank you."
Lou Xi nodded again and rode back to the front.
Watching him leave, Gavin said, "The plague is artificial."
Sterza turned to him. "How?" Then, she remembered Gavin's spiritual field. Concern filled her voice. "Can you read the memories of others?"
Gavin answered, "Yes, but 90% of the time, they either turn into idiots or die."
Sterza opened her mouth to speak, but Gavin suddenly interrupted. "Wait."
The altar in his spiritual world shone with golden light, and a message appeared in his mind. As Gavin read it, the city gate finally opened. He rode inside alongside the others.
They waited near the gate for a few minutes before heading toward the inner city, where the plague victims were not allowed. Passing through another gate, they eventually arrived at a mansion gate.
As they entered the mansion, Gavin's focus returned, his expression thoughtful.
Lou Xi approached them as they dismounted. "I shall lead you to your rooms."
The mansion was vast, with multiple houses, ponds, gardens, and rockeries spread throughout.
As they followed him, Lou Xi asked, "Miss Sterza, will both of you need one room or two?"
Gavin could sense Lou Xi holding his breath, waiting for the answer.
Sterza glanced at Gavin before replying, "Two rooms will be fine. If not, we can stay in one room."
Lou Xi quickly said, "There are plenty of rooms here. Two rooms will be fine. I will lead you there."
He brought them to a house with two rooms side by side. "You can choose whichever you like."
Gavin said, "I'll take the left."
Sterza said, "Then I'll take the right."
Lou Xi nodded. "I'll send a servant to prepare bathwater for you."
Seeing them nod in agreement, he added, "I will come to call you for dinner."
Gavin then sent a mental message to Sterza: "Before dinner, do not disturb me."
Without another word, he entered his room, closed the door, sat on a chair, closed his eyes, and entered his spiritual world.
In his thoughts, he entered the altar.
For a brief second, blackness consumed him. Then, as light returned, he saw through the eyes of the second clone—his idol placed at the center of the statue tribe.
However, he could see through the statue's eyes, not because it was his clone but because it was his anchor of faith.
The altar's repair progress had reached 0.01%, granting him two abilities:
1. Observation through idols where his faith was collected.
2. Enlightenment—for every drop of faith power, he could enter enlightenment for 10 seconds.
1000 believers can produce one drop of faith in a month. Repairing the altar from 0.01% to 0.02% requires 1000 drops of faith power.
His consciousness remained in the second clone, and he realized only five hours had passed since their carriage left the settlement.
He connected with his first clone, instructing him to write a letter to Valerie, explaining they were safe. The letter was to be given to Elan, who would send it to Duke Sturdza's house.
After that, he recalled his thoughts to his main body.
"The altar's abilities came at the perfect moment."
The first ability was immediately useful, but the second ability was not.
There were no drops of faith power available yet.
With the tribe's population at 1,500 people, it would take 20 days to generate just one drop of faith power.
"What can I comprehend in just 10 seconds? At least a minute is needed. That means I have to wait three months before using this properly on the main plane."
He started thinking about how to gain more faith power. To do that, he needed to expand his faith—but how?
His spiritual field scanned the entire city, observing the plague victims, corpses discarded in pits, and people dying of hunger.
This was the perfect place to develop believers.
However, simply curing the plague would not be enough.
If he solved the plague instantly, people would be grateful for a day or two—then forget.
But he needed them to worship him for their entire lives.
The real problem with curing the plague was that it was man-made.
Beneath the city, a cave housed a tree that absorbed spirituality from the dead bodies, producing fruits.
His spirit field also discovered the people responsible for the plague. From their conversation, he learned the tree's fruits could be used to increase lifespan.
He glanced at the door as he heard footsteps approaching. From his spiritual field, he could tell it was a maid.
He let her knock before saying, "Come in."
Without looking at her, he added, "Do your work and leave."
The maid bowed and replied, "Yes, sir."
She entered the bathroom, completed her task, and left the room. Moments later, she returned with two servants, each carrying a bucket of water. They placed the buckets in the bathroom, exited the room, and closed the door behind them.
After bathing, he began repairing the internal damage in his body through practice.
A knock on the door pulled him out of his meditation.
Walking over, he opened the door to find Lou Xi and Sterza standing outside.
Gavin said, "It's time for dinner."
Lou Xi nodded, "Yes."
Gavin stepped out, closing the door behind him.
As they made their way to the main house, Lou Xi suddenly asked, "Both of you travel the world, but I didn't see any luggage with you."
Gavin quickly sent a mental message to Sterza:
"Don't mention the space bracelet. Say it was with our horses, but last night, we were attacked by a pack of demon wolves while we weren't paying attention. The horses got frightened, ran away, and fell into the Xisu River, taking our luggage with them."
Sterza nodded and simply said, "Demon wolves attacked last night. Luggage swept away."
Lou Xi looked at her with concern. "Are you okay?"
Sterza replied, "They weren't that strong."
Gavin followed behind, assisting Sterza in deflecting Lou Xi's probing about their identity.
When he entered the dining room, a large table was already set with five people seated and three empty seats—two on the left and one on the right.
Gavin and Sterza took the two empty seats on the left.
After introductions, a girl named Ruan Meng asked, "Where did you come from? You two look different from people in the ten kingdoms."
Gavin calmly replied, "The isles up north."
Ruan Meng nodded, satisfied with the answer.
They ate in silence, and once the meal was over, the three girls separated from the group while Gavin was led by four men to a pavilion by the lake.
As they drank, Gavin acted slightly drunk.
One of the men, Fang Ping, leaned forward and asked, "You said you're a doctor. I have a problem—I'm trying to create a cold medicine using these ingredients and this method, but it keeps failing."
Gavin responded, "Your ingredients are correct, but your steps are wrong. Follow this process instead..."
Before even entering the city, Gavin had scanned all the books within it using his spiritual field. At this moment, he was the most knowledgeable person in the city.
For an hour, they questioned him indirectly, probing whether he was truly a doctor, if he held hostility toward the princess, and trying to uncover his background.
Gavin answered everything but never revealed anything about himself. He also discreetly helped Sterza handle the women's inquiries.
After that, they all returned to their rooms.
Inside his room, Gavin dropped the act, sat on his bed, and resumed his practice.