Although Old Master had cheated a bit in becoming a Zealot—since he believed in his own grandson Ling Xiao—a Zealot was still a Zealot, which was always far better than believers of lower faith tiers.
The next step after a Zealot was a Saintly Believer. To become a Saintly Believer, a Zealot had to constantly temper their soul through faith, thereby causing their soul to undergo a qualitative transformation.
Saintly Believers could be called the treasures of deities; any Saintly Believer was worthy of a deity's cherished regard, especially right after ascending to godhood. After all, the Power of Faith provided by a Saintly Believer was immense—if no feedback was given, a single Saintly Believer could yield one drop of Divine Power for a deity in just ten days.
"Lord Envoy, what is the function of the Divine Seed of Light bestowed upon me?" Old Master asked cautiously.
"Ling Shi, you don't need to call me Lord Envoy from now on. Just call me Father Luke. This Divine Seed of Light can grant you soul power and allow you to become a Soul Master," Father Luke explained with a gentle attitude.
"How is that possible? Wasn't it said that to become a Soul Master, one must possess Innate Soul Power?" Old Master said in disbelief.
"That is precisely why it is a miracle—allowing ordinary people without Innate Soul Power to also become Soul Masters," Ling Xiao chimed in quietly from the side.
"Indeed, our Lord's divine might is boundless, so naturally He can accomplish such a feat," Father Luke praised.
"Grandfather, you should absorb this Divine Seed of Light," Ling Xiao said.
"Lord Envoy, what should I do?" Old Master asked with a solemn attitude. If absorbing this could truly allow an ordinary person like him to become a Soul Master, it was definitely an extraordinary treasure. He could not ruin it through his own operational errors, and nobody knew if he would ever have the chance to obtain a second one.
"Ling Shi, you just need to hold it in your hands and devoutly pray to our Lord once," Father Luke said.
Afterward, guided by Father Luke, Old Master began his very first prayer in life. Once Old Master finished praying, the Divine Seed of Light directly vanished. After the Divine Seed of Light disappeared, Old Master felt a surge of light-attributed energy appear within his body, which he figured must be the so-called soul power.
"Father Luke, how should I improve my strength in the future?" Old Master asked.
"As long as you devoutly worship our Lord, our Lord will grant you blessings. However, these blessings are determined by your faith tier and are a fixed daily amount. Moreover, if you successfully preach and develop a believer, our Lord will also grant you blessings. As long as you refine all these blessings, your strength can be enhanced," Father Luke said with a kind smile.
In reality, the proportion of blessings was set by Ling Xiao himself. Because Old Master was his grandfather, Ling Xiao did not plan to collect the Power of Faith generated by him (normally Ling Xiao only returned ten percent of the Power of Faith), but instead intended to process it and return it in full. As for the blessings brought by recruiting believers, Ling Xiao set the bestowal rate at one-thousandth of the Power of Faith generated by those believers. Although the amount looked small on the surface, if enough believers were developed, it would also be a considerable income.
"Oh, that's right. These are the highest soul power levels corresponding to the faith tiers stipulated by our Lord. Take a look for yourself." Having said that, Father Luke duplicated the content that Ling Xiao had just transmitted to him via His Godhood and infused it into Old Master's mind.
Old Master took a look at the highest soul power corresponding to each faith tier: Shallow Believer (Level 29), True Believer (Level 49), Deep Believer (Level 79), Zealot (Level 95), and Saintly Believer (the deity's most favored believer, with the maximum level determined by the grade of the soul).
After looking it over, Old Master asked, "Father Luke, what level can I currently be elevated to?"