During the entire delivery process. Although Father Van der Heim had not used any [redacted], the mere fact that he could disregard the invisibility spell of the Clone suggested that this Father was extraordinary.

"Me?" Father Van der Heim turned and walked into the church, closing the door behind him. "My name is Hayden Van der Heim?"

Hayden! Saint Hayden!

Hearing the name, the Clone felt it was both unexpected and entirely logical. He nodded and sighed, "So you are Saint Hayden! The leader of the Holy Light Knights for the previous two generations."

Saint Hayden had become a Paladin a century ago. After falling out with the Vatican over the methods of missionary work in the asteroid belt, Saint Hayden threatened to secede the Holy Light Knights from the Vatican, forcing the Church to yield. After the matter settled, he cultivated Saint Bormann as his successor and then vanished.

And this Saint Bormann was the master of Saint Radis, the current leader of the Holy Light Knights.

"The Holy Light Knights. Heh, I haven't heard that name in many years," Father Van der Heim chuckled, then asked, "Didn't you already know I was here before coming to find me?"

"No," the Clone shook his head. "I was at Mrs. Broven's cottage in the north. After explaining the entire situation," he continued, "I came here."

By this time, the two had arrived back in the room where the delivery had taken place. It had been tidied up and largely restored to its original state. Father Van der Heim brought over another chair, and they sat opposite each other at the table. However, the only refreshment offered to the Clone was plain boiled water. Father Van der Heim clearly lived a life akin to a hermit monk in this small chapel.

"I see. You are a traveling guest? In Eastern terms, this is fate itself. Did you follow Mrs. Broven here with the intention of offering aid in a time of crisis?" Father Van der Heim said with a smile.

"Yes," the Clone nodded. He had indeed come with that thought. Mrs. Broven's dramatic change in appearance, that sight of life surging back, had deeply moved him. Seeing her about to give birth, the Clone followed without a second thought, unable to rest easy until he saw Mrs. Broven safe.

"Very good." Father Van der Heim's intuition was incredibly sharp. He could sense the Clone was not lying and immediately felt a sense of goodwill, his expression becoming even kinder.

A look of recollection crossed his face. "I didn't expect the head of the Broven family had already sacrificed. That child and his father—I watched them both grow up. His father died twenty-eight years ago in the war against the Ancient Legion. Now, even the son is gone, leaving behind a widow and an orphan. I wonder if this chain will reach the grandson. No wonder Mrs. Broven’s expression during the delivery carried such a deeply hidden sorrow; so that’s why. Poor child."

"Even the baby's grandfather was someone you watched grow up?" The Clone was quite surprised, but then he realized it was only because he was not yet accustomed to the long lifespan of masters-level experts.

At the same time, he sighed for the Broven family's fate: the grandfather died on the battlefield, the father sought revenge and also died on the battlefield. Although the little boy didn't know it yet, it seemed he harbored intentions of going to war as well.

"Mrs. Broven truly has a difficult time," the Clone sighed.

"Mrs. Broven is a strong woman. Didn't you witness the birth of new life? That gives strength, and the courage to overcome all difficulties. Mrs. Broven will get through this, and she will raise those two children well. We don't need to worry for her."

Father Van der Heim spoke with great seriousness. He pointed at the Clone. "As for you, being a traveler yet achieving this level, that is rare. Even in the Psionic Temple, there are only about five hundred quasi-masters. Traveling the world now, are you perhaps searching for an opportunity to break through?"

The Clone nodded. This was a rare chance to meet a grand master. After a hundred years, Saint Hayden, who was already a Paladin, what realm had he reached now?

"The saying goes, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. It is right to get out and see the world. Cultivating in isolation always leads to various problems," Father Van der Heim said approvingly.

Seeing that Father Van der Heim was so approachable, the Clone pondered for a moment and asked, "Father, may I impose upon you here for a while? I have some questions I hope to ask you."

Father Van der Heim thought for a moment and replied, "You may. But for these days, you must listen to me, and in exchange, you must not reveal my whereabouts after you leave."

"Agreed," the Clone nodded.

For the next few days, the Clone became a temporary resident of the chapel. Every morning, he would clean the church. Since Father Van der Heim lived ascetically within the church, there were virtually no modern conveniences, so cleaning had to be done manually. People in the small town often saw the Clone moving back and forth through the chapel with a rag or a mop—primitive cleaning tools. Over time, they grew accustomed to it.

The daily meals were bread and clear water, or water and bread—always the same unchanging fare. While Awakened individuals could subsist without food or drink, the Clone chose to eat, if only to experience life. Father Van der Heim did not demand the Clone believe in the Emperor or mandate prayers before meals.

After two days, it was Sunday, and the townspeople flocked to the chapel for prayer. Father Van der Heim officiated at the pulpit, and the Clone watched from below.

Father Van der Heim's voice was clear and sincere. The wooden pews in the first few rows were completely full. The piety visible on the faces of the townspeople was undeniable. For a moment, the sacred atmosphere inside the small church reached its zenith.

Throughout the entire service, Father Van der Heim did not use a single trace of Holy Light power. Furthermore, the Clone had never once seen him use the Holy Light power. If his invisibility hadn't been seen through, the Clone might have thought Father Van der Heim of the small town was just an ordinary old man.

In this simple, uneventful life, the Clone and Father Van der Heim grew somewhat familiar, and their conversations gradually deepened.

Father Van der Heim never inquired about the Clone’s specific identity, the Clone didn't know why, but the Clone was happy not to volunteer the information, avoiding speaking too much in front of a Paladin.

One day, a question suddenly occurred to the Clone. He had once obtained a sword engraved with a character and found a white point of light within it, which contained a massive amount of knowledge about the Holy Light. Therefore, he had a considerable understanding of the Holy Light.

As far as he knew, the cultivation of the Holy Light path did not include a quasi-master realm. Because high-level Knights, upon reaching their peak, could directly advance to the Paladin realm through a ritual of uniting with the Holy Light, experiencing almost no bottlenecks. This was because the Holy Light influenced the practitioner's mind, drawing the cultivator toward the Way of the Holy Light.

"Father, please forgive my rudeness. I have a superficial understanding of the Holy Light, and I have some questions I hope to ask," the Clone found Father Van der Heim, wanting to clarify.

"Speak your mind. I no longer serve the Church anyway. Having lived this long, I've seen what needs seeing and done what needed doing. Now I am just the priest of a small town. Even if your questions are outrageous, I won't draw my sword against you," Father Van der Heim said jokingly.

"In my view, cultivating the Way of the Holy Light seems like building in a closed room. By merging one's own soul with the Holy Light, one modifies their thoughts with it, requiring only alignment with the Holy Light, rather than sublimation through experience and wisdom. It's as if they just do whatever the Holy Light commands, lacking any personal conviction." The Clone wasn't sure how to continue.

"This question was raised by the masters of the Psionic Temple to the Holy Light Knights long ago," Father Van der Heim shook his head, pointing at the Clone. "You lack faith, so you cannot understand. Becoming the Incarnation of the Holy Light is what every single member of the Holy Light Knights strives for. Every Knight hopes to merge with the Holy Light and become its living manifestation."

"Is sacrificing one's own judgment acceptable?" the Clone stressed.

"The Holy Light represents virtue. The Eight Virtues of the Knight—Humility, Honor, Valor, Sacrifice, Compassion, Spirituality, Honesty, Justice—all converge to become the Holy Light. That sounds rather dry. Let me give an example: similar to the Eastern concept of the Gentleman’s Way (Junzi Zhi Dao), is there a unified standard for becoming a Junzi? If there were, wouldn't it require all Junzi to abandon their own judgment and become identical people? If there isn't one, then everyone’s opinion is valid until no opinion is truly valid in the end."

Father Van der Heim spoke earnestly. "Becoming the Incarnation of the Holy Light is much like the cultivation of a Junzi. The virtues of the Holy Light are what the Knights pursue. The Knight purges all elements within their soul that are incompatible with the Holy Light, thereby achieving true purity and perfection. In doing so, the Knight fulfills their aspiration, and the world gains another virtuous person. Is this not a good thing for both the Knight and the world?"

The Clone thought for a moment, then asked, "But the virtues represented by the Holy Light have a strong exclusivity. Wouldn't this make them overly conservative, losing the potential for further progress?"

"Are you not currently rejecting the Holy Light?" Father Van der Heim saw through the Clone's thoughts in an instant. "Exclusivity is a universal human trait. Humans exist as individuals; strengthening oneself and rejecting the 'heretical ways' are innate tendencies. The Holy Light is simply more thorough in this regard. The reason is that our God is particularly intolerant of heresy. The Holy Light is an ultimate truth passed down by God, a requirement from God to humanity, and thus it inherits this characteristic. This is Spirituality, one of the Eight Virtues!"

"Is there really a God?" the Clone murmured.

"There truly is a God," Father Van der Heim affirmed with extreme certainty.

The Clone ceased arguing. The principles the Father spoke of seemed correct, but they were not what he preferred. He had to admit one thing the Father said was true: he was indeed rejecting the Holy Light. Now, it seemed that right or wrong wasn't the main issue; it was simply his subjective dislike, and only then did he search for reasons to reject it. Objectively, it was rather unreasonable.

"However, not liking something is just not liking it; subjective feelings don't stem from logic. Today, I suppose I've gotten a slightly clearer view of myself. But then I heard another astonishing piece of news: God."