Chapter 1079 - 161: Ascetic Saint Dante and the Bountiful Harvest of Extraordinary Spiritual Plants

Chapter 1079: Chapter 161: Ascetic Saint Dante and the Bountiful Harvest of Extraordinary Spiritual Plants

Although the appearance of Nagash’s Divine Chosen and Chaos Warband is a major event, given the current strength of the territory, most of today’s intelligence does not require Su Li to handle personally. Not just this holy oracle of Shalya, but also the relic at Griffin Cliff, the presence of Natural Spirits, threats from Night Wanderer Corpses, and so on.

Basically, Su Li just needs to arrange this intelligence, it’s overall not more than a matter of three sentences.

Yet two matters indeed require Su Li’s personal attention: one is the visit of the Fiery Sun Saint, the other is the trace of Ethereum Gold.

He leaned back comfortably, sinking deeper into Suna’s plump and soft embrace, then asked, "Have you heard of the Sun Goddess Church and the deeds of Ascetic Saint Dante Slock?"

The reason Su Li didn’t directly ask Hilude is because Hilude certainly has heard about it. This divine chosen of the goddess is very fond of reading books, proficient in various church scriptures, basically knowing well the deeds of the divine chosen of the Sun Goddess Church.

This instead loses its reference value, leaving Su Li unable to deeply understand how famous this Ascetic Saint Dante is.

Suna was lazily combing Su Li’s hair with her fingertips. Upon hearing this, her action slightly paused, her plump red lips curled into a knowing smile, and her water-sparkling eyes blinked: "Cousin, are you testing me on the teachings, or do you really want to hear this foolish woman’s chat?"

Her voice carried a hint of coquettish huskiness, then she got serious, "But speaking of this Lord Dante Slock... in the Empire, especially in lands that worship the Fiery Sun Goddess, his stories are like ballads by the campfire, even in the most remote villages people sing them. He’s not the kind of hazy shadow that exists only in holy scriptures, rather... a living priest chosen by the deity."

"Dante Slough... his life is a Fiery Sun teaching written with flesh, iron, and fire. He’s not a messenger sent down by the deities, more like a piece of mortal iron repeatedly hammered by the darkness of chaos, yet tempered into steel in the furnace of faith."

"He was born in the northern empire ’Anvil Fort’ — certainly not a good place." Suna’s fingertip unconsciously traced cold lines on Su Li’s shoulder, "Adjacent to the Cursed Wasteland, for half a year locked by ice and snow and evil winds from the Chaos Wasteland. His father was the best blacksmith in the fortress, his mother died in a chill epidemic during his birth. The shadow of chaos has never been far from that fortress. When he was ten, a ’celebration raider’ group comprised of Northern Barbarian Race and Sado followers attacked the outer mining village, his father led militia resistance but was split through the chest by a toxic thrusting sword. His sister was abducted, leaving no trace. Little Dante and the remaining villagers hid in cold cellars, hearing outside screams and corrupt laughter, smelling the sweet and foul stench of corrosion and blood in the wind... That despair was etched into his bones."

"He was saved and adopted by a passerby Sun Goddess Church priest. Priest Violet noted the cold hard light in his eyes not entirely extinguished by despair. Dante did not choose to study scriptures in the safety of the Divine Academy, but chose the path of a roaming cultivator, and made a ’ascetic vow’ — he regarded himself as a piece of iron, to be forged by the will of the Fiery Sun into a strong shield and sharp sword to guard against the endless hardships of chaos."

"His asceticism is a weapon against chaos, not a show." Suna’s voice carried admiration, "Walking barefoot, his feet covered in calluses and frostbite, not to display pain, but to feel the pulse of the earth, identify ’taints’ left by chaos corruption. He carried a heavy iron anvil — his father’s relic, symbolizing his responsibility to the deceased family and determination to forge a world of order. The cold iron chains around his waist, ending in heavy iron balls, each step dragging, reminding him of the world’s weight and the power of chaos dragging souls. He accepted the sparse food from believers, but more often subsisted on moss, clean snow water, and resilient roots, proving that spiritual strength can surpass physical scarcity."

"His legend is written with blood and wisdom." Suna continued, eyes shimmering with admiration for the Saint’s wisdom:

"In the Black Water Town purification event, Black Water Town was suspected of having Jianqi sect infiltration, people were panicked, suspicious of each other. The townsfolk became paranoid and cruel in fear. Dante Slock entered alone. He did not preach in the square but observed silently, visited the poorest and marginalized people. He keenly detected hidden patterns behind seemingly unrelated mysterious deaths and theft cases, aligned with Treachery’s numerical secret rituals. In a public debate, faced with a Treachery wizard disguised as a distinguished scholar, Dante did not use flowery words, but used rigorous logic, testimony details collected from townsfolk, and a profound understanding of the dark side of Jianqi teachings to dismantle the opponent’s lies step by step, forcing the wizard to expose his twisted true form in rage. Finally, the townsfolk, in anger and fear, shredded the exposed cultists with hoes and pitchforks. Dante ignited the polluted assembly hall, purified the desecrated well source with Fiery Sun prayers.

"During the Stone Peak Pass holdout, Beastman Warband ’Shattered Bone Kid’ blocked the Stone Peak Pass, the Imperial Army suffered heavy losses in the assault. Dante Slock joined the pass defenses. Using his shallow understanding of Northern Beastman Tribe’s customs, he discovered internal discord among the Beastmen, several small leaders disobeyed the big Warboss Grumba Shattered Teeth. He did not directly incite, but during a Beastman night raid, using his familiarity with the pass terrain, guided an elite squad to raid Grumba Shattered Teeth’s most capable yet most envied deputy’s camp, creating the illusion the deputy was ’taken down by a sneaky ambush.’ Meanwhile, he crudely forged, using simple paint and beast skin, a ’plan book’ pointing another Beastman leader as ’traitor,’ deliberately letting Beastmen find it. As a result, a bloody internal fight erupted among the Beastmen, Grumba Shattered Teeth was cut down in the chaos. Dante Slock seized the moment, led the defenders in a countercharge, coordinated with Imperial reinforcements, defeating the leaderless Beastmen. With unparalleled courage (leading from the front line), precise grasp of battle opportunities, and profound insight and exploitation of the enemy’s weaknesses, he demonstrated to the world the superiority of the Sun Goddess teachings."