The Path to Sainthood from Fairy Tail

Duke Paler straightened up, crossed his arms, and said casually, "You are my friend, so there is no need to address me by my title. To be honest, if possible, I really don't want to take on this difficult task."

He shook his head helplessly.

Then he began to introduce himself: "By the way, my name is Jerde Paler, you can just call me Jerde."

Li Xuan did not refuse and sat directly opposite Jerde and said, "It seems that Jerde, you seem to like a free and easy life more."

Gerd did not show any displeasure at Li Xuan's impolite behavior of calling him by his name. Instead, a look of appreciation appeared on his face.

He was a little surprised and said, "You are very different from others. Even after they heard what I said, they still remained in awe of me. But you acted like you were really talking to an ordinary friend."

Li Xuan asked curiously, "Why, do you mean you were testing me just now?"

Gerd waved his hand and said, "No, I think you may have misunderstood. Although I am not a saint, my words are of course counted. Otherwise, a person without integrity would not be able to sit in such a high position."

"Wang!"

As the two were chatting, they were interrupted by the barking of a large dog.

Then, a golden figure came from afar, ran quickly to Gerald's feet, and then lay down directly, looking very docile.

But the wildly swinging tail of the animal has clearly revealed its inner thoughts.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "This is..."

Jerde reached out and touched it, explaining, "It's called Anan. It was the last birthday present my father gave me. We grew up together."

The big golden retriever really enjoyed Gerd's caress, and its head responded to Gerd's caressing hand. The two of them actually achieved a harmonious unity between man and animal at this moment.

After stroking it, Jerde gave Li Xuan an apologetic smile and said, "There's nothing I can do about it. It's always so clingy. Don't mind it. Just tell me if you have anything to say."

Li Xuan sighed: "It seems that you are also a dog lover."

"I'll be frank. After observing for some time, I've discovered that the Duchy and the Kingdom of Golden Rooster are incompatible, and conflicts seem to have begun to arise between the two..."

Jerde asked, "Do you want to persuade them to surrender?"

Li Xuan waved his hand and said, "Oh, you misunderstood. I have no connection with the coalition forces or the Golden Rooster Kingdom, so there is no such thing as persuading them to surrender. Besides, it would be a shame if the territory you have worked so hard to build were destroyed like this."

Gerd asked, "What exactly do you want to do?"

Li Xuan stood up, bowed slightly, and said, "I introduce myself. I am the Pope of the Holy Church, my name is Li Xuan. I am currently looking for knowledgeable people who can join the Holy Church."

As soon as Jerde heard the name, he realized the problem, "Cult?"

Li Xuan shook his head and corrected him, "It's the Holy Religion! Our philosophy is to do good deeds, accumulate merit, and then receive feedback, so that you can live a life without worries."

Jerde asked, "Isn't this a cult? If donating money and doing good deeds really can accumulate blessings, why are there so many people suffering in the world? Have they never done any good deeds?"

Li Xuan knew very well that Gerd did not understand the true teachings of the Holy Church at the moment, and understood the Holy Church from the perspective of a cult, which led to such a misunderstanding.

He didn't talk back, but spoke directly with facts.

"Next, I will demonstrate some miracles. Please don't be afraid."

As soon as Li Xuan finished speaking, the guards guarding the door suddenly moved. Their hands were on the hilts of their swords, as if they would draw their swords at any time.

Li Xuan looked at Jerde helplessly.

Jerde looked at Anan lying on the ground and stretched out his hand, saying, "Don't be nervous. My friend has no ill intentions. Don't attack him."

After receiving the order, the guards put away their guard and returned to their positions.

Li Xuan smiled and said, "Thank you for your understanding."

As he spoke, the Wheel of Merit appeared behind him again. Warm golden light passed through the wall and radiated to most parts of the Duke's Mansion with Li Xuan as the radius.

Jerde stretched out his hand and felt it carefully. He could clearly feel that the fatigue accumulated from staying up late for so many nights was swept away, and his whole body felt much more relaxed.

Even Anan on the ground showed an expression of enjoyment.

Li Xuan only showed it slightly and quickly retracted it.

He explained, "What I just displayed is the Wheel of Merit, condensed from accumulated virtue. With it, I am invulnerable to all attacks. Anyone harboring evil thoughts towards me will inevitably suffer the consequences of my accumulated virtue."

"These should prove that our Holy Church is not the evil cult you think it is, right?"

Gerd had to admit that this move really shocked him.

I originally thought it was a wealthy cult, and I thought there would be a chance to wipe it out and plunder some of its wealth.

Looking back now, this idea seemed a bit naive.

Jerde pondered, "How does your Holy Church compare to the Church of the God of Battle?"

Li Xuan said confidently: "Of course there are differences between the main gods. At least the fact that the Holy Church can appear here already explains a lot of problems."

What this means is that even the God of Battle cannot stop them from preaching, or in other words, the gods behind the Holy Church can compete with the God of War.

After witnessing the miracle, Gerd naturally believed in the identity of Pope Li Xuan.

Although his temperament does not seem to be that of a superior, this does not affect the miracle he just displayed.

"So, you want to preach on my territory?"

Li Xuan smiled and said, "No, I think you have great potential and would like to invite you to join the Holy Church!"

Gerd also laughed. "What a great idea! If I join the Holy Church, the people of my territory will naturally join as well. This way, your Holy Church can easily gain followers from a duchy. What a great idea!"

Li Xuan: "Actually, this is something that benefits everyone. We in the Holy Church do not force believers to do anything. As long as you can do good things, you will naturally be blessed by merit. These people believe that good people will be rewarded, and merit will naturally respond to them."

Jerde said coldly, "But there are many good people in this world. Are they really blessed by their merits?"

Li Xuan said with a sad expression, "That's because I haven't come yet. But now that I'm here, everything should naturally return to normal. Good people shouldn't suffer undue hardships."

Gerd could still accept this statement. He changed the question: "You said you came from a distant country in the East. Since you are from there, the people there should live a happy life, right?"

"The people there live a happy life, free from arduous labor and quarrelsome, and even though they are tens of thousands of miles apart, they can communicate with each other without any obstacles. All ethnic groups are united and without distinction. This is what we call the Great Harmony of the World!"

Li Xuan described the situation of the mysterious oriental country as if he knew it in detail.

But Jerde caught the blind spot: "You mean, this distant country doesn't require labor? Then what about their crops? Can they grow from the soil on their own?"

"The effect of merit shouldn't be to make people feel less hungry, right?"