Gracing believers with Divine Grace, aiding them in acquiring transcendent powers?

After hearing Lilith's words, Charlotte fell into deep thought.

Indeed, myth could grant mortals extraordinary strength.

Charlotte was no exception.

In fact, even before Charlotte had ignited the Divine Fire, she had already been capable of this feat, specifically through the signing of the Blood Favored Contract via the Blood Holy Scripture, or by utilizing the power of the Holy Scripture Divine Grace Blessing.

In other words, even if Charlotte did not cultivate believers, she could still bestow Divine Grace.

No, more accurately speaking, deities bestowing Divine Grace actually did not require the recipients to be believers at all.

The idea that only believers could receive the gift of Divine Grace was nothing more than a means for deities to strengthen faith and control over transcendent individuals.

This was something Charlotte had gradually realized only after transforming Yulster into one of the Blood Favored, and after igniting the Divine Fire.

Of course, such matters were secrets among deities.

As for mortals, the majority were unaware.

Lilith believed that Charlotte, who did not cultivate believers, could not perform the gifting of Divine Grace, clearly not privy to this secret.

However, the bestowing of Divine Grace by deities also varied.

Generally speaking, there were typically two methods.

The first, and most used by deities, is for the myth to lend its own power directly to the mortal.

This was the least consuming method for the deity, and the quickest way for a mortal to enhance their power.

However, this was also the most "unstable" method of power for the mortal; once the deity retracted their extraordinary strength, the transcendents would lose their power.

Those who received extraordinary strength through this method were, in fact, members of the clergy.

The second, which was not commonly used by mythic beings, was to help mortals undergo Transcendent Awakening, artificially infusing them with transcendent bloodlines and aiding mortals on the path to transcendence.

This method is exactly what Lilith referred to as giving the seed of transcendence.

This method consumed more of a deity's resources, and the transcendents who obtained power this way could engage in "cultivation" themselves; their power no longer came from the deity but from themselves, bearing a resemblance only in the nature of the power to the deity who gifted them the Transcendent Seed.

However, this method too had its flaw; not everyone could endure the "blessing" of a deity, and the ability to receive the seed of transcendence also depended on the recipient's own physical constitution and potential.

And even with the acquisition of the transcendent seed, how far one could go still solely depended on the recipient themselves.

This was very similar to those in later generations who possessed Transcendent Bloodlines.

Charlotte had perused many texts in the Royal Family's library.

Through thorough comparison, she surmised that the bloodlines of most non-clergy transcendents from later generations should originate from this method of acquiring transcendent power.

This is why many Church records describe the source of transcendent power as coming from God.

Of course, nothing is absolute; there are always those uniquely gifted individuals who, even without the blessing of a deity, could awaken transcendent powers on their own.

For instance, Lilith and Haral.

And for the second type of transcendents, those who were either gifted with the Transcendent Seed by a deity or simply awoke the powers on their own, deities could not as easily retract or take away their powers as they could with clergy.

The power of these transcendents was now their own, and deities at most could only exert pressure on their Divine Position and strength.

This was precisely the reason why deities seldom opted to grant mortals extraordinary powers through the Transcendent Seed.

Even when bestowing it, it was often only because the individual was already a believer of the deity.

In this way, through the bond of faith, the deity could benefit from the growth of the transcendent and receive a feedback of extraordinary power.

This is exactly why, when Lilith learned that Charlotte had no intention of proselytizing, she was certain that Charlotte must be incapable of doing so.

Lilith might not have known that the bestowal of Divine Grace does not require faith, but in her mind, she definitely believed that the Gods would not help anyone outside their followers awaken Transcendent powers.

This notion was not entirely incorrect; for the Gods, cultivating Transcendents who are not followers is simply a bad bargain.

It was the same for Charlotte.

Having crossed into this era, she had not even found a steady method to replenish her Divine Power, let alone use it to cultivate Transcendents.

Therefore, in some sense, what Lilith said was not wrong.

However, since Lilith and Haral had both sought her out, after some thought, Charlotte decided to lend her aid.

It could be considered a good deed.

After all, it was very likely that Lilith and Haral were the Blood True Ancestor and the Creator Divine Lord of the afterlife, both of whom possessed significant "investment" value.

Even if Charlotte had misunderstood their identities, and they were not the deities of the afterlife, Charlotte felt that she owed them a certain level of assistance due to their "mentor-student relationship."

It would just mean expending some Divine Power.

Since she had agreed to become their "Savior," she should also do what a "Savior" ought to do.

As for Divine Power... at worst, she would just have to rob the mythical power of other Gods from this era to replenish her own.

This was an era where myths were commonplace; even Mortals might stumble upon a "Fragment of Divinity" and achieve Divine Enthronement, so naturally, it was full of opportunities for Charlotte as well.

Not to mention, aiding the Free City State in cultivating Transcendent power was not a bad thing for her. Even if Divine Power was only going out and not coming in, a strengthened Free City State could become her "eyes" in this era, helping her to collect information and resources.

What if... she really acquired something valuable?

With this thought, Charlotte nodded and said to Lilith and the other,

"Help the city-state awaken Transcendent power? There's no problem with that. Even without spreading faith, I can do it."

As she spoke, she smiled:

"After all... I have already agreed to become the 'Savior' of the Free City State."

...

This was an expansive forest.

Deep within the forest, stood a towering Divine Hall.

The Divine Hall was built of huge stones, exceedingly rugged in style, and within it stood a giant statue with the head of a snake and the body of a human.

Inside the Divine Hall, slender figures wearing Beast Robes were continuously praying towards the Divine Statue, each covered in scales, revealing themselves to be Snake People with the heads of snakes and bodies of humans.

Suddenly, a dark green brilliance flew from afar into the Divine Hall.

An overwhelming suppressive force swept over, and the Snake People immediately fell prostrate to the ground, trembling.

It was not until a blood-red glow lit upon the snake-headed, human-bodied Divine Statue that the terrifying suppressive force enveloping the Snake People was blocked.

Following that, a majestic and profound voice echoed within the Divine Hall:

"We have visitors, you may all leave for now."

Hearing this voice, the prostrate Snake People stood up, respectfully saluted the Divine Statue, and then departed one after another.

The next moment, the eyes of the Divine Statue faintly brightened, the scarlet gaze fixed upon the dark green light:

"Adok, you rascal, what brings you to my Divine Hall?"

"He... has arrived."

The dark green brilliance dissipated, and the God of Hatred and Deformation, Adok, gazed solemnly at the blood-red Divine Statue.