Li De heard a long-absent system notification.
"Ding~ You have transformed the soul of Craig Shadowhunter with Faith Energy. You have obtained ownership of Craig Shadowhunter's soul. Everything of his now belongs to you."
"Ding~ You have successfully cast a Divine Spell - Soul Assimilation. Divine Spell +1. You may now cast this spell directly as a skill."
"Ding~ You have developed a new Divine Spell. The power of the Dawn Order has increased. You have gained 2,000 character experience."
"Ding~ You have used a Divine Spell to subdue the Level 16 wolfman warrior, Craig Shadowhunter, and made him a Temple Warrior of the Dawn Order. You have gained 2,000 character experience."
What??
A Divine Spell???
This was a Divine Spell??
Hearing the system notifications, Li De's expression turned utterly astonished. He never would have thought that this derivative use of Faith Energy, developed under Nilo's inspiration, would be recognized by the system as an actual Divine Spell.
His Divine Spells count had always been zero on his attribute panel. He had tried many methods before but never saw any result.
He had been utterly clueless about the mechanics of Divine Spells, how to acquire them, how to use them. He had never imagined that today, by sheer coincidence, he would actually produce a Divine Spell.
When the east doesn't shine, the west does, indeed.
"But… shouldn't Divine Spells be extremely terrifying high-tier magic?"
Li De looked at the system prompts with some confusion.
In his mind, Divine Spells were absolutely top-tier power.
Stronger than Forbidden Spells, cast one, and you could easily wipe out a city of hundreds of thousands, or annihilate tens of thousands of beastmen in an instant.
Yet now, simply using Faith Energy to assimilate the soul of a Level 16 beastman counted as a Divine Spell?
Puzzled, he opened his Deity Panel.
Dawn Order:
God of Dawn - Li De Kachar (Pseudo-God)
Divine Spells: 1, Soul Assimilation (Consumes 2,000 Faith Energy to convert a non-Dawn Order target into the Dawn Order's most loyal Temple Warrior, granting absolute control over their soul. The Faith Energy cost increases with the target's soul strength.)
Divine Duties: Vampires, Blood
Doctrine: Self-improvement, Perseverance, Unity, Fearless Bravery, Love for Family and Country
Number of Temples: 1
Number of Believers: Zealots: 1, Devout Believers: 487, Believers: 1,883, Casual Believers: 6,105
Faith Energy: 350 points
Available Class Conversion - Dawn Priest (Requires 200 Faith Energy)
Dawn Temple Clergy: Holy Maiden Nilo; Bishop Priest Emi Kachar
Temple Warrior: Craig Shadowhunter
Sure enough, this Divine Spell was no different from the Faith Energy technique he had been exploring, only now the system had formalized it as a proper spell, sparing him the trouble of performing it manually.
Was this Level 16 wolfman really that weak?
Li De looked thoughtfully at the remaining 350 points of Faith Energy.
He hadn't forgotten that both Kap and Witherbone required over ten thousand points of Faith Energy.
It seemed there were only two levels of difference between Kap and Craig, but the Faith Energy required was more than five times greater.
There was only one explanation for this: talent.
Li De shook his head. Even if Kap were only Level 16, he could probably still easily crush a Level 16 Craig.
It was just like with Betty, though she was also Level 16, how long Craig could hold out against Betty, who carried the Northern Royal Bloodline, was an open question.
At the same time, Li De set aside his bias and began to carefully consider this Divine Spell, Soul Assimilation.
After a moment of reflection, he suddenly felt a chill.
Soul Assimilation, at first glance, it didn't look like much, but the more he thought about it, the more terrifying this Divine Spell became.
This Divine Spell was absolutely no less powerful than a Forbidden Spell.
It could forcibly assimilate the souls of other beings, turning them into Temple Warriors of the Dawn Order and granting him absolute control over them.
Such a power was so tyrannical it was frightening. Combined with his Vampire Progenitor talent, the only word to describe it was monstrous.
Li De could already vaguely picture the future scene after every war, all the prisoners would become his subordinates.
But…why did it feel so perfectly suited to his tastes?
Li De rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
From the time when Dawn City had only 200 Bloodline Descendants to its present heights, the Vampire Progenitor talent had played an irreplaceable role.
In every battle, he had toppled the enemy and then relied on this talent to forcibly turn them into his own forces, then led those new forces to crush even stronger enemies.
Dawn City's elite combat team had grown by constantly turning enemies into subordinates, step by step, until it reached this level.
Before this, Li De had always been frustrated that vampires couldn't Embrace other races. For example, Witherbone the necromancer, he clearly commanded an 18th-level Bone Dragon, but Li De could do nothing but look on with envy.
Now that he had figured out the bug-like function of Faith Energy, wouldn't it be the same as if he could?
As he thought about it, Li De felt an uncomfortable tightness in his chest. He was too poor.
His Faith Energy could only accumulate a pitiful amount each month. Just Witherbone and Kap alone would consume nearly a year's worth of future Faith Energy.
If he wanted to use this Divine Spell without restraint, it probably wouldn't be possible for a long time.
At present, he was like someone with a cannon but no gunpowder, he could only sigh about the hardships of life.
Moreover, Dawn Priests and Dawn Bats, those special troop types, also needed Faith Energy for conversion.
These were extremely important forces for Dawn City. It was impossible to keep the Faith Energy hoarded forever.
"It's so hard being me."
"When I have money, bah, when I have Faith Energy, I'll have a dragon in my left hand, sit on an Abyssal Archdemon, and lead a Great Angel behind me, with Titans clearing the path in front."
Li De could only secretly mutter complaints to himself.
There were so many wonderful things right in front of him, yet he couldn't use them. The feeling was maddening.
"Harrison, this coming Months of Deep Winter, you must plunder the population relentlessly, at any cost!"
Harrison was startled by Li De's sudden outburst, and he looked up in confusion at Li De, who was gnashing his teeth.
"Patriarch, I'll give the orders immediately."
Li De took two deep breaths, forcefully pushing these annoying thoughts from his mind. He decided not to dwell on things that would only make him irritable.
No sense upsetting himself for nothing.