Reputation and face were one thing, but more importantly, the army they had painstakingly assembled had been completely wiped out, forcing them to start over from scratch.

While chatting with the three, Pei Ze learned that news of him conquering Defense Fortification No. 89 had already spread, causing quite a stir in Red Maple City.

Since the great war with the Turin People began, there had been no precedent of a Level 1 Wizard single-handedly conquering one of their defense fortifications. Combined with his title as the youngest Wizard from Chenxi City, the matter had drawn significant attention and discussion.

"You’re a huge celebrity in Red Maple City now," Yan Dong said with a smile.

Fang Na covered her mouth and chuckled. "Pei Ze was already a huge celebrity."

"That’s true," Yan Dong replied, catching on.

As a key figure who had influenced the outcome of the battle between the two cities, Pei Ze was already a household name in Red Maple City.

Pei Ze smiled, steering the conversation to a new topic. "What are your plans now?"

Yan Dong sighed. "What else can we do? We’ll keep clearing out the Turin People’s patrol chariots and outposts on the battlefield. Once we save up enough merit points, we’ll form another army and try to attack their defense fortifications again."

After what had happened, Yan Dong and the others were traumatized by the idea of guarding resource points.

While those missions offered great rewards, the risks were just as high. One wrong move, and their entire investment would be for nothing.

They had no intention of going through that a second time.

Pei Ze nodded slightly. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt a pair of eyes on him.

He turned his head and his eyes met those of another Wizard.

The man was tall and thin, with a pair of strange, dark red eyes.

Seeing Pei Ze look his way, the Red-Eyed Wizard awkwardly averted his gaze, not daring to meet his eyes.

Noticing Pei Ze’s gaze, Yan Dong turned to look, recognized the Red-Eyed Wizard, and said in a low voice, "That guy’s name is Lu Rong. He’s a Wizard from Red Lotus City."

Pei Ze immediately lost interest and looked away.

He knew he had a bad reputation among the Wizards of Red Lotus City.

"Oh, right," Pei Ze said suddenly. "Do any of you have a Faith Crystal?"

Yan Dong and Cheng He shook their heads.

Fang Na, however, nodded. "I happen to have one. Why?"

Pei Ze’s eyes lit up. "Can I take a look at it?"

Although Fang Na found his request a bit strange, she didn’t refuse and took out a Faith Crystal to hand to Pei Ze.

It was the Faith Crystal she had prepared for her breakthrough to the Level 1 Liquid Stage.

The Faith Crystal looked like an ordinary, silver metal bead, completely unremarkable at first glance.

Only those with powerful Spiritual Power could sense the dense Power of Faith contained within the small metal sphere.

After rubbing it for a moment to ensure the Eye of Omniscience had recorded the Faith Crystal’s information, Pei Ze returned it.

"Thanks."

This exchange left Yan Dong and the others completely bewildered, but they didn’t feel it was their place to ask questions.

Pei Ze had no intention of explaining, either. He bid farewell to the three and walked toward the counter.

’Omniscience, deduce the technique for refining Faith Crystals from Divine Statues and Sacred Artifacts.’

[Task created: Deduce the technique for refining Faith Crystals from Divine Statues and Sacred Artifacts. Estimated energy required: 325.2]

’Over three hundred energy, huh...’

Pei Ze nodded slightly. The cost wasn’t too high; with full acceleration, it would only take about sixteen or seventeen days to complete.

It was a good thing he had a physical Faith Crystal to use as a reference; otherwise, the energy cost would have certainly been much higher.

’By the time the task is complete, my spiritual energy level should be reaching the limit of the Vaporization Stage.’

After exchanging for two Sacred Spirit Buds at the counter, Pei Ze headed straight back to his stone house.

In the bedroom of his stone house, Pei Ze sat cross-legged on his bed, closely examining the Sacred Spirit Bud in his hand.

The Sacred Spirit Bud resembled a rice plant, only it was thinner, shorter, and pure white. It felt slightly cool to the touch when held in his palm.

’This tiny little plant is worth at least 3,000 Magic Stone Coins.’

Pei Ze marveled for a moment before putting the Sacred Spirit Bud in his mouth, swallowing it in a few bites. He then closed his eyes, bracing for the impending impact.

A few seconds later, a strange spiritual impact arrived as expected, and Pei Ze instantly fell into a trance.

Countless murmurs of chanting, prayer, and praise seemed to appear out of thin air in his mind.

He could clearly feel the fanaticism and piety they contained.

The voices echoed endlessly, as if trying to assimilate him, forcing him to guard his sea of consciousness tightly to resist the erosion.

After an unknown amount of time, the voices gradually faded, and clarity returned to Pei Ze’s mind.

He opened his eyes, his brow slightly furrowed.

Although the voices in his head had disappeared, he still felt a strange sense of unease.

’Is this the erosion from the Power of Faith caused by consuming the Sacred Spirit Bud?’

His expression shifted. He quickly ’looked’ at the Spirit Crystal deep within his mind and, sure enough, discovered that about one-twentieth of its originally crystal-clear surface was now stained with a faint golden hue.

This was clearly the side effect of the Sacred Spirit Bud.

Pei Ze focused his attention on it for a while and discovered that the golden stain was spreading, slowly expanding its area.

Although the spread was so slow it was almost imperceptible without careful observation, if he left it alone, it would sooner or later consume the entire Spirit Crystal.

By then, he would be assimilated into a believer of the Maiden of Winterfrost.

’The Power of Faith from these Divine Spirits is like a virus, eroding the souls and Spirits of others.’

Pei Ze couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

He suspected this was how the so-called zealots of the Divine Spirit Sects were created, eroded step by step.

Fortunately, he could use his Spiritual Power to suppress and even eliminate this erosion.