The Archbishop first placed the box on the table in front of Freya, then took out a bottle and handed it to her, saying, “This is a Rank 1 Earth Pathway potion.
Drink this, and you will become a Beyonder.”
Freya took the potion and examined it carefully.
The liquid was mostly transparent and colorless, with small green specks floating inside, emitting a faint glow.
It looked just like the “starry sky bottles” from her previous life.
Freya uncorked the bottle and drank it in small sips.
Unlike her experience with the War Pathway potion, this Earth Potion was like a cup of tea—smooth, gentle, and with a subtle, lingering sweetness.
Immediately after, waves of drowsiness washed over her like the tide.
Still holding the empty bottle, her head tilted to the side, and she slumped onto the sofa behind her, falling into a sleep as deep as a baby’s.
The Archbishop sat motionless across from her, waiting silently.
About half an hour later, Freya slowly woke up.
Her first sensation was that the entire world had become much clearer.
It was as if she had always been severely nearsighted, viewing the world without glasses, and after drinking this Earth Potion, her “nearsightedness” was instantly cured.
The Archbishop, who had been waiting by her side, said, “Feel with your heart, experience it, and you will understand why.”
If the War Pathway enhanced strength, speed, and endurance, improving physical fitness across the board, then the Earth Pathway enhanced Freya’s perceptual abilities in every way: vision, hearing, and smell.
For example, Freya could now clearly see every pore on the Archbishop’s face across from her, hear the strong, powerful heartbeat from his chest, and smell the fragrant scent of grass and trees lingering in the air.
As for touch and taste, she couldn’t test them for now, so she didn’t know if they had been enhanced.
Besides these sensory enhancements, the first Beyonder ability granted by the Earth Pathway was “Heart Sense.” As the name suggested, it meant perceiving with the heart.
When Freya closed her eyes, it felt as if her “soul had left her body.” Her “vision” detached from her physical form, allowing her to observe herself from a third-person perspective.
She now had a strange sense of déjà vu, like opening a personal panel in a game to check her status.
In this state, she could clearly distinguish all the status buffs on her body, such as Blessings, Curses, and the like.
Besides that, when she “looked” at herself, her first impression was purity, without a single impurity, pure to the extreme.
Then, Freya used her “Heart Sense” on the Archbishop.
As she “looked” at him, she could sense a large amount of “impurities” in his body.
Or, more accurately, these were the remnants left in the human body when a potion hadn’t been fully adapted to and digested.
Could this Heart Sense ability actually see the digestion progress of a potion within a person’s body?
If so, someone on the Earth Pathway could identify a Beyonder with just a single “glance.”
So, Freya looked back at herself and found none of these so-called “impurities” in her body.
Had the potion she just drank dissolved instantly upon entering her mouth?
Was it already completely digested?
The Archbishop explained at just the right moment, “The way to accelerate potion digestion on the Earth Pathway is to help others.
As long as others are genuinely grateful to you, that gratitude transforms into Blessings, which help digest the potion.”
“And I can clearly sense that you carry an indescribable, immense, and most sincere sea of gratitude and Blessings.
A thousand?
Ten thousand?
No, even more.
It’s unimaginable how many people you’ve helped.
Or rather, have you saved an entire nation!?”
“So, even if you weren’t a Saintess sent by the gods, just the feat of helping tens of thousands of people, and the countless heartfelt wishes, would make you absolutely worthy of the title of Saintess!”
“Everyone in the Church of the Earth should look to you as a role model!”
“Huh…
huh?” Freya was completely bewildered by his words.
Wait, how could she not know she had done so many good deeds?
The gratitude of tens of thousands?
Was that even real?
She was only 17 years old.
Even if she had helped one person every day since birth, she probably couldn’t have helped that many.
Without a doubt, the original owner hadn’t done this, and neither had she.
She had only transmigrated a few days ago, and far from helping others, she had actually killed people.
Freya couldn’t help but wonder, could it be because of her past life?
But she didn’t remember what she did in her past life at all.
From the looks of it now, her past self might have been a philanthropist or a doctor who saved and helped many people, and then all that gratitude and those Blessings followed her across worlds? You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
Otherwise, there was no other explanation.
During their conversation, the Archbishop took a second potion from the box and handed it to Freya.
“This is the Rank 2 Earth Pathway potion.”
Since Freya didn’t need to digest potions, it was only natural that after drinking the Rank 1 potion, she could immediately drink the Rank 2 and Rank 3 potions for a chain of upgrades.
Freya dazedly accepted the second potion.
She had been worrying about how to increase her strength, never imagining that leveling up could be so effortless.
Without having to do anything, she just took the ready-made potions and chugged them down one after another.
Who wouldn’t be stunned by this?
The Rank 2 potion looked much thicker and more viscous than the first.
It was a light green color, giving the impression of “juiced leaves.” Freya uncorked the bottle, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then tilted her head back and drank it down.
The taste was slightly bitter; with one gulp, Freya felt as if she had grabbed a handful of grass and stuffed it in her mouth to chew, but she still swallowed it all.
This time, Freya didn’t pass out.
Instead, her entire body began to itch, as if countless ants were crawling all over her.
She fought the urge to scratch, though it would have been impossible to scratch everywhere at once anyway.
“Ngh~” She couldn’t help but let out a cute whimper, curling into a ball on the sofa and writhing slightly.
Fortunately, the itching sensation came and went quickly, lasting only a minute or two.
Freya felt her senses sharpen once again, and now she was certain: her sense of touch had most likely been enhanced as well.
Her clothes now felt prickly against her skin.
With the slightest movement, she could feel the coarse linen threads scraping against her, an odd sensation that made her uncomfortable.
Worst of all, her socks were full of pills, and it now felt as if someone were constantly tickling the soles of her feet with a feather.
The itching was unbearable.
She now seemed to understand why the people of the Church of the Earth wore such loose-fitting clothes; it was just so prickly!
Freya really couldn’t stand it any longer and said, “Um…
in that case, may I take off my shoes?”
After all, in her subconscious, taking off shoes in public was considered extremely rude.
The Archbishop nodded upon hearing this.
“As you should.”
Freya quickly slipped off her faded white sneakers and her “fluffy” little white socks, revealing a pair of small, delicate, and cute feet.
Her rounded, exquisite toes instinctively curled the moment they touched the air.
But what followed was an indescribable sense of relief and freedom.
As Freya sighed in relief, experiencing this strange sensation, her small face couldn’t help but blush.
Oh no, why did she suddenly feel a bit perverted?
No, this wasn’t her fault.
It was all the Earth Potion’s fault!
As her legs gradually relaxed, the moment her feet lowered and her toes touched the ground, Freya froze slightly.
This was another ability of the Rank 1 Earth Pathway: “Trace Origin.”
In other words, when her skin touched the ground, it could continuously restore Freya’s injuries and stamina, as well as enhance all other abilities of the Earth Pathway.
Alright, she seemed to understand why the people of the Church of the Earth didn’t wear shoes; it was the simplest way to make contact with the ground.
Wearing socks and shoes was both prickly and awkward, while going barefoot provided a buff.
Was there even a choice to make?
“Huu~” Freya exhaled, then began to sense her new state.
After advancing to Rank 2, her two Rank 1 abilities, Heart Sense and Trace Origin, were both enhanced.
She had also gained two new abilities: “Heal” and “Blessing.”
The former was a classic healing spell that could mend injuries and cure diseases.
As for the latter, Freya could now apply a buff to another person, temporarily enhancing their strength and speed.
She wasn’t yet sure about the magnitude of the enhancement.
Afterward, Freya looked inward again and found her body remained perfectly pure, without any impurities.
This Rank 2 potion had also dissolved instantly upon consumption.
Just then, the Archbishop handed her the third bottle.
The third potion looked even greener than the previous two.
It was so thick that it was impossible to see what was inside.
Freya pulled out the stopper and drank it down. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“Blegh~” The moment after she finished, she couldn’t help but dry-heave.
If she had to describe it, the stuff tasted like juiced fish mint mixed with broth from canned surströmming—both fishy and salty.
Freya suspected her sense of taste had also been enhanced, making the sensation even more intense.
She couldn’t help but stick out her delicate pink tongue.
“So disgusting…”
Immediately after, the same itching sensation as before returned, but this time it was accompanied by a sharp pain.
Freya couldn’t help but gasp, clenching her teeth to endure it.
But if she had to say, she found the pain easier to bear than the pure itching from before.
The pure itching of Rank 2 was more torturous.
Crack, crack~
After a few soft cracks of bone, the sharp pain subsided, and Freya couldn’t help but sigh in relief.
She first reached up to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead, then carefully sensed her condition.
After reaching Rank 3, the abilities from Rank 1 and Rank 2 were further enhanced.
For example, the Trace Origin ability can now continuously restore Spirituality.
The range of ‘Heart Sense’ increased, the healing power of ‘Heal’ was boosted, and ‘Blessing’ can now apply various buffs like mental and physical protection.
As for the new Rank 3 abilities, first, Freya grew about five centimeters taller, going from around 1.6 meters to 1.65 meters.
Uh…
while that still isn’t very tall, at least it’s progress, right?
Additionally, she gained the abilities ‘Earth Manipulation’ and ‘Plant Catalysis’.
With the former, she could raise a three-meter-high earth wall out of thin air or cause an adult-sized earth spike to erupt from the ground within a fifty-meter radius.
With the latter, she could make wheat that normally takes a hundred days to mature ripen in two to three days.
Of course, this required her to use the ability continuously, day and night.
Followers of other pathways would have their Spirituality depleted after a while, but the Earth Pathway allows for constant mana regeneration, so it wasn’t a problem at all.
If she chose not to work around the clock, just working during the day and resting at night, the speed would be reduced, but the wheat could still mature in four to six days.
With the Church of the Earth around, there would definitely be no shortage of food.
However, as Freya assessed all her current Beyonder abilities, her only thought was that her combat power wasn’t very high.
All her abilities were healing and support-oriented.
The only one that could be considered an offensive skill was the Rank 3 ‘Earth Manipulation’.
If she were to fight her War Pathway avatar now, she would definitely win, but comparing a Rank 3 to a Rank 1…
wasn’t that just bullying?
While Freya was pondering, the Archbishop placed the remaining three potions in front of her.
These represented the three advancement paths available after Rank 3 of the Earth Pathway.
The Archbishop introduced them one by one, “From left to right, they are the [Path of the Giant] symbolizing the Heavenly Father, the [Path of the Earth] symbolizing the Earth God, and the [Path of Life] symbolizing the Mother Goddess.
Which one would you like to choose?”
Freya’s gaze swept over the three potions, and she asked, “Um…
can you briefly explain the differences between these three?
Or rather, what kind of abilities can I expect to gain after choosing one?”
The Archbishop said, “The Path of the Giant.
After drinking it, your physical attributes will multiply, your body will grow larger, and you’ll gain a ‘Giantification’ ability.
Activating it will make you even bigger.
I myself followed the Path of the Giant.”
However, Freya imagined herself over two meters tall and covered in muscle, then decisively shook her head.
“I’ll pass on that one.”
Although she currently felt a bit short, two meters was far too tall for her to accept.
She’d rather remain a petite, cute girl.
The Archbishop pointed to the second potion and said, “The Path of the Earth.
It enhances your ‘Trace Origin’ and ‘Earth Manipulation’ abilities.
You’ll be able to merge your body with the earth and move freely underground.”
Finally, the third potion: “The Path of the Life.
It strengthens your ‘Heart Sense’, ‘Heal’, ‘Blessing’, and ‘Plant Catalysis’ abilities.
You’ll also gain the ability to manipulate life energy.”