Chapter 195: Practicing Sacred Arts
Exorcism Workshop — Purification Chamber
Gideon stood beside the workbench, a white brain laid out before him. A single ring of golden sigils shimmered around his pupils. Sacred power rippled through the chamber, steadily assimilating the lingering corruption clinging to the organ.
"Done."
He wiped his forehead—an unconscious habit, even though there was no sweat.
Lifting the brain, Gideon examined it carefully with Ethereal Sight.
"One hundred percent purity. Excellent quality."
He nodded to himself. "Looks like every last trace of hidden corruption has finally been assimilated. Good thing I recheck everything after each refinement…"
During earlier purifications, some remnants of evil had learned to suppress themselves, deliberately avoiding detection by sacred power. Some even hid in the deepest layers of the remains. If Avery had been the one handling it, those traces would have been nearly impossible to notice.
After a moment's thought, Gideon sealed the brain inside a ceramic jar.
"The 100% purity materials I refined over the last two days were all absorbed on the spot. I'll keep this one for now."
Recalling his recent days in the Exorcism Workshop, Gideon remembered that whenever Avery stepped out, he would secretly produce perfect-grade materials. Occasionally, mistakes produced flawed pieces—around 80–90% purity. In those cases, he would "recycle" them, deliberately cross-contaminating materials to reduce purity below 80%.
That way, they could safely be issued to theology students without raising suspicion. All quotas stayed within reasonable limits, ensuring no scrutiny from above.
The effects of refined source energy surprised Gideon. This growth, rooted in fundamental power, was hard to describe—like an elevation in one's very essence of life.
Only now did he realize how many rare materials he had wasted during past exorcisms. Back then, fearing the resurgence of evil, he had followed a policy of absolute eradication. Avery, however, had taught him that the Church's sealing arrays could suppress such threats—unless deliberately sabotaged.
That was why the Exorcism Workshop was layered with multiple isolation arrays.
As he admired his work, Gideon's brows lifted slightly. Without changing expression, he put the jar away.
The heavy wooden door opened.
"Gideon, this is Sister Faya Connolly, a history lecturer at the seminary. She wishes to speak with you," Avery said, stepping aside.
"Father Gideon, I've heard of your talent in material refinement. It's an honor to meet you," Faya said with a graceful bow.
Gideon returned the gesture and studied her briefly. Sharp features, deep gray eyes—mysterious and undeniably beautiful. The nun's robes, however, concealed her figure entirely, and the tightly wrapped veil softened her femininity.
"Sister Faya, how may I help you?" he asked, quickly withdrawing his gaze.
"I don't mind," he thought, "but Church rules are a pain—and Avery's right here."
"Father Avery, may we speak privately?" Faya asked politely.
Avery glanced between them, then jerked his thumb toward the door.
"Sure. Go outside."
Faya blinked, clearly surprised.
Gideon nodded approvingly. This brand of blunt pragmatism did simplify things.
"Well… Father Gideon?" she asked.
"After you," he said, leading the way.
Outside the Exorcism Workshop
"Please forgive Father Avery's bluntness," Faya said. "Material refinement is an exhausting duty."
Gideon raised an eyebrow, impressed by her composure.
"I'm quite familiar with Father Avery," he replied with a smile.
She nodded. "I've come with an important commission. But before explaining, may I ask something… perhaps a little inappropriate?"
She turned to look directly at him.
If you know it's inappropriate, why ask… Gideon complained inwardly.
Aloud, he smiled gently. "Go ahead. I can't promise an answer."
Faya hesitated, then asked softly,
"You haven't yet completed the Holy Sight stage of cultivation, have you?
Gideon fell silent in thought.
Over the past few days, he had deliberately studied a large number of theological manuals related to sacred cultivation. These texts were church secrets, accessible to him only because of his status as a guest professor.
For every ordained cleric who obtained an Imprint, there were four tiers of holy arts to cultivate along their manifested path.
Among them, Imprints belonging to the "Body" category—such as Eyes, Flesh, and Bones—allowed practitioners to reach Second-Tier Holy Arts within these three stages.
Holy Sight itself was a Second-Tier Holy Art of the Eyes manifestation.
However, Imprints beyond the "Body" category could only access Second-Tier Holy Arts after reaching the "Spirit" stage.
This resulted in two extreme cultivation paths.
Clerics with Body-type Imprints displayed formidable combat power in the early stages, but their later advancement became significantly more difficult.
On the other hand, those aligned with Spirit, Origin, or Soul-Form progressed very slowly at first. In many cases, they lacked the lifespan to even reach these stages.
Yet once they succeeded, their strength far surpassed others at the same rank.
All of this, however, depended on fully mastering one's Holy Arts.
Holy Arts were not only powerful weapons against evil; they were also essential aids for advancement.
Only by completing them could a cleric strengthen their Seven Ranks of the Body enough to survive ascension.
During ascension, madness, corruption, and even the authority of Heaven itself would descend upon the cleric.
Cultivating Holy Arts was anything but easy.
Take Holy Sight as an example: it required constant observation of the flow of energy around spirits, followed by assimilation and guidance through one's own power.
In essence, one had to obtain authority over another being's aura.
Only then could golden rings be engraved around the pupils, completing advancement.
Material refinement followed the same principle.
The difference was that the spirits attached to materials were already dead, making the effect far weaker than facing living spiritual entities. This was why progress was slower.
Yet spirits, wraiths, and demons would never wait obediently to be controlled.
That was why cultivating Holy Sight was extremely dangerous.
Many gifted clerics had perished during the process.
Combined with the rarity of spiritual entities, this made the cultivation of Holy Arts extraordinarily difficult.
Although Gideon had system support, his lack of theological knowledge previously left him almost stagnant at the Second Tier.
Fortunately, his recent involvement in material refinement had changed that.
He had completed the first golden ring in just a few days—progress that normally took others two full years.
Strictly speaking, this should have been done during the First-Tier Holy Art, Spiritual Vision.
Even so, Gideon's speed remained astonishing.
Returning to the present—
Faced with Faya's question, Gideon hesitated briefly before nodding.
Perhaps this nun possessed knowledge he urgently needed.
Seeing his response, Faya smiled faintly.
"Holy Sight requires contact with a large number of spirits," she said calmly.
"My Imprint manifests through bones, and I too must deal with the dead."
"I've also reached the Second Tier—Spirit-Bone Preaching—but completing it requires many undead remains."
She shook her head gently.
"As a cleric, I cannot simply dig up graves. That would violate the Lord's teachings."
Gideon's eyes flickered.
Advancement progress was extremely private among clerics—yet she had told him directly.
Even if she had ulterior motives, the trust she showed was unmistakable.
"Sister Faya… you mean—"
"As you suspect," she said plainly.
"This commission involves a large number of spirits."
One month ago, an incident was reported in California's San Fernando Valley.
Five teenagers fell into comas after encountering what appeared to be a malicious spirit.
After investigation by police and the church, witnesses admitted they had played a forbidden game—calling the dead.
One participant became possessed, injured others, and after being restrained, all involved collapsed unconscious.
Due to manpower shortages, the case was elevated to the diocese and classified as Danger-Level.
Gideon frowned.
Normally, spirit possession barely qualified as an Anomaly.
Even Corrosion-Level cases required powerful resentful spirits.
Danger-Level made no sense.
Faya smiled.
"That brings me to the key point."
"This commission was not issued through the assignment office.
It came directly from Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles."
Gideon raised an eyebrow.
José Gomez—the Archbishop of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, overseer of all Californian churches, and a senior member of the Western Exorcism Council.
Why would such a figure care about a mere possession?
Faya answered immediately.
"During further investigation, the church discovered a special item at the gathering—The Hand of the Apostle."
"It is a lost holy relic, belonging to a First Saint from a thousand years ago—Barnabas, a disciple of the Son."
These deeds were recorded in The Acts of the Apostles.
Gideon was surprised.
A direct disciple of Jesus—Barnabas held immense significance.
"Shouldn't someone more powerful handle this?" Gideon asked cautiously.
"In theory, yes," Faya replied.
"But the relic has been corrupted—now bordering on a cursed object."
"The church intends to abandon it… yet symbolically, it must still be reclaimed."
Gideon understood immediately.
A matter of appearances.
She continued, "Originally, this task belonged to Our Lady of the Angels.
But after Archbishop Borha resolved the Remembrance Day Incident, Archbishop Gomez reassigned it to Dey Church."
A political exchange.
Which meant the actual danger was likely limited.
"An excellent opportunity," Gideon thought.
Faya added, "Forceful purification could damage the relic.
Only by resolving the spirit's obsession can it be safely reclaimed."
Among all exorcism commissions, Spiritual Threats were the most difficult—entities capable of possession, illusion, or mental corruption.
Spirits were the most troublesome.
They were human souls twisted by pain or sin.
To banish them completely, one could either destroy them outright—or dissolve their obsession.
The latter was preferred.
But few clerics possessed the ability to communicate with spirits.
Understanding their sins—the root of their corruption—was the key.
And only clerics with Eye Manifestation could clearly discern those traces.
That was why Faya had come to Gideon.