"Actually, I'm just a temporary priest now...... Joshua told Ulysses about the road he'd traveled for most of the year.

Before he met Ulysses, he was a servant of a noble family, and his status was low, and he could only take advantage of his master's prayers to pray in the church, copying some scattered teachings of the priests with the paper he had saved money to buy.

Although the nobles he served also had a study in his home, servants like him were never allowed to enter, otherwise they would be locked up for a week.

In such a life, although he also has a dream of becoming a priest, the reality is too harsh to find a direction for the future.

And the books that Ulysses gave him at that time were arguably the most valuable and useful gifts he had ever received. He carefully collected the books, and every night, every time he rested, he would concentrate on studying the above knowledge.

Day after day, although he can memorize those books backwards, every time he reads it, he feels new knowledge, and he never gets tired of reading it.

By chance, he was reading a book when he was seen by a retired old priest from the church in Taji City. When he curiously asked some questions in his books, he was surprised to find that he had memorized all of them.

After that, the old priest kindly introduced him to a part-time job in the church and became his teacher.

Not long ago, he got his first independent job tending to the chapel by the sea. The former priest of this church has stepped down and returned to his hometown because he is too old, and there is no new priest in the church who can send it here for the time being, but the church can't just leave it alone, so he has served as a temporary priest here.

"I see, congratulations, Joshua. This time, Ulysses envied Joshua and presided over a church alone, even if temporarily, which was one of his dreams.

"Without your help, I wouldn't have the opportunity I have now, thank you so much. I'm still a bit of a prestige here, so let me know if there's anything you can help me with. Joshua was equally pleased that the books given by Ulysses had been kept by him until now, and that he intended to keep them until his students used them.

The biggest difficulty for ordinary people to become a priest is not determination, but the knowledge and ability required. Every priest is a synthesis of scholars, doctors, and users of divine arts, and it is only natural that they will be respected.

Joshua's talent for light is very weak, and he is still practicing second-level spells, but he is confident that as long as he continues to practice, he will one day be able to meet the requirements of a true priest.

It might have taken 10 or 20 years, but he had dedicated his life to God, and he was on the right path to the priesthood, and he would not retreat no matter what.

"Ulysses, how are you, I remember when we first met, you were a fourth-level light magician, are you promoted now?" After becoming a trainee priest, Joshua's inferiority complex in the past has disappeared, and now he is a benefactor who treats him as a good friend, Ulysses who is one or two years older than himself.

"Light...... It's about level six now......" Ulysses' expression was unusually complicated when he said this.

Even Silver's healing hand can be used, even if it is an incomplete version, his light magic should have long exceeded the limit that ordinary people can reach, and it is far more than the sixth level.

"Congratulations, then you will definitely pass the priesthood exam this summer, where are you going to go to the church in the future?" In Joshua's opinion, it was a sure thing that Ulysses, who had embarked on the path of his ideals one step ahead of him, would become a priest.

The fourth-level light magic is enough to serve as the presiding priest of the ordinary church, and as long as he passes the priest exam, the light magic level will naturally be converted into the divine magic level in the belief ceremony, and with a little practice, he will immediately become a qualified priest.

And the sixth-level light magic, that is already a candidate level only below the great priest, and the priest who can use the sixth-level divine magic is even qualified to serve as the chief priest of a small country.

For Joshua, that was the highest position he could imagine. Further up, that's just for those who are legends.

Even in the First Church Supreme God Sect, there are very few priests of the seventh rank. A priest who can use a seventh-level divine technique is already as great as a god in the eyes of ordinary people.

The profession of the priest is higher and more sacred, and when it reaches the seventh level, it is not at the same level as all other professions. Every seventh-level priest is a treasure for all mankind, and the divine skills they possess are enough to change the fate of countless people.

Unlike magic, which needs to follow many magical principles and is accurate enough to make a single mistake, high-level magic really has the ability to be like a miracle, and because of the inclusiveness of magic magic, it can be used jointly by multiple priests, making it easier to make the impossible possible.

"Is this year's priesthood exam......" Ulysses looked at the cross in front of him in a bit of a trance.

Yes, if it was him a year ago, he should have started preparing for this year's priesthood exam now. The church starts every year with exams in the first season of the year, and then begins in June.

The content of the exam varies slightly depending on the diocese in which the candidate is located, but the overall difficulty is basically similar.

The exam is divided into two types: theoretical test and practical test, the practical test generally only requires the candidate to show an understanding of light magic to pass, generally about three levels can have a success rate of 80 percent, and level four is basically 100 percent.

The theory test is the knowledge and theory that the priest must master, which cannot be faked in the slightest, and it is necessary to truly understand everything about the priest and have a wealth of knowledge to pass.

In terms of the level of light magic, he had already met the requirements, and now he even exceeded it many times. In the past few years, I have not been able to pass the exam because I have not been knowledgeable enough.

Every qualified priest is an excellent scholar, an excellent doctor, and an excellent user of divine arts, which is inseparable from the rigor of the priest examination. No matter how talented you are, no matter how amazing your background is, as long as you fail to pass the exam, you can't become a priest.

Even now that the Supreme God Cult has become the number one church in the mainland, the number of priests is still in short supply. In many cases, villages like this are run by no formal priests, but by apprentices like Joshua who don't make it through the beginning.

The priest must have a talent for light magic, which makes countless people sigh, and at the same time, he must have excellent learning, which makes the lazy people must be stopped from the door, and the rest are those who have both talent and are able to learn.

In addition to the church itself, almost all of them who meet these two conditions are nobles. It is very difficult for an ordinary person like Joshua, who has weak light talent and no conditions to study, to realize his ideal of becoming a priest.

That's why Ulysses gave him the book at that time, which also pinned his hopes on something.

Now that the seed of hope had sprouted in front of him, he himself had embarked on a different path.

What about being able to use the silver healing hand, it is not the power of one's own faith, but the power borrowed from the ancient Holy Spirit.

What about memorizing hundreds of theological books at the Radiant Academy, and is he still qualified to take the sacred priesthood exam?

"I was determined to participate. In Joshua's opinion, it was only a matter of time before Ulysses, who was his guide, became a priest, and he still had a long way to go when light magic was still struggling at the second level.

Of course, it is not only the level of light magic, but also the accumulation of knowledge, and the difficulty of the priest exam is said to be enough to stump more than half of the scholars, and the average age of everyone who can pass the exam is over forty-five years old.

Although there are occasional geniuses like Ulysses, Joshua is well aware of his talent, and if he wants to pass the exam, even if he keeps working hard from now on, it will probably take more than ten years.

However, even if he knew that he couldn't pass, there were many people like him who took the exam every year, and many of them even had close to zero talent in light magic, but every year they would refer to the priest exam on time, just because of a dream in their hearts, a distant and unattainable dream.

Looking at Joshua who worked so hard and did not give up, looking at the simple and persistent eyes, a soft string in Ulysses' heart was touched.

Yes, no matter what, it was once his dream that he dreamed of so much, and the only path he chose in life for himself.

Why do you choose to give up so simply, why can't even this little dream stay in your heart.

He had been far ahead of Joshua and his guide, but now he had been overtaken by him, and he could only look at the back of the man who still had his original dream.

So, let's be a little willful. No matter what the result is, no matter what choice he has to make in the end, he will continue to enter the examination hall like Joshua in this year's priesthood exam.

"I'm going to participate too, and we'll cheer together when the time comes. Letting go of the shackles in his heart, Ulysses seemed to return to the time when he had taken the priesthood exam the first few times.

"Well, work together, although I will definitely fail this time, but next time, next time, one day, I will stand on the altar of the true church like you. Joshua extended his hand to Ulysses and gave him his greatest blessing.

"I'll go to your church and pray when the time comes. Ulysses' smile was a little complicated, but it was a serious commitment.

(To be continued)