Chapter 19

While Locke was excited, he saw a small line of signs below the divine temple.

“Note: host can be directly put in the divine temple at a suitable place.”

Locke soon understood what it meant. That was to say, as long as he chose a suitable position in Lister and threw the temple out, Victory Temple of Athena would be completed.

It was so convenient, simple and fast!

Where was suitable to place the palace? Looking at the delicate palace, Locke began to make plans in his mind.

After thinking it over, Locke thought the mountain beside the castle was good. It was in a high position, which not only showed the towering of Athena’s divine temple but also close to the castle.

Locke also had a plan on the time to put the divine temple there. If he just held the divine temple directly, it would probably frighten everyone to death. Therefore, he decided to do it tonight. Not only could he avoid accidents, but also could increase the mystery of the divine temple.

After making up his mind, Locke exited the system zone.

With a satisfied smile, Locke said to Rowen, “Mr. Rowen, you had worked hard in the past two months. On behalf of the people of Lister, thank you for your dedication.”

“That’s what we should do.” Rowen replied, lowering his head.

Looking at Rowen, Locke continued with a smile, “I’ve asked someone to prepare your payment.”

He knew that Rowen came to him for payment. Although there were not many gold coins left after the castle was built, he could still afford the salary of Rowen and others.

Hearing this, Rowen’s face lit up, and said sincerely, “If Lord needs craftsmen in the future, you can also hire us.”

In fact, they came to Lister with doubt. They were not only worried that they couldn’t get the salary but also worried about their safety. After all, Lister had a bad reputation.

But to their surprise, the work went on smoothly this time. Everything about Lister was arranged in an orderly way.

What shocked them more was that Lister had a large number of captives. When they asked, they knew that these people were bandits nearby!

Bandits, they were a group of ruthless people!

Now they were captured by this lord!

When they knew what had happened, they admired Locke even more.

Locke nodded and said, “If Lister has any project, I will give you priority.”

The two of them continued to talk for a while before Rowen went back.

The problem of living was solved, and then the problem of food was going to be solved.

Looking at Rowen’s back, Locke breathed a sigh of relief. Now all their food was bought from outside. This was not a permanent solution.

“Ding~ Release the task system: rice is the source of energy. Reclaim new land and plant new seeds, so that your people can have a good meal.”

“Task Reward: the payment will be based on the degree of completion of the system.”

The prompt tone of the system rang again.

Locke had already been used to the tasks of the system. But planting potatoes was also a big project and needed to be well planned, so he called Kotter over.

Lister didn’t have many citizens and there were few lands to cultivate. So Locke decided to reclaim the land first and then cultivate.

With a large number of brigand captives joining, the time for reclaiming the farmland would be reduced a lot.

To better manage these captives, Locke specially built a house for them. Of course, these houses were not as good as the wooden houses of the citizens, but they could cover the wind and rain.

Locke didn’t reduce the food, which guaranteed the normal needs of the bandits when they worked. They could have enough food and a place to live, so these bandits were quite cooperative.

Very soon, Kotter distributed the payment to Rowen and others. Rowen and the others didn’t stay any longer and left directly.

After dinner, Athena was reading a book leisurely on the wall of the castle.

Locke sat down slowly beside Athena and said mysteriously, “I have prepared a big surprise for you tonight.”

Athena was slightly stunned. She put down the book as if thinking about what surprise Locke would give her. After a while, she smiled, “Really? I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’m sure you’ll like this surprise.”

Locke promised, patting his chest.

“Hearing this, I can’t wait to see that.”

Seeing Locke so confident, Athena rested her chin on one hand, with expectation in her eyes.

In the evening, Locke and Athena avoided the castle’s guards and soon came to the mountain.

“Here it is.”

Looking at the low ridge in front of him, Locke said.

Just as Athena was confused, a palm-sized divine temple appeared in Locke’s hand.

“This is… Victory Temple…”

Looking at the shining palace in Locke’s hand, Athena was also surprised which appeared seldom.

“This is what I got this time.”

Locke nodded and said with a smile, “This is your divine temple. You can arrange it yourself.”

As he spoke, he gently pushed the divine temple in his hand. The divine temple floated towards Athena and soon fell into the hands of Athena.

When it reached Athena’s palm, the divine temple trembled slightly, as if it was joyfully finding its master again.

Athena looked at the buildings in the divine temple with deep nostalgia in her eyes.

After watching for a while, she smiled charmingly and said to Locke, “Thank you. I like this surprise very much.”

“Ding~ Congratulations to host. Athena’s fondness for you has reached 40 points. Athena’s fondness has entered the ‘friendly’ level and will be rewarded with Athena’s ‘power of perception’.”

“The power of perception: It can make host comprehend and learn all kinds of skills quickly.”

With the prompt tone of the system, Locke felt a chill enter his brain. In an instant, he felt his brain very clear. At this moment, he suddenly understood the magic principle that he couldn’t figure out before.

This skill was incredible. Locke sighed and was overjoyed in his mind.

The young girl’s charming smile warmed his heart. Suppressing the palpitation in his heart, he shook his head and smiled. “As long as you are happy, everything is worth it.”

As soon as Locke finished his words, the smile on Athena’s face became more charming.

“This is indeed a good address.”

Looking at the mountains in front of her, Athena nodded and pushed the divine temple out with a light tap of her fingertip.

The divine temple trembled again, and the god’s aura continued to scatter. Then it flew towards the distant mountains.

From the moment it left Athena’s hand, the divine temple began to grow at an extremely fast speed. In just a few seconds, it had turned into a huge palace of dozens of meters high, several times the size of Locke’s castle.

The palace slowly landed on the mountain range and gradually integrated with it. In just a minute, a magnificent divine temple had already stood on the mountain range.

To Locke’s surprise, the huge change didn’t make any sound. Such a huge palace seemed to have been here from the very beginning.

With the divine temple as the center, an invisible strength quickly spread out and soon covered the entire territory of Lister.

Waves of strength with vitality spread into the land and vegetation of Lister. The dying plants spat out green sprouts, and the soil made a “tsk” sound that was hard for humans to capture as if it was undergoing some transformation. Lister’s environment began to change.

At the same time, the strength continued to enter the sleeping residents of Lister, slowly repairing the hidden injuries and old diseases in their bodies.

Athena seemed to think of something, and with a wave of her hand, the aura emitted from the divine temple disappeared in an instant. Everything that had happened just now disappeared like a dream.

In the center of the Icacia Continent.

In the ancient mage tower, an old man sat steadily like a boulder. His hair and beard had turned grey, and the wrinkles on his face were telling the traces of time.

Suddenly, the old man opened his eyes.

“This strength…”

Just now, he felt a powerful and mysterious strength, but this strength disappeared in an instant. He could only sense the general direction.

After hesitating for a moment, the old man slowly stood up and flew in the direction of perception.