Chapter 303 - The Situation
Inside a mountain cave, Wang Ju just received a bunch of information about this world from the few Fate Shadow Guard that she sent out. Unfortunately, only one of the Shadow that came to this word can use the Gu Fate Reading technique as the others had different mentions back home. So, the information gathered this time was not that much
So, after briefly analyzing and summarizing the information gathered, Wang Ju showed them to the group so that they could discuss their next plan.
"What do you think?
" asked Li Jun.
"I still believe that we should use absolute force to conquer this world; no matter, it does not change the fact that this world is only a Middle Thousand World, and with our strength, it should be easy to deal with it,
" said Tie Gang.
Li Jun gave him a side look. He understood the reason he was acting somewhat out of character. In the past few hundred years, he probably felt that he was not much help and wanted to use this war to show his value.
Li Jun ignored him and looked at Wang Ju and Yan Liling.
"What do you guys think?
"
"The amount of information we know is still too little,
" said Wang Ju.
"That's true. So far, we only know that this world is called the Heavenly Abode World. Gods exist but they are hiding the method of cultivation. We do not know why this world is so weird that it can prevent people in the Void Shattered Realm and above from entering.
"
"More importantly, we do not know how powerful these Gods are and what method that they can use,
" added Li Jun.
"So, our next step is still to gather more information.
"
"This is easier said than done. All the ordinary mortals of this world are ignorant, while the aristocrats that have all the power and knowledge are connected to the Gods.
"These aristocrats seemed to never leave any records on purpose, and their souls are protected by the Gods they believed in. If we use force or try to search their souls, we would immediately be discovered,
" analyzed Wang Ju.
Everyone quieted down to think of a solution. Because they did not want to use violence, their hands were a little tight. Sudden;u, Tie Gang said:
"Since faith is the reason that these aristocrats are connected to the Gods, why don't you create a pill that makes them unfaithful? That way, we can easily search their souls and get the information we want.
"
Everyone turned to look at him with a surprised look, then they turned to look at Yan Lililing who had a pondering look on her face.
"This could work and I do not need to invent a new pill. As long as I modify the Heart Refining Pill and make these people experience an illusion that makes them doubt their Gods, we can take advantage of this to search their souls without alerting anyone.
"
Li Jun nodded his head,
"In that case, go do so.
"
Meanwhile, he took the copy of the cultivation technique of Chu Li and started reviewing it; he hoped that by understanding it, he can be more prepared to deal with these so-called Gods.
According to the book, the first step of this method is to create a Divine Shrine by gathering reputation. As for what exactly reputation is? The note explained it as a lesser form of Incense.
The Gods do not allow people who just begin their cultivation path to set temples and idols to receive Faith or Incense--unless it is their direct descendants. So, other people have to use their reputation by spreading their names and deeds.
After the Divine Shrine is built in the Sea of Consciousness, reputation can be used to create divine energy and enter the Divine Power Realm. In this realm, the mortal is considered a Saint and can use various spells. By constantly showing these spells in front of mortals, cultivators can gather more reputation.
In the next stage of cultivation--Divine Transformation--the divine energy is liquified into divine essence, and after being baptized by said energy, the cultivator's body will transform so that they cannot be harmed by any mortal weapons.
On top of that, they can also fly in the sky. As a result of this, they are referred to as Demi-Gods.
After reading all of the notes, Li Jun frowned as he pondered to himself:
'This cultivation system is somewhat similar to our Origin System in the way that energy is compressed and liquified to reach a higher level. Could it be that our sect's founder once studied it?'
However, he quickly shook his head as this was not enough to show that there was a correlation between the two. He remembered that when he first learned about other world's communities, his big brother once theorized that all cultivation systems could be classified into three categories:
Body, soul, and energy--which is in line with the concept of Essence, Spirit, and Qi. Each system either used one or a combination of these three components. This Divine System used Spirit and Qi, or the soul and energy, while their Origin System is a combination of the three.
After reading this cultivation technique, Li Jun had a basic idea of the power of these gods, but he did not rush to make any conclusion as this was just one technique; so, he waited.
A few days passed and Yan Liling refined the Heart Refining Pill and it was sent to the previous Shadow. Immediately afterward, he flew to a place called the Fire Kingdom. According to the information he gathered, the Fire God Huo seemed to be one of the most powerful Gods around.
And this kingdom was left by him and contained his descendants.
After arriving there, the Shadow quickly blended in to observe before acting. He soon noticed that there were no temples of other Gods in this kingdom, only the Fire God.
Additionally, the aristocrats of this kingdom are mostly Saints with only a few Demi-Gods. However, the Shadow quickly learned that the king of this kingdom is a direct bloodline descendent of Fire God Huo, and is a True God.
Although the Shadow did not learn the meaning of True Gods except for it being a title, he quickly inferred that this might be the name of people who cultivated the realm after Divine Transformation.
After learning about this fact, the Shadow decided to infiltrate the Royal Palace. The process was easier than expected as there was no formation surrounding it.
The Shadow has long noticed that the concept of formation does not exist in this world; in fact, even other professions like Alchemy and Talisman did not seem to exist. And if they did, they were not that developed.
Nevertheless, there was still a weird and mysterious power that surrounded the golden palace. He guessed that it was the divine essence of the Fire God that was secretly protecting this palace.
Fortunately, compared to formations, this power was not as efficient in detection. So, after taking a few days, the Shadow was able to infiltrate the palace and mix into the kitchen and replace one of the chefs that cooked for the king.
The process of feeding him the pill was smoother than the Shadow expected; the king had no guard whatsoever and just drank whatever was given to him without having anyone checked beforehand.
After pondering for a moment, the Shadow realized why; the Gods in this world considered themselves aloof and with how strict power is controlled, there should be no mortals that could pose a threat to them.
So, they became arrogant.
That night, after drinking that pill, the Fire King started having weird thoughts; to be exact, certain thoughts that he had secretly buried deep inside his mind were forced to resurface.
As a king and descendant to the Fire God, his path of ascension is not as smooth as he imagined. Although he managed to become a True God, his next step in cultivation is not an easy one.
To get access to it, he has to properly manage the Fire Kingdom for hundreds of years. Then, based on his performance on how many new believers that he has developed for the Fire God, he can access the next cultivation realm.
On top of that, he also has to dedicate his life to the Fire God, and his entire life, he has no chance to ever surpass his ancestor. As a result of this, the Fire King is of course unwilling.
Unfortunately, there is nothing that he could do but bury these thoughts deep in his heart and continue working for the Fire God and provide him with Incense.
That was until this pill activated and made it impossible for him to further suppress.. And at that moment when his faith wavered, the Fire King's connection with his God was momentarily broken and the Shadow quickly attacked.