Chapter 145: Xiaobai’s Classroom

Chapter 145 -141: Xiaobai’s Classroom

“So, what’s the deal with the Divine Factions?”

“How are they divided?”

“By region? Or by moral and ethical alignment?”

Sunlight filtered through the treetops as the incessant chirping of cicadas rose and fell, weaving a dense and irritating web of noise.

In the afternoon, the Mushroom Squad continued along their planned route out of the mission area, intending to reach a place called the Fluorescent Cave to make camp for the night.

And along the way, Lu Wei kept asking Bai Ya questions about the “Divine Factions.”

This, in turn, proved that he hadn’t used the bottle of [Divine Blessing].

That’s right. Although the effects of a [Magic Pool] were powerful and would provide an immediate boost to his combat strength…

…once Lu Wei discovered that [Precise Identification] could actually determine which Divine Spirit a blessing came from, he had to consider these more long-term issues.

Because according to Mirana, Blessed Marks from Divine Spirits of different factions would conflict with one another.

This meant that his choice this time was equivalent to picking a side.

Of course, Lu Wei couldn’t care less about the morals, ethics, or codes of conduct of these Divine Spirits.

He only cared about one thing: Power!

He would choose whoever was strongest!

After all, the more powerful a Divine Spirit, the more frequently they would bestow blessings.

And that meant a higher probability of him obtaining an absorbable [Divine Blessing].

As for things like good versus evil, law versus chaos… none of that was part of his consideration.

It was just like praying to a god. You pray to whichever one gets results!

Didn’t matter if it was a Western god or the Buddha! A black cat or a white cat!

A Transmigrator only believes in pragmatism!

“Hmm… they’re mostly divided by their stances.”

“But there’s also a distinction between the New Gods and the old gods.”

“Some Divine Spirits might have different stances but are on good personal terms, so they might be in the same faction.”

“In short, it’s very complicated, and the records in different Divine Scriptures often conflict…”

Carefully avoiding a few thorny vines, Bai Ya finished her answer and asked with some confusion:

“Why are you asking all this?”

“Oh, just curious.”

Lu Wei gave a vague response and immediately followed up, “So, which Divine Spirits are in the same faction as the Magic Goddess?”

“The Magic Goddess, huh…”

Bai Ya tilted her head, recalling for a moment before rattling off a few names, “Agricultural Goddess Shangtiya, the God of Loyalty and Devotion Tom, and the Moonlight and Star Goddess Suren. They’re all in her faction.”

‘Sounds like they’re all in the “good guy” camp.’

Lu Wei nodded. “How’s their Power?”

“Huh? Power?”

Bai Ya’s eyes went wide with a silly expression.

“How would I know? It’s not like I’ve fought them.”

“…”

‘Do you hear yourself right now?’

Lu Wei took a deep breath and explained helplessly:

“What I mean is, the scriptures must have records of divine wars, right? Wars have winners and losers. Can’t we use that to roughly judge their Power?”

“Oh, oh, so that’s what you mean.”

It dawned on Bai Ya. She then cleared her throat and began today’s “Xiaobai Lecture” with great seriousness.

“AHEM. Well, for that, we have to start with the very first divine war from a long, long time ago.”

“This war was called the Dawn’s Tribulation. The two sides were the Moonlight and Star Goddess Suren, who I just mentioned, and the Goddess of Darkness and Night, Shire.”

“They were originally sisters who created the world together, but then they started fighting over some stuff.”

“At first, Suren couldn’t beat Shire and even got injured.”

“But unexpectedly, her blood and Divine Power happened to give birth to a powerful New God—the Magic Goddess, Mistral.”

“The moment the Magic Goddess was born, the tide of battle turned.”

“In the end, it was pretty much a draw, and that established the foundation for the eternal opposition between light and darkness in the world…”

The scorching sun hung high in the sky, making the air above the forest seem to shimmer and twist. The Mushroom Squad was like four tiny ants, slowly advancing through the boundless sea of trees.

It had to be said, Bai Ya definitely didn’t have Furen’s Talent for storytelling.

Furen not only had a rich stock of stories but could also tell very Ordinary, cliché tales with incredible life and emotion.

But Bai Ya was far from capable of that.

A magnificent “divine war” turned into something like children playing house when it came from her mouth.

From the “Dawn’s Tribulation” to the “Crown War,” and then to “The Fall of Morgoth” and the “Year of Turmoil”…

…one epic divine war after another was reduced to a street gang brawl.

But Lu Wei did manage to understand one thing.

In the end, all these fights between the Divine Spirits were about competing for “domains of power.”

“I am the God of the Sea!”

“Bullshit, you’re jack shit! *I’m* the God of the Sea!”

“Enough talk… Sucker punch!”

“AGH! You fight dirty! I’ll kill you!”

Yep, that was probably how it went.

‘When I think about it that way, it really isn’t any different from a gang war.’

Watching Bai Ya, who was still rambling on, Lu Wei couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

At the same time, Mirana, who was walking further ahead, glanced back at him for the fifth time.

Once every five minutes, on average.

The first time was when he asked, “Which Divine Spirits are in the same faction as the Magic Goddess?”

…

…

As the sun began to set, the four of them crossed a fast-flowing stream and took a short break by its bank.

This was mainly because their feet were wet, and they needed to dry them before putting their socks and shoes back on to continue their journey.

Otherwise, their feet would start to stink.

Of course, under normal circumstances, stinky feet weren’t really a problem.

After all, they were on an adventure, not attending some niche social gathering.

But they were already very close to their destination now, so there was no rush.

‘Hmm, not bad at all…’

As his gaze swept over Bai Ya’s and Mirana’s feet, Lu Wei mentally gave them scores of 9 and 8.5, respectively.

Mirana lost half a point because her skin tone was at a slight disadvantage.

Not as fair as Bai Ya’s.

As for Furen…

At the critical moment, Lu Wei decisively averted his gaze, successfully preserving his appetite for dinner.

“That should be good enough. Let’s get going.”

A moment later, he was the first to put his shoes on, then pulled out the map to take another look.

“About a mile to go. Get your torches ready. We might run into giant bats after we enter the cave.”

“So how big are giant bats?”

Furen asked curiously as he put on his shoes, “Do they really suck blood?”

“That’s right. It’s written in the Adventurer’s Manual.”

Lu Wei nodded. “They’re not huge. With their wings spread, they’re about three or four feet wide.”

Furen was a bit confused. “Huh? Then why are they called ‘giant’ bats?”

“Because compared to Ordinary bats, they’re already huge, of course!”

Bai Ya jumped in, looking as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“It’s like mushrooms. Any mushroom bigger than an Ordinary one can be called a ‘big mushroom.’ It doesn’t have to be as big as Puji to count.”

“Oh, oh! Hey, speaking of which, it seems like we haven’t run into any Walking Mushrooms since that last time.”

“That’s not strange. After all, Walking Mushrooms, just like Fur Balls, are uncommon creatures.”

“Is that so? I was kind of hoping to taste one.”

“Huh? Are you talking about Puji or a Fur Ball?”

“The Walking Mushroom, of course!”

“You scared me. I thought you wanted to eat Hess.”

“I’d be lucky if it doesn’t eat *me*. Last time it jumped on my head…”

Bantering back and forth, Furen and Bai Ya unknowingly ended up at the front of the group.

Lu Wei was following behind them when he suddenly felt a tug on the corner of his clothes.

He turned his head and saw Mirana looking at him with a calm expression.

“Wait a moment. I want to ask you something.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“That bottle of [Divine Blessing] you have—is it from the Magic Goddess?”

“Huh? Why would you…”

Lu Wei’s eyes widened slightly, and he subconsciously wanted to ask how she knew.

But he caught himself right away and quickly changed his tune, feigning ignorance:

“Why would you say that? How could I possibly know something like that?”

“…”

Patches of light dappled the ground between them, swaying gently with the breeze.

Mirana stared straight into his eyes for a moment before lowering her gaze and shaking her head.

“It’s nothing. I was just asking.”