Cthulhu Gonfalon

There was such an allusion on Earth that talked about how someone wanted to bribe their boss. The boss would say, “Someone else will find out about this matter. It is inappropriate.” This person would then persuade his boss, “On Earth, there will only be you and me who know about it, no one else will know.” The boss would then say with a sigh, “Heaven and Earth know, the gods and spirits know, you and I know, how can there be no one else who knows?”

Sui Xiong had little talent and limited knowledge, and he could not recall the exact content of this allusion. But that saying of, “Heaven and Earth know, the gods and spirits know, you and I know,” was quite interesting, so he could remember that part.

Actually, on Earth, such a saying could only be regarded as superstition. After all, on Earth, spirits, and gods within the heavens and earth were all illusionary things that were created from imagination. Yet, in this world, there were spirits in heaven and on earth, and both ghosts and gods had knowledge. All of these things were certainties without a doubt.

Take Sui Xiong for instance; as a god, he did have some marvelous perceptive skills. Regardless of where he was, so long as someone mentioned him or wanted to plot against him, he would be able to sense something.

If it was a god making the move, perhaps such a feeling could be masked, but regardless of whether it was the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs or the Mifata Federation, those in charge were merely mortals. As they were discussing the plan, Sui Xiong had already felt that vague sensation and knew that there were people from these two places who were plotting against him. The only thing was, he did not know the specific details nor did he know who they were.

However, none of that mattered. Just like how the God of Strategy, Augmentin, had discussed with him earlier on, regardless of who the culprits were, by then, he just had to find faults with these two countries and demand compensation.

He was the great Master Void Mask; would he even want to talk about “witness and evidence” with this group of monsters?

Evidence, your head! Whatever I said would be evidence! If there was anyone who didn’t believe so, I, the great Master, would pull out whatever I know about you, be it literary or military, then with my Divine Power, I would read your minds. Anyone of you could try your best to see if you could find any evidence!

However, by that time, the price of compensation could be…

This was the method that Augmentin had taught Sui Xiong back then. At that time, Sui Xiong observed that Augmentin would display three kinds of expressions. His face would express his anger, his ferocity and his overbearing arrogance that showed his disregard for things. From these expressions, Sui Xiong already knew that Augmentin had encountered such situations before or had watched such situations happening on several occasions.

Those from the War God System were belligerent and had fought countless wars. Of course, they also had innumerable experiences of taking advantages of others who were in a weaker position. Being an adviser of the War God System, it was natural for Augmentin to participate in events that took advantage of the weak. Even if he arrogantly self-proclaimed that his identity was too high and mighty to be handling the situation personally, he would certainly have learned enough from frequently watching these situations.

Sui Xiong was a modest and eager learner. Whilst learning from Augmentin, he often felt that he had not learned enough. He was always hoping for more opportunities for him to put to practice what he had learned, and through these practices, he would find his inadequacies so that he could work on raising his standard. Honestly speaking, this was the reason why he hoped that the masterminds from the Kingdom of Thousands of Springs and the Mifata Federation would not accede to provocation so quickly. Whether they chose to act dumb or to simply be in a daze, nothing mattered more than the time and opportunity to practice what he had learned.

If he had gone swinging over ostentatiously, causing the other party to succumb in fear the moment he spoke up, then even if it was an easily achieved task, he would always feel a sense of uncertainty. The feeling of “I have yet to show my power, how could you have fallen” would be bugging him constantly. He found this extremely disagreeable.

Besides, since he was going to take advantage of those in a weaker position, then of course, he should rip off as much as he could from them!

When he thought about it, he could not help but laugh to himself again.

Though this time, he only managed to laugh for a short while before he was disrupted by someone.

The uninvited guest was one of his followers, the God of Knowledge, Wall.

Wall was originally a swordsman who was extremely fierce. After studying for many years, his temperament gradually toned down and became more peaceful. However, there were still traces of his untamed nature. It was only until he earned the title of a god, where under the influence of priesthood and beliefs, the toughness and ferocity in him could finally be considered to have faded off. He gradually acquired the refined scholarly airs of a learned man. As of today, he donned a long robe and held onto scrolls, yet on his waist, he still wore his “Black Blade,” the blade that earned him his reputation back then. Now, on this very blade, there were no longer signs of murderous intentions. On the contrary, he seemed to be like any other ordinary scholar who roamed about leisurely, with their blades merely as an accessory.

However, at that very moment, he did not show any trace of leisure or relaxed temperament. On the contrary, he seemed to be flustered and fuming with anger.

“Your Majesty! How terrible!” He had yet to arrive before Sui Xiong, but he was already shouting, “You’ve been fooled!”

Sui Xiong was taken aback. Feeling puzzled, he asked, “What is this about?”

Wall asked, “A few days ago, weren’t you bestowed with some divine blood, which you have passed to the two Legendary Masters to brew and refine the wine of eternal life?”

Sui Xiong nodded. “Indeed, I have done as such.”

“Aye! There is a problem with that wine of eternal life!” Wall took in a deep breath; then he said, “No doubt it is able to give immortality to ordinary people, but that is, in fact, made possible only after it has stolen the divinity of gods. ”

Sui Xiong was slightly shaken and his brows furrowed into a frown.

Divinity was the foundation of all gods. When condensed, divinity would give rise to the formation of deities; when scattered, divinity would become Divine Power. Even the tiniest bit of it was wondrously and endlessly useful. So long as a mortal was able to receive a trace of divinity, if they were to integrate it into their own souls, there would be some hope of stepping into the demigod realm. If it was a Legendary Master who got hold of some divinity, the chances of making a breakthrough would be greatly enhanced.

However, this was, on the contrary, harmful to the gods. The situation could be likened to that of “cutting one’s own flesh to feed the tiger,” which was a Buddhism allusion on Earth. No matter how infinitely powerful one could be and how fast one could heal injuries—yet to cut out a part of one’s own flesh, how painful that would be!

He immediately shut his eyes and examined himself inside out, but he did not seem to discover any bit of his divinity being stolen.

This was weird. Seeing how flustered Wall was, there was no way this could be a lie. Come to think of it, the origin of that wine of eternal life was highly questionable. No wonder it was lost for so many years. But, why was he not affected?

Deep down, Sui Xiong was greatly puzzled, but he did not let it show. With a smile of indifference, he dismissed the matter lightly by saying, “Just a tiny bit of divinity, is that a big deal? I am, in any way, a great Divine Power; I can still afford to bear such a small loss.”

Wall was taken aback. Feeling somewhat confused, he asked, “Your Majesty, you have yet to complete the condensation into a priesthood, right? It is the most critical moment for you now. Losing that tiny bit of divinity might possibly weaken your deity form in future…”

Sui Xiong smiled without saying a word.

After a few deep conversations with Leonard, he grew quite interested in Leonard’s proposed idea of “possessing priesthood without being a god.” Such a method might cause him to lose a substantial amount of his power as a god, but at the very least, he could still retain the few most important abilities. He could avoid being infected by the power of beliefs and could also avoid falling into chaos like the normal devils. Carefully thinking, this was indeed a good way out.

He was not someone from this world, thus, he did not place much emphasis on the rules of this world. Without a doubt, he would simply go down whichever path was most appropriate. The path that Leonard had researched consisted of the merits of both the legitimate gods and the devils. Though not as powerful as the legitimate gods, it was not inferior to the devils. So at the very least, there was a good balance between both the legitimate gods and the devils. This path was, after all, a very desirable choice.

Since he had such a notion in mind, he no longer put the matter of whether he could complete the condensation into a priesthood to heart. Since he was not intending to complete the condensation, would it even matter if he had to lose that bit of divinity?

However, it was not appropriate to disclose this piece of news for the time being. He had decided to put it off for now.

Seeing how Sui Xiong was not really concerned about the situation, Wall was so anxious that he was so close to stomping his feet.

There was such a saying on Earth, which went as such: “The emperor is not worried, but his eunuchs are worried to death.” This could most probably be used to describe Wall’s look now.

In the end, it was Sui Xiong consoling Wall, “Don’t worry. It is just a tiny bit of divinity. I have my way of making up for this; it is not going to exceed one and a half years.”

Wall was taken aback and looked at Sui Xiong in surprise.

Divinity might be formed via the condensation of divine power, but tracing back to its source, its roots were derived from the “recognition of the world.” For the gods, unless there was an advancement in their deity forms, if not, no matter how much divine power there was, it would not condense into divinity. This was why even a great Divine Power seldom bestowed divinity upon its own followers to enable them to become demigods.

However, based on what Wall just heard from Sui Xiong, it seemed as though Sui Xiong had a way to make up for the lost divinity.

What an amazing supernatural power!

Wall was quite quick-witted himself and realized this within a flash. Very quickly, he retracted his look of shock and willed himself to regain a calm demeanor.

“Your Majesty, there really is no problem at all?” he asked in a low voice.

“Really, there’s no problem at all,” Sui Xiong said amidst laughter. “Relax.”

Seeing as how Wall was finally reassured, Sui Xiong finally got to asking about the matter that initially worried Wall.

“Just now, you mentioned something about the wine of eternal life—what exactly is the matter with it?” he asked out of curiosity. “Tell me every single detail you know…”