Chapter 535 (2): New Gods, Ancient Gods, the Essence of Godhood

In the world of Storm and Thunder, two figures gradually emerged in the vast sky.

Dressed in military attire, Seleucia queried, “Boss, the Divine Domain of Storm and Thunder has been moved to Londan. What’s next?”

If you’re asking me, who should I ask? Between you and me, who's the boss?

Wayne pondered for a moment, then pointed at the empty world and said, “What do you think, Seleucia? Don’t hurry to give me an answer. There is a large gap between a Divine Domain and a Divine Realm. Think it through first.”

At the mention of a Divine Realm, Seleucia thought for a moment before gesturing with her hands and saying, “I know little about Divine Realms since the gods of my time had not yet reached that height. Divine Domains were the most they could manage. Based on what I know about them, this sky is a little empty. I plan to divide it into several levels.”

“The topmost level is a sacred, distant sky, where a mysterious area named the Peak of Dome is. There, the God of Sky resides, as well as the purest and most primitive power in nature.”

Seleucia went on and on about how the Peak of Dome was filled with heavy, moving clouds with lightning interwoven within, and how each flash was accompanied by thunderous rumbles to express the knowledge of Storm and Thunder, representing the god’s whispers.

At the heart of the Peak of Dome stood a palace of lightning. All meteorological phenomena could be observed there.

Then Seleucia explained the concepts of the Plain of Storm, the Ancient Tree of Lightning, the Land of Divine Punishment, and the Prison of Absolution.

She didn’t stop until half an hour later, finally satisfied.

Wayne could see from her flushed face that she had clearly thought everything through in advance. He laughed and said, “I can see that. You aren’t just prepared. You’d been thinking about constructing a Divine Realm since the War of Faiths.”

Seleucia nodded seriously. There was no reason to hide that from Wayne. She admitted, “I want to get stronger, very much.”

Who doesn’t?

Wayne would like to get stronger as well, but couldn’t find a way to do so. “If you want to do it, do it. I can recommend four god-level teachers to you. They all own systemized Divine Realms and can offer you quite some advice.”

“Four?”

Seleucia thought for a moment, then said derisively, “If you’re talking about Ines, Aztimor, Kaleb, and Siluk, forget it. There is no love lost between us. I don’t want to meet them.”

“How so?” Wayne perked up. “Give me the details. I’d love to hear it.”

“Ines, the wicked woman, is two-faced. Aztimor is gloomy and difficult to communicate with...” Seleucia counted on her fingers. “Kaleb is alright, but Siluk keeps too close an eye on her. No one can get between the two of them.”

In other words, during the War of Faiths, all goddesses aside from her were wicked.

Wayne remained non-committal. After having his fun, he said, “The Final Judgment is coming. Even I have to do my best. Having the Divine Realm of Storm and Thunder is crucial. I hope you’ll become a god as soon as possible.”

Seleucia wasn’t the God of Storm and Thunder. She was the Goddess of Sky, and the sky was an incredibly broad concept. Darkness, Sun, and Moonlight could all be included.

If she became a god, she would be able to serve as a main combatant during the Final Judgment.

But then her face crumbled, and her shoulders sagged. “Boss, I see no chance of me becoming a god. I told you last time that my life essence became so great that it distorted my path to evolution and godhood. I’m not sure if the path has broadened, or if I’ve gone down a different path.”

She turned to Wayne for help.

Wayne was even more confused—about new gods, ancient gods, and the essence of godhood. He had many questions to answer.

“Why don’t we give it a try? Maybe it’ll work.” He patted her on the shoulder, speaking bluntly, “I know you. You’re no less talented than the other four goddesses. You’re just too stupid and trust too easily, so you meet your demise prematurely.”

Seleucia nodded. Whatever Wayne said, she agreed.

“It’ll be a waste of your talent not to become a god. I have more than enough knowledge. Whatever your sky lacks, I’ll give. Just do it bravely. If you succeed, it’ll be a jackpot. Even if you fail, you won’t lose anything.”

“...”

Seleucia cocked her head. It wasn’t about effort, but choice. She still hadn’t figured out where the path was. If she went around blindly and ended up going down the wrong path, wouldn’t it be sad?

Seeing through her thoughts, Wayne swung his arm. “It’s fine. If you go down the wrong path, I’ll format you. You have countless chances, so you needn’t worry about making mistakes.”

He extended his thoughts and turned the Divine Domain of Storm and Thunder pale as soon as possible. Detecting the locations of the four Divine Realms, he broke through space and moved over to be their neighbor.

“If you don’t know who to seek out, consider Aztimor first. She’s a vassal of mine like you. If you state your purpose clearly, she won’t reject you.”

Wayne added as a reminder, “Remember, the fact that Aztimor is my vassal is a secret you cannot tell anyone.”

“Why? Does she find that embarrassing?”

“...”

It’s the way of the world. She’s a successful goddess at the end of the day, with a big family and a big business. If I don’t preserve her dignity, she will be dissatisfied, and breeding dissatisfaction makes a team difficult to maintain.

It was the least he could do, so he did it.

After he recommended Seleucia to seek out Aztimor, he visited Ines’s Divine Realm of Darkness and paid his sleep-tax to prove that he hadn’t messed around outside. He had been keeping himself pure for Ines, no longer the pretty boy who slept around. Then he asked about the progress of the four goddesses.

Good news: Wayne’s divine system was progressing nicely. With the four Divine Realms being integrated by paleness, there was a chance that they could merge and complement each other.

That would take a long time, however. The four Divine Realms had been independent, so they couldn’t just adapt to each other overnight—unless a great external power forcefully combined them.

Bad news: the four goddesses kept sending thought replicas to search the grey spaces hidden in the Astral Space, but they had not found the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It was as if they had vanished into thin air and left the box.

Hearing that, Wayne’s blood pressure rose again, and not even abusing Saint Auston would lower it.

He believed Elohim had come from the Earth outside the box, but wasn’t a native Earthman. Rather, He was an alien descending to the planet.

Referencing the European map and its greatest religious faction, Elohim gathered data and adapted everything according to His needs, thus founding the Church of Heavenly Father. He entered the box and began his ascension to godhood. If the hypothesis was true, it would lead to more questions.

For example, why would everything go His way just because He wanted to base the Chosen Land on Europe? Was He the owner of the box? Also, if Elohim were the owner of the box, hadn’t He come into contact with more knowledge outside that made Him stronger?

Last but not least, if Elohim were so strong, why would He be so obsessed with holding the Final Judgment in the box? What did the judgment mean, and what good would it do him?

The questions were crucial, and each gave Wayne a headache as he pondered it. He almost became a slacker like Sukra and sought out Brother Sea God on Dragonheart Island to have a ten-minute chat with Them.

Asking other questions like who created the box, where Elohim acquired it, or whether alien civilizations were able to mass-produce gods would have little point. What happened outside the box didn’t matter right now.

If gods could be mass-produced, though, Wayne hoped that he would be given a few hundred goddesses right now for the Book of Greed to feast on. That would make him an ancient god.

In the council hall for the demon lords, Mikhael took Pride’s seat. Black mist rose around him, and a pale figure manifested behind him.

With his angelic form as the foundation, sinful faces and virtuous faces bobbed up and down on top, while his six wings alternated between black and white, unable to settle on one form.

The Seven Sacred Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins were in opposition. To become a god, one had to strike a balance between the two. In that, Hesione had already advanced further than Mikhael with Mona’s help.

However, Mikhael had a more solid foundation, so he didn’t have to learn by doing like Hesione/Mona. He had already acquired enough knowledge. He only had to reach a balance for him to grasp his divine fire.

Wayne sent his thoughts into Mikhael’s body to help him find equilibrium.

“Great Anointed One.”

“Quiet. Maintain the balance and show me your potential.”

Through Mikhael’s body, Wayne sensed the divine fire that was key to godhood.

The four goddesses had told him that one had to make progress step by step, going through the hexagram, the Silver Cross, the Golden Triangle, and then demigodhood. Demigodhood was the end of evolution for a living being. To become a god, one would have to achieve a breakthrough in Laws.

Divine fire was an eternal Law. Once ignited, the specific path would forever belong to the newly ascended god. Raising the divine fire, the god would claim their own divine throne, and their Divine Realm would emerge.

To reach that height, a vast amount of knowledge alone wouldn’t be enough. Also necessary was an incredible talent.

What was required was a talent in comprehension rather than a racial talent. For example, Solsknar, an Abyssal Python, possessed the racial talent of devouring and was naturally predisposed to accumulate a great amount of knowledge. His comprehension, however...

Intellect was important, and Solsknar had a distinct lack of it.

Moreover, while Seleucia had died early, and Kaleb always relied on Her instinct, both were undeniably talented in magic. They were born to become goddesses.

Wayne trusted Mikhael’s talent. He Who Is Like God had only remained as the Lord of Pride because he didn’t want to stay in Hell. If he wanted to become a god, he would’ve long since become the great demon god centuries ago.

But nothing happened! After Mikhael reached a balance, nothing happened!

This had nothing to do with knowledge and talent, but everything to do with life essence. After becoming an Astral being due to Wayne’s corruption, Mikhael could never ever become a god through accumulated knowledge and comprehension. The divine fire was beyond him.

Wayne pulled his thoughts back and didn’t disturb Mikhael. He told Mikhael to keep trying. Failure wasn’t a bad thing—giving up was. As long as he kept trying, he would succeed one day.

In reality, Wayne had already given up. He had come to a realization: new gods were gods, but ancient gods weren’t gods, not in the same sense of the word!

Living beings could become gods like Ines and Elian, but they could never surpass the limit of godhood and become eternal, immortal beings like the ancient gods.

“Elohim has set out to become an ancient god from the very beginning...”

“He didn’t succeed, so...”

“Would the Final Judgment turn him into an ancient god?!”

The hypothesis surprised Wayne himself. How would that work? What was possible should be possible, and what was impossible should remain impossible. Could the end of the world help give someone the push in cultivation?

“It doesn’t make sense. Destroying the world shouldn’t help with that. What exactly does the Final Judgment mean?”