Chapter 468

Chapter 468: Chapter 465: "I prophesy that you will die.The secret door was hidden behind layers of grapevines, close to the outer wall of the farm and particularly concealed in the night.

Su Ming’an descended the downward staircase and was met with the scent of dust.

As he descended, he continued to ponder.

...Aside from Lv Shu, Noel was also within his considerations.

Noel had the New World Guild, and his background was not as simple as the others. Bringing him in had pros and cons. The advantage was that Noel had experience in dealing with powers and could bring in a large number of players who supported the alliance. The downside was that Noel might have impure intentions, and he already knew Su Ming’an’s secret of rewinding time.

Noel was too smart, with an acuity that made Su Ming’an feel unable to trust him. If Noel truly harbored bad intentions, it would definitely be a big problem for the future.

"Cough, cough cough..."

A coughing sound came from ahead.

Xiber, coughing, walked in front of him, getting a face full of dust.

She wiped her face with some irritation: "...There’s so much dust here, doesn’t anyone clean this place?"

This was a wine cellar, with some dusty wooden barrels around, and the air was permeated with the aroma of wine.

Following the light from the Soul Stone in Xiber’s hand, Su Ming’an saw a blood-red array drawn on the ground.

"What is this?" He looked at the array, which was inscribed with animal patterns that were familiar to him; they were the python, raven, and lamb, which were the three great Authorities of Bai Shen.

"...Quite a novel location indeed." Xiber moved closer to the array and smelled blood: "This is Lamb’s Blood. Whoever drew this array has big ambitions."

"What do you mean?"

"Lambs are a good omen in Qiongdi. To dare use Lamb’s Blood for an array, one must not be a true believer in Bai Shen," Xiber said.

At that moment, the Raven who had always been perched on Su Ming’an’s shoulder suddenly hopped with its claws and hid inside his robe.

Su Ming’an still didn’t know why it was hiding when he heard a man’s voice.

"You are quite right, young lady."

A man wrapped in a coat and with strange patterns on his face approached; on his shoulder stood a wooden carving of a black bird.

"Black Lambs symbolizing Bai Shen? To me, they are nothing more than a bunch of beasts," he said, showing off a set of ghastly white teeth.

"That’s a familiar sentiment," Xiber said. "You’re an investor of the farm, Broken—I’m not wrong, am I?"

"Strange." But Broken paused in his movements, studying Xiber with a probing look: "...How did you recognize me, young lady? I’m certain I haven’t seen you before."

"I’m a Prophet; I’ve seen your appearance. My name is Xiber," she said.

"Ah, Xiber, I’ve heard that name." Broken’s smile widened: "You are the one from Qiongdi, the only Jiu Shen believer? Then you should understand my thoughts even better."

Hearing this, Su Ming’an suddenly recalled what Xiber mentioned at the beginning about her ultimate goal.

She said she wanted to become a deity in this land and sky.

...Can humans also become deities?

"Is this your adventurer?" Po looked at Su Ming’an, "Still quite young. Kid, by the look in your eyes, you don’t believe that humans can become gods, do you?"

"No, I believe," Su Ming’an said. "I know a genuine deity who ascended to godhood from a human form."

...Although he had been pulled down by him again.

Po laughed out loud upon hearing his words, his laughter sharp and hoarse.

"Hahaha, you say you know a deity... Haha, of the two gods in this region of Qiongdi, Bai Shen is dead, and no one has truly seen Jiu Shen, so which deity could you possibly know? Kid, there’s a limit to joking; otherwise, that group of zealots will tear you to pieces!"

He laughed a few times, but seeing that Su Ming’an and Xiber had expressionless faces, he found it humorless and stopped laughing.

"...You always say there are boundaries between humans and gods. But to me, it doesn’t seem that way. The word ’boundary’ seems insurmountable, yet it can be constructed and overthrown," Po said. "I believe that Bai Shen and Jiu Shen originated from the myths passed down by word of mouth, so when Bai Shen appeared, She possessed the power from within the myths..."

"So what you mean to say is, ’Believe and it exists, doubt and it doesn’t’?" Su Ming’an said.

"Yes," Po said. "Deities originally came from people’s fantasies. When enough people fantasize, the deity accumulates sufficient faith energy and truly appears before them. Otherwise, we can’t explain how Bai Shen, who suddenly appeared five years ago, matches the one in the myths exactly.

After all, the myths were made up by people who had never seen the real Bai Shen before. So why would the myths they invented be exactly the same as the deity itself?"]

"What you’re implying is... the so-called gods are the result of people’s fantasies about Them, the manifestation of people’s faith in Them, not that They have always existed," Su Ming’an said.

"Exactly!" Po lit up upon hearing Su Ming’an’s words, his fingers twisting unnaturally, his entire body trembling with excitement: "I thought this kind of thinking would no longer be accepted in Qiongdi, but unexpectedly, I’ve met someone who approves of my views..."

"Your conjecture doesn’t necessarily have any decisive mistakes," Su Ming’an said. "If we take time as the main thread, then the world of the individual is constantly splitting, and this splitting occurs every moment. Every thought we have, every decision we make causes the world to change. So, in this sense, whether or not we believe in something, the world will change subtly in the direction of that belief — hence, ’to believe is to receive.’ It doesn’t come out of nowhere but is a qualitative change achieved through quantitative change."

Po’s body shook even more violently, his two rows of ghastly white teeth chattering, his face flushed with excitement.

Being acknowledged, his favorability at this moment soared to 50 points, faster than a rocket.

Of course, Su Ming’an’s words were mostly blather. He was just working backward from the results to find a theory that fit Po’s statements.

But it seemed to work effectively, as evidenced by Po’s excited expression.

"Do you aspire to become a god?" Su Ming’an said.

"Of course. I have already mastered part of the Black Lamb Authority and have created twelve altars with it," Po said. "As long as a sufficient number of altars are repaired and completed, I believe I will wield the Black Lamb Authority. After that, all I need is to collect the Black Crow and Black Python Authorities, and I can masquerade as Bai Shen in the eyes of the people, gaining their faith... With ’Authority, Faith, Energy,’ once I have energy, I can become the true Bai Shen—the real god!"

Su Ming’an raised an eyebrow.

Po’s idea seemed absurd but not impossible. If a god truly is a product of people’s faith and fantasies, as long as everyone believes that Po is the real Bai Shen, then Po, possessing the three authorities, might indeed ascend to godhood.

Speaking of which, the underlying infrastructure of this sacrificial field was the work of Po, the ghost right in front of them.

"Is that so? But unfortunately, you’ll never be able to collect the Black Crow and Black Python Authorities," Xiber said indifferently at his side, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice: "To collect the Black Python Authority, Fengchang would have to willingly give it to you, and that alone makes it impossible for you to succeed. As for energy, only the person who makes it to the end of the Battle of a Hundred will have enough energy, and since you’re not a competitor, you can’t achieve this either."

As he listened to Xiber’s reality check, Po’s face twitched, his complexion darkening.

He had indeed realized the current difficulties; in truth, he was unable to obtain the remaining two authorities, as well as faith and energy, other than the Black Lamb Authority.

That was why he was hiding here, drawing arrays, researching ancient tomes in search of another method to attain godhood, yet finding nothing.

"Looking at that bird on your shoulder, carved in the likeness of a Raven, the messenger of Bai Shen," said Xiber. "Pity, it’s not a real Raven, just a wooden sculpture. You seem to really want to become Bai Shen and long for the Raven’s allegiance, but unfortunately, the Raven isn’t attracted to you at all. You simply... can’t become the genuine Bai Shen in people’s eyes."

Su Ming’an took a small step back, as the real Raven was hiding under his cloak.

Eni’s face turned a bit darker, he no longer looked toward Xiber but kept his gaze firmly on Su Ming’an.

"Adventurer, you have acknowledged my speculation, I trust you, could you... collect some items for me?" Eni said and, to his surprise, issued a task.

"Ding-dong!"

"Okay, I will find them for you."

Su Ming’an accepted the quest and left the place.

While going upstairs, he heard Xiber mention that she had lost something.

"Did you lose it down there?" Su Ming’an asked.

"Yeah, the Cursed Fire Flower in my hood fell, I’ll go down and get it myself, just wait there for me," Xiber pointed to the grape trellis on the ground.

"Okay." Su Ming’an nodded.

Xiber then turned and walked downstairs.

She first closed the door to ensure soundproofing, then headed straight toward the inner room.

Eni was still in that dark room, ancient books spread out on the floor; he squatted by the Array, still engaged in the study of his own method to ascend to divinity.

"Why have you returned? Did you drop something?" Eni didn’t even look back.

"I have a prophecy to tell you," Xiber said.

At that, Eni turned around with great interest: "Right, you said you were a Prophet, so can you predict whether my idea is correct? Can I... truly ascend to godhood in my mortal form?"

Xiber smiled, "Your idea is correct. As long as the three conditions of faith, energy, and authority are met, indeed, a mortal can become a god."

"Is that so?" Eni’s eyes lit up with excitement as he danced about with joy: "Can I really become a god like this? That’s great; then I need to find a way to recapture the Black Python and Black Crow Authorities as soon as possible..."

"Besides, I’ve returned because I have seen a glimpse of your future, would you like to know it?" Xiber said.

"Of course." Eni said with a smile: "I think no one would refuse to see their own future."

"Well then, I prophesy..." Xiber suddenly raised her hand.

"Bang!"

The shotgun emitted white smoke.

She held the shotgun and blew a breath of air.

Before her, Eni, with a bullet hole in his forehead, slowly toppled backward.

His eyes still held the joy of being recognized, but that light was fading away. He stared at Xiber, who was within an arm’s reach and had suddenly raised a gun, and his eyelids closed in bewilderment.

Such a man, harboring dreams of "ascending to godhood," toppled without a sound beneath the barrel of Xiber’s gun.

"My prophecy is—I prophesy that you will die here," Xiber said as she put down the gun and found a Bai Shen Stone on Eni’s body.

"Besides, the one who can ascend to godhood as a mortal will certainly not be you... You dream of becoming my competitor," she said.

With that, she repositioned the Cursed Fire Flower behind her hair, pulled up her hood to hide the wildness and ferocity in her eyes, and her demeanor once again became inconspicuous.

She picked up the stone and turned to leave.

The room was quiet, with only the lingering scent of light wine.

The pages of the ancient books slowly closed as if concealing an unrealistic dream.

"Here’s your item," Xiber handed the Bai Shen Stone to Su Ming’an.

Su Ming’an heard the quest completion prompt. He guessed Xiber probably resorted to violence.

"The other two stone slabs are likely with Meiyatu and Farmer Lao Te. I roughly know their locations, so go and take them," Xiber said.

Noticing his gaze, her eyes fluttered slightly: "...Why, do I seem like a villain to you?"

"No, just a bit surprised by the stark contrast between your before and after," Su Ming’an said.

Xiber adjusted her hood slightly: "Prey at the bottom of the food chain, if they want to survive, they must show weakness against proud predators, and let loose when it’s their turn to prey. They are born weak and must give their all just to live... so, you might as well assume all these methods are practiced."

"All right, let’s go." Su Ming’an didn’t comment further.

Although Xiber’s methods were violent, it was also her way of struggling to survive to this day; he was not going to judge her actions based on his own sense of morality.

However, he noticed that Xiber’s originally childish features seemed to have suddenly matured a bit.

He wondered if it was just his imagination.

In the modernly decorated living room, Farmer Lao Te stroked his goatee and tremulously spoke to the two persons sitting opposite him.

The guests he was entertaining were Eni and Flora.

After realizing the instance’s background was complex, Eni and Flora proactively sought out Farmer Lao Te to brush up his favorability and learn the secrets hidden within Qiongdi.

"Farmer, I want to ask." Eni raised a question: "Within this Sacrifice Field... is there a possibility of ’special bonus rules’ existing?"