Chapter 296

The boundless, endless Underworld.

Like a silent, dark domain.

The river of time seemed to freeze here, with only dead silence and stillness intertwining into the eternity of the world after death.

On this vast Underworld Continent, darkness seemed to possess the power to devour everything; Spear Cages condensed with heavy silence were everywhere, as if to imprison the souls of all living beings here.

Under the eternal gray sky, only the faint Ghost Fire flickered like distant stars, shining with a deep and dim light.

The dark earth breathed slowly in endless slumber, every inch of space soaked in the Underworld's yin qi.

And in the deepest part of the Land of the Dead—

Like stars surrounding the moon, guarded layer by layer by the seven gates of the Underworld... was the warm light existing beneath the earth.

Heating Temple, Mesram Thea.

An ancient, heavy temple that felt incongruous with the Underworld sat in the deepest part, surrounded by large numbers of Gallura Spirits patrolling back and forth.

………………

Inside the temple.

A conversation was also taking place.

"Divinity?"

Miss Ereshkigal slightly furrowed her brow, then hesitated for a moment, looking at the youth below, and asked softly:

"Is there something special about the divinity of another world?"

"..."

"..."

"More precisely, it should be called 'Divine Spark,' a kind of metaphysical divine essence or something..."

Facing the Goddess of the Underworld on the throne, Xia Zhi pondered slightly, then spread his hands—

"But in the end it's just a term; we just need to understand what it is ourselves."

Anyway, it's all the same.

Although there are obvious differences between the divinities of both sides, they are still very similar things.

"Although saying this is somewhat impolite, based on my personal experience, I think that kind which can be called... 'Higher Divinity'."

The youth raised his fist, coughed lightly near his mouth: "Of course, it's mainly due to the difference in the overall environment; in that world, Divine Power is the main theme, and the Gods rule the Multiverse..."

Ereshkigal didn't pay attention to these, but pondered for a moment: "'Higher Divinity'?"

It sounds quite interesting.

This also made the Mors Girl interested, but she couldn't show it in front of the youth, so she still sat upright on the throne.

Just like before.

Clearly the Goddess of the Underworld, who should rule everything with majesty and awe, governing the entire underground temple.

But Ereshkigal just sat so properly on that overly spacious throne, legs together, hands neatly folded on her knees...

In short, it was a very ladylike and elegant sitting posture.

Not only did she not show any aura of a mistress, but instead outlined an image of an innocent and pure young lady who knew nothing of the world.

—But compared to Ishtar, who had a willful and free-spirited personality and a very lively tone...

—Miss Ale was undoubtedly another kind of cuteness.

"Yes, maybe probably it's... the difference between divine essence manifested at the planetary level and divine essence manifested at the universal level?"

The youth held his chin, with a deep gaze, thinking as he spoke.

"Just like in our world, an existence that independently emerges as nature's own tactile sense is a Divine Spirit or an Elf..."

"They are terminals managing the surface, Star's Tactile Senses managing the laws of this planet..."

"Then, can I make a guess?"

Since an existence independently emerging from the planet's tactile sense can manage the laws of the planet.

Does this mean—

If it's an existence independently emerging from the universe's tactile sense, then it can manage the laws of the universe?

Xia Zhi spoke eloquently while his train of thought seemed to be opened, and his eyes became increasingly bright.

After all, the essence of divinity is not only a symbol of power, but also an external manifestation of profound understanding of existence and laws, so even if it's the same divinity, there will inevitably be differences in superiority and inferiority.

Just like in that world of Gods.

There is also the saying of 'Divine Rank Three'; Quasi-Gods and Lesser Gods, Lesser Gods and Greater Gods, they simply don't seem to be the same species at all.

"Eh, this... is it like that?"

Miss Ale was somewhat doubtful, while also thinking seriously.

It seems still very reasonable; different concepts derived from different Roots definitely have different Authorities and powers.

When these concepts all gain form, the differences naturally appear.

Primordial Divine Spirits born on a planet might just be personified natural phenomena, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions within the planet.

And Divine Spirits born in the primordial universe...

To be honest, Miss Ale found it somewhat hard to imagine what level of divinity that would be.

"No, not necessarily like that—"

Unexpectedly, the youth shook his head, giving an answer that was not affirmative.

"I'm just making a hypothetical explanation of their differences based on my current understanding; the actual situation might be somewhat close, but definitely won't be exactly the same..."

"After all, our current understanding is still too little, not enough to fully comprehend the Root of divinity, the mysteries of the universe."

This person...

Is rather cautious...

Ereshkigal heard this, gathered her thoughts, and nodded thoughtfully.

She still thought it over very seriously and carefully, taking into account as much of the intelligence this human before her had brought as possible, and only after a while did she lift her head.

The girl looked at the youth below, gently drew in a breath:

"So, Mr. Xia Zhi, you want me to figure it out?"

"Something like that," Xia Zhi admitted frankly, while staring directly into Ereshkigal's equally gorgeous rose-red eyes.

This caused Miss Ale, who had just plucked up her courage, to subconsciously look away again, still feeling a bit restrained and nervous.

She was still somewhat unable to handle this situation, having no experience at all.

"Divinity is not an ordinary research subject to begin with; it is sacred power, and also the sacred essence. If you do not possess the highest level of divinity, you cannot glimpse all its secrets..."

Xia Zhi spread his hands and said in a slightly regretful tone:

"And I am not very suitable, so only you can help me, Lady Ereshkigal."

"..."

"..."

"Huh? Eh eh eh, I, I..."

Sitting upright like an innocent maiden ignorant of the world, the golden-haired Goddess Lady was first stunned for a moment, and immediately panicked.

She did not know why she was panicking, but subconsciously thought of another person.

"A matter of great importance, it must be taken seriously."

But before she could open her mouth to deny or shirk, the youth had already stared at her, his pupils full of sincerity, and continued on his own:

"And Lady Ereshkigal, you are undoubtedly the Goddess I trust most. I cannot rest easy with others, so I came to find you at the first opportunity..."

——Huh! Huh? Is that how it is?

——I, I am the Goddess he trusts most?

Miss Ale became even more flustered and at a loss for a moment. The other person was clearly saying very normal words, but for some reason, she felt it seemed not quite right.

However, although her head was a bit dizzy, she still felt these words were very reasonable.

Ishtar's temperament was too flighty, and she was too loud and clamorous, of course not as good as herself, who always worked diligently and seriously!

Mm, there was a subtle feeling of happiness!

This feeling of being indirectly affirmed, and the object of comparison was still that foolish younger sister who was completely her opposite...

This was something Miss Ale had not experienced much before, so she naturally had little resistance.

At the same time.

The persuasion work on the other side was basically considered smoothly completed.

It could not even be called smoothly completed, but had already entered the stage of discussing specific operations, looking forward to a bright future, and by the way encouraging and pumping up the person concerned.

"... The existing divinity is your essence, so we naturally cannot directly discard it. Therefore, my idea is to use Ishtar, your current divinity as a foundation, and fuse a new Divine Spark..."

"... If successful, we might as well call it 'Higher Composite Divinity'? I think this name is still very fitting. Of course, specifically it still depends on you..."

"... Think about it, that concept I described to you before—'Space Ishtar'—it might really have hope of realization, and we have enough time..."

Fully displaying his eloquence, Xia Zhi spared no effort to bring out the big pie he had once drawn, attempting to add motivation to the Goddess Lady.

Receiving this brand new divine power should be able to help the Goddess break through the upper limit.

Although he could not say for sure...

Whether it was increasing from the original level cap of 100 to a level cap of 1000 or even 10000?

Or simply opening up from a level cap of 100 to a level cap of 120?

But no matter how you say it, the upper limit is just the upper limit; it does not represent the actual situation. Potential is just potential; if it cannot be developed, it has no meaning.

So, after breaking through the upper limit, the Goddess still has to work hard to level up herself...

Considering Ishtar's temperament, Xia Zhi naturally needed to inject as much motivation into her as possible, lest after updating to the new version, she enters the Long Grass Period, logging in every day to slack off...

"I know, I know. It hasn't even started yet, right? There's no clue yet on how to do it!"

Miss Ishtar puffed her cheeks and said in a bad mood. This fellow chattered on endlessly; she even regretted accepting this new divinity a bit.

"How could that be? Of course we have clues—for example, do you know the 'Goddess of the Catalan Mound'?"

Xia Zhi smiled slightly: "That Goddess whose name has been lost since eight thousand years ago can be said to be the true Original Scripture Level, the embodiment of the power of creating the Ten Thousand Things possessed by the Mother Goddess..."

"Deriving from its origin, it gave birth to Cybele, Ishtar (Historical), Inanna, Astarte, Gaia, Hera, Artemis, Athena, and so on..."

"You are also one of them. Our first step can start from the prototypes of Ishtar, Astarte, Anat, etc., to find Goddesses with more common points with you..."

"..."

"..."

Ishtar listened to him talking fluently and eloquently, and was stunned for a moment.

Immediately, she suddenly reacted: "Eh! Wait, you, you... when did you prepare this? You didn't have this premeditated, did you?"

——Why is it so detailed?

——Like there was a Contingency Plan made beforehand?

"How could that be? What premeditated? That's putting it too harshly..."

The youth blinked his eyes and looked very sincerely into the Goddess Lady's eyes:

"I came to find you at the first opportunity, after all! You are the Goddess I trust most! Ishtar!"

(Chapter End)