Chapter 411: Bet (22)

The outskirts of Grey City.

The black‑robed maiden issued a challenge, but Luosen remained seated on the stone chair, unmoving.

Judging by appearances, he hadn't even taken a combat stance.

He took a sip of wine and said, "Great Feili Qisi, don't rush—I haven't finished speaking yet."

Originally he had intended to go straight into battle, but the opponent's last words let him faintly glimpse the contradictory feelings in her heart.

Put in earthly terms, this goddess of annihilation seems to have a somewhat unsteady dao‑heart.

Luosen also did not want to fight.

Because if he won, he'd merely win a divine‑power incarnation; if he lost, he would very likely lose his life.

The gain and the input are not proportional—it's purely a losing bargain.

On the other side, Felikesi shook her head slightly: "I don't think there's anything left for us to discuss."

Although she said that, she, like Luosen, remained seated on the stone chair without moving.

Luosen seized the moment, speaking faster: "Great One, you just said you wished to walk steadily to the world's end, yet your actions don't quite match your words."

"You said you wanted stability, yet you risked connecting to a new world, developing new followers, and even building a Sun Bridge linking the two worlds."

"You said all things will fall into the void of annihilation—that is, nothing now has any meaning."

"If there's no meaning, what are your present efforts for?"

'Click~'

Felikesi gently set the crystal goblet on the stone table, her eyes fixed on Luosen.

"The world has fate; the void of annihilation is merely fate's endpoint, not its entirety."

"No life can perceive fate in full; all we can do is follow the heart's guidance and bear witness to fate with our own lives."

"Thus, bearing witness to fate is the meaning of all I do."

Luosen immediately countered: "If you can't see fate, it isn't fate—it's an uncertain future."

"Our differences need not be irreconcilable. After all, the new world is vast enough to hold many Five‑ring True Gods, isn't it?"

Felikesi nodded: "You're right; that's also the basis for our current conversation."

Luosen continued: "Perhaps we could cooperate in a different way—not seeking to form a pantheon, but remaining independent allies."

Felikesi fell into contemplation.

Seeing that he had moved her, Luosen pressed on.

"You just said that in the future spacetime I will cause your power to weaken greatly, but that's still a future matter."

"Even if there's a 99% chance it will happen, it's still only a possibility, not a certainty, right?"

"Of course, you could ignore my words and try every means to eliminate me, but I would surely resist with all my strength. If you failed, we would become irreconcilable enemies with no room for reconciliation."

"Perhaps it is precisely your uncompromising attitude that leads to the fate you see."

Felikesi gazed at Luosen once again.

After a long look, she said: "Mortal emperor, you really have a silver tongue, but words alone cannot win you true status."

"If you wish to cooperate with me as an independent party, you may—but you must prove your strength to show you deserve that qualification."

Luosen had already thought of a method, and he immediately said: "Proving strength need not be done through combat; there are many other ways."

"I think we can set up a wager."

The chill on Felikesi's face thawed a little.

"A wager? Interesting."

"How shall we wager?"

Luosen raised his hand and pointed his thumb toward Grey City.

"We can agree on a time limit, say, one year."

"Within that year, we will each preach in Grey City and its surroundings; after a year, we'll see who gains more followers there."

"Spread faith, gather followers?"

Felikesi raised her brows: "I've been doing similar things for over twenty thousand years, while you haven't even managed to ignite a divine fire—are you sure you can beat me?"

Luosen laughed: "Precisely because it's difficult, it can prove my strength, right?"

Felikesi nodded in agreement: "Although I think your words are a bit arrogant, I admire that arrogance, for it lets me see the wonder of life."

"So I agree to the wager."

"But the wager needs agreed‑upon rules."

Saying this, Felikesi waved her hand in the air, and a line of glowing text appeared.

"There is a core rule called the Non‑intervention Principle."

"True Gods may hide behind the scenes; they can manifest to preach, bestow artifacts and arts, guide or even command followers, but they must not directly intervene in mortal battles."

"This rule exists because True Gods dwell in the divine realm and find it hard to directly meddle in the mortal world."

"Although one can enter the mundane world via a Divine Avatar, condensing an avatar consumes source substance and, in effect, makes the god a servant of mortals. Do you understand?"

Luosen nodded: "I understand. As a mortal emperor, I deeply feel the tedium of imperial daily affairs."

"What's worse, I cannot let go, for if I did, power would swiftly slip away, endangering my life and my family's lives."

"As long as you understand, that's fine."

Felikesi continued: "After one year, if you win, we will be independent partners."

"If I win, you must join my pantheon and become my servant god."

"No problem, right?"

"No problem at all, Great One." "Then let the wager begin."

Having said that, Felikesi rose and left.

She stepped back a few paces, her form shifting from solid to illusory, and then vanished into thin air.

Luosen watched her leave, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.

Some food remained on the table; he happened to be a little hungry, so he simply focused on enjoying the meal.

While eating and drinking, he again heard Lifu's temporal whisper: "Your Majesty, did you just encounter the mortal incarnation of the Great Annihilator?"

The voice was soft, cautious, as if afraid of being overheard.

"Exactly, I met her."

"Then did you defeat her?"

If it were anyone else, Lifu would never ask such a question, but this natural emperor is unfathomable.

Luosen chuckled: "I have no confidence in defeating the mortal incarnation of a supreme being. In fact, I reached an agreement with her."

"An agreement? May I know what it is?" Lifu asked ever more cautiously.

Luosen thought for a moment, then briefly outlined the agreement's contents, and said: "Tell your master that this agreement will not interfere with my existing cooperation with your master."

Also tell her that if the Annihilation Goddess invites her to become a follower god, no matter how she chooses, I have no objection.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will faithfully relay it."

Luosen wanted to ask Lifu about knowledge concerning 'faith and divinity,' but after deliberation he still did not bring it up.

Because this knowledge is the core knowledge of the True God, if he asked, the Joyful One might answer, but it would certainly come at a high cost.

Faced with the True God, he has very few cards to play; to retain as much initiative as possible, he must play fewer cards and accumulate more strength.

"I already have the method to ignite the divine fire. But how should one condense the divinity that collects the source substance of mortal souls?"

He could not figure it out, and it was even harder to conduct experiments to verify.

Because his soul strength is only twenty rings, he cannot even perceive the existence of the source substance.

By common sense, he should wait until his soul reaches twenty-three rings before considering this, but this unexpected encounter with the Annihilation Goddess has given him a strong sense of crisis.

His current opponent is the True God; relying on the Radiant Scepter, he has gained the qualification to converse with the True God.

But this is akin to pulling teeth from a tiger.

True Gods are indifferent, and the Radiant Scepter is ultimately an external object; if his defense shows even the slightest flaw, he will immediately face utter ruin.

This is no alarmist talk; the experience of the Eternal Powerhouse Antuo Wanji is clear proof.

Therefore, to stay safe, one cannot follow conventional wisdom.

He must minimize his period of vulnerability as much as possible and make his plans unpredictable to avoid being ambushed.

So, if he truly waited until reaching twenty-three rings to begin researching the condensation of divinity, his actions would be far too slow.

"We need to understand the source substance as early as possible. But how should we study it?"

"Source substance. Source substance"

Luosen took out the Radiant Scepter and lightly played with it in his hand.

"The Joyful One says my soul contains a large amount of source substance."

"She also says the Radiant Scepter is condensed from source substance."

The Radiant Scepter must not be tampered with; if damaged, he would lose his barrier against the True God, and his soul would be instantly invaded, becoming the True God's eternal slave.

Then he can only seek the source substance within his own soul.

"In my soul, the manifestation of the source substance is likely Laifu. But even now, I still cannot perceive Laifu's concrete existence."

Regarding Laifu, he remains in a state where he can only use it, but cannot modify its underlying architecture.

Just like most people on Earth, who can only use a phone but cannot build one.

"What should we do?"

Luosen leaned back on the stone chair, gazing vacantly at the ashen sky.

As he stared, a sudden flash of light appeared in his mind, and a wondrous idea sprang up.

Luosen had already obtained the method to ignite the divine fire from the Joyful One.

But the Joyful One never said that one must reach twenty-three rings to ignite the divine fire.

She only said that one must reach twenty-three rings to perceive the source substance.

In other words, as long as Luosen gains the ability to perceive the source substance, even if his soul is only twenty rings, he can ignite the divine fire.

Because the foundation of the divine fire is the source substance, not his soul strength.

The Joyful One also said his source substance is already abundant enough.

If Laifu is composed of the source substance within his soul, then it would certainly be able to perceive the source substance's existence, naturally allowing him to train the relevant ability and successfully ignite the divine fire first.

If Luosen guessed wrong, then so be it; there would be no real loss.

Having figured it out, he immediately tried asking in his mind: "Laifu, train the new ability Ignite the Divine Fire."

The next moment, Laifu replied: "Confirm training?"

"Confirm."

"Begin training. The training will use free source substance."

"Currently, free source substance accounts for 33%; the amount is too low. Should we halt some running abilities to unlock more source substance?"

Luosen instantly rejoiced: "Ah-ha~~ I guessed right!"

(End of chapter)