Chapter 410: Boiling a Frog in Warm Water

The battle between the Heavenly King of Thunder and Lightning and the God of Darkness had no third party present, so Lin Bai could naturally arrange the plot as he pleased; what's more, not a single word he said was false—the kind that could be verified by Truth-Speaking Spells.

Faith is the source of the gods' power, and also their fatal flaw.

Otherwise, they would not have been so stirred up upon hearing the news that their divine status had been seized, rushing out to fight the few Heavenly Kings to the death without making any distinction.

No deity allows others to challenge their Achilles' heel.

But now, Lin Bai offered them a new possibility: to cast off faith and become true gods, transcendent and beyond worldly things...

It was too tempting.

Even the Earth Goddess, who had the most believers, felt her heart flutter.

"Is what you say true?"

"But I heard that the God of Darkness also lost his freedom."

The Forest Goddess and the Goddess of Wisdom spoke at the same time.

"At the time, the God of Darkness and the Heavenly King of Thunder and Lightning fought; the God of Darkness was completely suppressed by the Heavenly King of Thunder and Lightning and had no choice but to become a Puppet. If you are unwilling, I will not force anyone, much less coerce you." Lin Bai wore a sincere smile on his face, "In fact, I rarely take the initiative to seal others; all along, those I have sealed were enemies who provoked me while I was growing..."

The excited hearts of the gods sank once more; compared to faith, freedom was more precious. To become a true god but lose one's freedom—it would be safer to just kill Lin Bai.

"Gods, if you understood me, you should know that I come from the Righteous Sect. The Righteous Sect travels above the San Qian Shi Jie and exists on the same level as the Game Company."

Lin Bai could clearly perceive the emotions of the gods, but he acted as if he were unaware and continued, "My master once told me that cause and effect are cyclical; if you create a cause, you must bear the corresponding effect. My former enemies wanted to put me to death; it was reasonable for me to seal them, and I bore no karmic burden for it.

I had no grudge against the God of Darkness, yet I sealed his freedom.

Although it was to save him, I will still bear the consequences of this act; for example, you all want to kill me now to prevent future trouble.

Do we have a grudge between us?

No.

We don't even have a conflict of interest; we don't even know each other.

But because of the God of Darkness, because I kindly saved him, we have inexplicably become enemies.

This is the power of cause and effect.

Therefore, in most cases, I will not easily seal innocent people. Even if you beg me, I might not necessarily seal you. That holds no benefit for me; if I become tainted by too much karma, I will surely suffer greater backlash, and it might even affect my cultivation..."

Retreating to advance.

Lin Bai had always been adept at manipulating the human heart. I told you the benefits, and I told you the consequences you would have to bear. You think being sealed by me is a bad thing, but even if you wanted me to seal you, I wouldn't be happy about it!

Do you think I wanted to seal the God of Darkness?

Not at all!

I am innocent too!

An image of someone who does good deeds but ends up bearing the evil consequences was thus successfully established...

The gods fell into silence once again.

"You built the Magpie Bridge between the two worlds and deliberately incited a war between them." The Goddess of Wisdom continued to interrogate Lin Bai, vowing not to stop until his disguise was stripped away.

"Yatis, I wonder if you have heard of a story called 'boiling a frog in warm water'." Lin Bai looked at the Goddess of Wisdom and asked.

"I have not heard of it," the Goddess of Wisdom said.

"A wise man once conducted an experiment: if you throw a frog into boiling water, it will quickly jump out. But if you put it in cold water and slowly heat it up, the frog will not perceive the danger. When the water temperature is high enough, it realizes the danger, but it is already unable to jump out."

Lin Bai briefly explained the little story, looked around at the gods, and said indifferently, "Forgive my bluntness, but in this chaotic game, you are that frog placed in the warm water. You allow those players to survive in your world, always thinking that things are under your control, and when you realize the danger is coming, I fear it will be too late to make any reaction, because you don't even know what is happening in the outside world."

The Goddess of Wisdom's complexion turned very ugly in an instant.

"Do you think the players won't discover that your power comes from faith? They are Undying and Indestructible and possess the wisdom of another world; won't they subtly influence your believers?" Lin Bai reached out and pointed at the players in the Free City, "Actually, achieving this is very simple: let the believers become self-sufficient, possess enough spiritual wealth and material wealth, and they will cast off their reliance on the gods..."

"Shut up." Several gods scolded in unison.

"You think what I said is unpleasant, and you think that if I don't say it, they won't realize this point? 'Covering one's ears while stealing a bell'—thinking that if you cover your own ears, others won't hear the bell ring—that is exactly you." Lin Bai shook his head, a look of disdain appearing in his eyes, "You are too naive. You have no idea what kind of sparks will fly when two civilizations collide? What kind of changes it will bring? Not to mention, there is the Immortal World outside, and beyond the Immortal World, there is the Game Company?"

"Do not say any more." The Goddess of Wisdom's face was livid, and she said coldly.

"You have lived in your own world for too long, so long that you only want to maintain the status quo. Yatis, when a person's wisdom is bound by their vision, then that wisdom is covered in dust..." Lin Bai looked at the Goddess of Wisdom with pity and sighed softly, "And all I have done is replace the warm water you rely on for survival with hot water. While your power is at its peak, I have piled the danger in front of you and torn away the fog covering your eyes, so that you might recognize this world anew and not end up not even knowing how you died in the end."

Shock!

All the gods stared blankly at Lin Bai, all of them falling into silence.

The way they looked at Lin Bai was complex; after this speech, their perception of Lin Bai had completely changed.

"Actually, the Xianxia World on the other side has the same problem. At the very beginning, the cultivators there also viewed me as an enemy. But I showed them the ferocity of the players and showed them what a miserable state it is after ascending. Now, they are my like-minded good partners..."

Lin Bai's face was radiant with a sacred and confident glow, "Distance tests a horse's strength, and time reveals a person's heart. I have never been a villain. Even if you think I am doing wrong now and harming you, time will eventually prove everything."

In the Real World, Tuohai and the others watching the live stream were dumbfounded.

They had seen the murderous gods and thought a fierce battle was inevitable, but they had never imagined it would end like this.

Even though they had witnessed with their own eyes the torture the God of Darkness—now sealed as a Puppet—had endured at the hands of their master, they still couldn't tell if what Lin Bai said was the truth or not.

They even felt that everything Lin Bai said was correct...

It was too terrifying!

Was this the power of 'words becoming law'?

Tu Yan looked at Lin Bai with worship, admiring him to the point of prostration. Even though he was several hundred years older than Lin Bai, at this moment, he felt he was still too young.

The eyes of Xu Longyun, Jiang Qingqin, and the others were sparkling. This was their man; this high-level perspective and the ability to turn black into white were enough to crush everyone.

On the screen, bullet comments flew across.

"Shopkeeper Lin debates the gods; mighty and domineering."

"I thought Lin Bai would be killed as soon as he appeared. These gods are too cowardly; they were bluffed in just a few words."

"Why do I feel like Lin Bai is telling the truth?"

"According to the normal game script, when we push these god bosses, we might really have to attack their believers. This is a way of playing never seen before; it's a pity it was completely ruined by Lin Bai."

"Sure enough, Lin Bai has always harbored deep malice toward us players; his threat is not even a little bit less than that of Heavenly King Meng."

"Heavenly King Meng only uses Skills to force players to delete their accounts, but Lin Bai wants to cut off the fun of the game for players at the root. I really hope they can both perish together and return a fair game world to us."

"I'm going to the forum to start a poll to see whose threat is greater, Lin Bai's or Heavenly King Meng's?"

"Lin Bai's fans, it's time to wake up. Your idol has never thought about letting you play the game properly."

"Who says a game must involve killing and fighting? Wouldn't it be better if there were world peace and everyone played the game happily together?"

"That's not called a game; that's called playing house."

"The person above, Lin Bai's dog, get out."

"People from the Anti-Lin Bai Alliance, get out. You are the tumor in the game. Sooner or later, we will wipe you all out."

……

In a moment's time, the two sides on the live broadcast screen began to argue through the barrage.

Eastern Continent.

General Chen was also watching the live broadcast. Looking at the arguing sides, he shook his head: "I never thought that Lin Bai would use the 'boiling a frog in warm water' method in this place."

Cheng Xunyun said wistfully: "Come to think of it, our world, including the players chosen by the Game Company, are we not also frogs soaking in warm water, being slowly cooked by others? By the time we realize the danger, we are already deep in it, unable to extricate ourselves."

General Chen looked at Cheng Xunyun and smiled: "Little Cheng, you've been brainwashed by Lin Bai. This is not a good phenomenon."

Cheng Xunyun was stunned for a moment and smiled bitterly: "But I really think what he said is very right."

General Chen said: "Compared to those gods at the peak, we are the weak. Boiling a frog in warm water may not necessarily be a bad thing for us; at the very least, we can have a process of adaptation. If Lin Bai suddenly threw us into hot water, I'm afraid we wouldn't even have the strength to jump out before being scalded to death."

Cheng Xunyun was stunned: "..."

General Chen sighed again: "Now we don't even have the qualifications to participate in the game."

……

Once caught in Lin Bai's language trap, everything becomes logical, and not a single flaw can be found.

After all.

Lin Bai is a man who can craft perfect backstories for the messy, random Skills he gets from the system rewards, deceiving an entire world.

Up to now, most players and natives still firmly believe in the existence of the laws and are tirelessly practicing using the methods taught by Lin Bai, hoping to ascend to the heavens in one step.

"Gods, honest advice is unpleasant to the ear but beneficial to conduct. Although my words are not pleasant to hear, this is the truth. I have told you all my thoughts and purposes without any concealment." Lin Bai looked at the silent gods with a smile, bowed elegantly to them, and said, "If you still want to regard me as an enemy, then I have nothing to say and can only seek an opportunity to cooperate with the evil gods on the side of the Lord of the Abyss."

"Do you have no distinction between good and evil in your heart?" the Moon Goddess couldn't help but ask, "The Lord of the Abyss is a symbol of evil and violence. If you cooperate with him, what will the world become?"

"Between two evils, choose the lesser. In any case, it is much better than the world being destroyed. After all, it is not just your world that I want to save," Lin Bai said.

"Why doesn't your master take action?" the Earth Goddess asked, "Since they possess power equal to the Game Company, resolving this disaster should be easy."

All the players watching the live broadcast pricked up their ears at the same time.

"High-dimensional civilizations cannot enter low-dimensional worlds," Lin Bai said. "Just as we cannot walk into a painting. If we let them solve the problem, the best way would be to destroy the entire painting. Bairuisi, do you want to see that result? Now, they don't want to destroy this painting, so they chose me from within the painting to let me solve this difficult problem..."

The Earth Goddess's expression changed, and she subconsciously looked at the sky, as if imagining what the world outside the painting was like.

"In my master's eyes, whether it is you or the Lord of the Abyss, you are all the same life, with no distinction between good and evil. Therefore, I, who was taught by my master, have inherited the same philosophy. In my heart, black and white, good and evil, are all the same; all living beings are equal," Lin Bai said with a faint smile.

"If you solve everything, will you walk out of this world?" the Earth Goddess asked.

"Perhaps," Lin Bai also cast his gaze toward the sky. "My master told me that the Heavenly Dao I have been comprehending is the way to transcend this world. Unfortunately, my path has gone astray; I have gone further and further on the path of love, and I can no longer see where the future lies."

……

Real World.

Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin were shocked, their eyes full of guilt as they looked at Lin Bai.

Xu Longyun held Lin Bai's hand: "Husband, we..."

Lin Bai looked at them and smiled gently: "With you here, it doesn't really matter whether I transcend or not. There is beauty everywhere in the human world; the Heavenly Dao may not be suitable for me."

Xu Longyun returned a smile and snuggled affectionately against Lin Bai's shoulder.

……

"Heavenly Dao?" The Earth Goddess pondered for a moment, looked at Lin Bai, and said, "Lin Bai, my power is endless. I have lived in this world for I don't know how many years and can no longer perceive the meaning of existence. For me, losing my Faith and losing my Divinity might be a relief; I don't care. But now, you have shown me new hope. Next, I will verify your claims. If they are true, I hope to go out and see, to witness higher-level life."

"So, you have agreed to join forces with me?" Lin Bai asked with pleasant surprise.

"Yes." The Earth Goddess nodded and said seriously, "Although I am tired of my current life, I will not watch the world that gave birth to me be destroyed. I must be responsible for every living creature in the world..."

(End of this chapter)