Chapter 417: The Art of Attacking the Heart

Comments about Lin Bai drifted across the bullet screen:

"So shameless."

"I hope the Goddess of Love chooses dignity."

"Same as above."

"What are you all thinking? That is a delicate woman, are you really that cruel? You want to see her disemboweled and her heart carved out by Lin Bai? You are simply not human."

"She'll be resurrected in the end anyway, why are you pretending to be a good person? Before disemboweling her, Lin Bai will strip off her clothes, and besides, once she's made into a Puppet, her clothes won't be restored. Don't you think having a stark-naked Puppet standing by Lin Bai's side is tempting?"

"Is your focus a bit abnormal? Haven't you noticed that Lin Bai has already become this powerful?"

"I realized it back when he was wholesaling the Divinity of the God of Darkness. Do you think everyone is as slow-witted as you? He can share the combat power of his Puppets; when the God of Darkness became his Puppet, it proved he already possessed strength comparable to a god."

"He possesses the strength of a Main God, why does he never fight head-on?"

"How would he fight? Like a player, one by one, finding gods and challenging them individually? Lin Bai's personal strength being high doesn't mean his team's strength is high. Besides, the Goddess of the Earth gathered so many gods in a short time; even if Lin Bai has the strength of two Main Gods, what are his odds of winning against dozens? Don't think that just because there is a Game Capsule, you are really playing a game. Even Heavenly King Meng knows to have three people act simultaneously; in reality, no one will give Lin Bai a chance to fight one-on-one."

"By uniting the weak to attack the strong and feigning weakness to the enemy, Lin Bai has created an absolute advantage for himself out of the impossible. Even if I were in his position, I couldn't possibly do better than him."

"Pah, where did this simpleton come from? What do you have to compare with Lin Bai?"

"Lin Bai's ambition has already manifested; he just wants to become the king of several worlds. Once he turns all the gods of Shenmo Dalu into Puppets, we will have no more chances."

"When a lion hunts a rabbit, it still uses its full strength. Facing gods and Heavenly Kings, we might still have a chance to rise, but once the Three Realms are unified and all belong to Lin Bai, when he frees up his hands to deal with us, what awaits us will be a strike as violent as a storm."

……

"Evil God."

Watching Alei Ya driven to a dead end, the gods at the wedding let out a mournful cry in their hearts.

Yet, if they were in Alei Ya's position, they would also be unable to make a choice.

No.

There is one choice: resist!

"Alei Ya, you are a god, summon your courage and fight him." An angry voice came from below, "Drag it out until the wedding ends, and we can come out to help you. For every additional god that walks out of the wedding, our odds of winning increase by one point..."

……

"Alei Ya, the Heavenly King of the Immortal World has issued a statement that he will join forces with the God of War to eliminate Lin Bai's dark avatar. He is our common enemy; you are not fighting alone." A player shouted at the wedding.

"What is happening here has already spread to every corner of the world through players. Heavenly King Meng and the others have received the news and will rush over to help you; do not give up."

"We will persuade those gods who are still free to come and help."

……

All the voices reached Alei Ya's ears. She looked at Lin Bai with a look of struggle on her face, and a faint white light coiled around her body, guarding her to prevent Lin Bai from launching a sneak attack.

Alei Ya swallowed lightly and said softly, "Lin, I know you are a kind person; it is not too late to turn back now. I admit you are powerful, but you cannot fight all the gods alone. You don't know the power of the Goddess of the Earth. Her power comes not only from Faith but also from the earth; as long as the earth is not destroyed, she will never perish. Your madness will only make the cohesion of our believers stronger. Do you really have the heart to raise a Slaughter Blade against love and beauty..."

As she spoke, the guard in Lin Bai's heart relaxed more and more, and guilt emerged from his heart for no reason.

He frowned slightly and began to reflect on whether he had really done something wrong.

Did his kitchen knife really have to be raised against the woman before him?

Why couldn't the problem be solved through peaceful means instead of relying on violence?

Lin Bai's eyes gradually fell into confusion.

At the same time.

Outside, the Lin Bai avatar watching the live stream looked at the bullet screen drifting across the screen, and his eyes also became dull, losing their liveliness.

"Husband, what are you thinking about?"

Xu Longyun looked strangely at the avatar who was acting not quite right and pushed him gently.

In an instant.

Lin Bai's reason returned, and his powerful Mental Power instantly made him sober up.

At this moment, Alei Ya's eyes were filled with tears, and she was still softly and weakly persuading him: "Lin, there is so much beauty in the world. You only see the gods high above, but you don't see that they are also trying their best to maintain world order. They are the foundation of the world; without them, people will lose their Faith..."

Charm?

Lin Bai narrowed his eyes, and the Skill shared from the God of Stars suddenly activated.

Within the Dark Domain, a sky full of stars suddenly appeared, spreading throughout the entire Dark Domain like fireflies.

Alei Ya's voice stopped abruptly, and a look of horror appeared on her face.

At the same time.

A scene intruded into her mind.

Starlight and lightning fell mercilessly upon her; her Divinity was exhausted, and she was subsequently seized by Lin Bai.

The kitchen knife in his hand mercilessly stripped away her clothes. Under the gaze of the masses, she was skinned and deboned. Those players who supported her no longer encouraged her, but instead greedily peered at her body, commenting on her unscrupulously, and did not forget to record the scene with their live-streaming equipment so that more people could see...

Finally, she became the image of Teles, muddle-headed, standing behind Lin Bai without a stitch of clothing, becoming his Puppet...

"Ah!"

Alei Ya screamed, trembling as she looked at Lin Bai, "Lin, don't do that, I was wrong, I surrender. I am willing to become your Puppet, please let me be a Puppet with dignity..."

……

"Alei Ya!"

The gods at the wedding were stunned.

They knew the ability of the Goddess of Love, and they also sensed that Lin Bai had been hit, but they couldn't tell how Lin Bai had sobered up.

Furthermore.

Even if Alei Ya's Love Persuasion failed, she still had other moves; there was no need to surrender suddenly!

"Understand now?" Lin Bai asked with a smile.

"I understand." Alei Ya was forced to smile, tears falling down her cheeks. She dissipated the protective divine light on her body, faced Lin Bai, opened her heart, and choked with sobs, "Lin, if possible, please help me restore my memory, just like the God of Darkness."

Lin Bai took out a Silver Card and transmitted his voice: "Alei Ya, do not have any thoughts of resistance. If the sealing fails, everything that was just in your mind will fall upon you like a violent storm..."

"I understand." Alei Ya nodded in pain.

"No, Alei Ya, do not give up resistance," the Goddess of Wisdom shouted with all her might.

It was already too late.

A silver light descended, and Alei Ya vanished from the spot. When she was released by Lin Bai again, she was already like Teles, muddled and devoid of thought.

"Alei Ya." Tears fell from the corners of the Goddess of Wisdom's eyes, and immediately after, she glared at Lin Bai. "Lin Bai, you will not have a good end."

"That won't happen, Yatis. Back then, the Undead Monarch created the Undead Calamity, sweeping across the world and causing so many casualties, yet he remained unscathed in the end. How could anything happen to me? I am only targeting you high and mighty gods; I will not harm the common people. One day, your believers will all become my believers. Even if I don't kill you today, your Divinity will grow weaker and weaker. If you are sealed by me sooner, perhaps you can still retain your current powerful Divinity."

Lin Bai looked down at the wedding scene below, took out an Enlightenment Pill, and fed it into Alei Ya's mouth. "Those who hate me will eventually become tools like Teles. Those who surrender voluntarily, I will help them recover their sanity. The wedding is still long; I hope you can make the right choice..."

The clamoring voices of the indignant gods vanished by more than half in an instant.

Alei Ya recovered her sanity, while Teles, having experienced agonizing torture, remained muddled; the two formed a stark contrast.

Moreover, as the number of Puppets grew, Lin Bai's Divinity also grew stronger, and they had to consider their own future.

Alei Ya felt the changes in her body, looked at the gods, and then at the still-muddled Teles beside her. Her heart was filled with mixed emotions, and she sighed, "Lin, I will follow you forever."

"Alei Ya, you have made the right choice. Next, I will teach you the true Fazhe Zhidao until you become a true god." Lin Bai glanced at Alei Ya and nodded. Seeing that the markers for Heavenly King and the others were still far away from him, he looked at the gods at the wedding and said, "Everyone, I know this choice is difficult, and I know you are waiting for reinforcements. Why not listen to a story while the wedding is still ongoing?"

The gods looked at Lin Bai strangely.

"This story is called the Investiture of the Gods. A long, long time ago, there was such a world. In that world, there were also many gods like you who were free and unfettered. They ignored the lives of mortals and relied on their own Divinity to wantonly create slaughter in the Mortal World. Thus, the greatest god could not bear their atrocious behavior and made a pact to restrain the gods..."

Amidst the festive wedding, Lin Bai told the story of the Investiture of the Gods in brief to the gods of this other world.

"What do you mean? You want to canonize gods?" the Goddess of the Earth said coldly.

"That's right, Bairuisi. At this point, I don't need to hide it from you anymore. The true mission given to me by the Justice Sect is the Investiture of the Gods. As the most promising Disciple of the Justice Sect, I am to preside over the Investiture of the Gods and use it to reorganize the myriad worlds, allowing all worlds to return to order." Lin Bai raised the card in his hand and said, "The card in my hand is a fragment of the original Investiture of the Gods. Its purpose is to place restraints upon you..."

"Do you think we would believe the words of a liar full of deceit?" the Goddess of the Earth said coldly.

"Bairuisi, I don't need you to believe me. The overall situation is settled. As long as I proceed step by step, I can gather enough gods to form a new Heavenly Court. I am only telling you the truth so that you can be an informed ghost before you lose your own thoughts." Lin Bai stood with his hands behind his back and smiled faintly. "Moreover, the Enlightenment Pills I have to help you recover your sanity are limited. Once the thirty-six Main Gods are canonized, the rest can only serve as maintainers of the Heavenly Court's order. Maintainers do not need thoughts; having strength is enough."

"You're lying! Enlightenment Pills are so important, why did you feed them to those weak Puppets back then instead of saving them for the powerful gods?" the player called 【Wind Child】 shouted loudly. "You just want the gods to give up resistance and obediently become your Puppets."

"It's very simple, because I was also very weak at the time." Lin Bai gave him a look of contempt and smiled. "Wind Child, the Investiture of the Gods is not based on strength, but on my personal preferences. In the former Investiture of the Gods, there were the powerful Three Xiao Maidens, but they ended up being canonized as the Toilet God. Who could they go to for justice?"

"Don't believe him, Lin Bai is undermining your morale."

"He just fabricated a story, just like before when he tricked you into getting married. You have already been fooled once; you cannot be fooled a second time."

"Even if what Lin Bai says is true, being taken as a Puppet and then canonized, how can that be as enjoyable as continuing to be a free and unfettered god?"

"Right, kill Lin Bai, and there will be no Investiture of the Gods. You will remain the masters of this world."

"Life is precious, but freedom is worth more."

"Goddess of the Earth, you possess boundless might. Lin Bai is no match for you, which is why he uses such lies to deceive you. You must not fall for his tricks!"

The players of the Anti-Lin Bai Alliance looked at the wavering gods and clamored indignantly.

They could accept a defeat in a grand battle, but they could not accept that Lin Bai had subdued so many gods with just a few words. Lin Bai was too despicable.

Lin Bai looked indifferent and completely ignored the players who were undermining him. He smiled: "Gods, I am not forcing you to believe me. You can treat what I just said as a little story for after tea and dinner. Then, be bewitched by these players, fight against me, exhaust your last bit of Divinity and dignity, and then be sealed by me as Puppets. It doesn't matter to me; the winner will definitely be me in the end anyway."

After a brief pause, he looked at Alei Ya: "By the way, one last reminder: I am more lenient toward beautiful goddesses! After all, I also hope to have beautiful female war gods by my side; it looks pleasing and comfortable. So, goddesses can be a bit more willful. As for you male gods, you must either defeat me or please me. There is not much time left for you..."

"..." The faces of many male gods turned ugly instantly, and the faces of the goddesses did not look very good either.

"It's over. Lin Bai's methods of manipulating human hearts have reached their peak. A little story about the Investiture of the Gods, a limited number of Enlightenment Pills, and a little hint about men and women have successfully incited their discord. Coming out of the wedding, as long as one of the two gods wants to surrender, the pair of gods in the wedding cannot fight with all their might."

"I understand now why I always felt Lin Bai was weak? This guy, even when he has the absolute upper hand, still uses tricks to expand his advantage."

"Lin Bai is already impeccable. I feel that even if the Heavenly King comes to assist, he will not be his match."

"If the Game Company doesn't take action now, there will really be no chance. Where did the Justice Sect find such a monster?"

"Why do I feel like the story of the Investiture of the Gods is also true?"

"Nonsense, of course it's true. Lin Bai has already turned them into Puppets. Whether he wants to build a Heavenly Court or a public service office, isn't it all up to him? It's just a name, after all."

(End of chapter)