Chapter 297: The Poet of Despair

"Life is suffering, calamities never cease; since one cannot control one's own life, one might as well seize each moment, every feeling, and savor the joy of existence."

"My followers ought to bring joy to the world. If you cannot bring joy to others, becoming the very foundation of another's joy is also acceptable."

"You ought to perform one good deed daily. If you cannot resolve the hardships of reality, at least offer spiritual relief—a fleeting ease for those lost in illusion."

"Acts of helping others, music, drama, and other artistic works are all fine medicines for soothing the spirit."

"Artists, actors, clowns, singers, bards—any profession that brings joy to others—shall be protected by me so long as they chant my divine name."

Finding the records of the 'God of Joy and Theater' was not difficult; among deities, mages still maintained a basic level of respect—though perhaps only that, nothing more.

They were recorded partly because one might encounter their pawns meddling in mortal affairs or sacred relics left on the continent, and partly because their surviving artifacts often triggered major events.

Even if their physical bodies never rose again, their divine offspring, bloodline descendants, or followers would inevitably bring a cascade of troubles—many major events began when some deity attempted to resurrect this one, who was thoroughly dead; no records of resurrection exist to date.

This deity, speculated to have been active between 4, 00 and 5, 00 years ago, left behind few historical records or religious relics, for he was both weak and short-lived.

Unlike Li En's earlier malicious speculation, his 'joy' was genuine happiness, and he appeared unmistakably a benevolent deity.

"The world is bitter—save as many as you can; for those you cannot save, at least offer anesthetic. Since you cannot save the world, create more art and entertainment to fulfill spiritual needs. Seems like a perfectly normal good god."

Li En continued reviewing the records: he had enjoyed a brief period of glory, with most of his followers being bards, artists, creators—especially playwrights—and for a time, even some combat-oriented individuals worshipped him, then—

"Then he died."

Unlike those historical 'unsolved mysteries,' this deity's cause of death was crystal clear.

"During the Magic Tide War, the entire world fell into chaos; no one cared about artistic creation. The deity whose primary followers were artists and creators simply vanished."

In times of peace, 'humanities' were certainly useful—but during global war or apocalypse, the entertainment industry that produced 'amusement' was utterly shattered and destroyed; this god of culture, whose domain was joy, vanished completely.

He did not survive the most recent Magic Tide War; as a deity, his active lifespan was even shorter than that of long-lived races.

"Though a very short-lived deity, he seems quite safe—no resurrection records at all."

From the records, this deity was harmless: weak, kind, even somewhat frail.

His followers had no combat power; in certain elven regions, some lineages and believers still persisted, but they were irrelevant. After all, elves live long—many ancient deities' faiths have been preserved, merely recorded and passed down.

"Not too distant—a half-elf deity?"

It was said that in mortal life, he was a half-elf—meaning his sphere of influence likely centered on the elven nations. Considering the elves' love for art and poetry, the emergence of such a deity seems entirely natural.

But his half-elf identity... was no blessing.

In an era where racial tensions could erupt into full-scale war, mixed-bloods often meant distrust and exclusion from both sides—his very birth was typically a tragedy.

Reading the records, Li En exhaled in relief; this deity did not seem extreme at all.

He was aligned with the benevolent faction—so he should meet my needs.

Li En asked for little: a puppet divine power server, a banner to conceal his actions.

"First, establish a lineage—pretend to be a chosen one who seized the legacy of an ancient deity and revived his divine power."

This was a well-worn tactic: those tiny factions with divine favor and divine artifacts often hid behind a resurrecting ancient deity.

Starting from a small town or village, the chosen one gradually rose to power.

They offered faith to him in exchange for strength, becoming local lords or even regional overlords.

It was the very path to legendary heroism in countless novels—truly, 'a pie falling from the heavens.'

But because it was so widely circulated, many Xieshen now used the banner of 'reviving ancient gods' to build their own small cults—those so-called ancient god churches gradually twisted into something else entirely.