Chapter 347: The Path to Godhood and Latong

"No need to repair it? Then what's going on!" Sinuoli licked his lips. Could it be that his master felt he had brought honor to the sect and wanted to reward him with another fine piece of work? That would truly be trading a bird-gun for a cannon.

"Just take this directly. If nothing goes wrong, I won't be needing it anymore." Krag Master sighed softly and picked up his Forging Hammer from beside his chair.

"No? What do you mean by this?"

Sinuoli stood there with his mouth wide open, stunned. This legendary weapon, bearing Krag's own name, represented the inheritance of his mantle, but the problem was that masters usually only did this when their lives were nearing their end!

Krag the Grim had already broken through the boundaries of mortals. Sinuoli knew he lived until the End Times, so it was far from time to pass on his mantle.

"My Strength reached a bottleneck two hundred years ago. Since then, I have been seeking to continue improving my craft. Now, I have made a breakthrough in that regard as well." Krag shook his head slightly and sighed.

"As for our Mountain Kingdom, with you, your father, and Agelimu and the others here, I can rest assured and go report to the halls of the Ancestor Gods."

"Hoo!" Sinuoli let out a long breath. He actually understood Krag somewhat. For an old man like him who didn't like to enjoy life, having something to strive for was crucial. Without a goal, what was left to experience in the long passage of time?

"Master, do you not have, or rather, are you not preparing to attempt to ascend to Godhood?" Although he vaguely knew the reason, Sinuoli still asked.

"Hehe! When one's strength reaches my level, one will always think about this matter. You might face the same situation in the future." Krag laughed helplessly. Although he spoke with an open mind, it would still take time to digest the fact that he would return to nothingness.

"Our kin are still too few, and with the seven Ancestor Gods standing at the forefront, the remaining Authority and the faith of our kin are not enough to condense a new Godhood." Speaking of matters involving the transcendent realm, Krag Master reached out and dismissed his guards.

"It's not as if no other predecessors reached this step before me. You must know, since the Star Gate collapsed and Chaos invaded, the Demigods in the Mountain Kingdom have never been in short supply."

"Are you talking about Grimbrindal?" Sinuoli's first reaction was the White Dwarf.

"The White-Bearded Ancestor is of course the most widely known, but I am talking about others besides him. Do you know Latong? He was the most recent one." Krag shook his head and spoke a name.

"Latong!" The transmigrator was startled. He had been collecting information about this person ever since he took over the Southlands, but this name and everything behind it seemed to have been erased by something.

The Artifact Vault in his system contained a total of eight Artifacts; the seven Ancestor Gods each had one, and the final Beast-Taming Collar belonged to Latong. So, who exactly was he?

"Hmm, you probably haven't heard of him. When he was most famous, I was still just a Little Beard." Krag interpreted Sinuoli's strange reaction as simple surprise.

"He was the leader of those rebellious fellows at Jiliuguan, but whether I like it or not, Latong was indeed a genius. You, humph, most of those rumbling industrial trash you like were invented or perfected by him!"

Krag Master fell into memories. Sinuoli listened quietly. One could tell without asking that a figure who could make his master hold him in such high esteem must have transcended the boundaries of mortals.

"His situation was a bit different from mine. To be able to invent those smoky, fiery things, his understanding of the rules must have been more thorough and profound. But you must know, those things are ultimately external objects!" Krag stared at Sinuoli; he was teaching his disciple a brand-new lesson.

"The kin praised him and revered him, but after all, their numbers were limited, and Artillery and aircraft could not help him push open that inner door. Latong was unwilling to accept all this, so he used his intelligence to think of a shortcut."

"Can one take a shortcut to ascend to Godhood?" Sinuoli blinked.

"Strong strength leads to obtaining faith; or, abundant faith feeds back into strength."

Krag spoke slowly. These two sentences sounded simple, but the so-called Great Dao is simple; this was the basic logic of becoming a god, and everyone of note in this world did it this way.

"Latong condensed his intelligence into a collar. That treasure undoubtedly exceeded the scope of engineering equipment. Rumor has it that it could be used to control giant beasts and could also feed back a portion of the controlled one's strength to the master." The master finally reached the topic Sinuoli was most interested in.

"And then? Why is his story no longer mentioned?" The disciple led him on.

"Then, he created the collar but found that the monsters of the Old World were not enough to help him break through, and it was impossible to go to the territory of the pointy-ears to capture a Dragon, so he cast his gaze toward Lustria."

"Jiliuguan and Haimenguan assembled a massive Expeditionary Force for him, similar in size to the troops you took to the Southlands, but the dangers in that unknown continent still exceeded their expectations. In the end, fewer than one in ten returned." A hint of sorrow appeared on Krag's face.

"Latong died, and his collar went missing. The fortresses and guilds that suffered huge losses believed he had already gone mad before setting out. To prevent anyone from repeating his mistakes, all information about him was hidden."

"But your situation is different from his. We Rune Smiths speak with our own strength!" Sinuoli thought about the collar lying safely in his own safe while trying to comfort him.

"That's no use either. The Divine Thurni stands at the forefront, even if..."

... Krag muttered softly.

"Actually, I have another way. The number of our kin is not enough, but there are plenty of Humans down the mountain! They have wisdom just the same and can provide faith." After thinking for a moment, the transmigrator spoke the contingency plan he had originally reserved for himself.

"Humans? How can this be? They are not of our kind..."

... The conservative old man subconsciously denied it. For the Dwarfs, the word 'Ancestor' had to be placed before the gods.

"Why can't it work just because they aren't of the same clan or tribe? Are the Chaos Four Gods Humans? Not to mention them, you know who the true identity of the Lady of the Lake in Bretonnia is!"

Sinuoli analyzed with a smile. He had been widely spreading his own stories in the Old World and the Southlands, which was preparing for future needs.

"Makes sense! But I don't have any foundation, and I can't go around distributing holy water!" Krag's eyes lit up, but he immediately threw out a new problem.

"Who says you can only send water? Don't you have your own advantages? As for the mass base, have there been few Humans seeking to see you over these years? Who doesn't know that I am your closing disciple!"