Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Chapter 159. The Divine War a Hundred Years Ago, the Cause of the Great Cataclysm
Inside the Snakefolk cave, Medusa stood bathed in Bai Ze’s sacred radiance. Clad in a red dress, she blinked her vertical pupils, her every movement brimming with nobility and allure.
The others could not help showing looks of amazement as they stared at Medusa. Just a moment ago, she had still been an incomparably ugly Snake Woman, yet now she had become a lofty queen capable of stirring all kinds of fantasies.
Tang Long tugged at Chu Xingchen’s sleeve, his eyes fixed on Medusa’s voluptuous figure. “Old Chu, I think I’m in love.”
“...” Chu Xingchen was speechless, though the curse-free Medusa truly was stunning. No wonder the sea god Poseidon had openly slept with her in a sacred temple.
“If you like her that much, ask Yichen. He’s Medusa’s master now,” he said with a chuckle.
Tang Long’s eyes lit up at once. He quickly ran over and stood beside Medusa.
“Brother Yichen, don’t you think the two of us look pretty well matched?” he said, waggling his brows.
Everyone: “...”
Medusa, still kneeling on one knee, looked displeased. “Fatty, you think you are worthy of being spoken of in the same breath as this queen beside my master? Get lost!”
The moment Tang Long heard that, he clutched his chest with both hands as if he had just taken ten thousand points of critical damage.
With a miserable face, he walked back over to Chu Xingchen. “Old Chu, I’ve been dumped.”
The others could not help laughing.
Chu Xingchen patted Tang Long on the shoulder. “A man needs self-awareness. Lose weight first.”
Tang Long cried even harder.
Jiang Yichen shook his head and turned his gaze to Medusa, who was kneeling before him. “I don’t need you calling me your master. Now answer the question I asked earlier.”
Medusa did not rise. She placed her right hand over her full chest and lowered her head with utmost reverence. “A hundred years ago, I acted under the orders of Zeus, King of the Gods, and launched a surprise attack on the source of the Huaxian gods’ faith.”
“But I failed. I was hunted down by a very fierce child with two flaming wheels beneath his feet, and I fell here. Still, I used a secret art to feign death and deceive him.”
“During the hundred years that followed, I remained here, completing my resurrection ritual and restoring my strength.”
What Medusa said immediately stirred curiosity in Feng Xiazi and the others.
A hundred years ago—that was the time of the Great Cataclysm.
Could it be that the reason the Great Cataclysm happened was a war among the gods?
Jiang Yichen thought for a moment before asking, “Then why did Zeus send you to carry out that ambush? Was there some conflict between the Huaxian gods and Olympus?”
Medusa shook her head. “There was none. I do not know the specific reason. I was only a minor figure who obeyed orders. Please forgive me, Master.”
Jiang Yichen frowned. Seeing that Medusa did not seem to be lying, he could only ask, “Then what exactly was the divine war?”
“A hundred years ago, Zeus, King of the Gods, allied with the four top divine kingdoms and attacked the Huaxian gods. But the Huaxian gods were far too powerful. Their power of faith was inexhaustible.”
“Especially the three Heavenly Venerables—Yuanshi, Daode, and Lingbao. The methods they wielded were utterly invincible. In the end, the five divine kingdoms suffered a crushing defeat.”
“But the Huaxian gods did not escape unscathed either. Aside from a few gods whose strength surpassed even that of the King of the Gods, nearly all the others fell in the divine war.”
The more Jiang Yichen listened, the more confused he became. The main problem was that Medusa did not know why Zeus had united the four top divine kingdoms to attack Huaxia in the first place, which made the whole story hard to make sense of.
After thinking it over, he could only settle for the next best thing. “What is the power of faith?”
“It comes from human faith in the gods. I have spent a hundred years in Huaxia, and your people are very fond of praying for blessings, especially from gods. That is what gives rise to the power of faith.”
Medusa explained it slowly and clearly, “And once one reaches the level of a god, if one wishes to grow stronger, one must use the power of faith to strengthen one’s Laws.”
Jiang Yichen fell into thought.
So after breaking past Martial God and stepping into the Divine Realm, one needed the power of faith in order to continue cultivating.
Then when I break into the Divine Realm in the future, will I also have to...
【To provide the Host with a better slacking experience, the system will automatically gather the power of faith for the Host. No effort is required from the Host.】
Uh...
Looking at the system prompt, Jiang Yichen could not help smiling.
“Master, what are you smiling about?”
Jiang Yichen coughed twice, and his tone turned a few degrees colder. “Your foreign gods killed all our Huaxian gods. Do you think I should help them get a little revenge?”
He looked at Medusa, waving his fist as his eyes held not the slightest trace of pity.
Medusa’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly said, “No, Master, it is not like that. Gods do not die so easily. After they fall, they become what you call ruins.”
“They choose suitable humans, grant them supreme Laws, and help them resurrect.”
“In order to stop the Huaxian gods from reviving, Zeus caused Demonic Beasts to run rampant within Huaxia, slaughtering Huaxian humans and weakening the gods’ power of faith.”
“And I was only a small soldier from Mount Olympus. I had no way to defy Zeus’s orders. Please forgive me, Master.”
Hm?
Jiang Yichen blinked. So the people in the Divine Battle Division were all individuals chosen by the gods.
And the Demonic Beasts that had ravaged the land after the Great Cataclysm had also been the work of those foreign gods.
Good grief. Several hundred million people had died in Huaxia during the Great Cataclysm, and it turned out all of that had been the handiwork of those damned foreign gods.
To be honest, Jiang Yichen felt genuinely angry.
Perhaps it was because of the education he had received at school. Every year, on the national day of mourning for the Great Cataclysm, the entire country observed one minute of silence in memory of the pioneers who had fought for the nation.
That hatred had been carved into the bones of every Huaxian, just like the national hatred Huaxia had once borne toward Sakura Country before the Great Cataclysm.
He stared at Medusa, who was kneeling on the ground and trembling, then said after a moment’s thought, “Those who are not of our kind will never truly share our hearts. You have given me no reason to trust you.”
Feng Xiazi, Tang Long, and others also changed their expressions. Their eyes were filled with hostility toward Medusa.
None of them had personally lived through the horrors of the Great Cataclysm, but even from photographs and videos alone, they would unconsciously clench their fists and want to kill every last one of those damned Demonic Beasts.
And now they had learned that those Demonic Beasts had been unleashed by these foreign gods.
Medusa clearly sensed the hostility in their eyes. After hesitating for a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, “If Master is unwilling to trust me, then you may place a soul enslavement on me. From this moment on, I will be your servant.”
She knew that if she said even one wrong word right now, Jiang Yichen would destroy her.
Rather than die, she would much rather live.
Besides, the human before her possessed such terrifying strength without even becoming a god yet. Following him might not be a loss at all.
“Soul enslavement?” Jiang Yichen rolled his eyes. “What kind of thing is that?”
“...”
Medusa’s expression stiffened. Then she raised a hand and offered up the method for soul enslavement.
Jiang Yichen gave it a quick glance. Soul enslavement was the most unequal form of contract possible. It allowed the enslaved party to obey the master completely. Any disobedience would result in the destruction of body and soul.
He nodded slightly. “That’s at least somewhat sincere. Then I’ll reluctantly enslave you.”
Having an obedient foreign god whose strength could recover to the Divine Realm might prove useful in the future.
And if not, he could always throw her onto the front lines to hold back the Demonic Beast assaults.
Following the method described in the soul enslavement technique, Jiang Yichen released an incomparably powerful spiritual force that pierced into Medusa’s Sea of Consciousness like a needle.
Before his limitless spiritual force, Medusa’s soul defenses were as fragile as paper, utterly incapable of withstanding him.
A soul brand formed from spiritual force appeared within her Sea of Consciousness.
Medusa’s eyes gradually turned vacant. But when clarity returned to them, she lay before him like a docile cat.
“Master.”
Seeing that even a foreign god had become this submissive before Jiang Yichen, Tang Long and the others finally let go of the hostility in their hearts.
They had all witnessed Medusa’s strength. Subduing her was far more valuable than killing her.
Jiang Yichen nodded in satisfaction. Just then, the system’s voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
【Congratulations, Host, on making a Slacking Choice. Reward: ‘Intermediate Slacking Gift Pack.’ Would you like to open it?】