Chapter 761: Cleanup
Half a year later, in Mountcarve City.
The city was bustling with all kinds of life-forms. Due to their strength, their outer forms greatly resembled humans— or rather, the gods. As such, only a small number of their respective races’ traits were apparent. Within a certain crude- looking hall, a certain life-form with a long nose was staring ahead in melancholy. He looked at the entrance of the hall, anxiously waiting for something. Beside him, an underling with a big nose was waiting anxiously as well.
“Are there no tribes coming for registration?”
“Nope.”
“It has been half a year since anyone came, right?”
“Half a year…” The long-nosed guy trembled as he wondered if those tribes had been attracted by another tribe instead. One ought to know that even the weak tribes surrounding them were progressing constantly. The progress never ceased, and one day, they too would reach the resonance realm. Every time that happened, the tribe would come and apply to join them, becoming part of this city.
In the past years, there had been tribes applying nearly every month. At most, they had only ever had a gap of three months between applications. Moreover, in that instance, after almost exactly three months, four or five tribes had come and applied at one time. Yet now it had been half a year since they had received any applications…
The huge-nosed guy asked, “Is this merely a coincidence?”
“I doubt it,” the long-nosed guy muttered. This world progressed along with time. Even the three-month gap they’d had back then had been a long time ago. After that, the frequency of applications had only increased, nearly reaching an average of twice per month. And now, the applications had suddenly stopped for half a year? This was most definitely not something as simple as a coincidence. There had to be a problem somewhere.
“Send out a team of scouts to check around,” the long-nosed guy said as he clenched his teeth.
The big-nosed guy was somewhat worried. “Boss, if we send a team of scouts out, this will be recorded.”
The long-nosed guy shook his head and solemnly said, “We can’t afford to worry about that anymore. I reckon something big must have happened.”
“All right.” The big-nosed guy went out and started making the necessary arrangements. Soon, scouts were sent out. This group was already quite familiar with such scouting missions. As such, they immediately left and headed casually toward a nearby tribe. However, somewhat surprisingly, this nearby tribe had mysteriously vanished. Regardless of how they searched, they couldn’t found the tribe. “Are you sure you guys haven’t been looking in the wrong location?”
“Absolutely sure. They should be in that general area.”
“Keep searching.”
“Fine.”
The scouts resumed the search, yet nothing was found.
“Perhaps… they have moved?”
“I guess. Try searching for other nearby tribes.”
They decided to look for a different tribe instead. And thus, the scouts set forth once again toward a different nearby tribe. However, even after two hours of travel, nothing was found apart from an endless sea of trees. “Something isn’t right. It is impossible to not find a single life-form even after traveling so far. Moreover, not a single tribe has been found either. What’s going on?”
Even the scouts started to become anxious now. They felt like something had happened here.
“Report this to the higher-ups, then continue the search.”
“All right.”
They continued their search. One hour, two hours, 10 hours, they continued their search around their city. To avoid missing anything, they were extremely serious in their search as they combed a huge area. However, nothing whatsoever was found. All they found were endless trees. No other life-forms were in sight.
This horrified them. The search went on, and by the second day, the scouts were already in a rather bad condition. The entire team of scouts was depressed, as they had searched every nook and cranny yet still had not found anything. The entire forest seemed devoid of life, apart from the vegetation. What exactly had happened here? They were filled with anxiousness. Right at this instant, a faint energy
fluctuation was felt nearby.
At this discovery, they all became agitated.
“Found something!”
“Let’s go!”
…
Amid the woods, Chen Feng’s group had just finished a battle. “Is this the final tribe?”
The huge monkey nodded. “Mhm. This is the final tribe.” “Excellent.” Chen Feng was very much pleased. At present, Chen Feng and the huge monkey were already somewhat different than they had been half a year ago. Within this period, the herculean apes had been led by Chen Feng as they defeated all the tribes surrounding the huge city. A total of
1,200 tribes had been defeated. Among them, 500 types of usable resources had been found. After Chen Feng’s gene production, these 500 resources had displayed a rather astonishing effect.
Even though only 200 out of these 500 resources had been capable of providing a direct strength increase, even though further improvements were extremely hard for those at level 10 awakened, they had still managed to reach a terrifying level of improvement. As of present, the average strength of the herculean apes was level 90 awakened. With their innate strength, they were able to erupt with combat power comparable to level 1 resonators.
As for the huge monkey, he was now a level 96 awakened, while Chen Feng was now a level 100 awakened. As the amount of increase dropped at higher levels, they weren’t too from Chen Feng. One would even think that with their innate strength, they would be a match for Chen Feng. However, only these herculean apes themselves knew how big the gap was between them and Chen Feng. Throughout the entire journey, regardless of whether the enemies had been level 3, level 4, or even level 5 resonators, none had been able to avoid being killed by Chen Feng. Each of them had died to a single punch.
Since an indeterminate point in time, regular resonators had stopped being a match for Chen Feng. His strength was truly terrifying.
The huge monkey couldn’t help but ask, “You can’t be a god for real, right?”
Toward this, Chen Feng merely smiled.
God, huh…
He sensed the strength within him. A full eruption of his level 100 awakened strength would reach the strength of level 10,000 awakened after being amplified by his miniature person. This was a realm beyond even resonators. And what was the realm above resonance, then? How far was this realm from actual godhood? Chen Feng was filled with anticipation.
“Let’s go.” He led the monkeys as they prepared to leave.
Since all the tribes had already been cleaned up, it was time for them to leave. However, just as they turned around to leave, a figure noiselessly appeared.
“Who is it?” the huge monkey asked vigilantly.
Shua!
A neat-looking figure approached them at a rather extraordinary speed from the woods.
Chen Feng’s heart trembled. “This is…” He, who was normally emotionless when facing regular regulators, had actually had his nerves stretched taut the moment this person appeared. Tap. Tap.
That figure slowly approached one step at a time. The terrifying pressure emanating from this person…
God!
This was the only word that appeared in Chen Feng’s mind as this person entered his sight. This was most definitely a god.
Chapter 762: Questioning the God
Why was a god here? Chen Feng’s body chilled. Despite his recent rapid growth, he had never once believed that he was currently capable of defeating a god. After all, they were in two completely different realms. In Chen Feng’s plan, he was supposed to slowly obtain more and more resources as he grew in strength. Ultimately, his strength would start approaching that of the gods. Only then would he think of a way to challenge the gods. Not now, not like this. He hadn’t wanted to encounter a god this early.
This was illogical. Why was a god even here? They were just in the surroundings of that large city. This was merely a remote region, one even the Mountcarver Tribe could not be bothered with. Why would a god be here? Chen Feng was confused.
“Is it you guys?” the god asked in an extremely gentle voice. However, it was this very gentle voice that was accompanied by horrifying killing intent. Almost instantly, all the herculean apes started prostrating on the ground. As for Chen Feng and the huge monkey, they were greatly affected by this pressure as well. A single word… and his mere aura… to achieve all this. So this was a god? Chen Feng clenched his teeth. The huge monkey wanted to speak, but that terrifying pressure caused him to not even be able to open his mouth.
Pu!
Blood started bursting out of his body. As for the herculean ape tribesmen, they were facing imminent destruction.
Suddenly, Chen Feng spoke. “What do you mean by that?” Within him, the miniature person started syncing with him, slowly counteracting the pressure projected by the god. He knew that he could not be this god’s opponent. However, he was at least able to talk.
“Huh?” The god looked at Chen Feng in astonishment. Evidently, he was curious about how this little fellow was capable of actually resisting the pressure enough to talk. One ought to know that even though this god had asked a question, he had not expected anyone to answer. Under the majestic pressure of a god, all awakened ones and resonators were but bugs. As such, they did not qualify to even answer the question of a god. And yet this little guy here was able to speak in his presence.
“Are you guys the ones that killed my believers?” the god asked with the same gentle voice. This time, the pressure he emanated became more intense. Moreover, since Chen Feng was able to talk, a huge amount of the pressure was now targeting Chen Feng.
Bang!
Terrifying pressure descended. Chen Feng could clearly feel that surging pressure. Fortunately, now that he was a level 10,000 awakened, he was able to hold on, albeit with great difficulty.
Believers… Killed his believers… Finally, Chen Feng understood. Among the tribes they had eliminated, some of them had been believers of this god. However… this was a god, right? Before this, Chen Feng had indeed heard of the situation where, if you beat up the small guy, the big guy would step out. And if you beat up the big guy, an old man would come out. And if you beat up the old man, the ancestor would come out. After all, those people were of the same clan and it wasn’t
weird for them to be protective. However, he had never heard
that after beating up the believers, the god would appear!
Was this god sick or something? Any god would have tens of millions of believers. Why would they even be bothered with the lives of some believers? And to reach a point where the god actually bothered to avenge the death of a small number of believers? Was this god sick? Chen Feng was collapsing.
If this was how all the gods acted, this era would probably be in great chaos. Almost every day there were countless wars between tribes. If all gods were so dedicated when it came to protecting their believers, which of them would still dare to fight? This was simply ridiculous.
Moreover, they had eliminated more than 1,000 tribes, yet this was the only god that had appeared. Chen Feng could only think of one reason for a god to appear as a result of his actions. He recalled that in the legends of his previous life, there had been a certain god with an incredible appetite for sex, who had left his seeds in nearly all the races, giving birth to countless children.
“Among these tribes, some were your children?” Chen Feng asked, distressed. This was truly unlucky of them.
Shua!
Suddenly, their surrounding seemed to go silent at what Chen Feng had said. The god’s always-calm expression changed slightly. He looked at this youth that seemed to have accepted his fate, and instantly, the god frowned. As he pondered Chen Feng’s words, his killing intent became even more intense.
“You dare insult a god?” A god was supposed to be an existence high and mighty above everyone else. He did not know what this fellow was thinking. He also did not know why this guy had related this to his children even though he had been asking about his believers. Nevertheless, it was evident that this guy was insulting a god. Bang!
Terrifying godly power rippled out. Finally, the god was furious.
Huh?
Chen Feng was stupefied. So he had guessed wrongly? Hold on… If he had truly gotten it wrong…
“As a god, you are actually lowering yourself and getting involved in the disputes of those mortals far below you. Is this not too excessive?” howled Chen Feng.
Shua!
At these words, the attack paused right before it reached Chen Feng. Chen Feng’s heart trembled. Splendid. Since this god was willing to listen to him, all was not lost. Chen Feng continued speaking loudly. “You, exalted one, are an almighty and great god. We of the bottom kill each other for the sake of our respective beliefs, for our respective gods! If the gods come out each time some of their believers are killed, what will become of this world? After you kill us, should our
god take revenge for us? Then, will all the gods will start lowering themselves, getting pulled into the affairs of mortals?
“Earlier, I thought that some of the believers were your children and had resigned myself to this fate. But since none of them were your children, you should tell me the reason for this, right? I know, as a god, you don’t even need to answer the questions of us lowly mortals. However, we truly can’t accept dying without even knowing the reason, or perhaps dying merely because we have killed some believers… This is truly quite uncalled for!”
To maintain his momentum, he had even forced all the words out in one go. He was quite afraid that even a slight pause would cause him to be directly killed by this god. He did not know if this god would listen to them. However, what he had uttered was precisely the question that the herculean apes had. Even if they had to die, they needed to know the reason, right? Even more so when a god was the one doing the killing. Chen Feng looked straight at the god, hoping to get an answer. However, somewhat surprisingly, the god’s killing intent had increased even further. Moreover, he was currently gazing at Chen Feng with an odd gaze.
Mhm?
Chen Feng’s scalp went numb. Had he spoken wrongly? He pondered the matter and could not think of anything he had said that would have provoked this god to such an extent. Perhaps his tone of voice had been too harsh? His heart chilled. God… Facing such an almighty existence, they did not even qualify to converse with him. Was this god merely feeling insulted because a mere mortal had had the audacity to converse with a god? If so, Chen Feng could only smile bitterly.
The god’s flat voice resounded. “You want a reason? I will give you one. Struggles between believers occur every single day. There will come new believers, and believers will die. I naturally wouldn’t come looking for you because of this.”
Why, then? Chen Feng was filled with doubt. Even the herculean apes were filled with doubt. Apart from killing some
“A god should not come down for the death of some believers, and a god wouldn’t do so. You are indeed right about this.”
The god had expressed agreement to what Chen Feng had said. However, for reasons unknown, this only caused the bad feeling Chen Feng had to intensify.
“But…” The god gazed at Chen Feng grudgingly as his calm voice was suddenly filled with blame. “You guys can’t keep going about killing the believers of a single god, right? I had a hundred thousand believers, yet in half a year, you killed fifty thousand of them. Aren’t you being a tad bit too excessive?”
Toward the end, the god’s killing intent was already rocketing.
Chen Feng: “…”
Chen Feng was thoroughly stupefied. Fifty thousand? He thought about it and recalled that during this half a year, they had indeed eliminated over a thousand tribes. Some of the tribes had had quite a few resonators, the majority of them being level 1 resonators. Apart from dealing with the leaders, Chen Feng had hardly made a move. However, when the herculean apes had reached a point where all of them were capable of contending against level 1 resonators, they had started crushing their opponents with extreme ease, not a single one of the enemy resonators had been able to escape them.
As such, it was quite probable that they had killed a total of fifty thousand resonators so far. However, they had never imagined that all fifty thousand of them were the believers of the same god. What the hell? It was over. Chen Feng’s heart chilled. Suddenly, he recalled the words that a certain someone had uttered in his previous life. Out of ten-odd sheep, only one was shaved excessively. When that happened, it would be so extremely striking no one would miss it. And now, Chen Feng was in the same situation. During this half year, all the resonators he had killed were actually the believers of a single god.
Chapter 763: Believer
Shua!
The world seemed to lapse into silence, and a mood one would describe as awkward pervaded the air. Chen Feng wanted to say something, but he could find nothing to say. It was a mistake? He had not been aware that those people were this god’s believers? If he dared say this, he would probably be immediately killed.
Even if he himself were the god in question, he would probably be angry. For this god to have the patience to explain the reason to him, this was already a rather kind god. However, Chen Feng still grumbled. Couldn’t this god have spread his believers around more rather than have them all so concentrated? Of course, these words were only thought, not spoken.
The huge monkey by his side was instead the one to talk. “Why are you so stupid? Even us monkeys know that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in the same basket.” It’s over. Chen Feng’s heart chilled. He raised his head. Indeed. The god’s killing intent was surging. Under this terrifying pressure, the air itself almost coagulated, to the point that even their breathing was now impeded. It seemed like this god was now truly angry.
God damn you, huge monkey!
At this time, high above the starry sky, a throne hovered. A certain person was seated there as he overlooked this world. Suddenly, he seemed to see something, and a smile formed on his face.
“Ah, I can’t allow you to kill him. After all…”
He rotated the ring on his finger lightly as faint godly power surged out. Instantly, the throne started flickering before vanishing once again.
… In the forest outside Mountcarve City, the furious god finally made his move. Instantly, his terrifying godly power charged at the huge monkey. Chen Feng sighed. Even though the attack was aimed at the huge monkey, without a doubt, not a single one of them would be left alive. Thus, they had no choice but
to fight it out with all they had.
Bang!
Chen Feng erupted in strength. He bloomed with all his power, unleashing a terrifying might with his miniature person. Instantly, an overwhelming might surged out of him. This was his strongest combat form, a form that was capable of instantly killing any resonator in existence, or even those above the resonance realm. This was his confidence.
But of course, his present goal was to be able to block even one of this god’s attacks.
Bang!
For the first time, his attack clashed with the god’s attack.
A crisp sound rang out.
What he saw next was the sight of the attack he was so confident in immediately collapsing. Under the attack of the godly power, his attack could not even put up a fight; it was totally destroyed.
Ka! Ka!
His entire attack shattered like glass. As for that god’s godly power, it was not even dented. Was this the strength of a god? Chen Feng could do nothing but to give a bitter smile. Encountering a god at his present level was truly no different than encountering a dead end. They could only watch on blankly as the god’s attack reached them.
And then… the attack stopped.
Chen Feng’s heart trembled. He raised his head and noted that the god was still filled with anger and killing intent, yet at the same time, he seemed to be hesitating somewhat, as he had actually stopped his attack at this moment. Hope was in sight! Chen Feng had no idea what had happened, yet it was evident that this god was now hesitating.
“Your strength is not bad.” The god held a grudging look. Evidently, the strength Chen Feng had erupted with had stunned him. Even if this strength was still nothing to him, it was nevertheless still remarkable for a mortal.
The god looked at the herculean apes. “You guys are not bad either.” They lacked godly power and resonance, yet they had been able to erupt with power comparable to resonators. What did this signify? This signified that the moment they resonated, their strength would reach a terrifying realm. All these fellows here were seeds with great potential, whether it was Chen Feng, the huge monkey, or the other herculean apes. all, at the final moment, he had chosen to listen to reason instead of acting based on his emotions. He had decided to convert these people into his own. After all, the losses he had suffered were way too great.
“Are you all… willing to be my believers?” the god asked coldly.
Bang!
The hearts of Chen Feng and the others jolted violently. Believers! They exchanged glances and were able to see joy in each other’s eyes.
“I agree,” Chen Feng said without hesitation. What kind of joke was this? This was not a situation where he could hesitate.
The god nodded. “Very good. Let me bestow upon you all the power of gods.”
Faint godly power rippled out. Next, a translucent contract took form in the sky. With that, the herculean apes and Chen Feng officially became the believers of this god. Almost instantaneously, the strength of all the herculean apes rocketed. They, who had already been at the peak of the awakened realm before, instantly broke through under the stimulation of the godly power. They entered the resonance realm, yet their levels were still increasing without stop.
Level 1 resonance, level 2 resonance, level 3 resonance, all the way to level 9 resonance. Even the god was startled at this sight. One ought to know that this wasn’t happening to only one of them. Rather, it was happening to the entire tribe. Godly power had always been capable of providing a huge boost in strength. Now that the herculean apes, having been stuck at the peak awakened realm for so long, had finally obtained the nourishment of godly power, their strength rocketed to an unprecedented height.
Now, they wouldn’t be too far off from the peak of the resonance realm. As for the huge monkey, there was no suspense whatsoever. He was able to easily enter the peak of a herculean ape would ensure that his combat power was even higher than a regular peak resonator.
How powerful. Even the god was shocked. He suddenly found that in this short period of one minute, these monkeys had all become the core of his pool of believers, becoming the strongest tribe among his believers. How lamentable. The god mused that his decision to listen to reason had indeed been correct.
While the god was rejoicing in his decision to not kill them, he looked over at Chen Feng. He knew that this guy was the leader of these monkeys, the strongest among them. If the herculean apes could reach level 9 resonance and the huge monkey could reach level 10, what about Chen Feng? He looked over at Chen Feng expectantly.
One minute, two minutes, five minutes… Time passed, yet nothing happened. The god even wondered if he had forgotten to bestow his godly power upon Chen Feng. As such, he sent yet another wave of godly power over to Chen Feng.
Two minutes.
…
Suddenly, the world seemed to lapse into silence. Nothing seemed to be happening to Chen Feng. That godly power capable of granting those monkeys an immense growth in strength had not taken effect on Chen Feng. Even Chen Feng himself was extremely stupefied. What was going on? Was he so powerful that that amount of godly power was not sufficient for him? After thinking about it, the god decided to personally transfer a gust of godly power directly into Chen Feng’s forehead.
Hum— power entered Chen Feng’s body before vanishing. Nothing was once again happening to Chen Feng. Just like that, the godly power was gone.
This time, the god was truly dumbfounded. What was going on?
“Hu—”
The god took in a deep breath. Once again, he sent out a gust of godly power. This time, a strand of his consciousness latched onto the godly power as he personally observed it enter Chen Feng’s body before slowly entering Chen Feng’s sea of consciousness and preparing to merge with him.
Everything seemed to be progressing correctly so far. And next… Everything turned black. He lost his connection with that strand of consciousness.
Chapter 764: Becoming a Scapegoat Out of the Blue
Hiccup!
The flustered Chen Feng watched on as the miniature person within him hiccupped. Holy shit. This miniature person had actually devoured the godly power sent by the god. At first, he had also been waiting expectantly for the godly power to descend upon him. But then, the moment the godly power had entered his body, it had been devoured by the miniature person.
In fact, that miniature person did not have a separate consciousness of its own. Rather, this was an instinctual behavior. This was no different than how an experienced racer would react instinctively in a lot of situations.
But… what exactly was this miniature person? This pirated version of a nascent soul had this function? Was this miniature person trying to reach godhood or something? Chen Feng was speechless. When the second wave of godly power entered him, Chen Feng watched on with his full attention. He noted that although the godly power seemed to have been absorbed by the miniature person, the fact was that the miniature person had not moved at all. And that familiar hiccup…
Hum…
Behind the miniature person, a red radiance appeared.
Chen Feng was surprised. “Xiao Ying?”
Swish!
The red glow pulsed as Xiao Ying slowly crawled over, his belly bulging to the point that he was almost round.
“It is indeed you.”
Chen Feng was overjoyed to see this. As of late, as both he and Xiao Ying increased his strength, Xiao Ying had entered into a slumber. Unexpectedly, with the godly power as the trigger, Xiao Ying had actually awoken. Moreover, the Xiao Ying of the past, who could only have consumed consciousness and energy, was now able to consume godly power as well. The upgrade he had obtained during this slumber seemed rather overpowered.
Hum—
Yet more godly power arrived. Xiao Ying glowed brightly in excitement. Alas, due to overeating, he could only crawl slowly this time. As Chen Feng saw this, he hastily pulled Xiao Ying back.
“If you are already full, stop eating.” Chen Feng wiped his sweat. “This is different than the past. It’s not an enemy attack. Hide yourself first.”
Xiao Ying understood what Chen Feng was saying. With a swish, both Xiao Ying and the miniature person vanished into Chen Feng’s sea of consciousness. The new wave of godly power entered with a strand of consciousness from the god and swept around. After confirming that there was nothing in here, the godly power dispersed and slowly blended into Chen Feng’s body.
Hum—
Chen Feng’s body started pulsing with faint godly power.
“Success?”
The god was surprised. He had expected it to fail again. If that had truly happened, he would have begun studying this fellow to figure out what was going on. Surprisingly, it had actually succeeded. This only proved that this fellow’s talent was astonishingly bad. Even the huge monkey had required only one percent of what he had inserted into Chen Feng to progress.
He had initially believed that this Chen Feng would be the strongest after resonance, since he was the strongest of the herculean apes. Now, though, it seemed like he had been overthinking things. The god shook his head at the thought of Chen Feng’s low talent. He no longer intended to provide Chen Feng with any assistance.
Generally speaking, after the contract of gods was established, the resonators would progress in strength independently based on their comprehension. In fact, a god taking the initiative to help his believers achieve resonance was unprecedented.
Yet even with his assistance, this Chen Feng had only achieved resonance with such difficulty. If he had to comprehend godly power by himself… The god shook his head in regret. He was certain that this fellow would be forever stuck at this level.
At present, Chen Feng’s strength started rocketing after achieving resonance. His strength, previously that of level 100 awakened, increased rapidly, pushing him to the peak of resonance. From his aura, he was much stronger than even the huge monkey. However, the god merely shook his head. What a pity, for such a good seed to have such disastrous talent. “You all…”
At this point, the god’s first reaction was to turn around and leave. After all, believers would normally be left to develop by themselves. However, as he thought of the situation here in the areas surrounding Mountcarve City and the potential demonstrated by the herculean apes, he decided to take them along instead.
“Come with me. There is no longer anything of value for you guys here.”
Chen Feng and the rest obeyed. For them, being able to stay alive was already a great thing.
Shua!
The god led them away. After a long time, a group of people appeared where Chen Feng’s group had been before. “They… should’ve left, right?”
“Mhm.”
“Did he notice us?”
“I think so… He is, after all, a god.”
“Why did he spare our lives, then?”
“Perhaps it was because of our uniforms showing that we are from Mountcarve City. Or perhaps he simply disdains to do such a thing toward the likes of us.”
“I guess so.”
“Anyone know which god that was?” “Nope.”
“Well, let’s report it to the higher-ups, then. This is no longer something we can get involved in.”
“True… the disappearance of over a thousand tribes around the city might have something to do with this god as well. It has been way too long since any of the gods have dared to do something like this. This is too excessive.”
“I suppose yet another bloodbath is about to start.”
“War of the gods, huh?”
They conversed in low voices. These people were precisely the scouts from Mountcarve City. They had followed the trail along the way until they had finally heard something, at which point they had rushed over here. Unexpectedly, they had encountered something like this. They had witnessed an entire powerful tribe being recruited by a god. That was not all. The tribes in the surrounding areas were traditionally their source of recruitment. Yet here was this god, recruiting the entirety of the tribe and even taking them away with him. This was too excessive. As they thought of the thousand-plus tribes that had vanished, they seemed to have finally found an answer.
…
In Mountcarve City, the news brought back by the scouts shocked the entire city. As this was reported, the several gods of Mountcarve City were furious.
“What are you saying? A god took away all those tribes?”
“He has broken the taboo.”
“Gods should never get involved in the fights between believers. This fellow has crossed the line.” “He is seeking death!”
“Perhaps this is a new god that does not know about the rules?”
“Since he does not know the rules, let us teach him a lesson. Even if Lord Sin God does not allow fighting between gods, I don’t mind becoming a god that is eternally without believers.”
“Get the people to start preparing.”
“Mhm…”
Mountcarve City had around one million believers. Due to their above-average quality, they were quite lacking on the quantity side.
This low-population issue was further compounded by the fact that this was an alliance of tribes, so various different species lived here, resulting in a low reproduction rate. That was why this city relied on outside tribes as a source of recruitment. Yet now, this source of recruitment had been destroyed. How could Mountcarve City not be angered by the destruction of their very foundation?
“Investigate that god. After that, we can teach him a lesson,” a sinister voice ordered. This caused the inhabitants of Mountcarve City to be filled with excitement. Finally, a war between the gods would start. By observing this battle between gods, they, the resonators, might be able to gain some insight and improve. This was quite a rare opportunity.
…
At this time, the god that had brought Chen Feng’s group away was still unaware that he had been made a scapegoat. He brought them to his palace. He had carved this palace out from a mountain with his own godly power; it was supernaturally finely crafted.
“This is my shrine,” the god introduced proudly. The huge monkey scratched his head. “A mountain is your shrine?” This so-called palace was not lavishly decorated at all. Everything within was made out of stone.
“This is a palace,” the god said as his expression darkened. He took in a deep breath and said, “This place has exquisite scenery, abundant energy, and rich resources. The entire shrine is incomparably massive and spectacularly beautiful.”
“But…” The huge monkey was puzzled. “It is still a mountain.”
“…” The god glanced at the huge monkey, faint killing intent in his gaze.
Chapter 765: Training Agency
“Cough, cough.” Chen Feng gave the huge monkey a kick before shifting the topic. “Looks like Lord God prefers peaceful environments.”
“Mhm,” the god answered with a dark expression. If it wasn’t for the excellent innate talent of the herculean apes, he would have eliminated them long ago. Those bastards, daring to speak in such a manner to a god!
The god brought them to the palace. “Sit.” The palace was extremely huge, so huge that even though they numbered in the tens of thousands, they were still comparatively tiny.
The god spoke expressionlessly. “Normally, only my apostles can enter the shrine. I have allowed you guys entry only because you guys might be able to become my apostles in the future.”
“Apostles?” The huge monkey scratched his head. For the huge monkey, whom had still been an awakened one half a year ago, “apostle” was evidently a rather unfamiliar realm.
“Above resonance is the apostle realm. To be precise, using terms you guys are familiar with, an apostle is the spokesperson of a god.” Thankfully, this god did not mind explaining. “Resonance is the realm of those who only have just established a connection with a god. As for the apostle—or spokesperson—realm, it is a new realm that one can enter after one’s comprehension of godly power reaches a brand-new height.”
Chen Feng displayed his understanding. “I see. Apostles are normally also spokespersons of their god.” If this system was likened to a sect, the awakened ones would be the outer disciples, who were in charge of odd jobs. As for resonators, they would be inner disciples, while the apostles would be the elites of the sect, like elder apprentice brothers.
“Generally, when one reaches the peak of the resonance realm, one will be qualified to become an apostle. This new realm signifies that one will be able to manipulate an even higher tier of the god’s godly power,” the god slowly explained. By the side, Chen Feng gained understanding. Apostles… A higher tier of power?
“Naturally, not everyone can become an apostle. To become one, talent is important. Upon reaching the peak resonance realm, the god will select the strongest ones and bestow upon them the qualification for becoming an apostle.” the god explained. At this point, he gave Chen Feng a profound gaze. Evidently, Chen Feng was, in his opinion, a person not qualified for this glory. Although Chen Feng was sufficiently powerful, it was unfortunate that even if Chen Feng were to be qualified for apostlehood, his own talent would ensure he failed to reach the apostle realm. He would require too much work on the god’s part.
The god paused, not knowing what else to explain. “Do you still have anything to ask?”
In fact, these things he had just explained were supposed to be general knowledge. This god felt quite helpless that he had stumbled upon this bunch that knew nothing. As a god, this was his very first time explaining these things. “Can I become an apostle?” the huge monkey asked while smacking his chest. He was now a peak resonator with terrifying strength. As such, he had no hesitation when it came to challenging the nest realm.
The god pondered and decided to give him a chance. “You can try later.”
The huge monkey beamed. “Many thanks.” He naturally felt incredibly happy now. It was truly unexpected that in a short half year, he would be able to start challenging the apostle realm.
Chen Feng wanted to try as well. “How about me?”
The god sighed. “…I will give you a chance as well, then.”
At this time, the other herculean apes that were similarly level 10 resonators, in their excitement, wanted to sign up as well. However, after giving it some thought, the god merely shook his head and said, “We will talk about you guys after the two of them have tried.” At this, the noise died down. However, everyone was still endlessly excited. By the side, Chen Feng was able to get the hidden meaning. What the god meant was that if these two failed, there was no point in the other herculean apes trying. It was evident that for a god, apostles were rather important.
Apostle, eh?
Chen Feng’s gaze sharpened. In his impasse, he had managed to transform peril into gain. And now even Xiao Ying had awakened. As such, Chen Feng was filled with confidence. The truth was that he wasn’t that bothered about the identity of an apostle. However, if he was granted the qualification, he would be able to verify his current strength in the trial. He truly wanted to know how strong he was.
Suddenly, Chen Feng raised his hand. “I have one more question.” It was not easy for him to come across such a down- to-earth god, and thus, he had decided to clear all his doubts while he had the chance.
“Say it,” said the god. Chen Feng asked, “Based on my guess, Mountcarve City probably exists for the sake of gathering believers as well. However, why did they give up on the small tribes surrounding them? Why were the tribes surrounding them allowed to believe in other gods? Even if a lot of them were your believers,
there should have been believers of other gods as well, right? And if those believers had joined Mountcarve City, whose believers would they have been then? I am quite confused.”
Shua!
At this question, the god’s gaze became sharp. He fixed his gaze on Chen Feng for several seconds before shutting his eyes, calming himself. Evidently, he had never expected that a member of the Herculean Ape Tribe would have the kind of vision required to ask such a question. This was a question so very close to his heart.
After a short contemplation, he decided to tell Chen Feng. Perhaps… “The moment believers join the city, they become the believers of the gods there.” It was because Chen Feng was the very first life-form he had encountered capable of an exchange on this level. Or perhaps it was because the life-forms here, his believers included, were all too simple minded, driving him into boredom.
“Become believers of other gods?” Chen Feng’s heart trembled. Did this not mean that these small tribes were in fact just there to produce believers?
The god sighed. “Yes, we are indeed producing believers for them. To enter the resonance realm, awakened ones need to sign a contract with a god and fuse with the god’s godly power. This is also the step where the exhaustion of godly power is at its highest, due to the preparation of the contract. Even though it’s a contract that gods normally have several copies of prepared in advance, when the number of believers reaches the hundred thousands, millions, or even ten millions, the rate of exhaustion becomes rather terrifying.
“Therefore, they decided to leave these awakened ones around their city and let us minor gods do the heavy lifting for them. When those believers become strong enough to join the city, those gods harvest the fruits of our labor.” As the god’s explanation reached this point, his expression dimmed. Chen Feng’s heart jolted. He had never expected that there was such a system among the gods. So it turned out that the hard work of these minor gods ended up being nothing but a gift to the major gods?
“But…” Chen Feng could not understand. Since that was the case, what was the point of working so hard? Why agree to keep doing it?
The god knew what Chen Feng wanted to ask. “Why do we compromise? This is the origin of the rule that only tribes with an average strength of level 1 resonance can join.” The god paused. “From the moment when the first resonator is created until the moment when the tribe’s average strength reaches level 1 resonance, these few years of development are the years where their faith belongs to us.”
“…” Finally, Chen Feng understood. This could be likened to the major gods eating meat while the minor gods drank soup. If they disagreed… perhaps those minor gods would not be able to get even a single believer. Suddenly, Chen Feng recalled a certain term: market monopoly! Holy shit, these gods were quite smart, eh? That was also why this god had been so greedy when looking at the Herculean Ape Tribe. He had even lowered himself to personally bring them to his palace. Evidently, he was trying to build up his core with these monkeys. After all, all their believers in the past…
In short, these minor gods were like the educational institutions or training agencies from Chen Feng’s past life, which instructed and trained people who would be absorbed into other institutions or organizations after graduation.
Chapter 766: So There Actually Is One
So this is what a god is.
Chen Feng was somewhat stupefied. This was completely different from the almighty image he had of the gods. It was no wonder that this god here could be so down to earth, wasting his time on them. Production of believers… Chen Feng shook his head. It was no wonder that the deaths of tens of thousands of believers had been sufficient to bring this god out.
Around Mountcarve City, there had been over a thousand tribes with countless life-forms. However, those able to become believers were only resonators, which had only numbered in the tens of thousands. Even more lamentable was the fact that they had still had to keep the number of believers under control.
That was because the moment the number of believers increased excessively, the tribe as a whole would become too strong and would start averaging in the resonance realm. When that happened, those believers would go join Mountcarve City instead. Things were truly hard for the minor gods. This was truly what Chen Feng felt. He had never expected that even an illustrious god would live such a miserable life. Naturally, this “miserable” was in comparison to the other gods. After all, regardless of how miserable a god was, they were still a god.
Suddenly, Chen Feng asked, “What does an apostle mean to a god?” He refused to believe that apostles were just normal believers.
“…” The god looked at Chen Feng with a complicated gaze. This fellow’s wit had truly astonished him. He paused and took in the look of anticipation all the monkeys had before saying, “Apostles have an extraordinary meaning attached to them.”
Indeed. Chen Feng’s heart trembled.
“Apostles can provide an even larger portion of faith to their god,” the god slowly explained. “Apostles are the core of a god’s force. The more apostles a god has, the stronger the god’s godly power and the more powerful the god. Moreover, unlike resonators, apostles can’t shift their allegiance. Therefore, apostles are much more valuable than ordinary believers. However… there are extremely harsh requirements for becoming an apostle. It is much harder than you guys imagine. Naturally, countless gods will fight over a person capable of actually becoming an apostle.”
As the god finished his explanation, he glanced over at Chen Feng. It was clear that he was referring to these herculean apes. He knew that this huge monkey was completely clueless and this fellow called Chen Feng, this herculean ape that did not resemble an ape, would be the one making decisions in their stead. If, after this, they decided to leave… The god already had his plans for that.
I see. Finally, Chen Feng understood clearly. In that case, everything was understandable now.
The moment one became an apostle, one would be imprinted with their god’s brand. This would allow them access to even higher tiers of the god’s godly power. In return, this person would supply the god with faith. The stronger the god became, the stronger the apostle would become. This was why this god had taken such a huge risk and brought them all here. After all, the 5,000 near-apostles the herculean apes had in their ranks were truly too astonishing. This was also why this god had been so down to earth when conversing with Chen Feng, even if this god was of the opinion that Chen Feng was talentless in godly power cultivation and would never be able to ascend into the apostle realm. These 5,000 monkeys alone were Chen Feng’s biggest bargaining
chip.
“I understand now.” Chen Feng looked at the god. “So how do I go about becoming an apostle?”
Huh?
The god was somewhat stunned. He had not expected Chen Feng not to say anything else. After all, a lot of people with the potential to become an apostle normally sought as strong a god as they could. Yet this guy… However, as the god thought about it, he understood the reason for Chen Feng’s decision. Indeed, it was much easier to converse with an intelligent person. The god smiled. “Follow me.” Suddenly, he felt like even if Chen Feng couldn’t become an apostle, he should still keep the man around. Or perhaps he would search for a treasure or the like capable of helping Chen Feng become an apostle, as Chen Feng was truly an intelligent person. After all, in this wide world, even a god needed someone he could converse with, right?
After walking past the hall, they reached a massive public square. Within this shrine carved out of an entire mountain, what was most lacking was space. In the huge public square was a flickering shadow that streaked around at an astonishing speed.
“The process of becoming an apostle is quite simple. So long as one reaches the peak of the resonance realm and reaches a certain standard in their comprehension of godly power, one will gain the qualification to become an apostle. As for the rest, the god deals with it. Each god has their own method of testing the standard of their believers’ godly power. As for my standard…” The god pointed at the shadow in the public square. “Defeat him and you shall become my apostle.” The shadow stopped moving.
The swiftly moving figure instantly stood still, allowing everyone a clear look at it. This was actually a wooden puppet! A robot? Chen Feng was astonished. Worthy of being a god indeed, to be able to create a robot-like thing. Even though this puppet was made of wood, it had high agility and its usage of godly power had reached an extremely high level. It seemed like this would be this god’s trial.
The huge monkey was excited. “Let me give it a try.” Ever since his strength had rocketed, he hadn’t had a chance to fight seriously. And today he had suddenly jumped from peak awakened to peak resonance in one go; he was itching for a fight with his new strength.
“Come!” he howled.
Bang! “Howl—”
The huge monkey jumped in while howling in excitement as surging godly power pulsed out of him with the ferocity of the War God. That shadow moved so fast that its actual position could not be determined. However, it did not matter, since the huge monkey was large enough to cover more ground.
Bang!
A terrifying might descended. All the herculean apes watched on in anticipation.
Bang!
With a loud boom, the huge monkey’s body was flung back at a speed even faster than the speed at which he had descended earlier. Instantly, he was blasted back to the point that his body was deeply embedded in the mountain, leaving behind a humanoid-shaped hole. All the herculean apes were alarmed when the saw this. Only after a long time did the huge monkey manage to crawl out of that hole, horror plastered on his face. “This… is the strength of an apostle?” exclaimed the huge monkey, yet soon after, the expression on his face was replaced by that of excitement as he said, “How strong! I will become an apostle one day as well!”
By the side, the god’s lip curled up into an almost unnoticeable smile. In fact, this fight had been started to show these fellows the true strength of an apostle. He wanted to show them that even though he was a minor god, he was nevertheless still a god.
The god glanced over at Chen Feng. “Do you want to give it a try as well?”
“Okay.” Chen Feng entered the public square, seemingly in a hesitant manner. He knew that this god was doing this to let them know the difference in strength between them, after which he’d give them some benefits to win their hearts. However… Chen Feng clenched his fists tightly. He truly wanted to verify his present strength, to see for himself how far apart he was from an apostle. After all, even before having godly power, he had already been capable of erupting with the power of a level 10,000 awakened. And now, as a peak resonator, if his strength was amplified by the miniature person within him…
Chen Feng arrived. Before everyone’s gaze, right before the puppet reached Chen Feng, he inhaled deeply and, with a serene expression, punched out. This was the strongest punch he had ever thrown.
Bang!
With a loud boom, that streak was immediately stopped in its tracks.
Bang!
Next, wood shavings exploded out, followed by the explosion of the wood puppet, leaving behind a pile of broken wood on the ground. Knock. Knock. Knock.
The wood dropped onto the ground while crisp sounds echoed about in the air.
Shua!
Suddenly, the entire world seemed to have lapsed into silence. The god, who had initially been watching on proudly, suddenly trembled. A look of disbelief was in his eyes, which had since gone wide. For the first time, an expression of utter shock appeared on his face.
Ah…
Chen Feng felt somewhat awkward.
“This…” Chen Feng shrugged. “It was an accident.” “You…” The god took in a deep breath, seemingly trying to suppress something. After a long time, he finally opened his mouth and said with an ashen complexion, “Congratulations on your success. From today onward, you are my apostle, my one and only apostle.”
One and only…
Chen Feng was astonished. “You do not even have one apostle?”
“I did have one.” The god had a gloomy expression. “He was a treant leader, yet he is no more.”
Chen Feng blanked. What does that mean? He remained confused until he followed the god’s gaze and looked at the pile of wood on the ground. Instantly, he was startled. Holy shit, it couldn’t be…This puppet had in fact been a treant?
Chapter 767: Another Accident
It turned out that Chen Feng was the one to succeed. Even the god was caught by surprise. No matter how he looked at it, Chen Feng’s body size did not look like it contained such astonishing strength. However, it was this very Chen Feng that had instantly defeated his only apostle. One ought to know that the treant had been an apostle, and what did that signify? It signified that the treant’s strength far surpassed these resonators.
The god had allowed them the trial of fighting this treant to show them how strong an apostle was, to consolidate his prestige, and to give them something to look forward to. That was what he had intended. Yet now his apostle had been defeated by Chen Feng.
This gave him a rather uncomfortable feeling. Among the 5,000 herculean apes, Chen Feng was the one he was the least optimistic about. It wasn’t because of his strength. Rather, it was because of his poor talent, so poor that it was almost incurable. One ought to know that of the two absolute requirements for one to become an apostle, one of them was to fully comprehend the godly power of their god. Yet this Chen Feng… With his poor talent, would he be able to comprehend the godly to the point that he could become an apostle? The god doubted it. However, since he had already promised to make those that passed this trail into apostles, he could not go back on his words. Furthermore, if he did not
turn Chen Feng into his apostle, he might not even have a single apostle left.
“Come.” The god had come to a decision. “Assume the correct posture. Yes, this is correct. I am coming.”
The god inhaled deeply. He pointed his finger at Chen Feng’s forehead, and his finger started flickering with a faint glow.
Hum—
A contract of the gods appeared. The contract this time was not a regular contract. Rather, this was a true-locked contract, an apostle’s contract. The moment this contract was signed, Chen Feng would be his apostle. The god pointed. “Go.” The apostle’s contract entered Chen Feng’s body and started operating.
Bang!
His godly power surged.
“It’s starting.”
Chen Feng’s heart trembled. He was aware of what this god was thinking. However, he wasn’t worried. The reason for what had happened previously was Xiao Ying devouring the godly power. This time, he had already ensured that Xiao Ying would stay quiet and would not indiscriminately eat random stuff.
Therefore, he should be able to smoothly enter the apostle realm, giving this god a shock. Chen Feng was still quite a prideful person. It would surely be quite an experience to witness a god’s shocked expression. Alas, even as the apostle’s contract entered his body, Chen Feng found in astonishment that he still had no reaction.
…
Hey? Instinctively, Chen Feng looked into his sea of consciousness. This was not right. Xiao Ying was obviously not doing anything. So what had happened to the godly power… As Chen Feng took a glimpse into his sea of consciousness, he was instantly dumbfounded.
There, all the godly power vanished the moment it neared the miniature person. All the godly power had been absorbed by the miniature person.
Chen Feng was stupefied. Holy shit, this miniature person truly could absorb godly power? Suddenly, he recalled that, due to Xiao Ying’s appearance, he had believed that Xiao Ying was the reason his body had been unable to absorb godly power. Unexpectedly, his body truly couldn’t absorb any, since it was all absorbed by the miniature person. Why was this happening? Chen Feng was doubtful. He could not make sense of this. The only thing that happened when this miniature person absorbed godly power was him not obtaining godly power for himself, halting his progress. There were no other benefits. Furthermore, he couldn’t even make
use of the godly power the miniature person had absorbed. He
had no way of making this miniature person materialize in the outside world to fight for him, even though he truly wished he could.
Chen Feng sighed. “Dude, you are dragging me down here…” He had never expected that this miniature person, which had always been so helpful, would be such a letdown at such a crucial moment. The godly power flowed in without stop, yet it was the same as throwing stones into a sea.
…
The god’s expression was turning unsightly as well. He knew that Chen Feng’s talent in godly power was poor. However, he had never expected it to be this poor. Previously, it had already been quite hard to push Chen Feng into the resonance realm. Now that he wanted to push Chen Feng into the apostle realm, it was indeed much more difficult than he had imagined. Unfortunately, he could only continue.
Bang!
Godly power surged out without stop. The god clenched his teeth and sent even more godly power out.
He had decided to use his powerful godly power to push Chen Feng into the apostle realm no matter what. And thus, a terrifying number of waves of godly power surged in. All of them entered Chen Feng’s sea of consciousness… the boundless godly power.
Bang! Bang!
Within his sea of consciousness, the miniature person welcomed the waves of godly power. The godly power that arrived in waves halted the instant they encountered the miniature person, then vanished. No matter how much godly power arrived, this continued. Chen Feng’s sea of consciousness remained calm; not a single wave remained. …
Time slowly passed. One minute… Two minutes… Three minutes…
“What are you guys doing?” The huge monkey scratched his had with a puzzled expression. “Lord God, hurry up and finish the contract.”
The huge monkey was truly confused. This god had said that he would turn Chen Feng into his apostle using the contract. Yet why was it that they both had been maintaining that weird pose for so long without moving?
“…” As the god heard this, his face darkened. Even he wanted to ask the same question. The contract had obviously been sent out. His godly power had clearly been unleashed without holding anything back. Why? Why was nothing happening? This fellow… The god’s expression became scarily unsightly.
“…” Chen Feng was feeling rather awkward as well. What could he do? He was clear on what was going on. As such, after careful consideration, he cautiously said, “Why don’t we forget about this?”
Instantly, the god was infuriated. “Forget?” Are you looking down on me now? I am a god!
He was furious. He felt like he had lost the prestige he should have as a god. All other gods only needed to casually wave their hands to make anything happen. Yet he, similarly a god, had failed every single time he had tried to show off. Moreover, so many awkward incidents seemed to be happening. Even worse was the fact that he had even lost an apostle to this. Was stopping even an option for him now? No, it was not! He had no choice but to grit his teeth and proceed.
The god spoke coldly. “I said that I will turn you into an apostle. I will do what I said.”
Bang!
A holy beam appeared. The god had actually intensified his godly power, unleashing his full power upon Chen Feng’s body. At present, the god was shrouded in a dazzling radiance; he appeared incomparably divine. As for the herculean apes, they all became filled with expectation when they saw this. So this was the so-called apostle’s contract?
Only Chen Feng knew clearly what was going on. Somewhat awkwardly, he watched on as the waterfall of godly power entered his sea of consciousness and vanished. So what if the amount of godly power was increased? It could not even start fusing with his sea of consciousness. It all…
Just as Chen Feng was about to say something, suddenly, he felt like the miniature person’s complexion seemed to look better than before. This was not a misconception on his part. Rather, the miniature person’s complexion was truly looking better.
Chen Feng was feeling doubtful. “Could it be…” Was the nourishment of godly power bringing about some change in the miniature person? That was quite possible. Chen Feng’s heart trembled. If so, it seemed like it wasn’t a bad thing after all for the miniature person to absorb the godly power. He proceeded to try syncing with the miniature person, and he found with astonishment that his amplified strength had actually increased compared to earlier.
The miniature person had indeed improved. Was this the effect brought about by the godly power? Too strong!
Chen Feng finally understood. “He is absorbing the godly power to improve.” So it turned out that this was the manner in which the miniature person improved. However, this was quite an astonishing method of improvement. After all, godly power was not normally something one could obtain casually. Who would have guessed that this miniature person actually required godly power to improve?
“If this is the case, things will be quite troublesome.” Chen Feng smiled bitterly as he realized that if this was the case… he would never be an apostle in his entire life.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
Waves of godly power surged in. The lord god was still trying his very best to pour godly power into Chen Feng. Unfortunately for him, he did not realize that the godly power he was pouring in was working as fertilizer instead of the way he intended.
Five minutes, eight minutes, 10 minutes…
Finally, when it reached the point that even the god’s expression was turning pale, he gave up. The apostle’s contract had failed.
Chapter 768: What an Unreliable Person
The god sighed. “Your talent when it comes to godly power is very bad.” It was without a doubt that, after so many years of being a god, he had never encountered a life-form with such poor talent. So poor was Chen Feng’s talent that he couldn’t force Chen Feng into the apostle realm even if he wanted to. Was Chen Feng a completely talentless person? That did not seem likely, as he had successfully become a resonator.
Thus, it was clear that rather than being completely talentless, he simply had extremely poor talent. After all, he had required quite the effort on the god’s part even when entering the resonance realm. With the higher difficulty posed by the apostle realm…
“Failed?” The huge monkey blanked. “This thing can actually fail?”
Evidently, none of them had ever heard that the establishment of a contract of gods could actually fail. Theoretically, wasn’t a god an almighty and omnipotent figure as far as a mortal was concerned? “…” As the god heard this, his face darkened. What could he say? Even as a god, this was the first time he had encountered something like this. Since he had encountered Chen Feng, he had felt like he was encountering one defeat after another. In order to prove that he was still a god, he decided to give it one more try even though he had exhausted a large amount of godly power in the previous attempt. Naturally, the target for this second attempt would not be Chen Feng.
Suddenly, he pointed at the huge monkey. “Come.” Although this huge monkey was much weaker than Chen Feng, he had still nevertheless reached the lowest requirements for becoming an apostle. As such…
Shua!
He pointed at the huge monkey.
Bang! Bang!
His godly power surged out, and the apostle’s contract appeared. Since this huge monkey was comparatively weaker, this process did not immediately succeed. However, as the godly power surged, a golden radiance appeared around the huge monkey’s body, slowly converging within him.
Bang!
With a loud boom, a shocking symbol flickered on the huge monkey’s forehead. Apostle’s contract: success.
The huge monkey howled, “Ao—”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He started smacking himself in excitement. As he sensed the formidable prowess he now possessed, he was so excited that he couldn’t control himself and started yelling. Success! All the other herculean apes were endlessly excited as well. The god heaved a sigh of relief. Although the godly power he had exhausted was rather high, he had still succeeded. His repeated failures with Chen Feng had truthfully caused him to lose no small amount of confidence in himself. He had even believed that he was no longer capable of promoting someone to the apostle realm. Now that he looked at it, the problem was not in him; it was this Chen Feng fellow… And thus, as the god reached a new conclusion, he grudgingly looked at Chen Feng.
Chen Feng: “…” Bro, can you not look at me like I am some impotent person?
The god patted the huge monkey’s shoulder. “Henceforth, you are my apostle.”
“All right.” The huge monkey was excited. He could feel a close connection between him and godly power. The moment he had become an apostle, his relationship with the god had started to feel much more intimate than it had in the past. As such, he was naturally happy with this development.
“As for you…” The god looked at Chen Feng with a distressed expression. “Your talent when it comes to godly power is truly very poor. We can only take it slow.” “Chen Feng failed to become an apostle?” The huge monkey finally realized what had happened, and he was suddenly excited. “Can I challenge him, then?”
Among the herculean apes, strength was everything. As such, challenges were quite normal among them. Although they all respected Chen Feng greatly, they frequently had the desire to challenge him. This was especially true for the huge monkey, who had suffered numerous defeats at Chen Feng’s hands. This time, with his successful promotion and Chen Feng’s failure, his instinctive reaction was to challenge Chen Feng. However, the moment his words left his mouth, the god dragged him away. What kind of joke was that? Had he not seen the wooden apostle earlier? Had that apostle not vanished upon fighting Chen Feng?
After giving it some thought, the god was still unwilling to give up on Chen Feng and, in a serious tone, said, “I will think of a way to solve your issue.”
After all, the strength Chen Feng had demonstrated was truly too astonishing. Chen Feng could only smile bitterly. “All right.” Alas, this wasn’t an issue that could be solved easily. His fake nascent soul, which had been absorbing all the godly power… He probably had to look for the reason behind this before he could solve it. However, right at this moment, Chen Feng’s acute
senses were able to detect a fluctuation.
Hum—
The fluctuation noiselessly arrived.
Suddenly, Chen Feng was alarmed. “Who is it?”
It was the very first time he had sensed a fluctuation so clearly. The bizarre fluctuation flitted across before vanishing without a trace, as if it had never appeared. Chen Feng was startled, yet he could no longer find it. Earlier… With the turn of his head, he sensed something different, yet it vanished.
The god looked at him curiously. “What’s going on?” Suddenly, Chen Feng asked, “Did you not feel a fluctuation earlier?”
“No.” The god maintained his curious expression.
Chen Feng: “…”
Even a god hadn’t felt it? But that had clearly been a fluctuation… Was it a misconception on his part? Chen Feng looked over at the miniature person, whose complexion had improved once again. How could it be a misconception? That fluctuation that had rippled past had actually been absorbed by this miniature person, causing a drastic improvement in his complexion.
That familiar feeling… That fluctuation had to have appeared before as well. However, the past him had been too weak and had failed to detect it. But with this miniature person, which had also grown stronger, he had managed to detect that fluctuation. “Xiao Ying,” Chen Feng said inwardly, “observe him for me.
The moment it appeared…”
Hum—
Xiao Ying flickered several times in response. Chen Feng was still wondering what that fluctuation had been. He felt like something had to have happened, even if this was just his intuition. Just as he was deep in thought, a loud boom carried over. It was akin to the rumble of ten-thousand peals of thunder. As it reached the mountain, the entire shrine boomed loudly, startling everyone present.
The god was furious. “Who is it?” There were actually people daring enough to come mess around in his territory? He was truly furious now. It was fine for him to have lost his prestige in front of these monkeys, it was also fine to have lost his prestige facing Chen Feng, but now, the provocation had even reached his territory? He was an illustrious god, an almighty and majestic god! He would not tolerate this!
Shua! With a flash, the god appeared at the entrance together with Chen Feng and the others. There, a group of people were shouting at the door.
Hmph!
The god snorted, “Feeling suicidal?”
The huge monkey grinned. “Let me deal with them.”
“Good. Capture—”
Before the god could even finish his words, the huge monkey had already pounced forth. His huge size, his terrifying talent, and his present strength as an apostle caused him to shoot forth like an artillery shell.
Bang! This “artillery shell” landed, and instantly, a huge portion of the group of people, who also possessed extraordinary strength, was killed off.
“Capture and question…” The god failed to complete his sentence.
The huge monkey turned around and smiled. “What?”
The god’s body stiffened. “Hehe, nothing.” He had never killed an apostle. However, after giving it some thought, an apostle capable of reaching this place should be the apostle of the other minor gods nearby. In that case, it did not matter even if they were killed by the huge monkey. After all, he did not fear those minor gods.
“You… you all…” The only survivor of the group looked at the huge monkey in horror. He had evidently never expected that the huge monkey would truly dare to make a move. “You guys are courting death. A mere minor god…”
“Bastard.” The huge monkey slapped him without hesitation. “I am an apostle from Mountcarve City…”
Bang!
The heavily injured apostle was transformed into mincemeat by the huge monkey’s slap.
Mountcarve…
The god had a bad premonition. His godly power surged out and landed on the forehead of one of the corpses. Next, an extremely familiar imprint appeared.
“Prison.” This was the word on the imprint.
At this sight, the god’s pupils shrunk. This was the apostle of one of the almighty gods of Mountcarve City, a god called Prison. Why were they here? No, now was not the time to ask this question. Suddenly, the god noticed an even bigger issue. The apostle of Prison had been killed by the huge monkey using the apostle power he had just granted the monkey not too long ago…
Chapter 769: It’s Like You Are Joking
In Mountcarve City, a certain astonishing aura erupted suddenly. “How audacious of you!”
Bang!
That dreadful aura engulfed the entire city, causing all the life-forms in the area to tremble in fear.
“God, this aura…”
“Which idiot provoked this lord?”
“Whoever it was, he is finished.”
“Leave quickly, lest we be caught up in this anger.” Countless life-forms looked in the direction of the city center in shock. They started hastily leaving in fear of being caught up in the god’s wrath.
“Excellent. Since you want a battle, then a battle it shall be.” Prison’s killing intent surged. He had initially wanted to avoid killing, especially at a time like this when the number of gods was still lacking. The rules set in place by the Sin God generally did not allow killing among gods. As such, after pondering the issue for a long time, he had decided to have his apostle pay that god a visit. Unexpectedly, his apostle had been directly killed. This was too excessive.
“I told you earlier that it’s pointless, trying to reason with these wild gods,” A different god said in disdain. “They are barbarous and ignorant; they became gods through pure luck. Ultimately, they are still the lowest existences among gods.”
“Which god is that fellow?” Prison asked coldly.
The other god curled his lips. “I don’t know. Who would be bothered to know the title of a wild god?” Prison stood up. Instantly, a terrifying divine aura rippled out. He could forget about normal believers getting killed, but now that an apostle had been killed, he, as the god in question, couldn’t not do anything. This was a conflict between gods, something apostles could not partake in. Since that god had
provoked him into a battle between gods, he had to accept the challenge.
“Looks like I have to personally take a trip there. Let me see clearly what kind of strength you have, for you to be so audacious as to kill my apostle.”
…
At this time, on a certain mountain, that god stared blankly at the corpse below him, then looked at the proud huge monkey. He blanked for a long time as he came to terms with the fact that, just like that, he had provoked Prison.
Good lord, Prison was a major god. This god felt a little light headed. Why had this happened out of the blue? “How are you?” The huge monkey looked at his god, who was presently rubbing his head with an unsightly expression. The huge monkey was somewhat confused as he wondered how a god could be plagued by a sickness as simple as a headache. How odd.
The god: “…” He looked at the huge monkey, who was seriously contemplating this problem, but he didn’t know how to answer the question. How should he say it?
Should he tell the monkey that he was an idiot for not seeing clearly whose apostle this fellow was, and question the monkey for having the galls to kill him? Should he ask the monkey if he knew that what he had just done was the equivalent of provoking a war between two gods? He could not bring himself to say any of these things. The huge monkey had acted on his behalf. This apostle of Prison had indeed been too unbridled, causing the huge monkey to react violently, accidentally killing the apostle.
In any case, the apostle was already dead. It was pointless to talk about all this. Regardless of how he felt, he had to calm himself down. He knew that he had to stay calm. What he was about to face was his most dangerous crisis yet since his ascension to godhood.
“A major god…” Alas, his heart still chilled at the thought. He was among the lowest of the minor gods, so far apart from a major god—two realms separated them. If he truly dared to fight Prison, he would not be able to last even a single round. They were in completely different leagues.
In short, he would never be able to defeat Prison, not in his entire life. At present, the only thing he could do was flee at top speed to preserve his life. As for this shrine of his… The god looked sourly at this mountain before him.
This shrine, this room, everything here had been carved out by him personally with great difficulty. As a lone god, he had spent quite a lot of time to complete this shrine of his. Yet now… As of this moment, he appeared so very pitiful as he stood there.
Evidently, he had never expected that, in a short few days, he would transform from a minor god with a little remote territory into a nomad god. What the hell was this? Was it even a good thing for him to have encountered Chen Feng and the huge monkey? Even he could not answer this question.
He clenched his teeth as he decided to escape with everyone. “Let’s go.”
The huge monkey scratched his head in confusion, evidently yet to realize what just happened. He was wondering why this god had stood still for a long time after seeing the imprint on the corpse’s head before suddenly deciding to take them all away. What was going on?
Chen Feng sank into contemplation. “Prison.” He had heard of this god as well. Prison was one of the major gods residing in Mountcarve City, and he was quite a big shot. Why had his apostle come in the first place? Oh, right, it must have been because of the believers around Mountcarve City. Chen Feng understood clearly. This was the only reason that could have caused that god to send someone here.
Unfortunately for the apostle, he had been too arrogant, believing that nobody would dare to make a move against him, and had thus instantly transformed into a corpse. “I see.” Chen Feng understood everything. In short, this pitiful god of theirs was once again being made a scapegoat.
“Let’s go.” Chen Feng patted the huge monkey’s shoulder as he explained, “There are too many of us. Therefore, we need to look for a new home.”
“Ao.” The huge monkey sighed with sorrow. “So it seems like nowadays, even being a god is quite difficult, huh?”
And thus, on this day, within an hour of the huge monkey killing the apostle, the god brought Chen Feng and the herculean apes and fled, leaving behind an empty mountain. The cold breeze brushed past, and the absolutely empty shrine looked so pitiful.
Shortly after, with a flickering of light, two terrifying figures descended. They were Prison and a companion of his that was also a major god. Prison had initially planned to come alone. However, his companion was of the opinion that there might be a trap here, since the opponent had provoked them out of the blue. As they’d thought about how some gods had perished in such a manner in the past, they had decided to come together. And yet, what they saw was a pitiful empty mountain. On the ground, the corpse of the apostle was still sprawled about. It was clear that nobody had bothered to clean this place up. As
for the shrine, it was completely empty.
Prison frowned. “Where is he?” He did not believe that a god daring enough to kill his apostle would actually flee from him.
“Temporarily out?” the other god guessed.
“Let us wait here, then,” said Prison. He had to deal with the death of his apostle.
This was especially true because he could see how, even in death, his apostle’s eyes had been wide open, evidently not believing that he would die in such a manner.
“Sure.” The other god concealed his aura and waited. One hour…
Two hours…
Five hours…
Ten hours…
…
And just like that, one day passed. It was not until the end of the second day that Prison accepted a certain fact with great reluctance: the god with the galls to kill his apostle had actually escaped!
Chapter 770: Start Snatching Recruits
“Nothing. Nothing.”
Prison searched the entire shrine but found nothing. All of that god’s belongings had been taken away. However, a lot of the things here still had lingering traces of a god’s aura, proving that just recently, a god had been residing here. Yet now he was gone.
The other god analyzed the traces. “From the godly power, this should be a minor god.”
Prison was furious. “Since it’s a minor god, why was he brave enough to kill my apostle?”
“Mhm…” The other god gave it some thought before shaking his head. “Nobody can answer that question.”
Prison raged. “Search for him! I refuse to believe that I can’t find him!” He was filled with anger, but he was unable to find an avenue to vent it. Therefore, he summoned his apostles and believers and had them search. Alas, they ultimately failed to find even a single clue. That god had seemingly vanished, leaving behind only some traces of godly power on the corpses here. Apart from this, no other clues were found.
In the first place, this territory was in the outermost border of Mountcarve City. Not far away was the territory of a different god. Due to the struggle for faith, the relationship between these gods of different territories was definitely not good. As such, it would be fundamentally impossible for him to get the help of the gods of the other territories in his search.
Moreover, nobody had a clue as to where that god had escaped. If he decided to stop using his godly power and focus purely on concealing himself, apart from the great Sin God, no other gods could find him.
“The day will come when he appears.”
Prison gnashed his teeth. In his hand was the tiny amount of that god’s godly power that he had gathered. With this, the moment that god showed himself, he would know immediately. So long as he sensed a similar godly power, he would be able to locate that god.
Naturally, even more important was the fact that this god had taken away the thousand-plus tribes surrounding Mountcarve City. There were so many life-forms; how had that god been able to bring them all along? Or perhaps he had a destination in mind?
Suddenly, the other god spoke. “I have a bad premonition. Could this perhaps be the work of the gods of the nearby cities? They may have wanted to expand their pool of believers and thus stole the tribes from our territory?”
Prison shook his head without hesitation. “That is not possible. They would not do such a thing.”
Since none of those gods would dare do such a thing!
That was because doing something like that was equivalent to severing one’s foundation. It would bring about a major grudge. If they did that and were discovered, a huge battle would ensue. At that time, a true war between the gods would erupt, and they would become mortal enemies. After all, it was impossible for any of the cities near them to conceal the number of missing tribes.
“Who could it have been, then?”
“I don’t know. The believers of the nearby cities have all said that they have not noticed any exceptions.”
“How can more than 1,000 tribes, with several million tribesmen, vanish into thin air? Who exactly was that god? And why did he do this?”
Prison could not understand this. The same could be said of his companion. All the gods of Mountcarve City spent a long time contemplating this, yet they failed to figure out the reason. None of them could have guessed that their line of thought was totally wrong. All of this was in fact not the work of that god; he had merely been made a scapegoat. “Continue the search. We must determine the reason. However, we must also focus on a different issue.” Prison sighed deeply. “If we fail to find the 1,000 missing tribes, what should we do?”
This was the most heart-wrenching issue. More than 1,000 tribes had gone missing. They were the foundations of Mountcarve City. Without them, in the coming decades, Mountcarve City would not have any new believers. This was the scariest issue.
“What should we do?”
This was what they had to focus on. After returning, Prison and the other god discussed with the others. They spent several days in discussion, and after confirming that it was impossible to find the missing tribes, they had no choice but to use their backup plan.
“Let’s start recruiting.” “Yes. Offer better terms secretly to the tribes nearby and get them to move over voluntarily to become part of Mountcarve City.”
In short, they were going to steal recruits from other gods.
“This… is not very good, right?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“No.”
“Us providing a better offer is simply healthy competition. With the unique circumstances we are in, we have to use unique methods. We must replenish the lost tribes as soon as possible. Otherwise, Mountcarve City will definitely fall in the not too distant future.” “Sacrifice short-term gains for long-term gains. This shall be our current focus.”
“Understood.”
“We don’t even need to give too good an offer. We don’t have to steal all their tribes. We only need to steal a bit from each city. That will be sufficient.”
“Understood.”
“Remember, do not recruit too excessively. We do not wish to provoke the gods of all these cities.”
“Understood.”
And thus, soon after, the news of the recruitment noiselessly began to spread. And with that, some tribes truly started secretly moving over. As for the gods of the other cities, they all noticed this development as well. “Mountcarve City has crossed the line.”
“However, they have been careful to not do anything that might trigger a war between gods.”
“Even so, they can’t do that, right?”
“I advise you guys to not get involved in this. I heard that something recently happened to them. More than 1,000 tribes went missing, and their outer region has been completely emptied. That is why they are doing this.”
“Is that for real?”
“Of course. Therefore, do not place too many restrictions on them. Otherwise, if they really fail to recruit even a single believer, they will probably start to go crazy. At that time, a true war between the gods will erupt.” “Hiss. Fine, forget it. However, we can’t allow them to continue doing this, right?”
“Dealing with this is easy. Put out some preferential offers as well and aim the offers at those with the potential to be apostles. Give them the best resources and treatment so as to retain the gifted ones. As for the rest… Well, those lacking ambition or talent can be given up at any time.”
“That will do.”
The gods of the other cities all reached a decision.
Their ultimate decision was to retain the gifted ones with preferential treatment, while the lacking ones would be allowed to freely travel to Mountcarve City. This was in fact a different method of filtering out the undesirables. Toward this, Mountcarve City was helpless.
At present, the outer region of their territory was completely empty. As such, they had to take what they could. Even those deemed undesirables could not be rejected. To deal with the preferential treatment the other cities were offering, they had no choice but to sacrifice more and spend more resources to recruit the better-quality ones. However, the vast majority of the gifted ones, those with the potential to reach the apostle realm, were not willing to move.
Just like this, a cold war started. Unexpectedly, this instead resulted in peace among these few cities, who would otherwise still have had minor skirmishes every now and then. As for now, it was a pure battle for resources. At this time, Chen Feng and the rest, who were fleeing together with the god, also heard this news.
All the major companies have started fighting over recruits. This was Chen Feng’s first thought when he heard. Due to the abrupt bankruptcy of a certain training and recruitment agency, Mountcarve Company was now lacking in talent. Helpless, they had no choice but to start recruiting from the other companies. As for the other companies, they had started to increase the pay to retain their own talent. This was what Chen Feng saw.
And this… would be the perfect chance for him.