Perfect God

Fate gathered, and the wheels of the age rumbled onward.

The Immortal Dynasty had only sensed that some kind of power seemed to exist within this twisted plane—perhaps one that could let Qing Liu Sheng reach the peak even faster.

What exactly it was, even the Immortal Dynasty had no way of knowing. Unlike the Divine Court, they had no special treasure that could directly foresee the truth—the possibility of something enough to overturn the Immortal Dynasty.

By the time Yun Ye began spreading his power, he had already taken over the body. He and Alania hurried to the government building and, following the directions, pushed open the door to a room inside. A complex spatial Law Array rotated into motion, teleporting the two of them across space to a certain point.

The teleportation process was a boundless expanse of white, accompanied by the sound of static. Supposedly, those were the voices of the past and future.

Since this world possessed time magic, it was hardly inconceivable that spatial technology used during teleportation would connect with the past and future.

After a brief period of unintelligible static, the two arrived on an island surrounded by white clouds. Looking closely, they saw that the island was actually floating in the air.

Several mages with astonishing magical power were present, some old and some young. Without exception, however, each was accompanied by a white-haired Miko.

Including Yun Ye himself, there were five of them.

When Alania saw the white-haired girl, she bowed respectfully but did not speak. Here, there was no need for Miko like them to waste time exchanging pleasantries.

The white-haired girl, seated on the island's grass, suddenly spoke. "The New God has arrived as well. Please sit, everyone. We don't have much time."

The Miko laid out carpets one after another. The four Nation-Level Restricted Mages had no objections and sat around the girl.

Although Yun Ye did not know these people, he could tell without using Divine Art that they were all S-Class Mages. The white-haired girl should be one of them as well.

Judging from Alania's respectful attitude, she was probably the Child God of the legendary Snow Palace.

The white-haired girl nodded slightly. "I'll keep this brief. The Space King stole the New Embroidered Ball and the New Holy Grail. His intention should be obvious enough. This is not one person's affair, nor is it a matter of simply surviving the Third World War and avoiding participation. Everyone must join forces to resolve this problem. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable—far more terrifying than the destruction of civilization."

"The Space King must have been preparing for this for a long time. Your Majesty the Child God, what are your thoughts? Where should we begin?" an old man with gray hair asked.

"Wait. Explain the New Embroidered Ball and the Space King first. I still know nothing about them." Yun Ye stopped the ensuing discussion.

"You'll learn all that in due time. There's no need to waste our precious time." A dignified man frowned, then turned to the Child God, his tone easing. "Your Majesty the Child God, please continue. This newly appointed S-Class Mage hasn't grown enough to know all this, which is why he asked these questions. There's no need to concern yourself with it."

"Never mind. These are matters that should be explained clearly in the first place. I imagine there are others among you who don't know the details, either. The New Embroidered Ball and New Holy Grail are both under extreme secrecy. Even most S-Class Mages only have a vague understanding of them. Since that is so, I'll explain everything." The Child God shook her head and began recounting the history—or rather, the 'mythology'—of the two strongest Twisted Objects.

In mythology, the god of origin for eastern humanity was a goddess, while the god of origin for western humanity was a male god.

The goddess had once used the power of the Embroidered Ball to mend heaven and earth, allowing the people of the East to live in peace and prosperity.

The male god had once used the power of the Holy Grail to bless humanity, allowing the people of the West to gain wisdom.

Both gods had been human. That was beyond doubt. Thus, they had died, sealing away the strongest Twisted Objects they possessed before their deaths.

The same kind of Twisted Objects that were newly born several thousand years later were the New Embroidered Ball and the New Holy Grail. They respectively possessed the power to mend heaven and earth and recreate mountains and rivers, as well as the power to grant wisdom and fulfill wishes. At the same time, they also possessed the astonishing side effects common to Twisted Objects.

Every time the New Embroidered Ball was used, it severed humanity's pillar of fortune, making newborn humans of later generations like people who had had all four limbs chopped off. Their abilities were drastically inferior to those of their ancestors, manifesting as a loss of magical power. That was why modern magical technology had been completed by the West.

Every use of the New Holy Grail required drawing an ocean of blood. Each use caused tens or even hundreds of thousands of humans to die, and it could even subtly interfere with the mind. Thus, it had led to the plundering of everything, the slaughter of various races, and the outbreak of two world wars.

"So, what's the point of gathering both divine creations? What can they do?"

Yun Ye asked.

"Prepare for the Become God ritual. Twisted Objects are distortions of the world itself, and each one represents a divine authority. Mortals can use them to become gods."

The Child God answered.

"Become gods? Can becoming a god make someone stronger and let them wield the power of a Twisted Object? Just like me?"

Yun Ye thought of Noah. He should have suffered some setbacks after devouring a Twisted Object, but he had suppressed it by expending power and completed his control directly.

"Similar, but different."

The Child God shook her head. "Gods have three stages: Child God, Become God, and Perfect God. The reason the masters of the Snow Palace have been called Child Gods throughout history is that we have always remained in the Child God stage, unable to advance any further."

"Devouring a Twisted Object, containing its power, and wielding it is merely the Child God stage. To become a god, one must seal the Twisted Object until it reaches a state of dissolution and obtain the true authority of the world, rather than merely wielding its power passively as one does now. This stage can even grant a lifespan of several centuries or even a millennium. The stronger the authority, the longer the lifespan. That is why many gods in ancient times plundered one another's authorities."

Yun Ye said, "You mean the Space King wants to do it all in one step, continuously devouring two highest-level Twisted Objects, dissolving them, and becoming a god? That sounds impossible. Doesn't it take many years of sealing for a Twisted Object to dissolve?"

The dignified man shook his head slightly. "Haven't you realized it yet? The New Holy Grail and New Embroidered Ball are already in a state of dissolution. The difficulty of dissolving them has been drastically reduced. Besides, the Space King is already eighty years old and has spent many years preparing for this day. He should have a certain degree of confidence."

"If he truly succeeds, it will be an irresistible force, and all humanity will be ruled. Even if he fails, the impact of the Twisted Objects going berserk would be enough to destroy humanity many times over. This is a situation that must be stopped at all costs."

The others nodded. That was precisely why they sighed. The Space King could come and go freely, and they had no way of knowing where he was.

They could only wait until the Space King had prepared everything and begun the Become God ritual before they could intervene. Otherwise, they would have acted long ago. Why would they have waited until now?

"What about the Perfect God?"

Yun Ye suddenly asked.

"..."

"After becoming a god, isn't there still the Perfect God stage? What does that represent? Could someone in ancient times have achieved it?"

Yun Ye asked.

"That's enough. Solving the problem before us is what matters. Stop wasting time. Finding a solution is the priority!"

The dignified man's expression darkened as he shouted.

He was human, not a Red Heaven cultivator. He did not possess so many years of experience and naturally grew irritated by all kinds of questions.

The Space King stealing the two highest-level Twisted Objects had already left him deeply stifled. If they continued wasting time on pointless talk, he truly might lose his temper.

"This is a secret that only an organization with a legacy spanning thousands of years, like the Snow Palace, could possibly know. It might help us as well. What's the harm in letting her finish?" the gray-haired old man said calmly.

"Agreed. I'm curious too. Although I devoured many memories, there was nothing at all about the Become God ritual."

"How exactly does the Space King intend to become a god?"

The last S-Class Mage, a young woman with pale golden hair and glasses, spoke.

"You're all taking this far too calmly. I hope you won't regret being one step too slow in the end. Do you really think Lin Kai and the others started the war as a game? Before the Space King becomes a god, whether we can eliminate the allied nations is already a question. By then, humanity will still perish!"

The dignified man frowned, and the air froze for an instant.

"War is war, and becoming a god is becoming a god. War will only destroy humanity; we might not necessarily die. But becoming a god is different..."

"We'll definitely die, while humanity might not necessarily perish. Can you at least understand the basic logical relationship? We aren't nursemaids for the Eurasian Alliance. Naturally, we should prioritize what benefits us."

The young woman with pale golden hair glanced at the dignified man, finding him inexplicable.

"If all of humanity dies, what point is there in our existence? Did devouring other people's memories pollute you into stupidity?"

The dignified man's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

"..."

The gray-haired old man closed his eyes and made no statement. Both sides had to be saved, but stopping the Space King from gaining power was more important.

If they did not help the alliance, only Asia and Europe—or the surface environment—would be destroyed. With magic, humanity could still barely survive.

But if they could not stop the Space King, it would mean a return to the age of mythology, with a god ruling all of humanity and holding the power of life and death in someone else's hands.

S-Class Mages themselves possessed the possibility of slaying gods. Even if the Space King became a god, he absolutely would not leave behind these potential threats.

Thus, once he became a god, they would certainly die, while humanity might not necessarily perish.

"It's only a matter of priority. I don't want to argue with you, 'Destroyer.' Rather than wasting time with me, let the Child God finish speaking."

The pale-haired girl crossed her arms and sneered.

"Whew!"

The dignified man drew a deep breath, suppressing his anger as he looked toward the Child God.

"Becoming a god grants one a long lifespan. However, as the power within their bodies breaks down and turns back into Twisted Objects, they too will walk toward death."

"The so-called Perfect God is a possibility in terms of evolutionary theory, inferred through speculation and perception. It has never actually existed."

"From biological evolution, we can see that the shorter-lived a life-form is and the faster it reproduces, the stronger its ability to adapt to the environment. Thus, even when planets undergo various mass extinctions, creatures like cockroaches always survive."

"This is a necessary measure of life's evolution, intended to pass on one's genes forever and allow oneself to survive. Following this logic, if life were to one day evolve into a form that could ignore meteor impacts, needed no food, could survive while breathing poison, and could live even in outer space, would such a creature still need the limitation of a lifespan? Would it still need to reproduce?"

"The answer is no. The more advanced an animal, the more difficult reproduction becomes and the longer its lifespan. The endpoint of this path is eternal life—the perfect life-form that is itself a species, needing no offspring, or rather, needing only to produce a single successor."

"Various myths contain super-beings whose descendants are born only after their parents die."

"The Perfect God is such a being. If one could achieve perfection on the level of a 'god,' then the authority within their body should no longer break down periodically. In a sense, that would achieve the eternal, deathless, perfect god."

"The Space King stole the two highest-level Twisted Objects, perhaps hoping to ascend to heaven in a single step and directly reach the Perfect God realm. Unfortunately, we don't know what the standard for a perfect god is. Everything is merely speculation."

The white-haired girl said.