Mystery and Terror

Objectively speaking, Chiliu had no blood.

But from his three-dimensional manifestation, a liquid substance resembling blood could still be extracted.

So when he heard that, Chiliu became a little frightened.

What was Great Calamity going to do?

I only ate a little garlic...

And even the blood from my three-dimensional manifestation logically shouldn't be able to escape.

But who told the Main God himself was "reason"...

Seeing Chiliu dawdling, Tang Chuan's expression instantly cleared. With a sideways step, he grabbed him.

"Chiliu!"

Chiliu cried out, feeling as though he were being forced.

Ah, no, he was being forced...

Quintessa projected herself into view, dressed in a nurse's uniform. Her body turned from a phantom into solid form, and she held a specially designed instrument in her hand.

She looked at Chiliu with a smile and said, "Be good. It won't hurt."

"Chiliu!"

Whether it hurt or not was meaningless to me!

But why draw blood?

And how much were they taking?

Tang Chuan placed him on the table and said, "Just extracting a few attribute fragments. Look how scared you are. Don't move around."

Quintessa stepped forward, and the tip of the instrument pierced Chiliu's outer tissue.

In an instant, she pulled out the instrument. Activated by the Fantasy Attribute, the device containing Chiliu's attribute data began to enlarge and harden.

It did not stop until it had transformed into a sci-fi device that continuously emitted the sounds of precise operation.

Chiliu seemed somewhat unsatisfied.

That was it?

It was over before I even felt anything. Great Calamity, your tone earlier was way too scary.

Tang Chuan set Chiliu aside and said, "Go play. I'm running an experiment."

Ignoring Chiliu, Tang Chuan looked at the continuously operating device and asked Quintessa, "How long will it take?"

Quintessa showed a trace of strain and said, "The outer regions of the Origin Universe are already in turmoil, but the Main God's aura on Chiliu isn't very strong. And what was extracted was the weakest part of his attributes, his three-dimensional manifestation. It should still be possible to roughly extract his inheritance data... Done."

As soon as she finished speaking, the precision instrument turned into translucent smoke and vanished with a bang. A delicate, thumb-sized oval vessel fell into Tang Chuan's hand.

Tang Chuan tossed the vessel in his hand and asked, "How many 'alien gods' can this create?"

Quintessa explained, "As many as you want, provided there's enough divine power. But since Master is only conducting an experiment, two or three will do for now."

Tang Chuan nodded and tossed the vessel into the Cosmic Sandbox. His eyes became vacant once again.

Cangmang Star.

Canglan Continent.

Under Tang Chuan's covert guidance, civilization on this continent continued its savage growth. Things such as steam engines and muskets had gradually begun to appear.

However, there were no gods on this continent, and naturally no faith. It remained in a stage where several kingdoms each ruled their own isolated corners.

Actually, if not for the need to create differences in faith, indirectly advance the world's development, and make believers more devout, Tang Chuan would not have wanted to create so many gods.

If he wanted to spread his teachings across this continent, he could simply bring over people from the three major churches of Canghuang Continent.

But there was no need for that yet. Tang Chuan wanted to conduct an experiment.

He wanted to see whether fear that struck directly at the soul could stimulate more intense Power of Faith.

And while he was at it, infer from the small details what Chiliu's true form roughly looked like.

Arriving at a kingdom on the edge of Canglan Continent, Tang Chuan's projection descended into a deep, secluded swamp within the kingdom.

There was no sign of human habitation nearby. Beneath the mist-shrouded view, geothermal heat made the swamp bubble with mud.

The only living creatures might have been the crows cawing atop the withered black trees.

For no apparent reason, Tang Chuan felt that this environment, at least from a human perspective, suited Chiliu's attributes quite well.

He split the oval vessel into three and tossed one portion into the heart of the hot swamp.

The moment it landed, the vessel's shell abruptly collapsed.

From the perspective of his semi-omnipotent state, he could see a lump of flesh made up of several roughly round but irregular tissues. After wriggling slightly, it followed some unseen pull and tried to surge toward Tang Chuan.

It was as though it was... looking for its mother?

Yet Tang Chuan mercilessly left behind only one sentence: "Wait until you grow up."

Then he swiftly departed.

Sensing that the affinity attribute had disappeared, the spherical lump of flesh seemed confused and... wronged.

Yet within its ignorant consciousness, it still remembered the first and last words Tang Chuan had left it.

Grow up.

Would they be able to meet again once it grew up?

Yes, then I have to grow up quickly.

Gurgle, gurgle...

The hot swamp bubbled as the lump of flesh sank into it, beginning to devour everything that could help it grow.

In two other hidden, secluded corners of Canglan Continent, Tang Chuan manifested, tossed the remaining two portions of tissue into them, then vanished and returned to God's Perspective.

Watching the three ignorant lumps of flesh begin devouring all the attributes around them that could help them grow, Tang Chuan chose not to interfere. This time, he did not expend divine power to control the direction of their evolution.

He gave them complete freedom to develop as they pleased.

Tang Chuan also wanted to see what forms they would eventually take.

Of course, his influence was not entirely absent.

These three little lumps of flesh were derivatives of Chiliu extracted by Quintessa using an extremely convenient method. They inherently carried an attribute of affinity toward Tang Chuan.

Moreover, Tang Chuan had added specially tailored traits to their latent attributes: neutrality, loyalty, and semi-lawfulness.

After all, he merely wanted to test whether fear catalyzed faith, or whether such indescribable gods were more effective than conventional gods at harvesting Power of Faith.

He did not want them causing destruction everywhere. What if they were not orderly enough and collapsed the social systems of both continents?

"You shall be called the God of Mystery and Terror, representing mystery and horror."

After murmuring that, Tang Chuan observed the three lumps of flesh for a while longer before projecting his perspective onto Canghuang Continent.

Recently...

The Power of Faith being provided had been a little too scarce. At this rate, it would take a long time even to replenish the divine power consumed by the three treatment courses Quintessa had arranged for him.

This was because the Eagle Empire ruled the continent, and the three major churches flourished in an age of prosperity. Carrying the wills of the three great gods and the Sage, they were developing with unstoppable momentum.

With no worries over life or death, and no concerns about food or warmth, many devout believers naturally became less devout over time. It was even harder for new believers to increase their devotion.

This was not something divine manifestations could erase. Divine manifestations could harvest believers on a large scale, but in present-day Canghuang Continent, who was not a believer of the three great gods? Anyone who was not would be the odd one out.

If he wanted to increase devotion, he would still have to rely on the state and environment of human society itself.

Just as in the era of burning stakes and crusades, whether believers or so-called heretics, they had all been countless times more devout than modern people.

Although Tang Chuan did not wish to provoke war and cause widespread suffering, could he create something that would make the people of Canghuang Continent stay vigilant even in times of peace?

The appointed God of Mystery and Terror was still in its infancy. When Tang Chuan saw those ancient colossal beasts, a new idea came to him.