Chapter 32

Thinking is a taxing endeavor. In the past, the great Zhuge Kongming thought too much—he even personally oversaw the flogging of soldiers who violated military discipline—and eventually worked himself to death.

Unbeknownst to him, Palin's complexion began to pale once more. His vitality plummeted, his body visibly shifting toward the state of a corpse.

Sui Xiong noticed the anomaly and hurriedly channeled a stream of magic to replenish his life force.

"Your Majesty, what is wrong with brother Palin?" Gerald asked via telepathy.

Sui Xiong fell silent for a moment before honestly explaining Palin's condition to him.

"What?! His soul has long since departed his body, and he is currently relying on life force to keep his shell and lingering thoughts in motion? But he looks perfectly normal to me; I see no issues at all!"

"I don't know how it works either." Sui Xiong spread his tentacles in a gesture of helplessness. "I only know that if he loses his external supply and the residual life force in his body runs out, he will die immediately. That is why you see me constantly needing to replenish his vitality."

"But that isn't a long-term solution, is it? Can't you just supplement him with a large amount at once?"

"The weak cannot handle heavy tonics... you wouldn't understand. In short, his body cannot absorb a massive amount of life force at once; too much is more harmful than beneficial." As Sui Xiong spoke, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him.

On Earth, there was a type of cold medicine called "sustained-release capsules." By sealing the medication in small packets that dissolved at different rates, a single capsule could provide twelve hours of relief (he wasn't sure if that was exactly how it worked, but it was close enough). Following this logic, he could do the same!

Action followed thought. He attempted to condense a large amount of life force into a mass, creating a honeycomb-like shell out of dissolvable gelatin. Each small cell contained roughly the amount of life force needed for one of Palin's "doses," with each cell wall having a different thickness. The final result was a round little ball about a centimeter in diameter.

Of course, this was just a prototype that required thorough testing to ensure its safety. Thus, Sui Xiong did not rush to give this "pill" to Palin, but instead began constructing a structure similar to a human digestive tract within his own body.

He would conduct clinical trials first.

However, there was no rush. The immediate priority was to process the spoils of war.

Having repelled the God of Conspiracy, his herald, the Four-Faced Monster, had become Sui Xiong's prize. This bizarre creature contained immense power and was a master-level expert in illusions. Sui Xiong swallowed it whole, carefully breaking it down for study, and felt he had gained a great deal—even receiving an unexpected surprise.

As the herald of the God of Conspiracy, the soul of this Four-Faced Monster actually contained traces of the god's divine power.

The God of Conspiracy's primary domains were conspiracy, deception, and illusion, with a long list of secondary ones: evil, chaos, darkness, impurity... a messy, fragmented pile that was impossible to analyze all at once. Generally speaking, compared to the Sleepless God—the stoic, sturdy gatekeeper of the Dark Night Pantheon whose domains were limited to shadow, protection, and death—this God of Conspiracy was remarkably versatile, as flashy and gaudy as a street-performing vagabond magician.

Analyzing divine power to understand and master the abilities of a deity, then learning to imitate them, was something Sui Xiong had done before. However, compared to the residual power left in the shrine last time, this divine power was far superior in both quality and quantity. It was pure and vast; though it was only a tiny fraction, it was at least comparable to eighty percent of one of Sui Xiong's own strikes. If the Four-Faced Monster had truly been able to fully unleash this power, Sui Xiong would never have captured it so easily.

Analyzing divine power was technical work that couldn't be finished in a short time. Sui Xiong was in no hurry; he would just take his time. After all, time held little meaning for him.

Back when he was cultivating in the Ice Trench, heaven knows how many years had passed. At first, he would mark the years based on the changing seasons, but later he lost count and simply stopped bothering.

Compared to that long, monotonous stretch of time, the effort required to analyze this divine power was not worth mentioning.

His two subordinates also lacked a concept of time. Gerald was the type to sleep after a full meal; he used to rack his brain over how to promote their deity's faith, but ever since he gained a clever colleague like Palin, he had become too lazy to even think—his level of sloth was truly appalling. Palin, on the other hand, was his complete opposite. A body without a soul required no sleep as long as it had sufficient life force; he spent his days reading and thinking, his diligence enough to make one feel ashamed.

Sometimes Sui Xiong wondered how nice it would be if he could just average the two of them out...

Days passed one by one. The giant jellyfish floating in the sky required no food, and the two in the treasure cave could conjure food with magic, so they felt no discomfort.

But these days were agonizing for Ryan. Ever since he suffered a setback under Sui Xiong, the God of Conspiracy had been unwilling to pay any more attention to this region, and Ryan, who had been waiting for a divine response to his prayers, felt as if every day were a year. He could feel himself aging every day, moving slowly but surely toward death, yet he saw no hope of reaching the divine kingdom. This desperate life drove him to the brink of madness. Eventually, he had to rely on medication to sleep, but even after taking enough sedatives to knock out an ox, he would wake up in the middle of the night, crying and screaming, as terrified as a child abandoned by his parents.

In his despair, he racked his brain, thinking that the reason the God of Conspiracy did not respond to his prayers might be that his scheme had not fully succeeded—for instance, perhaps the Death Cloud Spell scroll had malfunctioned and failed to trigger properly. Or perhaps the giant's Bone Bracelet could not only cast restoration but also dispel magic... Thinking carefully, his plan actually had many flaws, so it was no surprise that accidents occurred.

"It must be that my plan failed, yet I boasted wildly to His Majesty, and now He is angry!" As he thought this, Ryan broke into a cold sweat, terrified. "The only chance for redemption now is to go back and get the job done right!"

Even so, the thought of facing the angry giant head-on made his legs go weak.

After holding out for about a month, Ryan could no longer endure this life. He made up his mind, took the few remaining loyal subordinates from the Thieves Guild, hired a competent mage, and led his party in a grand march toward Luer's treasure.

"We are going to deal with a giant?" the mage asked while they were camping on the road.

"Yes, a giant."

"What are its specialties?" the mage asked.

"Great strength, a very sturdy body, and high speed. And, quite unusually, it is not stupid," Ryan said.

The mage pondered for a moment and asked, "Does it have any other noteworthy abilities? Or special equipment?"

"It has what is suspected to be a high-level magic item, a Bone Bracelet, known to provide restoration," Ryan said. "I suspect that the will of some deity might reside within it."

"That is impossible!" The mage immediately dismissed the speculation. "Giants do not have their own gods, and I cannot imagine any deity tolerating their holy relic falling into the hands of a giant without sending a paladin to retrieve it. It must just be their tribe's ancestral spirit; these savage races often worship their ancestors, and magic items inhabited by such spirits are discovered from time to time."

When it came to magic, the professional was naturally the authority. Ryan stopped insisting on his own opinion and instead asked the mage how to deal with the giant.

"The best way to deal with a giant is to use illusions to lure it off a cliff. But according to you, it is a sealed cave that can only be accessed via teleportation magic, so that is impossible..." The mage pondered for a while before asking, "How high is the cave? Is it spacious?"

"It is not very high," Ryan answered truthfully. "And it is a bit cramped; the giant has to stoop slightly while standing inside."

The mage's eyes lit up, and he immediately had a plan.

"In that case, it is simple," he said with a smile. "I have plenty of ways to deal with such a big lug in tight terrain. One spell later, and I guarantee it will be battered and broken—it might even die outright."

Ryan was overjoyed, but after a second thought, he felt uneasy. "What if it doesn't get stuck?"

"Then I will certainly be able to trap it completely, leaving it unable to move," the mage said confidently. "Then I will use another spell—"

At this point, he paused and asked, "You don't mind if that Bone Bracelet is lost?"

"Of course not!" Ryan said firmly. "There is such a huge treasure waiting behind it!"

"That settles it. Leave it to me; it will be easy." The mage stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and headed straight back to his tent to sleep.

As a mage who fought with his brain rather than his muscles, he did not need to stand guard. On the contrary, ensuring he was well-rested so he could cast spells steadily was the very reason Ryan had brought such a large group of subordinates along.

After all... when facing that terrifying giant, neither bows nor blades would necessarily have much power. The true deciding factor in this battle would ultimately be magic.

Watching the mage go to rest, Ryan sat by the campfire, staring at the roaring flames, lost in thought.

If the giant was truly not dead, if it was actually strong enough to withstand a Death Cloud Spell, if there really was a deity's will residing in that bracelet...

He let out a deep sigh, his face haggard.

In the corner of the camp, the vice-guildmaster, who had been silent since they set out, watched all of this quietly, his eyes flickering.

"The old man is truly finished." A thought he had never had before slowly sprouted in his heart. "Perhaps... I should start making plans for myself..."