Strange God

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Strange God
Original Name	诡神
Classification	Nether Domain–linked supernatural entity
Affiliation	Cult of the Strange Gods and their respective believer networks
Status	Multiple entities remain active, ranging from lesser entities to Great Strange Gods capable of influencing other planets 200 541
First Appearance	Chapter 45 — a Strange God-related artifact releases a soul-invading power before Su Chen tames it 45

Nature and Origin

Strange Gods are not biological gods or literal progenitors of their “God’s Sons.” A divine child may arise when the spirituality of a profession is forced into the Nether Domain, develops consciousness, and falls; a fallen Morning Star-rank profession can become a Strange God outright. Nether Domain creatures may also evolve into Strange Gods through a more complex process. 265

The Nether Domain was originally discovered as a possible route to immortality. Instead, those who entered were corrupted by Nether Mist and became Strange Gods, while the mist later spread beyond the Nether Domain and contributed to Abyssless’s collapse. 554

A Great Strange God can also create subordinate Strange Gods by drawing a Morning Star profession’s spirituality into the Nether Domain. Such subordinate entities naturally obey their creator. 265

Cult Structure and Manifestations

Role / Form	Description
Believer	A person who has unconsciously fulfilled a Strange God follower profession’s requirements or been corrupted into accepting one. Such professions erode revulsion toward Strange Gods and guide the target toward deeper submission. 150 203
Priest / Chief Priest	Priests can conduct rituals and communicate with their god. Known believer groups are ruled by chief priests, whose strongest recorded method is summoning a vessel with power comparable to a seventh-rank professional. 93 177
God’s Son / Divine Child	A higher-order manifestation needed for power beyond a chief priest’s summoned vessel. Disasters involving God’s Sons have historically required immense costs to suppress. 177
Descended Body	A body controlled or inhabited by the divine child’s consciousness. 265
Flesh-and-Blood Body	A stronger physical body created from Strange God essence. 265
True Body	The most powerful manifestation. It is rarely used in reality because its destruction results in total annihilation. 265

Abilities and Properties

Corruption of Professions

Strange God power does not merely attack the mind; it can alter a target’s professional path by luring them into taking up a believer profession.

• It may influence a target into fulfilling follower-profession requirements and suppress their instinctive disgust toward Strange Gods. 203
• A fully corrupted target may lose their original career path, become a puppet, and lose their sanity. 46
• Different Strange Gods stimulate professions in different ways rather than producing a single shared effect. 110 185

Divine Power and Strange Artifacts

Strange God power can be stored inside Strange Artifacts, including meteorite-iron vessels used in major rituals.

• Strange Artifacts can serve as vessels for large-scale sacrifices, summonings, and blessings. 46
• Black Pagoda’s power can reveal or trigger profession-upgrade paths. 111
• Faceless Ghost power can erase a profession requirement without an additional cost. 111
• Divine powers from different Strange Gods remain distinct rather than merging into one resource. 110

Faith, Rituals, and Divine Authority

Believers can attract a Strange God’s attention without understanding the process they are undergoing.

• Once enough followers exist, the Strange God may acknowledge them and enable the birth of a Priest capable of genuine communication. 150
• High-ranking believers can request divine power or employ rituals through their god’s authority; Crimson’s ritual system can grant low-tier divine power with minimal direct attention from the god itself. 240
• Strange God divine blood, Faith Spirit, essence, and origin power are increasingly valuable materials for profession evolution and Holy Profession advancement. 354 382

Influence over the Nether Domain

Strange Gods and their followers hold exceptional authority within the Nether Domain.

• Nether Domain creatures instinctively fear the aura of a Faceless Ghost Priest, even when they are drawn to living spiritual bodies as prey. 158
• High Priests can form Nether Pacts, anchoring Nether Domain creatures so they may be summoned temporarily into reality. 289
• Powerful Nether Domain creatures may evolve into Strange Gods independently. 265

Known Strange Gods

Strange God	Recorded traits and influence
Black Pagoda / Black Tuo	Associated with a vertical-eye symbol and profession advancement. Its believers can use divine power for curses, disruption, ritual techniques, and Nether Pacts. 46 111 289
Faceless Ghost	Specializes in disguise. Its believers can imitate loved ones, infiltrate victims’ lives, and use familiar faces to inflict despair before killing. 110 150
Crimson	Associated with unrest, chaos, and violent believers. 183
Dark Plague	Associated with disease; its believers are recorded as severely ill. 183
Cunning Fox	Associated with deception and treachery; its believers are noted for exceptional cunning. 183
Lie Sha	A Lesser Strange God encountered in the Harvesting Grounds. 547 548

Over a thousand Strange Gods are conservatively estimated to have appeared throughout Scarlet Thunder Star’s history. Many were eliminated by major cities or disappeared through infighting among Strange God cults; Black Pagoda, Faceless Ghost, Crimson, Dark Plague, and Cunning Fox have the most detailed surviving records in Yingfeng. 183

Recorded History

Early Records

Faceless Ghost believers were first recorded approximately seven hundred years before the present narrative. The first known Faceless Ghost Priest appeared roughly five hundred years ago, after the believers seemingly attracted the god’s attention. 150

Twenty years before the events surrounding Su Chen, Black Pagoda Believer corrupted Cliff Mountain City and attempted to summon a God’s Son. The ritual was interrupted, though its intended vessel was never found. 173

Southwind and Yingfeng Incidents

A Strange God-related artifact in Southwind City released power that attempted to consume Su Chen’s soul and turn him into a devout believer. His panel instead subdued the invading force, producing Low-Tier Strange God’s Power. 45

The Faceless Ghost God’s Son later hid a portion of its consciousness inside a gray-white crystal beneath Yingfeng. Su Chen absorbed both the concealed consciousness and its divine power, destroying that incarnation and prompting the distant God’s Son to consider accelerating the Holy Feast. 153

After their planned sacrifice of ten major cities failed, Black Pagoda, Crimson, Dark Plague, and Cunning Fox resumed targeting isolated settlements. Xia Hanshi and Yuan Poshan found the twenty-second destroyed settlement attributed to Crimson’s ritual activity. 158

Later Conflicts

Black Pagoda repeatedly sought Su Chen because of his theft and absorption of Black Pagoda-related power. Its descended vessel, He Peiting, was exposed and killed before it could fully activate its stored abilities. 289 410

Within the Harvesting Grounds, the Stupa Pagoda branded Black Pagoda with the character for “Evil” after it devoured a Ruin Realm; crimson chains began forming around it. 541

Constraints and Countermeasures

• Increasing Nether Mist weakens the connection between Strange Gods and reality, raises the cost of communication, and makes coordination between believers in separate cities more difficult. 183
• Great Strange Gods are distinguished from lesser ones by their ability to contaminate across planets; most lesser entities cannot exert that degree of interplanetary influence. 200
• People parasitized by Strange Gods can no longer receive recognition from professional spirituality. Existing professionals can be tested before the relevant spiritual authority, although the method cannot identify people who never possessed such recognition. 671
• The Stupa Pagoda can judge Strange Gods according to its own moral system, though the basis of that judgment remains unclear. 541

Relationships

• Believers — Strange God followers may unknowingly fulfill follower-profession requirements, then become increasingly bound through corruption, personal contact, and escalating crimes. 150 203 265
• Professional spirituality — Fallen profession spirituality can become a divine child or Strange God; Morning Star profession spirituality is especially valuable to Great Strange Gods. 153 265
• Nether Domain creatures — These creatures may fear and obey Strange God authority, evolve into Strange Gods, or be bound through Nether Pacts. 158 265 289
• Su Chen — Su Chen repeatedly tames Strange God power, adopts priest disguises, extracts divine resources, and exploits divine hierarchies while concealing his true identity. 45 93 153 242
• Stupa Pagoda — The pagoda identifies and judges evil, including Black Pagoda, and can impose punitive restraints on marked entities. 541