Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1435: In the Name of God

The unique circumstances surrounding Antier shocked the Blood Princess and the Foolish Big Guy. They could never have imagined that the girl who had been active for two thousand years under the guise of a "Goddess," influencing the destinies of four people and even the fate of the entire world, had died more than two thousand years ago. Every time she was summoned to wield the Holy Sword and dispel demons, it was merely the strong obsession of a wandering soul. It would be difficult for anyone to accept such a thing; the fact that the Foolish Big Guy and the Blood Princess didn’t faint on the spot is proof of their strong will.

"That’s how it is," Bingdisi glanced at the pale-faced Foolish Big Guy and Blood Princess. "The Holy Light with Divinity is different from the Secondary Holy Light used by mortals. Without control, it will instantly scorch everything. Antier was killed during the infusion ritual two thousand years ago. However, it’s still unclear to what extent her soul has been preserved... Thus far, she lacks consciousness. The only proof that this ’Antier’ existed is her divinely integrated appearance."

"What exactly is sustaining this form?" I frowned. "The body is gone, and the soul seems to have ceased activity, yet the wandering soul before us indeed exists. Is she a remnant of Antier, or is it the former master of the Divine Artifact’s remaining obsession?"

"Wait a minute! Wasn’t the former master of the Divine Artifact originally..." the Blood Princess, suddenly hearing certain key words amidst her daze, exclaimed in understanding. I gave her a somewhat embarrassed smile: "Uh, I actually told a little lie to Soya for convenience. The former master of the Divine Artifact was another Goddess who died in battle long ago... However, explaining the circumstances and the time span in detail is quite troublesome. To help Soya quickly grasp our identity back then, I just said it’s Alaya’s item."

"What’s supporting this wandering soul might be nothing more than an obsession," Bingdisi didn’t mind my conversation with the Blood Princess. She continued to study the struggling remnant soul attempting to rush toward the Abyss Zone, bound by two-meter-high restraints. "It’s the obsession of that reconnaissance soldier from back then. You know, the Divine Race is a powerful and unique form of life. On the Void Ladder, we are equivalent to the world, which means everything related to the Gods has actual significance in the real world. For Gods, there’s no such thing as ’worthless’ behavior. Our breath, language, names, a thought, an idea, even the land beneath our feet can distort reality, such as..."

Bingdisi spoke while suddenly turning to look at the stone wall on the other side of the large underground cavity, and recited her name in a slow, deep tone: "Bingdisi."

The dark stone was abruptly enveloped by a rapidly spreading golden halo, which dissipated after a few seconds. I saw the entire stone wall still existed, but its surface now possessed a crystalline texture, clearly no longer a natural rock.

"My name means ’Night’s Treasure’ because I was born at night, and my dad gave me this silly name—he was quite poetic back then," Bingdisi shrugged, pointing at the crystallized rock wall, and said to the stunned Blood Princess and Foolish Big Guy, "When you have the time, have someone mine these crystals here. Just give it any name; it’s the first compensation from the Divine Race to this world. It can prevent the wearer from dying at night, on the condition that their character can withstand the test of the crystal."

"That’s part of the power of my name, now you understand how easily things related to Gods can go awry," Bingdisi turned her face back, "Most of the time, these special influences of Gods are controlled, especially the power of names and language, which only work when used voluntarily—your future Xyrin Divine System will have to study how to manage these troublesome little skills—but this power can also get out of control, and that’s when a God is in a dying state causing informational disturbances. The Divine Artifact must have been released when that reconnaissance soldier was dying, a soldier fallen in a decisive battle with the Abyss, you can imagine how strong her obsession must be."

Bingdisi’s gaze returned to Antier: "So the thing sustaining this remnant soul is just a thought from that reconnaissance soldier back then. Before she died, she hoped to eliminate the Abyss. This thought became a truth that bowed down to all laws in the world. Anything that contacts this obsession immediately becomes that reconnaissance soldier’s Deputy. Even without a physical body and soul, one will continue to live; even as a mortal, one will instantly become a God; even if the Deputy is obliterated to ashes, the obsession will immediately distort reality to resurrect the Deputy. Unless the Universe collapses, the Divine Artifact will search for a new Deputy in the next world. For those with the ability to transcend the world, this obsession is easy to break, but for anything trapped within the world, no matter how powerful it is, it must obey—like everything on Earth must abide by the four basic forces to take shape. That infusion ritual back then was truly a coincidence, you must have made a mistake somewhere in the process, leading to the awakening of this obsession."

The Foolish Big Guy and Blood Princess, dizzy from listening, found these concepts hard to grasp. In the end, the Foolish Big Guy decided to dismiss what he couldn’t understand and focused on what mattered most: "I don’t get what you’re saying, can Antier come back?"

"In theory, she can," Bingdisi smiled. "Like I said, this obsession has become a reality-distorting force, so even though she’s been dead for two thousand years, essentially she’s still ’alive’. The divine influence forcibly set her to a ’living’ state. Currently, her self-awareness is just suppressed by overly powerful Divinity, but I can adjust the imbalance within her, allowing the Divinity to no longer suppress her humanity, so Antier can return to her former self. Her soul being damaged is fine too; memory and emotion seem to have been preserved. Based on this, the soul can be repaired. I observed this little girl’s soul is still present, just weak."

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at Bingdisi: "Then why did you just spout all that nonsense? I thought this girl was beyond saving and we were headed for a tragic storyline."

"That wasn’t nonsense," Bingdisi glanced over with her eyes slanted, "Didn’t you get it? The premise of Antier’s survival is her subjugation by that obsession, which means her survival depends on Divinity—influenced by Divinity, she can be infused with Pure Holy Light as a mortal and not die. Once Divinity and obsession are completely removed, she would truly die under natural laws, and because this little girl was killed by Divine Power two thousand years ago, Dingdang can’t resurrect her: her death became a truth event akin to the Universe’s initial big bang. Unless we can find and resurrect that reconnaissance soldier from back then to personally ’Bless’ and ’Pardon’ Antier, there’s no other way."

Lin Xue crossed her arms and glanced at Bingdisi: "Just be straightforward—if Antier wants to come back to life, she has to be a God."

The Foolish Big Guy looked at us blankly: "Has to be a God... What do you mean?"

Bingdisi sighed: "Still don’t understand? She’s been sustained by Divine Power living in a form of a fragmented soul until today. Her foundation has already been replaced by godhood, even if very weak or incomplete, her divinity is still from the Star Domain. Judging a God doesn’t rely on the strength of power, but on its essence. This situation is actually rare; I can’t recall any mortal enduring divinity without dying. Antier is an exception because the very thing causing her resurrection is a ’Command’ documented in the Divine Artifact, which doesn’t allow a mortal infused with Divine Power to die, hence creating the first ever mortal soul with divinity in history."

Bingdisi looked up at the figure of Antier: "To acknowledge her divinity and even promote her to the True God’s sequence in the Star Domain is necessary to resurrect her. Do you know how major of a thing this is? This is no joke."

I finally understood Bingdisi’s meaning, and also realized why this always carefree female hooligan was acting so timidly towards resurrecting a mortal this time—it’s from a sense of responsibility that she’s conflicted about this matter.

If Antier is to be resurrected, then this human girl’s current power and her divinity must be retained, and her divine side and human side must achieve complete fusion (currently, her ’losing heart state’ is due to incomplete fusion, her divinity suppressing humanity), and even she must be registered as part of the Star Domain Divine Race, otherwise the moment her humanity awakens will be when she’s destroyed by her divinity—in contrast, if we remove her divinity, resurrection becomes impossible.

The issue is—a mortal we know nothing about, a normal human girl whose character, morals, willpower, and worldview haven’t been tested, can she possess such power? Once resurrection is complete, she will no longer be in this losing heart state but a conscious human who can freely use her power. What if she turns out to be a naughty kid?

"What if we resurrect her first then seal or dispel her Divine Power?" I thought of a compromise, naturally earning a roll of eyes from Bingdisi, "Do you think this is the market where you buy cabbage? Cheaper by five cents for five cents? Want a refund, get a refund? Divinity infusion already killed her once, another divinity extraction... This is a living person, not a toilet flush, okay?"

I was: "..." Bingdisi really had a way with words.

The Blood Princess and the Foolish Big Guy now understood Bingdisi’s meaning as well; they realized they’re confronting a field beyond mortal reach and comprehension, so wisely refrained from speaking: letting a True God boldly hand the power to destroy worlds to an untested mortal is not something settled by a mere suggestion or two. However, the Foolish Big Guy looked at us intensely, I knew this simple-minded giant had made some kind of decision:

If Antier can’t be resurrected due to divine decrees, then perhaps this giant’s life ends here today.

And the devoted little black cat behind him.

"A God cannot place responsibility aside due to personal whims," Bingdisi sighed suddenly, "You don’t understand how enormous the responsibility of obtaining divine status is; only one among millions of believers can pass layers of tests to become a Divine Servant, and they must stay in that position for millions of years to have a chance of advancing..."

The expressions on the faces of the Foolish Big Guy and Blood Princess simultaneously turned gray.

Yet Bingdisi continued to speak after catching her breath: "So I must add a chain to Antier. This chain will be linked with the Heavenly God’s Decree, and if she someday cannot bear the immense responsibilities, or her heart isn’t enough to wield power capable of destroying worlds and resist its temptations, I’ll intervene as guardian and guarantor, destroying her before she causes any destruction. If she’s already caused destruction, then I’ll bear the surplus consequences. Foolish Big Guy, can you accept this?"

The Foolish Big Guy blinked, he only understood a little: "So, Antier can be resurrected now?"

"Yes," Bingdisi nodded, "but she must follow a set of strict decrees. And her life can be ended at any time—until one day she truly qualifies for a formal position."

Seeing that the Foolish Big Guy and the Blood Princess didn’t seem to grasp the seriousness of the issue, Bingdisi specifically reminded them: "Don’t think that following a few decrees is such a simple matter. When you can destroy a planet with just a sneeze, always being careful not to hurt the little beings on that planet becomes quite a difficult task. Most mortals’ disposition can’t withstand such destructive temptation—they have endless time to slowly fall into depravity, and just one mistake is enough. The Heavenly God’s Decree is particularly harsh on those gods who fall into evil thoughts."

I can understand Bingdisi’s meaning, a combination of strong enough power and easily executed atrocities is what most easily causes loss of control. For those who don’t understand, you can recall the occasional urge to be violent when you saw ants on the ground or spiders on the wall from childhood. Think about how easy it is to crush an anthill and how many times you’ve done similar things—a god destroying a mortal race is even easier than that. Of course, you could argue after making a mistake that it was unintentional, that a civilization was destroyed inadvertently, but I believe such excuses are meaningless to those powerful beings in the Pantheon.

"I can accept on behalf of Antier," the Foolish Big Guy said just one sentence, "anyway, it can’t get worse than it is now."

"Alright, I’ll now make a temporary Divine Servant Promotion Contract for her in my own name. She will gain divinity in the capacity of my Divine Servant. To ensure this child lives safely, I won’t forbid her from using this power, but I hope she truly proves worthy of this trust..."

As she spoke, Bingdisi reached out and caught the struggling Antier. The Holy Power, identical but much stronger, instantly suppressed the wandering soul girl with just a trace of divine power, finally calming Antier down.

A rune array written in the alphabet of the Divine Race appeared beside Bingdisi and Antier. I guessed this is the so-called Divine Servant contract thing. After this rune array slowly dissipated, Bingdisi took out a thick book emitting a faint glow from her personal space: "Next, we still need a formal contract. The symbolic meaning of a god, after all, must be something written out to count as a contract..."

I knew she was explaining to me: Sooner or later, the Xyrin Divine System would also start researching these things, so whenever she had the time, Bingdisi would explain things like symbolic meanings, divinity, information disturbance, and such to us. I was used to having lessons at any time.

Qianqian and I curiously craned our heads to look, and saw that the thick book Bingdisi took out was actually a whole book of printed forms, then she took out a black feather pen and began to fill them out flamboyantly...

Me: "... Is this how a divine contract is made?!"

"How else would it be made?" Bingdisi glanced up at me, then shook the feather pen in her hand towards me, "Oh right, this pen is made from my own feathers, it’s especially handy."

Me: "..."

"Hey, there’s a problem," Bingdisi filled out a form like Sandora had bit through it, but when it came time to sign and stamp, she paused, "I didn’t bring my divine seal... That thing is what the Pantheon needs to see during verification!"

I was dumbfounded for a moment: "Can’t you have some other issue!? Would you have to cross the blockade and return to the Divine Realm to fetch it?"

Bingdisi frowned deeply as she thought hard for a while, then clapped her hands suddenly: "Does anyone here have a radish?"

Me: "..." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Qianqian scratched her head: "I have stir-fried ones, will that work?"

Me: "... I don’t think so, I already guessed what Bingdisi intends to do."

After asking around and finding no one had a radish, Bingdisi had no choice but to pick up a small stone lump from the ground nearby, flatten one side of it, and quickly carved her name on it, then pressed it onto the form that could grant a mortal godhood...

The Blood Princess watched beside her, dumbfounded: "... Is this okay?"

"Why wouldn’t it be?" Bingdisi raised her eyelids, "The key isn’t what it’s carved with, the key is who carved it. A divine artifact is called so because it’s something a god has used—you ever seen a divine artifact back scratcher or divine artifact shoe insole?"

As she finished speaking, the divine seal carved from stone fell onto the contract book, the place where the seal landed made a sound like hot coals dropping on snow, and when Bingdisi removed her hand, there were four crooked but dazzling golden characters "Bingdisi Seal" there.

"See, when I say it’s okay, it’s okay." Bingdisi triumphantly waved the contract book in her hand, then carefully put away the small stone lump, "Alright, counting this, I now have fourteen hundred and eighty-five divine seals of various materials, I really should fix my habit of losing things..."

Everyone: "..."

Even though the process was a bit strange, Bingdisi wasn’t wrong about one thing, the divine seal, the key isn’t what it’s carved with, the key is who carved it: even if it’s a stone lump, it can work if it’s supposed to.

Antier is now truly Bingdisi’s Divine Servant, and the Heavenly God’s Decree has been imposed on this human girl through this connection. Bingdisi placed her hand on Antier’s temple, adjusting her state while muttering: "Actually, this is quite a favor for this little girl. Under normal circumstances, becoming a Divine Servant isn’t so easy. I made this exception because she has indeed helped to clear the Abyss for two thousand years in this world: though she had no subjective consciousness, at least the battle merits are about enough."

It was amidst Bingdisi’s muttering that Antier’s eyes gradually regained clarity. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to cast your recommendation and monthly votes at qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)