Chapter 3670: Divine Authority
Chapter 3670: Divine Authority
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Your Majesty, come take a look at this."
Meng Qingyu had found something.
In a corner of the cavern, there was a stone stairway leading gradually upward. At the end of the steps, a small hidden cave had been carved out, easy to miss unless one looked carefully.
Inside the small cave, there were wooden tables and chairs, along with several bookshelves and crates.
Meng Qingyu walked into the cave, picked up a few books from the desk, and quickly flipped through them. His eyes lit up, and he handed one of them to Fang Heng. "Your Majesty, these are Priest Eli’s research notes. Take a look—they may be useful."
Fang Heng took the book and quickly skimmed through it. His expression gradually turned more serious.
There was a clue!
The notes recorded some of Eli’s research into theology, as well as his improvements and explanations regarding sacrificial rituals involving the power of faith. There was also a small section concerning Seg.
Seg was a false god.
His divine power was very weak.
Or rather, he had been severely wounded, and his strength had greatly declined.
It seemed that Seg had deceived Eli, intending to use Eli’s power to condense divine authority and restore his strength.
A false god?
The more Fang Heng read, the stranger it felt.
What was the difference between a false god and a true god? Was it simply a difference in rank?
As he was thinking, a game prompt appeared.
[Hint: The player had discovered the academic discipline-Theology.]
[Hint: The player had already mastered the highest-tier Theology-Sacred Studies. Sacred Studies (Super-God level) had overridden Theology. The player’s Sacred Studies additionally increased Mental Strength by 10 points.]
Fang Heng slowed his reading and continued turning the pages until he reached the section explaining divine authority.
A false god needed divine authority to increase in strength and advance into a quasi-god.
Divine authority had this kind of effect as well?
By that logic, the false god Seg had been the one secretly controlling Whispering Island, manipulating the Yake Tribe into condensing divine authority for him.
So divine authority could also be condensed?
Fang Heng continued reading, his brows unconsciously knitting together.
The notes recorded that by sacrificing a large number of living believers, one could accumulate tiny fragments of divine authority energy. By gradually condensing those fragments, one could form divine authority.
This method was extremely cruel and very difficult.
The main reason was that the number of believers required for sacrifice was horrifyingly large, and those sacrificed had to be fanatical believers. Otherwise, the sacrifice would fail to condense fragments of divine authority.
It was rather bloody.
Fang Heng unconsciously shook his head.
Aside from sacrificing believers, the book also recorded another, much simpler method.
One could directly extract divine authority from Sea Gods or from statues of Sea God deities.
"Now this is interesting."
Fang Heng stroked his chin and carefully read through the method for extracting fragments of divine authority from deity statues, pondering in silence.
It was somewhat similar to the power of faith in Sacred Studies, but also very different.
It was more of a fused power.
Moreover, he felt that the refining method described in the book was rather crude and could be improved.
[Hint: It was detected that the player had mastered Super-God level Sacred Studies. The player had obtained the Divine Authority Crafting Method (Mid-tier).]
[Hint: The player had improved the Divine Authority Crafting Method to God-level.]
Fang Heng nodded in satisfaction.
Not bad.
The game acknowledged his improved method.
Good stuff.
A trace of delight appeared at the corners of Fang Heng’s lips.
Perhaps this trip to Whispering Island, the method of refining divine authority had been the greatest gain.
Learning how to refine divine authority meant that in the future, he could attempt another route to complete the main storyline mission involving deity statues.
For example, after selecting a deity statue, he could continuously infuse divine authority into it, raising the statue’s rank until it reached a level he could control.
Later, if he found other deity statues, he could directly extract them into fragments of divine authority.
As for directly refining divine authority, it was far too troublesome.
Not only did it consume a huge amount of time, it also required sacrificing believers in ritual.
From that perspective, the ones controlling the Black Sea World looked very much like a group of evil gods.
Fang Heng lightly shook his head.
First, he would return to Sea God Island and complete the mission.
As for the follow-up mission involving the false god Seg, he would deal with it later. If the opportunity arose, he would complete it along the way.
Fang Heng said, "The mission was done. Let’s go."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
...
Above the sea, shrouded in the aura of death, Princess Willow stood on the deck, her gaze fixed on the island.
After the violent tremor that had shaken the island over half an hour ago, everything had fallen silent once more.
It was too quiet.
Willow felt uneasy.
Could something have gone wrong?
Hm?
Suddenly, Willow saw several figures withdrawing from Whispering Island and boarding the merchant ship anchored not far offshore.
A sailor immediately waved and shouted, "They’re back! They’re back!"
The merchant ship quickly set sail and approached them.
So fast?
Willow glanced at the time. From the moment they had landed on the island, less than two hours had passed in total.
"They came back this quickly. The situation was probably bad." One of the guards at her side instead let out a sigh of relief, feeling this was only normal. "Good. We can give up on the mission and return to the Empire as soon as possible."
As he spoke, Fang Heng pulled Muller with him and leapt from the merchant ship onto the deck.
"Your Highness, thank you for your help. He was of great assistance."
Muller’s legs were still weak. He gave an awkward laugh and quickly moved to Willow’s side.
Willow looked at Fang Heng and asked, "Did you succeed?"
"Luck was on our side. We succeeded."
Fang Heng nodded lightly, flipped his wrist, and the divine authority he had just obtained appeared in his hand.
Ah? He succeeded?
At once, everyone on the deck froze, their eyes drawn to the dark-golden divine authority in Fang Heng’s hand.
Divine authority!
It really was divine authority!
What the hell!
The kid had actually done it!
Whispering Island was infamous for its danger, yet he had brought back divine authority in less than two hours.
The way everyone looked at Fang Heng changed once again, their eyes now carrying even more awe.
No one thought it had been luck.
Although Willow had already guessed that Fang Heng might have completed the mission and obtained divine authority, the moment she truly saw it in his hand, a flash of shock still passed through her eyes.
"Divine authority is exceedingly rare—rarer even than high-tier deity statues. Based on the strength of this divine authority, its value is usually considered to fall somewhere between Master-tier and Transcendent-tier deity statues."
Willow paused, then asked, "Are you planning to hand it over to Sea God Island?"
"Indeed. If you don’t mind making a slight detour, accompany me to Sea God Island."
Willow thought for a moment and said, "I know it is difficult to change your mind once you have decided something, but I still must remind you—this divine authority in your hand is extremely potent. It is already enough to raise an ordinary deity statue to Grandmaster level."
"I do not know what Sea God Island promised you, but handing it over to them will certainly bring trouble."
"Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness," Fang Heng continued. "I still intend to make a trip to Sea God Island first. Will you come with me?"
Willow stared at Fang Heng for a moment, then nodded, "Very well. I will go with you."