Chapter 23: The True God's Avatar

  Three people slowly walked into the valley and saw the altar again.

  As Lays had expected, the true god's avatar was still on the altar. Seeing Ji Ran and others coming over, the true god's avatar did not show any panic, but instead showed a faint smile on his face.

  "You have come. The glory of the true God guides you, and you have arrived here along the path shown to you by the servant of God. Lost sheep, come into the bosom of the true God!"

  Ji Ran was shocked. Originally, he thought that when he came here, the true god would inevitably fly into a rage, then angrily scold himself for killing his servant and curse himself to be thrown down to the 18th level of hell never to turn over again - of course this world's hell may not necessarily have 18 levels, but it was probably something like that. Who knew, the true god's incarnation actually treated him as his scapegoat!

  Damn it! Sheep are raised for others to eat, I'm not interested in that at all!

  "Sorry, I don't believe in God. If I want something, I'd rather go get it myself. If God is really all-powerful, why doesn't he give his followers unbeatable power?" Ji Ran's mouth curled up with a hint of mockery. In modern society, although he hadn't studied theology or anything like that, he had picked up some paradoxes and whatnot through hearsay. He wasn't sure if it was any good to use this kind of nonsense to deceive the true God.

  "Things that come easily are often not cherished. Only when something requires a great deal of effort to obtain do people truly strive for it, don't they?" The true god's avatar actually started discussing this with Ji Ran.

  "If God is truly omnipotent, why not just make everyone, even intelligent beings, believe in him? Why bother with such trouble and bloodshed? Take those people... " Ji Ran glanced at the corpses of the adventurers in the corner, "Wouldn't it be more useful to turn them into your followers instead of killing them?"

  The true god's avatar seemed to be laughing, its body constantly shaking, and the blurry expression on its face was also changing constantly.

  "No one says that God is absolutely omnipotent, it's just that compared to ordinary intelligent beings, their abilities are close to being all-powerful. In fact, believing in God is a transaction. You give me faith, give me various offerings, I'll give you power, give you spiritual sustenance, everyone gets benefits, why not do it?"

  Ji Ran was shocked when he heard this. This god is really sincere with me! This transaction theory, I've read about it in the original world, and for him, it's also an acceptable theory. Otherwise, since they're already gods, why bother entangling themselves with you mortals? They must want to gain something from it. But if they only benefit themselves, mortals won't be willing to help them out of kindness. If you don't give me benefits, why should I believe in you?

  This transaction can perfectly interpret everything. The gods need faith to enhance their own power, while mortals need the divine magic bestowed by the gods, each taking what they need...

  "But why did you have to kill those people? There are many ways to gain faith, aren't there?" Ji Ran still couldn't help but mind the pile of adventurer corpses over there.

  Those true god believers are one thing, wanting to kill people naturally have the awareness of being killed. But what about those adventurers? They were caught by these true god believers just because the avatar of the true god needs a blood sacrifice...

  "Heh heh, each god has their own preferences, just like how every person's interests are different. And I, am more inclined towards bloodshed. As a god, my level is already far beyond that of humans, looking at you humans is the same as you humans looking at magical beasts. Humans or other intelligent beings can control magical beasts to help themselves kill magical beasts, so why can't I as a god?"

  This theory is so powerful that even Ji Ran can't refute it. After all, there's a spirit ranger in his team who uses a gyrfalcon called Hualuo to help hunt down magical beasts...

  "So, what is a god? It's just another kind of being that is far superior to ordinary intelligent beings. They are not all-powerful, but compared to you, they are almost almighty. Worshiping them won't make you lose anything, it will only cost you some faith. On the contrary, you will gain immense power, far beyond what you can achieve through your own cultivation. Don't all intelligent beings like to take shortcuts? Those who don't take shortcuts are just afraid of losing something else. Now there is a shortcut in front of you, with no side effects, why not take it? You killed my god official, which means you want to be stronger than him. If you come and help me, I will grant you power far beyond his..."

  That true god's words became increasingly vague, but they drilled into Ji Ran's ears one word at a time. In a daze, Ji Ran suddenly felt that what this guy said didn't seem to be wrong either...

  In a daze, Ji Ran suddenly felt that the true god's incarnation in front of him was actually not bad. Since he had been so open and honest with himself, even saying that gods were just slightly higher-level beings than humans, if he continued to be at odds with him, it would be somewhat impolite. Alternatively, why not let him successfully complete his incarnation? Letting himself become his divine officer wasn't entirely impossible to consider...

  A faint voice seemed to be calling out one's own name. Who was it that was calling? I didn't know... Why would they want to call me anyway? My current state was just fine... Lays, Aileen, Lydia, Ban and Beck, none of them mattered anymore...

  Suddenly, the true energy in Ji Yan's body began to flow rapidly. Countless true energies surged out of his dantian and spread throughout his entire body in an instant. Among them, the amount of true energy that rushed into his brain was the most, instantly making his head feel swollen and painful, as if it was about to crack open.

  "Ah!" Ji Yan cried out in pain. It wasn't that he couldn't bear the pain, but it had come too suddenly. He had just been in a state of being hypnotized and had let his guard down. This sudden pain made him cry out.

  But this also made him immediately sober up.

  I fell for it! In that conversation with the true god's avatar, I was completely led astray by that guy. The true god had a good grasp of my personality and used gentle persuasion, along with some other means, to hypnotize me! If I continued in that state, who knows, I might have even become an official of the True God Cult!

  That shout just now, 80% is probably Ban and Beiku seeing that something's wrong with themselves, wanting to test themselves? But they were ignored like that...... Fortunately, the true energy suddenly burst out, making them regain their composure!

  Now that I know, this should be the effect of the Four Seasons Swordsmanship. Heart sword, heart follows sword movement, but also sword follows heart movement. Without a firm heart, how can one possibly cultivate the heart sword technique to a high level?

  It must have been the Heart Sword Heart Method that was triggered, and the instinctive control of the true energy would have driven out the spiritual force in my own brain. However, the level of my Heart Sword Heart Method is still too low, otherwise, this True God's hypnotic technique wouldn't have worked from the start!

  Of course, this is also because this true god is just an incarnation. Otherwise, who knows what would happen to oneself...

  In the future, I must get a treasure that can resist spiritual effects and wear it on me! Ji Ran made up his mind.

  Then, he intended to raise the bone sword in his hand and destroy that true god avatar. This stuff doesn't have a physical body now, it can only be controlled by spiritual power. Wanting to destroy it isn't anything difficult.

  However, Ji Ran found that he couldn't move anymore.

  As if bound by a massive spiritual force, even moving a finger was extremely difficult. Looking at the true god's incarnation, Ji Ran gritted his teeth fiercely, with flames almost bursting out of his eyes.

  "You're not a true god, just an evil deity! I won't let you descend into this world!" With these words squeezed out from the corner of his mouth, Ji Ran struggled to lift up the Bone Slasher Sword. However, that spiritual power was too strong, and not only him, but also Ban and Beiku were unable to move!

  "I didn't think you could resist my **... but it doesn't matter, we have plenty of time, hahaha..." The True God's avatar had its plan exposed, but it didn't seem to care. It was now just a projection, and although it could use some spiritual power, it would take a long time to prepare. For now, the three people were under its control, slowly being eroded by its spiritual power, and eventually they would become its followers..."

  His goal is Ji Ran, not that he has no interest in the other two people, but his mental strength can only support him to this step. Since he can only erode one person, then eroding the strongest one is always right.

  Ji Ran also knew the current situation. Although waiting for Lais and others to clean up those patrolling True God followers, they should be able to rush over to rescue them, but when would that be? What if he couldn't hold on at this stage? What if Ban and Beck were eroded because of this?

  We must think of a way to deal with this true god avatar in front of us! But for now, I'm unable to move, it's clear that the opponent is controlling me with their spiritual power. The two systems I have, one martial and one immortal, are barely able to withstand spiritual attacks, let alone break through the opponent's powers...

  Unfortunately, I'm just a casual player who refines treasures and cooks in the immortal hero game! If only there was a spell to dispel heart demons! What should I do now? Rely on my own mental method or the treasure in my hand to break free from this spiritual shackles?

  Thought of the treasure, Ji Ran suddenly felt a heat in his palm. The bone sword he held in his hand suddenly became scorching hot. And a strange feeling also passed from the bone sword into his body.

  It happened again! Ji Ran was no stranger to this feeling. Every time he personally refined a magic treasure, it would give him this feeling once. At first, it was after the refinement was completed, but later on, during the refinement process, it would also appear. However, each time this feeling was fleeting, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't trigger a second time.

  Each time, there was a kind of feeling that the treasure and his blood were connected. In the following times, he even had an illusion that the treasure had merged into his body... but it quickly disappeared. He didn't know where this feeling came from, but according to his speculation, it was probably because the true energy and magical power inside him had undergone some unknown changes. Probably due to the reason of the world's law, the energy brought by these two games had undergone a strange mutation...

  Unexpectedly, this time, in this critical moment, this feeling came back. Moreover, the feeling became more and more intense, the Bone Sword seemed to have turned into a stream of water, desperately drilling from his palm into his body...

  This feeling grew stronger and stronger, and the true energy and magical powers in his body also surged up. It was as if his body could no longer contain these energies. Even in his consciousness, his own body had swollen to the size of a balloon, and with just one careless move, it would burst open...

  At this moment, his head buzzed loudly.

  A ray of light burst forth from his head, rapidly filling his entire field of vision. A strange sensation permeated his whole body, telling him that something was different.