Chapter 106: Becoming Your God (IX)

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Chapter 106: Becoming Your God (IX)

“Are you all right?” Neil asked.

Shang Ke (〒﹏〒): “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Neil asked doubtfully.

Shang Ke (〒﹏〒): “I’m really fine.”

Saya and Neil stared at him in silence. What part of that face looks fine?

Seeing the disbelief on their faces, Shang Ke knew his mask must be displaying some bizarre expression again. He pointed at his face and explained very seriously, “Whatever expression I’m making right now, it isn’t real.”

It was true that when the Healing God transferred the illnesses into him, the pain had been intense, as though he had suddenly fallen into molten lava and was about to dissolve completely. But what followed was an indescribably exhilarating sensation: on one hand, the pain made his spirit form tremble; on the other, the resulting rush sent waves of pleasure surging through his very soul.

The evil god had once been able to run rampant across the continent not only because his starting rank was high, but because his abilities were genuinely terrifying. The original evil god favored slaughter and delighted in bloody scenes, but in truth, curses were his greatest power.

He could transform any dark power or negative state he personally experienced into a curse: hatred, despair, suspicion, illness, financial ruin, nightmares, voodoo, hallucinations, and much more. Once he mastered such curses, he could drive his enemies to destruction without spilling a single drop of blood. There was only one prerequisite—he had to experience it himself at least once before he could turn it into a curse.

Naturally, the original evil god had never been willing to do such a thing, so he had mastered only a handful of curses. Shang Ke was different. His goal was to die heroically, so he could throw himself into every imaginable form of suffering without hesitation. Once he personally experienced death, his curse power would reach its ultimate form—control over death.

This differed from the Death God, whose primary duty was to harvest the souls of the dead. An evil god’s curse could determine how and when a target died, though the evil god himself would have to pay an enormous price. Moreover, if the target was protected by a powerful deity on the War God’s level, the curse’s effectiveness would be greatly reduced.

Shang Ke was not the true evil god and had no intention of advancing along the original god’s bloody path. So for now, the most suitable method was to put himself through suffering instead. He could gain power without hurting anyone else while simultaneously working toward his mission.

He was now convinced that this really was an Easy world. The evil god’s very nature had provided him with a perfect built-in opportunity to complete his mission.

So bring on the suffering! The more brutal, the better! ╰(≧ˇ≦)╯!

Saya & Neil: You really don’t have to force yourself to smile through the pain…

“God Uno,” the Healing God said at last, “I have fulfilled your request. Shouldn’t you now withdraw the curses you placed upon my worshipers?”

“Didn’t I already withdraw them?” Shang Ke’s spirit form was still flickering in and out like a strobe light, almost dizzying to look at.

The Healing God’s expression turned cold. “There are still five people.”

“Oh.” Shang Ke replied mildly, “If I’m not mistaken, the illnesses you transferred into me originally belonged to those five people. So until I recover, I won’t remove their curses. Disease in exchange for curses. Fair trade. Neither side owes the other anything.”

Did he really think he could take advantage of this evil god for free? The greater the suffering Shang Ke endured, the stronger the curse he could inflict.

The Healing God should have been grateful that the War God and Love God had appeared in time. The one they had saved was not Shang Ke, but the Healing God himself. If the Healing God had followed his original plan and transferred half the city’s illnesses into Shang Ke, then before long, every disease he inflicted upon Shang Ke would have been returned to his worshipers in the form of curses.

The Healing God had no idea how narrowly he had escaped disaster. Restrained by the presence of the War God and Love God, he did not dare force Shang Ke any further. He could only glare coldly at him before disappearing into the air.

Once the Healing God left, Shang Ke continued flickering as he turned toward Saya and Neil, the expression on his mask caught somewhere between laughter and tears. “Thanks for today.”

“No need.” Neil waved a hand, unusually refraining from laughing at Shang Ke’s distorted expression.

Saya stared silently at Shang Ke as though he were truly seeing him for the first time.

At that moment, cheers erupted from inside the house—Tima’s illness had vanished without treatment.

“Thank the gods for protecting us!” Although they had no idea that Shang Ke had taken Tima’s illnesses upon himself, the sincerity of their gratitude still reached him clearly.

Shang Ke looked at the people inside. The happiness in his heart became a genuine expression across his mask: (^ˇ^).

Saya: If the evil god from a thousand years ago had been able to smile this brightly, I probably wouldn’t have been able to defeat him…

Neil pressed a hand to his chest. Why does my heart feel so strange? It’s like something is scratching at it…

After the incident with the Healing God, Shang Ke reflected deeply on the pain—and he really was focusing on the pain part. To acquire more curse power, he decided to devote even more effort to training his worshipers and turn them into talented young people everyone else would envy. Inevitably, some shortsighted deity would come looking for trouble. As long as the other side struck first, Shang Ke could retaliate mercilessly with curses.

His Main Mission was to obtain the War God’s acknowledgment, so naturally he could not openly stir up trouble right under Saya’s nose. He could only wait for other people to deliver themselves to his doorstep.

The illnesses transferred by the Healing God did not torment Shang Ke for long. Within only three days, he had completely converted them into curse power. Unfortunately, they were not terminal diseases, plagues, or similarly serious illnesses. Otherwise, experiencing only one or two might have been enough to raise him several ranks. The five Lotus clansmen, on the other hand, suffered considerably. They did not dare sleep for several days straight, and by the time the curses were finally lifted, they were nearly exhausted.

The Shu Clan, meanwhile, remained perfectly peaceful. After receiving permission to establish themselves in the Yi royal capital, Tima immediately sent someone to inform the chief, then stayed behind temporarily with a dozen or so clansmen. They planned to buy several plots of land outside the city to grow grain, vegetables, and fruit, while also opening a few shops specializing in Shu Clan goods.

To help the Shu Clan achieve their goals, Shang Ke spent his days roaming streets and alleys, familiarizing himself with the area and gathering information. At night, he entered their dreams to exchange information and teach them new skills.

After discussing the matter, the Shu clansmen decided to first acquire a shop in the city and sell the various goods they produced. Once they established a firm foothold, they would purchase farmland.

The Shu Clan still had only a small population, so Shang Ke suggested that they focus on high-quality specialty goods and build a distinctive Shu Clan brand.

The Shu clansmen had no real concept of branding, but they trusted Shang Ke completely. They accepted his suggestion without objection and used the evil god’s image as their trademark.

When Shang Ke saw the simplified evil-god emblem carved into farming tools, printed on toys, embroidered onto women’s skirts and jackets… he had no idea how the original evil god would have felt about it, but Shang Ke personally found it rather adorable.

The goods produced by the Shu Clan blended styles from different worlds, combining practicality with beauty and possessing a distinctive character of their own. They sold extremely well in the royal capital. With Prince Yitamo looking out for them, most merchants did not dare openly make trouble, though copycats were impossible to prevent.

For Shang Ke, however, that was actually beneficial. As the evil-god trademark spread, the fame of “God Uno” spread with it, directly and indirectly attracting quite a few new worshipers.

Many people belonged to no fixed clan, and their faith was equally uncertain. They would not become loyal worshipers unless they personally experienced a deity’s protection.

Shang Ke was nothing like the other aloof deities. He followed a far more approachable path. Whenever he noticed a new worshiper, he would grant them some small favor—listening to their troubles in dreams, answering their questions, teaching them a skill, pointing them toward a path forward, and so on.

Naturally, he could not grant every request, but the effort he devoted to his worshipers was something no other god could match.

Through his tireless efforts, in only a year, Unos’s worshipers grew from several hundred to several thousand.

The Shu Clan’s evil-god brand also became increasingly well known, and their business grew larger and larger. Naturally, plenty of people plotted against them in secret, and attacks using divine power occurred from time to time. Shang Ke simply absorbed those attacks, transformed them into curses, and returned each one to its sender. Unfortunately, none had yet posed enough danger to make him feel threatened with death.

The gods of the royal capital gradually realized that Shang Ke was not someone to provoke. It was not merely because his abilities were formidable, but because he was the only dark-aligned deity in the capital personally acknowledged by the War God.

“I heard you designed this kind of fan?” Yitamo strolled toward Shang Ke as casually as though entering his own courtyard, leisurely waving a folding fan.

Although offerings from Unos’s worshipers could not directly increase the evil god’s rank, they could replenish Shang Ke’s spirit form and extend the amount of time he could maintain a materialized form.

Whenever all the Shu clansmen were out, Shang Ke would materialize and spend his time tinkering with various objects around the house.

After accidentally discovering this habit, Yitamo began visiting uninvited on a regular basis. Neil invariably came along with him.

The consort-selection ball a year ago had produced a great deal of fanfare but little actual result. Yitamo still had not announced a future consort, although most outsiders had already taken his relationship with Tima for granted. Yitamo’s royal parents seemed to think the same way and intended to observe them for a while longer before arranging an engagement.

Today, Yitamo wore a flowing white robe with broad sleeves and a wide sash, its edges embroidered with subtle golden patterns. Dozens of gems were arranged across his belt in elegant asymmetry, balancing simplicity and ornamentation so that he appeared both refined and luxurious.

Neil, by contrast, wore close-fitting red clothes with a blue sash. The front hung slightly open, offering teasing glimpses of his firm chest. The asymmetrical hem fell diagonally to his knees, leaving his long legs exposed, and a pair of soft black open-toed boots completed the outfit. Altogether, he looked exceptionally sexy.

Their styles could hardly have been more different. The one thing they shared was a tiny embroidered image of the evil god hidden on the inside of their clothing.

Ever since the Shu Clan began selling clothing, Yitamo and Neil had both switched almost entirely to custom-made pieces bearing the evil god’s mark. From head to toe, inside and out, they had practically become unpaid spokesmen for Shu Clan merchandise.

Recently, their enthusiasm had begun extending to other handcrafted goods from the evil-god brand as well, such as the folding fan in Yitamo’s hand.

“Uno, make a fan for me personally. Name your price.” Yitamo sat down on the stone chair beside Shang Ke and smiled at him.

Still tinkering with the object in his hands, Shang Ke replied without even turning around, “I’m busy.”

“Don’t refuse so quickly.” Yitamo smiled. “How about I build you a temple on the land the Shu Clan purchased?”

Shang Ke raised his head and gave Yitamo a sidelong look: (﹁”﹁). A whole temple in exchange for one fan? Could you possibly be any more extravagant? And have you considered how your War God might feel about you building a temple for another deity?

Still, the deal was extremely favorable for Shang Ke. The fan Yitamo wanted was not an ordinary paper or silk fan, but a Woven-Gold Dragon-Bone Fan: its ribs forged from a special metal and its surface woven from golden silkworm silk, allowing it to serve as both an ornament and a weapon.

Neil sat quietly to the side with his chin propped on one hand, watching the two talk and laugh together. His thoughtful gaze lingered constantly on Shang Ke. For the past several months, he had often fallen into this distracted state and had grown noticeably quieter. Every time Yitamo came to see Shang Ke, Neil followed him over. Even if he said nothing at all, he insisted on sitting nearby.

Yitamo’s opinion of this was simple: So annoying.

Unfortunately, Neil’s divine abilities made him nearly impossible to shake, so Yitamo never had a chance to be alone with Shang Ke. What Yitamo did not know was that Neil himself had tied the red thread between him and Shang Ke, only to repeatedly show up and interfere once things began developing.

Clearly, something was seriously wrong with him.

After chatting about everything under the sun for the entire afternoon, Yitamo and Neil finally said goodbye and left.

Neither noticed the figure silently watching their retreating backs. Once they were gone, the figure turned to look at Shang Ke in the distance before gradually fading away and disappearing from the courtyard.

Inside the War God’s Temple, a shadowy mist flashed through the air as Saya settled onto his magnificently carved throne.

Saya looked down at the armor he had worn unchanged for a thousand years, then thought back to Yitamo and Neil dressed head to toe in evil-god-brand clothing.

For the first time, he suddenly felt that his own wardrobe might indeed be a little… outdated.

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