Chapter 241: The Gods of This World

"Slap, slap, slap—slap, slap, slap—" Under Yan Jing's rhythmic patting, Shen Youran finally woke up.

She bolted upright like a dying patient shocked back to life.

"What happened?! Was the God's Candidate Ticket stolen?!"

"It's right here. It's right here."

Yan Jing spoke softly, helping her up with a smile. "Don't worry."

"Thank goodness it's still here."

Shen Youran let out a long breath. Her expression turned incredibly serious. Grabbing Yan Jing by the collar, she said earnestly, "Xiao Yanzi, we need to use this ticket, and then we leave!"

"Leave for where?"

Yan Jing paused, taken aback.

"It doesn't matter where! We just have to go!"

Shen Youran said, "Run outside Yueyin! Go to the neighboring Beast Lord and Tianzi! Go to the Great Wilderness! Go to the Endless Sea!

"Or just leave Earth entirely! Right, we can't stay on Earth anymore. I heard some places out there have set up new space experimental bases and already found corresponding new Inner Worlds."

"Wait, wait—"

Yan Jing looked at Shen Youran's tightly clenched hands and pale fingertips. "Is this thing really that terrifying?"

"Of course it is!"

Shen Youran's raised voice suddenly dropped to a whisper. "Didn't you see? This is a Deity."

Yan Jing blinked. "So what?"

"It means this is the end!"

Shen Youran whispered.

"The end?"

Yan Jing blinked again.

"Right, a Deity! That is the end! The end of absolutely everything! Whether it's the Inner World or the Surface World, whether it's the destiny of all mankind or this eternally looping dungeon game... once you find a Deity, you'll see the end!"

"Who said that?"

Yan Jing asked curiously.

"I don't know! But that doesn't matter!"

Shen Youran's expression was more serious than ever before.

"Xiao Yanzi, you're about to approach the end! You're going to surpass the Fourth Tier, Fifth Tier, and Sixth Tier, accomplishing what they've spent their entire lives searching for, and become the person closest to the end!"

"So—" Yan Jing blinked.

"What exactly is the use of the end?"

The two stared at each other in silence.

Shen Youran fell silent for a moment, frowning in deep thought.

She really hadn't considered that question.

Seeing her lost in thought, Yan Jing said, "I'm going to boil some noodles. Teacher Shen, how much do you want?"

"Half a bowl, lots of scallions."

Shen Youran replied instinctively, her brain still trying to process the topic.

She muttered in confusion, "The end definitely has a use, but the use is—"

She stood up and walked toward the door.

"I'll go get the stewed beef."

Just like that, the two finished their meal and finally reached a consensus.

The end probably really wasn't of much use.

But the God's Candidate Ticket could help Yan Jing increase his strength, and that was good enough.

"Xiao Yanzi, you have to write down the true name of a Deity."

Shen Youran took out the notebook she had just retrieved from her home and handed it to Yan Jing. "Here are some true names our family collected in the past. If you see one you like, you can give it a try. It might not work, though. According to the legends... this Candidate Voucher is very strict."

When she mentioned the Candidate Voucher, Shen Youran's voice dropped to a mosquito-like buzz.

"Alright."

Yan Jing's voice also dropped to a whisper. "I'll be careful."

Although Shen Youran had said "some," in reality, most of the names had been crossed out and altered over time, leaving them incomplete and illegible.

There weren't many usable ones left.

He saw a true name labeled as [Insect Deity], called the Eldest Heir of the Five Insects.

He also saw a true name labeled as [Deity of Virtue], called the Witness.

After Shen Youran's explanation, he understood that a so-called "true name" wasn't the Deity's original name, but rather the title that Deity was widely known by in the old era.

Therefore, before trying the names in the notebook, he first tested out the titles of some Deities he knew from his previous world.

"Pangu," "Nuwa," "Zeus"—

He had only tried them out of curiosity, but the results were completely unexpected.

"You have called out the true name of a Deity, but it is too ancient to trace."

"You have called out the true name of a Deity, but it did not gain a new life during the upheaval."

"You have called out the true name of a Deity, but its true name has been distorted during the upheaval."

All of those titles resulted in similar responses.

And the most common result among them was the first one.

This world also had the Deities from that previous world...

Yan Jing pondered. But clearly, the current Deities were no longer the ones from his memories.

In fact, even the Deities of the previous generation, or the generation before that, weren't the ones he remembered. The era of those Deities was separated from the present by an uncrossable chasm.

He also tried testing the name Heracles, mentioned in the Potion of Heracles he'd obtained previously. The prompt he received was the same, falling into the category of being too ancient.

Perhaps that potion was simply created because some faction in the Heavenly Kingdom happened to obtain something related to Heracles.

Then I can only focus on the present.

Yan Jing took a deep breath and looked at the names in the notebook.

He finally locked onto three names:

"Eldest Heir of the Five Insects," "Corpse of Incompleteness," and "Messenger."

Aside from the Insect Deity, the remaining two were the Deity Representing Incompleteness and Damage, and the Deity Representing Communication and Space. Of course, these were all just speculations made by Shen Youran's family and weren't necessarily accurate.

But as for which one to choose...

Yan Jing ultimately decided to listen to the opinions of his own Rituals.

The previous few promotion processes had made him realize that these Rituals of his were far from simple. At the very least, the Fear Sapling definitely possessed a faint self-awareness.

Under Shen Youran's surprised gaze, an eighty-one-feathered pitch-black wing grew from Yan Jing's shoulder blade. Black and white threads surged from his eyes, and behind him, a withered apple tree stretched its branches.

Pick one, he muttered in his heart, and then watched the reactions of the three.

To his surprise, after receiving his words, all three showed signs of stirring. First was the Fear Sapling, which extended branches covered in sharp thorns like a briar bush. It directly swatted away the paper with the three names written on it, and then twisted its branches to form a new name.

As for what it was, Yan Jing couldn't decipher it.

It was likely due to the massive language barrier between the two of them.

However, looking closely, the name seemed to consist of four characters.

He suddenly remembered a certain name he had seen before.

Thus, he silently recited the four characters for "Source of Fear" in his mind, but the Fear Sapling didn't react. He then thought of the drop of liquid he had previously fed to the Fear Sapling, and quickly received an excited response from it.

Excellent. Confirmed. There was indeed a cultural difference.

On the other hand, the threads were much more concise. They twisted out two crooked characters on the paper: Lord of Execution.

Yan Jing was a little surprised. He hadn't expected that both of them were also "Deities."

These "Deities" don't seem to be that rare after all...

He looked toward the wing last. He could imagine that the answer would probably be Chongming.

As expected, after he expressed his thoughts, the wing excitedly agreed.

Yan Jing sighed helplessly.

Letting the Rituals choose didn't seem like a good idea. They only cared about their own happiness and completely ignored his feelings.

Just as he was about to think things over carefully again, he suddenly felt a slight itch in his palm.

Then, after he released his restrictions, a tentacle covered in dense, pitch-black feathers secretly extended from his palm and pointed at the last name on the paper.

"Messenger."

He pondered for a moment, retracted the tentacle, and looked at Shen Youran.

"Teacher Shen, are there any more records regarding this Deity?"

He pointed at "Messenger."

"Let me check,"

Shen Youran said.

Soon, she dug up an old document from the computer's hard drive. It looked like some sort of experiment log:

[Deity Record No. 091]

[True Name: Messenger]

[Confidence Level: 97%]

[Stage A: Found several teenagers aged 10 to 17 who stated they had heard a signal transmitted by this Deity named Messenger, calling them to enter the Inner World to find him at a place called the Rift. Stage B: These teenagers were scattered across different areas of the Third Ring Domain. Investigations into their social networks revealed no intersections between them. It can be assumed that what they said is basically true. Stage C: Continue expanding the investigation scope. Stage D: Continue expanding the investigation scope. Stage E: After further investigation, several more individuals suspected of hearing the voice were found. It was discovered that everyone who heard it shared a common trait: they had all visited the First Ring Domain. Stage F: The Inner World domain corresponding to the First Ring Domain is a corner of the Heavenly Kingdom. It is suspected to be the location of the Rift mentioned by the Messenger.]

[Stage G: Conducted a search of ancient texts, verifying that there indeed was a Deity named Messenger who left traces in the Surface World's history for about several hundred years. Stage H: Dispatched several people using Dungeon Selection Vouchers to enter the Heavenly Kingdom to search.]

[...]

[...]

[Stage M: The difficulty was too high, and the project was temporarily suspended. Based on speculations, this should be a Deity who controls communication and Space. He is also one of the rare Deities to clearly express his intentions to the humans of the Surface World, as most Deities can only leave hints or communicate within the Inner World. His strength should be relatively formidable.] Yan Jing finished reading the experiment records, pondered for a moment, and made a decision.

"It'll be the Messenger."

Having made his choice, he didn't hesitate any longer. He picked up the pen and fluidly wrote down the word "Messenger" on the Candidate Voucher.

The moment he finished writing, the Candidate Voucher displayed a completely different reaction. An intense, blinding light burst from it, as if instantly absorbing all the illumination in the room. The entire space became incredibly dim. The voucher levitated into the air, and several bizarre murmurs drifted from its small surface, circling Yan Jing. Finally, it transformed into two symbols radiating an ancient aura, which flew toward the back of his right hand.

But before they could get close, a milky-white liquid suddenly gushed from the back of Yan Jing's right hand. Seeing this, the symbols immediately changed direction, ultimately landing on the back of his left hand instead.

Several lines of prompts appeared in front of Yan Jing.

"You have called out the true name of an incomparably powerful Deity, becoming his final candidate."

"There are three candidates like you in total."

"There are two ways to become his sole candidate: One, kill the other two candidates. Two, be the first person to find the Messenger."

"Warning: Compared to them, you are still too weak."

"Warning: When the distance between you and them shortens, the mark will provide a prompt. The closer the distance, the stronger the prompt."

"Warning: You will obtain a Divine Power. The previous two candidates have already drawn theirs."

"You have no other choice. You have obtained the final Divine Power."

"You have obtained the Divine Power: Letter."

[Divine Power: Letter]

[You can directly summon or contract a messenger. The volume and speed at which your messenger can deliver letters is tied to your tier. Your current messenger can deliver a maximum of three letters for you. (Regardless of how the messenger is obtained, you can use them to deliver letters for you.)]

[A Deity can make any creature their messenger, whether dead or alive, as long as they are willing. Of course, no one would refuse a Deity.]

[A Deity's messenger can ignore the chasms between Domains. As long as it is a place you can think of, they will deliver the letter for you. Even a letter crossing between two worlds will take at most half a day.]

[Letters are a romance that even Deities appreciate.]

Yan Jing extended a finger, and an arc of black-gold light emerged from its tip. Soon, a bare-bottomed miniature doll, wearing nothing but a crossbody bag, appeared in the palm of his hand.

The doll was pink and tender, radiating a golden glow all over. Its proportions were identical to a normal human's, just shrunk down many times over. At this moment, it looked like it hadn't fully woken up, its eyes drowsy and dazed.

Upon seeing Yan Jing, its eyes widened in curiosity. Then it burst into a happy smile and babbled as it ran up his arm toward his face.

While Yan Jing had yet to contract or summon a proper messenger, this was his temporary substitute messenger.

"So cute!"

Stars sparkled in Shen Youran's eyes. "Can I touch it?"

"Of course."

Yan Jing conveyed his thought to the little doll. The doll immediately babbled and waddled toward Shen Youran. When it reached the edge of Yan Jing's palm, it leaped, unexpectedly taking flight, and landed directly in Shen Youran's hand.

"Oh my!" Shen Youran cupped the little doll in her hands, feeling as if her heart was about to melt. "Xiao Yanzi, is this your ability?!"

Perhaps because of the little doll, Shen Youran's voice had become significantly sweeter and higher-pitched.

That was, until Yan Jing finished explaining the entirety of his ability.

"What?!!!"

Shen Youran let out a donkey-like bray, almost fainting for a second time.

"U-unlimited communication? You can even communicate across worlds?!"

Shen Youran stammered.

Yan Jing nodded.

Shen Youran took several deep breaths and finally calmed herself down.

"This absolutely, positively must never get out!"

Her expression was incredibly solemn. "From now on, don't even tell me about this kind of thing! You can't tell me everything!"

"Okay."

Yan Jing nodded.

Of course, there were still many things he hadn't told her.

To settle her nerves, Shen Youran suggested that Yan Jing check out the scratch cards first.

"These are similar to the chests. The upper limit of scratch cards is higher than that of chests, but they also require more luck. There's no so-called pity system like the chests have."

Shen Youran said.

Yan Jing nodded. He understood now; this thing probably wasn't a good match for him.

Just as the two were preparing to start scratching, a message suddenly popped up on the phone Yan Jing had opened while eating.

"Old Yan, the Eight Major Families want to make a move against you."

"They've spent a massive price to invite a true Fourth Tier."

"The time is set for tomorrow."

Soon, Shen Youran also received a similar message.

The Eight Major Families weren't doing this for so-called revenge, but because they worried that Yan Jing would affect their centuries-old status in Ling'an. Therefore, using the excuse that Yan Jing had already provoked public outrage, they intended to exterminate him.

Yan Jing stared at the message.

Then, he let out a long sigh.

It was time to wipe out the Eight Major Families.

He had planned to do this early on, and now he finally had the time.

Besides, speaking of which, this also seemed like a way to make Stage C easier.