Facing the Apocalypse with My Other Selves

At this moment, I can perceive all of this from the perspective of an upper rank being.

Indeed, in the mind of the Forest Goddess, Wizard Shen Yu, whose formidable force originates from outside the world, must surely surpass them in cognition.

In fact, when utilizing Gray Mist, this is indeed the case.

"The essence of innate Divine Spirits is the consciousness of life born from this differentiated Extraordinary Source. In other words, the reason for your existence is merely to accelerate the evolution of the world, and hasten the exchanges and collisions between different domains."

The Magic Divine Domain spoke again, "And now, the entire world has gradually taken shape; as more living beings arise, especially humans, the form of the Extraordinary Source has started to undergo new changes. The next stage is reintegration, and the divine power and divine authority that belong to you will gradually be drawn back into the World Source, then dispersed again, entering into a great cycle. Clearly, humans and mages are also a part of this new grand cycle, growing ever stronger within it."

"That's indeed so!" This was the first time the Forest Goddess had heard such a notion, and she felt somewhat enlightened.

At first, human mages were far from as powerful as they are now.

They were merely humans who had been granted power by Divine Spirits, vaguely mastering forces that, while far inferior to those of the Divine Spirits, also did not belong to the Divine Spirits themselves.

Only then did they gradually evolve into mages.

Yet in the short span of several thousand years, the number of mages increased, and so did their strength.

The Forest Goddess and many Divine Spirits believed that this was a power created by human intellect alone.

Only now does she realize, magic power does indeed in part originate from divine power!

"So, what they believed is indeed correct." the Forest Goddess murmured.

"It's correct, but also wrong." Wizard Shen Yu shook his head. "Wiping out humanity would indeed slow the dissipation of divine power. However, the blurring of the boundaries of divine authority still will not change, because the world no longer needs the fragmentation of such power. By that time, divine authority and even divine power will become things that can be altered and plundered. The gods will inevitably set upon each other in a slaughter, until only one remains, possessing all the divine power and the World Source, and rewriting the world according to their own will."

Speaking of these matters, Wizard Shen Yu's mood grew rather heavy.

He had once hoped that, if the Divine Spirits' intent to destroy humanity was born out of ignorance, he would only need to show them the truth, and, with the pressure from the All Heavens Divine Court, perhaps he could forestall the apocalypse at their hands.

Even if just to delay a little more time.

And when he had grown stronger, then settle accounts.

But now, from the perspective of the Divine Spirits, there truly was reason to exterminate humanity—even if it was not the right path.

Gazing at the Forest Goddess, still in a daze, Wizard Shen Yu spoke directly: "The right path should be to cultivate and learn the magic created by human civilization, to practice as innate Divine Spirits, build upon your innate foundation, and constantly strengthen your own power. After all, the collective extraordinary power of a world only grows ever stronger in its cycle. Be you god or mortal, a sustained, luminous future awaits, and transcending the world is not impossible. Sadly... the gods disdain learning from humans, nor do they have the resolve to face competition with human strongmen."

Indeed, what Wizard Shen Yu said was the correct path.

It was a path rooted in civilization's awareness, rooted in the worldview of the All Heavens World.

Yet, for the majority of this world's innate Divine Spirits, such a path—one that requires continuous learning and even facing the challenges of newcomers—offers no possibility of choice at all.

Therefore, Wizard Shen Yu didn't know whether those who decided to destroy mortals truly understood the reasons behind the world's extraordinary power shifting, but he believed that even if he told the Divine Spirits, it would be useless.

They care only about their own power, their own rule.

The mere temptation of becoming the "One True God" is enough to make these Divine Spirits even more determined to destroy humanity, to wipe out these "ants" who truly contest them for power and status.

"I want to try." the Forest Goddess suddenly said.

"Try what?" Wizard Shen Yu asked.

"Try to bring the gods onto the correct path!" The Forest Goddess seemed to have resolved herself. "Whether I succeed or not, at least let me try one last time."

She had indeed been thoroughly drawn in by Wizard Shen Yu's "correct path"—it seemed a truly radiant road.

Whether god or mortal, both could survive and grow strong!

Wizard Shen Yu again regarded the Forest Goddess closely.

Though she seemed to possess a certain wisdom, deep down, there remained a kind of simplicity.

No wonder her god-like ones turned out the way they did.

Yes, Wizard Shen Yu did not believe at all in the Forest Goddess's notion, and even thought it was doomed to failure.

Still, in the end, he said, "If you want to try, then try. Just watch your own safety. Should your divine body collapse again, it really won't be so easy to awaken next time."

"Thank you for your permission." The Forest Goddess gave Wizard Shen Yu a slight bow.

She had already examined the contract upon her, and was certain of its profundity.

Though founded on magic, it was, from all she knew of magic, utterly impossible to achieve such a feat.

It was a force that utterly transcended existing magic.

If Wizard Shen Yu did not allow her to do something, she would simply have no way to go against him.

"I'll give you one more task: investigate where the divine bodies of the other sleeping gods are—especially the two Main Gods," Wizard Shen Yu said once more. "Your own safety comes first; just do it as you're able."

"Even if you hadn't said so, I already intended to." The Forest Goddess nodded slightly.

She too wished to awaken her true companions.

The gods need a revolution!

The Forest Goddess left. The girl before Wizard Shen Yu turned once again into the somewhat timid Anerya.

However, this time, Anerya no longer looked at Wizard Shen Yu with fear, but rather with a hint of feverish worship.

Wizard Shen Yu knew that this was another benefit from his having intervened.

At least after this, the people of Senya would become his most loyal followers.

Even their goddess was now under his control.

"You can stay in the Imperial Palace," Wizard Shen Yu said to Anerya, "It'll make it easier for me to communicate with the Forest Goddess."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Anerya said softly, her cheeks reddening, as if something had crossed her mind.

However, the figure of Wizard Shen Yu vanished from her sight in an instant.

His own level realm had elevated to an entirely new phase, and the other Shen Yus naturally perceived this at the first moment.

Now that the crisis was temporarily over, they had long been urging for a regular meeting to be held.

Only he was missing.

And so, after Wizard Shen Yu arrived at the Gray Mist Space, he saw the other three Shen Yus, eyes closed, each sensing the fresh new power.

Seeing his arrival, they each opened their eyes one after another, their faces clearly joyful.

"Fifth stage power is indeed formidable. We ended up using about thirteen billion Gray Mist altogether," Shen Yu spoke up first. "That's more than double what we initially expected, but now, it's absolutely worth it."

"I was a little worried we'd hit a demigod realm kind of threshold," Martial Artist Shen Yu said with a smile. "After all, Divine Spirits do seem vastly more powerful than Legendary Mages. Fortunately, we didn't run into such a thing. Magic does indeed have boundless potential."

"We've only just barely reached the level of Divine Spirits," Wizard Shen Yu was less optimistic, shaking his head. "In truth, I'd much prefer to devote this Gray Mist to developing the magic system, especially Magic Guide technology. I feel combining Magic Guide tech with magicless technology is the fastest way to raise civilization's battle strength. If the gods hadn't just sent a weak Divine Spirit to test us this time, I wouldn't have been in such a rush to break through the realm. After all, it won't be easy to get so much Gray Mist again in the future."