NOVEL NEXT Chapter 577: A Talk with Old Yuan
"Also…" Old man Yuan pointed toward the sky. "You've got that dangerous thing up there, hanging over everyone's heads. Even if it's Zhou Yu Huang, a direct hit from that thing would cost him half his life. Two hits, and he'd be back in the reincarnation cycle." The old man smiled.
"You know about my Godslayer cannon?" Daniel asked, surprised.
"Of course. You think I'm blind? I can even see it from here," the old man replied with a grin, looking at the sky in the direction where he sees the Godslayer Cannon then continued, "It'd be better if you had two or three more of those things. That way, Zhou Yu Huang wouldn't stand a chance if he ever came here looking for trouble."
"You mean… the Godslayer Cannon can't kill a god with just one shot?" Daniel asked.
"That's right. What do you think a god is?" Old man Yuan replied. "I lived during the golden age of Atlantis and witnessed a war between gods and humans. Even though the Godslayer Cannon wasn't completed in time back then, I know that even if it had been, the best it could do would be to injure a god."
Hearing this, Daniel nodded in agreement. What Yuan said made sense. Since Daniel didn't truly know how powerful gods were, it was better to overestimate their strength and prepare more thoroughly. Still, he needed a more accurate gauge to work with.
"Then, can you help me test the Godslayer Cannon so I can measure its performance and fine-tune it with precise data?" Daniel asked.
"I can help you with that, but… can you promise me to take care of our young lady, Mr. Emberweave?" Old Yuan asked, attaching a condition.
"This… um… can you give me some time? I need to talk to my women about this," Daniel replied with a complicated expression, knowing this involved his family.
"That's fine, I can wait. Whether it's a year or decades, I can always wait. As long as you don't push her out of your house, I'll wait," the old man said with a smirk, the old fox showing his true color.
For Old Yuan, as long as Daniel didn't push his young lady out, he had all the time in the world. Whether it took decades or centuries, the old man believed that, given enough time, feelings would develop between his young lady and Daniel Emberweave.
Hearing this, Daniel smiled wryly. This old man really knew how to play the long game. With that much time, it wasn't much different from moving her into his house for good.
"There's one more thing I wanted to ask you," Daniel stated.
"Ask away, as long as it doesn't involve critical information about the young lady's safety or something I don't know, I'll answer," the old man replied.
"You said Zhou Yu Huang was a cultivator, which means he was human. But you also said he's the ruler of the Heavenly Realm, which makes him a god. Does that mean humans can become gods? If so, how does one become a god?" Daniel asked. This was an important question for him.
As someone who might need to face a god in the future, Daniel needed to know if it was possible to close the gap by becoming a god himself, or if there was a way to turn a god back into a mortal to defeat them for good.
Old man Yuan looked into Daniel's eyes for a moment before nodding in approval.
"Your eyes are free of greed. You're not asking this out of a hunger for power; you're asking because you need to know. But still... why are you asking this?" the old man inquired.
"Because I need to know how to counter them, bridge the gap, or find their weakness so I can protect my family," Daniel replied.
The old man didn't answer right away. He observed Daniel for a moment, even closing his eyes and concentrating on Daniel's heartbeat. After a few minutes, he nodded in satisfaction.
"You're not lying… That's good. To be honest, your question was close to one I would refuse to answer. So let's make a deal: I won't tell you how to become a god, as it's unpleasant for me, and for the young lady's sake, forget about that question too. But I will tell you what you need to know to counter the other gods." The old man paused, took a sip of tea, and continued.
"There are two types of gods. The first is the Natural God, those born as gods, either by nature itself, some strange phenomena, or from parents who are gods. The second type is the Ascended God. These gods weren't born as such; they were either mortal, demon or undead who became gods through methods they discovered.
There are many ways to ascend, but most of them aren't pleasant, so let's leave it at that." He paused again before continuing.
"As for their weaknesses, first, as you already know, gods can't exist in places with low mana, like the mana-depleted state of the modern world. If they do, they'll become weaker and weaker until they're no different from a powerful mortal mage—unless they find enough mana to sustain themselves.
But… even in a weakened state, though, gods are still extremely hard to kill because of their resilient bodies. It's even harder if the god has a lot of believers. You might destroy their body, but they will eventually return. It might take a hundred, or even a thousand, years, but as long as a god has followers, they won't die permanently.
To weaken a god, you could try killing off their believers first. The fewer followers a god has, the weaker they become. Also, you might need an artifact to drain their mana, which will weaken them faster.
Gods are essentially absurdly powerful mages, but the key difference is that gods have complete control over their domain. For example, Ares, the god of war, would be nearly invincible if he fought in a war. Or take a god of fertility—if you upset them, they could curse you to be impotent for life." Old Yuan smirked and looked at Daniel with a meaningful gaze.
"That's not funny," Daniel muttered.
"But it's true… hahaha" the old man laughed, then continued. "So, my advice is to prepare the battlefield carefully. Make sure the god you're facing can't leverage their domain against you, or things could get very ugly."
"As for turning a god back into a mortal... hm... that will require some research. There are ancient curses powerful enough to affect gods. Some mages even crafted curses specifically designed to target gods, but many of those spells have been lost over time, thanks to the gods themselves, who made efforts to destroy anything that could harm them. That's all I know," said Old Yuan.
After listening to Old Yuan, Daniel made mental notes of all the points he could leverage when facing a god. He then glanced at Old Yuan and Tian Xingyun.
"If you're both gods, aren't you worried about growing weak if you stay here too long?" Daniel asked.
Hearing this, the old man smirked. He knew Daniel was subtly trying to nudge them, hoping to send him and his young lady back to the Heavenly Realm.
"You don't need to worry about that, young man. Yes, we're gods, but we're different from the Greek gods or the ones you're familiar with. We practice cultivation and qi refinement—or rather, a different form of mana usage than what other gods or mages use. So, no matter how long we stay here, we won't grow weaker.
The only downside of being in a mana-depleted world is that our strength won't grow as fast as it would in the Heavenly Realm."
"I see..." Daniel nodded.
Afterward, the two chatted briefly and exchanged pleasantries before the old man excused himself. He walked over to his young lady, bowed, and looked at her with affection, as if gazing at his own daughter.
"Take care of yourself, and don't be picky with your food. Also, don't trouble your husband too much, alright?" Old Yuan said with a gentle smile.
"Husband?! Hmph! This pervert took my body without my consent and doesn't even remember my name! If it weren't for little Sylvana, I would've fought him to the death already!" Tian Xingyun protested.
"What!? Hey!" Daniel wanted to defend himself, to explain that it wasn't like that, but a quick glance from Old Yuan told him to hold his tongue. With a sigh, Daniel mouthed silently to the old man, "You owe me one!"
Old Yuan smiled, appreciating Daniel's restraint. "Young lady," the old man began, "I believe Lord Emberweave won't trouble you for long. Even though he doesn't own up to his actions, at least he didn't try to harm you. He probably doesn't remember what happened that night either. If you give him a chance, I believe he'll treat you better."