Global Deities: My Talent Comes from the Stars

Chapter 17 Soul Search

As the sounds of fighting below gradually subsided, Liang Jiu knew that his kin had won the skirmish without any doubt.

Meanwhile, in the hidden void high above the desert sky...

Liang Jiu was holding a kobold mage by the neck out of thin air, who was trying to escape using earth magic.

"You...who are you?" The old dog-headed man was held firmly in mid-air. After sensing the power that did not belong to this world, his dog eyes widened suddenly, and fear instantly turned into rage. "Heretical demons! You are heretical demons! You will never invade our land! Never!"

With a roar, the dog-headed mage suddenly unleashed a blinding dark golden Buddhist light, expanding outwards as if it were a tangible entity, attempting to break free.

Liang Jiu remained expressionless and casually slapped the camera.

The protective golden light, like fragile thin ice, instantly cracked and shattered into countless points of light.

"Heretical demons?" Liang Jiu looked at the prisoner in his hands, his tone calm. "Is this how you all refer to extraterrestrial gods?"

The kobold mage completely ignored his question, knowing he was doomed, his face contorted in agony. He clung desperately to Liang Jiu's arm, spewing venomous curses:

"You wicked creature! The flames of karmic retribution will surely consume your body and soul! In our mercy, Buddha will surely issue a decree to cast you, this celestial demon, into the Avici Hell, where you will suffer the torment of having your heart devoured for countless eons, never to be reborn!"

"How annoying."

Liang Jiu interrupted it.

A thought struck him.

The cursing stopped abruptly. The kobold mage's body stiffened abruptly, then his head slumped down limply.

Its eyes were wide open in anger; it was already dead.

The bodies and souls of mortals cannot withstand the forceful invasion and plundering of the gods.

Moreover, the kobold mage no longer has the protection of his god.

Liang Jiu carelessly discarded the lifeless corpse.

He had already obtained what he wanted during that brief soul search.

"Buddhism and Taoism?" Liang Jiu pondered carefully.

This is truly an interesting extraordinary path; the power structure it exhibits is remarkably similar to divine power.

There are also many wonderful aspects to consider when applying it.

Liang Jiu had heard of this method of obtaining extraordinary powers before.

The gods directly dispersed their divine power, transforming it into extraordinary power that could be used by their followers. They bestowed this power upon their devout followers, allowing them to manage the divine realm as their agents, distributing it layer by layer downwards.

Because this model consumes an enormous amount of divine power, the gods must establish a complete and highly cohesive religion. At the same time, a vast number of mortal followers are needed as the foundation of the pyramid, providing the underlying faith support for this system.

For those gods who have been unable to awaken their supernatural powers naturally for a long time, but whose population has accumulated to a sufficient number, this is a shortcut to quickly advance to the third level of godhood.

Under this system, the gods have absolute control over the divine realm, arbitrarily deciding the distribution and intensity of the extraordinary power of their followers, and being able to control massive amounts of flowing divine power, thereby unleashing power far exceeding that of ordinary gods of the same rank.

However, the drawbacks are also fatal.

Gods and their retinues share a pool of divine power. If a god excessively draws power from a retinue, the retinue's extraordinary power will decline accordingly.

But once the gods die.

The extraordinary power that the followers could control was reduced to a small remnant derived from their own faith, becoming completely without a source.

This also explains why the kobold monk, who was at the same level as Chang, was so easily defeated and killed by Chang with pure physical strength.

Their source of power dried up long ago when the gods fell.

No wonder the school would use this unclaimed divine realm to train students at such a low price.

After all, in this divine realm, with the death of the god, his destined followers have lost the potential to advance further on the path to transcendence. Leaving behind remnants is not much stronger than having followers of the mortal rank.

But where did the vast amount of faith power generated within such a large-scale divine realm go, unable to return to its original owner?

However, it is too early to consider these things at this time.

Half an hour in reality is equivalent to a month in the Divine Realm. In this month, it would be difficult enough to just explore this continent of 320,000 square kilometers, let alone delve into the secrets of the Divine Realm's depths.

The most important thing right now is to let the family members gain a foothold based on the initial victory and expand outwards.

Shift your gaze downwards.

Inside the oasis camp, the Sinker warriors had lit bonfires. The battle was over, and they were gathered around the fires, offering prayers to the heavens for divine protection and victory.

Several captured kobold prisoners were tied to a dead tree nearby, watching in horror as the tall, sparsely haired monsters performed an unknown ritual.

"That must be the ritual to summon Mara, the leader of the demons! The heretics have really invaded..." a terrified kobold muttered, trembling.

"Where's the Grand Master? He must have escaped using earth magic!" Another kobold swallowed hard, trying to appear calm. "He must have gone to the king to request reinforcements. Once our guardian Buddhist army arrives..."

"But what should we do now?"

"We are protected by Buddha! As long as we remain silent and never betray the true Buddha, we will surely be reborn in the Pure Land after death!"

The post-war prayers have ended.

Chang stood up and noticed the prisoners who were chattering incessantly.

For some reason, the kobolds in this land are very talkative and often babble a lot.

He strode over. The kobold blood on his body had long since dried and clumped together, which, combined with his towering physique and cold eyes, made him resemble a fierce and wrathful Vajra.

The kobolds fell silent, terrified.

Before Chang could even interrogate him with his spear, the dog-headed man who had just been shouting "I will never betray the true Buddha and be reborn in the Pure Land" completely broke down, blurting out everything he should and shouldn't have said in a panic.

From its spilled confession, the expeditionary force pieced together basic intelligence about this land.

This continent is known as the "Pure Land of Ten Thousand Buddhas" by the indigenous people.

This group of dog-headed natives, who believe in the true Buddha and wear robes, number as many as 1.5 million. They live and reside in five large city-states, relying on sizable oases and water sources.

They were just an ordinary hunting party.

They came to this desert in search of gems to build a temple. In the uncontrolled desert, they also frequently committed murder and robbery.

The reason they dared to ambush the Xin Clan members, who were significantly larger in size, was because there happened to be a Grand Mage accompanying them.

With the backing of extraordinary individuals, they gained confidence and decided to seek out rare treasures from these outsiders.

However, the whereabouts of that great mage are now unknown.