The Era of Gods

It might seem like there’s no difference, but in reality, the difference is huge.

Will refers to the core owned by this origin, but it doesn’t necessarily have consciousness.

To use a simple analogy, will is akin to the soul, signifying that a person is alive, but being alive does not mean being conscious, as vegetative people are also alive.

The Origin Core of the Crystal Wall System that Lin Xiao previously had was akin to one in a vegetative state, possessing a body and soul but very little strength, which is why he could completely control it.

But now, with the infusion of Nightmare’s Will into the Origin Core, it’s as if the vegetative person has become conscious, gaining an independent awareness and the freedom to do as they please.

This is the difference, but it’s not the result Lin Xiao wanted.

After all the effort and great cost to repair this thing, was he to just let someone else benefit from it?

Once the Origin Core of the Crystal Wall System develops a true consciousness, it definitely will not allow him to continue to exert full control. It’s just not possible. It would certainly oppose him in seeking freedom, as this is an innate instinct of life.

Thus, Lin Xiao hesitated for only a moment before making the decision to devour the inception of Nightmare’s Will that had begun to merge with the Origin Core of the Crystal Wall System, allowing himself to replace it and become the consciousness within the Origin Core.

That is to say, he switched bodies.

It can’t exactly be said he switched bodies, as his original divine body was a hundred percent contaminated and unusable, and even if he could survive and return, he would have to use Divine Power to recast his divine body.

Compared to recasting his divine body, using the shell of the Origin Core of the Crystal Wall System as his divine body…

Was not unacceptable.

After all, for Deities, whether they were to become a Demigod or eventually undergo Divine Enthronement to become a True God, their physical bodies would transform twice, with the core being the soul. The body would transform based on the Soul of God and Godhood during the transformation to become the divine body that best fits their own rule and role.

Since the transformation would happen anyway, he was just doing it earlier.

Moreover, using the shell of the Origin Core of the Crystal Wall System as a divine body is definitely better than any divine body could be.

Not only stronger, but also with higher potential.

He still hadn’t completely refined the remnant souls in the Creation Rubik’s Cube. Once finished and his Soul of God merged and unified, fully integrating into the Origin Core of the Crystal Wall System to recast his divine body, he would know the result of using this as his divine body.

“Boom!”

A thunderous sound that even the thick flesh of the mountain couldn’t isolate appeared in Lin Xiao’s consciousness. He looked towards the direction of the sound and saw a gigantic figure over two thousand meters tall rising from the misty sea in the distance.

A transformation of the soul allowed him to disregard nearly all mental assaults and look directly at those indescribably terrifying beings.

Or rather, at this moment, Lin Xiao was also an indescribably terrifying being to ordinary people.

As the muddy, massive figure’s giant palm stepped onto the island, the central meat mountain seemed agitated and began to tremble. Then, several kilometers-long arms emerged from the rolling fog, propping up the flesh mountain, and the surging grey fog spread like tide water, clinging to the ground and rushing in all directions.

The one controlling this flesh mountain wasn’t Lin Xiao, but a consciousness that had been reborn within that mountainous body while he was in a deep slumber.

This new consciousness controlling the flesh mountain emitted a silent roar that only the mental realm could hear towards the invader. The land cracked, the island split open, and the sky filled with swirling fog. Wave after wave of suffocating, terrifying spiritual waves surged in all directions.

The Children of Nightmare aboard the Ironclad Ship anchored at sea could not withstand this dreadful mental disturbance and had no choice but to order the ship to retreat further, unable to look directly at it and using a water mirror to observe from different angles.

“Such a powerful being, its strength is probably beyond what any Knight can withstand.”

“It should be second only to the Lords, possessing power in this world comparable to a Lord.”

“If we could slay one and turn it into a Nightmare, then…”

The other five Children of Nightmare simultaneously glanced at Max, their expressions seeming to say, are you dreaming?

Max countered:

“Haven’t you ever thought about it?”

Jovis nodded and then shook his head:

“Thought about it, but it’s meaningless. Our domains cannot bear such a terrifying being.”

“What if the six of us shared the burden?”

The Children of Nightmare paused, and Max continued:

“Captain, you must have had this idea when you stopped; if later a deity is slain by another, and we can obtain a portion of its residual divine corpse, perhaps we could use it as a foundation to cultivate a powerful Nightmare Behemoth possessing the flesh of gods.”

“It may be very difficult and dangerous, but if we can succeed, our strength will surge tremendously.”

This statement was very tempting, at least six Children of Nightmare were moved by it.

After a long silence, Jovis said:

“Let’s observe first, and we’ll act if there’s really an opportunity.”

The cabin fell silent again, as the six Children of Nightmare formed a circle, watching intently at the water mirror in the center. It showed a mass of grey fog impossible to examine with the naked eye, from which substantial waves and pitch-black light pillars were continuously erupting.

Two entities that could be called gods in this world were fighting fiercely; marine creatures around them fled in panic, chaos reigned over heaven and Earth, and the battle was indistinct. However, Lin Xiao, located inside the flesh ball, could see the battle clearly—

The vast flesh ball he resided in seemed to be losing in this contest.

The flesh ball he was in wasn’t the one that had been born in the Divine Realm and fought with the will of Nightmare. It was the creature his contaminated divine body had mutated into after he devoured the will of Nightmare and the Soul Agglomerate. After the war ended and he returned, he had devoured all the life on the island to form a flesh mountain, which bore a striking resemblance to that earlier flesh ball.

After all, it was just a Divine Being that wasn’t even a Demigod, and no matter how much it mutated or grew, it could not compare to the genuine Deity towering three thousand meters tall. It was not merely an apparition similar to a divine manifestation like before in the Divine Realm, this was a real terrifying body. Hence, not long into the battle, the flesh mountain fell into a disadvantage.

However, given its massive size, even if it was at a disadvantage, it would not be defeated or die in a short while.

Moreover, in order to ensure his successful transformation, Lin Xiao kept supplying the soul power to his fallen and mutated divine body.

Not for any other reason, but just to keep it enduring a little longer; as long as his transformation was complete, that’s all that mattered.

Meanwhile, he also accelerated the Purification of the remaining remnant souls. Having already purified and assimilated over ninety percent, the speed of purifying the remaining less than ten percent increased significantly.

This great battle incited by a native Evil God of this world lasted nearly half a month. The horrific size and strength directly shattered the island, and unknowingly the battlefield moved into the ocean, with the original location of the island now submerged under seawater.

The Ironclad Ship of the six Children of Nightmare hung far behind, not daring to approach.

After half a month of support from Lin Xiao, the difference in strength was evident. The flesh mountain ultimately proved no match for its adversary. In the later stages, it fell completely into disadvantage, with most of its several-kilometer-long arms torn off and sinking into the sea, leaving only a few struggling in their death throes, defeat looming.

“Tear!”

A chunk of flesh several hundred meters long was violently torn off, and the monster covered in pitch-black sludge extended a massive hand to rip a large chunk of flesh off the flesh mountain and threw it into the sea.

The dark red blood flowed into the ocean, beginning to frantically devour the nutrients in the seawater. A liquid creature mixed with seawater and blood was about to take form, but was instantly turned to dust by the terrifying power emitted by the sludge Evil God.

The torn flesh that sank into the sea vanished without a trace, but soon the black seawater boiled, and a grotesque chunk of flesh covered in tentacles floated up. Dozens of several-hundred-meter-long black tentacles were grabbing all kinds of bizarre sea creatures, many of which were immense monsters.

The Children of Nightmare were simultaneously excited and apprehensive, full of anticipation as they watched the chaotic battle nearing its conclusion, hoping for remnants of the corpse afterwards.

At the deepest part of that pummeled flesh mountain, the Crystal Wall System’s Core harboring Lin Xiao’s soul had finally Purified and assimilated the last remnant soul.

As all the remnant souls were consumed, the Soul Agglomerate ultimately became whole. Millions of purified remnant souls gathered around the shell of the Crystal Wall System’s Core. With all remnant souls’ wills Purified, leaving only his consciousness, he naturally integrated with the Soul Agglomerate, and his soul began to evolve and ascend.

Within the Core, centered around his soul that had merged with the origin of Nightmare’s will, there existed a strong gravitational pull akin to a river system’s center with a supermassive Black Hole. Every purified soul was like a star, and countless stars began to orbit around the immense Black Hole, slowly contracting inwards.

Starlight was drawn into the heart of the river with the gravitational pull, its speed increasing rapidly, and soon it began to devour and merge at tens of thousands per second. His soul started to evolve.

In the midst of this transformation, an indescribable feeling arose in Lin Xiao’s consciousness. He felt his soul growing unimaginably stronger and undergoing a qualitative change and ascension.

To simplify ascension means to upgrade from a lower level to a higher one.

In the realm of the Transcendent, Lin Xiao’s current situation could be explained as his Soul strength undergoing a qualitative change, leaping one or several levels to another plane.

From this ascension, Lin Xiao felt the concept of immortality, a realm only True Gods could touch.

A True God touches the World Source Sea when raising high their throne during Divine Enthronement, and their soul becomes immortal by coming in contact with the true reality while voyaging through the Source Sea.

In common understanding, it means that True Gods are immortal and void of the concept of lifespan. Many tales tell of True Gods’ demise, but they are either from battle or other forms of downfall; there have never been stories or rumors of True Gods dying of exhaustion or old age.

Lin Xiao didn’t know if it was because his soul was within the Origin Core of the Crystal Wall System, nor did he know if this Origin Core was the fabled Source Sea. However, after the transformation and ascension, his soul had attained immortality.

Moreover, his immortality seemed different from that of the True Gods in the legends, rather resembling a certain rumor among the gods of the Main World.