Chapter 536
After getting a chance to see the white toad-like creature and confirming that it is indeed the voidborn they had been searching for, Dave, Xyankor and Perketta were sent out of the temple while Fubei Li was asked to stay - the woman with four eyes insisted that she has something to discuss with Fubei Li, which would be a private matter and inappropriate for others to be present.
“So, what do you think they’re discussing in there?” Dave tried to lighten everyone’s mood and asked semi-jokingly: “Maybe trading the recipe for the drink or ways to cultivate the fruit?”
“Or maybe how we’re unable to live a peaceful life because of this very new realm.” Perketta said: “I - I think I’ve heard enough - this journey has been nothing but disappointing. I’m just glad we haven’t spent too much time.”
“Well, at least we saw the new voidborn in ages.” Xyankor lay on the ground beside the floating temple and said: “And more importantly, we know that it is safe. So there’s that. Come to think of it, I am actually kinda glad the new voidborn is neither a Depth Dweller nor a Fog Dweller - it’s an increasingly more worrisome world we live in.”
“Now that we’re clear on what the blessing of our creator actually is, do you still want the relic?” Dave looked Perketta in the “eyes” and asked: “It’s definitely not what you think it is - and even if it COULD bring you the blessings - ”
“We’d still take it.” Perketta shook her head: “Even if it is not what we think, we would still like a chance - our numbers are dwindling, and our kind is in trouble. We HAVE TO try.”
Inside the floating temple, Fubei Li finished up the drink from the stone cup once more, and asked: “Now that they’re not here, can you entertain a theory of mine - and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong - that you, or should I say Xyn, the original Xyn, was no normal, common God. You were a living realm, or the core of a realm, aren’t you? Otherwise, no one, not even a full-fledged God, could tap into the essence of knowledge of a vast realm like you did. You almost made the entire void your kingdom, and thus all voidborns of the past, present and future will be your believer and follower. And the blessings you gave them, they were basically invitations for voidborns to your bishops, your pope, and even one day to be you.”
The woman with four eyes smiled and gently clapped her hands, then said: “You are very close - I WAS a living realm before my ascension to Godhood, and not just any realm, the very core to the void. And it was only a matter of chance, that I became sentient.”
“No wonder, so it is almost expected that you became God.” Fubei Li nodded with a wry smile: “What was a path of struggle, pain and even oblivion was nothing but the natural process of growth for you.”
“If you’re calling me lucky, you’d be mistaken. I became God because I was meant to be, which made me reckless.” the woman with four eyes said: “Look how bad I failed.”
“My condolences. But you’re still alive, so you still have a chance to regroup and fix things.”
“I’m afraid that’s not my destiny, not any more.” the woman with four eyes floated towards Fubei Li and said: “You came from a realm with the beings called humans, so I must ask you this - did I - did my avatar that gave you this contract entrust another contract to two humans? Two young beings of your kind?”
“I was just about to get to that.” Fubei Li chuckled: “But how did you know?”
“Mere moments ago, I sensed some lost artifacts of mine being detected by a spring of my creation and blessing.” the woman with four eyes sat in the air before Fubei Li: “I tried to reach out to it and establish a connection, but the different realms were so far apart and the connections between that realm and this was so broken, I was not able to. And in a moment of rush, I might have used too much power trying to force my way in, and might have damaged that very spring of mine.”
“The Spring of Knowledge in the edgelands. Yes, I was aware of what happened, but glad to know why.” Fubei Li nodded: “And I’m sure they would be glad to know that they didn’t cause it to blow up.”
“What are the terms of the contract?”
“To help you find your descendant.” Fubei Li put down the cup and picked up a bright red berry: “I guess that avatar was onto something here, wasn’t he?”
“That is on longer necessary.” the woman sighed and turned back: “I got the rough idea of what I promised them. And I will grant them what I’ve promised, if I could meet them.”
“Ah.” Fubei Li gently tilted his head: “The creatures of this place, they’re not ALL created by you, are they?”
“No they’re not. I helped. But I can’t take all the credit.”
“And the one who takes the other credit - was it created by you? Or was it developed naturally, like you?” Fubei Li hesitated for a few seconds and decided to cut to the chase: “It is YOUR DESCENDANT, is it?”
“It is, and it isn’t.” the woman with four eyes said.
“Please elaborate?”
“As I told you, I’ve been in intermittent sleep due to my injuries. And whenever I am awake, I try my best to find other pieces of myself and establish connections with them. But those attempts prove to be almost completely futile - through the ages I was only able to find some very small pieces, all of which I used to heal myself and rebuild this place - until the last time I tried.” the woman with four eyes spoke slowly: “Last time I tried, I found this very realm. It has a good affinity to my power and my kingdom, and it is quite stable and … familiar, so I decided to move my kingdom here.
“But just when I was making preparations for the move, I noticed that this realm has a core, and not just any other kinds of core - it’s a core that resonated with me. So out of curiosity - I reached out to it. And what did I find? A living core of a realm, and a small living realm itself. Just like I once was. And what’s more, I could sense that it had absorbed some pieces of me from the fall, and had consumed them completely. And I mean truly completely, to a state that I could not extract anything from it even if I tried.”
Fubei Li nodded - slivers of a God, though often possessing immense power and at times could be used by normal beings or even absorbed by them. But to absorb them completely, it would take extra affinity and special connection to the God itself, which would make it beyond likely that Professor Atkinson and Dolores could declare their search over if they came here.