Chapter 00294: Divinity, Humanity
# Divinity, Humanity
Chapter 294
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 294 Divinity, Humanity
2024-08-19 Author: Banshang Bupo
The gods of the Multiverse World were not omniscient or all-seeing.
Many of them had once been human, and compared to their divinity, they had preserved a portion of their humanity.
But no matter who they once were, those who could seize a divinity, ignite a divine fire, and finally ascend to godhood were bound to be extraordinary in some way.
That being said, putting aside what exactly made them extraordinary, Li Chengxi at least discovered that their appetites were quite extraordinary...
Six catties of lamb slices, three catties of large shrimp, plus all sorts of meatballs, crab sticks, shrimp paste, and a huge pile of vegetables sent over by Section Nine, were all eaten clean, right down to the last bowl.
They had to add water to the hot pot three times alone.
"I... I can't lose to an evil god..."
Hylonis picked up the last crab stick and stuffed it into his mouth.
The only evil god present, Tarona, rolled her eyes and ignored him.
Of course, it was also possible she rolled her eyes because she was too full.
Seeing this, Aidas, with a belly that looked like she was ten months pregnant, perhaps finding it too heavy, rested it on the table and jeered:
"Haha! You lost!"
As she spoke, she spat out a whole beef meatball.
Aidas quickly stuffed it back in.
This triggered a burst of loud laughter from Filosier, followed by an incredibly long burp.
That's enough from you all...
The ecosystem of these gods was a real eye-opener for Li Chengxi.
Because Tree Elves didn't eat meat, Li Chengxi had assumed Aidas didn't either, which was why he specifically had Section Nine send over a lot of vegetables.
Who would have known that she was the one who ate the most lamb slices?
What was even more baffling was that they had actually become competitive at the dinner table, saying they couldn't lose to the evil god Tarona no matter what, and ate until they were several sizes rounder.
Although he was a bit speechless, he had to admit their adaptability was very strong.
They all somehow knew how to use chopsticks, even more skillfully than Li Chengxi himself.
Fortunately, not all the gods were eating with the obsession of stuffing themselves to death.
Lathander and Charise, sitting on Li Chengxi's left and right respectively, were still relatively normal.
Charise might have standards for managing her figure.
Despite her fluffy hair, her appetite was that of a normal woman.
Lathander, on the other hand, maintained a polite and normal eating pace throughout.
He didn't know if it had something to do with the fact that many of his followers were nobles.
"We aren't always like this."
As if sensing Li Chengxi had a belly full of complaints he wanted to voice, Lathander wiped his mouth and said lightly:
"Usually, we all stay in our divine realms. At that time, our divinity far outweighs our humanity, and we lose the vast majority of our emotions."
Only in their divine realms are gods truly gods.
Once they leave, they become as easy to kill as mortals.
"What kind of place is a divine realm?"
"Have you never been to your own divine realm?"
Li Chengxi shrugged.
He had only heard of this term recently.
Perhaps out of politeness, Lathander didn't press for a reason, but said:
"Every god has their own divine realm. It's equivalent to an independent plane floating in the Endless Void. The void over there is equivalent to space here on Earth. From the perspective of the mortal world, divine realms are more like stars in the night sky."
Charise, beside him, added:
"Each god's divine realm is different. It changes according to the deity's will. Within a divine realm, one can do many things that are inconceivable to mortals, such as creating matter from nothing, reversing the laws of physics, and so on."
"Most importantly, only within a divine realm can a god fulfill their divine office."
"So, it's equivalent to a workplace?"
Lathander thought for a moment:
"More or less."
Li Chengxi had never seen his own divine realm.
It was probably related to the fact that he hadn't collected all of the Rings of the Demon King.
"While staying in our divine realms, we take the goals required by our divine offices as our primary principle. This feeling is hard to explain. It's a subtle transformation, a feeling that you are no longer yourself."
"Why does that happen?"
"Because the divinity will reshape your mind."
A divinity has no acquisition requirements.
Even if you were a heinous criminal, one who had to eat steamed buns stained with human blood every day, the moment you obtained the Godhood of Justice, you would be instantly transformed by the divinity into a person of justice.
This change is so complete that you wouldn't even notice it yourself, thinking instead that you had seen the light and decided to lay down your butcher's knife and become a Buddha.
By the same logic, when you possess the Godhood of Justice, you will not commit any unjust acts.
Such a thought won't even appear in your mind.
"Tarona is the Goddess of Plagues and Toxins. To benevolent deities like us, she is an object that must be eliminated. But as you can see, we're eating together without any major incident."
Tarona herself clearly heard this, but she just rolled her eyes and didn't make a sound.
"There's no personal grudge between us. Our conflict is mainly due to the opposition of our divine offices. Of course, there are exceptions. Aidas and Tarona don't get along."
"You mean, your conflicts are purely work-related?"
"That's right. As gods, we must fulfill our divine offices, so conflicts arise. When we leave our divine realms, our minds are no longer influenced by our divine offices, and those conflicts cease to exist."
"Then couldn't you all just find a place to have a good chat?"
"The problem is, just because you've left your divine realm doesn't mean your work enemy has left theirs."
Logically, they know there's no personal grudge, but they are compelled by their divine offices.
When an enemy sees you leave your divine realm while they haven't, their first thought is to use this opportunity to eliminate you, not to have a nice chat.
After all, a god becomes as easy to kill as a mortal the moment they leave their divine realm.
"So, normally, we almost never have the chance to leave our divine realms, and this in itself is not a good thing. Your mind will gradually assimilate with your divinity, becoming less and less human."
"Will you become like a robot?"
"Something similar, but the consequences are more severe than that."
Lathander used Tarona as an example again:
"She holds the divine office of disease, which requires her to spread disease throughout the mortal world. But you and I both know this is impossible, as other gods are there to stop it. And when a god's will completely assimilates with their divinity, this impossibility will be interpreted by the divinity as its god being inadequate. The divinity will then abandon the god, and at that moment, this deity will fall completely."
What he said wasn't false, but the situation Lathander described was a subtle and extremely long process.
Many deities hadn't fallen for this reason even after ten thousand years.
"It sounds like staying in a divine realm isn't a good thing?"
"For a god, that's true. So we usually try to find a safe place to leave our divine realms for a period of time, to give ourselves some time to relax and maintain our own will."
Lathander looked around and smiled faintly:
"This place, Earth, is not bad. The power of the gods cannot influence it here, allowing us to safely act as mortals."
"Uh... hadn't you guys thought of coming to Earth before?"
"We thought about it, but it was impossible. I'm not sure of the specific reason, but it might be because our connection to the Multiverse World is too close."
"So it could be considered a blessing in disguise."
Li Chengxi asked again:
"Did you notice anything when you were knocked down?"
"I've already told those people from Section Nine, I didn't notice anything. Aidas, however, mentioned a golden rod-like object, which reminded me of a powerful magical artifact that had long been lost."
Lathander dipped his finger into his cup of cola and drew a vertical line on the table, then drew lines resembling rays of light at one end, and said:
"It's called the Scepter of the Sorcerer King. It can banish a deity from their divine realm. I suspect that someone used a special method to amplify the effect of the Scepter of the Sorcerer King, knocking almost all the gods down."
This was the first time Li Chengxi had ever heard of such a thing.
(End of this chapter)