Chapter 106: Deities

“Cough, cough… you madmen!”

“Almost! I almost died here! I’ve still got piles of cash to spend and a new wife I married last month. If I kicked the bucket, she’d clean out my coffers for sure.” Amid the ruins, a disheveled group stood at the explosion’s epicenter. Oddly, their immediate surroundings remained untouched—even the grass beneath their feet stayed perfectly intact.

The warehouse had vanished in the blast. Unlike Wu Qiuyue’s hastily assembled team, the cultists had prepared thoroughly. Over a dozen members emerged from the wreckage completely unharmed.

“A barrier ability user? Didn’t see that coming.”

Ability users were inherently unpredictable with their bizarre powers. This was precisely why the cultists had rigged the explosives to ambush Wu Qiuyue’s group first—better safe than sorry when dealing with potential time-manipulators. Though failing to eliminate them completely, inflicting damage counted as a partial victory.

“That owl must’ve smuggled all the explosives in.”

Wu Qiuyue’s frosty gaze locked onto the owl lurking under the eaves—the cult’s infamous Space Owl, one of their rare animal ability users. Thanking her past self for bringing the barrier specialist, she shuddered to think they’d have been atomized without his quick reflexes.

“Not my doing! Just a regular owl here!”

Feeling her murderous glare, the owl flapped away to hide. Only the presence of other enemies stopped Wu Qiuyue from plucking its feathers for soup.

“We only want the Earth Spirit. Why must you guardians cling so stubbornly?” The true Fist Master emerged from the crowd—his previous meeting with Wu Qiuyue had been through a Corpse Lord puppet.

“I tried hinting multiple times to avoid this.”

Typical cult logic: resistance equals justification for violence.

“Your ‘hints’ meant threatening my mother and friends?”

Certifiable lunatics, the lot of them.

“Enough talk! Finish them!”

Wu Qiuyue cut the chatter. Though battered, her team had contingency plans. Now it came down to pure combat skill.

The clash erupted instantly.

Chen Fei stayed indoors, the earlier explosion confirming tonight’s danger.

“My combat instincts lag behind ability users—or maybe I’m just not used to their fighting styles.” He analyzed his earlier missteps. The optimal strategy would’ve been using terrain to force close combat, neutralizing the gunman’s advantage.

“A mere gatekeeper with Gun Mastery nearly matched my speed. Imagine facing strength or agility specialists. I’d be dead meat.”

Ability users’ varied powers demanded caution—no more reckless charges.

“Better focus on mastering my golden finger through offerings. Once strong enough, I’ll flip the board entirely.”

On the mountain.

Zuo Meng sipped tea, his days growing leisurely.

“This world’s more complex than the World of Giants or my Dream World. Feels… foundational.” He’d dubbed it the Origin World.

Its sheer scale defied comprehension. Online records showed even the Federation’s territory surpassed his Earthly perceptions—his Dream World and the World of Giants combined couldn’t match it, let alone the uncharted beyond.

An endless expanse.

Jiang Yue City alone teemed with ability users split between raiders and guardians. The cult’s roots ran deeper than the guardian alliance’s, though the latter could request external reinforcements when threatened.

“Far livelier than my world.”

Zuo Meng yawned.

He’d renovated the derelict temple himself, crafting a broom to sweep clean. The discarded idol lay outside—no deity here deserved his worship. Even the supreme creator was merely a stronger peer, like a great kingdom’s emperor to his minor realm’s king. Both lawmakers, not subjects.

The Three Lords of Heaven, Earth, and Man? Mere administrators. In the slumbering World of Giants, such titleholders seemed ordinary, but in a vibrant Main World, they’d reign as primeval gods—heaven-blessed saints in a primordial setting.

Ultimately, the Three Lords were their creator’s victims.

Zuo Meng wasn’t much better. His seven ancient beings, worthy of status, now languished as sealed stones—harsher than the Three Lords’ fate.

“Necessity, not choice. Creators get desperate too.”

His Dream World’s infancy left no surplus to share. He’d compensate compliant subjects later—like Xuan Gui, the perpetually cautious turtle aligning perfectly with his values.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Anyone there?”

Zuo Meng raised an eyebrow—he’d sensed no approach.

“A… god?!”

The hiking youth gaped, overwhelmed by Zuo Meng’s aura.

“Take me as your disciple!”

The boy prostrated before any response.

“Who are you?”

Zuo Meng frowned. Cosmic patterns flickered in his eyes, piercing reality to spot a golden eye observing from beyond the Material Realm.

Worldly surveillance?

Giant’s ploy?

No—he’d exited their chess game. Unless…

A deity!