Chapter 241: Action Plan
As the saying goes, looking at a mountain can exhaust a horse. Though the coastline seemed nearby, at the speed of the alchemical airship, it still took them five hours to reach the nearest islands. Seeing the islands ahead, with a vast continent behind them, Donald couldn’t help but feel excited. Yet instead of shouting, he immediately took out a huge crystal ball and began observing ahead. After a while, he said, “I think I’ve found the target. We can celebrate once the mission is successful!”
According to the bottom-dwelling demon fish, the deep-sea giant Octopus was originally the dominant force in its world. Though its low intelligence prevented it from reaching the status of a demi-god, and it relied solely on instinct to hunt and devour other marine creatures, its innate strength was comparable to that of a demi-god.
However, that continent also had beings similar to true gods—what were known as totem gods, or earth machines. Although the main world’s continents also had earth machines formed naturally, the ocean lords in the Storm Sea and Falling Star Sea only appeared after the deep-sea giants arrived.
Octopus was driven away from the land gods of that world because it frequently ravaged the coastlines, destroying many human tribes. By chance, it discovered a safe passage connecting the two worlds and fled to the seas of the main world.
No one knew that the violent spatial forces arising from the boundary between the two dimensions were the ultimate cause of the Storm Sea’s formation.
With ample divine power reserves—enough to sustain a divine shield against the fierce storms of the Storm Sea and the ability to summon powerful troops at any time—Donald was confident that even legendary warriors wouldn’t be as capable of surviving such peril. It was this confidence that made him decide to act at the start of this year’s tide, before the safe passage between the Storm Sea and Falling Star Sea opened to the other dimension.
The purpose of this journey to another dimension was to capture those totem gods of this world.
Vincent agreed, saying, “Donald is right! Please give us an overview of the situation around here!”
Seeing the three Sword Saints paying attention, Donald pointed at the image appearing above the crystal ball and said, “This shows the terrain distribution of the islands ahead of us. The three largest islands are home to some indigenous human tribes from this world. Those foggy areas that can’t be seen clearly are where those tribes’ totem deities reside. Due to divine barriers, even with this crystal ball—a legendary artifact—I can’t observe the interior; I can only detect what’s around those tribes.” Carlisle stared at the images in astonishment and said, “There are five fogs? Does that mean there are five deities ahead? This world is insane—just a few small islands have five deities. How many must there be on the continent across from us?”
Vincent and the female Sword Saint both changed expressions, clearly realizing the significance of this. Donald explained with a smile, “As I told you before, these earth deities belong to the category of earth gods. They are similar to the ancestral spirits of orcs and the sacred spirits of humans in our world, but they are true gods with divine realms, domains, and control over fundamental laws. It’s just that earth gods don’t raise their divine realms into the sky like the true gods in the main world!”
“The true forms of these earth gods are in the main material world, which means that us mortals who wish to progress also have a chance to seize divine power!”
“And since these totem deities can gain authority and become true gods by gaining recognition from the will of the world, whether they were originally mortals or legendary warriors, once they become totem deities, they will possess strength at least on par with that of gold-level warriors in their own divine realms. In other words, even the lowest-ranked totem deities here have gold-level strength. If the true gods in our world excel in quality, then those here excel in quantity.” “I think with four of us at gold-level strength, subduing an opponent of the same rank shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Carlisle was the first to speak. “Of course not. But with what you’ve said, I wonder how we’ll divide the spoils after we succeed?”
Donald had anticipated this question and came prepared with an answer.
“Totem gods can generally be divided into two categories. One category consists of totem deities with a physical form, in which case the spoils include the physical body, soul, and totem. The materials in the physical body, as well as the soul and divinity, are easy to separate, but difficult to store—it’s best to absorb and integrate them on the spot. The other category includes totem gods that exist in a spiritual form, with fewer spoils available—only the soul and totem, as there is no physical body. However, the souls of these deities are stronger, so the gains are roughly equal.”
“The only trouble is these deities’ totem divine essences, but that’s also the main purpose of our journey. I have a way to break down these totem divine essences, transforming their laws into divine essence fragments. Even the lowest-level fragments can be absorbed and integrated by golden-level powerhouses. A single tiny fragment at the demi-god level, containing the power of certain laws, can greatly enhance our strength. With a few more, breaking through to the peak of gold level and reaching legendary status isn’t a problem. Then, we can find a place to absorb and refine them. Once we become stronger, we can hunt for even more powerful totem gods!” The three Sword Saints were deeply intrigued. Vincent asked, “Can we only separate them and not possess the complete totem divine essence?” Although this Storm Sword Saint was the head of an ancient noble family, he knew little about the realm of deities, which led to his question.
Donald glanced at him and explained, “Unless you’re willing to stay here as a totem god, since the worlds with different law authorities mean the complete totem divine essence won’t function upon returning to the main world. It will then become material of lower value, suitable for crafting divine weapons, and highly attractive to true gods. For us, it’s better to break it down and integrate it here! Remember, divine essence fragments are products of law aggregation, and their value remains the same no matter which world they’re in. If we accumulate enough, it’s not impossible for us to become gods in the main world!” Hearing this explanation, the three were clearly disappointed. They had hoped to obtain the complete totem divine essence and integrate it to become true gods! This limitation made them realize that achieving instant success was unlikely for them.
But Donald’s subsequent words made them understand that the separated divine essence fragments were far more suitable for them, so the three quickly became excited again.
“Let me make it clear from the start—this operation was initiated by me, so I’ll take one-fifth of the loot first. The rest will be divided according to each person’s contribution. If there’s any surplus, it will be shared equally. What do you all think of this distribution method?” Donald provided the information and the route for this plan, and he also contributed the most along the way. To distribute the loot, he would have to break down the totem deities; otherwise, even if the three Sword Saints succeeded, they wouldn’t be able to return. None of them were selfish individuals, so none had any objections.
“Since there are no objections, then it’s settled!” Seeing that the three had no further questions, Donald began to explain what they had learned from those three indigenous humans and discussed the action plan.
On this continent, which was no smaller than the main world’s continents, whether in the oceans or on land, there were numerous indigenous inhabitants. These natives lived in tribes across the continent. According to the accidental revelations of those deep-sea giants, there were countless beings in this world whose strength was comparable to theirs, and even two higher tiers of beings existed who were stronger.
Based on analyses from the Book of Truth, although Octepus was only a demigod, his physical advantages were so significant that he could roughly match the strength of a newly risen god. However, in the main world, beings beyond the demigod level could no longer exist in the material world, so there was no way to compare.
But the situation in this world was completely different. The gods here were recognized by the plane’s will as terrestrial gods, with totems serving as the core of their deities, dividing their domains. Even if they grew to the level of supreme gods, they could still exist in the material world, unlike the true gods in the main world who were forced to rule from thrones in the stars and establish their kingdoms there.
Thus, the major and minor gods of this world became the easiest path for mortal warriors to ascend to divinity.
The two tiers above newly risen gods were lower gods and mid-tier gods, meaning that the strongest being in this world was at least at the mid-tier god level—and one who could fully exert their power in the material world.
It was precisely for this reason that Donald was extremely cautious, not daring to attract the attention of the powerful beings here.
War and hunting among these gods were common, and even powerful mortals could challenge them to gain divine status. As long as they didn’t openly reveal their identity as outsiders and targeted only weaker foes, they should remain undiscovered.
For the first operation, Donald set his target on the guardian deity of a small tribe on a nearby island. On the images detected by the crystal ball, the tribe where this totem deity resided had the weakest divine energy mist, indicating that even among the Golden Totem Deities, this one was the weakest. The reason for choosing a totem deity on land rather than a sea lord was twofold: first, the marine environment affected their combat strength; second, sea lords were usually powerful aquatic monsters, and their sheer size meant their strength far exceeded that of land-based mechs. Moreover, there were numerous powerful aquatic monsters at sea, making it easy for others to take advantage of the situation.