Chapter 684: The Eternal King

The members of the Natural Deity faction had many theories about the mastermind behind this series of attacks. The most obvious targets were likely other gods who had conflicts in the same or related fields as their own true gods. Soon, thanks to Donald’s reminder, someone thought of Anim, the merchant and god of the strange, who had a direct conflict with the Goddess of Commerce, Catherine.

It was unclear whether it was due to his greater control over the realm of fate, which gave him, like Ignatz, the ability to predict the past and future, or simply because being a true god granted him a strong intuition about certain things. Though there was no evidence, when the King of the North mentioned Anim’s name, Donald was almost certain that this merchant and god of the strange must be involved as the mastermind.

As for the remaining targets, they were just unconfirmed guesses.

With these clear suspicions, everyone began to call for action. After all, Catherine would inevitably clash with that merchant and god of the strange in the future to determine who truly owned the domain of commerce. Rather than fighting to the death later, it was better to take this opportunity to deal him the heaviest blow. Although, by convention, other true gods were not allowed to interfere in deity conflicts, if there was a powerful force backing them, finding an excuse to eliminate their opponent’s threat could be considered a gray area—and was generally tolerated by the gods, who would turn a blind eye.

Moreover, these unprovoked attacks on the gods’ forces in the main world clearly violated the clause of the Gods’ Pact that protected the true gods’ interests there. So as long as the Natural Deity faction insisted it was Anim who carried out the attacks and they could defeat that merchant and god of the strange, the gods would not accuse them. After all, war brings no rights or fairness to the loser.

Yet Donald rejected everyone’s proposal.

As the ruler of the pantheon, Donald’s words carried significant weight. Though the other true gods were somewhat puzzled, they all showed respect. Donald explained, “The situation in the multiverse has become rather unpredictable lately. Although it appears calm on the surface, there is always a period of calm before a storm. Once this oppressive state is broken, that’s when the real storm arrives! The most important thing for our pantheon is to survive this storm and gain as much advantage as possible! Compared to this, the recent attacks are trivial matters. They are merely attempts by certain entities to test our limits and strength through some petty tricksters! If we really commit all our efforts to investigating them, wouldn’t that just serve the interests of those behind the scenes?”

“We just need to stay on the right general path; there’s no need to worry too much about the details. Sometimes, if we don’t pursue them deliberately, those enemies will reveal themselves!”

After hearing Donald’s explanation, everyone present fell into deep thought, with varied expressions. Only Cezar, the God of Kings who was truly skilled in political tactics, immediately lit up, his mind suddenly broadened.

His previous plans had been limited to the powers of the nations on the continent and the main world. Even after becoming a true god, his focus had only extended slightly to the Pantheon. In his mind, the main world was the foundation of gods—the most important place.

However, what Donald said undoubtedly opened a new window for him, broadening his horizons and prompting him to think deeply.

He couldn’t help but applaud Donald’s view that one only needed to grasp the overall situation; even if there were setbacks or losses in other aspects, it wouldn’t affect the ultimate outcome.

This didn’t mean Donald was more skilled in politics than Cezar. It was simply that Donald had the common sense accumulated from an era of information overload in his past life, along with a broader perspective and a greater sense of the bigger picture gained from two lifetimes of experience! Cezar, the former king of the Celts, realized that his previous limitations stemmed from focusing only on the small aspects of the main world, which had constrained his thinking and prevented him from fully utilizing his talents.

Now, enlightened by Donald, his thoughts flowed like a fountain, and he came up with many ideas for the development of the Nature Pantheon. Seeing Xize’s expression, Donald knew that the person he intended to appoint as the pantheon’s strategist had found his place, so he said, “Soon, I will go to the Abyss again. I can’t reveal details about this mission for now because it affects the structure of the entire multiverse, and I can’t be away. So, it depends on all of you to work hard, especially Xize, whose many ideas I fully agree with. For now, let him take charge of planning the development of the pantheon!”

Although the Nature Pantheon was growing in influence, it was still in its infancy, with many tasks to handle. Most notably, aside from Donald, the leader of the pantheon, and the Elder King of the North, none of the other true gods had created their own avatars, which prevented them from going out to interact normally with other gods. After all, sending a true god out was extremely dangerous for the gods of faith and required careful consideration.

Thus, for at least a year, the Nature Pantheon wouldn’t be able to take any major actions, relying solely on Donald and Charlie’s avatars to handle external affairs. Once Donald withdrew his main avatar, the Nature Pantheon would inevitably be short-staffed!

The God of Kings confidently accepted the leader’s task, as he was most skilled at such strategic planning.

Then Donald turned to the only non-human member of the pantheon—the Bronze Dragon King Nozdorm.

Elves were generally considered humanoid intelligent beings on par with humans, a result of the close relationship between the High Elf Empire and the Ancient Mage Empire during the time when humans and elves were united. As for powerful legendary races like dragons, although they could take on human forms, they were not regarded as humanoid beings in the general perception of multiverse creatures. Instead, they were seen as another advanced intelligent race.

“Nozdorm, though you bear the title of Eternal King bestowed upon you by me, you haven’t made much progress in the realm of time. This time, my journey to the star realms with Prince Loki and the others has brought you an opportunity to advance further!”

As he spoke, a mass of reddish-brown liquid with a charcoal-gray sheen appeared before him, emitting a faint pressure. As a Bronze Dragon, Nozdorm immediately became excited. Due to their bloodline connection, he could instantly sense that this was the blood of a dragon of a higher rank than himself, and it even carried a trace of the essence of a soul.

“This is… the blood of a Time Dragon?”

Nozdorm spoke in disbelief, his voice trembling. Bronze dragons were among the purest and highest-ranking dragons among all dragons; those even more powerful than bronze dragons were beyond the category of multicolored dragons and metal dragons, and they were extremely rare. Among them, only the Time Dragon—one of the two legendary oldest dragon ancestors—possessed the essence of the law of time! The significance of possessing the blood of an ancient and powerful dragon was well understood by everyone present, who all felt genuine joy for Nozdorm.

“Excellent! This is a gift from a Time Dragon friend we met in the Star Realm. I now give this gift to you, hoping you will succeed in advancing further on the path to becoming a master of time!”

“Thank you, great master! Nozdorm will not disappoint you!”

Hearing Donald’s words, Nozdorm was overjoyed, and his already unwavering loyalty to his creator soared to an even fanatical level. Perhaps intentionally, or perhaps because dragons viewed even a single drop differently from humans, the drop of Time Dragon blood given by Qiaotu Lejiao was quite generous—enough to fill a human fist. So, aside from taking a small portion to serve as a biological example for the Book of Truth for analysis and recording, Donald left the rest to Nozdorm, one of the first creatures he had summoned.

After obtaining the bloodline and soul essence of the Time Dragon, Nozdorm immediately chose to merge with it. It was understandable why he was so eager—for dragons, the hierarchical differences within their race were akin to those between ordinary commoners and golden sword saints. Although not as strictly hierarchical as in human societies, there was still a sense of reverence and respect for bloodlines, yet it was something every dragon could not avoid.

Nozdorm chose to carry out the bloodline fusion in Dalaran, where he was protected by many powerful beings, making it a very safe choice. Watching Nozdorm enter a state of fusion slumber, exuding immense dragon power with each breath, and his bronze-colored scales beginning to turn grayish-black, Donald left the main world without waiting for Nozdorm to complete the fusion.

The Main World is one of the most important origins in the universe. Countless beings at the level of true gods restrain each other, keeping all living beings within it, which results in a multitude of factions on the continents. Its development has remained stagnant at a level similar to that of the medieval era in his past life. If any mortal attempts to develop powers beyond the legendary level, it poses a threat to the rule of the gods, and such attempts will inevitably be suppressed by them collectively. Whether it was the ancient Arcane Empire with its powers reaching the level of true gods, the Gnome Technology Empire that took creation as its creed, or the later Ancient Magic Empire of Banai, the destruction of these empires was all orchestrated by the gods.

Although several major kingdoms led by Gadré reject the influence of the gods, they can actually only gain a slight advantage in the Main World. If the gods are willing to pay the price, it is entirely possible to eliminate them completely. However, if the demigods behind these kingdoms fight desperately, even the gods cannot stop them from causing destruction in the Main World. Thus, there are significant reservations regarding such an idea, which is why the gods have never truly ruled the entire Main World completely over the centuries!

Despite already having his own material plane, Nodahil, Donald will not give up his influence in the Main World! Not to mention that the Main World has the most complete set of rules among all material planes, but just being one of the earliest existing planes in the universe means it holds many secrets worth exploring.

The series of assassination attempts that occurred earlier caused losses to his influence in the Main World, which Donald finds unforgivable. However, he currently does not have the time to uncover the masterminds behind them, as he has more important tasks—or missions—to accomplish!