Chapter 706: Taking the Initiative

A sphere glowing with a mysterious light was torn from the chest of the merchant and the avatar of the God of Abominations. Moments later, the divine light faded, and Donald retracted his left hand.
“So that’s how it is?”
There weren’t many detailed memories in the consciousness of this avatar—most of it pertained to this infiltration into the realm of the Hunting Ground of Divine Plagues. Yet, from a few scattered mentions, it was clear that the series of attacks on the Celt Alliance earlier must have been orchestrated by this merchant and the God of Abominations!
There were also vague references to two old acquaintances: the Lord of Dawn and the Spider Queen. Clearly, they shared some secret connection, one likely aimed at Donald and the pantheon of nature gods, possibly involving certain plans.
However, Anim was clearly cautious and did not impart memories of those plans to the avatar’s consciousness to avoid revealing too many secrets. Still, Donald discovered information about the location of the merchant and the God of Abominations’ divine realm from the path the avatar had taken.
“To get complete information, I must take the initiative!”
Donald muttered to himself as he simply sealed and suppressed Anim’s divine core.
“Merchant” and “Commerce Godhood” sounded similar, but their ranks were different. Commerce encompassed merchants but was far broader; merchants were merely a branch of this godhood, so the faith power they gained was quite limited. In contrast, Katherine’s Commerce Godhood, though still in its early stages, could draw power directly from the commercial activities of any intelligent being, including gods. It required no dedicated followers or the establishment of churches, thus avoiding the problem of faith backlash that plagued most gods. It was also a path Donald had carefully crafted for his wife—a powerful godhood among the human pantheon.
Anim, unaware of this, stared intently at the domain of merchants. Though he had gained some control over commerce due to its connection to his godhood, he ended up giving up the bigger prize to chase after trivial gains and felt that his “trivial gains” were under threat. He immediately launched an attack on his opponent.
If Anim succeeded, he might acquire most of Katherine’s godhoods as the goddess of wealth, thereby ascending to become the God of Commerce. Both his own divine rank and future potential would improve significantly!
After deciding to take the initiative to capture Anim, the merchant and the God of Abominations, Donald prepared thoroughly for everything that might happen.

After all, the target was an established mid-tier god, whose strength might not be as great as his own, but whose cunning was even greater. A single mistake could give the other party a chance to escape, and by then, finding Anim’s trace would likely be extremely difficult. So Donald knew he had to succeed on the first attempt, as the cunning evil god Anim wouldn’t give him a second chance. Considering that most of the members of his pantheon were relatively weak, aside from King Charlie of the North, the subordinate gods Nozdorm and Ciri, as well as the holy light angel Uther. As a totem god, the god of adventure and sailing, Ciri, though far stronger than ordinary newly risen gods, had his strength concentrated in his own totem domain; outside that domain, his power dropped to that of a powerful demigod. Moreover, Uther was sensitive to his identity, and any action he took might arouse suspicions from forces monitoring the movements of the natural gods, so neither of them was suitable for this covert operation. Thus, only Charlie and Nozdorm remained as helpers, along with Donald’s own avatar. Donald wanted to invite the Loki brothers to join, but that god of doom was fixated on Donald’s Book of Doom, so after their second journey to the star realms, the two brothers set off again for adventure there. Clearly, Loki felt he owed Donald too much and was determined to find something to exchange for the Book of Doom this time, refusing to accept any more gifts from Donald. Just as during his lower god days, even after becoming a mid-tier god and establishing his own pantheon, Donald still had three avatars, which was consistent with what typical established mid-tier gods had. However, since the existence of the Order Godhood remained a secret in the Pantheon, the Order Avatar stayed in the divine kingdom, and even when it did act, it did so very discreetly. In contrast, the Demon Hunter Avatar created from the True Form of the Faith God, and the Judgment Avatar created using the power weapon Wrath of Nature from the True Form of the Law God, were often active among the gods. Among the three avatars, the most powerful was still the Order Avatar. Although the Judgment Avatar was also a lower avatar created by a mid-tier god, the natural realm tended toward life and purification. Even though it gave rise to a divine office like Wrath of Nature, it still couldn’t compare to the Order’s fundamental laws, which qualified it to become a supreme god.

So this time, Donald deployed the Order Avatar, which had never been used before, in conjunction with a powerful mid-tier divine artifact like the Whip of Order. It is likely that even without higher-tier artifacts, he would have no trouble fighting an ordinary mid-tier god; even if a lower-tier god appeared in person, it would be a one-sided battle.

As for weapons, there’s no need to mention Donald himself. The universal divine artifact, the Sword of Kings, has long been loaned to Cezar, the God of Kingship. It’s not that Donald lacks other divine artifacts, but this one-handed sword, symbolizing kingship, is most suitable for Cezar to wield.

On the other hand, Charlie now has the Ice Spear suited to his domain. He has already begun integrating it with his divine powers, turning it into a unique divine artifact, thereby enhancing its strength.

As for Nozdorm, the Bronze Dragon King, he is his own most powerful weapon. Although having a divine artifact can add an advantage, it’s not essential either. His powerful true dragon form far surpasses that of ordinary gods, and coupled with his unpredictable control over time—even if he only has a basic understanding of temporal laws—it’s enough to make mid-tier gods a notch above him wary!

After gathering the help of the King of the North and the Eternal King, Donald secretly explained the details and plans for this mission to them. Upon hearing that their target was a mid-tier god and that they had to fight inside that god’s realm, Charlie, the King of the North, was utterly astonished.

“Your Highness Donald, with just the three of us, isn’t that a bit insufficient?”

In contrast, Nozdorm, the Bronze Dragon King, was full of confidence in his master and, having just gained the powerful temporal powers he had once only dared to dream of, was extremely excited.

“Great, master! That guy dared threaten my beautiful mistress Catherine, who is as radiant as the silver moon and stars! We must suppress him in his own realm and subject him to the harshest punishment!”

Inspired by Nozdorm’s confidence and thinking of Donald’s unconventional ways of acting and his mysterious, powerful tactics, Charlie grew even more confident about this mission. He said, “Since Your Highness Donald has made the decision, we must succeed! After all, an established mid-tier god isn’t some easy target to manipulate at will!”

“Your Highness Charlie is right. Is there anything you’d like to add to the plan?”

Charlie shook his head. Donald’s plan was already very thorough. Given the unknown strength of their opponent and numerous variables, it would depend more on their ability to adapt on the spot!

“Then let’s get started!” With that, he led his two subordinates and quietly left the Kingdom of Azeroth. Many gods who watched over every move of the Nature Pantheon failed to notice that Donald, the leader of that pantheon and their main target, had slipped away right under their noses, thanks to the powerful concealment capabilities of the High Divine Artefacts!

The God of Merchants and Monsters originated from the Main World but was later exiled to the Outer Realms as an evil being. Having spent years in the chaotic voids of the Lower Realms, its hidden kingdom was naturally extremely secret—virtually no one other than it itself knew of its location.

Yet Donald managed to reconstruct the path to the Kingdom of Anim from Anim’s incarnated memories.

The overall structure of the Multiverse resembles a tree diagram, but it can generally be divided into three main parts: the Inner Realms, the Outer Realms, and the Star Realms.

As for the Star Realms, there’s little to explain. If the Multiverse is likened to an egg, then the Inner Realms and Outer Realms are like the vital yolk, while the Star Realms are like the egg white surrounding the core of the Multiverse, protecting the yolk from external threats.

The Outer Realms are further divided into the Upper Realms and the Lower Realms. The Upper Realms, also known as the heavens in human terms, are filled with positive energy and serve as the homes of various godly kingdoms. The radiance from these kingdoms projects into the material world, together forming the vast starry sky as seen by mortals. The Lower Realms include the Underworld and the Bottomless Abyss; nowadays, it also includes the Nine Hells, as well as chaotic voids and various minor derived realms and demi-realms. In particular, the abyss at the bottom is the darkest and most evil chaotic place in the Multiverse.

The Inner Realms, as referred to by the gods, are the material world, with the Main World being the largest material realm within it. Besides these material realms, the Inner Realms also include the elemental realms in their core, which serve as the foundation for the creation of matter.

The Kingdom of Anim is located in the most desolate void area at the boundary between the Lower Realms and the Inner Realms. There are hardly any realms here, at most just some incomplete dimensional spaces that don’t even qualify as demi-realms. Moreover, the void is full of dangers—even those evil and chaotic beings that wander through the void would not dare approach such a place.

Today, the trio led by Donald secretly crossed the inner realm and arrived in the dangerous void zone between the two realms. They even took further actions; if other true gods discovered them, they would surely think they had found some hidden secret place in the void and were there to explore for precious treasures! However, Donald and his companions did not act in a reckless, aimless manner like adventurers; instead, they moved in a specific pattern through the void, clearly having a clear goal and route. It took them a full five days before they finally reached a void asteroid belt surrounded by endless darkness and delicate dimensional rifts. Ahead lay a massive nest-like realm hidden at the center of the asteroid belt.