Above all spirits

Chapter 3 The False Gods

"Then how do the gods, Asuras, and void creatures catch fish?"

"The Asura race does not catch fish. Although they are warlike and make friends through battle, they never bully the weak. To them, the beings in the 'Alpha' dimension are all weak. Exploiting the weak to ensure their own survival is shameful to them. Therefore, they use their unique power to refine and differentiate the natural soul essence, making it multiplied into ten uses. Simply put, they improve efficiency, because the Asura race basically does not use soul essence as a means of attack."

“I don’t know about void creatures. I only know that they seem to not need to live on soul matter. I can’t understand them. I’ve never encountered them and I don’t want to. I’ve heard that these creatures are very troublesome. This is the consensus among demons, gods, and asuras.”

"As for the gods, well, most of their avatars are distributed in the lower four realms of the 'Alpha' dimension, because the beings in the lower four realms are weak and love to fight, making such an environment very conducive to their missionary work."

"The Upper Four Realms, apart from the Demon Realm, are basically isolated from the world, maintaining only the most basic material trade with other realms. Through proselytizing, the gods can collect faith, which is their inherent power. Using faith as a medium, the gods share their power with believers. And every time a believer uses their power, the god will absorb the soul essence from the believer's soul. It sounds reasonable enough, doesn't it?"

"Hehehe, this is where the hypocrisy lies. First of all, with this long-term absorption method, if you don't have the means to improve the purity of your soul, then after using it five or six times, your soul will almost become an empty shell."

"Although you still possess a soul on the surface, your soul is extremely fragile, almost merely a memory storage shell. It's as if your original soul was a high-end mobile phone with many functions, but after having your soul essence drained, it becomes just a low-end device with storage capabilities. Such a person will become just another ordinary person, and the gods will reclaim the shared power, euphemistically calling it a lack of piety, and classify you as a prospective believer."

"It's ridiculous to exchange almost your entire soul for a 'superpower' that can only be used a few times. By the way, our devils' deals are permanent."

"Secondly, even if they are prospective believers, the gods do not abandon them. This does not mean they are kind. They just feel that since the faith still exists, these leeks can be harvested again, which means they are sacrificed."

"As a demon, I don't know the specific principles, but it's disgusting to demons. Although sacrifice can grant great power in a short time, not only the soul shell but also the physical body will be reduced to ashes after the sacrifice is over. It feels even more sinister than us demons."

"What's even more terrifying is that this kind of sacrifice can be voluntary. Although there is a certain price to pay, theoretically, as long as the thread of faith as the medium is still connected, the gods can actively absorb or even sacrifice themselves. As for what happens afterward, once the person has turned to ashes, they can just make up whatever they want."

After Gu Yun understood, a chill ran down his spine.

(?_?)

Is this even considered a god?

This must be a rancher.

Believers are like sheep.

Faith is like a fence.

Although they had no worries about food and clothing while inside the fence.

If you lick the rancher to make him feel good, you might even get more different flavors of feed.

However, the power of your life and death has been handed over to someone else.

"Would any person or living being really accept this? Is there no one to tell the truth? Objectively speaking, it is indeed more fair for the devil to come."

"Hehehe, of course, there are benefits after all. At least the souls of the believers are intact. It seems that the various races in the Alpha Dimension all have their own unique methods of cultivating the soul, and most of these methods require the basic condition of an intact soul. As for the truth, take your world for example. You know that Buddha may be a fiction, so why do so many people still burn incense and pray for blessings? When you try your best to persuade them, the result is not necessarily good."

OK OK.

That's how you play it, right?

It turns out you never mentioned any of my shortcomings before.

Classic comparison and disparagement, right?

Girls, I encountered a really annoying guy today.

(? ○ Д ○)?

"Hey, hey, hey, don't look at me like that! I'm just saying that most methods are based on equivalent exchange! Equivalent exchange! No demons are forcing them, and the power gained from trading with demons is permanent, while also crushing those that are rented! And do you think soul cultivation is simple? Most beings in the lower four realms can hardly increase their purity even by 10% in their entire lives!"

"This is the fundamental reason why gods and demons are enemies. From their perspective, demons do not understand the long history and are barbarians. But in the eyes of demons, they are hypocritical. At the same time, the most important point is that incomplete souls cannot have faith. Once you have made a deal with a demon, it means that you can no longer become a believer. This is the most direct reason why gods are hostile to demons."

"Similarly, demons will never make deals with believers, because beings connected to faith, let alone whether their souls are still at a normal purity threshold, may have become empty shells."

"All beings who have made a deal with the devil have the right to call upon the devil to make another deal, but these hypocritical believers are just like those damned gods; they actually used this as a trap to annihilate us!!"

"Pfft!"

Gu Yun chuckled.

His previously furrowed brows relaxed slightly at this moment.

"You demons are actually quite nice, aren't you? You're all honest people? So dedicated, are you all relying on repeat customers?"

?(◣д◢)??

"Hmph, so we've added a clause to the contract that if someone betrays us, we'll immediately revoke their powers! This way, people with incomplete souls not only lose their demonic powers, but they also can't become believers, which greatly reduces the risks of practicing demonic arts."

"Hahaha, so there are still some. You guys have it tough too. Well, there are always some people who pursue different things. How many people throughout history have truly given up worldly things? The human heart is hard to fathom, but your devilish heart is quite easy to fathom."

"roll roll roll."

This world is truly vast. I am so insignificant right now.

too.

Weak.

Gu Yun got up, sat on the edge of the bed, took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one for himself.

"cough cough"

In the past, I would always give these cigarettes to others; I never touched them myself.

Because she wouldn't let him smoke.

But today he lit one for himself.

It's very pungent.

original,

This is what cigarettes taste like.

"So we're in the human realm now?"

The demon floated to the window and opened it.

It doesn't like the smell of smoke.

Or rather, its form.

"No, this world is outside the demon's observation range, or rather, none of the higher beings in the entire Gamma Dimension have ever observed it. But from the perspective of hierarchy, it is indeed in the Alpha Dimension."

"Haha, the world where Earth is located has always been so mysterious."

This is the home planet of many great emperors and celestial emperors.

How could it not be awesome?

"Moreover, your world seems to be in a primitive state. Whether it's the Upper Four Realms or the Lower Four Realms, the universe in these worlds is not actually that big. I once heard an ancient demon lord talk about how the Alpha Dimension reshuffles the worlds every so often, purging some lifeless star systems and eventually compressing them into the current Eight Realms. But this explanation now seems to have many flaws, and they are hiding the truth."

"Because according to your world's concept, each of the eight realms is basically only the size of a dozen or so solar systems, which is nothing compared to yours. Moreover, the world is shuffled regularly, and who shuffles the world, and the dimensions also have consciousness?"

"Now it seems that the three dimensions don't really have any distinction between worlds. They feel like similar concepts. The world of the Alpha dimension is like someone cut out eight small pieces from this dimension."

"Slice the world in half? Do we have anyone this capable here? Can you do that? Cough cough cough."

"I can't do it. It's hard to imagine what kind of power it would take to achieve that. In the years I've been with you, I've been trying to understand your world. I don't know if there are living beings in other star systems, but I have a feeling that such beings come from your planet, because your mythology is just too incredible."

The demon floated to the desk and opened the "Complete Collection of Chinese Myths and Stories" that he had once begged Gu Yun to buy.

Let bygones be bygones.

Gu Yun said at the time that with his abilities, he probably wouldn't notice if he took a few books.

The demon replied that He was an upright demon who always upheld the ancient covenant, and that equivalent exchange was one of the core tenets of the code.

From this perspective, demons are indeed more noble than gods.

"Nuwa mends the sky."

Gu Yun got up and walked to the desk, where he saw the woman holding the seven-colored divine stone flying into the air.

"Nuwa..."

"Yes, Nuwa may be one of the beings who cut the world or she must be an insider. Nuwa patching up the sky is more like repairing the 'scars' after the world was cut. At the same time, the rules of your Earth are very restrictive. I feel that even demons, Asuras or gods can come to your Earth in their true form without being rejected by the Alpha Dimension."

"why?"

"Because I am not a clone, I am my true self now."

Then remove the feeling.

==

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