Chapter 170: The Life Goddess’s Request

“Vilyric.”

Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed in her ear. The girl turned back and found herself in an endless void, with the blue-haired, blue-eyed goddess standing beside her, her expression serious.

“Xi Fu Lin? Where is this? Did you hear those… prayers just now?”

“This is the divine thought space, formed by the convergence of our souls, an imperceptible place independent of the world. We are consciously communicating. Vilyric, what you just heard were the prayers coming from the Power of Faith…”

Having briefly explained the current situation, Xi Fu Lin pondered and didn’t immediately continue. After a moment, she finally spoke softly.

“It seems we’ve both misunderstood some things.”

“Yeah…”

“Xi Fu Lin, how much do you know about the Abyss… the world of Aibus?”

After a moment of contemplation, the goddess shook her head.

“Not much. Aibus is a world similar to the present one but also different. Its laws have some variations compared to our world. As mentioned before, due to the limited capacity of the dimensional passage, it is difficult for deities to travel freely between the two worlds.”

“When I was still the Earth Mother Goddess, I made several attempts in my early years to send my divine thought incarnation there. It’s a very barren world, where the inhabitants struggle to survive in harsh conditions. My heart ached for them, so I used my divine power to construct basic shelters for them. It’s likely due to this that many sects worshipping the Earth Mother Goddess have appeared there.”

“But crossing the world barrier is really troublesome. The amount of Power of Faith that can reach this world to be accepted by my true self is also very limited, to put it simply—it’s not worth it. So… I haven’t done something like that in a long time. You know, divine blessings aren’t given for free.”

“That world itself seems to lack the existence of deities and doesn’t have as many races and numbers as the present world. The inhabitants mostly resemble humans, but due to the harsh environment, the population is low.”

“As I mentioned before, the average combat power in the Aibus world is very weak. Possibly due to the impact of laws, there’s no magic or anything like that. What replaces it are mechanical instruments and biological technology. That kind of ‘Doomsday Cannon’ is their pinnacle of technology, possessing nearly divine-level destructive power.”

Hearing this, Vilyric couldn’t help but frown.

If Aibus is a tech-driven world similar to Blue Star, everything Xi Fu Lin said could be completely understood.

It’s perfectly normal for people to worship a suddenly appearing deity with incredible powers, especially after receiving its blessings. However, when combining that with the prayers she had heard earlier, the situation changes entirely.

From the number of voices in that Power of Faith, there must be quite a few followers of the Earth Mother Goddess in the Aibus world. If their population is truly less than that of the present world, it might be a group similar to the Church of the Goddess here, or even a more dominating faction.

Previously, they mentioned “a world on the brink of collapse” and viewed this invasion as “saving the Earth Mother Goddess.” Moreover, upon careful thought, in this entire disaster, besides the god-made beasts created by Xi Fu initially and the strongest Doomsday Cannon, there’s actually been no appearance of any locals or technological strength from the Aibus world here…

Lastly, there’s the repeated mention of “divine messengers” in their prayers.

This subtle sense of déjà vu…

“Xi Fu Lin, are you thinking of something?”

Raising her head, Vilyric questioned the goddess with tens of thousands of years of experience, who had also begun to sense something. Or perhaps… she simply wanted her suspicions confirmed.

“…Deception from above and below.”

Xi Fu Lin solemnly uttered these four words.

“It seems so.”

The crux of the issue lies with those so-called divine messengers.

Once, the Earth Mother Goddess Xi Fu Lin herself had stated that she only sent divine thought to that world a few times in her early years and hadn’t really concerned herself with the believers and sects of Aibus. Not to mention that she had been sealed for a thousand years, and the Withering Goddess had only recently been freed. So, where did these “divine messengers” come from?

When facing the Withering Goddess, Xi Fu Lin mentioned that the technology from the “Abyss” had problems, containing an insidious spiritual pollution. But how could the Aibus people, who primarily devoted themselves to and viewed the Earth Mother as their only object of worship, possibly do something so obviously blasphemous against their revered deity?

Thus, the answer becomes very clear.

Some force is sabotaging, deceiving, and utilizing the Aibus world while secretly altering the technologies dedicated to the Mother Goddess.

The Aibus people think they are rescuing the Mother Goddess, who has been wrongfully trapped and sealed by the enemy, eagerly yearning for her return. In reality, what emerges here are repeated instances of destruction caused by the Doomsday Cannon and the rampaging “Abyss Monsters.”

Both worlds have been deceived.

What plot the culprits have, Vilyric is currently unsure, but it’s evident the Aibus people have been turned into scapegoats and shields for them.

However, those people likely never expected someone like Vilyric to suddenly appear, swiftly defeating and sealing the Withering Goddess they had schemed to release for so long. Therefore, their scheme likely didn’t fully succeed, at least not entirely.

But for Aibus… this world that is known as the Abyss in the present world, after the passage has been sealed and the connection with the deities cut off, where should it go now?

“Vilyric, what are you thinking about?”

With a wry smile, the black-haired girl looked up at the now calm goddess.

“Xi Fu Lin, they are calling for your help. Are you really that cold-hearted, willing to watch this world fall into despair and ruin?”

As if sensing something, the blue-haired, blue-eyed goddess smiled.

“They are calling for the Earth Mother Goddess Xi Fu, what does that have to do with me, the Life Goddess Xi Fu Lin?”

“Moreover… it’s not that I don’t want to help. As I mentioned before, it’s incredibly difficult for deities to traverse dimensional barriers. Even if I project my divine soul there, it would incur immense losses. Cultivating and nurturing the Divine Tree has already exhausted much of my strength. Even if I forced my way into that world, what I can accomplish would be very limited.”

“Hmm, so?”

Facing the intentionally deaf person, Xi Fu Lin showed a helpless expression, knowing that this black-haired girl just wanted to hear those words.

“So, can I ask you for help? Just consider it my request. It’s not just one or two individuals, but the entire world of living beings. Even if there are mistakes… most of them are innocent. I truly have no way…”

The Priestess crossed her arms and pretended to be impatient.

“Alright, alright, I get it. You mean it’s a case of wanting to do more than you can handle, right? You… just regained your title as the goddess, and yet you still choke at the crucial moments?”

“Isn’t it because there’s a more reliable Miss Vilyric here?”

“Tch…”

Vilyric let out a nonsensical huff. She understood Xi Fu Lin’s personality well. If it weren’t for being truly unable to assist, she would never delegate such a task to anyone else. After all, she is the Goddess of Life, a completely soft-hearted deity.

And Vilyric herself, while she may not feel much for the lives and deaths of a few people or even a group of strangers, it was indeed a bit hard to bear to see a whole world falling into ruin and suffering.

Perhaps, the countless prayers before had indeed touched her.

Only sincere and fervent prayers could reach the ears of a deity through the Power of Faith, so the cries and wails they heard earlier were indeed genuine.

The Aibus world is probably already facing some sort of imminent crisis of destruction, which is why they need to beseech the deity for salvation.

The passages between the two worlds are about to be completely closed, and if they want to do something, it can only be now.

   

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