Chapter 471: Athena’s Final Treatment
Having accidentally slammed into the iron door, Sylph felt like a bump was about to swell on her head. Her mind felt dizzy as she squatted on the ground.
Ouch, that hurt.
She wasn’t a defensive warrior like Benson, thick-skinned and tough.
Qin Chu quite liked seeing girls in this posture; the curves of the buttocks and thighs appeared even more alluring.
However, the scene just now also surprised Qin Chu somewhat. Sylph clearly hadn’t activated any magic or fighting spirit; that movement was purely an unconscious attempt to walk normally.
Unexpectedly, her speed turned out to be astonishingly fast.
Stroking his chin, Qin Chu pondered inwardly.
Evil Gods don’t accept just any believer.
Every single person targeted by an Evil God possesses considerable talent.
For example, Athena possessed an exceptionally powerful soul, and Karsus was also a fairly outstanding warrior, easily susceptible to darkness.
For ordinary people, even if you prepared sufficient sacrifices and prayed devoutly to an Evil God, if you lacked any outstanding or special qualities, the Evil God wouldn’t even bother paying attention to you.
It would be a waste of time.
And Sylph, aside from her elven bloodline, didn’t seem to possess any qualities superior to Karsus. Logically, she shouldn’t have garnered more attention from the Evil Gods than Karsus did.
But now it seemed, after the threads in her soul were completely cleared away, Sylph’s true talent was gradually emerging.
This astonishing speed was perhaps one of Sylph’s talents.
Once Sylph fully accepts and adapts to her innate talent, she will undoubtedly become even stronger.
Sylph was still a bit dazed, rubbing her forehead. She was rather displeased that Qin Chu was still lying in bed and hadn’t even come over to help her up. Muttering under her breath, she stood up from the ground, huffed, and then pulled open the dented iron door and walked out.
Along the way, she was extremely careful, desperately controlling her legs, terrified of accidentally crashing into a wall again.
Death, naturally, wouldn’t result from such a collision.
But it was incredibly embarrassing, okay?
Qin Chu’s gaze shifted to the window. The river of faith was still flowing in mid-air, continuously being devoured by the vortex.
Although quite some time had passed, the vortex showed no signs of closing.
Moreover, Qin Chu could still clearly sense intense fluctuations from within it.
It seemed the battle between the Goddess of Holy Light and the seven ugly abominations in the Void wouldn’t end so easily in the short term.
Qin Chu needed to seize this opportunity to completely clean out the statues within Athena’s body as well. He could feel that there was definitely some kind of connection between those statues and the Evil Gods in the Void.
Once the Seven Abominations of the Void were ready, it was highly likely they would link their consciousness to the statues, recreating the scenario that occurred with the Elven King Alfred, where Qin Chu had to directly confront the will of the Seven Abominations.
The injuries sustained that time still hadn’t fully healed, and Qin Chu definitely didn’t want a repeat.
Not long after, Athena’s figure appeared in the room. She seemed to understand what was about to happen. Despite it having occurred many times, her pretty face was still flushed red.
Athena had also prepared carefully. Beneath her black magic robe, her rounded, sexy legs were encased in matching black stockings.
She truly was a very alluring woman.
Her graceful figure was like that of a fairy, every movement carrying a heart-trembling charm.
Even just seeing Athena, Qin Chu could feel his body, weary from the recent exertion, becoming vigorous once more.
After a brief hesitation at the doorway, Athena took a deep breath, swayed her sexy figure, and walked towards Qin Chu.
“Sylph just said this is my last treatment?” A charming voice came from Athena’s lips.
“Yes.”
“Meaning, after this time, I won’t need any more treatment?” Athena raised an eyebrow, inquiring.
“Theoretically, yes.”
If I can destroy all five remaining statues in Athena’s soul in one go, Qin Chu thought.
After a short pause, Qin Chu spoke again: “Of course, you might still need periodic check-ups.”
“You know, this kind of thing isn’t that simple. If it’s not thoroughly dealt with, it could cause trouble.”
Check-ups?
A charming curve lifted the corner of Athena’s mouth. She shot Qin Chu a coquettish glance, leaned down, and began the prelude to the treatment.
…
Entering a soul world didn’t necessarily require this method.
Qin Chu had other means, but undoubtedly, this method was the absolute fastest way for Qin Chu to enter Athena’s soul world.
Amidst the spreading Holy Light, Qin Chu successfully transferred his consciousness into Athena’s soul space as desired.
It wasn’t much different from before; yellow sand still filled the sky, resembling a dim desert.
However, a few more oases had appeared in the desert. Perhaps this was the result of the treatment; it looked quite promising so far.
Qin Chu didn’t waste time, heading straight to the altar’s location at top speed.
Athena’s soul was tightly bound to the altar by chains extending from the five remaining statues. Although two statues were gone, Athena’s soul still lacked the strength to break free from these chains.
Though entwined by layers of chains, Athena’s soul was clearly more vibrant than Sylph’s. She even nodded slightly at Qin Chu, seemingly welcoming his arrival.
Qin Chu could sense the inexplicable fluctuations from this soul.
She seemed to want to say something, to convey some information to Qin Chu, but their soul consciousnesses couldn’t communicate.
This made Athena’s soul exceptionally agitated. She could only continuously cast her gaze towards the altar and the statues upon it.
Although she was only conveying signals through this vague and hazy method, it was enough for Qin Chu.
Qin Chu, who was about to float onto the altar, abruptly stopped beside it with a shua sound.
His consciousness began to circle the altar, observing the statues.
Superficially, these statues and the altar looked no different from before.
They hadn’t become thicker, longer, or taller like the threads entwining Sylph’s soul.
But Athena’s soul would absolutely not react so strangely without reason. This hadn’t happened during his second direct encounter with Athena’s soul.
After a brief hesitation, Qin Chu’s consciousness suddenly swept up the wreckage of the previous Lord of Pleasure statue, which had rolled off the altar, and tossed it back onto the platform.
Bang!
The instant the wreckage of the Lord of Pleasure statue landed on the altar, the surrounding five statues turned almost simultaneously, as if triggering some mysterious mechanism. The heads of all five statues faced the location of the wreckage.
The next moment, a scene unfolded that made even Qin Chu’s purely conscious form feel a chill crawl up his spine.
A strange fluctuation emanated from all five statues almost simultaneously.
Faintly, five eerie beams of light seemed to land on the statue wreckage at the same time.
Immediately after, the statue weathered away.
The originally solid statue almost instantly turned into fine particles, disappearing completely with the gentle breeze that blew past.
Despite being merely a pure consciousness, Qin Chu felt like his scalp was about to explode.
A trap.
The Seven Abominations of the Void actually dug a pit for me?
Just think, if what had landed on the altar just now wasn’t that statue but my own consciousness, and without Athena’s soul’s warning, my consciousness would likely have been instantly reduced to ashes.
Damn it.
You guys are Evil Gods!
Using such despicable methods, don’t you feel you’re losing face as gods?
Qin Chu’s consciousness pulsed, clearly very angry.
However, this scene at least made one thing clear to Qin Chu: he had evidently become a thorn in the side of the Seven Abominations of the Void. These guys were currently plotting to kill him.
Qin Chu’s consciousness began to rapidly contemplate the current situation. What should he do?
What was the range of the trap?
Would he only be affected if he stepped onto the altar, or would he be targeted the moment he touched a statue?
After a period of hesitation, Qin Chu swept up another, smaller fragment and threw it directly at the statue of the God of Blood, Death, and Darkness.
Clack.
The fragment collided with the Blood God statue, making a crisp sound, then rolled aside. This time, it seemed the trap on the altar wasn’t triggered.
Perhaps it was because of the Goddess of Holy Light’s sudden actions that the Seven Abominations of the Void didn’t have time to perfect this trap.
But Qin Chu understood that this brief window of time would be his last chance.
His consciousness swiftly floated over, directly latching onto the Blood God statue from behind. The Hungry Wriggling of the Gluttony Divinity was immediately activated. The giant stomach completely enveloped the Blood God statue and began to writhe intensely.
Tssla, tssla… tssla…
Accompanied by strange sounds, layers of fine, dust-like debris fell from the bare statue as it rapidly wore down.
The Decomposition Divinity also washed over the statue’s surface layer by layer.
The statue, which could originally be described as lifelike, quickly became decayed and dilapidated, riddled with pits and damage.
Finally, when it had been worn down sufficiently, with a crisp crack, cracks began to appear on the statue. The Devourer and the Gluttony Divinity seized the opportunity to surge into the fissures, searching for the trace of divinity hidden within the statue.
After a long while, a dark red thread was drawn out from the statue and swiftly swallowed by Qin Chu’s consciousness.
The God of Blood, Death, and Darkness!
Blood and darkness were merely the process; death was the conclusion.
Death Divinity!
The instant the divinity was stripped from the statue, the statue completely lost its supporting power, crumbling into debris on the ground.
The chains extending from it also vanished at this moment.
Almost simultaneously, somewhere in the boundless Void, a certain existence upon a throne of white bones let out a furious roar.
Chapter 472: Athena’s Soul Intertwines
Death Divinity: Every life you take will make you stronger.
Another very simple description.
But it was enough for Qin Chu to understand the value of this divinity. This divinity would allow Qin Chu to grow increasingly powerful through killing. The more enemies he killed, the stronger Qin Chu would become.
However, it seemed that previous kills didn’t count; otherwise, Qin Chu’s stats would have immediately increased by an unknown, exaggerated amount.
The Death Divinity also brought a special ability—Death’s Embrace.
Death’s Embrace—Feel the embrace of death. Allows other living beings to sense the aura of death; the weak will die directly.
Huu…
Reviewing his gains, Qin Chu let out a long breath.
This Death Perception was practically a weapon of mass destruction.
The aura of Death Perception could even cause weaker life forms to die directly. This was quite consistent with the nature of the God of Blood, Death, and Darkness.
After briefly digesting his gains, Qin Chu quickly turned his attention to the other four statues.
The God of Plagues and Misfortune, the Weaver of Fate (likely God of Trickery and Fate), the Star Devourer, and that strange sphere covered in large eyeballs whose name was unknown.
Since I don’t know what the hell this last guy is, I might as well start with you.
He had already confirmed while devouring the Death Divinity that as long as he didn’t step onto the altar, he wouldn’t trigger the trap. Qin Chu’s consciousness no longer hesitated. Although dealing with four statues simultaneously would be strenuous, devouring them one by one was entirely feasible.
His consciousness transformed into a mass of grey fog, spreading across the ground like a viper, instantly arriving before the strange statue.
These previously motionless statues seemed to sense the danger at this moment. The four statues on the altar began to shake violently almost simultaneously.
This strange situation caused Qin Chu’s consciousness to hesitate slightly, worried about accidentally falling into another trap, subconsciously stopping in place.
Crack…
Following that was the strange sound of cracking.
Cracks appeared almost simultaneously above the heads of the four statues.
The next instant, four divinities floated out almost at the same time, flying straight towards the sky of the soul world.
These divinities want to escape?
Qin Chu’s consciousness fluctuated intensely. Immediately after, the Hungry Wriggling Devourer swiftly coiled around, directly entangling the divinity of the big-eyeball statue closest to him, forcefully dragging it back. It was then swallowed whole by Qin Chu’s consciousness.
As for the remaining three divinities, it was ultimately too late. He could only watch helplessly as those three divinities quickly disappeared within Athena’s soul world.
They sure run fast. It was clear that the beings in the Void had realized it was impossible to trap and kill Qin Chu here. At the critical moment, they chose to cut their losses immediately; saving even a wisp of divinity was better than nothing.
Unfortunately, Qin Chu’s consciousness, due to the statues’ abnormal movements, had thought it was another trap. Otherwise, if he had prepared in advance, he could have captured at least one more wisp of divinity.
After losing the support of their divinities, the remaining four statues all crumbled and collapsed.
All the chains binding Athena’s soul vanished completely in that instant. This soul, which had been bound for so long, finally gained its freedom.
The altar also turned into rubble and dust.
All traces left by the Evil Gods in Athena’s soul world vanished completely.
This soul world also began to regain its vitality. The changes weren’t as dramatic as in Sylph’s, but amidst the vast yellow sand, oasis after oasis emerged, adding a different kind of color.
Qin Chu also breathed a sigh of relief. Although the process deviated somewhat from expectations, looking solely at the result, it should be considered pretty good, right?
Nodding towards Athena’s soul, Qin Chu’s consciousness prepared to leave. He had already stayed here for too long.
But just then, Athena’s soul suddenly floated over. Seemingly thanking Qin Chu for saving her, the two souls intertwined. Qin Chu could clearly feel the sensation of Athena’s kiss.
The direct contact between souls brought stimulation even more intense than physical union in reality. It was a very strange feeling, one that even Qin Chu had never experienced before.
The two souls tangled together, merging.
The trembling originating from the soul brought the most intense stimulation.
After an unknown amount of time, Athena finally released Qin Chu’s consciousness. Her soul took a step back, knelt on one knee like a believer facing a deity, placing one hand on the ground and the other on her chest.
Was this Athena’s soul swearing loyalty?
He had a premonition that Athena’s soul world had completely opened up to him. From now on, Qin Chu could enter and exit Athena’s soul world at will under any circumstances. Perhaps this was Athena’s way of showing loyalty?
Under the gaze of Athena’s soul, Qin Chu’s consciousness gradually departed.
…
After a long while, Qin Chu finally opened his eyes.
Athena, in his arms, also gradually awoke. Her breathing was still somewhat rapid, and her gaze towards Qin Chu held a deep strangeness.
She couldn’t comprehend her current state either. She just felt that the distance between her and Qin Chu had shortened, and her feelings for him had deepened.
Even just looking at Qin Chu made her face flush and her heart race.
She didn’t know exactly what had happened in the soul world, but the sensation brought by that momentary soul entanglement was clearly reflected in Athena’s body.
“Master, I…” Athena began softly.
As her cherry lips parted, even Athena herself found her gentle, seductive voice unbearable. A layer of mist veiled her beautiful eyes.
Although she was speaking, it sounded as enticing as a moan to the ears.
Even though he had just gone through two rounds of battle and felt somewhat tired, Qin Chu’s body still couldn’t help but shiver uncontrollably.
With great effort, Qin Chu suppressed the flames that instantly surged in his chest using his formidable willpower. He took a deep breath: “It should be fine for now.”
“But your situation is rather special. You might need check-ups in the future.”
Those three wisps of divinity had left on their own. Who knew if they would return to Athena’s soul world?
After all, Athena seemed to be a very special existence to the seven ugly abominations in the Void. He felt they wouldn’t give up so easily.
Athena was already very satisfied with the current situation. Without the oppression in her soul world, it felt as if some kind of shackle deep within her consciousness had been completely unlocked. Her consciousness, and even her body, felt extremely empty, craving more abundant energy to fill her shell.
The shackles that had once hindered her cultivation inexplicably vanished at this moment.
Athena could already see the level 90 threshold beckoning her.
This was Athena’s talent.
The talent that the former Jie Luo had most desired to plunder.
Freed from the restrictions of the gods, Athena’s path of cultivation would be smooth sailing, without any further obstacles.
Looking at Athena, who was bowing her head and helping him tidy up, Qin Chu’s palm slid up and down her smooth, long hair twice: “Athena, please leave for a moment. I want to be alone and rest. I’m a bit tired.”
Now is not the time for such things.
Athena could also see Qin Chu’s fatigue. Without hesitation, after helping Qin Chu arrange his clothes, she stood up. As she left the room, she cast a slightly suspicious glance at the strange vortex in the room. Clearly, Athena sensed something was off about the vortex, but since Qin Chu hadn’t explained, Athena was very well-behaved and would absolutely not ask recklessly.
Only now did Qin Chu have time to examine the other divinity he had just obtained.
Chaos Divinity: The world will eventually be submerged in chaos; no one can offer salvation.
The Chaos Divinity also brought a special ability, Evil Eye.
Evil Eye—Where your gaze falls, chaos reigns.
The descriptions of these divinities were almost all ambiguous statements, more confusing than the synopses of some novels. Unless personally tested, it was difficult to grasp their true effects.
Counting them up, within his body now resided the Gluttony Divinity, Lust Divinity, Decomposition Divinity, Chaos Divinity, and Death Divinity, plus the Authority of Water.
He possessed a total of six powers that only gods should wield.
Among them, the Authority of Water was even the weakest.
Besides these, there were also the Authority of Wrath (likely Pride) and the Authority of Greed (likely Gluttony).
After carefully reviewing everything, Qin Chu finally climbed out of bed, stretching his arms vigorously. His body really was quite tired.
Qin Chu approached the vortex, his brow furrowed tightly.
Although the vortex hadn’t disappeared, the fluctuations that had previously emanated from it had subsided.
This seemed to indicate that the conflict between the Goddess of Holy Light and the Seven Abominations of the Void had temporarily ended.
The Goddess’s hair on his wrist and the Sapling within his body had both returned to tranquility.
Only, the Sapling looked as if it had shrunk, appearing listless.
He didn’t know the outcome of the conflict in the Void. Who was the final victor?
Had the Goddess of Holy Light broken free from the Void’s restraints? Or had this most powerful native god been completely eliminated by the Seven Abominations of the Void?
Qin Chu recited the hymn of the Goddess of Holy Light again. The vortex before him remained unchanged.
His figure stood silently and motionlessly before the vortex. Although he wanted to meet the Goddess of Holy Light, Qin Chu would absolutely not step into that vortex voluntarily.
If the Goddess of Holy Light’s situation had stabilized and she was safe, she would definitely pull him in.
If that didn’t happen, there were only three possibilities: First, the Goddess of Holy Light had been completely eliminated. Second, the Goddess of Holy Light’s seal had been reinforced, and he could no longer contact her. Third, the Goddess of Holy Light had weakened to the point where she didn’t even have the strength to pull him in.
Regardless of which, it was quite bad.
Just as Qin Chu was pondering, a small, fair hand suddenly reached out from the vortex, grabbed his collar, and pulled him in.
