Chapter 623: Ascension

However, the authority of 'God-King' seemed impressive and imposing, but it did little to aid Li Mochen in his confrontation with several god-kings. On the contrary, the divine office of 'Mortal World Protector', which had surged to a divine rank of thirteen, granted him greater defensive power in battle.

Li Mochen actually looked forward more to the power known as 'Order'. The Australian and American Congresses had not only given him the titles of 'Protector of Government and People' and 'Guardian of Mortal Order', but also the title of 'Maker of Social Order and Laws'.

Theoretically, this would help him grasp the divine authority of 'Order'.

If he were to face the Goddess of Liberty in direct combat in the future, then besides the 'Fate' that Li Mochen himself controlled, the three divine authorities of 'Order', 'Rules', and 'Law' would be the best means of counterbalance.

Thus, the Goddess of Liberty did not care much about the first title, but she fiercely opposed the latter two in the American Congress. Unfortunately for her, Li Mochen ultimately prevailed. His display of strength across the entire American continent, along with the combined influence of the gods under him, allowed the bill to pass in the United States by a margin of three votes.

Unfortunately, Li Mochen had not delved deeply into 'Order' and could not seize this divine authority. However, in the aspect of 'Law', because Bismarck had formulated some simple, non-binding divine laws for his pantheon after becoming the Prime Minister of the Divine Kingdom, Li Mochen was able to grasp the rudimentary 'Rules' and 'Law'.

Yet Li Mochen did not invest too much effort in this area. For the following two months, most of his energy was devoted to studying 'Fate' and 'Time Sequence'.

The merit on the 'Divine Sky Spirit Fortune Purple Gold Pagoda' was being consumed at an alarming rate, almost exceeding five million strands per day. The majority was used by Li Mochen himself, followed by Moon Rabbit, Angela, Robert, and Hazel. At this time, Li Mochen only harvested three million strands of merit daily. The pacification of the Australian war had significantly increased his daily merit gain, but Li Mochen's demand for merit was never-ending.

However, this investment yielded immediate results. After about two months, Li Mochen finally elevated both his 'Fate' and 'Time Sequence' divine authorities to the high-level peak—high-level divine authority without any amplification—and thereby awakened the 'Divine Domain' of Fate.

On this day, Li Mochen also used the power of the Divine Wish Stone, Divine Rank, and Merit Purple Qi to touch the realm of 'Pseudo-Truth' with his Fate divine authority.

He had already touched the 'Gate of Truth' and could stand outside the gate, gazing at the scenery beyond.

This filled Li Mochen with ecstasy and spiritual excitement. Because the following period was truly his time of 'harvest'. Although he had reached this realm with external help, having reached it was enough. He could now peer into the mysteries of the 'Origin', all the laws concerning 'Fate', and their secrets.

And with the three strands of Merit Purple Qi and the 'Divine Sky Spirit Fortune Purple Gold Pagoda', he possessed an understanding and analytical power ten or even a hundred times greater than those so-called 'geniuses'. He could draw nourishment from behind that gate and use it to fortify his own foundation.

Moreover, it was not just Fate. Subsequently, Time Sequence, Life and Death, War, Positive Energy, Negative Energy, and so on—Li Mochen could all touch the 'Gate of Truth' without exception, or even step directly into the 'gate'.

Li Mochen dared not delve too deep, nor stay inside for too long. After all, it was a 'false' foundation, insufficient to support him truly standing at the lowest level of the 'Origin'. However, he could manage to tentatively extend his divine consciousness into it, which allowed him to quickly understand the 'Origin' essence of various laws.

This would be a period of rapid strength growth, like doing homework by directly looking up the answers at the back—the pace of progress would naturally be unparalleled.

Even though by this time Li Mochen had exhausted the fifty million strands of merit stored on the pagoda and had to tighten his belt, his progress in these divine authorities would still be at least five times faster than in the previous two months.

But before that, Li Mochen first had to elevate his divine rank.

After his initial glimpse of the scenery inside the 'Gate of Truth', Li Mochen unhesitatingly condensed his divine nature and divine power, continuing to 'engrave' his divine rank deep within the Origin.

His steps into the depths of the Origin were firm and powerful, but each layer deeper was ten times more difficult than the previous. Even when Li Mochen's divine consciousness probed slightly inward, it triggered the 'backlash' of the Origin. This caused a twenty-kilometer radius within the demiplane of the Fate Township Magic Tower to be engulfed in violent thunder and storms.

Li Mochen's body also continuously disintegrated and even collapsed under the impact of the Origin's power.

The power of 'Fate' was too strong, involving more than a dozen different law forces such as the origin of fate, the present of fate, the future of fate, necessity, contingency, and destiny.

Thus, the backlash of the Origin's power was exceptionally strong, far exceeding the carrying capacity of Li Mochen's current body. Even though he had recently strengthened it to near divine rank ten using divine power and vast resources.

Li Mochen could only rely on his Life and Vitality divine authorities to continuously heal his injuries, and then mobilize the fate power he controlled to minimize the damage he sustained.

Since the Battle of the Coral Sea, Li Mochen's followers had grown to 1.9 billion over these two months. Among them, the number of devout believers had increased more than twenty-fold, reaching an astonishing 20 million, along with nearly 700,000 fanatical believers from various parts of Australia.

—These alone were enough to supply five major gods!

Moreover, the vacancy of the 'Fate' and 'Time Sequence' deities in this world brought him an almost endless supply of divine power.

And all the 'Fate' source power of the entire Bright World, except for portions taken by the Lord of Radiance and Nyx, was left for Li Mochen to harvest.

This allowed Li Mochen to continuously repair his body and unrestrainedly expend his power, supporting his divine nature as he carved one divine pattern after another deep within the Origin in an extremely forceful manner, conforming to laws and integrating into truth.

Then fourteen, fifteen, sixteen—until seventeen!

This was the most difficult. After removing the amplification of his divine rank, Li Mochen's divine authority level was still partly reliant on external forces, a虚幻 foundation. This made his progress to this step exceptionally arduous. Almost every time he inscribed a rune, his body would collapse once.

The storm outside the magic tower gradually expanded to cover the entire demiplane, spanning a hundred kilometers in diameter!

For an entire day and night, Li Mochen's body collapsed 398 times before the storm and thunder gradually subsided. He had completed the construction of the seventeenth-level divine rank, becoming a powerful 'Major God'!

After accomplishing this, Li Mochen's expression relaxed slightly.

Having stepped into this rank, most of his current awkward situation could be resolved. The master of a powerful pantheon could not merely be a powerful god. Continuing like this would inevitably lead to problems, only a matter of time.

However, after this, Li Mochen did not choose to press on. He closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing, planning to spend two days restoring his divine nature and divine power to their optimal state.

Elevating the Fate divine office to divine rank seventeen had cost Li Mochen considerable effort. Especially during the process, he had to memorize and comprehend the changes in fate power, leaving him mentally exhausted and in urgent need of recovery.

Meanwhile, on the twenty-seventh floor of the Fate Township Magic Tower, Bismarck stood by a window, gazing thoughtfully at the dissipating storm and thunder outside.

“A Fate Lord of divine rank seventeen! I bet Odin and Zeus never imagined when they backed down that this man would ascend to the major god rank in just two months—”

Standing behind Bismarck was Ludendorff, the God of War Organization and Defense. He had originally come to negotiate with Bismarck about the formation of the divine army—as a deity related to war, he naturally held an important position in this divine army.

But two hours after arriving, he found himself trapped in this Fate Township Magic Tower. The dense thunder and storms outside, along with the flames flickering in the void containing the power of time and void, filled Ludendorff with alarm and deterred him. He could only stay inside the magic tower, avoiding the 'Origin' forces that could tear apart any intermediate god.

“At least an ultimate-level ‘Fate’? I even suspect whether this man is a projection or incarnation of some great power from the outer world. Since the mythological era, have you ever seen such an exaggerated rate of ascension?”

“Achilles, at twenty-three, possessed power comparable to a powerful god and could fight the descending God of War Ares to a standstill—of course, that was the tail end of the mythological era.”

This was another deity, Rommel, the God of Armored Assault, Mobile Defense, Infantry, and Mechanized Infantry: “Can’t you tell whether he is a projection or incarnation?”

“Precisely because we can tell, Lord Ludendorff finds it hard to believe. I think it is the will of the world, like the Greek Heroic Age. Can you imagine? Those heroes dared not only to slay gods but even to enter the underworld and kidnap Hades’ queen. Unfortunately, those favored by the world’s will were eventually suppressed by Zeus.”

Reinhard Heydrich, the God of Intelligence and Espionage, smiled: “Speaking of which, is our king demonstrating deterrence, or giving us confidence?”

“It can also be understood as trust.”

Rommel shook his head: “The Prime Minister’s judgment is correct. His wings are full, his bones strong, his claws sharp—enough to fight any lion!”

“You are judging your king!”

Bismarck ended this meaningless conversation, but a hint of relief flashed deep in his eyes. The scene before him was undoubtedly good news.

He knew that the existence of this pantheon and its ability to stand against the ancient pantheons all depended on Li Mochen alone.

As an investor who had gone all in, he naturally hoped to see his investment grow stronger.

“Take this chance to leave now, everyone! Time is still important to us. But before that, I must remind you: as Rommel said, our sovereign has given us sufficient trust. So, gentlemen, you know what to do, right?”

“Of course, I will not breathe a word about His Majesty’s divine rank ascension. You know, in a sense, I am actually His follower.”

Rommel smiled meaningfully: “Even if only for the sake of that goddess, we will keep our mouths shut.”

He and Guderian both became gods after World War II, deified by the worship of the world due to their legendary military exploits, allowing them to become gods through faith. However, since they were not followers of the Lord of Radiance, they secretly believed in an ancient Teutonic deity, the 'War God Bruti', whom the Old Light Church denounced as a heretic.

Currently, the 'War God Bruti' was recognized by the Religious Management Association of the Teutonic Republic as the predecessor of the current 'Fate Lord' Andrew Li·Wiltonstein, a powerful deity.

But a hundred years ago, the 'War God Bruti' was actually a virtual divine office within the 'Scarlet Dragon Armor'. Although the latter had few miracles and scant divine spells granted to followers, due to the glory of Emperor Barbarossa and the Hohenstaufen family, many soldiers in the WWII era privately believed in the 'War God Bruti', as the era of Emperor Barbarossa was the most powerful period for the Teutonic people.

Rommel only learned the truth after becoming a god, but it also benefited him, allowing him to achieve divinity. Manstein, who was ranked alongside him and Guderian as one of the three great Teutonic WWII generals, was not so fortunate. He was a devout follower of the Lord of Radiance, and his soul was led into the 'Heavenly Kingdom'.

The Lord of Radiance’s subjects have no concept of reincarnation. If they are not promoted to angels, their souls continue to exist in the 'Heavenly Kingdom', where after judgment of their sins, they live carefree, enjoying a blissful life until their souls are completely consumed and merge into the Lord’s radiance—the so-called 'Petitioners'.

Rommel did not know what fate awaited Manstein in the 'Heavenly Kingdom', nor did it concern him.

But after becoming a god, he, like many Teutonic predecessors standing here, harbored a deep hatred for the goddess who held 'Freedom' and 'Strife'.

“Not just keeping silent, but also handling our responsibilities properly so that His Majesty can focus more on personal cultivation.”

Bismarck nodded slightly: “All gods can sit back and watch His Majesty’s success or failure, but we cannot. The establishment of the divine army is imperative, and their strength depends on the abilities of you war gods. Go, everyone! For our new king, and for ourselves, you must forge the sharpest spear and the strongest shield for His Majesty in the shortest time.”

…

After resting for two days, Li Mochen resumed the process of elevating his divine rank. Perhaps because his main divine office had firmly engraved its divine consciousness imprint into the seventeenth layer, the subsequent elevation of his other divine ranks did not trigger any backlash from the Origin or produce any natural phenomena. Li Mochen's divine consciousness moved steadily and smoothly within the Origin.

The demiplane of the 'Fate Township' Magic Tower reopened to the outside after being sealed for five days.

Li Mochen first elevated Time Sequence, then Yin-Yang (Duality), Equality, Justice, War, Combat, Battle, Youth, Vitality, and Beauty—these divine offices he initially mastered were almost all elevated to divine rank thirteen or above.

Among them, Time Sequence, Yin-Yang (Duality), War, Combat, and Battle all reached divine rank seventeen.

The other divine offices that Li Mochen was not proficient in and had not studied deeply also saw significant improvement. This was because he had too many followers in these areas, and through granting divine spells, he naturally came to understand and master some of their essence.

Embarrassingly, 'Game' and 'Data' remained at divine rank eight, with almost no growth. Li Mochen also had many followers in these areas, but he still could not figure out how to use these two divine offices and had not put effort into studying them. He planned to transfer these two divine offices to Angela, to see if combining them with her mastery of Dreams could yield some effect. Coincidentally, Angela now had spare divine nature to bear these; she was also exceptionally gifted in mental power, even stronger than Li Mochen, who had merged two soul origins, allowing her to carry numerous divine offices.

As for Li Mochen himself, he had set his sights on the divine office of 'Artificial Intelligence', which could cover all current and future smart devices. This would at least greatly increase his computational power and influence everything spawned by intelligent devices in the future.

Li Mochen had already started and achieved some results. He was just waiting to offload 'Game' and 'Data' before condensing the two divine offices of 'Artificial Intelligence' and 'Bio-Suit'.

Then Li Mochen elevated his recently derived divine offices of 'Destruction', 'Annihilation', 'Precision', 'Protector of Followers', and 'Mortal World Protector' to levels thirteen and fifteen respectively.

The latter two did not require Li Mochen to expend additional divine nature, but the former three placed a great burden on him.

Fortunately, the three strands of 'Merit Purple Qi' greatly enhanced his divine nature. Yet even so, he could only elevate these three divine offices to thirteen. Even though Li Mochen had pushed the related divine authority powers to high-level or even ultimate levels, he could go no further.

However, as a qualified War God, one must master concepts such as 'armament,' 'weapons,' 'battlefield,' 'terrain,' 'timing,' 'bloodshed,' 'martial spirit,' and also modern emergents like 'rifles' and 'detection equipment.'

The same applies to 'Fate.' Although his divine office of Fate encompasses all aspects of fate, branch concepts such as the origin of fate, the present of fate, the future of fate, as well as necessity, contingency, certainty, variability, and destiny—due to specialization—are also extremely powerful.

Therefore, it is best to master them all together, which would further increase Li Mochen's divine power of fate.

However, if one's own divinity is insufficient, then others must be found to share the burden—this is the meaning of the existence of 'subordinate gods.'