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--- Chapter 450 ---
"The city to fend against Evil Spirit Masters..." Ye Ziyun mumbled, closing her eyes as if those words were hard to digest. "Glory City, that's the origin."
Xu Deming gave Ye Ziyun an understanding look, "You don't have to be so down about it."
"While there is nothing glorious about the city at first, the act of guarding against the Evil Spirit Masters, which were the very cancer of the Douluo Continent, is a glorious purpose by itself."
"Fortunately, as time passed, the gods didn't dare to send more Evil Spirit Masters to the Glory City and instead spread them all over the Douluo Continent, doing something I couldn't understand."
"Those Evil Spirit Masters are doing somebody a favor by farming faiths, as for who it was, you can guess it yourself..." Han Yuan answered their confusion playfully.
"Sometimes when all chaos ensues, all you need to do is see who gets the most benefit."
"Benefit..." Xu Deming and Ye Ziyun frowned and quickly realized there was only one answer to this. "Asura God! Slaughter God!"
"Well, you guys got it." Han Yuan smiled in amusement.
Xu Deming had a look of realization, "Ah, yes, faith. I should have known this!"
"There are only a few methods of becoming divinity in the Douluo Plane, and faith is one of them, with one example being the first Angel God, who slaughtered many Evil Spirit Masters and the force of Darkness."
"Unfortunately, the second Angel God was so foolish that she ended up perishing under Tang San's hand."
As someone who knew Qian Renxue personally, Han Yuan's mouth could not help but twitch, 'Thankfully, Renxue wasn't here, or else she would beat you up, Xu Deming.'
Even though Han Yuan knew Xu Deming possessed the strength of a Wild God, the current Qian Renxue has long surpassed her 'canon' version, not only contracting a 100,000-year-old Spirit Soul, but also her 'Seraphim' martial soul gradually transforming into an Archangel.
Not to mention, Qian Renxue learned the Divine Arts Han Yuan made for her and also held the position of Child of Plane.
So, while she hasn't reached the realm of gods, she would surpass, and will surpass Xu Deming in no time.
"Wait, is this also the way Tang San farmed the faith of the Douluo Continent for the last twenty thousand years..." Xu Deming slammed his fist against the coffin again, causing a loud banging. "That scheming bastard! He's using my Sun and Moon Empire as a stepping stone!"
"Alright, enough of the chatter, continue your story," Han Yuan clapped his hands a couple of times. "Chop, chop, get it together."
"..." Xu Deming stared at him blankly.
'If you hadn't dropped such a truth bomb, I wouldn't have reacted like this!'
Even then, Xu Deming could only sigh and continue, "After founding the Glory City, I started training a group of people in Spirit Guidance Tools of the future, but I made sure every one of them vowed not to spread them thoughtlessly."
"The only things these 'Spirit Engineers' could reveal and use to the public are their own creations, which can be considered a slightly inferior version of the one I taught them."
"If I hadn't done so, the future would shift, and I might not be born."
"The same goes for other methods of the future, such as the Battle Armor, Mecha, and Spirit Souls."
'As expected...' Beta clicked his tongue inwardly because Alpha's guess was correct.
Meanwhile, Ye Ziyun also sighed because the three things Xu Deming said were 'naturally' recorded in the City Lord's guideline books, and referred to as the sacred monuments.
The sacred monuments aren't merely ancient ideas and concepts, but a real manifestation of the Spirit Master and Spirit Engineer's breakthrough in cultivation.
Nevertheless, as Xu Deming said, they are too destructive to the current timeline. Just the appearance of them alone could change the world.
At the same time, these sacred monuments become references for Glory City's genius minds across many generations, leading to the creation of spiritual artifacts.
Of course, the birth of spiritual artifacts is primarily due to the resources they obtained in another plane, and it wasn't as good as Battle Armor and Mecha in terms of firepower.
Yet, the rapid growth of spiritual artifacts is quite good, if not for the fact that they could devour their wielder. At the end of the day, it was just a shortcut.
Xu Deming appeared melancholic as he continued, "However, then came a problem I have been dreading for..."
"Lifespan."
"Even though I have surpassed my past and become a Quasi-God Expert with my god-level martial soul, I still can't fight against time, and my long lifespan eventually almost reached its end."
"Thankfully, I've prepared this Mechanical God Armor, which was a Battle Armor that is 'fully' spiritualized with my very origins and soul."
"Well, it looks horrible..." Han Yuan couldn't help but comment on the armor's design.
Xu Deming smiled and patted his chest, drumming it, "My Mechanical God Armor is currently in standby mode.
"It doesn't have much of an imposing appearance, but trust me, I could fight a Divine Expert under 1st Class for a while by then."
"But I haven't fully given up on my body yet."
"That's when I discovered the Ice God's Inheritance, and his Divine Artifact, Ice God's Heart."
"Unfortunately, my compatibility with it is horrible. My Sun Moon Eyes, while possessing an Ultimate Yin attribute, actually clash with Ice God's Divine Attribute."
"So, I decided to use Ice God's Heart as an energy source and spiritual key for a large-scale Spirit Guidance Cannon."
"I also believed far in the future, someone would get the recognition of the Ice God's Heart."
"And as expected, it did..." Xu Deming gazed at Ye Ziyun emotionally.
Ye Ziyun looked conflicted, "But why did you make a rule that no one should voluntarily take the Ice God's Trial?"
"Because you will get targeted by a God!" Xu Deming sighed helplessly as he remembered another bad memory. "With the locks I placed on the Ice God's Heart, no Gods would be able to access it without authentication of Glory City's True Commands."
"However, locks aren't unbreakable. Every city lord of Glory City will get to know that Ice God's Heart is 'actually' sealed within the Key of Providence, and it held the trial of God."
"It was a rite of passage."
"Also, a warning that I set on."
"Anyone who decides to walk on such a path will bring destruction to the Glory City."
"And from the look of it, it did bring destruction..."
"So, I was the one..." Ye Ziyun immediately fell on the ground. Her heart ached because she didn't expect the reason Glory City suffered so much was actually herself.
Han Yuan placed his hand on Ye Ziyun's hand and pulled her up, "Alright, get up, I already told you that Slaughter God has been eyeing Ice God's Heart for a long time. He merely attacked when the city was at its most vulnerable."
"B-But..." Ye Ziyun covered her face.
"Sigh, he's right," Xu Deming heaved a sigh. "Slaughter God had indeed been eyeing Glory City for a very long time."
"His target wasn't only Ice God's Heart, but also the core secrets of the Spirit Guidance Tools I had."
"So, rather than your fault, it was my fault..."
"At least you're sober enough to admit that." Han Yuan commented while rolling his eyes.
"Even then, I am still curious..."
"When you obtained Ice God's Heart, was Ice God alive? Or is there at least a will left?"
Xu Deming put on a difficult look before answering, "He, no, she's still alive and well, actually."
"Eh?" Not only Ye Ziyun, but even Han Yuan didn't expect this.
Xu Deming gave them a helpless expression, "You heard me."
"Ice God is still alive!"