Chapter 473: Chapter 472: Been Tricked

“That person claimed to be the Honghu Messenger, from the Immortal Realm. He knew the Frost Giant who ascended to the Immortal Realm. The Frost Giant saw that our infighting in the Eira World was so severe, and although he was irritated and wanted to help, he didn’t want to lose face. So, he secretly asked the Honghu Messenger to assist us.”

“At first, we did not believe him, but when we saw how he effortlessly brought outsiders to the brink of death, we started to believe him, even if we didn’t want to.”

“The Honghu Messenger mentioned that part of our souls had merged with the power of belief. To break free from the power of belief, he suggested a special method.”

“He claimed that the person who ties the bell must untie it, meaning we need to harness the power of belief to free ourselves from it.”

“We asserted that we could already control the power of belief quite well, but he retorted that our level of control was far from sufficient.”

“He explained that the power of belief comes from followers, and controlling it is closely related to their faith. And to strengthen their faith, there was no better approach than creating an adversary. The threat posed by an enemy would naturally concentrate their faith on us.”

“We thought he was referring to the Demon King, but he clarified that to the commoners, the Demon King was too terrifying. Our struggle against the Demon King was too desperate and failed to foster any sense of safety among the people.”

Jiang Li understood, these seven gods claimed they were evenly matched with the Demon King, but perhaps the Light God suffered tremendous losses and thus completely lost the desire to inspire belief in others.

Unlike the Ring Universe, where martial arts was the main focus, the Twelve Heavenly Kings held absolute dominion over belief, so even when they caused major catastrophes, the masses would still choose to believe in them.

However, in the Eira World, if the Demon King were to strike again, ordinary people might renounce their faith in the Light God out of desperation and create forces akin to earthly veins.

This would be a losing situation.

“The Honghu Messenger then proposed that we create an opponent who is weaker than the Demon King but still poses a threat to the common people.

“He presented four treasures—a sword, a shield, a ring, and a crown—stating that anyone who equips these four items would become the most formidable entity in the Body Integration Realm. We had no clue what the Body Integration Realm was.”

“The person equipped with these four items could be dubbed a hero. This hero would conquer the Demon King and become a true hero.”

“At this time, the hero, controlled by the crown, would become an enemy of the world and bring about catastrophe. Ordinary people would then opt to believe in us, generating an enormous amount of belief power. A quantitative change would lead to a qualitative one, propelling the power of belief to a new level. We could then free ourselves from the constraints of the power of belief, undergo a transformation, and become free gods.”

“When that time comes, we would triumph over the hero, remove their crown, and that would thoroughly solve the issue.”

“That was the plan the Honghu Messenger arranged for us.” The Light God confessed sincerely, showing no intention to lie.

Jiang Li knew the Honghu Messenger was lying. The claim that more belief power would transform into something new was sheer nonsense. He had concentrated all of Jiuzhou’s belief power into the Bronze Cauldron, but he had not observed any changes in the belief power.

He had taken advantage of the gods’ naivety and made them believe whatever he said.

“We asked, could the hero actually defeat the Demon King? The Honghu Messenger said that he had already reached an agreement with the Demon King. The Demon King would not harm the three races anymore. When the hero arrived at the Demon King’s City, the Demon King would feign defeat. At that time, he would reappear and ascend to the Immortal Realm with the Demon King.”

“Did the Honghu Messenger ever mention anything about the dungeon?”

“He did. He said that the Demon King would not strike again but under one condition—that a dungeon be built for the Demon Race and the three races to fight. This solution would ease the Demon King’s urge to slaughter.”

“What about the dungeon’s Formation?”

“What Formation?”

Seeing this, Jiang Li asked another question: “Now many young people are recklessly considering themselves heroes, and many have died in the dungeon. Are you aware of this?”

The Light God nodded: “We are aware. There was a period when the death rate exceeded the birth rate, resulting in negative population growth. We then issued a divine message, requesting the Red-robed Archbishop to find a solution, and so she established the Adventurer System.”

Jiang Li sighed, looking at the seven gods as if they were fools.

“You were deceived. Belief power will not transform into something new. Furthermore, the hero is not someone that you can defeat.”

“How can that be?” The Light God didn’t believe Jiang Li’s words.

The Honghu Messenger was so powerful, there was no reason for him to lie to them. Even if he did trick them, what could he gain from it?

“If you don’t believe me, let Lans give it a try.” Jiang Li tossed the last piece of equipment, the Hero’s Crown, to Lans.

“Lans, put this on and then defeat the Light God.”

Jiang Li chose the same wilderness where they had initially experimented with magic as the battlefield.

“How on earth could a hero defeat us? We bestow the skills of the hero. We can retrieve these skills at any time. A hero without skills is just like a tiger without teeth, posing no threat to us.” The Light God had a dismissive attitude towards the hero.

“Just give it a try.” Jiang Li retreated to the side with a smile, watching the battle along with Li Er and the Ruyi Gourd.

Upon wearing the Hero’s Crown, Lans was startled to feel the crown firmly fixed on his head. His thoughts began to spiral out of control, becoming confused and full of the desire to slaughter.

The cacophony gradually melded into a single sound:

Kill——

Kill——

Kill——

It sounded like the growl of millions of beings, and it felt as if a demon from hell was whispering in his ear.

Lans’ eyes turned crimson. With a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right, the ring supplied him with endless Spiritual Energy, and the crown bestowed him with the battle consciousness and murderous intent of an Immortal.

“Brothers and sisters, lend me your power!” The Light God spread his arms. Drawing on the power of the other six gods’ belief, he managed to ascend to the Transcendance Tribulation Stage!

“This is probably the level of the Monarch of the Great Yong Dynasty with the support of his national fortune,” Jiang Li commented. Among the Nine Great Dynasties, the Great Yong Dynasty was currently the weakest, thus its national fortune was also the weakest, barely pushing the Monarch to the verge of the Transcendence Tribulation stage.

The national fortune of the other eight dynasties was far more favorable than the Great Yong Dynasty.

“Come to battle!” The Light God charged forward. He could tell that Lans, who was equipped with the Hero’s armor set, was only at the Legendary Level, and was no match for him.

To his surprise, Lans swung his sword, severing one of the Light God’s arms with a single chop. The Light God’s shield could not resist it at all.

“What?” The Light God was shocked and doubtful after reattaching his arm.

He found that whenever he got close to Lans, the power of belief would be significantly weakened, dropping him to the Legendary Level!

Despite his disbelief, the Light God kept trying to engage Lans in combat.p>

It was not an illusion. There was a bizarre power surrounding Lans. It acted like a domain category of power that restrained the power of belief.

The Light God kept retreating. When he tried to defend, he was left covered in cuts and bruises by the Hero’s Sword. When he attempted to attack, his moves were blocked by the Hero’s Shield. When he opted to deplete Lans’ power, the Hero’s Ring provided replenishing energy.

The Light God was desperate and saw no hope of victory.

In his battle against the Light God, Lans relied on no skills at all!