Chapter 500: The Goddesses Get Their Assignments, the Group Chat Weighs In

None of this was Celia’s fault, really.

Every time Liu Che thought back on it, he couldn’t help wanting to tease the old elf all over again. Back then, the poor thing had been so easy to fool it was almost unfair. Sigh. Ever since, Celia had picked up the same habit as Posem and the others — sneaking off to his bed whenever she found the chance.

Herder followed her rival to the Temple of Eternity. Several other goddesses were already kneeling on the stone steps in worship. She flew down and knelt in the same posture.

"This one comes before the God. Herder is here—"

"Well now. You were smart this time, offering up Arad before I even had to ask. Last time I said I’d hold your reward until you proved yourself — consider it proven. Divine power, granted. Work hard."

"I was too suspicious of your kindness. I’m ashamed of it now."

At that moment Herder wore nothing but a black gauze skirt, the mask that once covered her face long since discarded. Her skin was pale and luminous, her eyes full of something like bashfulness, her long, slender ears drooping just slightly.

Herder came from the ancient elf tribe. Liu Che had only just learned this, and it was why he’d decided to baptize her — to awaken her bloodline and unlock whatever potential had been sealed away inside her. The core of an apostle from Herder’s line was the elemental core, so he simply gave her the same gift he’d give any of his own.

Divine power poured into her.

Herder let out a low groan and bit down on her lip as heat surged through every meridian in her body. The core at her heart felt as though it were splitting open.

Boom.

For an instant, Herder felt her soul lift clean out of her. An unfamiliar lightness spread through her, nothing like the calm of ordinary meditation — this was something else entirely, something higher. Her soul climbed a full level in that single moment. The seven elemental forces inside her roared to life like miniature suns.

When she opened her eyes, the world looked achingly clear. Everything about it seemed suddenly, almost embarrassingly simple.

That was when a terrible pressure crept up on her from the side. Herder startled — the God’s gaze was right in front of her, and she realized she’d been kneeling there, stunned, for who knew how long.

Liu Che asked gently, "How do you feel?"

"Very good. Many times stronger than before."

"Good. From now on, put in the work developing your world like the others do. If you don’t understand how anything works, ask Rin Tosaka — she’s a priestess who’s already sacrificed her own planet."

"Leave it to me! Hee hee..."

Rin Tosaka waved cheerfully at Herder, her whole face lit up with delight.

Once Liu Che had handed off the assignment, he folded space and returned to the temple. He had plenty on his plate these days. He was planning to open a channel that would let his believers push into the Chaos War Realm and claim resources there. The Chaos War Realm was one of the perks reserved for gods — a shattered world inside it, packed with resources no god could go and gather personally. There were a hundred and eight channels leading in, and while they could technically be bought and sold, treasures of that kind rarely changed hands. Liu Che had simply swept one up recently among the spoils looted from the Haoran God System, and it had taken asking Xiao Luan before he even understood how to use it. His believers were absurdly strong these days, though — a trip to the Chaos War Realm shouldn’t pose much of a problem for them.

As Liu Che walked off, Rin Tosaka looped her arm through Herder’s and grinned. "Sister, hurry up — I want to go play in your world..."

"Uh — sure, I suppose. Who else is coming? Posem, are you headed home too?"

Herder wasn’t used to this kind of easy affection, being held onto like that, but her ability to adapt was, if nothing else, remarkable. She glanced over at Posem and the others expectantly.

Both Posem and the archer-sister Alexandra shook their heads.

"Sorry, Herder. Hina and the others have been deep in their studies lately, and we’re short-handed serving before the God, so I’ll have to wait for another chance to visit home."

"That’s fine. We’ll talk more next time you’re free."

"Mm-hm."

Now that more of the goddesses had come into their own, Liu Che had also started arranging cultivation paths for the younger ones — Chuyi, Rixiang, and the rest. It had been a good while now, after all. Every one of them called each other "sister" this and "sister" that, but sooner or later they all needed to put in the work themselves. Even Nami and the others were sometimes assigned time to train and cultivate on their own.

Ophelia thought it over for a moment, head bowed, then turned to Posem. "Sister Hua, I’d like to take charge of the library. Do you think that could be arranged?"

She was a scholar at heart, hopeless in a fight, and the temple happened to have exactly that kind of place sitting idle. She just wasn’t sure whether she’d be allowed to run it.

Posem smiled. "Of course. The God did say everyone’s free to choose their own path — or even take some time to just rest, if that’s what you want."

Yun Mi spoke up next. "Then I’ll take the sword cultivation path. I’ve always admired those fairy sisters..." She was a swordswoman herself, someone who wandered the world less for the scenery than for the chance to challenge the strongest names hiding in it. She’d heard from Alexandra that there were plenty of goddess swordswomen already, and the idea had appealed to her ever since.

Skadi and Maya exchanged a glance. Skadi chose the same path — sword cultivation — but picked the wind element when it came time to divide up her attributes. Queen Maya, though, who looked for all the world like the gentlest of the group, surprised everyone by choosing the dark element instead.

Seeing the stares, she just smiled. "My people suffered under a curse for so long. Now that it’s finally lifted, I want to become part of the darkness myself — so that no one else ever has to suffer through it the way we did. Besides, the heart stays bright regardless. Power’s just a tool. And it’s not as if goddesses walking the dark path are some rare thing anymore."

As for Alice, she went ahead and chose the plant path without a second thought.

—

In the Ten Thousand Realms chat group:

Bearded swordsman: "Hey, a planet just showed up next to mine. Whose sacrifice was that?"

Tanjirou: "Go take a look and you’ll know."

Mysterious Reaper: "Quiet, are they? Sounds like whoever it is doesn’t talk much."

An unknown man: "So how’s the world-sacrificing business these days?"

Bad Ye Laoxie: "No idea, but I’ve noticed the methods for collecting worlds keep getting more refined the stronger the God’s power gets."

Kratos: "Obviously! The stronger our god gets, the flashier the methods get right along with it. Personally I’m hoping my world gets promoted next.

Heh, imagine strolling straight into the God Realm... hehehe.

By the way — if my world does get promoted, it’d land somewhere in the God Realm zone, right?"

Ordinary Ye Laohei: "Sure, no question. Your world’s got plenty of lesser gods in it already, and decent power to go with them. The gods probably just haven’t been chased out yet.

Basically, any plane-tier world, or anything above it, gets classified by the gods themselves."

Ding... The Magic Ancestor Who Longs for Peace uploaded a video.

Kaoru: "So it was Herder. I knew she had it in her."

Supreme Treasure: "Already watched the whole thing. That was fast — the altar barely finished opening before the sky changed and she was pulled straight into the God Realm."

Pursuing sentient beings: "I doubt most of you caught this part, but every creature down there who didn’t believe in the gods died the moment they arrived in the God Realm!"

(Note from the original author: there may be an issue with today’s update — my mother was hit by a car.)

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