Shadow Hack

Panda Novel

“You mean…”

Without finishing her sentence, Brunhilda looked at Li Yunmu.

The territories of the five regions had remained almost unchanged since ancient times. No master god had ever tried to destroy or invade other regions.

When True God was present, the five master gods administered their respective regions. Their subordinate ancient gods provided assistance, and below them, the mortals lived in peace and prosperity.

When the battle for power of belief erupted, True God disappeared, and master gods were sealed, the ancient gods turned into the peak power in the world while the power of belief became forbidden in four regions. Once that was established, peace returned to the world and no more battles happened.

The ancient gods of Lanlou used the power of belief of their own initiative, and while it infuriated the other four regions, no party interfered in their affairs. Between the ancient gods, an unusual tacit understanding was established. But right then, battle had once more erupted between different gods for power of belief.

Although the ancient gods of Lanlou and Olympus had already been defeated, the equilibrium between all gods was broken.

Ancient God Asura had already taken action, and Ancient God Ganesh was his first target. If he successfully killed Ancient God Ganesh, he could easily hunt down the remaining five gods.

In a battle between gods, the ones who suffered most were the mortals. So according to reason, another battle for power of belief definitely could not be allowed.

Brunhilda didn’t speak anymore, clearly understanding what Li Yunmu intended to do next. Since he had already made his decision, she would stand by his side unconditionally.

Suddenly, a hint of red appeared on Brunhilda’s fair face while she feigned calm. “It’s late, let’s rest for a while.”

“En?”

Li Yunmu, who was deep in thought, snapped back to reality and looked at his first wife’s flushed face. He thought of something, and a hint of a smile appeared on his lips. He turned into an afterimage that carried Brunhilda in its arms and flung her on the bed.

In a short while, spring passed through the wooden house.

Early morning the next day, Brunhilda opened her eyes to the sunshine coming through the window, and her lips curled into a smile. She subconsciously placed her hands on her belly, hoping to give birth to a son.

Ever since Li Yunmu had told her about his illegitimate daughter, Brunhilda hadn’t said anything direct, maintaining the pride of being an ancient god and the magnanimity of primary wife, but she felt quite vexed in her heart.

With the formidable bloodline of an ancient god, the probability of producing a son was extremely small. But she had put in some effort while they were traveling alone, and if her luck was good, she would succeed.

When she thought about that, the smile on her face became even more dazzling.

“What are you smiling about?”

Li Yunmu, who was lying naked on the bed, looked at the beautiful face of Brunhilda by his side, and his mood immediately became good. It was his first time resting like an ordinary person since he had come to the Origin World.

“Nothing, Yunmu, what do you plan to do next?”

“What to do…”

Li Yunmu muttered to himself quietly, thinking of any way to control the situation, but nothing came to mind. He had come to Lanlou to obtain the Heavenly Grand Ritual to remove the curse from the fate of dragon ladies, and he didn’t want to participate in the struggle of ancient gods of Lanlou.

But the sight of countless mortals being slaughtered for power of belief along the journey had turned him emotional. Moreover, if Asura was really able to annex the alliance of the seven ancient gods and take the power of belief of an entire region, his strength would rise to an unimaginable level.

The strength close to that of a master god with the assistance of demonic energy was already Li Yunmu’s limit. If Asura was really able to become a master god because of power of belief, then even Li Yunmu might not be able to fight him.

Moreover, Li Yunmu had to remove the five seals so the five master gods and True God could return.

This meant that Li Yunmu and Asura stood on polar opposite sides with no possibility of reconciliation between them. In other words, since the power of belief was the root of all problems, Li Yunmu had to eradicate it completely.

So long as the power of belief existed, the thought of using it to increase cultivation to the god realm would not disappear.

“System, didn’t you tell me previously that this power of belief can be eradicated completely?” Li Yunmu enquired in his brain.

After a long while, the system slowly replied. [How did you reach this conclusion from my words? After the power of belief appeared, it has never gone away. Even when I, the True God, gave a clear command that gods mustn’t use it to increase their cultivation, some gods still used this sort of demonic method to increase their strength, so…]

“So even you weren’t able to completely eradicate the power of belief? But I feel that this power of belief can be removed. It is generated by the hearts of mortals, so we need to focus on this aspect,” Li Yunmu said without any concerns.

“In the eyes of mortals, the gods are their omnipotent guardians set up high above. All year round, the thought to revere the gods is constantly in the minds of mortals. Because of it, the mortals automatically produce the power of belief. But if we can remove this reverence of gods!”

After hearing Li Yunmu’s words, the system sunk into complete silence as if it had entered hibernation.

[There are countless mortals in the five regions administered by the different powers. From the time they are born, they are imbued with the thoughts of reverence and worship towards gods by their elders, so how can the reverence be removed from their hearts like you said? Your words are plain nonsense.]

“Without trying, how do you know whether it will work or not?” Li Yunmu mumbled to himself.

After pondering it for a moment, he left the wooden house and came outside where Chen Xiu was respectfully kneeling. During the night, Chen Xiu had not managed to summon the courage to flee from the ancient god even despite not being restrained by anything.

He simply kept waiting outside for Li Yunmu’s commands.

Upon seeing him, Chen Xiu calmed his mental state and kowtowed toward him while not even daring to breathe loudly.

Without paying any attention to Chen Xiu, Li Yunmu went to the village to find the village chief.

“Lord god, what are your commands?” the village chief respectfully said.

“Nothing much, village chief. I just want to ask some questions. What do you think about yesterday’s events?”

Li Yunmu keenly observed village chief’s expression, not wanting to miss the slightest bit of change.

Once the village chief heard his questions, his complexion turned dark. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

After a long time had passed, he said with a sigh, “What is there to think about it? We are only mortals, lacking the strength to even truss a chicken, so we have to completely depend on lord gods for survival.”

Sure enough, it was as expected.

[See, like I said, even if the gods slaughter the mortals and the survivors are furious, they can only endure it and worship the gods. No one can change it.]

The system’s voice echoed in Li Yunmu’s mind with schadenfreude leaking out of its tone. Li Yunmu didn’t argue with the system, but said aloud, “Village chief, call your villagers to the empty space.”

The village chief nodded and rushed to summon the villagers out of their houses. Before long, the dozens of surviving villagers stood together, anxiously waiting to see what the new god, Li Yunmu, wanted to do.

Brunhilda also took note of the empty space filled with people after returning from her stroll in the jungle. When she entered the village, she leaned against a nearby tree and curiously looked at Li Yunmu.