Chapter 1290: Chapter 1038: Faith
"Does the Dragon Clan believe in the Giant?" Slite found this hard to believe.
"No, not me, it’s the Ascender, a god far stronger than I am."
As he spoke, Long Yi called for Little Zi. A flash of divine power appeared, and Little Zi immediately materialized in front of Slite. At this moment, Little Zi’s divine power was incredibly strong, and having received the faith of twenty thousand from the Dragon Clan, she was absolutely seen as a true god-like figure in the eyes of other Dragon Clan members. Most importantly, Little Zi’s soul had merged with the Divine Soul, which was a reconstruction of the original unique god’s divine soul. It could be said that in the entire multiverse, there was no being closer to what that original unique god had been like than Little Zi.
"This divine might..." Slite was at a loss for words. He could feel that long-lost divine might from Little Zi, gentle yet not chaotic. He did not need to kneel before this divine might, just as with the original unique god!
"I understand! But... how can I go back?" Slite had already made up his mind.
"The way you came is the way you should return!" Little Zi said with a smile.
According to Slite’s description, initially, countless Giant Dragons had cast magic and forcefully opened a plane channel, linking it above the teleportation gate of The Divine Auffa Empire, and the god had not told them how to return. However, Long Yi guessed that the false god who had suddenly lost more than twenty thousand followers was certainly furious. She must be desperate to know what had happened. If at this time, the faith of an Elder suddenly appeared, regardless of the reason, that false god would definitely do everything possible to bring him back.
"I..." Slite suddenly hesitated.
"You want to see those Black Dragons, right?" Long Yi said with a smile.
"Yes." Actually, Slite really wanted to know the condition of those Black Dragons since seeing something with his own eyes was entirely different from hearing about it.
"Let’s go back then." Long Yi gestured towards a small house in the distance and said, "Let Little Zi take you all to see."
"Aren’t you coming?" Slite inferred from Long Yi’s words that he wouldn’t be going.
"Yes, it’s rather inconvenient for me," Long Yi said.
Slite returned to the cabin where the chessboard battle had long since ended, and the two Elders were waiting for Slite’s return. Long Yi stood outside the yard as Slite entered and began talking with the two Elders, then a series of shouts could be heard. Clearly, the information Slite brought back was astonishing. After a while, an Elder yelled, "No! That’s too dangerous!" Then another Elder also shouted, "Exactly! I think it’s nice to be an ordinary human now! Why take the risk to go back?"
Slite immediately shook his head, said something indistinguishable, and then the other two Elders began anxiously objecting. Their speech was interspersed with some Dragon Language, which due to their changed physiques, they pronounced very poorly; Long Yi could hardly understand it. But it was nothing more than danger and unnecessary. Yet eventually, Slite convinced them.
After that, the three of them came to the door where both Long Yi and Little Zi were waiting. The other two Elders saw Little Zi properly for the first time, and their eyes filled with shock. Clearly, Slite had not lied.
"So, you should set off now."
Little Zi nodded, exercised divine power, and the three Elders disappeared simultaneously.
When they reappeared, massive buildings made of rock were before them, and countless Black Dragons flying around those buildings. A Black Dragon flying towards them couldn’t avoid them in time. However, that dragon instantly expanded their Mana and transformed into a Human, zipping through a gap between them before crashing heavily to the ground.
Just then, that precise fluctuation of Mana! Could it be that Long Yi’s curse removal had already achieved this level?
At that moment, the young man who had fallen, removed his shield, propped his head, and vigorously shook his head. Then, he rolled over, got up, and came toward the three of them.
"Are you all right?" the young man asked.
All three Elders, including Slite, were completely dumbfounded.
Indeed, they were truly dumbfounded. From their perspective, the first thing that the Black Dragon rushing towards them should have done was to curse loudly: ’Are you blind?’ But instead, this Black Dragon had very politely asked about others first!
"Are you a Black Dragon?" Slite asked.
"Yes, I am a Black Dragon... Wait! Are you Elder Slite?" Upon recognizing the three, that Black Dragon immediately transformed back into dragon form and cheered. Quickly, the surrounding Black Dragons also came rushing over, transforming into humanoid forms, including the Black Dragon Commander.
"Elder Slite, what brings you here? Haven’t you restored your power yet?" the Black Dragon Commander asked.
"The Ascender brought me here; I wanted to see how you all were," Slite said.
"Oh! It was Lord Ascender!" The surrounding Black Dragons immediately showed a respectful look. At this point, Slite saw that the eyes of these humanoid Black Dragons were all flickering with red light.
"I heard that you all have started to believe in the Ascender?" Slite asked.
"Yes," the surrounding Black Dragons all nodded.
"Then, how far has your curse been lifted?" Slite’s biggest concern was this issue.
"If it’s just about strength, we are more than ten times stronger than the Black Dragon humanoid form, and it is still slowly increasing," the Black Dragon Commander said excitedly.
Long Yi really didn’t deceive me!
Actually, this was exactly what Slite wanted to know, whether he could trust Long Yi or not.
"Then, has she asked you to do anything?" Slite asked.
"Faith... steadfast faith, if the faith is not strong enough, the curse will be restored," a Black Dragon said quickly.
"There are also some other things that also seem strange to us," the Black Dragon Commander added.
"What things?"
"Such as, yielding, tolerance, humility..." the Black Dragon Commander said.
Slite couldn’t help but smile. Was Long Yi using this method to change the Dragon Clan? Was he forcing this warlike group of Black Dragons to become obedient through faith?
However, this isn’t bad.
"So, what do you think about it?" Slite was worried that these Black Dragons might be displeased and might rebel.
"Actually, speaking of which, it’s strange; we all felt annoyed about this at first. But after getting used to it, compared to our past irritable selves, we now find life more reassuring," the Black Dragon Commander said somewhat sheepishly. Initially, he had been the most belligerent, and now, to hear such words from him was indeed surprising.
"What about you all? What do you think? Or say, now that there is a chance for you to return to Dragon Star, would you like to go back?" Slite asked.
"Ah, Elder Slite, since you ask this way, I’ll just tell the truth," the Black Dragon Commander said.
"We don’t want to go back anymore," the previously quick-speaking Black Dragon blurted out.
Slite looked around at each Black Dragon and each that had transformed into human form; clearly, their expressions said it all. Yes, they no longer wished to return.
"Actually... we’ve discovered..." the Black Dragon Commander leaned in and whispered something to Slite, making his eyes widen in surprise.
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Very well, very well, very well!" Elder Slite said three times over, then he felt as though tears were about to overflow from his eyes.
"Now that this is settled, I’m truly relieved!"
"Then, Elder, won’t you stay here with us?" the Black Dragon Commander asked, feeling that Slite didn’t seem to have plans to stay.
"No, I’ve already promised someone I’d help him with a small task, and once I’m done, I’ll come back!" Slite said.
"Then please be very careful. When we initially cut off our faith to that false god, we felt the wrath of the false god. If it weren’t for our timely severance of faith, perhaps all of us dragons would have died unnatural deaths by now," the Black Dragon Commander said.
"Don’t worry, it’s just a small favor," Elder Slite said.
"Please see me off then," Slite said.
The other two elders stayed behind, while Slite returned to that cabin.
"I have no more concerns now, so please tell me what needs to be done," Slite said.
"I will return your faith to you, and if I’m not mistaken, you will be pulled back by her soon. Then all you have to do is tell him that a false god has also appeared here, forcefully severed your faith, but you yourself have not been lost at all, and you have always hoped to return to Dragon Star. Just say something like that to make her believe your words, and then you can lie low there, I don’t need you to do anything for me," Long Yi said.
"But, faith... one cannot fake faith," Slite said. After all, once faith is established, one must adhere to it wholeheartedly. Even a slight doubt is immediately known to the gods.
"We don’t need to fake it," Little Zi said with a smile.
"Then, how should it be done?" Slite was completely perplexed.
"I will create a secondary consciousness within your mind, this consciousness will establish faith toward that false god and won’t reveal any flaws. The only difference is, you can eliminate that consciousness at any time. While you are infiltrating there, your present consciousness won’t be affected and can help us gather some useful information—until the day we confront that false god directly,"
"I will covertly convert all the Dragon Clan’s faith into faith towards the Ascenders," Slite said.
"Yes, that’s it! It’s convenient to talk to a clever dragon," Little Zi said with a smile.
Slite also smiled. If it had been in the past, he would never have guessed it, but now he is no longer the foolish dragon he used to be.
"Then let’s begin," Long Yi said.
Little Zi had previous experience in creating a second personality, and it was based on a compelled creation due to hostile relations, which was equally applicable to the Dragon Clan, especially since this dragon was very cooperative.
Creaturing a new consciousness within the original one, this consciousness perfectly imitated Slite’s former consciousness, with the only difference being that everything this consciousness did had to go through Slite’s true primary consciousness. This consciousness was like a puppet under Slite’s control. For Little Zi, who had ascended to godhood, it was not at all difficult; it certainly wouldn’t leave any clues.
After all was prepared, Little Zi activated that consciousness. The devout faith towards the false god immediately established a belief in the false god.
