Chapter 1518: Chapter 1516: The True God Appears
A few minutes later.
Inside the palace, entirely golden and incredibly luxurious, Richard sat on a chair that seemed forged from gold but was as soft as skin. In front of him was a rectangular table, with two diamond-encrusted silver cups placed on the tabletop, filled with a semi-transparent liquid that looked like some plant’s juice, emitting a faint sweet fragrance.
Richard surveyed his surroundings and could see that the palace he was in was even larger than it appeared from outside, with twenty-four giant pillars standing around, each having a diameter of over five meters and a length of nearly a hundred meters, supporting a dome at the top.
On the dome was a beautifully painted mural depicting numerous Angels paying homage to a figure wrapped in light. Without considering its artistic value, the sheer size, powerful style, and realistic color palette were still awe-inspiring, making people feel as if they were there.
After admiring the mural for a while, Richard withdrew his gaze, looked at the diamond-encrusted silver cup before him, and couldn’t help but shake his head.
Honestly, everything now, compared to earlier when he was preparing to kill Sharye, had changed so much that it felt unreal to him, as if he had suddenly shifted from one scene to another in a dream, missing something in between.
But actually, nothing was missed; the situation developed simply. Just as he was about to make a move, Sharye calmly responded with "welcome." Then he stated that the True God already knew of his arrival and invited him into the palace to meet.
So he came in, sat in his seat, waiting for the so-called True God to appear, just like a visiting guest, completely unnoticeable that he was dealing with the Heavenly Army not long ago.
This was strange.
It was as if both sides were in the heat of battle, about to determine the real victor when suddenly one jumped out of the battlefield and shouted: stop fighting.
This was illogical.
Did the True God surrender? Or was it deliberate weakness? Or a trap? Or was there another purpose?
But anyway, not having to fight, not having to search, and reaching here to meet the True God was indeed good for him, saving a lot of effort.
He might as well go along with it and see what trick the True God was playing. If the opponent’s intention was against him, it wouldn’t be too late to act after seeing through the trick.
Of course, before that, the most basic vigilance was still necessary.
So Richard took a deep look at the liquid in the diamond-encrusted silver cup in front of him without any intention of tasting it, while fully opening his senses to perceive everything around him.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
The palace remained long silent, and after waiting for quite a while, the True God still hadn’t appeared, which made Richard have an urge to call in the Silver Priest Sharye from outside the palace to ask if they had brought him to the wrong place.
Just at this moment, the crisp sound of "pat, pat, pat" echoed, as a figure emerged from a small door in the corner of the palace.
Richard looked over and saw an extremely old man, looking at least a hundred years old. His body was hunched, his face was gaunt, the skin on his face was extremely loose, forming numerous wrinkles, and he had a dense array of dark brown age spots.
Just one glance could evoke an overwhelming sense of aging and weakness, making one wonder if the next moment, the man would fall to the ground and never get up again, breathing his last.
However, the worrying event did not occur. The old man, holding a golden cane, made his way over bit by bit.
It took quite a while, but the old man successfully reached the opposite side of the long table and, with some effort, sat down in a chair.
He then picked up his diamond-encrusted silver cup, drank several gulps of the liquid inside, put down the cup, took a long breath, and finally cast his eyes on Richard.
When he spoke, the old man’s voice was somewhat blurred, "It’s been so long... so long since a living person came to this Heaven. I have also... for too long not hosted a guest, the etiquette has long been forgotten by me, I hope you don’t mind."
"..." Richard was silent for a moment, carefully examining the old man for a while, then shook his head and said, "I don’t mind. But equally, I hope you won’t mind me asking a question, and that is... are you really that... True God?"
"True God? Heh—" The old man chuckled and exhaled, "In a sense, I am indeed that True God you seek. Is this somewhat unexpected for you, young man?"
"Indeed." Richard, hearing the old man’s response without denial, spoke straightforwardly, "I imagined many scenarios of our meeting, but I really hadn’t thought it would be so ’peaceful,’ Mr. True God."
"You’re not my subordinate, there’s no need to call me True God, you can call me Mr. Gao Ge." The old man glanced at Richard with murky gray eyes, then chuckled, "As for the so-called ’peace,’ heh, as you can see, I have grown this old, would I still really want to fight you?
You young folks inevitably have some fire and tend to solve things with violence. But I am different; I have lived too long, and have grown too old, just seeking a peaceful life. Since you’ve dealt with my subordinates, let’s consider it your victory, and I will try to have a good talk with you, to let you have anything you want, instead of fighting. After all, my days are numbered, which makes me cherish them even more, not choose to waste them."
"You mean...you have completely given up being my enemy? If I now want to ask you some things, you’ll tell me everything?" Richard squinted and asked. To be honest, he didn’t quite believe in this possibility, and leaned towards thinking that the so-called True God, who claimed to be Mr. Gao Ge, was deeply acting.
But whether acting or real, as long as the other party was willing to tell him some answers, he could accept it.
After all, this was indeed what he desired.
As for the possibility of being deceived with lies, he was not too worried. After all, he wasn’t a complete novice—he had already organized quite a bit of the content from the materials of the Balta Ancient Wizard Civilization and had a set of methods for verification.
"Are you really willing to tell me all the secrets, Mr. Gao Ge?" Richard asked the old man for confirmation.
The old man picked up his own diamond-encrusted silver cup, drank the remaining liquid entirely, looked at Richard and responded with a question: "Why not? Perhaps this is also what I hope for. After all, sharing some truths with one more person could greatly relieve the inner burden, which might not be a bad thing.
Although the widespread dissemination of truth might lead to immeasurable negative impacts, you are different, having proven your ability along the way, I can tell you."
"Okay then." Richard said softly, then took a deep breath, eyes wide, staring directly at the old man, "Now I need to know three truths: First, what is going on with this world? Second, what’s the deal with the Ancient Wizard Civilization? Third, what are your Truth Society and you as this True God all about?"
"The questions you ask are quite large..." the old man couldn’t help but say, then paused before continuing, "However... I can tell you all at once since the three things you ask about are actually one thing."
"One thing?"
"Yes, one thing." The old man nodded lightly, "To clarify all of these, we have to start from a point in time a long time ago."
"Then please, go ahead."
"No rush. Before we start, I need you to do me a small favor."
"A small favor?" Richard raised his eyebrows, glancing at the old man with a little vigilance, "What small favor?"
The old man smiled and pointed to the untouched diamond-encrusted silver cup in front of Richard, "If I’m not mistaken, you haven’t drunk it, right? You probably don’t like it, so may I have it? I just happen to have use for it."
Richard paused for a moment, unsure of what the old man intended, but gently pushed the diamond-encrusted silver cup towards the old man regardless.
The old man glanced at the liquid in the diamond-encrusted silver cup, looked at his reflection in the liquid, and suddenly seemed a bit absent-minded. After about a second, he sighed softly, picked up the cane placed by the chair, and tapped the end of the cane on the table, saying, "Alright, let’s begin the storytelling."
"Bang!"
As the cane hit the table, the entire table trembled, and the liquid in the diamond-encrusted silver cup spun out, flying straight up, splattering against the dome at a remarkable speed.
The next moment, under the effect of the liquid, the exquisite mural on the dome turned blurry, colors began to shift, and eventually formed a completely different image. Following this, the image started to move, becoming a continuous visual display with sound, as if showing people another world through a skylight.
...
