CHAPTER 1282: CHAPTER 311: THE NATURE OF DEITIES (TWO IN ONE)_2

"This is..."

The old grandmother immediately realized what Annan was referring to.

Annan met her gaze and nodded slightly.

"This is why I said... the Mist Realm’s problem might only be solvable by me."

"And, it’s actually quite a novel issue."

The old grandmother’s massive figure leaned slightly forward as she added, "After the great barrier collapsed and the Worm escaped, it became an unyielding enemy of the world."

In other words, it was only after this time that Miss Haoyun sent this ’request’ to her incarnations existing in other timelines. And Annan took on this assignment... After inquiring among his subordinates, he sent the one who provided the best solution—Annan—over to save the world.

"So, I believe she can be trusted. At least for now, she can even be relied upon—"

Annan solemnly said, "No matter what, Miss Haoyun hopes the world can continue to exist. That’s why she submitted this request, and why I came here. Even if she is the most dangerous True God, at least she hasn’t betrayed ’fate’ itself."

"Although I think she simply finds that the power of ’fate,’ allowing her to witness all the comedies and tragedies caused by coincidences among mortals, provides her with endless amusement..."

The old grandmother frowned deeply. "Hopefully, that’s just my illusion. I trust you, Annan. You’re a good child—unlike her."

"I understand. Your specific plan is ’something you cannot tell others.’ But if there’s any part of it where you need my assistance, you may speak directly to your grandmother. I won’t ask why, I’ll simply help you."

The old grandmother promised this.

Upon hearing this, Annan exchanged a glance with Kafney.

He replied, "There really is one thing I need your help with."

The old grandmother responded straightforwardly, "Speak."

Annan said, "Here’s the situation. You should know... I hope to rebuild the great barrier."

"I can guess that. This has always been the inevitable path."

The old grandmother said matter-of-factly, "It wasn’t us who divided the world into five nations. It’s simply that us old creatures have conflicts between each other, so it’s best to live separately."

"Mortals need the great barrier formed through our existence to resist the Mist’s natural disasters. But we can’t individually produce the power to withstand the Mist for the entire world—not because it’s impossible, but because the Divine Power to resist the Mist is the most fundamental manifestation of a god."

"...I heard Silver Baron say it’s because gods lack the strength—even True Gods aren’t invincible. Gods need the elves’ Order Fire Seed technology to burn Divine Power to sustain the great barrier."

"And you believe his nonsense."

The old grandmother said unhesitatingly, "Can you trust a merchant’s words?"

"His words can only say ’they are accurate,’ but not that ’they are not false.’ In the past, I wouldn’t tell you this, but since you’re about to become a god... This is something you must understand."

"Divine strengths, indeed, are not infinite. However, if needed, they can be infinite. In truth, every True God can activate a great barrier encompassing the entire world. Because our concepts have long saturated this world."

"...What?"

"Have you ever considered, ’where does the power of gods come from?’"

The old grandmother glanced at Annan and said softly, "It comes from truth—or rather... from the world."

"But not from this world—not from the Mist Realm."

"Because this world itself is too insignificant. If the power of gods came from the strength granted to us by this world, then even with only twelve True Gods, each of us would be far from capable of destroying the world."

"Yet, the reality is the opposite. In this world, there are at least sixteen existing ’high-end forces’ capable of easily destroying a world. Even excluding the Worm, more than half of them could achieve this without becoming gods."

"We inherently possess Transcendent powers... Dragons are the scions of the earth, and sirens are the descendants of the night. The three sirens imprisoned in your staff actually have strength not far inferior to Yawen."

"However, after Ascension by the Celestial Chariot, we gain ’Divine Power.’

"We use our own domain—our ’work achievements’—to borrow true infinite power from the higher plane, which is the ’Light Realm.’ This is the so-called Divine Power... strength sufficient for Genesis, capable of anchoring a world’s concept."

"This is akin to an ocean with infinite water sources. As a god’s domain expands, the ’flow rate’ of water we can draw from it increases. Once this strength is used up, one can unconditionally borrow more strength again."

"Of course, though it’s called borrowing, it doesn’t actually require repayment. It’s just that to wield Divine Power, one must have sufficient cause... This power must and can only be used within one’s own domain."

"I understand," Annan immediately grasped the point. "This isn’t borrowing; it’s expensing."

"Exactly, expensing—Moreover, gods do not possess physical bodies. Our current existence is simply a fabricated product of this Genesis-like power. You may think of us as magical constructs, shaped by ’concepts’ and ’energy’ inheriting the virtual personas of our original selves."

The old grandmother worked hard to use metaphors that both she and Annan could understand.

But in reality, Annan had already understood the essence of divinity long before.

—Simply put, after entering the Light Realm’s fountain, gods essentially evolved into a type of ’information entity.’ They effectively became a physical manifestation of a vast ’data aggregation’; this data itself constitutes part of the ’underlying code’ of their current world."