CHAPTER 1274: CHAPTER 638: THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING

When Rod opened his eyes again, there were chaotic voices around him.

Dim firelight floated in the air, a dry and cold sensation coming from beneath him.

He propped himself up and found himself lying naked in a depression of the cave.

Not far away, shadows flickered as a voice shouted.

"Don’t push, don’t crowd, everyone will get some. Today’s dinner is potato cakes, two for adults, one for children, one and a half for the elderly..."

Consciousness and thought quickly returned, and Rod soon realized he had returned to the survivors’ refuge in Mist City.

He instantly saw the non-combatants he left here before setting out. Professor Bins and Professor Barrett were conversing with the refugees of Saint Reel, who seemed to have initially grasped the language of Saint Reel. Several bishops were healing the wounded.

Qingyu, Evela, and others had not yet returned to the refuge.

They had nearly five million civilians with them, even with the escort by "Gale," it wouldn’t be this quick.

Rod stood up, and no one noticed him, as these refugees crowded in front of those distributing food, anxiously awaiting their dinner.

The heavy memories surged back—corrupt yet clear-minded Pope, terrifying truths related to sun, moon, and stars, the dark catastrophe occurring on this land, Ancient Gods, Abyss, and that ultimate secret—all floated in his mind, making the scene in front of him seem somewhat distorted.

For a moment, Rod envied them immensely.

Knowing nothing, needing to understand nothing, only satisfied with having food and clothing in a relatively stable environment, believing in the strength of fire and humanity to shelter them, their greatest wish being that one day they or their children could ignite the Soul Fire and become one of the strong.

Such simplicity and carefree existence must be very blissful, right?

But this envy lasted only a moment, as Rod quickly returned to normal, his heart once again firm.

Even if the future were more dangerous, there would be no need to fear.

After all, I am the Invincible War God of Trolian.

Hahaha!

At this moment, the voice of the Book of Knowledge echoed in his mind.

"Master, you’ve finally resurrected. Do you feel anything different?"

Rod was taken aback and instantly recalled the little flame the Pope gave him at the end.

That seemed to be because he had used the Resurrection Stone, saving the Pope’s strength and thus gained it.

He glanced at his hands, feeling no difference at all.

"I don’t feel any different. What is that flame? Could it be...?"

The Book of Knowledge spoke in an unusually heavy tone: "Look at the Divinity of Dream Realm."

Rod was stunned.

Divinity?

With a thought, the numbers on the Obelisk appeared before him.

Divinity: 289

What?

Rod’s eyes nearly popped out.

He clearly remembered that after rescuing the team of the First Saint Heir, Takxis, he acquired 60 points of Divinity.

His total Divinity at that point reached 128 points.

At the time, Rod was concerned that he might use these Divinity points in the battle with the Pope of Saint Reel, so he didn’t use them immediately.

But the Pope’s state far exceeded their expectations, and thus Divinity was naturally not consumed.

Of course, if the Pope had truly fallen completely, then with such a massive gap, those few points of Divinity would have been useless.

Yet, why did the Divinity suddenly increase so much?

A total increase of 161 points!

Rod carefully recalled; during that period, he hadn’t gained any Divinity.

Even with the tip of the Sun Tower, acquiring Divinity was an exceedingly demanding task, unless what he did brought tangible change to mankind; otherwise, obtaining Divinity was impossible.

The human collective, in the unknown Void, has a special operational mechanism; even one point of Divinity is not easily acquired.

Let alone 161 points of Divinity!

Suddenly, a flash of Spiritual Light crossed Rod’s mind, and he exclaimed, "Book, this, wouldn’t it be..."

The Book of Knowledge’s voice was unprecedentedly serious.

"Yes, I’ve checked, we haven’t gained any Divinity; this 161 points of Divinity is the Pope’s gift."

"What... how is that possible?"

The puppet said, "Master, initially we also found it hard to believe... but after careful study, we deemed it understandable; the True King is humanity’s god, even in the Ancient Epoch, ranked among the strongest, top-tier, equivalent to the True God among Ancient Gods."

"Being a god, possessing Divinity is not a difficult thing to comprehend."

"Since one possesses Divinity, gifting Divinity is something imaginable."

"I believe, I and the Book of Knowledge should have known this; such deepest, most secretive knowledge might be hidden in the last small missing piece of our Souls."

Rod pondered silently for a moment and asked, "If this is indeed the case, could I understand it as on the road to becoming a god, Divinity is inevitably required?"

The puppet replied seriously, "Yes, Master’s understanding is correct; in fact, deep in our Souls, both the Book of Knowledge and myself have always harbored a longing for Divinity... yet, our Souls are still incomplete; logic tells us acquiring it now is dangerous."

Rod frowned; "I remember, your current appearances are not your original forms?"

The Book of Knowledge and the puppet both went silent.

After a long while, the Book of Knowledge responded cautiously.

"Master, we faintly recall something about it; it seems before becoming Dream Creation, we weren’t like this... returning to the original state is an instinct hidden at the bottom of our hearts; occasionally, we feel this impulse, but logic can suppress it."