CHAPTER 1527: 313 PALMS UNABLE TO WAKE UP

"You believe that an accident occurred during the process of Danacus possessing Nellie’s body, that he was severely injured by Nellie, and this posed a significant impact on his plan to possess her body. In order to prevent more unforeseen incidents during the possession, he kept part of his Divine Wisdom alert to handle potential dangers?" Denia once again looked up and silently communicated with the deities in the void. After a moment, she regained her gaze and nodded, "We think this speculation is quite probable and could entirely explain why he would prefer to prolong the resurrection time to keep an eye on Nellie’s actions."

"No, you haven’t completely grasped my point. I don’t think Danacus’s intentions are just that simple. I believe, perhaps every step of his, had been meticulously planned from the moment we first entered his Divine Kingdom, and we have never escaped his schemes, uh, perhaps except for the severe injury Nellie inflicted on him. I suspect that was indeed beyond his plans," Pannis stroked his chin, his eyes narrowing into a slit, as he chuckled coldly. "Regardless, the act of reversing the Death Curse, was most likely possible under conditions approved by Danacus. He just didn’t anticipate that Nellie would use this opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to himself."

"Continue." Denia lifted her palm upward in a gesture of invitation, "Many deities present had paid attention to you many times over a century ago, and even those who have not observed you directly have learned about your details from others. Everyone knows your habits. When you say perhaps this or that, you feel it might be so and so; in fact, you often already have a fixed conclusion, and these conclusions often make sense. So just speak your mind; there’s no need to mind our feelings. Since we recognize your qualifications to converse face to face, we would not be petty about you pointing out issues that we might have overlooked. If you worried about that, then you would truly be underestimating the tolerance of the deities."

"Uh, you misunderstand me, Lord Denia, this time... haha, I genuinely am unsure," Pannis said with a wry smile and a sigh as he shook his head, "The information is too scant, even for me to conjure up a conclusion out of nothing. Such a conclusion would merely be irresponsible speculation, so what I need is to consult and discuss with you all, uh, in a genuine sense of discussion, aimed at guessing the truth as closely as possible."

"Well, I apologize for my Suspicion," Denia spoke with a nonchalant smile, her voice soft, "Now, express the information you still want to know, including the evidence you had for that earlier speculation, to facilitate our discussion."

"The information I want to know is indeed the basis for my previous speculations; it is actually my fourth and final question," Pannis furrowed his brow and fell silent for a while, seeming hesitant about how to phrase his question. After a pause, he began to speak slowly, "From what you’ve said, it seems that sleep is a terrifying thing for deities, right?"

"Of course, next to death, sleep is the second most feared thing among us deities. We would do anything to avoid it," Denia acknowledged straightaway without needing further deliberation: "Indeed, for us deities, sleep and death should not be treated as separate matters; it is only because you mortals are not privy to the whole truth that you starkly distinguish these two states. For us, sleep often signifies death, which is why we fear it so much."

"Is it because, as you earlier mentioned, the process from sleep to awakening is full of uncertainties?" Pannis stroked his chin and nodded, "Possibly dying slowly in sleep, losing the chance to awaken?"

"It’s not just possible, it’s very likely." Denia emphasized as she spoke, "For millions of years, many deities have fallen into slumber, but very few have successfully awakened. The ones Yula mentioned earlier, and those I talked about, those are the lucky ones among the deities. They have returned to this world and regained their consciousness. Many more sleeping deities, unfortunately, lost the chance to return. They saw their power gradually eroded in their sleep and eventually lost control over theocracy; then their Divine Soul dissipated, and they fell into true death."

"So, awakening from slumber, even for a Deity, is a very difficult task, isn’t it?" Pannis was not surprised by Denia’s response. After all, the historical records contained many deities that had fallen asleep, but the vast majority were gradually forgotten by mortals over the long years, with very few records of their return. Thus, Pannis was mentally prepared for this answer and immediately inquired further, "Besides the challenges brought by the passage of time, what other difficulties are there?"

"There are many difficulties." Denia said, "You are asking about cases like Danacus’s, where they seize the bodies of unrelated individuals to transform into a Divine Body. The process of reshaping the Divine Body is challenging at every step, which is why it appears so difficult."

"No, I am referring to the final step." Pannis asked seriously, "When the Divine Body has been transformed by rules and Divine Power in slumber and everything has gone smoothly, what will happen to the Soul of Danacus? Can it really awaken smoothly and then devour Nellie’s spirit?"

"Of course, it can." Denia replied somewhat surprised, "Didn’t I just tell you that there was a similar precedent before? Although that deity lay dormant for over two hundred years, when he awoke successfully, he directly devoured another spirit within the body."

"Of course, of course, I know. Once he wakes up, the mortal’s spirit will definitely be unable to withstand him," Pannis sighed and said, "But my question isn’t about what happens after he wakes up; I want to know if the process of him waking up is theoretically supposed to go smoothly. The deities Yuktiraxil mentioned earlier—I can guess who those deities might be—you either use the bodies of believers, supported by a large number of believers providing the Power of Faith as protection, and there is no struggle for possession, or you gradually take over the target’s body through contracts. So, their experiences aren’t very relevant. But Lord Denia, the deity you mentioned, I really want to understand everything he experienced during his revival."

"Unfortunately, I can’t do that. He ultimately died in the War of Faith in the Third Epoch; still, he could not escape his end, so he can no longer provide you any information," Denia said with a wry smile. "What exactly are you doubting?"

"I have a suspicion," Pannis, also surprised by this outcome, sighed and said, "I suspect that, following the normal course, Danacus wouldn’t be able to awaken smoothly from his slumber."