Chapter 528: The Rankings Among Gods (1/2)
GDK 528: The Rankings Among Gods
In the infinitely vast universe, there were innumerable planes of existence. There could have been as many existential planes as there were stars in the sky. Many of those planes were inhabited by advanced intelligent life forms. Profound Continent and the Abyss Realm were just a couple of those countless planes.
An indeterminable time had passed since certain high-level creatures had learned to utilize the energy that was present between heaven and earth. By cultivating their bodies they gradually gained terrifying strength, powers that would allow them to transcend life and death, stand above the worldliness, and be called gods.
They represented a small fraction of the population who could manipulate the elemental energy all around them, or perhaps mastered some profound natural laws. Through constant cultivation and evolution, they placed themselves far above the ordinary, gaining the admiration and adoration of everyone.
One could become a god by mastering any kind of energy to the pinnacle, be it the energy of fear, hatred, desire, or any other. As long as one cultivated methods to put that energy to use to the extreme, they would gain miraculous powers, and become a so-called ‘God’.
In the boundless universe, there were two types of fundamental energies that were omnipresent. Those energies had the most intense presence, and gods who mastered them were the most powerful. The first type consisted of eight elemental energies – light, darkness, earth, fire, wind, water, lightning, and death. The second type consisted of four edictal forces – fate, spacetime, destruction, and life.
Elemental energies and edictal forces could be found at every corner of the universe. As these two types of energies were present in the majority of planes of existence, and were the most rudimentary components between heaven and earth, those who cultivated them had boundless potential, and were usually stronger than those who cultivated in other energies.
Division of classes existed between the gods based on the magnitude of their strength. There were demigods, basegods, lowgods, midgods, highgods, overgods, and Creator. To be a demigod, one had to form at least one of the following – Body of Element, Soul of Element, Edictal Body, or Edictal Soul. Those who united both their bodies and souls with elemental energy or edictal forces would possess strength greater than demigods, and be called basegods.
Crosius, Little Skeleton, the six-horned Soul Race tribal king, the Saintess of the Church of Light, they were all basegods. They were existences whose souls and bodies had completely merged with elemental energies.
Basegods had the foundations of a god, but although they were considered actual gods by the average, in the eyes of higher level gods, they had a long way to go. It was when they progressed one step further, possessing numerous followers, and were able to form the Domain of Divinity and possess divine powers, that they could be considered legitimate gods.
To be worshipped, able to form the Domain of Divinity, and possess divine energy – those were the three key prerequisites to being a true god.
Of the three, divine energy was the key. When a basegod cultivated and came to comprehend their domain of expertise to some kind of profound level, they would possess divine power. This was, of course, the most difficult step of all, as one would have no one else but themselves in figuring out how to form divine energy. One could only produce divine energy through their own realization and understanding of the manipulation of elemental energy and edictal forces.
When a practitioner finally managed to produce divine energy, they would be even more adept in manipulating the energy they cultivated in. At that point, they would be able establish a religion or some similar organization to recruit plenty of intelligent lifeforms to worship them. Upon acquiring believers to a certain quantity, the principles of the faith would transform into some kind of extraordinary energy that the worshipped existence could utilize. By fusing the power of faith and divine energy, the Domain of Divinity could be formed.
Self-cultivation was the most time-consuming method and produced the lowest yield.
Apart from that there was absorption, which refers to the killing of another god cultivating in the same energy and the proceeding absorption of homologous divine energy from their body. This method was not without major risks. If one was not careful, they could turn from the hunter to the hunted.
Another method was to absorb the energy of some of the wonderful creations of nature. Perpetual and boundless luck was the first condition for this method, which had a far lower probability of success than killing another god and assimilating their divine energy.
Accumulating faith to raise divine energy was plenty more troublesome, but it remained the favourite route for the majority of gods. As long as enough people believed in them, they could increase their divine energy through the millions of strands of the power of faith.
Moreover, as the power of faith increased, the Domain of Divinity too would become more powerful. In a battle between gods, it was typically the strength of their Domain of Divinity that determined which side had the upper hand. For all these reasons, the power of faith was very useful.