Mute's True Form

"Are you a deity?" After Anbaixiu asked this question, the smile faded from Aige's face, and she scrutinized the lich before her. After a long silence, Aige said, "You're more perceptive than I expected. Either you're very familiar with deities, or you're close to taking that step yourself. Which one are you?" "I suppose it's that I'm rather familiar with deities." Anbaixiu tried to keep his tone as calm as possible as he explained, "I have witnessed the descents of the Goddess of Pain, the Goddess of Night, and the Lord of the Dawn." Aige: "..." How could this lich speak such utter nonsense? Never mind the Goddess of Pain and the Goddess of Night, but if the Lord of the Dawn had truly descended before him, wouldn't this lich's bones and ashes have been purified by Holy Light long ago? Yet Aige soon realized Anbaixiu was telling the truth. As Aige had said earlier, very little on this ocean could be hidden from her. This was a special authority of hers, and right now, that authority told Aige that what Anbaixiu had just said was completely true. *No way. He truly witnessed the descent of the Lord of the Dawn and lived?* "Oh, my teacher is the God of Alchemy," Anbaixiu added. Aige: "..." Even this was true. Aige gave a soft chuckle and said to Anbaixiu, "The president's standards have truly always been exceptionally high." Hearing Aige's response, Anbaixiu felt like letting out a long, heavy breath, even though he was a lich. The entire reason he had paraded all these backgrounds was purely for self-preservation. This was a deity—a deity who had descended in true form into the mortal realm, not the constrained kind who chatted with Anbaixiu across the void. Even though they were both members of the Elegy Poetry Society, Anbaixiu could not be sure if she had some peculiar temper. What if she was in a bad mood and slapped a curse on him? Therefore, bringing out all his backing would at least give her pause, making him far safer. As if seeing through Anbaixiu's thoughts, Aige comforted him, "Don't be so nervous. Although my power has accumulated sufficiently, I'm still one step away from condensing a godhead. I can't be considered a true deity yet. Besides, you're a member of the Elegy Poetry Society—how could I possibly do you harm?" *Not yet a deity?* *Isn't that even more dangerous?!* A true deity was bound by Ao's rules and might not dare make a move against Anbaixiu. Even someone as powerful as the Lord of the Dawn could only watch helplessly as Anbaixiu extorted fifty million gold coins from paladins. If she hadn't become a god yet, she would be completely unrestrained if she chose to strike. "Senior Aige, if you don't mind me asking, what is our president's true identity? Could he... also be a deity?" Anbaixiu asked curiously. Aige did not answer the question, merely telling him, "You can ask him yourself. I cannot answer that for him." Anbaixiu said in a solemn voice, "I understand." Although Aige hadn't given a direct answer, it was practically a confirmation. Who else could make a demigod act with such respect? It had to be a true deity. The president was presumably also an undead. A god of the undead... It was over. Could it be Velsharoon? Anbaixiu had never shown much respect to that guy! Should he tell his teacher right now and go scurry off to his divine realm to serve as a low-ranking subordinate deity? "Your mood ebbs and flows like the tides. You didn't travel thousands of miles to find me just to scare yourself, did you?" Aige's words restored Anbaixiu's composure. He was here to find an artifact, not to spook himself. Even if the president was Velsharoon, so what? True gods couldn't easily interfere in the mortal realm. With that in mind, Anbaixiu took out the Necrotic Codex and sent a message to the group chat: [I suddenly felt over the past couple of days that the God of Liches is actually quite worthy of respect. I haven't prayed to him much before, which honestly makes me a bit unqualified as a lich. I will earnestly mend my ways from now on. Please consider yourselves informed.] [Dislikes Humans: What kind of posturing is this supposed to be? Why can't I understand a word of it?] [The Headless Horseman's Crown: I don't get it either. But does a lich have to worship the God of Liches? I've never seen dracoliches pray to him.] [Dislikes Humans: Are you an idiot? Dracoliches worship dragon gods!] ... Anbaixiu closed the Necrotic Codex and turned back to Aige. "Where were we?" Aige's expression was blank. She found that this lich was unlike any undead she had ever met in her life. Sure enough, not a single undead in the Elegy Poetry Society was an ordinary model. "The artifact hidden by the elves—weren't you looking for me for that?" Aige asked. Anbaixiu hurriedly said, "Right. May I ask if Captain Aige can help me find this artifact? It's extremely important to me." Aige traced her finger through the water, drawing out thread after thread of light to outline a detailed map. On the sea, besides the boundless ocean, were hundreds of islands of various sizes. Most of these islands were territories of the Raging Tide Kingdom, and together they covered a considerable area. "I've already found the artifact's location, but it falls within the territory of the Raging Tide Kingdom." Aige illuminated the map, and a massive island zoomed in, revealing a sprawling city built against a mountain before Anbaixiu's eyes. At the center of the city lay an enormous lake, but the lake's bottom actually connected to the ocean, making it effectively an inland sea of the island. "Those elves really knew how to hide things. Why hide it in someone else's national capital?" Anbaixiu couldn't fathom it. Aige explained, "According to you, this artifact was left here seventeen hundred years ago. Back then, the Raging Tide Kingdom didn't even exist. This place was just a deserted island until the war between Dawn and Storm, when many Children of the Storm were forced to leave the continent and subsequently established the Raging Tide Kingdom on the outer seas." "You mean the great war between the Lord of the Dawn and the Lord of the Storm? When was that?" "About a thousand years ago. The Lord of the Dawn handed down an oracle to strike against the faith of the Lord of the Storm. Ryan deployed its full might back then, smashing most of the Lord of the Storm's temples across the continent. That was why the Children of the Storm were forced to leave the continent and establish a nation across the sea." "Why is there no historical record of such a massive event?" Anbaixiu considered himself well-read; how could he have never heard of such a monumental event? "Because it was covered up by the gods. I don't know the exact reasons, but old folks like me who have lived too long all know about it." Anbaixiu did not doubt Aige's words. She had no reason to deceive him. Recalling the major event from a thousand years ago mentioned in the group chat earlier, it must have referred to the war between the Lord of the Dawn and the Lord of the Storm. A clash between two powerful deities must have truly shaken the very fabric of existence. Judging from the mortal situation, however, the Lord of the Storm had suffered a huge loss. Even if he remained a greater deity, in terms of faith and divine power, he was certainly no match for the Lord of the Dawn. Even if he hadn't completely lost the war, he had definitely taken a heavy blow. Then, with the president of the Elegy Poetry Society suddenly making an appearance, could another divine war be about to erupt? Anbaixiu couldn't help recalling what the God of Alchemy had said: peace had lasted among the deities for too long, a new chaos was about to emerge, and that might be his chance to attain godhood. In that case, was Miss Aige before him also waiting for this opportunity? She was a genuine demigod, perhaps only a single step away from condensing a godhead. If she made a move, probably no one in the mortal realm would be her match, right? Wait, there were two more senior figures like Aige in the group chat. [Non-Vegetarian] and [Poet]—those two were likely powerhouses of a similar level. Looking at it this way, the power of the Elegy Poetry Society was truly formidable. If they joined forces, wiping out Ryan probably wouldn't even be difficult, would it? If they were to join forces, he had to get on good terms with this senior. "Captain Aige, would it be possible for you to help me obtain this artifact? If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to say so. I will do everything in my power to satisfy it." Anbaixiu didn't name a price directly. A demigod like Aige certainly wouldn't lack gold coins. He had to know what she wanted first so he could cater to her desires. Yet Aige spoke to Anbaixiu with heartfelt earnestness, like a true elder: "Don't worry. I've already agreed to Rose's request. I will certainly help you get your hands on that item." "I would feel bad accepting that freely. Is there really nothing I can help with?" Anbaixiu asked. Aige pondered for a moment, then said, "If you truly want to help... I heard you understand souls very well?" Anbaixiu nodded. "Beneath the gods, if I claim to be second, no one can claim to be first." He held absolute confidence in this claim. Possessing the ability of Simulated Soul, he could directly construct blank souls and edit the souls of both the living and the dead at will. Beneath the deities, absolutely no one understood souls better than him. And deities whose portfolios were unrelated to souls couldn't surpass Anbaixiu either. "Then do you think it's possible to reconstitute a soul that has already dissipated?" Aige asked. "That... I'm afraid only a Wish spell could accomplish that," Anbaixiu replied. Aige shook her head. "No, even Wish cannot do it. I have already tried." "That's impossible. If it's merely wishing to restore a dissipated soul, that should fall well within the permitted scope of a Wish spell. Even if it tried to screw you over, at most the restored soul would suffer from some amnesia or madness. It's impossible for it to fail outright." "It simply couldn't be done. I have no reason to lie to you." Aige sighed. "I once asked the president for help, and he secured a Wish for me. But in the end, the wish had no effect whatsoever. I don't even know why it failed, wasting a precious Wish spell for nothing." Anbaixiu stroked his chin, falling into deep thought. "Even if a Wish fails, there will still be a response—the laws of the world will provide a corresponding explanation. For there to be no explanation at all, unless... Captain Aige, may I ask who it is you wish to resurrect?" Anbaixiu inquired with utmost seriousness. Aige said, "My creator. My father. He died before I was born. All these years, I have tried every possible means just to bring him back to life." "Creator? Captain Aige, pardon me for asking once more, but what race were you when you were transformed into an undead? Was this creator the one who transformed you?" Aige shook her head. "No. My father was not a necromancer, nor was he a lich. He was merely a shipwright. And I am the ship he built. My true form is the ghost ship beneath your feet—the *Aige*."