God of Light?

In the pitch-black, cavernous depths of the cave, such a rotting female head was truly eerie and terrifying. Zhang Yuanqing spread his palm and condensed a flame-like golden blaze, casting a soft, gentle light. Igniting the golden flame was primarily to provide illumination for the Elf Queen. The head resting upon the stone bed was severely decomposed. Its golden hair was parched and brittle as straw. Its eyes bulged wide, as though having died with grievances unresolved, the eyeballs gray, white, and lifeless, while the decayed face was an ashen black. Zhang Yuanqing turned his head toward the Elf Queen. "Who is she?" The Elf Queen knelt on the ground, devoutly prostrating before the head before answering his question: "She should be... the Goddess of Beauty." *The Goddess of Beauty?!* Zhang Yuanqing's pupils shrank slightly, startled by her answer. Seeking confirmation, he asked, "The Goddess of Beauty from mythical legends?" If she was indeed the Goddess of Beauty from the Second District's myths, that would be astounding—a powerhouse of demigod rank. In a voice melodious and alluring, the Elf Queen said, "That is what the secret passed down through generations of the elves says." Zhang Yuanqing assumed a contemplative expression. "Who killed her and severed her head?" The Goddess of Beauty was the embodiment of Love and Desire, as well as the embodiment of Beauty. According to his uncle, Succubus, the president of the Association of God of Beauty, was a peerless beauty whom not even demigods of the evil faction could bring themselves to lay hands on. Precisely because of charm potent enough to be deemed a game-breaking bug, the offensive power of the Desire profession was relatively weak. What kind of existence could slay a demigod-level Desire practitioner? Pondering the truth behind it gave him chills. The Elf Queen shook her head. "I don't know..." Zhang Yuanqing said indifferently, "Tell me everything you know, Leader of the Elves. If you are not completely candid, you will never see tomorrow's sun." A look of dread surfaced on the Elf Queen's face, and she hurriedly said, "Everything I know is merely secret lore passed down across generations among our people. I cannot confirm whether it is true or false." She paused. Seeing no response from the demon possessing Alice's body, she continued, "The ancestors of our tribe trace back to ancient times, when they were hunters living in this forest. One day, while hunting in the mountains, an ancestress inadvertently witnessed the Goddess of Beauty being slain. A golden arrow pierced through the goddess's chest, and a deity radiating brilliant golden light severed her head, casting it into the distance in disgust. "That was how our ancestress described it, and her words were passed down through the generations of elves." Borrowing the faint golden light, the Elf Queen glanced at the distant head. "Our ancestress found the head of the Goddess of Beauty and brought it home. From then on, the mountain women came to possess exquisite beauty and seductive bodies. "Men became slaves and tools for reproduction, serving the emissaries of the Goddess of Beauty in the forest. Many, many years later, the elf tribe was born. "Generation after generation, the elves guarded the Goddess of Beauty's head, keeping the secret confined strictly to each clan leader." *No wonder the elves forbid their clan members from investigating the source of the aphrodisiac vapor. Their 'divine power' originates from this head. Lose the head, and they lose everything.* Zhang Yuanqing asked, "Who was that deity radiating golden light?" The Elf Queen said, "Our ancestors believed he was the God of Light." *The God of Light?* Zhang Yuanqing stroked his chin, raking his mind to recall what little he knew of Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, the God of Light was Apollo. That dashing figure was a son of Zeus, the King of the Gods, presiding over the sun, medicine, livestock, music, seafaring, migration, prophecy, and more. An all-around male god, said to be exceptionally handsome—the dream lover of every goddess. Yet Zhang Yuanqing did not believe the one who slew the Goddess of Beauty was the God of Light, because the God of Light did not exist. Among the numerous professions of the Second District, none possessed authority corresponding to a God of Light; he was a fictional deity. *Radiating golden light all over? Could it be a Day Wanderer from the Second District? Both the golden arrow and the deity enveloped in golden light fit the Day Wanderer profession.* *Yet back in the mythological era, why would a Day Wanderer have traveled to the First District?* The vampire Augusto had once said that the Zeus mythos and Odin mythos held fierce territorial awareness and did not encroach upon each other. As one of the three major factions of the Spirit Realm, the Day Wanderer branch shouldn't have intruded into the domain of another mythic pantheon. While his thoughts whirled, Zhang Yuanqing brought out the Bamboo of the Six Purified Senses and gave the Elf Queen another strike, refreshing her state of purified senses. Suppressing his urge to beg the Elf Queen to flog him—holding back the item's negative backlash—he cupped the fireball in his palm and strode toward the stone bed. He placed his hand upon the decaying head of the Goddess of Beauty. A few seconds later, the item information surfaced: [Name: ???] [Type: ???] [Function: ???] [Description: ???] [Remarks: Your status is too low; you are not qualified to view this.] Zhang Yuanqing was left somewhat speechless, feeling provoked by the remarks. Even so, it confirmed the head's identity. It was indeed the head of the Goddess of Beauty. If even someone of his status couldn't view it, she could only be a figure of the demigod tier. Even though she had fallen countless eons ago. Next, Zhang Yuanqing's fingers brushed against the pearl necklace at the head's neck, and item details promptly materialized: [Name: Pearl of Sex] [Type: Accessory] [Function: Pleasure] [Description: A companion pearl born alongside a certain indescribable existence. It governs the carnal union between men and women.] [Remarks: It awakens once every twelve hours.] *I remember that in Greek mythology, the Goddess of Beauty was born from a seashell. This pearl necklace was an item born alongside her, quite similar in nature to the Companion Spirit Moon.* *Hmm, its function is similar too—singular in purpose. Items with a single function tend to be overwhelmingly powerful!* Just as Zhang Yuanqing was about to take off the necklace, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that on the heavily decomposed face of the Goddess of Beauty, those gray, lifeless eyeballs rolled—and stared straight at him. In the next instant, a piercing psychic roar echoed from deep inside the skull that had been dead for untold years: "God of Light!!" Even a dual-profession Dominator with a formidable soul like Zhang Yuanqing felt a violent ringing in his ears, his head throbbing with excruciating agony as if a steel needle had been driven into it. Accompanying that roar, the cave came alive. The stone crust flaked off in sheets, exposing bright red, tender flesh. The entire cavern turned into the interior tract of some colossal organism. *Fuck! She's still alive?!* *The God of Light? The one who killed her really was the God of Light!* While steadying his reeling spirit, Zhang Yuanqing could not help being seized by profound shock. *A God of Light truly exists?* His mind abruptly flashed to an item: the Compass of Light! Though he didn't know whether there was any connection between them, purely from the literal phrasing, the Compass of Light was the strongest potential evidence for the existence of a God of Light. And according to deductions by the contemporary demigods, the Compass of Light most likely came from the Third District, because the art of prophecy was not a skill belonging to the professions of either the First or Second District. *So the God of Light from Greek mythology—the God of Light skilled in prophecy—came from the Third District?* *And why did he kill the Goddess of Beauty, who was also an orthodox deity?* A swarm of doubts and conjectures arose in Zhang Yuanqing's mind, but reality gave him no leeway to be distracted. The stone crust on the cavern walls peeled away continuously, rocks tumbling from above to reveal tender red flesh. The flesh expanded and contracted, writhing incessantly. Then, out of the flesh sprouted heavy breasts, plump buttocks, and female genitalia. It was sensual yet horrifying, terrifying yet enchanting. Countless breasts, hips, and genitalia emerged, densely clustered, sending chills down one's spine. Under the skull's pervasive aura over countless years, the cave had undergone a horrific mutation. He suddenly understood why the aphrodisiac vapor had come to be. Nourished by years of carnal pleasure, the remnant spirit of the Goddess of Beauty had gathered sustenance, thereby awakening. "H-help me..." A cry of alarm came from behind. The Elf Queen's feet were sinking into the tender flesh, slowly being swallowed and absorbed. Rage, indignation, agony, yearning... Zhang Yuanqing sensed the emotions of the remnant spirit inside the skull and understood that this was the Goddess of Beauty's primal instinct driving her to revive. *Should I devour the Goddess of Beauty's spirit to see what intelligence I can glean?* A daring thought flashed through Zhang Yuanqing's mind. *No, don't court death!* *A demigod's remnant spirit might not be overwhelmingly strong after all these years, but its contamination will definitely be severe. I need to keep a clear, rational mind to clear this instance...* An ominous premonition made Zhang Yuanqing abandon that reckless impulse. He had a distinct feeling that if he devoured the remnant spirit of the Goddess of Beauty, his own mental state would suffer a catastrophic breakdown. At that moment, the head that had been dead for countless ages suddenly surged with vibrant life. The rotten flesh smoothed into fair, porcelain skin; the lifeless, grayish-white pupils turned bright, watery, and radiant. Together, her facial features composed a breathtaking, heart-stopping beauty. Zhang Yuanqing's desires flared so intensely they could scarcely be suppressed. He was gripped by an overpowering urge to plunge into passionate ecstasy—no matter how many partners showed up, or whether they were even human, he would welcome them all. Hesitating no longer, he triggered the combo skill: Sunrise and Blazing Sun God of War. Pure, brilliant golden light flooded every corner of the cave. The moment the sunlight washed over the breasts, rounded hips, and genitalia, they instantly lost their vitality. His aura turned fierce and domineering, like a majestic god of war. Zhang Yuanqing condensed solar divine power to shape a bow and arrow. Aiming at the head of the Goddess of Beauty, he drew the string taut while simultaneously detonating the fear within the remnant spirit. Extreme, overwhelming terror contorted that unimaginably gorgeous face, and she screamed with a surge of psychic waves: "God of Light!!" Carrying terrifyingly scorching heat, the golden arrow struck dead center between the skull's brows. Giving her no room to breathe, Zhang Yuanqing snatched a bright blue lightning spear from his inventory and hurled it with all his might amidst crackling electric arcs. *Boom!* A muffled thunderclap exploded, and branching lightning saturated with destructive power engulfed the entire cave. A moment later, the Spirit Realm notification sounded by Zhang Yuanqing's ear: [Ding! Congratulations on completing the solo Spirit Realm quest—Forest of Elves, ID 73, Difficulty Level: B. Calculating rewards...] [Rewards calculation: Item/Prop obtained: Pearl of Sex] [Reward Experience: 3%] [Main Quest settlement completed!] [Settlement complete! Exiting the Spirit Realm in five minutes...] *** Songhai. At the Kangyang District Security Bureau, Li Dongze, dressed in a sharp light-gray suit, tapped the head of his cane against the door to the office of Chen Yuanjun, captain of the security detachment. "Do you have time this afternoon?" Li Dongze asked with a smile. "You can take me to see Lei Yibing's parents now." Chen Yuanjun's eyes lit up. Setting down his pen, he frowned. "Why did it take so long?" A few days ago, Li Dongze had proposed a plan: use hypnosis to awaken the memories of Lei Yibing's parents! That is, if they really had reported the incident to the Kangyang District Security Bureau back then! In the world of Spirit Realm walkers, there were many ways to make someone forget something, and the simplest, most effective method was hypnosis! Hypnosis could make people forget things, but it could also help them remember. Over the past few days, Chen Yuanjun had been anxiously waiting for Li Dongze's response. Li Dongze shrugged. "Requisitioning a Musician requires applying to higher-ups, and the new superior hasn't fully adapted to work in Kangyang District yet. Oh, Lord, every single one of my superiors has been a Swordsman. Swordsmen care most about rules and procedures. He insisted that I explain the entire sequence of events thoroughly and clearly from start to finish, then verified the facts before granting approval." "Alright, save the complaints and nonsense until after we finish the job." Chen Yuanjun stood up and strode out. "Take me to see that Musician." "She's right outside the administrative building." Li Dongze led the way, leaning on his cane.