148: Chapter 148 My Neighbor's Believers Are My Believers

"My Lord, since becoming a god, I have been suppressed by the Outer Universe every single moment."

"If I do not descend into Subspace, my strength will regress to the level of a demigod within a few hundred thousand years."

Having just been promoted to a Near-God, the thought of leaving his master for Subspace made Ishtaro feel very uneasy.

Now that his consciousness was clear, Ishtaro had many more things to consider.

Although he wasn't clear on Lin Sheng's personality, someone who could proactively admit to being an Evil God and casually kill those normal creatures was clearly not an easy master to get along with.

Furthermore, if possible, Ishtaro did not want to go to Subspace.

He wanted to stay by Lin Sheng's side and serve this Lord.

"What if I require you to stay in the Outer Universe?"

Looking down at Ishtaro, who was being cautious at his feet for fear of causing dissatisfaction, Lin Sheng immediately countered with a question.

He hadn't promoted Ishtaro just to have him expand his Subspace business.

At least for now, there was no need for Ishtaro to go to Subspace.

The Outer Universe served as a pasture for the faith of gods, and it was difficult for ordinary deities to descend here.

To Lin Sheng, the Outer Universe was like a boundless cake.

Other deities could only extend their tentacles near this cake, exerting all their strength just to reach a tiny piece.

But Lin Sheng was different; he could lie directly on this massive cake and devour it without restraint.

At most, when a Great God or an Old One entered the fray, he would just have to deal with them for a while.

Regardless, due to the fragmented nature of the Outer Universe, even a Great God could not maintain their peak state here for long.

Unless they could withstand the pressure of other Great Gods and Old Ones to forcibly perish along with the Outer Universe.

But once a Great God or an Old One did that, they would become the public enemy of all gods before they could succeed.

After all, if there's a cake everyone can eat and you run up to take a dump on it, who could tolerate that?

...

Lin Sheng's tone was indifferent, but the words fell upon Ishtaro's ears like a terrifying chill that made his skin crawl.

He knelt directly on the Ground, lowering his head as he responded:

"I shall follow your every command."

Ishtaro had already become a god; his status was fixed. Staying in the Outer Universe would only cause his strength to decline, not his divine status.

Lin Sheng knew this, which was why he was comfortable letting Ishtaro stay in the Outer Universe.

Moreover, as a god promoted by Lin Sheng's talent, Ishtaro had inherited a portion of Lin Sheng's abilities.

While not as monstrous as Lin Sheng—who could even devour things at the Concept Level—he still possessed the ability to strengthen his physical body through devouring.

"Go and deal with those mortals who are still alive and seeking the protection of the Righteous Gods."

Looking at Ishtaro kneeling at his feet, Lin Sheng gave the order.

Those creatures who thought he was a Righteous God were of little use. Killing them himself felt like a chore, so it was the perfect time for Ishtaro to get some practice.

"As you command."

The kneeling Ishtaro tapped his head against the Ground once, then rose and moved toward the surviving mortals.

After Ishtaro's figure vanished, Lin Sheng withdrew his gaze and began to plan his next direction of development in his mind.

This was a universe that allowed for idealistic existence. With the enhancement of the golden immortal dao fruit, Lin Sheng's Omniscience could achieve its maximum potential in this universe.

Even information at the level of a Great God could be understood if Lin Sheng wished it.

However, if a Great God intentionally hid it, it would be difficult for Lin Sheng to access that information.

For instance, just now, when Lin Sheng was probing an Old One in Subspace, that unknown Old One had sent him a warning.

But for some unknown reason, the Old One's tentacles immediately retreated the moment they touched the Outer Universe.

Lin Sheng had originally wanted to go to Subspace to clash with that Old One, but it was just a sudden thought.

He knew in his heart that aside from his advantage in status, he—who had not fully fused with the golden immortal dao fruit—could only be considered a half-step Old One or Great God.

If he truly faced an Old One in a place like Subspace, he could only guarantee he wouldn't be defeated.

To say he could defeat an Old One wasn't impossible, but the hopes were slim.

Lin Sheng's current focus of development still had to be on the Outer Universe.

The fusion speed of the golden immortal dao fruit could not be forced, as forcing it would be useless.

Before the golden immortal dao fruit was fully fused, Lin Sheng could increase his strength by developing faith in the Outer Universe.

After arriving in this universe, he hadn't just obtained the golden immortal dao fruit.

He also possessed the cultivation realms of this universe.

With enough faith, Lin Sheng could even become a Great God or an Old One before becoming a Golden Immortal.

However, the faith required to become a Great God or Old One was bound to be an astronomical figure.

Lin Sheng even felt that even if he obtained the faith of the vast majority of living beings in this universe, he wouldn't necessarily become a Great God or Old One.

He closed his eyes in contemplation for a moment and then confirmed this suspicion.

A Great God or Old One represented a qualitative change; it wasn't something that could be achieved through the mere accumulation of faith.

Among the existing Great Gods and Old Ones, none had achieved their status through faith.

"This is tricky."

Lin Sheng frowned and pondered for a moment.

He suddenly felt that his starting point might be wrong.

He possessed the Concept Level talent of 'Devour.' In this fragmented universe where the highest level was only Concept Level, anything that entered his stomach would become nourishment for his growth.

The faith he had just thought of was, in this context, at most like mosquito legs.

Mosquito legs were still meat, but there was no need for him to force the issue.

However...

Lin Sheng suddenly realized a problem.

He had just arrived in this universe, and the 'mosquitoes' under his command were pitifully few, which meant the 'mosquito legs' were also scarce.

But his 'neighbors' were a different story.

In this universe, those who became Righteous Gods or Whisperers possessed a massive number of believers.

As the saying goes, if my neighbor hoards grain and I hoard guns, my neighbor is my granary.

In Lin Sheng's eyes, the believers of other deities were his own believers, and the faith collected by other deities would become his nourishment.

While Lin Sheng didn't want to look for trouble with Great Gods and Old Ones yet, he wasn't afraid of Righteous Gods and Whisperers.

When facing deities of that level, Lin Sheng's talents provided more than enough suppressive power.

Once those deities were dealt with, their believers would naturally belong to Lin Sheng.

The believers of Evil Gods were easy; they were mostly irrational lunatics seeking chaos. Once the aura of chaos was released, they would immediately submit.

As for the believers of those Righteous Gods...

Lin Sheng thought about it and felt that this would also be easy to handle.

After all, the 'Devour' talent wasn't just for show.