227: Evil and Good

Chen Yu listened carefully to the Empress's words, feeling a bit dazed at first.

Her mind was still pondering the meaning of what the Empress had just said.

In the Western world of deities, they can be broadly divided into two categories: "Evil Gods" and "Good Gods."

However, the division of "evil" and "good" here differs from the definitions in human society.

The difference between Evil Gods and Good Gods mainly depends on the faith of the races. As the most populous race, the gods humans believe in are usually called Good Gods; whereas for races with smaller populations like dwarves, werewolves, and harpies...

...the beast gods they worship are regarded as Evil Gods by humans.

Take Olexia's father, the Underworld King Cornelius, for example; 'His' methods are far more cruel and ruthless than those of the beast god Bartholomew.

But because 'He' has many human followers, the image of the Underworld King has actually been whitewashed quite a bit.

He has consistently become a representative of the cold and noble among the Good Gods, attracting many aristocratic followers.

In comparison, Olexia's level of bloodthirstiness is simply pale by comparison.

Chen Yu pondered, becoming curious about the Empress's speculation, so she asked back uncertainly, "Your Majesty can't guess either?"

"Mhm~"

"I cannot see 'His' true form."

Shang Wan Ning's gaze was like deep lake water, falling faintly on the altar a thousand meters away past the mist of resentment.

It was as if she wanted to see through the layers of mist to clearly see the truth hidden within.

"It seems similar to the power system of deities, but it is not a true local god."

"It possesses power comparable to a god, yet it has neither a god core nor a Niwan Palace."

Shang Wan Ning frowned, seemingly very puzzled by this discovery.

This thing doesn't belong to the deities of either the East or the West; even those fallen evil gods cannot compare to it.

Clearly, the existence of this "He" was quite troublesome for her.

In the West, deities uniformly cultivate god cores to better condense the power of faith.

Consequently, the mental strength of most Western gods is exceptionally powerful, but relatively speaking, their physical bodies appear rather weak.

In the East, after a god breaks through to the Seventh-rank Immortal Realm, they primarily cultivate the Niwan Palace, which is commonly known as the energy center.

Even those gods who take the path of physical sanctification cannot do without the auxiliary cultivation of the energy center.

Because of this, Eastern deities emphasize the dual cultivation of body and magic; only a very few gods who emphasize combat power would choose to specialize.

Seeing this, Chen Yu quickly released her spiritual sense, wanting to investigate.

Ten meters, a hundred meters, three thousand meters... all she saw was a gray mist, unable to see the true strength of the "dirty thing" at all.

"Isn't this the strength of the peak of the sixth rank?"

Chen Yu asked in confusion.

"No, on the contrary, 'His' strength is not at the peak of the sixth rank, but rather the peak of the seventh rank!"

"Because of the seal on this altar, the vast majority of 'His' power has been imprisoned."

"If I hadn't noticed this, I might have been deceived by its appearance and misjudged it," Shang Wan Ning explained with a look of relief.

She raised her hand and gently stroked Chen Yu's bun, as if soothing a startled small animal.

"Fortunately, I considered it carefully and did not let you come alone. Otherwise, if you and those front-line ghost messengers on the surface met with misfortune, the Underworld would have no time to rescue you."

Her tone revealed a hint of lingering fear.

Hearing this, a warm current surged through Chen Yu's body.

But at the same time, she also felt some doubt.

She couldn't help but ask, "But does this thing have a backup plan?"

"Tsk, whether this thing has a backup plan is truly hard to say." Having said that, she performed a hand seal and waved her hand, her divine power dispersing the surrounding resentment.

As the resentment dissipated, the scene before them gradually became clear.

In the very center, an altar several thousand meters high stood tall, its scale so massive it was jaw-dropping.

And even more hair-raising was that this altar was actually covered with densely packed army ants.

These army ants were like a black torrent, frantically gnawing at the statue of the Goddess of Nature suppressed beneath.

The statue had already been gnawed to pieces, a wretched sight.

If they had arrived half a month later, the thing inside would likely have broken through the seal. At that time, the entire Country F would have fallen into an irredeemable situation, and countless living beings would have suffered.

Thinking of this, Chen Yu's expression became extremely solemn, for a moment displaying the rigor befitting a Prefecture City God.

"army ants are supposed to be creatures unique to tropical and subtropical regions; how could they appear here under the Channel of Country F?"

This eerie scene even made her start to doubt whether she was hallucinating.

"You've learned your biology and geography well."

"But with divine power, nothing is impossible." Shang Wan Ning's lips curled slightly, revealing a faint smile.

She elegantly raised her hand.

A dazzling golden light shot out from her fingertip, standing straight in front of Chen Yu.

The golden light trembled slightly in the air, then suddenly, as if attracted by an invisible soul force...

...it took a sudden leap and turned into a small ball of mist.

With a "swoosh," it headed straight for the White-Haired Loli's forehead.

Chen Yu blinked her eyes, and when she opened them again, the scene before her had already changed.

The originally densely packed army ants were now clearly visible.

Their mandibles were short and wide, and small tumors grew on their abdomens, appearing very strange.

And the gnawed statue—gradually transformed into the power of nature, hiding within the tumors on their abdomens.

Along with the gnawing of the army ants, the tumors continuously released an eerie resentment.

This resentment was then absorbed by the antennae and transported by worker ants into the crevices beneath the statue... "Your Majesty has always emphasized the combination of spiritual power and technology. As the City God of the Underworld, I must of course study hard with the professors from the Research Institute!"

Chen Yu put on a cute expression, seeking praise.

Shang Wan Ning did not praise her as she wished, but merely raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at her with a half-smile.

"Oh? Then did you disturb those professors?"

"How is that possible? How could Yu Yu be that kind of ghost-god!!! I have rewards, okay! It costs 5,000 incense offerings per hour; out there, even for those cultivators, it would take a lot of effort to buy this many incense offerings."

"Not to mention, one must have a particularly good relationship with the ghost messengers."

The White-Haired Loli became angrier as she spoke, her cheeks puffing out like a bristling orange cat.

incense offerings are related to the rations and strength of the ghost messengers.

Without incense offerings, how could they live?"

"And using these incense offerings to nourish those old professors' bodies is also so they can work for the Underworld for a few more decades."

"If they suddenly kicked the bucket, then according to their merit, they would definitely be the first candidates for reincarnation."

The White-Haired Loli was full of resentment.

She felt the Empress was simply judging her 'loli' heart with the heart of an exploiter!