My portable grandfather refreshes every week

Chapter 372 Authority and the Fruit of the Divine Tree

Fafnir always felt that her teacher was like a source of light in the sky.

He brought warmth to everyone and pulled himself out of that dark and cold hell, even giving himself light and heat with all his might.

This warmth was something she had never experienced before, so she regarded this light as everything to her. However, when she really wanted to chase the light, she found that the source of the light was hundreds of millions of kilometers away from her.

In fact, the light treats almost everyone equally; the warmth it gives is for everyone, and it is not special to itself.

So she had already given up a long time ago. She really couldn't imagine that her teacher would genuinely like someone. What he loved was too grand, as grand as a light source hanging high in the sky.

What I really want isn't much; it's just a little bit of warmth that's spread over me, and that small room will do.

If one were to actually try to bring that light source into their small room, what awaits them might not be a bright future, but rather themselves turning to ashes in that firelight.

She actually knew a long time ago, but...

I'm not reconciled...

So she also had some dark thoughts; she thought about secretly getting the key to the teacher's room and then finding an opportunity to get in...

The room was dark, with no lights on and no other light source. She crept up to the bed and moved toward the middle of the bed.

She was only wearing a nightgown, with pure white stockings on her slippers, making a slight squeaking sound.

However, when Fafnir crawled into bed, she paused for a moment.

The bed was completely cold, as if no one had ever been inside.

She turned on the light, but there was no one in the room. She froze for a moment. She had seen Xue Luding enter the room, and she had even seen the light turn off through the crack in the door. But now, where was the teacher?
……

At this time, in a region of the universe unknown to anyone, was the meeting place of the Apostles—the Mist Council.

After Xue arrived, Number 10, who was standing next to him, suddenly said, "These days, you've finally started to show some of the apostle's aura."

"Hmm?" Xue Dinglu responded with a puzzled tone.

"You've begun to grasp the power of authority, haven't you? Even if your grasp is still very superficial, you should already realize how powerful this force is, right?" Number 10's voice seemed to belong to a clear-headed young girl.

Her figure was actually not clearly visible in the mist. She was not tall, and he had hardly ever interacted with her before. Xue Dinglu had always thought she was some kind of dwarf.

Whether intentionally or wanting to explain things properly to the new apostle Xue Dinglu in the manner of a senior, she said: "Authority is the most fundamental power to transcend the norm, that is, to get rid of one's original weak body and completely transform into a concept-like life. This is the true power of the apostles."

"Before, you didn't deserve to be called an apostle; at most, you were just a slightly stronger human. Now that you've gradually gained control over your own authority, you seem to have some merit."

Her tone was arrogant and disdainful, and coupled with her short stature and girlish voice, she seemed like a little devil.

However, Xue Luding would never believe that this was her true form. After all, he himself was able to enter the Mist Council through disguise, and the other apostles would only be disguised even more thoroughly, or perhaps the Sixth Apostle was so powerful that he didn't need to disguise himself at all.

“However, based on my understanding, the power of authority is generally only held by planetary consciousness. So, those of us who hold the corresponding authority are just moving planetary consciousness. What is the fundamental difference?” Xue Dinglu said casually.

He was actually testing the waters. So far, apart from planetary consciousness, Xue Law could only think of the Evil Eye and the Mimic King as those who could wield power.

Even if the Apostles are beings who wield authority, they are essentially just moving planetary consciousness. Are they really that much stronger than a regular Tier 5?

Xue Luding suddenly thought of the death of the Ninth Apostle. He was killed by the siege of several Tier 5 members of the Star Squadron, the suppression of the world consciousness of the Super Iron Curtain, and Xue Luding's sneak attack with a spatial slash.

It can be said that even the Ninth Apostle, who is considered the weakest in the council, still has a combat power several times higher than that of a regular 5th-tier apostle.

Does this involve the power of authority?

"Heh, far from it." Number 10 said, but didn't explain his thoughts further to Xue Law, as if he just wanted to show off in front of Xue Law.

This made Xue Dinglu frown. Were they trying to pique his interest and then play riddles?
Riddler, get out of Parliament!
At the same time, through this information, Xue's Law could know that each of the Apostles was no longer an ordinary enemy. At the very least, they were all human beings who held a portion of power, just like himself now, or the demons of hell.

No, the apostles are more like the final form of demons, demons that can break free from their original concepts and transcend.

It is likely that the previous civilization of Hell created "artificial gods" because they had angered other apostles and their followers, and then they analyzed the apostles' plans. Therefore, the essence of artificial gods is actually another kind of apostle, namely, humans who hold power.

However, whether the civilization of Hell went astray or failed, the artificial gods ultimately did not become apostles, but demons.

Could the difference be due to the fruit of the divine tree?

Or perhaps it's the spiritual energy absorbed by the sacred tree?

So, is the reason why the demons of hell are desperately trying to capture humans, essentially to address their spiritual problems?
After all, humans are essentially descendants of the King, and all humans in the universe have evolved in a similar way under the influence of the King. So-called spirituality is the pursuit of the King's original power.

Therefore, Xue's Law may have discovered the essential source of power for the Apostles.

But he just asked quietly, "However, my friend told me not to use this forbidden power, saying that it would make me lose myself."

"Hmph, that's true. As a newcomer, you don't have any prepared fruits, so it's understandable that you'd have such questions. Once you've acquired enough fruits, you won't ask such foolish questions anymore." A mocking voice, like that of a little devil, rang out.

But Xue's pupils suddenly contracted.

In that instant, it was as if all the intelligence and information were connected. Why were the apostles desperately seeking the fruit? Why did even the top apostles who wanted to advance to the sixth-order true god, and even the true master of the Mist Council, treat the fruit as hard currency for trade?

Even an apostle's lifespan would be hundreds of millions of years, spent exploring the cosmos to find more farms to cultivate the divine tree...

By wielding the power of authority, and gradually purifying oneself, one draws ever closer to the power of the King…

Until he becomes an alternative kind of Supreme King, that is, Rank 6!
Is this the essence that the apostles are pursuing? In an instant, Xue Law felt as if his brain had undergone a cosmic Big Bang, with countless pieces of information and intelligence connecting and extending into more new guesses and intelligence. Everything seemed to have become forbidden knowledge and stuffed into his mind.

All I want is the fruit of the sacred tree, just that fruit...

Will one then be free from the influence and constraints of authority, and even gain further power?

"Now you realize the importance of the fruit, right? But right now you only have one planet. I don't know how long it will take to explore new planets. Just wait patiently. Everyone goes through this." Number 10 said.

As Xue Dinglu frowned, she continued to press, "By the way, what kind of power do you wield?"

Xue Dinglu immediately became alert, realizing that the other side was trying to extract information from him, which was definitely a very important piece of intelligence.

However, he still revealed that it was not his true authority, but rather a power that was half-true and more disguised.

"Nothingness," Xue Dinglu uttered silently.

Number 10 seemed to freeze for a moment, then silently kept a certain distance from Xue's Law.

It seems to be fear?
But after instinctively moving away to a certain distance, she moved closer again, as if trying to cover up her fear, or perhaps also annoyed at herself for being afraid after hearing just one word. However, she was still much farther away than before.

Based on this reaction, Xue's Law understood the power of this authority, even though Xue's Law's true authority was not nothingness, but a branch called the self-destructor.

"Then what is your authority?" Xue asked in return.

Number 10 paused for a moment before replying, "Love."

"Huh?" Xue Dinglu was stunned for a moment, and then he only believed half of what he said. Besides, would the authority of an apostle be something like "love"?

Xue Law couldn't believe it. A guy who feeds on billions of humans and treats everyone as his fertilizer claims that the power he wields is love? If you called yourself a monster, Xue Law might believe you even more.

"Now, everyone is here," the host said from the head seat.

Xue's Law then stopped communicating with Number 10 and silently returned to his position.

"This time, the topic remains the feasibility of the 'Hyper-Child Project.' Feel free to discuss."

However, Xue Dinglu completely disregarded the "Xinghai Plan" he had once proposed, feeling that he had found the essence of the Mist Council and the Apostles.

They also discovered the true nature of those artificial gods and demons.

And now, he only possesses the power of the demon, but not the power of the divine tree...

Having never eaten any fruit before, could he really kill the other apostles successfully?
Xue Dinglu began to organize his intelligence and thoughts, while at this time, many apostles in the meeting began to share the changes in the world after they implemented the Xinghai Project.

Sure enough, the population began to increase. This plan was not intended to weaken the apostles; on the contrary, in the long run, it greatly increased their strength.

After all, it takes an average of 50 billion people to produce one fruit. In the world where the Mind-Stealing Demon King planted his fruit, there were only a few hundred million people. How many years would it take to cultivate one fruit?
If it were a super iron curtain, this planet with tens of billions of people would probably only be able to produce one fruit every few decades.

The so-called "Prosperity Plan" aims to provide a better living environment for the humans under its control, allowing the population to grow rapidly. Relying solely on the dead to power the sacred tree may slow down the growth rate in the short term, but in the long run, it is a good approach.

However, when waiting for the population to die naturally, many unexpected things can happen. For example, the dead population may be eaten by wild animals before they can be recycled by the sacred tree, or they may be dissolved by high temperatures, strong acids, or other things. Various other accidents may also cause the recycling to fail.

This requires the roots of the divine tree to be spread to every corner of the world, and the apostles to cultivate the divine tree to an extremely high degree. Even so, the recycling efficiency is only about one-tenth.

However, even with only one-tenth the efficiency, it is usually several times faster than a planet with only a few hundred million people constantly reproducing.

In fact, the apostles at the back of the sequence were not very interested in this plan. On the contrary, the apostles at the front of the sequence were very interested in it. For example, at this moment, the first few apostles began to use diagrams and formulas that they could not understand using Schrödinger's law to calculate the benefits that this plan would bring if it could be truly realized.

After all, this plan was proposed based on the Super Iron Curtain. When Xue Law mentioned that the Super Iron Curtain had 260 billion people, all the Apostles were actually stunned for a moment.

According to their calculations, with the implementation of this plan, after only a few hundred years of drastically reduced profits, the fruit cultivation progress could be achieved at a rate 2 to 4 times faster than before.

The specific benefits depend on the original size and environment of the subordinate life-bearing planet, but at the very least, the benefits will definitely not be lower than the current situation.

This is the best news for them, who have been waiting for a long time.

This meeting was spent with the first few apostles building social models and constantly calculating the benefits.

The person who proposed the Xue Law project remained silent.

As the meeting was about to end, Number 10 suddenly said to him, "Isn't it hard to have empty power? Do you need some fruit to tide you over? I can provide loan services here, and I'll give you a discount for now, no interest."

"No need, I have a backup," Xue Dinglu refused directly.

Number 10 clicked his tongue, as if he wanted to say another sarcastic remark about Xue's law.

However, when the meeting ended, Xue Dinglu left directly, leaving only his back view.

Back in his room, he instantly found Fafnir on his bed.

He didn't say much, but left completely concealed. It was now around 3 a.m., and he was silently staring at the ceiling on the sofa in the living room.

Should I really try using the fruit?
Do we really want to use something that was cultivated using the lives of billions of people as nourishment?
Using the power of authority will distort oneself, so wouldn't using the power of the Divine Tree's fruit distort oneself?
Xue Lude thought of the apostles. Whoever they were, they had no reverence for life whatsoever. What did they take life for? Just numbers that could provide them with power?
In that case, it's better to be corrupted by power, at least power is just a pure force without good or evil.

Xue Luding's heart was not at peace. This was the first time since he had seized power that he had experienced so many emotions, emotions that even power could not suppress.

　Adding yesterday's chapter

　　
　
(End of this chapter)