From the God of Lies to the Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 448 What is a King?
"What does it take to be the King of Britain?"

None of the contestants probably expected that the first problem they would encounter would be this.

Is it courage? Is it justice? Is it compassion? Is it wisdom? Or is it protecting the weak, resisting lies, and respecting nature?

Before each person, a special phantom appeared, a shadow that Bai Yang had simulated based on the combined aura of the three otherworldly deities.

Fabricated stories always have loopholes, so he simply used the aura of a true god as the image to ensure its authenticity.

This was one of the gains from his communication with the gods of the Dylan Continent, and the effect was very good; at least he was able to convincingly portray himself as a deity.

Faced with such a grand and majestic phantom, many people immediately felt intimidated.

Then, they were eliminated!

Yes, it's that simple.

The phantoms of those gods simply waved their hands, kicking them out of the trial space, leaving them standing somewhat bewildered under the Tree of Life, looking at the others in the mist.

When all the viewers on Earth saw nearly one-fifth of the test takers eliminated in a single encounter, there was an uproar.

They were spamming the forum like crazy. After all, this trial had long since become a nationwide carnival, and when only a thousand people remained, almost everyone had a large number of fans!
The media and social media platforms transformed this serious trial into a unique "talent show" on the internet, and provided the public with detailed information about each contestant's identity, family background, and origins.

As a result, these contestants have gained a large number of fans without even realizing it!

Now is the time for these people's fans to loudly voice their support online, demanding justice for their "idols":

"It's a rip-off! Our hero was eliminated before he even had a chance to answer a question! Just because he's not Irish?"

"Exactly! Our brother is so outstanding, fifth in the Trial of Courage, a hero of Chicago! Why was he eliminated like this?"

"The Celtic gods are engaging in racism! They discriminate against all non-white races!"

Of course, they couldn't accept that the idol they had finally chosen had become someone to be discarded like a worn-out shoe.

On the BBC's official commentary channel, the "passerby master" who was forced to become a member of the team also began his commentary: "This is the selection of the gods. No one died in the previous trials, which made us feel unexpectedly warm. But it seems that this is not warm at all, but the beginning of the most severe selection!"

"Mere fear disqualifies one from selection—which makes sense when you think about it. How can a king be afraid simply because of his divine status?"

"The gods have chosen the master of Britain, and as we all know, the king of a region is basically the spokesperson of the god-king. Apart from the god-king, he doesn't even have to bow down to other gods... How could these gods allow such a coward to ascend the throne?"

This explanation did elicit a slight nod from many rational people.

Well said! How can a king of a country show a cowardly side in front of others?

Even one's own supreme god is not allowed!
However, this discussion did make all the platforms very happy, after all, the traffic from the extraordinary was enormous, and every extraordinary person was the focus of attention all over the world.

Bai Yang was also happy to see this. After all, the extraordinary popularity and discussion meant more tangible motivation and influence to him. If his own fate hadn't been so ugly, he would have loved to make the trial even more popular.

Of course, the discussion didn't last long, because the trial was being broadcast live in its entirety.

On that special screen built by Merlin, everyone could see that the remaining eight hundred-plus people were answering questions.

For example, Edwin's Q&A is quite interesting: "I believe that what a king needs is compassion and mercy, because every citizen should be a subject of the king. Only by truly having compassion and mercy can one be responsible for everyone!"

"Our people are suffering too much, especially ordinary people. They work so hard but can't even live a normal life!"

The enormous phantom of the god slowly nodded, "Compassion and mercy are the essential qualities of a king, and also the most complete manifestation of your inner self!"

The phantom of the deity waved his hand, and a special gate appeared beside him, making all the audience excited!
"Is it approved now?"

"It should be the first round. This trial probably has more than one round!" "It's the second round; the elimination just now was the first round!"

Comments from netizens began to appear, and of course, Edwin's fans were flooding the screen with messages:

"Yes, this is our wilderness exploration master and British philanthropist, Sir Edwin! He deserves it!"

"Sir Edwin, a philanthropist who lived by his word, was the only one who truly embodied this!"

"Great! Ser Edwin is going to walk into Buckingham Palace and become the new king! He will save us!"

This kind of rhetoric is rampant, but some people have also expressed different opinions:

"Is this trial really that simple? Wouldn't everyone be able to pass it?"

Even as some people were thinking this, the eliminated contestants had already emerged!

That was a contestant from America. He completed the first two trials perfectly, possessing both courage and natural talent, and had quite a few fans.

But when he answered "A king must protect the weak," the enormous phantom of the god expressed a great deal of dissatisfaction!
"Protecting the weak is the duty of every king. Have you done so?"

The man answered with great confidence, "Of course! I did it! I protected my family!"

The next second, he was struck down by a divine hand. "One of the virtues of a knight is honesty, and you lack this virtue! You are blaspheming the gods, and blasphemers should be wiped out!"

To the astonishment of the world, he was wiped out!
Not only his virtual body, but even his real body, the one under the Tree of Life, was forcibly erased!
And this is not an isolated case. Like him, more than 100 other trial participants said things against their will, and as a result, they died.

"This is the true test of the gods! They tried to deceive the gods, but they should have expected the consequences of divine wrath!" The BBC commentary was still explaining. "Divine power is like a prison, divine grace is like the sea! We always forget that although Merlin was kind, the gods are truly capricious and capable of destroying the world at any moment!"

These words jolted everyone awake. Although Merlin seemed easy to talk to before, protecting them from crises and conducting the royal selection trials, he was backed by the Celtic pantheon and the Danu gods.

If the offspring of these gods can kill at will, how can they have any real compassion for humans?

Reverence began to manifest in everyone's heart, and more people gained a deeper understanding of the existence of deities.

In the scene before them, most of the trial participants had answered the questions and gained the approval of the divine phantom. Only a young girl remained on the screen, standing out conspicuously.

The audience knew that her name was Livia, a farmer from Wales, and that she chose to participate in this trial because she had seen King Charles's public address.

This is why many people know about her. A rural girl who never went to school, dressed in very simple clothes, walked step by step to London, overtaking those privileged children and family heirs to get here. That in itself is quite remarkable.

But she seemed to have some difficulty answering the questions.

You could even say that while everyone else was answering questions about the game, she was still asking questions.

"What is a king?" Livia asked, her face full of curiosity. "My father told me that the person who lives in the biggest house is the king, and the land we cultivate belongs to the king! So I have to listen to the king..."

This answer caused an uproar among the surrounding crowd. Looking at this girl who could only be described as pretty, but also had the roughness of a farmer, they were all somewhat disoriented.

It turns out that in this era, there are still such simple, even ignorant, people.
"I don't know what a king is, but if I were a king, I could probably feed the uncles next door, right? They moved away because they weren't getting enough to eat, and now I have no one to talk to..."

The girl's words reached the deity before her and received a reply.

"Making sure the people are well-fed is certainly a quality of a true ruler!"

The illusory figure stepped aside, revealing the gate behind it.

A girl named Livia became the final selected candidate.

(End of this chapter)