They traveled through time at the same time, but the villainous scientist

Chapter 192 The Evolution of the Extraordinary
"Ah."

Zhuge Qing nodded almost imperceptibly, his fingertips lightly tracing a shallow water mark on the smooth glass.

The scene depicted by Ron Keller, though it sounds absurd, actually confirms the information he has collected over the years.

In the primitive era of low productivity and limited understanding, awe was almost an instinct ingrained in human beings.

Given the strength of the extraordinary beings in this world, it is almost inevitable that they would be revered as gods walking on the earth.

Just like in the comics, there is a guy in the Viri who guards the "divine tree" on Nathan Island who claims to be a descendant of the Olympians. His power and bloodline inheritance pattern should be the prototype of the Olympians in Greek mythology.

And similar examples are by no means isolated cases globally.

The origins of those ancient families, buried in the dust of history, can often be traced back to a "deity" in a myth.

"Those who possessed great power naturally became the first rulers, enslaving the ordinary people."

Ron Keller's voice possessed a strange magic, as if guiding Zhuge Qing's thoughts, leading them back to that forgotten time.
"In order to maintain the purity of their bloodline and ensure that this power can be passed down from generation to generation to consolidate their sacred rule, these 'gods' will reproduce in large numbers."

They will select from their descendants those who inherit their fathers' abilities to continue ruling the world as new gods.

He raised his glass and gently gestured towards the dazzling lights outside the window:
"Take ancient Greek mythology, for example. Is that chaotic and complex pantheon essentially a history of bloody family feuds and bloodline selection?"

The atmosphere inside the car grew increasingly profound as Ron narrated.

"But as this rule continued, an unexpected byproduct emerged... that is faith."

A mysterious smile crept onto Ron's lips.

"When countless people place their awe, fear, and hope in the same being, an invisible and immense power begins to converge."

Some exceptionally gifted priests, during the long years of presiding over rituals, accidentally discovered a way to touch and guide this power… Thus, the earliest 'acquired extraordinary individuals' were born.

"Hmm, that's an interesting way of putting it."

Zhuge Qing finally spoke. He raised his eyelids, his gaze behind his glasses calm as still water, but his heart was already in turmoil.

This theory is indeed very convincing.

Throughout the history of various countries, the earliest groups to master extraordinary powers were invariably clergy.

Where they live, this group is called... witches.

"The priests who had mastered the power were as if they had opened the door to a new world. They suddenly realized that the power of 'gods' was not out of reach, nor was it something they were born with."

What followed, naturally, was an uncontrollable ambition.

Ron Keller's voice was even lower, with a hint of seduction.
"They also longed to be like gods, receiving offerings from all people and becoming rulers."

"However, a fatal problem has been placed before them."

Their power stemmed from the people's belief in those 'innate deities'.

If this faith disappears, if people no longer believe in the Lord of Thunder, the Mother of Abundance, then the power that the priests painstakingly stole will vanish like a rootless duckweed.

Ron swirled the champagne in his glass, the golden bubbles refracting a mesmerizing halo under the light.

"Therefore, before this fundamental problem was resolved, a strange and fragile balance was reached between the priests and the gods."

This is what is known in the legends of various civilizations as the 'Age of Gods,' where humans and gods coexisted…

Zhuge Qing's fingertips paused slightly. Indeed, in the myths of various countries, there was a considerable period in time when gods and humans coexisted.

"Until... one or more exceptionally talented priests finally uncovered the ultimate mystery of faith."

Ron's tone suddenly changed, becoming somewhat excited and admiring.

They discovered that faith does not need to be based on a living, breathing human being as its vessel!
What it truly needs is merely a 'symbol,' a 'concept'!

"The moment this secret was revealed, war inevitably broke out."

In Ron's azure eyes, it seemed as if a vision of mountains of corpses and seas of blood was reflected. "That was a war between witches and the descendants of gods, a war between those who cultivated themselves and those who possessed innate bloodlines, a war between 'concepts' and 'entities'."

The intensity and scope of this war exceeded everyone's imagination, and its impact spanned the entirety of ancient human history.

Vague accounts of this can be found in the historical myths of various countries.

In your country, I remember it should be…

Luo paused here, as if pondering the name of the war.

"The War of the Gods?"

Zhuge Qing murmured.

"Yes! It's the War of the Gods!"

Ron Keller snapped his fingers, his face showing appreciation and excitement at having met his match.
"In that magnificent war, the acquired extraordinary beings, led by the priestly class, united with the vast majority of ordinary people and ultimately defeated those high and mighty gods and their descendants."

"From then on, history turned a new page. People's faith no longer needed to be placed in a specific, objectively existing 'god,' but only in a concept, a name."

This greatly liberated the shackles of thought and promoted the vigorous rise of various spiritual cultivation theories..."

Ron became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he himself had personally experienced that great transformation.

That makes sense...

Zhuge Qing lowered his eyes; this logic was self-consistent.

Simply put, in the Age of Gods, if someone was born with the ability to generate electricity, they would naturally be called "Thor" by mortals.

All of people's beliefs about him will revolve around "this person who can generate electricity".

In this situation, the development of faith is predetermined, because this naturally gifted individual may not possess any other abilities besides generating electricity.

Therefore, this Thor can only ever be Thor.

Believers could not pray to him for rain or a good harvest.

But once this naturally gifted individual who can generate electricity is defeated and "deified," he transforms from an objective entity into an abstract concept of "Thor."

Without the constraints of an objective subject, later clergy and believers could naturally fabricate whatever they wanted.

Today we say the Thunder God controls punishments, tomorrow we say he can also bring rain to nourish all things, and the day after tomorrow we might even give him the power of a fertility god.

In this context, belief systems become complex and diverse, and various self-consistent theories emerge to explain these newly added powers.

Objectively, this greatly promoted the development and prosperity of spiritual practice theories.

Just like the historical process of China, after the Shang and Zhou dynasties came the era of the "Hundred Schools of Thought," a period of intellectual explosion...

With this in mind, the last doubt in Zhuge Qing's heart was finally resolved.

He looked up, his gaze piercing through his glasses, locking precisely into Ron Keller's meaningful eyes, and the last shred of hope in his heart vanished.

He finally understood that the real purpose of Behemoth, this behemoth, who had gone to great lengths to invite him from afar and even had a core member of the board of directors personally pick him up at the airport, was probably more direct than he had imagined.

His persona as the "world's best academic genius" and his papers that were enough to shake the academic world were perhaps just a trigger, an opportunity to get the other party's attention.

What the other party truly cared about was the legacy that his identity as a descendant of Zhuge Liang represented, a legacy that had been passed down for thousands of years.

A force closely linked to "concepts" and "symbols".

"so……"

"You're looking for me because of the...power of faith within me?"

(End of this chapter)