I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

"Sigh, why didn't I think of getting a cat before? I should have gotten one a long time ago!"

"By the way, have you named it yet? What's its name?"

Xue Wan turned to look at Xue Jing.

"name?"

Xue Jing thought for a moment and casually said, "Call her Feng Wan."

"Huh? Which 'fengwan'? The 'fengwan' in Wuji Baifeng Wan?"

Xue Wan tilted her head.

Upon hearing this, the cat seemed to have been touched by some memory, and it pouted unhappily.

"No, it's the 'Feng' in Wang Xifeng and the 'Wan' in Li Wan," Xue Jing explained with a smile.

"...Why did you name your cat that? Have you been reading too much Dream of the Red Chamber?" Xue Wan found it a bit funny.

"And they're all married... Little brother, is that your type?"

……

Chapter 122 The Unusual Ruler, the Two-Faced Man, Possessing the Ability to Reverse, and Endless Steel Feathers (4K)

In the dark and gloomy room, only a huge rectangular stone table stood.

The stone table looks extremely old, with traces of oxidation and wear everywhere, as if it has been weathered by countless years to reach its current state.

Three candles were neatly arranged on the stone table, burning quietly and providing the only light source in the dim room.

Around the stone table are nine equally old high-backed stone chairs.

At this moment, four figures wearing cloaks and hoods, with the upper half of their faces covered in shadow and only the lower half visible, sat on different stone chairs.

"...I mean, do we really have to meet here?"

"It's already the 267th year of the new era, can you please stop this cult-like trend? The number of believers joining the cult has been decreasing over the years, don't you ever look for the reasons?"

One of them spoke with a sense of helplessness.

As she spoke, she pulled her hood back, revealing a beautiful and mature face.

"...Aqin, everything related to the rituals is decided by headquarters, and we have no right to change it."

A gentle male voice came from beside her, and Aqin pouted:

"Is a casual gathering considered part of the ritual? Are there any rules or regulations restricting me from urinating?"

The man next to him smiled and said in the same tone, "Theoretically, yes."

"Your Majesty, the Lord of a Thousand Colors, is the origin of all flowers, plants, and trees. We, who have received this gift from the gods, have bodily fluids that nourish these plants..."

He was interrupted by Aqin before he could finish speaking.

"Enough... How can you say such things without batting an eye? If this happened outside, you'd be charged with sexual harassment at most."

Ah Qin covered her face as if she couldn't bear it.

The man's tone remained unchanged as he gently said, "I didn't mean that; I was simply stating the facts to you."

Ah Qin ignored him and turned to look at the person in the opposite seat:

"Professor, where is your precious student? Why didn't you bring him today?"

The professor, with her long, vine-like hair, leaned slightly forward, and the shadows on her face faded, revealing the unremarkable face of a middle-aged woman.

“Her mortal relatives have come to Maple City,” the professor said calmly.

The beautiful woman named Aqin gave her a meaningful look and smiled:

"It seems you really value that student, Professor... Alright, it's getting late, the others shouldn't be here anymore. What's the matter that you've summoned us for?"

The professor nodded and said:

"Then, I will relay the message from headquarters."

A look of piety appeared on her face.

"Seven days ago, the Lord of a Thousand Reds and Myriad Beauties descended upon the temple with 'flowers' inscribed with divine pronouncements."

Upon hearing this, everyone else present was shocked, their eyes widening.

Ah Qin slammed her hand on the table and stood up, shouting incredulously:

"The Flower of Divine Oracle!? Are you sure it's not some incomprehensible, mystical thing like the 'Dream Matchmaker,' but a 'flower' with a physical form?"

She couldn't help but be shocked.

Within the cult of paganism, there are some generally accepted truths and common sense.

God—whether dead or alive—cannot directly interfere with the present world.

They are beyond the 'string', indescribable beings, and their 'personality' makes their existence transcend the scope of human cognition.

If you really want to understand it, you can think of them as beings similar to 'higher-dimensional beings'.

A researcher once used a simple example to roughly explain why God cannot directly interfere in the present world.

If we consider God as a human being, then the present world is a book to Him.

The beings in the book cannot perceive 'human beings'.

While a person can tear up the book, they cannot do anything to the things inside it—unless they are the author of the book.

Furthermore, there's a prerequisite for tearing this book up—you have to be able to beat the author first.

So, if the alien gods cannot interfere with the mortal world, why do beings like the Gifted Ones, who possess the power of the alien gods, appear in the mortal world?

Because the author of the book died, the copyright of the book became ownerless.

Therefore, people can scribble and doodle in books and start writing fan fiction.

A good book has a complete logical chain and worldview—even fan fiction must follow basic rules and cannot be written haphazardly.

Therefore, the alien gods cannot do whatever they want to the present world; they can only exert influence on it in a way that conforms to the logic and worldview of this world.

After God died, the present world and the other world collided, resulting in an overlap between the two worlds. This caused flaws in the originally perfect logical chain and worldview, making it much easier for the other gods to write fan fiction. They did not have to strictly follow the original framework, but could add their own unique touches to the books.

This is why recipients of the gift appear, allowing the power of the alien gods to be used in the present world.

However, the appearance of the recipients was merely an 'indirect intervention' of the other gods in the mortal world. To this day, there is still no record in history of other gods directly bestowing miracles or divine objects.

Even the 'divine pronouncements' given to believers were given in a vague and mystical manner, never involving any direct or straightforward communication.

But now, that sage of a thousand beauties has bestowed upon me a single flower…

If this is true, then the flower itself is no longer important; the significance of this event is what matters most.

This means that, for the first time since the beginning of the new era, the alien gods have engaged in 'direct interference in the mortal world'!

"So! What is the oracle on the flower?"

Aqin asked anxiously.

The professor glanced at her and said:

"The headquarters spent seven days deciphering it, barely managing to translate it into a language that they could roughly understand."

"—South of the Starry Sky and Blades lies an extraordinary ruler, a two-faced being, possessing the power to reverse fate, an inexhaustible supply of steel feathers, and the force to annihilate all who remain. Surely the evening bells of twilight will resound—"

After the professor finished speaking, countless question marks appeared on the foreheads of the people present.

"I think I recognize every single word."

The man next to Aqin spoke with some difficulty.

"As expected of Your Majesty, the divine pronouncements you convey are profound and unfathomable, truly difficult to decipher."

The professor nodded calmly: "In short, that's how it is... Because the oracle clearly represents 'south,' the southern branches have all received orders to investigate the details of the oracle."

"I have delivered the orders, so dismiss... Ah Qin, you stay behind."

After everyone else had left, the professor came to Aqin's side and whispered a few words in her ear.

"Huh? You want me to play the bad cop?" Aqin scratched her cheek in annoyance.

……

In a restaurant with a stylish and refreshing decor, Xue Jing and his sister Xue Wan sat facing each other.

"Oh, those two people are in the news."

Xue Wan stuffed a piece of sweet and sour pork into her mouth and looked at her phone, laughing.

She turned her phone upside down and faced Xue Jing, who was sitting opposite her, and said:

"Look!"

Xue Jing chewed the food in his mouth and looked up.

The phone screen displayed a news article, published 3 minutes ago.

[Shocking! U19 contestants did this in public!]

The cover photo shows two teenagers lying unconscious on the ground in the waiting hall of the port, embracing each other.

I don't know if it's the couple's posture or the photographer's angle that's too tricky, but the photo somehow manages to capture the feeling that the two have a very good relationship and are sleeping peacefully in each other's arms.

Fortunately, the following text pages didn't make things up; they honestly explained why the two of them were like this.

The story begins by introducing the resumes of two young geniuses and recounting their past grudges. Then, it describes their unexpected encounter at the dock today, the cause of their fight, the process, and how they were ultimately defeated by another mysterious young powerhouse...

The comments under the news article, though only a few minutes had passed, were already filled with rotten remarks like "suggest locking them in," "they're so good together," and "I've been shipping them for ages."

At this moment, Xue Jing felt a rare pang of guilt towards the other person.

He could already imagine that no matter how much the two denied it, they would be constantly ridiculed by a group of people who loved to stir up trouble, and the "CP" label on them would become deeper and deeper...

"What a tragedy..." Xue Jing sighed softly.

"Strange, your photo wasn't in this news article." Xue Wan put her phone away, looking puzzled.

Although I don't know much about journalism, I do understand how much a good-looking person can attract traffic.

Even a random passerby, if good-looking, could become a trending topic if accidentally captured on camera.