Man on the ark, forced to become king

They all fought for control of the borderlands and possessed the power to erode the world.

However, it was gold that ultimately triumphed, and many of the Outer Gods disappeared, some leaving and some going into hiding, and the names of the gods fell into the hands of gold.

—In the Golden Age, the beings who held the law were given the name of God.

Queen Marika, the Eternal Queen, was the goddess of the Golden Age.

Compared to the Outer Gods of the past, she is more like the embodiment of the law, the agent of the Golden Tree. Her power comes from the Golden Tree behind her, rather than from any authority she possesses.

Of course, in a sense, 'gold' was her power, which is not wrong.

However, whether they are Outer Gods or God-humans representing gold, they all have one thing in common—they are all the embodiment of a certain rule and the source of a certain power.

Believers who serve the crimson corruption can borrow the power of corruption; giants who worship evil gods can wield an inextinguishable flame. In short, when they come into this world, they become one of the cornerstones of the world, and their power can influence the entire world.

But the gods of Terra... seem to be defined differently from those of the borderlands.

Initially, Lin Lu had no concept of Terra's native gods, but after coming into contact with real deities such as Nian, Dionysus, and the Wolf Mother, she gained a preliminary understanding.

The gods of Terra also possess authority unique to them, but that authority comes entirely from the rules of the world.

In other words, so-called gods are essentially powerful beings who have mastered one or more rules and can use them, which is fundamentally different from Outer Gods.

The outer gods of the borderlands, in essence, are beings of the same caliber as the 'world'. They possess the ability to directly influence or change the world; the mere act of intruding into the world can add another rule to the world's existing rules.

The gods of Terra, whose power originates from the world itself, are more like the embodiment of certain rules, such as the smelting and forging of the year and the painting of the evening. The authority they wield seems to be more inclined to serve themselves and make themselves stronger, rather than having the ability to truly change the world.

Putting aside pure destructive power, in Lin Lu's eyes, the growth potential of the Terra Gods is still somewhat low, because they are all limited by the world itself. Currently, Lani is roughly on the same level as them, but her current strength can only be considered a starting point for her.

—As a god who has mastered the laws of the stars, she has the potential to grow into an Outer God.

In contrast, Terran gods like the Wolf Mother, despite living for countless years, haven't made much progress because their potential is capped.

Of course, Lin Lu hadn't actually come into contact with many gods, so his view might be somewhat one-sided, but he felt it was probably pretty accurate.

The emperor's subsequent explanation of the deities also corroborated his conjecture to some extent.

—The so-called gods are non-human beings with abilities independent of the Originium system. The Emperor called them 'behemoths'.

"In fact, not all gods are that powerful."

Because such private topics were not suitable for discussion in crowded places, the Emperor began to recount what he knew in detail after returning to the hotel.

Everyone gathered in the living room. Surtr, who basically acted on instinct, was also knocked unconscious by Chen Yi's precise karate chop. In this kind of thing, Little Dragon Man was ruthless and quick.

Surrounded by everyone, the Emperor stood on the coffee table in the living room, flapping his wings and giving Chen a disdainful look.

"The weaker gods, apart from possessing a certain degree of immortality, do not have much power and are not even comparable to the strong among humans."

"In fact, your two are already quite strong. Their original forms before splitting were among the best of the gods."

"A weak god?"

Lin Lu rubbed her hands together, glanced subconsciously at the black ink stains on the wall, and then turned her gaze back to the Emperor.

"What do you see me doing?"

The Emperor felt uncomfortable under Lin Lu's thoughtful gaze and glared back at her with displeasure.

“A weaker god, possessing only a certain degree of immortality, I’m thinking… isn’t that you?”

Looking at the emperor's penguin-like figure, which had nothing to do with humans, Lin Lu felt that he looked more and more like a penguin.

It's true that Terra has 'Ancestors'; he's actually seen some of them. Wei Yanwu, the Rat King, Lady Wenyue, Lao Li, A, and Huaihu are all Ancestors, that is, humans whose appearance is atavistic.

Even the early humans were only closer to beasts in appearance and form, not completely beast-like. They had the same physical structure as ordinary people, with all four limbs and hands and feet, with only slight differences in appearance.

A being like the Great Emperor, whose appearance and physical composition have absolutely no resemblance to humans, can almost be said to have transcended the category of our ancestors and should be considered a different species altogether.

Looking at it now, in light of his own explanation, isn't he exactly a 'weaker god'?

Lin Lu knew that he possessed extremely strong immortality.

As for not being able to sense any divine aura emanating from him...

Previously, it could be explained by the fact that his power had not yet recovered and his perception was limited. Now, it must be that the Emperor himself used some special means to hide his aura.

"I'm not a god, don't overthink it."

Jumping down from the coffee table, the emperor immediately denied the guess.

"I am another kind of being, and I have only a tiny connection with the behemoths."

"Yes, he is not a giant beast, nor a fragment of a giant beast, but the Beast Lord."

A flippant voice suddenly interrupted, and Nian's figure appeared out of thin air in the living room, holding an earring with a large red tassel in one hand. Lin Lu quickly patted her pocket and found that the earring that was originally in her pocket had disappeared.

"Hehe, things over there are temporarily settled, so I came to take a look."

As soon as she appeared, Nian slumped against Lin Lu, grinning mischievously, "Where's my silly little sister? I, as her older sister, have gone to great lengths to help her!"

...Your pure fun-loving nature just exploded, and your instinct to mess with your sister kicked in again, didn't it?

Recalling the rocket headbutt that nearly broke his back, Lin Lu still felt a dull ache in his chest and lumbar spine. Fortunately, his physical strength was quite good; if it were someone more fragile, they might have been sent flying by that headbutt.

You can only say that a god is indeed a god; even their shyness and coquettishness far surpass those of ordinary people...

"Tsk, she messed up again?"

Following Lin Lu's gaze, Nian immediately spotted the ink graffiti on the wall. His face lit up with a smile, and he jumped up and rushed over, circling around in front of it while making clicking noises.

"Oh, oh, oh, I gave you a chance and you're not going to do it? Come and tell your sister what you've got?"

Boom!

A blue floral arm emerged from the ink stains, carrying a huge, dark blue brick. It slammed the brick down on Nian's head with a dull thud, and the brick, nearly a palm's thickness, shattered on the spot. The heavy sound made Lin Lu shudder.

Good grief, are they really going to do it?

That noise sounds painful...

Completely unprepared for Xi's sudden move while he was enclosed in the painting, Nian was caught off guard and was hit squarely in the face by a blue brick. His head was thrown back sharply, and he almost fell over.

However, this level of attack was not enough to do anything to her; on the contrary, Xi was given an opportunity.

Nian grabbed Xi's wrist with her other hand, stepped on the wall with one foot, and pulled outwards with force, like pulling weeds, directly pulling Xi out of her painting.

"Hey! Gotcha!"

Let go!

Xi stumbled out of the painting, her face flushed. She broke free from Nian's grasp, grabbed the remaining half of the brick, and began to smash it against Nian's head. Nian swayed and dodged, occasionally making faces, which made Xi tremble with anger, and she hit him faster and faster.

"...Uh, can we stop playing for a bit?"

The 'intimate interaction' between the two sisters happens once or twice a day at the Golden Tree. Not to mention Lin Lu, even Lani and Melina are used to it. Sometimes these two can even fight like this all day long!

In order to ensure her own sleep time, Lin Lu had to interrupt their sisterly interaction; otherwise, who knows when they would stop making a fuss.

"A little bit~"

Nian darted to the sofa in a few steps, jumped directly into Lin Lu's arms, and stuck out her tongue at Xi in a provocative manner.

...This behavior is extremely childish; it's just like children playing around and arguing.

But Nian just loves to make these childish provocations, and Xi actually falls for it.

"shameless!"

Xi clutched the blue brick in her hand, her face flushed and her body trembling slightly. It was hard to tell whether she was angry or ashamed, or perhaps both.

Lin Lu was genuinely afraid that she would suddenly throw a brick at her, so she quickly stopped Nian's vicious provocation and lifted her off her body.

"Stop messing around, stop messing around. This place isn't a gold tree; it can't withstand your antics."

"Humph."

Pulled out of the painting, Xi had no intention of going back. She crossed her arms, hummed softly, and turned slightly away, deciding to avoid seeing it altogether.

Seeing this, Nian knew when to stop and didn't continue to tease him, returning to the previous topic.

Do you remember those few phrases I used to say all the time?

"what?"

Lin Lu was taken aback by the question, thinking to herself, "You're usually so talkative, you say so much, how am I supposed to know which few sentences you're referring to?"

Fortunately, Nian didn't really wait for his answer and continued on his own: "Heaven has a furnace, and earth produces five metals. I often say this, and it's related to giant beasts."

"Heaven has a furnace, earth produces metals, their brilliance gleams and their cold tempering illuminates the clear clouds?"

As soon as she mentioned it, Lin Lu remembered.

Indeed, Nian often said these words, and would bring them up from time to time. He also remembered that Xi had a very similar saying, "Stars hide in the snow, the moon is obscured, and the mountain is barren and the river flows."

These two sentences seem to correspond to some kind of ability or technique they possess.

"It's not this sentence, it's..."

Nian looked at the silent emperor and said in a low voice, "Heaven has a furnace, earth produces five metals, there are ten kinds of people, and a hundred kinds of beasts."

"There are many descriptions of the ten types of people in the ancient books of Yan Kingdom, so I won't go into detail. The key point is that there are also a hundred kinds of beasts."

"The number 'hundred' here is not an exaggeration, but an accurate number, referring to one hundred kinds of beasts that possess a Beast Master."

"Whether it is a beast lord or a giant beast regarded as a god, they are all beasts and share a similar origin. He is the same."

Nian pointed, her bright red floral arm almost blinding under the light.