Deities: Rulers of Nature

Divine Fire

The boundless power of faith rises from the central continent along the invisible thread of faith, continuously flowing into the natural oak tree.

The natural oak tree acted like a furnace, removing all the impurities from the power of faith, leaving only the purest part, which flowed into Ji Xuan's body.

Until one moment, those eyes, which had been closed for ten years, suddenly opened.

There was nothing earth-shattering, only a strange ripple spreading out from Ji Xuan.

Wherever the ripples passed, seeds buried deep in the soil quickly sprouted and broke through the earth, flowers bloomed, and withered trees came back to life. Although the vegetation in the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm had no intelligence, it still offered its congratulations to its creator in a unique way.

"Finally," Ji Xuan murmured, his voice filled with a sense of relief that his wish had been fulfilled.

A full decade—for the gods of the old era, that might not even be enough time for a short rest.

But for Ji Xuan, who has only been in the Void Realm for a full forty years, this ten-year slumber has already taken up a quarter of his divine life.

Fortunately, it was all worth it.

Over the past decade, Ji Xuan not only condensed that bit of divine value to meet all the requirements for becoming a god, but also condensed a divine body of faith under the influence of a massive amount of faith power.

As Ji Xuan stood up, streaks of cyan-gold divine patterns lit up from his heart, as if they were alive, spreading along his chest, limbs, and finally to his cheeks.

As the divine runes flowed, it seemed that by looking at Ji Xuan's divine body, one could see the rules of plants; this was the divine body of faith.

Forty years after descending to the Void Realm, Ji Xuan finally regained his true body.

Unlike the natural oak tree, although both have bodies, the natural oak tree cannot move. Although its connection to the divine realm is closer, it is not flexible enough.

Unlike the divine body of faith, which can perfectly bear Ji Xuan's will, it is also extremely powerful.

Ji Xuan clenched his fists, feeling the divine power flowing more smoothly within his body, and couldn't help but feel a little intoxicated.

If we were to return to the time of the battle for divine office, Ji Xuan believed that with just the divine body of faith, he could fight the other three gods alone and kill them.

In a flash, Ji Xuan left the Natural Oak Tree and arrived in the sky above the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm.

As Ji Xuan sat slightly in the air, without any visible movement, the surrounding clouds and light seemed to come alive, frantically gathering and surging towards Ji Xuan's body, finally condensing into a majestic yet comfortable divine throne.

The divine throne steadily supported Ji Xuan's divine body. His left hand rested lightly on the armrest of the throne, while his right hand naturally supported his forehead. His gaze fell upon Xishan City.

With a slight thought, the divine consciousness clone that was originally standing in the air transformed into a stream of light and merged back into His brow.

Over the past ten years, everything that had happened in the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm unfolded rapidly in Ji Xuan's mind.

"good."

Ji Xuan nodded in satisfaction and made a note of the names of the two little ones, Jin Tai and Kailuon.

After sorting through all the information in the Divine Realm, Ji Xuan slowly stood up. He did not do anything intentionally, but simply revealed his divine body. However, for the beings in the Divine Realm, in an instant, a divine light of ten thousand feet of blue-gold radiance poured down from the sky.

A divine figure, more radiant than the seven luminaries, appeared; even from afar, it exuded magnificence and holiness.

A sense of etherealness filled my heart, yet it seemed to be imprinted deep within my soul.

In Xishan City, the two major tribes, and the three satellite villages, all the clansmen stopped what they were doing and surged toward the square like a tide, their devout prayers reaching the sky.

In the Green Ridge Mountains and the Blood Mist Swamp, the wild beasts and savages, devoid of intelligence and driven only by survival instincts, knelt on the ground, their limbs and heads pressed tightly against the earth, too afraid to lift their heads.

In Mirror Lake, Long River, and the Sea of ​​the World, countless aquatic creatures leap out of the water, raise their heads, and look up at the sky.

On the summit of Xishan Mountain, the budding deer bent their limbs, their antlers covered with lush leaves bowing along with their heads. The molten iron beasts in the dark region abandoned their favorite metal ores and all prostrated themselves on the ground. On Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, all the Xuanbing beasts pressed their bodies tightly against the ice and snow, offering their purest faith to the sacred figure in the sky.

At this moment, all living beings in every corner of the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm, whether mountains and seas, rivers, land or ocean, lakes or dark regions, bowed their heads to Ji Xuan.

A massive amount of faith power converged towards Ji Xuan, upon contacting His body.

"Boom!"

The cyan-gold divine runes were activated once more. They began to circulate around the divine body, constantly absorbing the power of faith, and finally transformed into three-dimensional divine runes that merged into Ji Xuan's chest.

However, there was no flesh and blood heart there; what appeared there was Ji Xuan's divine essence.

The divine essence was crystal clear, as if it were composed of thousands of intricate runes.

At this moment, the power of faith, divine power, and cyan-gold divine runes flowed together, under extreme compression and collision.

"Thump!"

A voice, carrying an indescribable sense of awe, resounded from Ji Xuan's chest, like a heartbeat, yet also like a figure from nature itself.

First came tiny sparks, which quickly grew and merged, eventually transforming into a faint wisp of bluish-gold flame.

This is divine fire!

The lighting of the divine fire signifies the official start of the ascension to godhood!

"My lord, Ji Xuan!"

"You are the embodiment of nature! — You are the master of all things! —"

"My lord, Ji Xuan!"

"You are the creator of plants! — You are the embodiment of the earth! — You are the source of light!"

"My lord, Ji Xuan!"

'

Devout prayers rang out continuously, coming from Xishan City, the two major tribes, and the three satellite villages. These sounds converged, carrying their sincere faith, and reached Ji Xuan's ears.

These voices acted as anchors, reawakening Ji Xuan's gradually blurred consciousness, which had been burned by the divine fire.

Switching to the perspective of a deity, one can see that the divine essence, divinity, and divine nature within Ji Xuan's chest are being forged together by divine fire—a process that all deities must undergo to ascend to godhood.

The lighting of the divine fire means that a massive amount of faith and divine power must be consumed. From this moment on, the gods are truly inseparable from their believers.

Getting back to the main point, the smelting process must be completed in one go without interruption, otherwise it will cause serious damage to the deity.

At best, the divinity and divine nature are dissolved, and the deity needs an unknown amount of time to recover; at worst, the deity perishes and is burned to ashes by divine fire.

"My lord, Ji Xuan!"

"You are the embodiment of nature, the master of all things!"

Fortunately, Ji Xuan was not a reckless god. He had long accumulated a very solid foundation, and with the continuous prayers of his followers, he successfully weathered the most critical moment of ascending to godhood.

The prayers of the clansmen lasted for a day and a night, and the creatures of the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm also knelt in worship for a day and a night.

Finally, the divine essence, divine office, and divine nature within the divine fire were completely fused into one.

A completely new realm unfolded before Ji Xuan. At this moment, he was completely promoted from a demigod to a deity with weak divine power!