Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 448 This problem has no solution

Murphy had anticipated Apollo's shock.

The other party naturally had no idea that he actually did not have any so-called divine office.

He is not a god at all.

Its magic remains magic, untouched by faith and transformed into "divine power." It merely appears to be enormous in quantity, somewhat resembling that of gods, due to the absorption of considerable divine power from deities such as Pan and the three-headed god as resources.

In fact, Murphy felt that although these gods were using divine power, they knew nothing about the nature of that power.

The more basic and numerous the priesthoods, the higher the quality of divine power. In Murphy's eyes, this characteristic is still a manifestation of the magic-for-pay effect.

So-called clergy or faith is actually a set of philosophical methodologies and worldviews for explaining the world.

The more perfect this methodology and worldview are, and the closer they are to the laws and phenomena of the real material world, the greater the changes in reality that divine power can cause, and the stronger the divine power will be, thus appearing to be of higher quality.

However, Murphy's magic does not contain any "philosophical concepts" or "world rules".

The "universe" that Apollo saw as unique to Murphy was not a "philosophical universe" or "psychological universe" built from "divine authority," "concepts," "images," and "laws," but rather another kind of "material reality" that was no different from the external real world.

This material reality is built upon Murphy's precise perception and magical manipulation of the microscopic world.

Before time travel, he had already gained atomic-level perception by accessing various ultra-precision detection devices such as electron tunneling microscopes, and gained microscopic magical manipulation capabilities through ultra-precision magic probes. The quantum slash he used when killing Janus was a manifestation of magical control at this scale.

Right now, he has simply extended this control over the space around him.

With this atomic-level magical manipulation ability, wherever its magic covers, the four fundamental forces can be distorted, and the most basic and fundamental rules of the universe can be rewritten.

In a sense, this is indeed his own "universe".

Of course, even after getting used to it over time, rewriting the underlying material reality is still extremely difficult. It was only because he had a lot of divine power to squander that he gradually figured out some tricks of the trade.

However, Murphy was not preparing to fight Apollo at this moment. After intimidating the other party, he released the control of the magic.

Apollo felt as if a mountain had been removed from his head, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"I only want divine power," Murphy said. "Just give me some of the divine power you currently possess. I don't need your divine office."

For gods, divine power is merely a consumable. As long as they maintain their divine duties and faith, their divine power will be inexhaustible. Therefore, most gods do not place particular importance on their divine power; if they run out of mana, they can simply rest for a while and it will naturally be replenished.

Even if other gods need to borrow the divine power of others, it is only a one-time thing; once it's used up, it's gone, making it almost meaningless. Only divine office is fundamental.

Therefore, when Apollo heard Murphy say he wanted divine power, he subconsciously assumed that Murphy wanted his divine office. Now that he understood, he was both puzzled and greatly relieved.

"I see, I misunderstood," Apollo said frankly. "But since it's just about divine power, why should I be stingy?"

As he spoke, he raised his right hand, and a ball of light surged into his palm, forming a divine light ball that seemed to be a physical entity. He then tossed it to Murphy.

"This is half of my divine power; consider it payment."

Murphy didn't refuse and gladly accepted.

Afterwards, the two discussed some specific details. Apollo promised to cover for Murphy in the realm of the gods as much as possible, allowing Murphy to act freely. Murphy also promised to keep his mouth shut about Apollo's affairs and to do his best to spread the Nibelungen Epic, thus digging a huge pit for Wotan and the Norse pantheon he created.

After a pleasant conversation, both sides enjoyed themselves immensely, and Apollo gave Murphy a golden pelt as a parting gift.

Murphy found it familiar, and even felt a certain familiarity with the residual magic on it.

When asked about its origin, Apollo said, "There was once a hairy god who was unruly and had many conflicts with me. I killed him several times. This is his divine body from his previous life, which is also somewhat magical. It can continuously produce gold. You need to spread the legend in the mortal world, which may be useful to you."

After a moment's thought, Murphy understood something.

This was before the Common Era; Christ had not yet appeared, and Pan was naturally not yet dead.

This similar fur likely belongs to Pan's previous identity: Knum, the Egyptian ram god.

This is further supported by the fact that Knum was killed by Amun of Thebes.

Amun later merged with Ra, the Egyptian sun god.

Murphy's expression towards Apollo became somewhat subtle.

This god may not be as young and reckless as he appears.

If Zeus could create an avatar of himself in Norse mythology to secure his own future, why couldn't other gods do the same?

Or rather, didn't the gods of the past do this before?

Is there another reason why Apollo is so familiar with Zeus's tactics?

……

Apollo left, and Murphy also collected Apollo's divine power and the Golden Fleece before leaving the mausoleum.

He strolled casually along a tree-lined path, pondering his plans.

He originally intended to use the Ring of the Nibelung as an experiment to test how to guide and control the gods using legends.

Although the experiment has not yet been fully launched, it has already received the expected feedback.

The fact that Apollo valued the story of the Ring of the Nibelung so highly demonstrates the influence of legends on deities; they can even alter the fate of gods.

But Murphy felt it still wasn't enough; something was missing.

Even if he could use the Ring of the Nibelung to unleash Ragnarok, it would only reshuffle the Norse pantheon. However, those gods might not necessarily die. They might take this opportunity to devour other gods, change their identities, and reappear in other places in different forms.

Just like the incarnation of Zeus, or the possible origins of Pan or Apollo.

In this way, his so-called "guidance" and "control" are nothing more than stirring up trouble in vain, only to benefit the gods who come after him. They are meaningless in terms of getting rid of the overall control of the gods.

He felt as if he had walked into a dead end again.

It is known that faith is immortal and gods are eternal.

It is also known that the so-called checks and balances between gods can only lead to one side gaining and the other losing.

Q: How to weaken the gods as a whole, and how to suppress them?

Murphy looked up.

A gentle breeze swept by, dappling the shadows of the trees and swaying them. The rustling sound was like whispers, or perhaps a low chuckle, as if the gods were mocking his futile efforts.

they said:

There is no solution to this problem.

But Murphy kept walking, his mind still searching for any glimmer of opportunity he might have overlooked.

"Although legends can influence deities, deities have their own consciousness and will not follow a predetermined script. Therefore, they can use legends to achieve their own goals, which is the flaw in legends guiding the course of events."

"However, this route is not without its merits."

"The key is how to get all the gods to willingly participate in the script."

"The core of the problem lies in the information gap."

"The legends are transparent; all the plot points have been revealed. I have no information gap with the gods, so naturally I cannot control them with this."

"But what if we create an information gap?"

"cheat……"

Gradually, a new idea formed in Murphy's mind.

"Yes, deception."

"Let's change the story. This time, instead of guiding mortals, let's guide the gods to believe in something..."

"It's pointless to let them kill each other; what's important is to restrain, control, blockade, and isolate them..."

"They fight amongst themselves for divine office, but they don't care about divine power..."

"But divine power is the fundamental force affecting the real world..."

As if a crucial point had been reached, an idea began to emerge.

However, at that moment, the sky suddenly darkened, the wind stopped, and everything around turned black and white, as if all colors had been taken away from the space. The sunlight also became devoid of warmth, and a cold, deathly, and decaying feeling suddenly descended.

A man in black robes emerged from a gust of cold wind. Behind him, a deep, dark cave entrance opened, its interior pitch black, as if leading to an endless abyss.

"Hades".

(End of this chapter)