Becoming a god in a low-key way in the supernatural world

Chapter Eighty-Four: Searching for the Viper (Part Three)

After descending the cliff, Furude looked around at the desolate and dilapidated rocky mountains and tried to activate [Hunting Instinct] to search for the scent of the viper.

Evil gods and true kings possess unique auras.

This is why he was recognized by monsters when he was wandering around the land of demons.

His perception continued to increase, and his aura also rose steadily, like a tsunami that, at a certain moment, suddenly burst forth, spreading outwards and expanding ever wider...

Even in the wilderness, he was completely uninhibited, making no attempt to conceal his true kingly aura.

It was as if a stone had been thrown into the water, causing a thousand waves to rise and fall. Countless screams of fear echoed as all sorts of monsters began to desperately flee from the place.

A profound, ocean-like consciousness awakened, and countless black mists instantly coalesced into a single entity, resembling a giant serpent, casting two gazes from the void.

Kotegawa turned around at the right moment and met the gaze of the giant serpent formed from black mist. He suddenly chuckled and said, "So that's where it was."

His figure suddenly vanished, turning into clouds and mist.

The black mist serpent also instantly retreated.

In the center of the valley surrounded by mountains, there are scattered ruins of a dilapidated shrine, with two giant pillars more than ten meters high embedded in the mountain wall.

A terrifying, serpentine monster with a hideous appearance roams freely in the swampy lakes that exude poisonous gas.

This place has become a veritable snake den.

Kotegawa appeared on a broken bridge. He looked at the ghastly green fog floating in mid-air, then looked down at the oily green swamp lake, thinking that the lake water was probably poison mixed with water, rather than water mixed with poison.

But it's nothing...

He turned his gaze to the main hall of the dilapidated shrine and suddenly showed some surprise.

The main hall in the very center was largely intact, and its scale was much more magnificent than the main halls of the shrines he had seen. Inside the main hall stood a huge snake statue that had been cut in half, and on the plaque outside were three large characters that could be vaguely made out: "Viper Temple".

This giant snake is incredible! Back then, a shrine was even erected for it.

The Demon King seems to have only a dilapidated altar.

If that's the case, this snake at its peak should have been stronger than the Demon King.

That's a bit of a pity.

His figure once again transformed into clouds and mist, landing inside the dilapidated main hall.

Although the outside was filled with smoke and fumes, there wasn't a single snake scale inside the main hall.

A long sword was drawn from its sheath, glowing with golden true energy, and slashed down in an instant.

Under the powerful and fierce sword energy, this only remaining half of the snake statue, weathered for countless years, shattered into a shower of stone dust, revealing a large, dark hole.

A hissing sound that shook the ground came from inside the cave.

Startled by the noise, the various snake monsters outside all straightened up and turned their gazes over.

Kotegawa didn't even bother to look back, and jumped off the platform.

The cave seemed bottomless, and it took Furude River a full half minute to fall before he finally set foot on solid ground.

He looked around and found that this place was a completely different world, with an astonishingly large space.

The cave was filled with a dark purple mist.

A hundred meters in front of him, two huge, scarlet vertical pupils lit up, like two beams of light, shooting straight at him.

Kotegawa looked at it calmly.

A massive, black-scaled serpent with a single horn was coiled up in front of them, its size occupying the entire center of the cave. If it were to stand upright, its size would indeed be astonishing.

I initially thought that the picture book by Special Science used slightly exaggerated proportions to express the size of this "Viper God," but now I realize that it was actually a realistic depiction.

The viper watched him from afar, showing no intention of getting up.

Kotegawa stroked his chin and walked towards it.

He felt it wasn't that the snake had a good temper, but rather that the countless iron chains, thicker than tin cans and extending from all directions, were binding it too tightly.

A faint glow shimmered on the iron chain. As he approached, a phantom of a deity suddenly appeared, glanced at him, and then quietly vanished.

Kotegawa's eyesight was excellent.

This phantom of a deity was indeed the mountain god he had seen in the mountains of Hokkaido.

...It seems that the mountain god is even stronger, and may even be a powerful god in the divine hierarchy.

He gathered his thoughts and looked at the giant snake.

The giant serpent was also looking at him, emitting a hissing sound that shook the cave. However, in Kotegawa's ears, the hissing sound turned into the words of an old man: "Human true king who has come from afar, I sense a familiar aura on you."

Kotegawa had not yet digested the spiritual fruit and was still sealed in his heart by that deity, so he naturally carried a bit of the deity's aura. However, unless one was an opponent of the same level, one could not sense it.

He suddenly asked, "Viper God... when were you sealed here?"

“Fifteen hundred years ago.” The Viper God looked at him indifferently, his voice becoming low: “It’s your turn to answer this old man’s question.”

Kotegawa nodded and pointed to the iron chains: "I've come on orders."

The viper's aura became somewhat unstable for a moment, his gaze turned much colder, and a layer of killing intent appeared in his eyes.

It seemed to have thought of something.

But Kotegawa remained amiable, as if meeting an old friend, and asked thoughtfully, "Back then, how far were you from becoming a god? Or had you already become a god?"

The murderous intent in the viper's vertical pupils intensified: "If it weren't for Him, I would have ascended to godhood long ago! Bei Yu Jianzun is nothing but a despicable god!"

Kitami Takematsu? That god's name? Never heard of him... Kotegawa looked at it calmly, his face expressionless.

The viper slowly asked, "Tell me, what is the purpose of your visit?"

Kotegawa shook his head: "There's no rush. Let's talk about something else for a while, and I'll tell you after we're done."

The viper god never sensed any killing intent. It stared at Kotegawa for a long time before slowly saying, "Although I have been sealed away for so long, Her Majesty the Queen has never abandoned me. I do not believe that you have come to kill me... What else do you want to ask?"

Kotegawa nodded and asked, "Why were you sealed away?"

The viper god was visibly taken aback by the question and retorted, "You, as a true king, how could you not know?"

"I only know the general outline," Kotegawa admitted. "But I'd like to hear what the person involved has to say, such as the details."

The Viper God looked at him coldly: "There is an old saying that the victor is king and the loser is villain. I failed to seize divine power back then and was sealed away, so I have nothing to say about it!"

"Is that so?" Kotegawa's face remained calm, but his heart was far from at peace.

Sealed up 1,500 years ago, fighting for divine power, and then sealed away...

Does this mean that the deity became a god 1,500 years ago?

Is it a new god?

He looked at the viper god and continued, "One last question: how does one become a god?"

"Become a god?" A mocking glint suddenly appeared in the viper god's enormous vertical pupils. "Human true king, you are truly greedy, but it's just as you wish..."

As soon as it finished speaking, everything went black before Kotegawa's eyes, as if shrouded in a black mist.

The viper's enormous body seemed to have shrunk considerably, and it was no longer bound by chains.

This scene seems familiar.

He looked at the darkness around him, feeling the oppressive atmosphere enveloping him, and his expression was slightly strange.

"The spiritual realm?"

Chapter Eighty-Five: Slaying the Viper (Part 1)

The viper, now several times smaller, roamed around, seemingly enjoying its long-lost freedom.

It suddenly raised its upper body, its single horn glowing crimson, and emitted a resounding voice: "True King of Man, greed has blinded your heart; hand it over to this old man!"

Kotegawa was still looking down at himself, or rather, his true spirit.

He suddenly asked, "If I die here, will my true spirit be completely shattered? Can I be resurrected in the underworld?"

The viper god, which was about to make a move, paused again. Up until now, it still hadn't sensed any killing intent... Had Bei Yujianzun given up on sending his subordinates to kill it?

It said coldly, "Once your true spirit is shattered, I will swallow it whole and will not give you the chance to go to the Yellow Springs!"

Kotegawa said "Oh," and continued, "I shouldn't be the first True King to come here to see you... right?"

The viper's vertical pupils now held a mocking glint: "That's right, you're the fourth person to arrive in all these years."

He was the fourth person to arrive here, so the fate of the previous three was self-evident. Kotegawa seemed oblivious to his current predicament and asked again, "So, considering I'm about to be eaten by you, can you tell me how to become a god? Consider it my wish."

"Crossing the boundary between humans and gods? Achieving immortality?" The viper god circled the ground again, then lay down and laughed loudly, "Don't even think about it, human! You will never become a god! The path to godhood was cut off more than a thousand years ago!"

"Broken? What do you mean?" Kotegawa was slightly taken aback.

But the Viper God no longer gave him a chance to continue explaining. Countless snake hisses rang in his ears, and countless phantoms of the Viper God transformed into dark light and pounced.

He sighed and shook his head slightly.

Honestly, why are you in such a hurry?

It would be nice to chat.

His figure swayed, and like the moon reflected in a well, he shattered instantly, like a bubble.

This unexpected turn of events startled the Viper God, who had not anticipated it at all.

Kotegawa's voice rang in its ear: "Perfect timing, I also know a bit about mental abilities... Have you ever heard of Nightmare?"

"Nightmare? A mere illusion technique! You dare to compare yourself to this old man?" The viper hissed, its snake tail sweeping across and cleaving another phantom of Kotegawa in two.

A soft sigh sounded in its ear again: "If you can't even see through this mere illusion technique, then you're nothing special."

Having missed its target, the viper coiled up again, its vertical pupils scanning the empty black space, sneering repeatedly: "Do you intend to waste your time with this old man like this?"

Within its innate domain, the longer the time, the weaker the external spirit becomes. It has been trapped for over 1,500 years, so it has plenty of time and patience.

Kotegawa was also in no hurry to make a move.