I'm not just human!

That was during the raid on the Prometheus family's secret vault, when everyone was competing to see who could inflict more damage on the goblin spirits of the outer gods. The first one to appear was this [Avenger].

At that time, this [Avenger] was not only able to summon an evil spirit that looked exactly like itself, but it also caused considerable damage to the goblin evil spirit of the Outer God, which left a deep impression on Shafa.

Of course, what truly made him remember Him was His extremely strange appearance, and... that He seemed to know him.

Yes, back in that inverted pyramid, the [Avenger] gave him an extremely friendly smile, as if he had known him for a long time, but Xia Fa didn't understand why.

Thinking this, Xia Fa couldn't help but look at the [Eater of the Enemy] who had emerged from among the gods, observing His features, which seemed to have melted and then solidified like wax, His withered limbs and huge hands and feet, and His primitive-looking fur-lined sleeveless leather coat.

But at that moment, he suddenly shuddered, as if he had been electrocuted, and his pupils contracted sharply.

"No...you are..."

This [Eater of the Vengeance] was surprisingly similar to [Dick Tudor], its soul aura felt quite familiar to him, only the physical aura was different!

And the soul aura of the [Eater of Vengeance]... clearly came from Norton Dragon, the current patriarch of the Starry Sky Dragon Clan!

Norton Dragon, who watched helplessly as his great-uncle Nidhogg sacrificed himself to save everyone in the old blacksmith's shop, vowed from that moment on to kill every Cleanser in the world!

"[Absolute Attack] Master, it seems you recognize me."

[The Eater of Enemies] then revealed an ugly yet warm smile, looking up at Xia Fa.

Xia Fa asked in surprise:

"You...how did you become like this? And even become a god?"

He remembered that Norton was a transcendent monarch who had signed twenty secret contracts, and by all accounts, he should never have been able to become a god.

Moreover, because his signing of four overlord-level secret contracts was about to be exposed, in order to keep it a secret, [Paradox Joker] put Norton Dragon and Airo Tong into two rather hidden small worlds respectively, just to prevent the Golden Cleaners and the False Gods from tracking him down through them.

Later, after he became a god and barely had the power to protect himself, and after the matter was exposed, his second brother, the Paradox Clown, released all the people involved at the time.

However, Xia Fa never expected that Norton Dragon would turn out like this!

"Just over half a month ago, while I was exploring a strange realm, I encountered its collapse and was swept into a small world by a spatial turbulence. Then, in that small world, I discovered the corpse of a god..."

The voice of the "Avenger," or rather Norton Dragon, came through in a spiritually intuitive way.

With just that one sentence, Xia Fa had already grasped the general idea.

It seems that [The Devourer] used the same method as Dick Tudor, abandoning his physical body and using the Eternal Certificate as the core, along with his soul and the signed secret contract, to merge with the corpse of a god.

This method, which is extremely dangerous, has a very low success rate, and could potentially spiral out of control and become a bizarre or unknown entity even if successful, was actually used successfully twice by two people in a short period of time, and both of them were people he knew... This left Xia Fa somewhat dazed.

Of course, if we have to say something, Norton Dragons are actually safer using this method than Dick Tudor, since Norton Dragons are born with the eternal proof of "Eternal Fury," which means they can be considered both human and eternal beings.

The so-called eternal beings are extraordinary beings that have become self-aware after the birth of eternal proof. They are extremely rare and special among extraordinary beings.

Eternal beings... can become gods by possessing the bodies of gods, a method even recorded in the Golden Beacon Scroll.

However, Xia Fa did not expect that Norton Dragon would go to such lengths to avenge Nidhogg, risking everything by using this method.

However, he could understand, because in addition to protecting those he wanted to protect, avenging Nidhogg and others who had sacrificed themselves at the hands of the Cleaners was also Shafa's own goal.

"【Eternal Vengeance】...The deeper the hostility towards the target, the greater the increase in combat power. Combined with Norton Dragon's 【Eternal Fury】, no wonder the 【Error Rule】 assigned this eternal token to Him..."

Xiafa sighed inwardly, while also expressing his expectations for Norton Dragon's strength, and gave Norton Dragon a blood-stained dagger-like [Eternal Revenge].

At the same time, a genuine smile appeared on his face, the kind of expression one only shows when seeing an old friend:

I'll treat you to drinks in a few days.

Even on the ugly face of the [Eater of the Avenger], a rare, warm smile appeared:

"Okay, but don't stand me up."

Seeing that [Eater of Vengeance] could actually exchange pleasantries with Lord [Absolute Attack], the gods couldn't help but show a look of awe once again, and at the same time, a strong sense of envy rose in their hearts for the second time.

One is [Dick Tudor], and the other is [The Devourer]—these are both friends of [Absolute Attack], so they must not be provoked...

It could be said that these were the thoughts that arose simultaneously in the minds of all the gods in the Divine Plaza at this moment.

In fact, this was exactly what Shafa wanted to do. No matter what, he had to take care of Nidhogg's descendants, especially since they were his friends.

Where there are people, there will often be conflicts and disputes, especially in the city of gold where extraordinary beings from all over the universe gather. Xia Fa deeply understands this principle.

Although I haven't encountered any bad people along the way, that's due to my talent and ability. In fact, everyone has selfish motives, and under normal circumstances, they will first pay attention to their own interests, so conflicts and disputes are inevitable.

Therefore, he deliberately said he would invite Norton to drink, so that Norton would not be disturbed.

After issuing dozens of different types of Eternal Certificates, all of the more than three hundred types of Eternal Certificates were about to be issued.

However, there were still a few left, those who couldn't come this time. Some were on the front lines of the Star Spirit Natural Starfield, while others were recuperating from injuries. Xia Fa planned to have them sent over.

"Dick Tudor left early again, that guy..."

Seeing that he couldn't find Dick Tudor in the crowd, Xia Fa could only shake his head and smile helplessly. However, he was somewhat used to Dick Tudor's mysteriousness.

Seeing that the matter was over, and with the gods kneeling in reverence to see him off, Xia Fa left the Divine Plaza, but instead of returning to his own divine abode, he went straight to his second brother's [Paradox Clown] divine abode.

The abode of the Paradox Joker looks like a huge amusement park, but it's rather empty because there aren't any visitors.

As soon as Xia Fa stepped into this abode of the gods, he saw his second brother sitting on a carousel waiting for him, but the carousel was not turning.

"Third brother, you've arrived."

The Paradoxical Joker flipped himself off the carousel and then asked:

"Are you ready?"

Xia Fa smiled slightly:

"Okay, I'm ready."

Because [Silver Universe] and [Error Rules] need to constantly seal off the aura leaked during the fusion of [Absolute Defense]'s body and cannot leave for a long time, [Paradox Clown] and the Moon Mother Goddess will accompany them on this mission to save [Nature Monarch].

This was agreed upon before the issuance of the Eternal Certificates. As for the extremely mysterious Ninth God worshipped by the Church of Destiny, he was responsible for staying in the City of Gold Pounds to oversee the overall situation.

“Alright, the Moon Mother Goddess is already waiting for us. Let’s go now. However, before we go, I must tell you a few ironclad rules, which we, the nine righteous gods, have discovered after countless times of venturing into the gray fog of time over more than 30,000 years.”

The Paradox Joker said with a smile, but his expression turned serious halfway through his sentence.

Xia Fa nodded sincerely:

"Okay, Second Brother, please tell me. I will definitely remember it."

[Paradox Joker] nodded slightly, then spoke in an extremely serious tone.

"First and foremost, and most importantly, we can only stay in the Time Fog for a maximum of half an hour this time."

"Even if the [Nature Monarch] is right in front of us in half an hour, or if we discover the other two of the five fundamental eternal certificates and can obtain them in just one second, we must leave immediately."

"Otherwise, you will be 'melted' into the gray fog of time and become a part of time."

"In fact, half an hour is for you, because your rank is only that of an Outer God. Of course, I can only stay for half an hour at most. If you were the Moon Mother Goddess, you could stay a little longer, but you still couldn't stay for more than an hour."

Half an hour... Xia Fa carefully memorized this ironclad rule, and nodded to the [Paradox Clown] to indicate that he would definitely abide by it.

[The Paradox Joker] nodded in relief, then continued:

"The second rule is not to venture into certain Promised Lands without authorization. There are 102 in total. I will give you the coordinates and shapes of all those Promised Lands later. You must remember them well."

“These promised lands are either already known to be extremely dangerous, where even true gods could easily perish if they entered, or they have been determined to be extremely risky through divination by true gods using the [First History] or the [Error Rules].

"Then, there is the third ironclad rule. Although we need to abide by every single ironclad rule, this third one must be emphasized. Otherwise, even we righteous gods will be in mortal danger!"

As he spoke, the Paradox Joker took a deep breath and said, word by word:

"The third ironclad rule is this: if you encounter someone who looks exactly like you in the time fog and they greet you, no matter what they say or where they promise to take you, do not listen to them. Just run, run out of the time fog!"

"otherwise……"

Chapter 480 [A Brief Reality], Identity Remains a Mystery

"Otherwise what?"

To be honest, once the Paradox Joker gets serious, coupled with his clown mask that becomes increasingly eerie, the atmosphere becomes quite unsettling.

Xia Fa couldn't help but ask a question in return, wanting to know what would happen if he really followed the so-called "other self" in the gray fog of time.

The Paradox Joker seemed to recall something, a hint of reminiscence appearing in his dark eyes, a memory tinged with sadness.

"You will be replaced, and another 'you' who is exactly the same will appear in this world in your place."

"This……"

Xia Fa was taken aback, but then he immediately realized something and pointed to himself:

"Wait, even I... no... even the three of us will be replaced like this?"

He was naturally referring to himself, the Paradox Joker, and Absolute Defense.

[The Paradoxical Clown] Only after Xia Fa's reminder did he realize something was wrong, and gave an embarrassed smile:

"Oh right, the three of us won't be replaced. After all, even with the power of the Time Mist, it's impossible to create the Sun God King again and then have his organs contaminated with extraordinary beings to become us... But, apart from the three of us, even other true gods will be replaced!"

Xia Fa hesitated and said:

"Is it impossible to detect after being replaced?"

The Paradox Joker shook his head:

"This is the most terrifying part. Once replaced, that 'you' will live your life completely in your manner and rarely do anything out of line. In fact, if the one being replaced is an angel or ruler with a limited lifespan, then the replacement will die of old age just like the original and completely disappear from the world."

He paused, then shook his head with a sigh, and said with a self-deprecating tone:

"That's how it was back then. When I was still the Holy Spirit of Destiny, I was adventuring in the Protoss Realm with a little brother. We accidentally wandered into the Time Mist and got lost for a while. It took us several tens of seconds to get out."

“At that time, after my little brother came out with me, I did not notice anything unusual. Later, I became a god and then an external god, but He died when His lifespan was exhausted. I even held a funeral for Him.”

"As a result, after I became a true god and once again ventured into the gray fog of time... I discovered His remains in a certain promised land."

【The Paradox Clown】The tone was somber, but to Xia Fa, it sent chills down his spine once again.

Completely replaced by an unknown entity within the gray fog of time, and then dying, while that entity lived a full life in my place... It's terrifying to think about, even though that entity didn't do anything outrageous.

"I was really confused for a while, especially since I had brought His remains back, but when I dug up His tomb, I found it was empty, with only a few wisps of time mist that immediately dissipated the moment the tomb was opened."

The Paradox Joker sighed, then continued:

"It wasn't until later, when [First History] also became a true god, that He studied for decades, observed countless similar cases, and secretly interviewed some survivors who returned from the time fog, that He finally discovered this pattern and summarized this ironclad rule."

Xia Fa also sighed upon hearing this. He had to admit that these three ironclad rules, though seemingly simple, were actually the result of blood and tears shed by the nine righteous gods and countless other extraordinary beings.

"This is the power of time. Even a true god can forge something like this. If we three brothers weren't special enough, it's hard to say what would have happened."