You want me to take out a loan to practice cultivation? I'll just pay off the debt physically.

Yu Xiao's deep, abyss-like eyes calmly gazed at the goddess of the night before him, who held herself with utmost humility, and a sudden realization dawned on him.

He finally understood why, in the cataclysmic event of the previous timeline that swept across the universe and claimed the lives of countless gods, this goddess, whose power wasn't top-tier, had managed to become one of the few survivors.

Those who attain godhood possess absolute rationality through their divine will, but what is often engraved deep within their divine nature is also an indomitable spirit and dignity that originates from the essence of life and is forged through endless trials to reach the pinnacle.

[Overshadowing all living beings, wielding the fundamental authority, standing at the pinnacle of the chain of life's evolution.]

Those who have reached this point are all favored by fate, rising to the top by stepping over the corpses of countless competitors—the darlings of their era.

Even among mortals, those with a modicum of talent are prone to arrogance; how much more so a true god, who transcends the cosmos?

That arrogant disdain for the world and its view of all living beings as mere ants is almost inextricably linked to divinity!

But the goddess of the night before them crushed that divine pride beneath her feet.

[She could, in the instant she sensed a deadly threat, unhesitatingly discard the dignity of a so-called true god.]

This ability to be flexible and adaptable, to be pragmatic and stop at nothing to achieve her goals, even to the point of being shameless, is her greatest asset for survival.

According to Wang Meng, this goddess's methods for seizing her target's benefits were so flexible and adaptable that they were astonishing.

Even when facing a demigod far weaker than herself, she could, under certain circumstances, humble herself and use every trick in the book, striking various poses, all to please the other party and thus take a step closer to her goal.

[As long as she achieves her goal, she can be the most cunning businesswoman, the most humble pleader, or even the most understanding ally.]

Since the other party has lowered their stance to the dust, even going so far as to offer sacrifices and gifts to ensure peace, Yu Xiao, adhering to the Red Heart Society's core strategy of low-key development and quietly making a fortune, will naturally no longer be aggressive.

More importantly, the Dark Cult has become the most successful example within the Red Heart Society's meticulously woven infiltration network.

In the Dark Goddess's profound test of loyalty—a process akin to scraping away bone to remove poison, an attempt to cleanse everything with the wrath of the true god—those truly fanatical believers, those devout lambs, suffered heavy casualties under the fiery test of divine magic.

[Only the Red Heart Society, a group of pseudo-believers who didn't believe in the Dark Night at all and were purely infiltrating on a mission, managed to survive by virtue of the top-notch disguise techniques provided by the organization, their deep-rooted discipline, and their ancestral skill of playing dumb to deceive others!]

Imagine, under the wolf-like hunt of the five major sects' allied forces, who could have predicted that a group of beings with peak ninth-level or even demigod-level combat power would willingly disguise themselves as mere fifth or sixth-level weaklings?

The two sides are not even thinking on the same level of power!

The members of the Red Heart Society perfectly played the roles of inconspicuous cannon fodder, diligent junior deacons, and even the lucky survivors, demonstrating the art of survival to its fullest extent.

Not only did they survive, they also successfully secured a more advantageous position amidst the ruins of the Church of the Night's power structure.

Therefore, the Red Heart Society not only doesn't need to eliminate the Goddess of Night immediately, but also needs her to continue shining in that position, utilizing her sect's resources and influence to cultivate more precious demigods with authority for the Red Heart Society.

[Thus, with both sides harboring their own ulterior motives, what should have been a cataclysmic conflict suddenly took an unexpected and dramatic turn, escalating into a friendship born from conflict.]

[Yu Xiao, as a veteran True God of Rules who has survived for thousands of years in the previous timeline, may be somewhat naive and straightforward, but his mastery of the Dark Night Rules is already unparalleled.]

Perhaps in the timeline when the true god of rules was first born, disguising rules as fluctuations of authority was an extremely difficult task.

But now, that's a piece of cake.

Most importantly, the spirit world simply cannot comprehend this form of existence—one that does not rely on world authority and achieves godhood purely through the origin of rules.

Normally, if a true god with corresponding authority exists in the spirit world, it's almost impossible for a second one to be born.

In the eyes of the gods, this new god was clearly not following the normal path.

[To become a god through theft—this isn't the true god of darkness, but rather the true god of thievery, isn't it?]

[But no matter what, the other side is a true god!]

[Therefore, upon seeing that the newly ascended True God of Darkness and the Goddess of Darkness seemed to have reached a reconciliation and the atmosphere was harmonious, the gods of the spirit realm, who had been observing in secret, dispatched their incarnations of will to descend upon this still-smoke-filled region.]

With smiles, some sincere and some feigned, they attempted to establish contact with Yu Xiao, this mysterious and powerful new god, paving the way for potential future cooperation or transactions.

[In what appeared to be casual small talk and probing, Yu Xiao inadvertently revealed a crucial piece of information.]

He has a spiritual connection!

The reasons why he chose to distance himself from the spirit world and ascend to godhood after receiving some kind of blessing from it are too complex to explain in detail, but those who know, know.

Upon hearing this, the descending avatars of the gods all wore knowing, subtle smiles.

They exchanged glances, everything understood without a word.

Oh, I see!

[Did he steal a power from his hometown in the spirit world that didn't belong to him, and fearing retribution, he ran away to advance his career?]

This is definitely something from the spirit world!

[This perfectly matches everyone's imagination of those who achieve godlike status through unorthodox methods!]

[Anyway, the stolen power wasn't theirs; better to sacrifice a friend than themselves.] [Some cunning True Gods are even considering secretly contacting Yu Xiao to see if they can pay a huge price to obtain the method or secret technique for stealing power from him.]

[I may not be able to use this forbidden technique myself, but I must obtain information about it.]

Otherwise, if someone were to use it on you one day, you wouldn't even know how you died!

Only the Goddess of Night, listening to this conversation and sensing the gloating and even mocking thoughts of the surrounding gods, felt a bitterness welling up inside her.

[He is the true, the only one, the one who suffered so cruelly, having his flesh forcibly torn away!]

[This pent-up anger was causing His divine fire to ache!]

He secretly gritted his teeth and vowed that upon returning, he would mobilize all his forces to thoroughly investigate the origins and background of this new god, leaving no stone unturned.

Whether or not to seek revenge is another matter, but it wouldn't hurt to investigate first, would it?

In March of the 148th year of the Extraordinary Calendar, thanks to the tireless efforts and resource allocation of the Goddess of the Night, the Dark Night Cult finally welcomed three new demigods of authority.

These three, without exception, are all core members of the Red Heart Society.

[The promotion of two of them stemmed from the automatic bestowal of blessings from the rules by the spirit realm's will, driven by some dormant instinct, for their contributions to the spirit realm.]

This is an ancient mechanism by which the spirit world maintains its ecosystem, and it remains unchanged despite the spirit world's slumber.

The third place, however, relies entirely on the strong support of the Goddess of the Night!

[The goddess herself intervened, offering a precious divine resource that even the God of Flames found tempting, to persuade this god of flames, known for his explosive power, to take action.]

[He carefully extracted and separated a wisp of pure authority from the other party's vast and fiery authority, and bestowed it upon that member of the Red Heart Society.]

The reason the Goddess of the Night suffered such a heavy loss was not entirely of her own volition.

[In reality, His own authority had already been damaged after Yu Xiao forcibly borrowed it, making his foundation unstable and unable to withstand the turmoil caused by the further division of authority.]

Although blessing a few demigods is fine, what if something happens?

What if Yu Xiao pulls some other crazy trick?

All of this must be guarded against!

Normally, if He doesn't want to give, He can choose not to.

But the contributions of this member of the Red Heart Society were simply too great and too dazzling.

The cultivation method he offered, titled "Dark Night Meditation Guidance Technique," was personally verified by the goddess and found to generally increase believers' efficiency in absorbing the power of darkness by up to forty percent.

[Subsequently, the opponent's improved Dark Night Cultivation Method significantly enhanced the believer's absorption and conversion rate of various dark-attribute natural treasures.]

During their time with the Dark Night Cult, the other party came up with all sorts of ingenious ideas, bringing one surprise after another to the Dark Night Cult.

[Based on His judgment, it is no exaggeration to say that, thanks to this great talent, once the Dark Night Cult is restored, its power will undoubtedly increase several times over.]

This is practically the Dark Cult's crown jewel!

How can the sect's grace be demonstrated if such extraordinary talents are not granted a demigod-like position of authority commensurate with their contributions?

How can we inspire those who come after us?

What if the other party runs away? Wouldn't that be a loss?

Of course, the Goddess of the Night was by no means an unsuspecting fool.

He also took precautions against the God of Flames.

Before the God of Flames bestowed His blessings, He went so far as to incur another great favor by inviting the Goddess of Justice, renowned for her absolute impartiality, to serve as witness.

This newly ascended Flame Demigod will be permanently and exclusively bound to the Cult of the Night, and his allegiance will be solely to the Goddess of the Night.

This is both a reward for talent and a carefully constructed constraint by the goddess.

In extraordinary circumstances, this is the only way to proceed.

[If not for the theft of authority by wicked men, He truly intended to use that authority to bestow blessings.]

Then, in some future era, when the other party's demigod lifespan is nearing its end, they will be incorporated into the divine kingdom, transformed into a holy spirit, and subsequently contribute to the development of the Dark Night Cult.

However, just as the Goddess of Night was planning for the future, the God of Flame encountered a mishap during the blessing process.

[The God of Flames, this powerful deity known for his tyrannical temper, lack of common sense, and recklessness, actually managed to abduct His brilliant strategist of the night during the process of bestowing blessings.] (End of Chapter)