Thanos didn't want to be a villain.

With that thought in mind, Dio happily returned to the courtyard.

Seeing that Hela had not yet awakened from her enlightenment, Dio sighed and ran to Nezha's residence.

"Sorry, sorry, I took a nap after eating, as is my habit. I heard from the servants that Brother Zhao came looking for you. It seems your cultivation went very smoothly today." Nezha stared at Di'e's face for a while, recognized him, and smiled apologetically.

If Dio hadn't known beforehand that this guy was faking it, he would definitely have forgiven the sincerity he was showing.

"You can't hit a smiling face," Di'o said with a smile. "Yes, yes, today's harvest is quite fruitful. My wife at home is still having an epiphany, and the first person I thought of was you, Brother Nezha."

Dio had not yet transformed back into his human form, which is why Nezha did not immediately recognize him as Dio.

Upon entering the mansion, Dio casually transformed back into his original form.

Nezha once again ordered his servants to prepare food, and just like yesterday, there was a lot of delicious food. This made Di'e somewhat helpless. Just how much do these gods like to hold banquets?

Greece is like this, Northern Europe is like this, so why is China like this too?

However, after smelling the aroma, Dio still started eating it.

Of course, it's not that he can't control himself; having cultivated both body and mind, he has an extremely strong ability to restrain his desires in all aspects.

It's just a simple appetite; it's not that I can't control it.

But since we need Nezha's help now, we still have to give him face.

After meal.

Nezha stretched and patted his stomach, saying, "How was it? Was Brother Zhao's teaching style particularly boring?"

Dio shook his head: "Brother Zhao's teaching style is quite normal, perhaps too serious, and he explains the spells in great detail."

"That's true, Zhao Yu is just like that, he wants to be meticulous in everything he does."

Did he say anything to you in the end?

Nezha asked with a curious look.

"He did give me some advice at the end, telling me to focus on improving my life cultivation. But I've been practicing in the Tushita Palace for so long, and Laozi still hasn't given me that black hole magic weapon. I guess I don't need to practice it for now, right?" Di'o said with a questioning look on his face at the end.

Dio's question made Nezha fall silent for a moment. He took a sip of wine, smacked his lips, and said, "Brother, do you know what category we gods belong to?"

Dio was a little curious. What else could a god be? Of course, a god!

Immediately afterward, before Dio could speak, Nezha continued, "Gods have different functions, and different functions give us different responsibilities. Don't be fooled by my titles of Marshal of the Central Altar and Abbess Tongtian, and the fact that some 'Great God of the Three Altars and Seas' has come from the mortal world. It seems like I'm so powerful, like I have all the power and can decide life and death with a single word."

"But you must know that no matter how powerful I am, I am still a deity worshipper, a protector, and a spirit official."

"I, Erlang Shen, Wang Shan, the Four Marshals, those Gods of Wealth, and so on, we all walk the Lingguan Path, we are guardian deities."

"Don't be fooled by how powerful we seem to other pantheons. Every now and then, a mortal is made a god, and we have the strongest number and quality of war gods. But we all have a fatal flaw."

"We need the sacrifices of mortals, or rather, the incense offerings!"

Dio frowned. At first, he didn't understand why Nezha was saying all this, but a flash of inspiration seemed to pass through his mind, and he wanted to grasp it, but he was somewhat dazed.

"Do you know the advantages and disadvantages of following the Spirit Official Path? The advantage is simple: the guardian deities of the Spirit Official Path cultivate very quickly. How fast? In just a few years, a mortal can achieve mastery of cultivation from adolescence to adulthood. They can then go out and explore, collect magical treasures and spiritual objects bestowed by elders to replenish themselves, and gain considerable combat power, even to the point of crushing many long-established gods."

Nezha's words reminded Dio of Sun Wukong from Journey to the West.

I read a comic book in my past life that provided an explanation of the story.

It is said that Sun Wukong had already replenished his pure Yang body after obtaining the Golden Cudgel. Later, when he was guarding the Peach Garden, peaches, which belong to the pure Yang category, he stole and ate peaches, which was like replenishing his pure Yang body. However, he encountered seven fairies representing the extreme Yin, and his cultivation was immediately ruined.

In addition, the name "Qitian" (齐天) is associated with the dragon that reaches the heavens, which is called "Kanglong" (亢龙). "Kanglong" will regret it, and its power will decline.

With Erlang Shen's abilities as a minor saint and his superior strength as a minor sage, he was already in a position to win against Sun Wukong, whose skills had already been broken.

This passage was originally intended to warn future generations about their spiritual practice, but when interpreted in this context, it evokes a peculiar feeling.

Sun Wukong is like a guardian deity who was made quickly, but the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha was not created entirely for the purpose of being a guardian deity.

"The drawback is even simpler. We need incense and prayers to become gods. This is the first element that determines our divine body and power. Once determined, we will not lose power due to a lack of incense and prayers. However, incense allows us to grow and recover faster, and it can even make our brains feel like they can't stop. Without incense, we will become very empty, itchy all over, scratching our ears and cheeks, and frantically pursuing incense and prayers."

就像毒品。

Dio immediately thought of this.

“It’s terrible.” Dio took two sips of wine.

“Yes, it’s terrifying.” Nezha toyed with his wine cup.

"Is this how they control you?" Dio asked.

"Control? Don't you want to hear what nonsense you're spouting?" Nezha looked terrified and slowly backed away, as if to say, "If you want to die, don't drag me down with you."

"This is the weakness of worshipping gods. The weakness of the Lingguan Dao is that it becomes weak in the later stages. Although it can reach its peak quickly, it is difficult to make any achievements in a short period of time if it wants to continue to grow."

"What are you thinking about?!"

Dio was somewhat embarrassed, blaming himself for bringing the conspiracy theories from Journey to the West he had read in his previous life with him.

"But why did you choose to worship the gods? Couldn't you have taken the Lingguan Road?" Dio asked, trying to shake off his embarrassment.

"Do you think I don't want to? I was born a god of war. Not long after I was born, I killed dragons and caused havoc in the sea. In the end, I had to cut off my flesh to repay my mother and cut off my bones to repay my father. In the end, Buddha saved me and used lotus roots to shape my body. The incense and the power of vows strengthened my spirit. If it weren't for the incense and the power of vows, I would have been scattered long ago." Nezha said, gesturing wildly.

Dio nodded. It seemed that the Nezha in this world was different from the one in Investiture of the Gods, but more similar to the one in Journey to the West.

"Laojun taught you the basics of Lingguan Dao. Although he taught you magic, he also instructed you not to become obsessed with magic. You should continue to cultivate yourself, cultivate both your mind and body, and understand the Dao. Lingguan Dao sounds nice, but it's really just a Daoist soldier, a high-level henchman."

As he spoke, Nezha ordered the banquet to be cleared away.

"Although I worship gods and follow the path of the spirit official, I have also studied Taoist scriptures extensively. You can come to me anytime if you have any questions, or you can meditate and cultivate on your own." Nezha wanted to pat Di'e's arm, but because of his height, he could only pat his thigh.

"But remember not to work in isolation. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me. If I don't understand, ask someone else. My old man is right across the street. He's even better at studying Taoist magic than my older brother. Don't let his status as a marshal fool you; he doesn't fight personally, but he's quite strong."

After saying that, Nezha left, instructing his servants to take Di'e to his room before he left.