Chapter 243: The Shape of the Dragon Mother
“It seems the situation is better than expected.” An Qi squinted her eyes as she surveyed the state of the divine realm, a sly smile playing on her lips.
Don’t blame her for her lack of sympathy. For An Qi, a former Devil now a Blood Princess, empathy was a foreign concept, especially when they were not here as guests.
For them, invaders in this realm, the Mountain Mother Goddess’s state was perfect – lying half-dead and incapacitated. They had stumbled upon a golden opportunity.
Although certain that the Mountain Mother Goddess wouldn’t awaken anytime soon, An Qi, clutching the Black Magic Book, didn’t approach recklessly. Instead, she began casting spells from a safe distance.
Billowing black smoke and eerie lights and shadows danced around her. Wicked magic from Hell intertwined with strange, witch-like curses, all manipulated by An Qi to weaken the Mountain Mother Goddess. She even cleverly borrowed the lingering power of the Voodoo King, further diminishing the goddess’s strength.
The Mountain Mother Goddess, whose eyelids had been twitching in an attempt to awaken due to their proximity, now fell into a deep slumber, as if drugged with a potent sleeping potion.
“That’s enough. Hurry up,” An Qi urged the Dragon Mother, barely able to catch her breath after expending so much power.
The Dragon Mother, having already prepared herself, nodded and transformed into her true form – a colossal red dragon, even more imposing and ferocious than the Mountain Mother Goddess. She lowered her head and began to tear into the slumbering deity.
The Mountain Mother Goddess, trapped in a nightmare, could do nothing but writhe helplessly. She couldn’t even open her eyes as chunks of her flesh were devoured, transforming into pure Faith and consumed by the Dragon Mother.
This was just the beginning. Stripped of her Faith-infused body, the Mountain Mother Goddess’s core – her divine spirit – was exposed.
This divine spirit, imbued with Divinity, was theoretically immortal, unburdened by a physical form. This was why some Demigods chose the path of Faith Gods when their lifespans neared their end.
The Dragon Mother, with a faint golden glow emanating from her, swallowed the divine spirit whole and chewed with force. Useless parts scattered as shimmering dust, while valuable aspects were absorbed. The two most crucial points of Divinity were preserved, to be handed over to Owen for his discretion. Even the Dragon Mother wouldn’t dare to claim them for herself.
Leaving the Dragon Mother in the Earthly Divine Realm to continue devouring, An Qi returned to Owen’s side with the two points of Divinity.
“Did it work?!” Owen asked, incredulous. The entire process had unfolded without him lifting a finger. He had merely waited.
“It went even smoother than we anticipated.” An Qi could only attribute this success to the lizardmen’s lack of depth. Even as a deity, the Mountain Mother Goddess had been utterly unprepared, rendering many of their precautions unnecessary.
If they had attempted this in a higher world, even a slumbering Faith God would have left behind numerous safeguards, potentially making the invasion a nightmare or even leading to mutual destruction.
“Master, this is the Mountain Mother Goddess’s Divinity. There are two points.” An Qi’s expression turned strange as she placed the Divinity within the Domain. Divinity wasn’t something mortals could touch casually. It could easily attract misfortune, as only extraordinary individuals could perceive its presence.
Placing it within the Domain was different. Unless someone surpassed the long-deceased God of Reality and Illusion in power, they wouldn’t be able to see through it.
Owen, who controlled the Domain, didn’t need to guess. He saw through the Divinity’s nature at a glance and was rendered speechless. He finally understood An Qi’s odd expression.
Theoretically, Divinity had no inherent attributes. However, the purer it was, the more susceptible it was to influence. Moreover, lacking attributes wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Just like in certain professions, general-purpose tools weren’t as effective as specialized ones. The same applied to Divinity.
The problem was that these two points of Divinity represented ‘Lizardman’ and ‘Fertility.’ If Owen didn’t want to transform into a lactating lizardman, it was best to avoid them.
“Forget it, give them both to the Dragon Mother.” While Owen felt it was a pity, it wasn’t a significant loss. Besides, he had anticipated this outcome.
A lizardman deity focused on fertility – it was obvious what kind of Divinity it would yield.
Relieved to see Owen’s genuine indifference, the Dragon Mother swallowed the two points of Divinity and entered the Mountain Mother Goddess’s Earthly Divine Realm to digest them.
Normally, when a deity died, their Earthly Divine Realm would collapse. However, Owen used his Domain to cover it, forcefully maintaining its integrity and giving the Dragon Mother ample time to reinforce and absorb it. This way, they could preserve the Mountain Mother Goddess’s legacy to the greatest extent possible.
This meant Owen couldn’t leave for a while. Without the Domain’s support, the Dragon Mother alone couldn’t sustain a divine realm that had lost its owner, even if it was relatively small.
It couldn’t be helped. If the Earthly Divine Realm was an egg, the souls of believers were the egg white, and the deity was the yolk. None were dispensable.
However, now that it was preserved, how to handle it became a problem.
The simplest solution was to leave the Earthly Divine Realm intact and let the Dragon Mother slowly digest it. However, that meant she would be bound to it, potentially leading to trouble. After all, she would be outside Owen’s control.
Another option was to have the Domain completely absorb the Earthly Divine Realm. This offered several advantages.
Firstly, the Dragon Mother wouldn’t be tied to this world, giving Owen peace of mind. Secondly, the faith provided by the lizardmen would be filtered by the Domain, preventing it from influencing the Dragon Mother and turning her into a lizardman milk cow.
Lastly, it would be safer. They wouldn’t have to worry about someone barging into their home like they had just done to the Mountain Mother Goddess, taking everything and leaving nothing behind.
Without hesitation, Owen exchanged for an Underground Dungeon Chamber beneath the altar and settled in.
As for the Dragon Mother’s opinion? Even though she now possessed three points of Divinity, she still acted submissively towards Owen. How could she possibly object?
Interestingly, her subservience wasn’t an act. She genuinely feared Owen.
Despite being a revered deity, she felt fear towards Owen, who was still a mortal and hadn’t even reached the Legendary realm.
Clearly, Owen’s plan was working. Residing safely within the Domain, enjoying free Faith, the Dragon Mother had begun to pay the price – the inevitable assimilation, becoming a part of the Domain, a part of the System-Converted Population, gradually taking on Owen’s shape.
The fusion process was simple, albeit time-consuming. It involved slowly breaking down the Earthly Divine Realm and letting the Domain absorb and replace it.
Without the Domain’s cheat-like abilities, this method wouldn’t work. If it were truly shattered, there wouldn’t be enough time to absorb it. The Dragon Mother couldn’t maintain a broken divine realm.
The question now was how to deal with the slumbering lizardmen souls within the space. They worshipped the Mountain Mother Goddess. Even if the Dragon Mother devoured her, their faith wouldn’t transfer.
Furthermore, the Mother Tribe’s faith would also be significantly reduced. Thus, a change was necessary. They needed to worship the Dragon Mother for efficient faith absorption.
Owen stroked his chin, thinking of a solution. He decided to rebrand and repackage.
An Qi, as a former Devil, excelled at such schemes. She personally devised a plan that even Owen applauded for its brilliance.
