Chapter 415: Initial Establishment of the Divine Realm
Within the Domain, the faith provided by over a million believers converged, like streams flowing from all directions, spectacularly coiling in the sky, forming a lake of faith.
Unlike the intangible nature of faith in the Material Plane, here, faith power was truly visible. However, the gathered faith currently resembled somewhat murky water, no longer possessing its initial purity, causing one to frown upon seeing it.
Actually, this wasn’t surprising. With the expansion of Divine Shield, the circulation of the Divine Scripture was inevitable. Coupled with the active promotion by priests in the mobile temples on the magic airships, the number of believers increased rapidly, leaving Owen somewhat caught off guard.
The expansion of faith was good, but these believers developed outside the territory couldn’t compare to those within. The faith power they provided wasn’t pure, and directly absorbing it would definitely cause problems over time.
Fortunately, the ten angels, working tirelessly year-round, acted as stabilizing forces. They skillfully flapped their wings, dispersing the gathered turbid currents of faith, guiding the pure faith back to the Golden Tree to await filtration and purification before being converted into divine power.
As for the faith containing impurities, it was categorized based on the impurity content. Those with less content became materials for expanding the Domain, while those with excessive impurities were discarded into the lowest level, left for the Abyss Demons to handle.
Despite the diversion, due to the sheer amount of faith, a considerable amount of pure faith power that couldn’t be converted in time crystallized and hung on the Golden Tree, resembling crystal fruits. It was a picturesque scene that countless gods would envy, as for gods, these crystals represented wealth.
With the angels and Abyss Demons managing affairs, everything within the Domain was well-organized, allowing Owen to focus most of his energy on addressing his own matters.
Currently, the Domain, serving as his divine realm, was divided into three levels. The uppermost level was the Eternal Night Realm, representing Owen’s current divine authority. It was also the facade he presented to the outside world. After all, if the true nature of the Domain were fully revealed, few gods would remain calm. He was only a Lesser God and couldn’t handle such a grand spectacle.
Although the divine realm existed, the Death and Shadow religion primarily spread its faith within the Underworld. It was still early, with few believers who weren’t devout enough. The faith they provided disgusted Owen, who was accustomed to the pure faith provided by millions of devout believers in his territory. He used it all as fuel for the Godslayer’s Greatsword, unwilling to even use it for expanding the divine realm.
It couldn’t be helped. There were few good-hearted individuals in the Underworld. Describing it as a gathering of villains wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Expecting them to pray selflessly was undoubtedly wishful thinking. It could be said that every bit of faith was laced with poison. Only those indiscriminate evil gods dared to swallow it raw. For Owen, who had a sense of cleanliness, even a glance at it was repulsive.
Disgusting as it was, Owen couldn’t ignore it. Helplessly, he could only entrust part of the matter to An Qi. After all, she was nominally the subordinate god of Death and Shadow.
The middle level of the Domain was the most expansive, named the Realm of Light. It was also the core of the entire Domain, as the Golden Tree, the ten angels, and the five Divine Artifacts resided here.
This was the future headquarters of Owen’s divine realm, the one he put the most effort into, constructing nature-based troop buildings.
The bottom level was named the Hellish Domain. Apart from the difference in troop buildings, it wasn’t much different from the other levels. However, Owen currently used it as a prison. Those believers who had committed unforgivable sins were thrown here to play with the bored Abyss Demons. As for how they played, he didn’t care.
With Owen’s divine realm taking initial shape, he began to convert believers into devout followers on a larger scale, taking a significant step towards a true divine realm.
Devout followers were an essential part of the divine realm. They were believers reborn in the divine realm after death. Not only could they provide a continuous stream of faith, but they could also serve as guardians when the divine realm was invaded. Additionally, they would become the vanguard when attacking other divine realms, making their importance self-evident.
Compared to other gods, Owen had the advantage of a systematized troop building structure. As long as he had enough devout followers and was willing to expend faith power, he could have as many divine realm guardians as he needed.
This flurry of activity not only consumed time and energy, but also depleted the progress value he had intended to save. As a result, An Qi’s ascension to godhood would have to wait.
While his original body was busy working tirelessly, as an avatar, the Ogre Lord returned to his dungeon once again, indulging in a life of luxury and pleasure. A group of Drow who had just given birth once again pestered him for gene seeds, leaving him with a happy dilemma.
Currently, the dungeon’s construction was complete. In addition to the dungeon-themed troop buildings, trade routes had been established. Merchants from the surface world traveled through the Ogre Castle to reach Black Fortress, located in the middle section of the Underworld. After a period of rest, they ventured further into the depths to maximize their profits.
However, only high-end caravans dared to do so. Ordinary caravans at most stayed in the Ogre Castle, with the occasional bold ones venturing to Black Fortress. However, most chose to set up stalls in the castle market to sell their goods. Those who dared to wander around or venture deeper into the Underworld often ended up disappearing without a trace.
It couldn’t be helped. The roads in the Underworld were treacherous, and monsters roamed everywhere. Each dungeon was like a bandit stronghold, ready to devour anyone who entered. To venture deep and earn big profits, courage and a clear path weren’t enough. One needed sufficiently powerful guards.
But who with sufficient strength would be willing to risk their lives as guards? Robbing was faster and more lucrative. Therefore, they had to rely on numbers, but with a large number of guards, costs naturally soared. As a result, only a few powerful and well-connected caravans could venture into the depths of the Underworld to trade.
Fortunately, with the construction of the Ogre Castle, the surrounding roads became much smoother. As its reputation spread, nearby dungeons became accustomed to trading here, and Black Fortress followed suit, gradually becoming the regional trade center.
While the two dungeons earned substantial profits, they naturally attracted envy, facing various overt and covert schemes. However, none of them succeeded, and over time, as spheres of influence were redefined, few dared to provoke them.
On this day, Owen rarely woke up early. He was setting up a pot, preparing to make soup. He hadn’t given up on the idea of writing an Ogre Cookbook.
However, due to the Ogre’s rough skills, delicate cooking methods weren’t suitable. Therefore, Owen had always focused on soups and barbecue.
Barbecue needed to be eaten hot, while soup required time to simmer. Therefore, Owen spent most of his time making soup. It was the least troublesome, requiring only stirring with a large ladle. When he felt peckish, he could even take a sip of the warm broth.
Now that Owen was a Demigod, the soup he brewed was naturally extraordinary. He first broke off a few pieces of the remaining dragon bones and tossed them in, followed by various magical herbs. Finally, he added water and lit the fire, using witchcraft to catalyze the process.
As the soup simmered, a faint fluorescence began to emerge. The broth, which for some reason always turned green, gradually acquired a translucent quality. A surge of magic power began to churn within the pot. However, before it could erupt, it was dispersed by the stirring ladle, integrating into the increasingly thick soup.
While Owen was making soup, both Siluo and the Black Fortress Matriarch stayed as far away as possible. After all, they had personally experienced the effects of the “Intestine Cleanser” soup from the Ogre Cookbook. Moreover, the soup brewed recently had become increasingly terrifying, and they truly couldn’t handle it.
As Owen carefully explored how to use witchcraft to bring out more changes in the magical ingredients, he suddenly paused and looked up towards the dungeon entrance. There, a witch dressed inconspicuously was entering with a caravan.
