Capítulo 959: Chapter 959: Returning to the Divine Realm Again Standing in front of us was a tall man with short silver hair, a slightly lean face, and a small tuft of silver-white beard on his chin. His complexion had the unique pallor of the Dark Divine Race. He wore a thick robe, black on the outside and red on the inside, looking as though he were a thirty-year-old human with the demeanor of a somber, serious medieval nobleman. I know this sounds familiar because it’s directly lifted from earlier—no need to guess, some of you might have already figured out who this is. This tall Dark Divine Race man was standing solemnly in my living room. His presence made the house, even though it was eleven or noon outside, as dim as if it were seven or eight in the evening. He stood perfectly straight, his hair meticulously combed to the point where it could probably slide like a slide, and every fold in his robe seemed to have been adjusted countless times. Even an Obama press conference might not be this serious. The man greeted me sternly, “Hello, long time no see. This time, I’m here as a courier sent by the Father God…” Bingdis, who had been unusually subdued since a moment ago, was hiding behind me with a twisted expression. She finally popped her head out, exasperatedly yelling, “Dad! Why are you here?” Indeed, as many who have guessed or have just flipped to the earlier chapters know, the gentleman standing before us, dressed like an old English gentleman in his thirties, is none other than Bingdis’s dad, Uncle Kuwayin, who once warmly hosted our family in the Divine Realm. I was quite surprised when Uncle appeared, but soon I felt relieved: This time, Bingdis can’t go around calling people her “old lady’s.” I finally understood why Bingdis was so panicked in the spiritual link; it’s nothing but fear of her dad… “I told you already, it’s a delivery—” Uncle Kuwayin sighed, looking at Bingdis, “Father God sent someone to deliver a handwritten letter. I happened to be free, so I came over to check since your mother is always worried you’ve already been grounded. Don’t pout. Look at yourself; it’s fine not to come home, but you skipped work, and not only that, you wrote a fake report. And if that wasn’t enough, you forged my signature—and got it wrong! I’ve raised a daughter like you, and now Father God called me to a parent-teacher conference. Don’t you feel guilty at all! Today you’re coming back with me to apologize to the Pantheon one by one!” I immediately looked at Bingdis with a horrified expression. She gave me a dark look: “What are you looking at! I’ve got six reports not written, and my perfect attendance bonus got completely wiped out. To make up for the reports, I need proof of unexpected circumstances. Who else to find but Dad…” Just as the father and daughter were dealing with each other, a sound of wings flapping came from above. Looking up, I saw that the Mercury Lamp was flying down from the second floor, apparently coming down for a meal. Noticing everyone wasn’t at the dining table and with a new person in the house, the little doll looked around curiously, but clearly lacked interest in strangers. After circling once, the little doll decisively landed on my shoulder, “Idiot, it’s time to eat!” Uncle Kuwayin instantly lit up upon seeing Mercury Lamp. What little noble demeanor he had left from earlier collapsed completely as he reached out for a hug, “Oh, little girl’s come down, let Grandpa give you a hug…” Bingdis immediately freaked out and bounced over—if this wasn’t her own dad, she’d probably have pulled out a wolf fang club: “What nonsense are you spouting again?! Don’t you know this is a doll?!” The uncle shrugged with little composure, “Can’t I indulge in a little self-hypnosis? Just let me pretend my daughter finally got married, can’t you?” I discovered that Uncle Kuwayin is indeed Bingdis’s nemesis because he’s possibly one of the few people who can reveal the rogue goddess’s embarrassing history without fear of retribution. I am firmly convinced that Sister Bing wouldn’t dare punch her dad. So when Uncle Kuwayin unabashedly teased Bingdis, this rogue goddess immediately shrank back like a little girl caught skipping school and dragged back home. Mercury Lamp finally recalled who this silver-haired man was, her face turning somewhat strange. The overwhelming enthusiasm of the Kuwayin couple towards this little doll had left a deep impression on her, though the reason for that enthusiasm was rather laughable. Mercury Lamp, not being great at social interactions, didn’t know how to respond and just nodded reluctantly, following my usual teachings. This counted as a greeting, then she continued to tug at my head, demanding food. Uncle Kuwayin realized that, with both his magical daughter and our family’s influence, he might never get through his prepared formal speech, even if he had a lifetime to do so. Considering we were practically old acquaintances, he didn’t hesitate to sit down nonchalantly and, with a wave of his hand, produced a scroll emanating a light golden glow. As he handed it to me, he said, “This is the Father God’s handwritten letter, entrusted to be delivered to you personally before I set off.” “Even I can’t get a peek,” Bingdis acidly added from the side. I placed the squirming little doll on a nearby chair and accepted the scroll from Uncle with a puzzled expression. As soon as it touched my hand, the mystical energy flowing through it made my whole body feel relaxed, filling me with awe. I thought, truly worthy of being Father God’s handwriting—a treasure probably perceived by many in Otherworld as divine words. Each character could possibly be wielded as a Divine Talisman—I’d already decided to copy it fifty times and hang it on the walls, maybe it’d ward off evil spirits… As the supreme leader of the Star Domain Divine Race, writing a personal letter was something extraordinary. Before I even opened the scroll, Bingdis had chirped on and on about its exceptional nature, saying that Father God had only ever used a handwritten letter to communicate with one other person—the Divine King of the Xuron Race. Otherwise, he never wrote letters for communication, only edicts to lower gods. Bingdis thought this was due to my identity as a Void Creature, comprising a full third of the entire Void race. Father God likely saw it necessary to show sincerity with a handwritten letter. She couldn’t stop emphasizing the scroll’s worth, even implying that if I didn’t frame it with gold and enshrine it above my bed, she’d come at me with a brick. When the scroll was unfurled, there were only a few lines of text on the less than one-foot-long pale golden “paper.” The symbols were unlike any I had seen before, not even resembling Divine Race script, yet magically, I immediately understood its meaning: “To my friend, Human King Chen Jun, I hope this letter finds you well. Hearing of the Empire’s gradual recovery and recent triumph fills me with great solace. I have something important to share—please visit the Divine Realm when you can; it’s urgent. Sincerely, Father God, Xingchen.” I think I understand why Father God never engages in letter-writing… “What did it say, what did it say?” Bingdis, unable to contain herself, pushed against my arm. As I lifted my eyes, I caught Uncle Kuwayin’s face, etched with exclamation points as if they were flashed on a screen, so I quickly repositioned to shove the unfolded scroll in front of this rogue goddess with no sense of personal space: “Can’t you see it yourself? Why crowd in?” “Of course not, it’s addressed to you, others can’t see the content—Father God is sharp; he’d definitely be wary of my dad snooping.” Uncle turned visibly green right then; I realized this aristocratic-seeming gentleman holds his emotions quite openly. The matter detailed in the scroll wasn’t a secret, merely an abrupt invitation to the Divine Realm, something Bingdis had previously mentioned. The surprising part was that the Divine Race managed a sense of timing for once. It was merely a few days, and Father God had sent someone already. However, what exactly the urgent matter entailed, neither Bingdis nor her father knew; they could only affirm its urgency. “When should we leave?” I asked while putting away the golden scroll—it might ward off evil, and I planned to make a few copies to hang in Lilina’s room, “I don’t have any pressing matters these days.” “Father God specifically instructed that the matter is of grave importance, so it’s best to depart immediately.” Uncle Kuwayin nodded solemnly, then glanced toward the dining room, “Hmm, leaving after a meal won’t delay things—haven’t eaten yet, have you?” …Why do I feel that this Dark God is akin in spirit to that ever-haunting Uncle Wang? Bingdis, being well aware of her father’s true nature, and given that we witnessed the wonders of the Kuwayin couple during our previous visit to the Divine Realm, was completely unabashed as she dragged her father towards the dining room, “Well, I figured when you arrived at eleven-thirty that you were perfectly timing it for lunch…” The whole family joyfully had a meal together, which could be considered a return gesture after staying for several days at Bingdisi’s home last time. Uncle Kuwayin was full of praise for Anwina and Big Sister’s cooking. He attempted to feed Mercury Lamp three times without success, and the meal lasted for a full two hours. In the end, I suspected that Bingdisi’s dad hadn’t eaten for three days… When Uncle Kuwayin came over, he teleported from the World Tree Temple. This time, I followed him back the same way. Speaking of which, this was actually my first time returning to the Divine Realm since the direct link between Shadow City and the Divine Realm was opened, so I was a bit excited. But later, I found that the teleportation process from the temple back to the Divine Realm seemed no different from using a normal teleportation gate. The only difference, if any, was that this teleportation gate was directly controlled by Dingdang: this was a rather thrilling factor. Because this time it wasn’t a sightseeing trip but legitimate work, and more importantly, we probably wouldn’t stay long in the Divine Realm, so lively spirits like Qianqian and Lin Xue weren’t interested in joining. So, not many people came along, besides myself and Uncle Kuwayin, who was returning to the Divine Realm, there was only Dingdang and Bingdisi. The former needed to report back at the Supreme Life Goddess’s temple and visit the Sister Goddess, while the latter was being taken back by her father to apologize to the Pantheon. The Divine Realm, as always, was picturesque and magnificent, mysterious and solemn… Anyway, this group of almost almighty upstarts never hesitated to make their homes more beautiful. As far as the eye could see, the endless green grass seemed so excessively beautiful that lying down on it felt like a sin. This time we took the express route, so without having to transfer at a Void Node, we directly arrived at the heart of the Divine Realm: the Brilliant Divine Court. The majestic Four Main Temples and Father God’s enormous palace stood as splendid as they were when we left last time. However, as I searched my memory, I found something different: above the Brilliant Divine Court, there seemed to be a huge floating plaza whose purpose was unclear. A large number of Divine Race members, surging with tremendous energy, were coming and going on the plaza. Without exception, they were all in their Divine Form, which was the Divine Race’s combat stance under normal circumstances. I also carefully observed those two-headed Golden Giant Dragons and found out… No one landed with their mouths first. “Your perspective on things is really peculiar.” Bingdisi nudged me with her elbow. “But the passage is open… Tsk tsk, it seems something serious is really happening this time. I can roughly guess why Father God called you.” I immediately looked at Bingdisi with surprise, but she quickly turned her head and said, “You’ll know soon enough. This thing is quite complicated. Besides the High Order Divine Race, only successive Xyrin Emperors know some of the inside information. Sandora might know as well. But this matter is related to the secrets from the founding of the Divine Realm, so although many people know about it, only Father God can directly interact with it. Looks like… well, you’ll find out when you go in.” It took me half a minute to smooth out Bingdisi’s grammar, and I was astonished to find out she hadn’t really said anything! The floating plaza was positioned above the entire Brilliant Divine Court, and from our current angle, we naturally couldn’t see what was on it. We could only see divine patterns on the bottom of the plaza, glowing and overflowing, and sense an astonishing amount of energy gathering above it, tempting one to fly up and take a look. But before this impulse could become a reality, the doors to the Father God Temple had already opened. Just like last time, Father God, with no airs, personally came out to greet guests. His style always made me feel like I was just visiting a neighbor, without any sense of meeting a god. Father God, who appeared as an ordinary and gentle young man resembling a neighbor, wearing what seemed like simple home attire, appeared before me. He warmly grabbed my hand and warmly greeted, “Have you eaten?” Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥 With equal warmth, I shook his arm, “I came right after eating—how’s everyone at home?” …Then Bingdisi and her father both turned to stone in front of the Father God Temple, while Dingdang, curious, danced around in a figure-eight pattern above me, clearly sensing something was off but unsure exactly what, while Father God seemed unaware, saying with a gentle smile, “I tried to catch up on the customs of your world recently, was this the right thing to say?” My brainstem nearly cramped up; I had responded purely out of habit, only now realizing how full of potential ridicule Father God’s greeting was. But his friendly, next-door-neighbor smile left me with no courage to point out how inappropriate that greeting was for a conversation between two leaders—of course, mainly because I couldn’t beat him. What if Father God got angry and decided to kill me to shut me up… “Dingdang is going to visit Sister Goddess now.” The little thing spent quite some time flying swiftly around our heads, noticed no one was paying attention, pulled on my ear in a huff, intending to head to the Life Temple. I casually grabbed a bag of candy from my pocket and hung it on Dingdang: “ with everyone.” Dingdang gleefully spelled out “Yay!” in the sky, then buzzed away like a heavy transporter, lugging a bag of candy almost bigger than herself… It really was buzzing, the noise she made flying with such a “load” was at least three times louder than usual, definitely a gas-guzzler. Maybe I should remind her to store the candy in her Personal Space first. Father God watched Dingdang gradually disappearing into the distance, a faint smile on his face, and after a long while said, “Every child grows up one day, that Dingdang who was always causing chaos all those days has become an independent goddess now.” I genuinely had no idea how Father God summarized this “independence,” because, if memory serves me right, Dingdang was a notoriously peculiar one in the Divine Realm, famously having caused mischief for the Four Main Gods and Father God himself during her childhood. I always thought this was Dingdang’s special strength because while naughty kids are common, those who managed to smash Father God’s glass are rare. Just as a fruit knife used to peel a potato is not the same as one used on Emperor Qin Shi Huang—Dingdang was something like the latter. “So, what’s the reason for calling me over?” After Bingdisi and her dad also left, only Father God and I were left in front of the temple, and I quickly asked about the main matter. I discovered something: when speaking with Father God, the atmosphere always naturally relaxed rapidly. No matter how many times Sandora emphasized how I should show respect to Father God, no matter how Bingdisi had babbled on for quite a while about how meeting Father God was a very serious matter, I couldn’t bring myself to be serious in front of this neighborly elder brother. Before I know it, the tone would change to one of chatting with a neighbor, and the strange thing is, both Father God and I found this quite normal. There are two explanations for this odd phenomenon. The first is more scientific, suggesting that as fellow Void Creatures, there’s a kind of mutual affinity and kindred spirit between us. The second is more credible: two “dad-types” always have common topics, especially when both of them are somewhat unconventional. “Come with me,” Father God said, pointing up at the floating plaza over the Brilliant Divine Court, and then took me along to teleport up. “I am going to show you a place; be prepared as the environment there might not be very comfortable.” A flash of white light passed before my eyes, and I found myself standing on the Giant Stone Square in the sky, the aerial platform that I saw before from the Brilliant Divine Court. This plaza was very vast, with sides that seemed to stretch for kilometers. I curiously glanced around, discovering that the plaza was used for placing teleportation portals—at the plaza’s center, there was a giant space gate. To call it a gate was rather to describe it as a web-like cracked space. Obviously, this was a temporary portal, yet to be properly constructed. Many members of the Divine Race stood guard near this gate, while a few were passing through this gateway. On the other side, bizarre lights and shadows could be seen, but no clear view of the opposite scenery. I still felt utterly bewildered, but Father God wasn’t explaining for the moment. He nodded slightly to the Divine Race members guarding nearby, then took the lead into the space rift. I was briefly stunned but quickly followed. Before us was a stunning crystal world. Surrounding us, however, was an intensely unsettling atmosphere of abnormality. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendations and monthly tickets—your support is my greatest motivation.)