The other party was a lofty deity. In his eyes, Lin Xiao was merely a mortal who could be extinguished with a casual gesture. He had even ruined the deity's meticulously prepared ten-thousand-year grand plan, truly deserving of death.
So why hadn't he acted? Why had he instead explained so much to Lin Xiao?
If it were any other deity appearing before Lin Xiao, he naturally wouldn't dare speculate about a god's thoughts.
But precisely because he knew who this deity was, knowing that although he possessed the status of a god, he still hadn't shed the mindset of a "human", Lin Xiao's heart was filled with countless doubts.
The deity's aura was like a ceaseless ocean tide. Lin Xiao was like a small boat drifting on the sea's surface, tossed by the wind, as though he might sink into the waters at any moment.
The only thing that gave him peace of mind was probably his teacher, Electrolux. That gray light wasn't bright, yet it let Lin Xiao know exactly where he should head. Even on the icy sea surface, there was still a trace of warmth.
Right—Electrolux!
A glint flashed in Lin Xiao's eyes as a thought suddenly surged up.
If there was anything left on him that could make a deity look at him differently, even willing to explain the entire sequence of events, then it could only be Electrolux, this soul fragment that had come from another world and approached the level of a deity.
He had unintentionally destroyed the arrangements the deity left in the Holy Spirit Cult. With a deity's methods, dealing with a mortal would naturally be effortless, yet the Holy Spirit Cult's arrangements had ultimately been ruined.
What the deity needed wasn't for him to admit fault, but a person who could make up for this mistake.
The Holy Spirit Cult's development up to now had only scratched the surface of the power in Electrolux's divine sense fragment; they only knew how to use Electrolux's power to create vengeful spirits.
But Lin Xiao, who could truly utilize Electrolux's power, was far more suitable than Zhongli Wu or any previous leader of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Lin Xiao's body swayed slightly as he slowly raised his head.
He didn't dare guarantee that his guess was one hundred percent correct, but it was far better than simply waiting for the other party to dispose of him.
It was just admitting fault, after all. Back when he was under the Nightmare Douluo, in the Holy Spirit Cult, Lin Xiao had long grown accustomed to it. Hadn't his entire journey been like this?
It was merely one more time.
With thoughts racing through his mind, only a short instant passed in the outside world. Having thought this far, Lin Xiao's body trembled slightly as he deeply bowed at the waist.
"Because of me alone, things have come to this; it is my fault. I am willing to die to atone."
"Enough. You did it unintentionally. Seeing that you have the heart to correct your mistake, I shall give you a chance."
As expected.
Lin Xiao's heart stirred, though his face took on a different expression, one mixed with the excitement and gratitude of having survived a calamity. "Please give your instructions. I know my own fault; even if it means ten thousand deaths, I dare not refuse."
"Since this place was ruined because of you, you shall act as proxy and fulfill its duties here. You are to walk the continent, exhausting your entire life to complete the ten-thousand-year plan. On the day the Abyss descends in the future, that shall be when your sins are redeemed."
"If you violate this command, you shall surely suffer divine punishment."
"Yes, I respectfully obey the divine decree."
Lin Xiao bent even lower, not raising his head for a long time.
The surrounding heavy pressure gradually eased, and that oppressive aura seemed to slowly dissipate.
"Additionally, in the extreme north of the continent, there is a place where space is weak. Few people go there, and living creatures are scarce; it can serve as the site for the Abyss's descent."
"Yes."
Lin Xiao responded once more, now understanding in his heart why he had encountered the Holy Emperor statue set up by Zhongli Wu in the extreme north back then, and why the space there had been so strange.
The entire purpose of the Holy Spirit Cult's existence had been nothing more than to continuously transmit signals to that Abyss plane.
And from now on, this duty had fallen upon him.
Behind him, Electrolux's figure flickered slightly as Lin Xiao slowly came back to his senses.
The statue before him was now covered in cracks. Lin Xiao slowly raised his head and, from the statue's face, saw Electrolux, saw a certain deity, and seemed to see yet another unfamiliar face.
The statue no longer carried any strange aura; it was just like an ordinary statue one might see anywhere.
Letting out a gentle breath, Lin Xiao's body relaxed slightly, as though he had unloaded an invisible burden.
"Child, are you alright?"
Electrolux's voice slowly rang out. "If it weren't for helping me find the divine sense fragments…"
"Teacher, you don't need to say such things." Lin Xiao shook his head instead. "Since the Holy Spirit Cult still had such a role, sooner or later I would have faced this anyway."
"From the outcome, isn't this actually a good thing now? I've obtained your divine sense fragment, and I'm still perfectly fine."
"But the burden you've taken on…" Electrolux hesitated. "That is the god of your world, after all. A deity's karma is not something easy to get involved with."
"It's fine." Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes. "Since he wants me to do his work, I'll just do it."
As he spoke, Lin Xiao glanced at the statue once more, swallowing the second half of his sentence.
It was merely because he wasn't strong enough, that's all. He understood better than anyone that the deities of this world were absolutely not unshakable existences.
Suppressing his thoughts, Lin Xiao's state of mind gradually calmed. In that instant, the information from Electrolux's divine sense fragment immediately spread through his sea of consciousness.
Souls, manipulation, creation… Vast knowledge surged through Lin Xiao's mind.
If the Electrolux divine sense fragment he encountered in the Star Dou Forest had taught him what souls were and how to obtain them, then this new fragment was telling him just what extent souls could reach in the hands of a necromancer.
It absolutely wasn't limited to merely supporting him in battle as it did now. Once his research into souls reached a certain level, the power of souls alone would be enough to influence the real world.
In a flash of insight, Lin Xiao suddenly sat cross-legged on the spot. Behind him, Electrolux's figure rose as strands of gray light continuously gathered around him, slowly circulating.
In merely a few breaths, those strands of light gradually solidified, connecting end to end and continuously revolving.
Besides Lin Xiao, in addition to the gray soul ring he had obtained when he first acquired Electrolux, another gray soul ring slowly rose at this moment.
His second martial soul, Undead Natural Disaster, Necromancer Sacred Law God Electrolux, hadn't been unable to obtain soul rings; it had simply been unable to obtain them from soul beasts.
If the first soul ring belonging to Electrolux symbolized his magic in undead summoning, then this second soul ring was precisely the undead magic that directly targeted souls, which he had mentioned to Lin Xiao before.
Slowly opening his eyes, the aura on Lin Xiao's aura gradually changed. It was still that chilling aura of death, yet it was becoming milder and milder, causing people to gradually forget the fear of death.
And just as Lin Xiao was still comprehending the newly acquired power, the ground suddenly trembled violently.
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