After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 67.1

Xiu Si thought he had a good idea, but upon further reflection, he realized it wouldn’t work because he didn’t know any gods.

During the Gods Era, as a member of the hero squad, he had visited many divine kingdoms and seen dozens, if not a hundred gods. But They probably didn’t recognize him; whether They even remembered him was a big question.

There was nothing he could do about it. Who told him to be so weak back then? Although he was still quite weak now.

Xiu Si felt a bit dejected but quickly hid it. He couldn’t show negative emotions in front of the children.

He thought to himself: “I still need to take it step by step. Talking about repairing gods is too ambitious. One shouldn’t aim too high; it’s better to be practical.”

He sometimes spoke like this, perhaps out of habit from educating children, even when encouraging himself.

The little cat blinked, unsure if it understood its Father’s meaning, and looked curiously at the big white cat on its Father’s lap.

The big white cat was fast asleep, snoring rhythmically, looking impossible to wake up.

Xiu Si lowered his gaze and looked around, realizing he might have misunderstood something earlier.

He was a Creator by profession, but he had focused more on “creating living beings.”

This seemed a bit off.

“Hmm…”

Xiu Si pondered for a moment and suddenly realized the problem lay in his habitual thinking.

No, it was a mental imprint!

Before his transmigration, he had always been responsible for character or animal modeling, so after transmigrating, he naturally put himself in that position.

Wasn’t that right? He focused more on creating cubs than other things, showing little interest in items like swords, even though he could certainly create them.

Xiu Si had a sudden inspiration and wanted to try it out. He picked up the big white cat from his lap and put it back on the bed.

The little Munchkin followed behind him, seemingly curious about what he was going to do, with an adorably silly expression.

After settling the big white cat, Xiu Si returned to the bookstore, half-closed the shop door, and seeing no one moving outside, he turned around, lowered his head, stretched out his hand, and his pupils contracted slightly.

The little cat looked up.

From its perspective, its Father had delicate features and pale skin, perhaps from staying too long in the sunless abyss. His deep black eyes seemed to contain unfathomable mysteries, his eyelashes casting faint shadows, making his features appear more pronounced.

It always felt that its Father wasn’t an ordinary person, although he always thought of himself as such, with a worldview more normal than normal people. But it didn’t know how to describe what made its Father special.

The older brothers and sisters probably knew better. It didn’t understand.

After a few minutes of concentration, a long sword suddenly appeared in Xiu Si’s hand.

In the past, he had created swords before, but rather perfunctorily, just making the shape while the inside was hollow. Now with magic power, he realized his skill could be much more versatile.

Xiu Si weighed the sword in his hand, seeming to have some insight as his experience points suddenly increased.

“Every profession has its own path, and all paths lead to heaven. Is this how to understand it?”

Xiu Si had always thought the Creator profession was useless, but today, upon careful consideration, he realized this was a completely wrong perception. He hadn’t developed the advantages of this profession; how could he blame the profession itself?

He remembered comics he had read before, especially the JoJo series, where people could do so much with their Stands, engaging in battles of wit and courage, and no one complained about weak Stand abilities.

Leveling up requires effort, but even more so, wisdom, right?

After this realization, Xiu Si felt his magic power flowing smoothly throughout his body, his thoughts unprecedentedly clear, and his experience points slowly increasing.

Just then, a system prompt appeared.

[Congratulations on further understanding the Creator profession! Your current profession compatibility is 67%. Please continue to work hard!]

What?

Xiu Si had never seen this prompt before and looked shocked.

Creator profession compatibility?

He turned his head and saw that a new value for profession compatibility had indeed been updated under the system status bar.

“…”

Xiu Si was surprised, wondering if other heroes would have this value too.

The more one understood a profession, the more compatible they became with it, so having this indicator was reasonable.

He asked, “What happens when it reaches 100% compatibility?”

The system didn’t respond, like most game systems, lacking a dialogue function.

Xiu Si was puzzled, thinking that 100% compatibility should mean… completely understanding one’s profession, the top of the industry?

He couldn’t quite figure it out, but that should be it. Like how the highest title for a swordsman is Sword Saint.

The highest title for a Creator would be… Creator God?

That title seemed too much for him to bear.

But thinking is always good. Take it slow, and every bit of thought should be supported by action!

Xiu Si smiled, withdrew the long sword, and looked at the time. It was already past two in the afternoon. He looked down and found the little cat staring at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Meow!”

The little cat seemed to want to say something but hesitated, then lowered its head.

****

Meanwhile, inside the domain.

The three demons’ patience was wearing thin.

“No, no more, I want to go out, I want Father!”

Buer was furious, her hair floating up in anger.

Aelioge couldn’t stand it and stopped him, “Buer, don’t be rash. Celerios won’t dare keep us locked up for too long. Just wait a bit longer.”

Buer angrily slammed the table, “He’s kept us locked up for almost a day! Damn it, he’s locked us up to monopolize Father!”

Beelzebub elegantly sipped his tea, calmly saying, “Monopolizing is impossible. Vassago is still outside, and further away, there’s Amon and Inpos.”

Buer grew even angrier, “Vassago must have betrayed us. He surely knows we’ve been locked up by Celerios, yet he’s not teaching Celerios a lesson to let us out!”

She had an impulsive personality, completely opposite to the calm, rational, elegant, and intellectual sixth sister Valefor.

To be honest, Aelioge was a bit worried too, as he could predict that the Divine Kingdom of Destruction would likely target the number one ranked human.

It wouldn’t be good to wait any longer.

Moreover, the mastermind was lurking in the shadows, Vassago wasn’t reliable, Celerios was a fool, Amon was clever but busy writing history, and Inpos was probably being worked like a horse by Amon.

Counting them all, it seemed like none of them were reliable!

Aelioge couldn’t sit still anymore and spoke to Celerios, “Nineteenth brother, that’s about enough, isn’t it? We were wrong to hide it from you, but now is clearly not the time to throw a tantrum.”

His voice didn’t seem loud, as if it couldn’t travel far, but the sound waves reached outside without losing any strength.

But there was no response.

Beelzebub frowned, “It seems he’s really not listening.”

Aelioge: “Even little lambs have tempers. Perhaps he’s been harboring deep resentment towards us all along.”

Despite Celerios’s appearance, he did have a bit of a dark side, although he himself wasn’t aware of it.

Buer rolled up her sleeves and said, “Forget it, let’s break the domain!”

Buer’s magic power boiled, but Aelioge still opposed, “Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Buer complained, “Aelioge, why are you hindering me? Are you siding with Celerios now?”

Aelioge said seriously, “It’s not about siding with Him, it’s that Father wouldn’t want to see us in conflict.”

He truly lived up to his power over war, and was also good at balancing.

In a family, the most rational and sensible child might actually be the least favored.

“You…”

Buer stared at Aelioge, standing up then sitting down, as if her anger gauge was loading.

At this moment, the little black bird suddenly cried out.

“Ah, I remember now!”

The three demons looked at it simultaneously.

Beelzebub narrowed his eyes and was the first to ask, “What do you remember?”

The little black bird said directly, “I remember who stole my power before!”

“What?!”

The three demons were shocked at the same time.

Aelioge pressed, “Who was it?”

The little black bird confidently said, “It was the Goddess of Harmony. She defeated me when She was still an ultimate being and took away part of my power!”

The air suddenly went quiet.

Buer felt dizzy, “How could it be Her?”

Aelioge frowned, “Her concept doesn’t support Her doing this.”

The little black bird said seriously, “But She has ambition. Isn’t longing for world harmony the biggest ambition?”

Beelzebub paused, “Was She the only one who took your power?”

The little black bird nodded, “That’s right, it was only Her.”

This made things even more puzzling.

Buer felt lightheaded, “Who cares about all that? The Goddess of Harmony, right? The Primordial God of Humans, right? Just find them all and beat them up!”

The little black bird: “That’s right, but as luck would have it, they’ve all disappeared. Especially the Primordial God of Humans, He was destroyed long ago. How can we find Him?”

Buer gritted her teeth.

Aelioge then said, “As for the Goddess of Harmony, there’s a way to know where She is. The Goddess of Wisdom should know about Her situation.”

Beelzebub nodded, “The Goddess of Wisdom knows many things. Indeed, Aelioge, you shouldn’t have left the Goddess of Wisdom alone, but should have used methods to make Her tell everything.”

Aelioge was silent for a moment, and surprisingly admitted, “Maybe it’s because Father came back. Unknowingly…” He just wanted to be a good child in Father’s eyes.

Beelzebub was slightly stunned, then changed the topic, “Perhaps we’ve all underestimated Father, thinking Father couldn’t accept our true selves.”

“Should we be more honest with Father?”

Aelioge’s tone was somewhat complex.

But dwelling on this wasn’t very meaningful.

The little black bird’s bird brain didn’t dwell on it at all, saying directly, “Why are you considering so much? Just go out and take down Wisdom first! Aren’t Abyss Lords supposed to be lawless?”

Aelioge lowered his gaze and glanced at the little black bird, thinking that the most foolish one might actually be the most genuine.

Father recognized all his children except for Him, perhaps because He was the least genuine. He had been deceiving Father since childhood.

Thinking this, Aelioge’s eyes darkened. Under his sleeve, ominous dark patterns suddenly spread, like a group of poisonous snakes crawling up his body, emerging from beneath his skin. It was extremely eerie, like the most vicious curse.

His eyes also darkened, but because he was standing in the shadows, he didn’t appear unusual.

Beelzebub seemed to sense something and glanced at Aelioge, only noticing that Aelioge’s complexion was paler than usual, but nothing else.

Buer complained loudly, “So waiting is the right thing to do, huh?”

Then, she looked warningly at the sky, “Celerios, did you hear? Your brothers and sister have important matters to attend to. If you’re sensible, open the domain. Otherwise, when we get out, we’ll hold you down and beat you!”

The sky trembled in fear. Celerios was about to open it, but Buer’s words scared him into withdrawing his hand, caught in a dilemma and sweating profusely.

At this moment, a series of moderate footsteps sounded nearby.

The three demons and one god turned to look, and surprisingly saw Justin, fully revived and radiant.

Justin smiled amiably at them, exuding an elder’s demeanor, and said, “Good morning, Brother Xiu’s children.”

For some reason, hearing him say this felt somewhat irritating.

The little black bird was incredulous, “You recovered so quickly.”

Justin laughed heartily, rubbing the back of his head, “I am a max-level healer after all. If I couldn’t heal myself, I’d probably be laughed at by you all.”

Buer snorted, “You should be able to!”

Beelzebub, however, scrutinized Justin, “Cursed for thousands of years, have you really fully recovered?”

Justin revealed a profound look, saying matter-of-factly, “Children, don’t you know? I used to be the enemy of curses, specializing in removing all kinds of curses.”

Beelzebub: “But the curse-breaker was almost buried by a curse.”

Justin’s mouth twitched slightly. He truly felt they hadn’t inherited any of Brother Xiu’s good traits – one born arrogant, one deep in thought, one empty-headed, and the bird on the table… Wait, how did the God of Darkness become Brother Xiu’s child too!

He just realized this issue and widened his eyes.

Aelioge raised his eyes and casually filled in the information gap, “That’s how it is. Father adopted both the God of Light and the God of Darkness, although Father himself is unaware of it.”

Justin thought this was too incredible. He had heard Brother Xiu talk many times about how useless the Creator profession was, but he never imagined… it was actually the most bug-like ability?

He could barely heal gods at max level, while Brother Xiu could influence gods at just level 20 or 30?

What kind of situation was this?

Seeing his confusion, Aelioge explained, “Father’s surface level is low, but his inner level should have maxed out long ago. We just don’t know why they’re not synchronized.”

Justin was still surprised, but more than that, he was happy for his friend.

Because he knew, although Brother Xiu had never complained in front of him, anyone would feel hurt and resentful watching their companions around them grow stronger quickly, widening the gap between them.

But Brother Xiu had never shown it, always maintaining emotional stability, and even comforting and guiding them.

That wasn’t an easy thing to do. Watching close friends get better and better while you alone make no progress – if it were him, he definitely couldn’t maintain mental balance and might even turn to the dark side.

Mental strength and self-control, though seemingly intangible and perhaps only icing on the cake for actual strength, were actually very important.

When Brother Xiu was around, he was their anchor, their tranquilizer. After Brother Xiu’s unexpected disappearance, they…

Thinking of this, Justin’s emotions were complex, but Brother Xiu being alive was better than anything else.

Buer approached and saw Justin with a face full of memories. She wanted to speak up but stopped, then finally spoke, “What’s wrong? Did you think of the mastermind? Our little bird over there says the Goddess of Harmony is more suspicious.”

Justin paused, “The Goddess of Harmony?”

The little black bird nodded vigorously.

“She…”

Justin recalled, “She is a deity who loves peace.”

Very much loves it, loves it to the point of not being able to stand even a bit of conflict, hoping for world peace at every moment, with an obsession more terrifying than compulsive disorder.

Perfectly embodying the concept of “harmony”.

“My Brother Xiu and I, along with the other heroes, met Her many times. She didn’t show anything special towards Brother Xiu, nor towards us. She just encouraged us, supported us, and gave us a lot of help.”

“If She is the mastermind behind this…”

Justin paused, then said gloomily, “I might not be able to accept it.”

Beelzebub felt the same, “Do you have any suspicions about Her?”

Justin fell silent, some memories flashing in his eyes, “I never suspected Her before. Her actions were always open and aboveboard, without any sneaky moves. She often said we should be like heroes, becoming role models for humans.”

Aelioge caught the key phrase, “‘Role models for humans’? That sounds like the most vicious curse.”

Justin choked, reflexively wanting to refute, but looking at Aelioge, he couldn’t.

Their hero team could be roughly divided into three periods: before Brother Xiu disappeared, after Brother Xiu disappeared, and after they entered old age.

After Brother Xiu disappeared, they were out of control for a long time, but gradually stabilized again later. Because humans can’t always be in that chaotic state, after going too far, they want to find something to cling to again.

In the end, they went around in circles and found the same thing.

That was the identity called “hero”.

It sounds like returning to the starting point? Haha, indeed it is. Maybe they all reminisced about that time of seven people, when Brother Xiu was still there, and they hadn’t changed. Although not as strong as later, all good friends were there, everything was good.

That was their most precious, most beautiful time.