After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 73.2

A few minutes later.

The Goddess of Wisdom left the room, slowly walked to the hall stairs, and then stopped, her gaze turning towards the entrance.

There, the guard knight was escorting Norman Til to the hall.

Upon seeing the Prime Minister, the guard immediately said, “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, His Excellency Norman Til wishes to see you.”

Norman Til stopped and revealed a friendly smile.

Norman Til’s identity was very useful. Once revealed, the vast majority of humans would not refuse his requests, especially since he had struck a blow against the Divine Kingdom of Destruction last night, gaining face for humanity.

As luck would have it, the guards were all his fans. With just one word, the gates were thrown wide open.

Norman Til stood at the entrance, his gaze turning towards the upper steps of the hall staircase, meeting the eyes of the “Prime Minister”.

It was their first time meeting.

The Goddess of Wisdom casually moved the guard out, closing her domain, leaving only Norman Til.

The afternoon sunlight fell on Norman Til’s golden hair, somewhat dazzling. Against the backdrop of light and shadow, his facial features were distinct, as sharp and captivating as if carved by a knife.

At the same time, seven little elves were flying back and forth around him, exchanging glances and whispering, seemingly discussing how pitiful the Goddess of Wisdom’s current situation was compared to her previous glory.

The Goddess of Wisdom blinked, and the human disguise on her body dissipated, revealing her radiant divine form.

White hair, white eyes, a divine countenance, her dignity inviolable.

Norman Til had seen some gods before, but it was the first time he had encountered a god with such an aura.

Legend had it that this generation’s Goddess of Wisdom was extremely rational, with a cold personality and rarely smiled. Seeing her face today, the legend indeed proved true.

He had known about the things the Goddess of Wisdom had hidden away for a long time, but he never expected her to be hiding in the imperial city of the Oedipus Empire, an empire that could be considered strong, after all, ranking eighth among the great empires.

However, what was intriguing was that the Goddess of Wisdom had even assumed a human identity, becoming the Prime Minister of a great empire.

It was truly incredible. Wouldn’t most gods despise such places? How could she mingle with humans?

Norman Til couldn’t help but feel curious.

To make an unsavory analogy, it was as if a person had suddenly decided to live in a pigsty for several decades. If word got out, it could become a sensation in the human world.

Of course, whether gods saw humans as pigs or ants was hard to say. If they were ants, it would be equivalent to a person living among ants for decades…

Either way, it didn’t seem quite right.

Norman Til tried to analyze the psychological motivations of the Goddess of Wisdom.

The Goddess of Wisdom knew his thoughts and suddenly spoke, “What brings you here, Your Excellency.”

Norman Til looked up and politely said, “I hope you’ll forgive my abrupt visit, Goddess of Wisdom. I have something I wish to ask you.”

The Goddess of Wisdom, not wasting words, said directly. “Speak.”

Norman Til: “Do you know where Federi is?”

“I don’t know.”

The Goddess of Wisdom denied it very decisively.

It sounded like she didn’t know.

But Norman Til approached indirectly, continuing, “Do you know where the Abyss Lords are?”

The Goddess of Wisdom didn’t answer, but her calm gaze had already answered.

— I know, but I won’t tell you.

Norman Til reasoned. “You also wish to prevent the God of Destruction from awakening, don’t you?”

The Goddess of Wisdom shook her head. “There are some reasons I can’t explain. You need to find Them yourself.”

Norman Til caught the key information and pursued. “Are They all together?”

The Goddess of Wisdom remained unmoved, her tone still cold. “Find them yourself.”

Norman Til understood the nuances of communication very well, and he also saw the Goddess of Wisdom’s intention.

She knew, She wanted to say, but this couldn’t come from Her mouth, as it would bring Her trouble.

Norman Til asked, “Can you give some clues?”

The Goddess of Wisdom was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Extraordinary beings always do extraordinary things.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t a riddle.

Norman Til had prepared himself to hear a riddle, but surprisingly, the other party said something that any normal person could understand.

“Thank you, great Goddess of Wisdom.”

****

After leaving the Prime Minister’s residence, Norman Til stopped about a dozen meters away, looking back at the building with a thoughtful expression.

The Goddess of Wisdom, also known as the God of Wisdom.

Many humans suspected Her of being the main culprit in restricting humanity’s upward development of wisdom. But there was no evidence so far.

In pursuit of wisdom, there were also many worshippers among humans who revered Her.

Her church was called the Wisdom Religion, and Her divine kingdom was the Divine Kingdom of Wisdom.

How should one interpret Her hiding in the Oedipus imperial city as Prime Minister?

Norman Til lowered his gaze in contemplation.

The elves around him began whispering again.

“Strange god, who knows what She’s thinking.”

“I don’t understand why She’s helping the Goddess of Fortune.”

“Is She going to eat fortune?”

“If She eats it… She’d become the God of Wisdom and Fortune, wouldn’t She?”

Norman Til paused, interjecting with his thoughts. “That can’t be right. If Wisdom wanted to eat gods, She would have done it long ago. Didn’t historians say She values the purity of divinity, believing that single divinity is more stable?”

The little elf tilted its head, flapping its wings as it flew in front of Norman Til, “Norman dear, gods can change too, you know.”

“…Change.”

Norman Til was somewhat surprised.

The red elf said, “Yes, there’s nothing unchanging in this world, only change is constant.”

Norman Til seemed lost in thought.

A few minutes later, he turned to look at the bustling market lined with tall buildings.

“Let’s gather some information first, how many extraordinary events have happened in the Oedipus imperial city in the past month, and also…”

Norman Til turned his head, his gaze falling on the palace, and said in a low voice. “What exactly is King Levin hiding?”

He had indeed discovered that Levin was hiding something.

He just didn’t ask.

****

Around 5 PM.

Xiu Si finally took a break, his brain exhausted and his hands sore, but the results were impressive, as evident from the table full of walnut landscapes.

“To think that I, once a slacker, have become a hard worker in another world!”

He joked to himself, amused by his own thoughts.

“Well, it’s not too bad.”

Xiu Si had completed the initial major task. He opened his status panel, ready to carefully examine the changes in his values over these days.

First was his level. He had finally advanced to level 40. The specific experience value was 120/1309.

Next was the profession matching value. Last time it was 67%, and after these two days of cultivation, the value had increased to 69%!

Looking further, the proficiency of his creation skill had reached 99%, just one step away from advancing from an iron-grade skill to a silver-grade skill.

The proficiency of his magic skill was 39%. From 0 to 39, it represented a significant leap in value, truly remarkable progress!

Creation skill was a professional skill, so it had iron, silver, and gold grades.

Magic, on the other hand, was a basic skill with no grades, only advancement and sublimation.

When the proficiency of the magic skill reaches 100%, it means you stand at the pinnacle of human magic, equivalent to a level 90 Grand Magician.

When you break through 100%, you can become a super-grade Magician.

Xiu Si didn’t have such lofty ambitions. He just wanted to practice ordinarily to 100%, and then recover his game system.

He muttered, “I relied too much on achievement points to level up before. Taking shortcuts isn’t good after all. It’s better to go step by step.”

However…

Xiu Si lowered his gaze and swept his eyes over the walnuts on the table.

He felt that this leveling method had reached its limit. He needed to think about more advanced ways to level up.

Thinking of this, with a thought, the walnuts on the table disappeared in an instant, collected into his system space.

When he reached level 40, his system space, which was the portable warehouse function, finally restarted. It was truly a cause for celebration.

He was just feeling happy by himself when suddenly his left arm seemed to be pressed and kneaded by a paw.

What was going on? He looked down and found the short-legged cat trying to massage its father’s arm.

Cat paws weren’t as useful as human hands, and the short-legged cat couldn’t really use any technique, only able to explore and knead lightly and heavily.

Its careful and virtuous appearance melted one’s heart.

What a good child!

Xiu Si’s heart overflowed with fatherly love, which he barely suppressed. He patted the cat’s head and said, “No need, Father’s not tired.”

The short-legged cat’s head was round, and it looked up, revealing an even rounder face.

“Meow~”

It seemed to be saying that it would try hard and wanted to help father relieve his fatigue.

Xiu Si was moved to tears internally. Wuwu, so filial. For his own adorable child, no difficulty was a difficulty!

“No need, no need, just resting a bit is fine.”

Xiu Si, as if performing magic, took out a white ball of yarn.

The short-legged cat was indeed a cat, and once it saw the ball of yarn, it couldn’t take its eyes off it.

Its gaze followed the yarn ball in Xiu Si’s hand, and its paws naturally lifted up, instinctively wanting to scratch and play with the ball.

So Xiu Si let go, allowing the short-legged cat to grab and play with it.

The short-legged cat was too clumsy, and soon its paws were tangled with yarn, unable to scratch it off. Then it looked towards Xiu Si for help, pitiful and with misty eyes.

Xiu Si smiled, smoothed the cat’s fur, and helped it untangle the yarn.

He thought to himself, ah, how can my child be so cute?

****

A few minutes later.

Xiu Si gradually relaxed and began to think slowly. While carving walnuts, an idea gradually became clear in his mind.

It was about the connection between “creation” and “magic”.

He gradually felt that they were essentially the same thing, both creating something from nothing. The difference was that creation produced real things, while magic created a form of energy.

Whether constructing real things or constructing magic, both required imagining a structure.

From form to content, it gradually became richer. After completing it on one plane, it was further enriched.

Making it more complex, while maintaining its stability during the process of complexification.

Thinking of this, Xiu Si somewhat regretted not having knowledge in civil engineering.

The civil engineering knowledge of this era was limited, not as advanced as the modern Blue Star where he had lived.

If he could possess modern knowledge, he felt he could draw inferences and further understand the way he and the world operated.

“It’s all about taking it step by step, thinking slowly.”

Xiu Si was neither impatient nor anxious, his spirit very stable. Back in the day, when his companions were leveling up rapidly while he remained stagnant, seeing no hope of advancement, he hadn’t been anxious.

Now that he was making steady progress, how could he be anxious?

He smiled, his eyes gentle. After almost finishing his insights, he moved on to the next step of thinking.

Having gone through the training of deconstruction and reconstruction, should he continue to seek more complex objects for deconstruction to train his skills, or should he explore ways to level up further?

Xiu Si thought for a while and decided he could do both simultaneously. After making up his mind, he leaned close to the short-legged cat’s ear and said softly, “Celerios, do you have any more complex equipment?”

The short-legged cat’s pupils trembled upon hearing this, thinking that Father was asking for its help!

The short-legged cat was so happy that it suddenly produced divine equipment.

Xiu Si’s words had barely fallen when a golden light burst forth, almost blinding to the eye. Immediately after, with a clang, a diamond-forged magic longsword appeared on the table. Its blade gleamed with silver light, piercingly sharp, as if merely looking at it would cut one’s soul.

Even if Xiu Si could no longer discern the item’s grade, he knew this was at least a divine artifact.

How, how powerful.

Just as he was about to marvel, he suddenly realized the issue.

Wait, his child brought out a divine artifact?!

Xiu Si was greatly shocked and turned his head to look at the little short-legged cat.

The little short-legged cat was completely unaware that anything was amiss, and even raised its head, as if waiting for its father to pet it.

Xiu Si was dumbfounded, but his hand still reached out to pet it.

****

Meanwhile.

Buer’s grand operation of secrecy was in full swing. She had changed into formal attire, dressed beautifully, and was walking down the corridor towards the main hall of the sisters’ meeting venue.

She said to herself in his mind, Buer, you are Father’s smartest baby. It’s just the sisters, and the other side is merely a few demons. What do you have to be afraid of?

Fool them! Fool them all!

She hooked her lips into a smile, full of confidence. But as she walked to the corner, suddenly a head popped out from behind the wall.

“Sister Buer~”

Ayni squinted her eyes, her smile stretched to the fullest, as sweet as a white rabbit candy.

When Buer saw Ayni’s face, she almost cursed out loud. Damn it, why is it you? Waiting here to ambush me, right?!

Ayni giggled, a glint of cunning flashing in her eyes. She took small steps towards Buer, then said, “Sister Buer, Sister Valefor said you kept a cat.”

Buer immediately regained her composure and smiled, “What’s strange about that? It’s just keeping a pet, why are you all so concerned?”

Ayni had light golden long hair, tied in twin tails with curled ends that nearly touched the ground. The demon’s human form, bright and full yellow dress, and sweet appearance left a deep impression.

Ayni nodded, as if understanding completely, “Sister Buer is always alone. Having a pet must help alleviate loneliness better, right?”

Buer’s mouth twitched slightly, unable to keep up with Ayni’s leaps in logic. She casually said, “Anyway, don’t bother about this sister’s cat, okay?”

“Alright!” Ayni nodded, turned around grabbing his skirt and ran, as if rushing to get to the venue first. Her movements were swift and nimble, disappearing in just a few steps.

“…”

Buer breathed a sigh of relief, cold sweat dripping down her neck. Congratulations, she had succeeded, she was no longer a big blabbermouth!

However, just at that moment, she was grabbed by the shoulders from behind, and a playful girl’s voice sounded in her ear.

Ayni, with starry eyes, excitedly said, “Sister Bu, it’s the smell of lies!”