The City of Return.
The place where Alka and the others were staying.
In the living room of the small building, Alka sat at the table, looking at the cleaned sphere on it.
The lime and dirt previously excavated from the sphere's surface had long since been washed away, revealing its former appearance.
It was an orange-red sphere, likely made of some kind of dark jade.
It was carved with a very intricate technique, using a kind of hollowed-out carving, a single-piece form. Therefore, Alka could not see any traces of splicing on the jade sphere, leaving it in its most pristine state.
It had likely undergone only the most basic polishing.
Most importantly, this Holy Grail-level artifact was incredibly interesting. It was the first of its kind Alka had ever seen.
Because his power within dreams had already reached the seventh level and above, he could fully discern the functions of this Holy Grail-level artifact within his dreams.
Just like the name of this artifact:
It was called Reincarnation.
It possessed an extremely powerful ability, one that was almost entirely beyond the reach of a Holy Grail-level artifact.
It was a time reversal or a state reversal.
Simply put, this artifact was used to bind to a living being or an object.
Once bound, when you use this treasure, it will dissipate, and the state of matter, or life, will return to its original binding state.
In other words, this is a one-time use treasure.
After use, this treasure will vanish, and the divine essence within will also dissipate, dissolving into the world through use.
According to what Alka saw, this divine essence is merely a tiny fragment of the original divine essence.
Furthermore, this treasure is almost certainly entirely man-made.
According to calculations, this fragment was originally a red crown-level divine essence.
Or perhaps even a higher level.
A higher level...
Arka rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. He was certain there was no divine essence higher than the crown level.
But it was obvious that this detached fragment wasn't something a crown-level treasure could do.
Perhaps it was something formed by the combination of many divine essences, like the sun.
Thinking this way made much more sense.
After all, becoming a god also involved the combination of six different treasures, each of which had to be compatible with the other to achieve glory.
After figuring it out, Arka looked at the sphere in his hand and tossed it into space.
Clearly, the current use of this treasure wasn't quite right.
It could basically be considered a trump card, something to save his life.
As Alka was still pondering, he suddenly felt a voice echoing in his mind.
This hazy voice wasn't from the Holy Mother.
It was from the world.
Or perhaps... it was some kind of instinctive emanation.
This feeling.
Alka had felt this way before his promotion, but he'd been busy in the past few days since his promotion, or perhaps he hadn't noticed this strange feeling. It suddenly erupted at this moment.
This emanation seemed to be a message.
It carried the aura of the world.
Arka could clearly sense the aura emanating from it; it was the aura of the world.
After all, he was the king of the dream realm, and his consciousness was very close to the world.
He was essentially a being in the spiritual world.
Sensing this information, Arka began to absorb it.
It wasn't complex, even very brief. It seemed like a notification or a warning?
He wasn't quite sure.
But after receiving it, Arka knew exactly what it was.
This information was exactly what Arka had learned from his previous conversation with Greyfar, when he was still in the fifth stage.
This information directly expressed the formula for achieving godhood.
This...
Aluka hadn't expected such directness, and it came directly from the world itself.
This was completely different from what he had imagined.
The message that followed clearly outlined the steps to godhood and the requirements required.
This meant that from the sixth level onward, almost everyone knew how to become a god. Wasn't that generous?
First, one's strength must be at something like the eighth level—this was the minimum requirement.
Aluka felt that perhaps at this level, one would have the strength to fully master a crown-level artifact.
Once one could master a crown-level artifact, one would naturally gain complete control over the artifacts one possessed.
Of course, this was just Alka's speculation based on existing reality.
A triangle, six treasures arranged in a ladder.
They needed to be compatible with each other. After reaching the eighth stage or above, one could begin the process of ascending to godhood.
From the above, the steps seemed quite simple; the only difficulty lay in finding the six appropriate treasures.
Upon seeing this information, Alka scratched his head. This was simpler than he'd imagined.
He'd previously assumed that finding the appropriate treasures would require some complicated rituals or conditions.
It turned out the most difficult problem lay squarely in the open: finding the six appropriate treasures.
After reaching the eighth stage, one must diligently master the six treasures, integrating and merging them within oneself to ascend to godhood.
Following this message, there was a distinctly additional message, remnants of the world's wailing and pain.
Aerka didn't know if others could perceive it, but when he received the second half of the message, he could clearly and distinctly sense the remnants of that pain.
In other words, the following supplementary information appeared after the world had been shattered and pieced together again.
Perhaps it was in the immediate aftermath of the pieced-together process. After all, the world's current state of agony, craving destruction, wasn't achieved instantly; it must have been a process of suffering, until it gradually desired self-destruction.
The information supplemented the new steps to godhood.
Do not spread your knowledge. Keep a low profile, especially avoid letting too many beings know about you.
If you do know, it's best to wait until life has forgotten you before pursuing the path to godhood.
The message was that simple.
Aerka frowned. This was different from what he had imagined, or rather, different from the reality he saw.
The reality was that the vast majority of powerful individuals would spread their reputations, even deliberately disseminating their experiences through various media and stories.
They would even embellish these stories to ensure they were remembered.
This was completely different from the message the world was warning.
Alka felt a little distressed because he couldn't find anyone to answer his questions.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in his mind.
What about the Virgin Mary?
Would the Virgin Mary answer such a question for him?
Thinking of this, Alka, unfazed by the hassle, prayed immediately, hoping the Virgin Mary would answer his questions.
As Alka prayed, it wasn't long before the Virgin Mary's gentle and kind voice came to his mind.
"This is... a mother's love." The Virgin Mary's voice, unusually soft and tinged with a hint of sadness, was etched in it.
The voice continued, "After the world was destroyed, we pieced it back together. Although her consciousness returned, it was in pain.
And it was scattered, unfocused, like a human losing their memory. This is the problem that comes with fragmentation."
"But even during this time, she still warned her children from her scattered state.
The ordinary lives still living within her body naturally couldn't leave; they were also part of the world.
But for new beings seeking to become gods, excessive entanglement with these lives would make it difficult for them to break free from the constraints of the world.
Achieving godhood in this state could ultimately lead to their destruction and fall along with the world. This was her final love." The Holy Mother's voice faded in his mind.
Arka froze in place, lost in thought.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say. Thinking carefully, this information was both plausible and surprising.
No wonder the gods had allowed the demons to destroy the planet when they were about to leave.
After the destruction, those who once believed in the gods would naturally die as well.
After death, these gods could safely carry the remnants of the world, freeing themselves from their constraints and departing.
The destruction of the world seemed so reasonable to those former gods.
So, when the four gods saved, they could only save their own followers.
Then, only those still alive were preserved within the fragments, though these beings likely worshipped various gods.
But the number remaining at that time certainly wasn't large.
They no longer held any shackles to the great being they once believed in.
And so, in reverse.
Not allowing oneself to be tightly bound to ordinary beings in this world is to allow for a safe escape from that world in the future.
Escape from this self, which, in the eyes of the world itself, is doomed to destruction.
So, if it's true that most powerful individuals are deliberately expanding their influence and reputation, why would they be so tightly bound to the beings of this world?
Thinking, Alka, based on what he knew and the current situation, came to a conclusion that seemed correct.
Stabilize the world. After all, these ordinary lives are still part of it.
After all, the process of restoring and repairing the world they had obtained also followed a similar process.
As Alka pondered, a message from the Holy Mother once again flooded his mind. This time, it was no longer his own words, but a brief and crude message.
It told Alka what problems would arise if he spread his fame.
If his fame spread, and he grew more powerful, he would become a central figure.
It would stabilize the world's life, and to a certain extent, stabilize the world's chaos and alleviate its spiritual suffering.
And with the help of the Four Gods, they could also form a basic barrier to defend against some threats from the starry sky. After all, this world's natural defenses have long since been shattered, leaving little behind.
This was, of course, voluntary.
The current situation is that most people are willing to spread their fame.
Becoming a god in this state would maximize their stabilizing influence.
However, it's difficult to escape from this world, burdened with the mission of repairing it.
The information in his mind didn't force Alka to make any choice. Over time, countless people had expressed their unwillingness.
But the oath they had made and their actions thus far had already doomed them to spread their fame.
Thinking of this, Alka leaned back in his chair.
This world... the vast majority of powerful people are far more noble than he imagined.
He didn't know how many powerful people there were who kept their identities secret. He only knew that there were countless powerful people willing to spread their fame, allowing their names to be etched in the minds of countless ordinary people.
The number was absolutely enormous.
But then he thought, those who didn't want to spread their fame couldn't possibly know about it themselves, so there were probably even more.
"Hahahaha." Alka couldn't help but laugh happily.
"What makes you so happy?" Sofia asked as she walked in. Lucilia was sitting on her shoulder, swinging her legs.
The two of them were staring at him curiously.
Seeing the two people walk in, Alka smiled as he walked over and pulled them into his arms, hugging them tightly.
He even nuzzled Lucelia with his face.
The two then stared at him in bewilderment.
"You look really happy. Would you mind sharing it with us?" Lucelia asked, smoothing down her hair, which Alka had messed up.
"I can't share it with you. I'll share it with you after you reach the sixth level of strength," Alka said with a smile.
Hearing Alka's words, Sofia narrowed his eyes and looked at him, seemingly pondering, "I think I know what you're talking about. Why would a powerhouse above the sixth level deliberately spread their reputation?"
Alka looked at her, smiled, and nodded, "Yes, that's the answer to that question."
"Hmm... I'm curious."
As they chatted, the others gradually returned to the living room from the upstairs.
It was time for breakfast.
Although, with their current strength, skipping a meal or two, or even a few days or months, wouldn't necessarily cause much of a fuss,
But they would miss out on Juanlu's delicious food, and missing even a single meal was a cause for regret.
At the dinner table.
Alka looked at Lucilia, then glanced at the group before suddenly asking, "Who among you... is confident in your literary accomplishments?"
Hearing Alka's words, everyone who was chatting casually stopped eating and turned to look at him.
No one knew what he meant by the question.
Only Sofia and Lucilia, who had just spoken with Alka, seemed to understand Alka's thoughts.
Facing Alka's scanning gaze.
Pororo tried, then scratched his forehead. "Literary accomplishment?"
Beside him, Materissa picked up a pancake and stuffed it into his mouth. "It's okay, don't worry about it."
"If it's about composing poetry, I can help," Julia said with a smile.
"As for thesis and research reports, I can do that too," Simon added.
Aside from these two, no one else said anything, clearly believing they didn't think their literary accomplishments were up to par.
Then Alka turned to Lucelia.
"What about you?"
After all, Lucelia was known as a mobile library, so her literary accomplishments couldn't be too bad.
"Of course I'm fine," Lucilia's voice tinged with pride.
Aluka nodded in agreement.
After a moment's thought, he said, "Then Lucelia and Julia will do it. If the others are interested, they can join."
He then looked at the two and said, "I'll give you a task. Write down our adventures and treasure hunts from our home sea to the present day, and make it into our autobiography.
Of course, artistic manipulation is inevitable, isn't it? We need to make it interesting for ordinary people to read and spread our reputation, but of course, we can't exaggerate too much."
After saying this, he looked at the group, thought for a moment, and said, "In addition to our entire group's autobiography, we can also write individual autobiographies for each of you.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a complete account.
You can write any useful book about your own story, and there's nothing wrong with incorporating some of your own experiences. This is also a great way to do it.
For example, Mathilda, you could write a book about herbal remedies for illnesses. Simon, you could write a book about materials, mechanical forging, and structures.
Julia, you could also spread your music and poetry, right?
Sofia's designs, Juanlu's recipes, and Lucelia's illustrated guides could all be compiled into books.
This way, you can help more people. "
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but think, because it was clear that Alka hadn't made this decision on a whim; he was looking for a big one.
His words instantly reminded everyone of what they had learned earlier about the powerful spreading their fame.
Alka had just reached the sixth stage, the starting point of the powerful spreading fame.
Clearly, having reached the sixth stage, what did he know?
"Of course, we can prepare first. Once we all reach the sixth stage, I'll seek help from forces like the church to distribute and spread the word.
It would be best if it spread throughout the Infinite Sea... or even the Four Gods Sea. "
Hearing this, everyone here couldn't help but speak up.
Obviously, the essence of the problem would have to wait until the sixth stage, but regarding these writings, the discussion could begin now.
After Alka's words, they suddenly became quite interested; it was just the right thing to do to fill their spare time.