Translator: CinderTL
The next morning, when Feng Qi and Lin Ran met again, he noticed that Lin Ran's hair and eyes had turned purple.
Even though he had known all along that the Lord of the Mist would possess Lin Ran's body the previous night, seeing Lin Ran's familiar face now filled him with an indescribable heartache.
After a brief silence, he suppressed the turmoil in his heart, stepped forward to meet the Lord of the Mist's outstretched arms, embraced him, and patted his back.
All he could do now was ensure that Lin Ran's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.
He had to press on with unwavering resolve, remain hidden by the Lord of the Mist's side, and gather more crucial intelligence.
As they parted, Feng Qi smiled and said, "Should I help you dye your hair? Your current appearance is a bit too conspicuous."
The Lord of the Mist replied nonchalantly, "Now that I'm the de facto head of the Tiger Soul Research Institute, what does a change of hair color matter? Still, let's dye it. I'm a public figure now and will have to face the outside world often."
By the end of his sentence, the Lord of the Mist's tone had shifted, his mind changing.
"Let's talk somewhere else," Feng Qi said, turning toward his room.
The Lord of the Mist immediately followed.
Back in his room, Feng Qi closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the Lord of the Mist, who was already seated on the sofa.
"How much of Lin Ran's memories did you retrieve?"
"Not much," the Lord of the Mist replied calmly. "There are significant gaps, likely due to my haste during the body possession."
He had never cared about Lin Ran's memories. What truly mattered to him was Lin Ran's influence.
What puzzled him was that during a normal body possession, he could typically access about 70% of the host's memories, gaining a rough understanding of their life's journey. It was like watching a heavily edited video, with many scenes skipped but the overall story still comprehensible.
Yet with Lin Ran, he could only access less than 30% of the memories. The past year's memories were completely blank.
He found this strange but dismissed it as a consequence of his rushed body possession.
What the Lord of the Mist didn't know was that Lin Ran's memories had already been erased by memory-erasing liquid.
The instructions for using the liquid, which Lin Ran had received, explained that each milligram could erase approximately twenty hours of memories. Wei Wei had sent him a bottle containing five hundred milligrams, enough to erase ten thousand hours—roughly four hundred sixteen days—of memories.
Having drunk the memory-erasing liquid, Lin Ran's memories from the past year and a half were completely blank.
But the effects of the memory-erasing liquid, which came with detailed instructions, were naturally more complex than that.
It worked much like an anesthetic injection.
When Lin Ran finished drinking the liquid, his entire memory was enveloped within the erasure zone.
Just as the effects of general anesthesia wear off after surgery, the memory-erasing process followed a similar pattern.
During the period when Lin Ran drank the liquid, his memories were completely shrouded, which is why he gradually lost all recollection.
This state would persist for several hours before his memories slowly began to return.
Ultimately, only the portion of memory specified by the drug's effects would be permanently erased.
The Lord of the Mist only managed to access about 30% of Lin Ran's memories after successfully possessing his body because he launched his attack while Lin Ran's memories were gradually recovering.
This interruption halted the memory restoration process, leaving only 30% of Lin Ran's memories intact.
Otherwise, even with fragmented memories, the Lord of the Mist would have retained most of Lin Ran's memories, except for the year and a half specified by the drug's effects.
Lin Ran, having read the instructions, was naturally aware that the memory restoration process could not be interrupted by external forces.
But at that time, the extent of memory loss no longer mattered to him.
As Feng Qi gazed at the Lord of the Mist, who was still pondering the mysteries of memory, he asked, "What are your plans now?"
A smile spread across the Lord of the Mist's face. "First, I need to consolidate my control over the Tiger Soul Research Institute. Although I've completely subjugated the remaining Nightshadow Clan members, I haven't yet secured control over Tiger Soul's battle groups. Next, I'll have the Nightshadow Clan use their mental control methods to subjugate the group leaders of each Tiger Soul battle group..."
As the Lord of the Mist outlined his plans, Feng Qi nodded repeatedly.
The Lord of the Mist's tone shifted. "Oh, and I've also devised a way for you to grow stronger. The path to the summit will only become more perilous, and I want you to have the means to protect yourself. We need to accelerate your power enhancement plan."
"Tell me more," Feng Qi said, his curiosity piqued.
"With the Miracle Bracelet, you now have a shortcut to power. I believe you should establish your own divine statue within Human Civilization and gather the power of faith from your worshippers. By harnessing the faith of all humanity, you can rapidly increase your strength."
"The implementation is straightforward. I'll promote the Flesh and Blood Sacrifice in your name, which will significantly elevate your status in human society. Once the time is right, I'll use public opinion to help you erect your divine statue and have the world worship you."
Hearing these words, Feng Qi was stunned.
He had considered many ways to gather faith, but he had never imagined the promotional method proposed by the Lord of the Mist.
To him, this approach seemed highly inappropriate.
Throughout history, many figures had indeed been revered as deities after their deaths, most famously Guan Yu, who was worshiped as the Martial God of Wealth.
However, these individuals were typically deified only after their deaths, receiving no such honor during their lifetimes.
Sensing his reservations, the Lord of the Mist spoke:
"In this era, heroes are most revered. By erecting statues in the image of a hero, gradually deifying them becomes a natural progression."
"Don't forget, the foundation for your persona was laid long ago. During your time at Star City Academy, you were hailed as the rising star of cultivation studies. By citing your dedication to research as justification, launching the Flesh and Blood Sacrifice would be perfectly logical."
"All you lack now is an opportune moment. While no one has ever been deified in their lifetime before, that doesn't mean it's impossible in the future... When the time comes, I'll leverage Lin Ran's influence to assist you. By consistently praising the Flesh and Blood Sacrifice to the outside world, we can quickly popularize it..."
By the end of the explanation, Feng Qi finally understood the Lord of the Mist's plan.
This plan could be called the "Deity-Making Plan."
The Flesh and Blood Sacrifice now served two purposes.
The dark purpose remained similar to previous timelines: to sow seeds among Human Civilization and the Weak Domain Races, turning them into potential "sacrifices" to be harvested when the Lord of the Mist activated the switch in the future.
However, in this timeline, the Flesh and Blood Sacrifice had an additional, overt purpose: to deceive all of humanity.
This would allow him to forge a "God Persona" and rapidly enhance his power through the collective faith of humanity.
From the spiritual to the physical realm, the Lord of the Mist clearly intended to exploit everything, treating all of humanity like crops to be harvested repeatedly.
They were also stepping stones on his path to ascension.
Feng Qi could neither refuse nor find any reason to reject the Lord of the Mist's plan.
With this in mind, he turned to the Lord of the Mist and said:
"I understand your plan. Let's begin when you're ready to promote the Flesh and Blood Sacrifice."
(End of the Chapter)
---------------------------
📖 You are reading [493] Chapters behind.
🔥 Read up to Chapter [817] now, only on 𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝕞.
📚 Read upto [12,000+] Chapters on Site with [9,900+] Free Chapters!
🚫 Also get FREE lifetime ad-free and join the giveaway by joining our Discord!
---------------------------