Chapter 1352: Chapter 1336: Kind Deity Chapter 1352: Chapter 1336: Kind Deity What is the most effective way to destroy a deity of faith? It’s simple, destroy their temple, massacre their followers, and turn them into rootless drifters. As time passes and their divine power is drained, they will naturally perish.

The most direct method is to lead a legion into their divine kingdom, shatter their divine body, and crush their divine kingdom, but this method only treats the symptom, not the root cause.

As long as their church remains and their followers are alive, given time, they can resurrect. Therefore, eradicating a deity through brute force has a very low cost-performance ratio.

The best way is to intimidate the deity into hiding within their divine kingdom, then dispatch a legion to destroy their temple and slaughter their followers. This is what Tiffany, leading the giant legion, was doing at the moment.

The reason Muria did not act personally was because this alien deity was not worthy; they were allocated fifty-nine domains, which could be seen as fifty-nine medium-sized, resource-rich worlds.

Though the domains that give birth to deities are decent, Muria had already sent an avatar, and even his daughter personally came to conquer. What more could one want? That was already giving much face.

To have him act personally would be a waste of combat resources and delay the time to subdue his own allocated domains. If he couldn’t devour all the benefits placed before him, and once other deities finished their conquests, what would happen was difficult to predict.

Because after acquiring more domains and intelligent races, some deities would inevitably gain more divine power and ascend to become even more powerful beings.

It was the same for Muria himself; once he conquered the domains allocated to him and his divine power strengthened, it would be an unshakeable fact. By then, he would also become one of the formidable deities admired and feared by others.

“Coward!”

Within the ruins of the city, Tiffany looked at the deity idol she had crushed, and with contempt, she cursed during her initial descent in this domain leading the legion to destroy the temple.

This deity, defined by her father as one that couldn’t be subdued and needed to be killed, had once descended in an avatar trying to stop and even reverse-kill her, but she suppressed him.

Yes, just like that, the deity’s avatar, faced with a dragon intent on destroying his faith, was forcibly pinned down and rubbed on the ground. In front of his million believers, he was brutally exploded; it was such a disgrace.

Afterwards, this deity had tried to struggle a few more times, but each attempt was suppressed by Tiffany. Then there was no next move; it was a continual defeat, and no one had the confidence to continue the fight, not even the deity himself.

Although Tiffany seemed relaxed on the surface, she was well aware that this deity, knowing he couldn’t win, would definitely not sit back and watch his faith be destroyed. He would continue to resist, and even when powerless, he might drag all creatures down with him, which was a disaster waiting to happen.

…

While Tiffany was “burning herself out” for her father, her two sisters, also leading their legions, were conquering the domains that Muria had arranged for them.

And it was not just them, Muria’s core team from Elasia had all been assigned, like White Tiger Troy whom he had contracted, the Loli Queen Remilia whom he had fostered for a while, and the White Dragon Queen Clodia, all these legendary figures capable of standing alone were let loose by him.

Of course, his grandfather’s gifted pet, Yingdila, was naturally not included in this list, as long as Muria was not senile, he would not let her out of his sight.

Now, with everyone around him arranged, Muria, just like his daughter, partners, or pets would have predicted, chose the most difficult domain as his target.

…

A breeze carrying the fresh scent of grass swept through, and the wind chimes hanging in the temple tinkled, easing the anxiety on the face of a worried woman who walked into the temple, as the sacred and peaceful atmosphere of the temple dissipated some of her unease.

Then, the temple keeper emerged, watching the anxious woman kneel before the serene idol, praying devoutly, and then stating her plea.

The simple temple, the small idol, the plainly dressed temple keeper, the devout mortals… Everything plain and unremarkable all came into the view of a being.

In the invisible gap between ordinary mortals, a being with towering ambition arrived, carefully observing them, their behavior, and the performance of the object of their prayers, determining the way this being would conquer their world.

Yes, through Muria’s eyes, he could see that as the anxious woman prayed, the ancient yet simple small idol exuded a faint spirit light, and then a consciousness, relatively weak compared to him, emerged.

The spirit that appeared had a more serene form than the idol placed on the altar, but it lacked any majesty. However, its existence was invisible to the two mortals in the small temple.

Weak… This was Muria’s assessment of the “deity” who accepted mortal prayers, as its existence, apart from being able to accept and contain faith—the only trait it shared with a true god—lacked anything else that could compare with a true god.

Yet it was very merciful. In Muria’s world, this spirit, which could hardly be called a god, responded to the mortal’s plea. It gifted a small, insignificant portion of its power, which sustained its own existence, to a woman who had come to request the expulsion of an epidemic from her son.

When the woman left the temple with the amulet containing a faint trace of spirit power, the smile on the worshipped deity’s face became even kinder, even though its power had weakened slightly.

This was probably an existence similar to the Earth God, but even weaker. If it lost the worship of mortals, it would likely dissipate before long—it was a particularly fragile god.

“Do you respond to every mortal who prays to you like this?”

A curious voice rang out. However, the temple servant, who was diligently sweeping, seemed unaware. The deity, originally smiling, suddenly changed its expression and looked at the being who had appeared before its idol without notice.

“Supreme deity!”

An elder-looking spirit, about half the size of an adult, bowed respectfully to Muria, demeanor reverent.

“Don’t be nervous, I’m just asking you a few questions. Just speak your thoughts,” Muria, dressed in rich garments, waved his hand, but the Earth God—barely stronger than a mortal and possessing only a slight paranormal power—could not be negligent. In its eyes, every aspect of the being before it, even the robe on its body and the crown on its head, was composed of vast divine light, its brilliance far outshining the sun above.

Such an existence was unimaginable for it, because its most essential core was only a hint of feeble divine light, far less than a ten-thousandth of the being before it.

“Supreme deity, I try to respond within my means to every human who prays to me,” the spirit said.

“Aren’t you afraid of dissipating because of this? Some wishes, when fulfilled, could cost you your own existence,” Muria asked the smallest deity he had ever met, his tone gentle.

“I haven’t thought about that,” the elder-like spirit shook its head, genuinely never having considered it.

“You don’t need to respond to every mortal who prays to you; responding to just a portion would suffice. This way, your existence will gradually grow stronger.” Muria offered this weak deity some very sensible advice. True deities behaved in this manner, selectively responding to some of their believers’ pleas—this alone was enough to sustain faith.

Responding indiscriminately to the pleas of believers would only drain oneself, for the desires of mortal things know no limits; they always covet what they simply cannot match.

“Not respond to pleas?” The spirit was shocked upon hearing Muria’s suggestion. “How could that be?”

“Why couldn’t it be that way?” Intrigued by such an odd counter-question, Muria persisted, “Mortals pray to deities, and deities naturally possess the right to choose whether to respond. Isn’t it quite normal to ignore some prayers?”

“But… wouldn’t that betray their piety?” The weak deity still couldn’t understand, its puzzled expression astonishing Muria.

“You have a group of very simple believers.”

Muria understood the reason immediately with a slight sweep of his divine senses. The small village at the foot of the mountain was its source, where the simple villagers didn’t ask too much of the deity that sheltered them.

“However, it still isn’t acceptable to exhaust yourself fulfilling wishes! If one day, a villager asks for something from you, and fulfilling their request would completely drain your own power, what would you do?”

“Then I would respond!” the weak spirit answered straightforwardly.

“Aren’t you afraid of your own annihilation?” Muria asked curiously.

“I’m not afraid.” The diminutive deity responded honestly, lacking any divine majesty, “This is the very purpose of my existence. I exist to respond to their prayers; if I refuse for the sake of existence, then my existence would have no meaning.”

“You are more suited to be a deity than any other gods, including myself,” Muria gazed at the first deity he had encountered since entering this domain, sincerely moved.

“Supreme deity, you flatter me too much,” the small spirit flustered, feeling unusually uneasy by such high praise.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read