Chapter 54: Successful Persuasion! (End of Volume 6)
Time passed quickly, and three days had gone by.
It had been a while since the defeat of the King of Werewolves, Yenogu. Although Soren had saved the Master of Martial Arts Girl who had signed a contract with the Demon Avatar, he did not stay with her long. After spending a day discussing insights on the Great Whirlwind with the young Sword Saint, Soren prepared to deal with other matters and hurry back to Modo. The Time Flail (Ice) was certainly needed to be taken away; he could not possibly leave such an artifact with the monastery.
As for the arrangements with Chan, Soren had his own methods, having laid down a line in the Eastern Kingdom.
Mastering some techniques of the Sword Saint was not enough for Soren to obtain new information on the Great Whirlwind, but he was gradually touching on the threshold; perhaps it would not be long before he could have an insight.
The reason Soren was in a hurry to return was due to the opportunity with Saruman.
Gloria had conveyed the magical communication to Soren at the first moment, and upon learning the news, Soren immediately realized that it was an opportunity.
An opportunity to cultivate a demigod.
The power that Saruman possessed should be related to the Fertile domain, which could resonate with most divine systems, while Soren himself had the Divine Profession of Half-Elf.
In other words, agricultural abilities could easily fit into the scope of Soren’s Divine Profession.
If Saruman showed potential for cultivation, Soren planned to turn him into his demigod, elevating him when the time was right by bestowing him with divinity and divine power, allowing him to ascend to the status of a new god with Moderate Divinity. This way, Saruman’s powers would originate from Soren, and Soren could even reclaim some of that power at a cost. Such control was not overly severe, and it would be a win-win situation; after obtaining a newly ascended demigod, Soren would no longer be alone, effectively establishing a framework for a divine system.
A divine system.
Perhaps this still felt quite distant for Soren, but it was certainly not completely unimaginable.
Soren’s current Divinity Value was 90 points, and his Divine Power Value was only 36 points at the moment because he had bestowed a part to Vivian. He was very close to Moderate Divinity. Though there was still a considerable distance in Divine Power Value, the outbreak of the Saint’s Cataclysm offered opportunities for accumulation.
As a result, there was a chance for Soren to reach Medium Divine Power during the Saint’s Cataclysm.
Medium Divine Power.
This was almost reaching the standard of a small divine system.
It should be noted that when the Ocean Goddess was still at Medium Divine Power, she had already begun to cultivate her own demigods and sub-gods. Having one or two reliable beings with Weak Divine Power for the divine struggles was also very important.
Vivian was certainly meant for divinity.
Currently, the little girl was working hard to absorb the Divine Power Soren had granted her. As she was still a native, she could not compare to him. Even though Vivian’s talents far exceeded those of a demigod, merging Divine Power within a few months was quite a challenge, as hundreds of years of effort had been reduced to such a brief period. Given the little girl’s talent, it was indeed somewhat difficult. Vivian’s integration progress was not fast; she was currently between a Demigod and a False God. To truly ascend to divinity, she needed to step out of the framework imposed by the talents of the Demon Son of Fear.
Divine Power was far more difficult to absorb than Divinity.
In the past, Vivian required forced sleep to absorb Divinity; even though she was much stronger now, merging Divine Power would still be quite challenging this year.
In one year, progressing from a Demigod to a True God!
If this applied to others, the speed would be truly shocking, but for Soren, it was still too slow.
For the time being.
Soren still could only rely on his strength to deal with the changes.
The seeds had to be planted in advance to reap a rich harvest. Soren valued Saruman’s potential; it may not be a combat-oriented ability, but in the long run, his potential was very useful. The Overseas Islands had much land, yet it could not compare to the mainland. The land was not as fertile as the mainland, and perhaps with Saruman’s power, many current situations could be changed.
The world was always changing.
If Saruman had the potential for cultivation, Soren was quite willing to bestow a little divinity to promote him.
Since he planned to return to the Overseas Islands, the journey in the Eastern Kingdom should temporarily come to an end.
However, Soren now had an important task. That was to find a way to bring back the Legendary Puppeteer Girl. There was less than half a month left before the second wave of Abyssal Demon assaults.
Soren decided to adopt a more straightforward method.
That was to reveal his identity!
He prepared to extend an invitation to the Legendary Puppeteer Girl in his true god form, asking her to visit Modo City and then decide whether to work further with Soren.
If she still refused to cooperate after going to Modo City, he would have to consider whether to resort to coercive measures.
Currently.
The most important thing was to bring her back first.
Fortunately.
When Soren returned to the initial town, the Legendary Puppeteer Girl was already back.
This time, Soren did not hide his power, but instead, presented himself in the form of a saint, directly showing her the gap in power and status between them.
“Y-Your Excellency?!…”
When they met again, the Legendary Puppeteer, Alice, finally understood the difference. Although she had suspected Soren’s identity and had even visited the Eastern Empress some time ago, upon fully seeing Soren’s true form, Alice’s face still showed unmistakable surprise.
Holy cow!
This is a true god!
If it weren’t for the outbreak of the Saint’s Cataclysm, mere mortals might never see the embodiment of a deity in their lifetime!
“What do you think of my suggestion?”
Soren paid no attention to the girl’s surprised expression, but directly cut to the chase: “Certain knowledge you possess is very important to me. There is also much knowledge in Modo City that should be useful to you. We discovered a wizard tower in the Shadow Plane; it is one of the relatively well-preserved wizard towers from the Arcane Empire era.”
“In the maze of the wizard tower, we also discovered a peculiar semi-plane.”
“Recently.”
“I found an underground ruin during an exploration and brought back a functioning Elemental Furnace. As a puppeteer who has researched the knowledge of the Arcane Empire, I believe you know what these represent.”
“This is a sincere invitation.”
“If you feel it offers you no help upon arriving in Modo City, I assure you that you can leave at any time.”
“In the name of the gods!”
To get this girl to Modo City, Soren is putting in his utmost effort, even using the name of the gods as a guarantee.
He is a lawful alignment deity.
Though leaning toward an evil domain, failing to fulfill such a promise would shift his divine alignment.
Deities cannot deny themselves!
The best outcome would be that the Legendary Puppeteer would be very satisfied upon arriving in Modo City; otherwise, forcing her to stay might put Soren in a dilemma.
Nevertheless.
He still had some confidence in this; after all, there were numerous advanced technologies stored in Modo City.
Maze.
Wizard Tower.
Chess Dimension.
Elemental Furnace.
Soren didn’t believe that none of these would attract the Puppeteer girl before him. She mastered black technologies from the Arcane Empire and surely was acutely aware of the power they represented. Likewise, she would definitely be interested in other black technologies from the Arcane Empire; the Arcane Power Armor within the wizard tower was far more powerful than the Puppet Girls she created. These Puppet Girls were at best Profession Level 16, but the Arcane Power Armor was above level 21, along with a tower spirit combatant exceeding level 25.
Upon hearing Soren’s words, Alice was clearly deep in thought.
Soren did not deceive her.
At least the spell that detects lies indicated that everything Soren just said was the truth. Thus, upon discovering so many treasures in Modo City, her thoughts were quite tempted.
However, leaving her familiar surroundings for the more distant Overseas Islands was not an easy matter.
She found it difficult to make a decision in a short time, and the attitude of the Eastern Empress was uncertain, but Soren seemed quite anxious.
The girl hesitated for a moment.
Thus, she cast her gaze to the side, where her serious and attentive puppet maid, Lilith, was listening, and softly said, “Lilith, what do you think?”
Incredibly.
Such an important matter, and she was seeking advice from her own puppet creations.
The maid’s expression was serious, her strange silvery-white metal very soft yet tough. This allowed her to exhibit very human-like expressions, and the maid slightly bent forward and said earnestly, “If this Excellency can guarantee the master’s safety, perhaps we can go see that place called Modo City.”
“Lilith also wants to meet other advanced Construct Life.”
“Especially the legendary Tower Spirits.”
Tower Spirits.
These were the alchemical life forms that only high-level legendary wizards could create; they were powerful and intelligent high-level construct creatures. Tower Spirits were rare even in the southern continent, and in the chaotic magical energy-laden Eastern Kingdom, they were even rarer. Although the alchemical dolls crafted by the Puppeteer girl were exquisite and powerful, in terms of production craftsmanship, they were still quite inferior to Tower Spirits. At the very least, Tower Spirits were legendary alchemical beings, far superior in capability to these Puppet Girls.
Alice fell into deep thought upon hearing this.
After a moment, she turned her gaze back to Soren, but not at him directly; instead, she focused on another Puppet Girl sleeping on his shoulder, saying earnestly, “Claris!”
“Stop sleeping so late.”
“What do you think of Excellency Soren’s proposal?”
The Divine Puppet named Claris slowly opened her eyes, stretching her silver little hand to rub her eyes as if still half-asleep. Then she mumbled, “Staying in one place is quite boring.”
“Maybe going out to see could be nice.”
“Alice, I remember you said last time you wanted to travel to the Astral Realm. You haven’t even visited all the locations in the Material Plane; Why not explore the Material Plane first and then consider venturing to the Astral Realm?”
Incredibly.
The Puppeteer girl named Alice was actually seeking opinions from her own puppet creations, and these Puppet Girls were giving her serious responses.
At this moment, Soren was genuinely curious about how she created these Puppet Girls.
“Alright then.”
After hearing the two Puppet Girls, Alice took a deep breath, and then seriously said, “Excellency Soren! I am willing to accompany you to the Overseas Islands.”
“I hope it won’t disappoint me.”
Just as the words fell.
The maid, Lilith, standing beside the desk, sprang into action with a serious expression, saying, “Molis! Tiers! Renas!…”
“Prepare to pack your things.”
“And you! Claris! No slacking off! Since we decided to go on a journey, you pack your things yourself!…”
The other Puppet Girls immediately began to move.
They seemed a bit lively at this moment, not only organizing various items but also excitedly saying with a hint of fluctuation in their voices, “Are we going on a trip?”
“Can we see the sea?”
“Molis!… You should go organize our things!… I’ll handle this side!…”
A group of Puppet Girls busily sprang into action.
Meanwhile, the lazy Divine Puppet Girl, Claris, who had been lying on Soren’s shoulder, also got up. She seriously flew to a cabinet on the right side of the wall, then opened a very small drawer, immediately pulling out a set of tiny clothes and shoes. All of them were very miniature, only the size of two or three fingers, yet astonishingly lifelike and exquisitely crafted, the handiwork of a top-level tailor.
Claris had three sets of clothes, all maid outfits in standard style, but slightly different in color.
The Puppet Girl carefully folded these incredibly tiny dresses and placed them into a box that was only half the size of Soren’s palm. Then, she flew back to the table with the box in one hand and cheerfully said, “Done!”
“I’ve packed my things.”
On the other side, the Puppet Girl named Lilith flew over, struggling a bit as she placed several small boxes on the table, and she made a very human-like gesture of wiping sweat from her brow.
Of course, as an alchemical construct life form, she wouldn’t sweat at all.
This was the result of their learning from the outside world; they imitated human behavior and gradually formed their own distinctive personalities. It was said that alchemical life forms that spent a long time with humans were more likely to develop emotional traits, rather than appearing cold as if they were machines.
Soren was left dumbfounded.
Under the busy schedule of the Puppet Girls, preparations were quickly wrapping up. Alice tucked a thick book under her arm and then pulled out a heavy suitcase with one hand. She first placed her many books inside, then carefully set the small box containing the Puppet Girls’ belongings next to it.
Immediately, she looked up and smiled gently at Soren, saying, “Alright.”
“We are ready.”
“Let’s set off now.”
(PS: This volume is finished. Tomorrow I will start writing a new volume.) (To be continued ~^~)
