Chapter 7: Secrets of the Mythic Realm

Returning to the airport, Li Mingxing timed it perfectly—just as the plane was preparing for takeoff, Zheng was there smiling, holding his ticket and passport, waiting for him.

When Li Mingxing emerged from the restroom, Zheng immediately approached him. “Why did it take so long? Did you have diarrhea?”

“Not really, just an upset stomach from eating something bad these past few days,” Li Mingxing replied with a smile, taking the ticket from Zheng’s hand and boarding the plane.

Since wireless communication devices must be turned off during takeoff, Li Mingxing’s handheld TV was temporarily shut down. Once the plane stabilized, he switched it back on to watch the live broadcast, only to see a chaotic scene. The Castro he had hired was sprawled on the ground, repeatedly saying, “How is this possible? How can it not be reversed?”

At the same time, Egyptian government troops had arrived, bringing a large number of digging tools—apparently under the impression that the Sphinx had sunk into the earth.

After scanning the scene and finding no one of note, Li Mingxing switched off the TV. Turning to Zheng, he smiled, “Looks like we missed quite a show.”

Zheng smiled but said nothing. Nearby passengers, having seen the broadcast, began asking what was happening.

Though reluctant to say much, Li Mingxing handed the TV to some nearby travelers. News that the Sphinx had truly vanished spread quickly aboard the plane.

Most passengers regretted missing such a spectacle—an event significant enough to be recorded in history books. If they hadn’t been away from Egypt at the time, they could have boasted about witnessing it firsthand.

Seeing the reaction aboard, Li Mingxing and Zheng exchanged a knowing glance. They understood that the presence of these passengers would shield them; even if the trainee heroes of the Luminary Alliance grew suspicious, it would be difficult to pin anything on them.

Now, Li Mingxing’s priority was to swiftly return to his city and test the effectiveness of the Sphinx he had transported there.

However, Li Mingxing underestimated the strength of the Luminary Alliance’s trainee hero stationed in Egypt. By some means, the hero forced the plane carrying Li Mingxing to land within Egyptian territory.

Because many foreigners were on board—some mere civilians—the trainee hero could not detain them for long due to the complex interests between nations in the real world.

After questioning the passengers about their whereabouts during their trip and their intended destinations, the hero found little reason to cause further trouble and released them.

Even so, Li Mingxing and Zheng took four full days to return from abroad to their city.

Once certain they were no longer being followed, they entered Li Mingxing’s city through a secret bar.

Upon arrival, Zhao Wenbin greeted them directly. “Sir, what on earth happened? Even if you wanted to bring something in here, you should have given me a heads-up. Half the city is nearly destroyed.”

At first, Li Mingxing was puzzled, but upon seeing the Sphinx he had delivered to the city—a colossal figure twenty meters tall, fifty-seven meters long, with a five-meter-long face—he understood. Whatever the weight, this massive object had fallen from the sky, and Zhao Wenbin and his team had done remarkably well just to preserve it.

Now, with the city hall and the open plaza damaged, such destruction was the least of their worries. Li Mingxing sighed, “Forget it, it was an accident. By the way, what about the Red-Capped Goose Maidens? Have them come see me.”

No sooner had he spoken than thirty-nine of the Red-Capped Goose Maidens flew to his side. Seeing them, Li Mingxing asked, “What do you think of the item I brought?”

“It’s excellent,” one replied. “The stone is large enough to craft statues. We have tested it; it meets the material requirements you specified. However, it’s unusual—it seems to attract divine power from both the Light and Death pantheons, though we don’t understand why.”

Li Mingxing wasn’t interested in the stone’s attraction to Light and Death divine energies. His concern was the temple issue. “Can this be used to build a temple?”

“Of course,” they answered. “But we think that would be wasteful. We should make statues instead. With this volume of stone, we could craft about six large statues twenty meters high and nineteen medium-sized statues five meters tall.”

“If that’s the case, then study this carefully. I only need the best plan. If you run into any problems, Zhao Wenbin can assist. I’m going to fetch the architectural blueprints now.”

As Li Mingxing prepared to leave, one Red-Capped Goose Maiden called out, “Sir, which deity should we worship?”

“Can’t this wait until I return?” he asked.

“Definitely not. Sir, you must understand that even in this world, gods have distinctions and competing interests. If you intend to worship deities from your real world, that’s possible too, but there must be sufficient doctrine for us to perform prayers. Also, we must ensure no conflict arises between gods and consider requests for divine blessings. We need to know in advance which deity you plan to worship.”

This caught Li Mingxing off guard. He patted his head and said, “You’d better wait a moment. Zhao Wenbin, handle things here. I’m going to consult my mentor.”

With that, Li Mingxing took Zheng and left his city, heading to the secret bar to find his mentor.

When Raymond saw Li Mingxing, he was delighted. He had heard that Li Mingxing had stolen an ancient relic that had existed for countless years—and had done so right in front of a trainee hero from the Luminary Alliance. This was a tremendous morale boost.

Thus, Raymond’s face was full of smiles as he listened carefully and answered Li Mingxing’s questions in detail.

However, when it came to how many gods there were to worship, Raymond found it hard to answer. After much thought, he began explaining aspects of the Inner World’s mythological layers.

Though Li Mingxing didn’t understand why Raymond was discussing this, he listened attentively.

Halfway through, Li Mingxing suddenly stood up. “What did you say? The gods of the Inner World’s mythological layers are merely projections of mythologies from the real world?”

“That’s right,” Raymond confirmed. “The gods behind both our alliance and the Luminary Alliance originally come from various Inner World mythological layers. Some gained power through the faith of trainee heroes, becoming guardian deities of certain heroes. Others are trainee heroes who attained divine status and transformed their realms into divine kingdoms. So, in essence, you can worship whichever god you believe in from the real world.”

“That may be so, but I consider myself an atheist in the real world. Upon entering the Inner World, I thought gods were those with actual divinity. You’re telling me—”

“There’s essentially no difference. If you don’t believe in gods, you can choose the path of technology or magic. On some Inner World planets, there are no mythological layers; they believe mastering the strongest magic makes one a god, with no need for divine status.”

Hearing Raymond’s reassurance, Li Mingxing shook his head. “Forget it. Even if I don’t believe in gods, to survive, I can’t ignore the mythological layer. What advice do you have about the statues I can make now?”

“Since your Red-Capped Goose Maidens said the stone can make six large statues twenty meters tall and nineteen medium statues five meters tall, make them all. Besides, your real world has countless myths and some high-ranking gods with few believers. You can use those as well. With the Goose Maidens helping you gather faith, you’ll soon receive their divine blessings.

“By the way, since the stone is especially attracted to Light and Death divine powers, you should try focusing on those two.”

“But mentor, how am I supposed to do that? I belong to the Darkness path.”

“So what if you’re Darkness? Who says you can’t tap into Light’s power? A god is a god; it doesn’t care about your alignment. If you like, I can introduce you to a Death deity who once helped me a lot.”

“Is it the death god you worship?” Li Mingxing asked, knowing Raymond was a lich.

“No, not the lich god. This deity embodies the dark side of death, overseeing souls of assassination and vengeance,” Raymond explained. “His domain overlaps somewhat with your path, and he has few followers. You can consider him. No need for a large statue—just a medium one will do. Your large statues are better dedicated to the gods from this planet’s mythological layer.”

Li Mingxing nodded thoughtfully, absorbing his mentor’s advice.