Chapter 470: Pandora's Box
Geng Chengyun glanced at Mai Cheng with a baffled expression, incomprehension clear on his face.
The people next to him couldn't help revealing friendly smiles when they saw this. One of the people acquainted with Geng Chengyun asked with a smile, "Old Geng, did you just come out of secluded cultivation? You never even heard about such a major event?"
Geng Chengyun nodded. "I won't hide it from Daoist Friend Xie… This humble one has indeed just left secluded cultivation."
"Then it's no wonder!" A look of realization appeared on Mai Cheng’s face, and he handed a piece of document to Geng Chengyun. "Brother, take a look at this first."
Geng Chengyun took it and realized that a line of large words were written on the first page: Weak Gods Hunting Manual.
Geng Chengyun was naturally aware of the World of Gods and the existence of gods, so he was taken aback on the spot as soon as he saw this name.
Gods were existences on the same level as Star Rulers, yet someone actually dared to talk about hunting gods?
Disdain flickered in his eyes. Geng Chengyun didn’t want to humor this nonsense, but considering that it was information given to him by Mai Cheng, he still patiently flipped open the file.
On the title page, Geng Chengyun saw this sentence: “All methods in this manual are only for weak gods below Tier 7. Remember to choose the correct hunting target when using them.”
‘Yeah right, as if this whole thing isn’t just a huge prank.’ Geng Chengyun secretly bristled, but was then shaken by the long table of contents on the next page.
“Definition of Weak Gods, Common Locations Where Weak Gods Reside, How to Lure Weak Gods Out, Common Areas Weak Gods Frequent…”
Geng Chengyun saw something even more frightening at the end of the manual.
“Example Demonstration: Detailed Steps for Capturing and Killing a Tier 6 God—God of Smoke and Dust Norfetti.”
Geng Chengyun felt his heartbeat speed up as he quickly flipped to the very end, and sure enough, he saw extremely detailed steps written there, telling the reader how to capture and kill Norfetti.
This was a god who had reached Tier 6 and already possessed a Divine Kingdom!
He quickly glanced up at Mai Cheng. "This Norfetti…"
"Dead," Mai Cheng answered lightly. "The method of death was exactly the same as stated in the manual, and the Godhead was also gouged out."
Geng Chengyun only felt a "boom" in his head, as if something had shattered in his heart. He knew that it was the high and mighty status unique to Star Rulers.
Mai Cheng couldn't help chuckling when he saw this. "Don't be nervous. This manual only targets gods—it has no effect on us."
As Mai Cheng and the others recounted what happened, Geng Chengyun soon realized what kind of major event had transpired in the Myriad Heavens during his seclusion.
First, a strange piece of information regarding the use of Godheads to cultivate Void Cutters began to circulate amongst the Star Rulers.
At that time, not many people took it seriously. After all, Godheads weren’t cabbages, and the difficulty of obtaining one might even be higher than cultivating a Void Cutter from scratch, so such information was completely useless.
But then this hunting manual appeared out of nowhere, and it wasn’t even circulated secretly but rather released openly for all Star Rulers and even Void Cutters to read.
"To think such a method exists…" Geng Chengyun muttered under his breath as he finished reading the Godhead Cultivation Method.
Even though he hadn't reached the stage of running an astral world yet, the lack of Void Cutters under his command was a situation every Star Ruler would face. If one could have a Void Cutter underling, it would undoubtedly save a great deal of energy.
Star Rulers like Mai Cheng would have an even greater need for Void Cutters’ assistance and was just short of waving a flag and recruiting Void Cutters from all sides into their own astral worlds.
Moreover, Void Cutters they personally raised would obviously be more dependable than outsiders… Almost without much thought, Geng Chengyun understood the value of these two pieces of information.
His gaze also began to burn with enthusiasm as he looked around him.
According to the manual, the most optimal party for hunting gods was a team of five people. This number could guarantee a fairly high success rate without the loot being poorly distributed due to too many people, making it the most cost-effective configuration.
It occurred to Geng Chengyun that even if the five of them only ended up getting one Godhead, they could still take turns using it…
As long as they found a small plane where time flowed extremely fast, it wouldn't take long at all to cultivate a Void Cutter, and they’d soon be able to squeeze all the value out of a single Godhead.
Seeing Geng Chengyun's expression change, Mai Cheng didn't need to ask much to understand the other party's attitude.
He then spoke again, "There's no time to lose. If Brother Geng is interested in participating in this matter, why don't we set off immediately?"
"Depart immediately? I still want to go back and prepare a little…" Geng Chengyun froze for a second, not expecting Mai Cheng to be in such a hurry.
He originally came out to relax and hadn't prepared too many items suitable for combat.
Daoist Friend Xie next to him said, "Old Geng, you're muddleheaded! This hunting manual is public, so it won't be long before the gods learn about it. How can we have time to wait any longer?"
Geng Chengyun suddenly realized that he’d been so shocked by this series of discoveries that he didn't even consider this. He hurriedly said, "There’s no time to lose. Let’s hurry up and get going!"
This truly was an extremely urgent matter.
……
Motivating people through righteousness would only last for a while, while motivating people through benefits could last for a long time.
Gu Nan didn’t even do anything besides making two pieces of information public and semi-public respectively, and the entire Myriad Heavens completely exploded, with the vast majority of Star Rulers mobilizing.
How could the Star Rulers not be enthusiastic? After all, a single Godhead represented at least ten Void Cutters—and the kind where they could select the candidates themselves. Not even Star Rulers had ever seen such a good thing before.
Those weak Star Rulers who were just starting to develop their astral worlds were definitely grateful from the bottom of their hearts to the person who publicized the information. This really was a timely rain.
As a result, the number of Void Cutters in the entire Myriad Heavens reached its highest peak ever, and after just over half a month, practically every Star Ruler had a Void Cutter attendant in their hands.
The status of independent Void Cutters took a steep dive as a result, and it could be said that because of Gu Nan's actions, the problem of class solidification in the Myriad Heavens worsened severalfold.
Equally unlucky were the weaker gods in the World of Gods. The neutral Void Cutters lost some status at worst, but what these gods lost were their lives.
The sudden death of a large number of gods finally drew the attention of the higher-ups of the World of Gods, and the twelve greater gods sat down together in an unprecedented manner, trying to get to the bottom of the matter—actually, it was thirteen now, since there was an extra Rolensia.
But when the results came out, they could only look at each other speechlessly.
There was no greater god who didn’t know about the Myriad Heavens, so they were well aware of this: the conflict between the two sides had become irreconcilable as soon as Godheads were discovered to greatly benefit Star Rulers’ astral world development.
"Negotiate with that side and have their Unified Dao powers place a ban on Star Rulers coming over here illegally?" The God of Time Valen suggested after some thought.
"It's useless." The Goddess of Darkness Daisy sighed softly. "Even if there is a ban, there will never be a lack of people willing to take risks out of desperation."
The Beast God pressed his greatsword onto the table and looked around. "Everyone, I think it's better to prepare for war."
No one from the crowd of greater gods responded, tacitly acquiescing to his words. No matter how strong the ban, it still wouldn’t be able to stop this kind of behavior that brought huge benefits.
Pandora's box had been opened.