Xylene

In order to avoid official investigation and to facilitate contact with people in the entertainment industry, the "Art Hall" was built underground in S City, the economic center of China with a large number of entertainment practitioners.

Although it is underground, the construction of the "Art Hall" does not give people the feeling of any words that can be associated with "underground".

This place seems to have been transformed from an underground river or stalactite cave. The space is huge, retaining the original crisscrossing and bizarreness of the caves. With the blessing of modern design, the original sense of mystery has been eliminated, and the eyes are full of splendor. Even the porcelain inlaid on the cave walls are outlined with complex magic patterns with gold powder.

Several small churches are built around the central Gothic-style temple, which has a great visual impact.

Su Mu and Lin Lang originally thought that this guy pretending to be a god was a liar with no skills and no money, but everything they saw completely shattered their imagination.

"...Did you build this?" Lin Lang asked tentatively, somewhat doubting whether it was this group of deceived artists or big bosses who spent money to build such a magnificent hall.

Guan Yingying shook her head. "How is this possible? This is a palace built by the goddess using her divine power. Besides, our offerings are used to develop the 'Palace of Art' and promote our sect among the public."

"Something is wrong." Su Mu said: "Was this really built by this liar goddess? She can barely teleport, how could she build such a big palace?"

"But this sect has only been in existence for two months." Lin Lang's eyes became more serious. "Besides, these buildings are located underground. Even if there are civil engineering and design majors among the believers, it is impossible to complete such a large building in such a short time."

The architectural style comes from Earth, so it can only have been built on Earth.

"Are there any signs of illusion?" Su Mu asked again.

"No. But the buildings here are full of magic, a bit like the method we used when we built the Tower of Babel." Lin Lang looked around and shared the information he had obtained with Su Mu: "Since Guan Yingying said that it was made by the goddess with divine power, someone must have witnessed the manufacturing process. If the goddess does not have spiritual magic and hypnotized the onlookers, then all of this is really a building she created with magic in front of others."

Su Mu was a little surprised: "To complete such a large building complex, you must be at least a high-level magician. If it was her now, I wouldn't be too surprised, after all, she has the power of faith to assist in her practice, but magic power just appeared two months ago, where did she get such great power?"

"If there is none on Earth, then what about Parnaqui?" Lin Lang asked.

Su Mu: "You mean... there is the power of Parnaki behind this?"

Lin Lang: "Since the dragons can come to Earth from Parnaki, other races may have such abilities. If it is a Parnaki creature, it is not impossible for it to control or assist the Earthlings and make them its substitutes to create the so-called "miracles". Don't you think it's strange? The people under her are either first-line actresses or top idols, and there are even movie stars and actresses. The number of fans of these artists is millions. Even if less than one thousandth of them can provide the power of faith, it is still a very objective number. Even if she doesn't practice at all, two months is enough for her to gain the strength of an intermediate magician. How could the space channel created by an intermediate magician of the space system be so unstable? "

"What if you want to distinguish the status of each believer through the difference in space channels?" Su Mu, who used to be a mermaid king, is very clear about this differentiated reward method: "Including the glass beads and plastic necklaces before... believers with higher status and more contributions will be given better objects to attract them to continue to work for the church and provide more offerings to the church."

"But Guan Yingying is also a mid-to-high-level believer, right?" Lin Lang said, "Her popularity is there, and she has actively brought in several believers. Just the increased power of faith alone, isn't it worth the goddess giving her a better reward?"

"So the power of faith may not reach the person disguised as the "goddess", but someone else?" Su Mu suddenly realized: "In this way, everything can be explained - a "traveler" who did not cause any splash when "traveling" was able to quickly create a "religion" of her own after returning to Earth, and built this huge building underground, and even surrounded it with barriers that cannot be detected and destroyed. However, after two months of training, her strength has been greatly reduced, and she has no power at all... It seems that the existence behind her can't respond at any time. "

"Anyway, let's take a look at what this goddess is like first." Lin Lang said.

...

In the magnificent room, a woman wearing a white gauze dress, with delicate features and a sense of holiness, was kneeling on a mat, with her hands clasped against her forehead, praying devoutly in the sea of ​​​​consciousness.

"Honorable God, my beloved Princess Belyana, please accept the power I offer you, and I hope you will wake up soon."

The silence in the house was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

Mu Jingbai suddenly opened her eyes, quickly tidied her hair and slightly wrinkled skirt that were a little messy due to praying, picked up the scepter that she had casually thrown aside, and quickly regained the aura of a god.

"Come in."

Her voice was sweet and magical, which shocked the servant standing at the gate. His eyes burst into uncontrollable enthusiasm. He quickly bent down and said respectfully: "Your Highness, the Goddess, your believer, Priest Guan Yingying has returned with two new believers and hopes to pay his respects to you."

Guan Yingying, Mu Jingbai remembered this name.

Now she is a popular young actress in China, and her studio is very good at increasing the stickiness of her fans. Although she has not been in the "Art Hall" for a long time, it has provided her with a considerable amount of faith.

Although most of the power of faith was not absorbed by her, but contributed to the real "God", her greatest reliance, the remaining power allowed her to quickly transform from a magic apprentice who had difficulty casting magic into a junior magician in a short period of time. She can now skillfully use space magic that she dared not even think about "traveling through time".

It is conceivable that as their sect gradually expands and absorbs more and more power of faith, it is not impossible for them to become "sages" of legendary level.

If Her Highness Belyana can wake up, not to mention this country, even the entire world will be in Her Highness's hands sooner or later.

Her Highness Belya...

A trace of sadness flashed across Mu Jingbai's eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.

She waved her hand gently, and the tightly closed door of the room in front of her opened from the inside out, revealing a pair of shocked eyes of the servant, as if he had witnessed a miracle.

"Wind Magic" is one of the first magics that all magic apprentices in Parnaki master. Its only use is to use magic to create a small airflow. Even non-wind magicians can use it. If used skillfully, it can make objects float in the air for a short time, or push doors open.

It is a very simple magic, but in this world where magic has never appeared, it is like a miracle and makes people worship it.

Mu Jingbai suppressed her raised lips. Her years of acting experience had honed her acting skills. She put on a divine expression and said gently, "Let them meet me in the main hall."

"Yes!" the attendant said loudly.

...

"Thank you for the mercy of the Muse." Guan Yingying bowed to the waiter who delivered the message, turned around and said excitedly to Lin Lang and Su Mu: "You two are so lucky. Her Highness the Goddess agreed to my audience. You will be able to see the real God soon!"

"We are so lucky!" Lin Lang and Su Mu pretended to be very excited and started complaining in private channels.

Lin Lang: "This goddess is quite approachable. I can see her just by asking the servants to inform her."

Su Mu: "Let's not talk about the real gods. I remember that "angels" like Yu Zhi basically keep the habit of showing up once every few decades, right?"

Lin Lang: "Isn't it? Apart from the gods' trusted followers, how could gods appear on their own initiative?"

Su Mu: "It's a pity that Lin Yuan is not here. I really want to listen to his crazy complaints!"

Lin Lang: "Lin Yuan can only say that in order to maintain their own mystery and style, real gods will never show up in front of ordinary people. Those who appear as soon as they are called and call themselves "gods" or "angels" are most likely liars. "

...

"Teacher Lin Yuan, I have a question." Jiang Bowen raised his hand and interrupted Lin Yuan's lecture: "Since you mentioned that tens of thousands of believers pray to the 'Goddess of Disaster' every day, how should the goddess respond to these prayers?"

"The goddess can listen to all prayers at the same time. Simply put, each prayer is like someone sending a unilateral 'private message' to the goddess. Although hundreds of thousands of private messages pop up at the same time, the goddess' power allows her to handle them all at the same time." Lin Yuan explained to the students in a modern way: "But not every private message needs to be replied to. So the goddess will initially screen out unnecessary prayers, leaving the truly urgent prayers, and then respond at her discretion. Generally, she will use magic to make him feel a certain way, or use magic to remotely solve his difficulties."

"Won't the goddess show up?" Jiang Bowen was curious.

Lin Yuan said: "Not really. There are quite a few 'angels' in Parnaki. The 'Goddess of Disaster' is one of the gods who appears the most, but the frequency is often once every few decades."

The students didn't understand: "Wouldn't it be more powerful to show up in front of the believers than to respond remotely with magic?"

Lin Yuan asked back: "Will you believe in your friends and your parents?"

As the students shook their heads in confusion, Lin Yuan said, "The gods and believers must maintain a sufficient distance. Distance creates beauty, and this sentence is also suitable for the gods of Parnaki. Once the gods appear in front of believers more often, they will no longer have the mystery given by the identity of "god". If the relationship is further strengthened, the feelings will deteriorate. Love, worship, respect, these feelings may appear, but faith will not."

Therefore, even Lin Yuan, the guardian knight of the "Temple of Disaster", treats Yu Zhi more with respect rather than "faith".

The word faith is too harsh. It is not shaped by the gods themselves, but an existence that countless believers have perfected and constructed with their own imaginations at an absolute distance.

Because they are untouchable, gods are so high and sacred. Once they fall to the ground, the imagination in our hearts is shattered, and gods are no longer "noble".

In a sense, Lin Yuan and Yu Zhi were equal in status. He was just a nominal employee in Yu Zhi's temple. With Lin Yuan's ability, he could leave the "Temple of Disaster" at any time and develop his own power, but he just didn't want to.

Lin Yuan described it so clearly, as if he himself had experienced being a god, or had heard someone who had been a god recount the experience personally.

The more the students listened, the more confused they became: "Teacher Lin Yuan, aren't you also unveiling the veil of God to us by explaining it to us in such detail?"

If you want to create a real god and make them believe in him, shouldn't you say nothing and let them figure it out? How come you're just short of giving them a set of procedures on how to be a god?

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "The purpose of this course is not to make you a devout believer. You already know the existence of the power of faith, and you will definitely encounter people who use the power of faith to deceive people in the future. So the real purpose of this course is to let you understand the power gap between real gods and fake gods, as well as the way gods act, so that you will not be deceived by fake gods in the future, or witness people being brainwashed by fake gods, so that you can help them recognize the reality and get rid of the scam."

"You must remember that even Parnaki has no real gods nowadays. In order to maintain their own mystery and style, real gods will never casually show up in front of ordinary people. Those who appear as soon as they are called and call themselves "gods" or "angels" are most likely liars."

"Yes!" the students shouted.

...

After a short wait, the "Muse" that Guan Yingying mentioned finally appeared in the sight of Su Mu and Lin Lang.

The woman in front of him was wearing a white dress, holding a scepter made of cinnamon twigs and gold, and a crown inlaid with large gems on her forehead. Her beautiful face was half covered by a veil, like a walking white lotus, and her whole body exuded holiness.

Guan Yingying quickly knelt on one knee and bowed devoutly: "Meet the Muse."

Lin Lang and Su Mu, who were standing behind Guan Yingying: "......"

Lin Lang: "Am I smelling it right? Why does this goddess smell like an evil spirit?"

Su Mu: "You're not mistaken, this smell is too strong!"

Oh my god! How could there be traces of evil in Parnaki? Is the world really going to end?