12、Secrets of the Divine Spirit

  Old crazy Nietzsche was a miner in the town of Duketown like Armon during his youth, that was over a hundred and several decades ago. At that time, the region of Balen, Assyria, and Hatti was experiencing chaotic wars, and the ruler of the city-state of Syria had changed hands several times. The living environment of Duketown was much worse than it is now, often lacking in necessities for life.

  The barren land here can only grow a little wheat and beans to fill the belly, and the sheep herds raised on the edge of the dark forest are also scarce. It was spring that year, and the sheep had all been eaten. Nietzsche really felt tasteless in his mouth, so he went into the deep forest east of the town to hunt. Strong miners who mastered skills could also become good hunters. Although it's very dangerous deep in the forest, Old Crazy has hunted wild game in the marginal areas since childhood.

  This time, Nietzsche went very far, carrying dried and smoked meat on his back, unknowingly passing through the area where the cave dwarves lived in the deep mountains, and entering the treacherous Yubu River Canyon. While chasing a horned deer, he accidentally fell off a cliff, but fortunately got caught by vines in mid-air, breaking many vines before stabilizing his body, and climbed to a very secluded place, where he found a corpse that had just died recently under a rock overhang, and obtained the deceased's belongings.

  The deceased was a mid-tier divine spellcaster who used divine tools to fly and escape pursuit during the chaos of war, but fell heavily injured in this remote location and eventually succumbed to his wounds. The divine spellcaster came from the Marduk Temple in Valen, which was at war with Hatti at the time, making him an enemy of Hatti. He left behind a final message, carved into the wall with a knife.

  Nietzsche was different from the ordinary miners in Duketown because he could read. Nietzsche's grandfather had been a clerk in Duketown and, during the war years, had unknowingly offended some royal law and was punished by being stripped of his lowest noble status. In the last few years of his life, he spent his time teaching his grandson to study with a mud knife.

  Nietzsche fell in a remote area far from human habitation, facing the turbulent Yubu River and with steep cliffs behind him. The seriously injured sorcerer lacked food and medicine, and in agony he struggled to pray to Marduk for seven days and nights, seeking pity and redemption, but ultimately despaired before his death.

  The desperate divine spellcaster expressed in his will that he no longer wanted to return to the temple, and if someone could find him, he asked to be buried on the spot in accordance with his family's tradition and to bring his legacy to his wife and children. As a reward, the divine spellcaster left behind the secrets of his divine spellcasting practice, including not only the various stages from low to middle rank, but also the content of how to advance from middle to high rank that he himself had not yet practiced. His legacy included a staff engraved with marks and several precious divine artifacts.

  Nietzsche's life took a turn from then on, he privately studied the divine technique. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured, fortunately, there was enough food in his backpack, and he stayed here for several days, recording all the contents of the divine technique, and burying the divine technique master. Relying on his strong physique, after a few days, he brought the divine technique master's relics to climb up the cliff.

  Everyone in Duketown thought Nietzsche was lost and died deep in the treacherous jungle, but ten years later Nietzsche returned to Duketown, claiming that he had been captured by cave-dwelling savages while hunting and had spent ten years as a slave in their village until he finally escaped from the mountains.

  But no one knew that Nietzsche had already become a magician and had just returned from his travels to the capital of the Kingdom of Balen, Balen City.

  He went to Balun City to return the divine technique master's legacy. Nietzsche was already a third-level magician, and as long as he was careful, he could handle many situations on the road. In the outside world, Nietzsche only realized the strangeness of the mining skills he had learned since childhood. When he obtained the divine technique master's legacy, he already possessed the agility and reaction of a second-level warrior, and being able to survive a fall from a cliff was not entirely due to luck.

  But after obtaining the ancient tomes left behind by the divine artificer, during the "Awakening of Power" ceremony, he obtained a power that communicated with external energy, known as the divine gift, and naturally chose to cultivate divine arts.

  In the city of Balen, Nietzsche finally found the widow of that divine technique master, but discovered that this family had declined and was having difficulties. The identity of the temple priest is mostly hereditary, inherited by the most suitable son or eldest son in the family to practice the divine technique. That divine technique master was a priest of the Marduk Temple in Balen City, and his only son was still underage and could not inherit the priest's identity.

  Her husband disappeared, the widow of the shaman has been in debt for many years. The creditor is a nobleman in the city who asks the widow to marry him, with the intention of seizing her land and inheriting her husband's priestly identity, which is common during wartime.

  Nietzsche's arrival relieved the widow of the magician, for the magician's legacy was very valuable, almost equivalent to half of his family property, otherwise his disappearance would not have caused such great difficulties for the family.

  The widow was very grateful to Nietzsche and, out of kindness, told him in private: "If you practice the divine art according to my husband's will and make progress, becoming a magician, never reveal your identity, keep hiding until you become a great magician. At that time, everything may change dramatically, if you are lucky!"

  After finishing her words, she urged Nietzsche to leave as soon as possible, otherwise there might be trouble. Her worries were not wrong, and after Nietzsche left Barren City, he was pursued and killed, perhaps by the noble who had failed in his plot. Nietzsche used divine magic to kill the pursuers, fearing that his identity as a magician would be exposed, and then returned secretly to Duke Town.

  Nietzsche lived in Duketown for another ten years, just like other miners, without anything out of the ordinary. Ten years later, he left Duketown again to travel across the continent, seemingly not putting that "Duketown registered miners are not allowed to leave without permission" decree in his eyes, at which time he was already a 7th-level great magician.

  Nietzsche traveled extensively throughout the continent of Tianzhu for another ten years, having many unbelievable experiences. When he returned to Du Ke Town again, he was already an 8th-level great magician. It is said that the town mayor at the time wanted to hold Nietzsche accountable for his unauthorized departure, but later on, it was unknown why nothing came of it. After that, Nietzsche lived in the town all along, and no one bothered him, just treating him as a good old madman who spoke nonsense.

  The art of the body and the art of the gods cannot be cultivated at the same level, this is an ancient divine decree and a law. Nietzsche obtained the legacy of the god technique master after awakening the "power granted by the gods", and began to specialize in the study of the god technique, achieving results close to the highest level. However, there was a problem that had been troubling him: before learning the art of the gods, he had actually started learning skills similar to those of the body art, and had reached the level of a second-level warrior.

  In Douku Town, when a man comes of age, the blessing ceremony presided over by the priest in the Mu Yun Temple is actually similar to an awakening ceremony for some kind of power.

  Nietzsche was unaware of this at the time, so he abandoned his martial arts training and focused solely on magic, eventually becoming a great magician. As a result, he began to suspect that there might be some unknown secret behind this, but when he tried to resume his martial arts training, he found it unusually difficult, even losing the strength of a second-level warrior in his youth, with physical strength barely equivalent to that of a first-level warrior.

  After all, he was old and had not practiced his physical skills for many years. Having an eighth-level divine technique made him very powerful, but being able to maintain the health of his body and surpass ordinary people's strength was already quite good. This unsuccessful attempt left Nietzsche feeling depressed and even more confused, as if troubled by this, his magical achievements always failed to break through to the ninth level.

  Nietzsche often disappeared from Duke Town and returned after a while, of course no one cared about this old madman anymore. The old madman inquired about the anecdotes, famous gods, great warriors, their life experiences, cultivation processes, etc., as well as the legends of various temples about the gods.

  The old madman began to suspect that some of the so-called divine spirits in the story were described as being similar to demigods, and there was no difference between them and ninth-level great mages or ninth-level great warriors. So, were they just demigods or did they become true divine spirits later on? If so, is it possible for mortals to become immortal divine spirits? And if so, how can one become a divine spirit?

  He also suspected that the cultivation of magic and martial arts could be on the same level, or they were originally one entity, but were artificially divided into two parts, making it difficult to cultivate them at the same time. There may be some undiscovered mysteries in this, including the secret of becoming a divine spirit.

  The old madman didn't get an answer, and it wasn't until he was over a hundred years old that he realized he no longer had the possibility of going to verify in person. He placed his hopes on passing it down to someone else. After searching for a long time in many places, he finally found a child with exceptional qualifications in a small village belonging to Cape Town. His name is Bell, and he's the son of a shepherd.

  The old madman taught Bell everything he knew, only hoping that he could unravel the mystery that had puzzled him for half his life.

  It's not necessary to say what happened later, but Bell finally escaped to the valley of the Yu Di River in the depths of the mountains, where he might have wanted to go to Du Ke Town to find Old Crazy, but couldn't shake off the large number of pursuers. It's unknown what kind of magical powers Bell had used on a cat, but this cat was able to break through the encirclement and cross the treacherous mountains to reach Du Ke Town, bringing a message to Old Crazy.

  It wasn't that the cat could speak, but Bell's most skilled divine magic was informational magic, and he had sealed a message on the cat. After the old madman read it with his divine magic, the message naturally disappeared.

  The message from Bell is as follows:

  Respected teacher——

  Your guess should be correct, mortals can become divine spirits, the secret lies in the cultivation of divine techniques and physical techniques. No matter which one is broken through nine levels or above, it is the achievement of a divine spirit. However, simply cultivating divine techniques or physical techniques is extremely difficult, and there is almost no possibility of further advancement. This is the conclusion I drew after reading the biographies of countless great warriors and great divine technique masters throughout history.

  In fact, it is impossible to cultivate both magic and martial arts at the same level. At least that's what we've seen so far. Except for one exception - the most basic, almost negligible Douku Town miner technique that you taught me when I was a student. But you were also a miner from Douku Town who later specialized in magic and achieved great success, yet couldn't make any breakthroughs in martial arts. Apart from age and physical reasons, this is indeed puzzling.

  I may have discovered a secret over the years, that is, the cultivation of martial arts and divine arts also requires various tests. This test has not been specifically mentioned, those advanced warriors may have unintentionally reached the requirement, but there is no clear summary. If this is the method left by the gods, then it is possible that some content was intentionally ignored from the beginning.

  More people cultivate physical skills than spiritual ones, and many don't even realize they've passed a test, thinking it's just due to hard work, determination, and a bit of inexplicable luck. They're right, but I want to reveal the secret behind that luck - no one is lucky for nothing.

  I have studied the experiences of countless warriors, whether low-ranking or high-ranking, and summarized some rules from their experiences. These may be the contents that are intentionally ignored by the classics.

  If the divine art and physical art were originally one, treating them as a cultivation method to combine into one, then there is still a special order in it, just like music can't be disordered, otherwise it's impossible to cultivate at the same level, only giving up one achievement to gain another.

  If one has strayed from the start, it would be very difficult to give up the power already gained and start anew. These are still uncertain and only speculations, perhaps the secret of becoming a divine spirit lies within. Even if it is indeed the secret of becoming a divine spirit, most people can only admire from afar, because whether it's a 9th-level divine technique master or a 9th-level great warrior, they are already extremely rare in this world.

  I am still pondering the summary and have not yet come to a definitive conclusion. I took away the Holy Maiden of the Isis Temple and the Tears of the Gods, which may help me unlock this secret, but as a result, I was pursued by a large number of divine arts practitioners and warriors and could not escape, so I can only convey such information to you, Teacher, for now.

  Your student, Belle

  The old madman finally finished talking about the past and sat down to quietly drink his wine. Amun didn't speak for a long time, even if he had a lot of questions, there was no way to ask them, these topics were too profound for him, beyond imagination.

  They had unknowingly chatted away the whole afternoon, and as the sky gradually darkened, Amun should have gone home for dinner. At this time, the old madman had already emptied a jar of wine, but there was not a hint of intoxication in his eyes, only a thread of inexplicable fatigue. He put down his cup and said: "Amun, I've watched you grow up, and from childhood, I've been cultivating you. Your potential and qualifications are even more outstanding than Bell's."

  Amon let out an "ah" but didn't continue the conversation, feeling that the old man's words had a hidden meaning, as if he was planning something.

  As expected, the old madman continued to say to himself: "I originally wanted to cultivate you into an excellent great magician, but every time I think of the information conveyed by Bell, I always feel that I should be more cautious and not make a mistake in the first step."

  "A...?" Amun said half a sentence.

  The old madman looked at him and smiled, this smile was somewhat sinister: "Of course it's you, otherwise why would I have taught you so much over the years? You can write in both scripts commonly used on the mainland, and I also used another method to teach you how to mine divine stones, allowing your body and mind to receive the best training. However, you never truly learned any divine techniques or martial arts, all for this day."

  "What's wrong with this day?"

  The old man didn't answer, instead changing the subject and saying: "Armon, if you become a magician, from my and Bell's experiences, you should understand that to ensure your own safety, you have to wait until the day you become a great magician. Of course, being a warrior could be a good cover, assuming you study both martial arts and divine magic at the same time... ...Kid, don't you want to? Even if it's just to repay this old man, you shouldn't refuse."

  Ammon reached out and touched his own head, replying: "I'm willing, what's not to be willing about? I'm just the son of an ordinary miner in town, why would I refuse these things? Even if it wasn't to repay you, I'd still be willing. You wouldn't harm me anyway."

  The old madman smiled bitterly: "Harm you? I don't know if it's harming you or not. But I often think of Bell, and if that counts as harming him, he would probably be very willing to be harmed by me in this way, so that he could have such a wonderful life... ...I only have one wish for you, which is to unravel the secrets of the gods."

  Amon: "You're talking too far ahead, how can I compare with Bell's achievements now, it's just imagination for now."

  The old madman shook his head and said, "Success or not is up to human effort. If we really try to do it, it's very possible that we won't succeed, but if we don't try to solve the mystery, then we will forever live in a chaotic world. So, at least we can try our best."

  Amun: "How do you want to teach me?"

  The old madman nodded in apparent satisfaction: "You're really a special kid, although shocked and puzzled, after listening to so many unbelievable things, you still keep calm and sober... Let me tell you, I don't know what secret Bell finally unlocked either, but I've already confirmed one thing."

  "What's up?"

  Old Crazy: "That's the first step in gaining power."

  Amun: "Are you going to awaken both powers at the same time? Have you found a way?"

  The old madman laughed again: "You're really clever, after listening to my introduction of the situation, you immediately thought of this point. However, there's a slight deviation - it's not about awakening two powers at the same time, but rather awakening one power that contains both sides. I looked back on my life experiences and re-traced them back to their source, gaining inspiration from the miner's skills in Du Ke Town.

  Gabriel asked if you had learned Tai Chi, but in fact you hadn't, you just had a strong physique and some unrefined divine technique skills. Now I want to test you to see if you can start awakening that power. But be careful, when you awaken the two-sided power of this body, you will also awaken the two-sided desire, including the first trial that Tai Chi practitioners often neglect.

  Amun: "How do you want to test me?"

  The old madman's eyes narrowed into a slit: "Tonight you go to Hanshuiquan to do something, and come back to see me after succeeding."

  **

  This chapter's divine system background —

  Marduk: The patron god of the city of Babylon, also the chief deity of the Babylonian pantheon and the guardian of the city. In mythology, he is associated with Enlil, the chief deity of the Sumerians, who was worshipped in Nippur. Marduk's father, Ea, was a god of wisdom and magic, and his name means "the shiner" or "the bright one".

  **