Although what he witnessed in the Land of Heroes occurred countless eons ago, Ming Qi believed it had already happened. The reason Humu Divine Lord was able to sweep across the Azure God Realm was, on the one hand, due to his inherent aversion and murderous intent towards the gods, and on the other hand, because Humu Divine Lord had already condensed the Divine Seal, built the Divine City, and attained godhood. Only by attaining godhood could he be on the same starting line as the gods in the confrontation.
After much thought, Ming Qi realized that his most urgent task was to attain godhood.
Already at the Martial God Realm, condensing the Divine Seal and building the Divine City was not difficult. However, he was unsure how long the process would take, and subconsciously, he didn't want to stall for too long.
"Beishen, how long does it take to achieve godhood?"
Ming Qi asked, helplessly.
Beishen was once a native god of Tianhuang, having walked the path of godhood for many years. His experience and memories were undoubtedly accurate.
Beishen didn't answer immediately, seemingly lost in thought.
After a long pause, Beishen's voice echoed in Mingqi's mind: "The path to godhood is not complicated, nor does it take long. However, the origin of the Tianhuang world has collapsed. Without this foundation, the path becomes uncertain."
Beishen's words immediately made Mingqi understand the difficulty. He had overlooked the most important point: the Tianhuang world had collapsed, and its origin was in a state of disorder. In such a state of disorder, godhood was essentially impossible.
Achieving godhood is a concrete manifestation of understanding the origin of the world and the true nature of all things. If one cannot find what they need from the origin of the world, the path to godhood is blocked.
At this moment, Mingqi first thought of the other worlds. Tianhuang had collapsed, while the origins of the other worlds remained intact and orderly. They were all the power of the origin. Choosing which one seemed to make little difference.
"What if I use the essence of another world as my foundation?"
"Each world has its own unique rules and instinctively rejects outsiders. To use the power of another world's essence as a foundation, one must take a completely different path."
Beishen seemed to have anticipated Ming Qi's thoughts. As soon as he spoke, he immediately provided an answer.
Ming Qi was stunned, but then he remembered what the completely different path Beishen was referring to was.
"Is this the only way?"
"Yes."
After receiving a positive answer, Ming Qi fell into deep thought again.
To achieve deity status in another world, the only way is to challenge the gods of that world, slay one of them, and then refine their divine seal, thereby gaining the recognition of this world's essence through a somewhat opportunistic method.
"Without the foundation of the Divine City, you will ultimately be unable to contend with the gods. It's like two armies facing each other. One has comprehensive logistical support, while yours doesn't. Even if your soldiers are more capable, they can't win without food and weapons."
This time, Beishen explained it clearly and plainly.
"I understand."
Ming Qi had long understood the truth, but he had always harbored a reluctance to follow conventional wisdom. Why must he become a god? If not, couldn't he forge a different path?
While this thought wasn't necessarily incorrect, it certainly wasn't a path worth pursuing, especially for him right now.
Understanding something is difficult, and realizing it after understanding it is undoubtedly even more difficult.
To achieve godhood, one must seek out gods from other worlds, slay them, and seize their divine seals. This was no different from the gods who had invaded Tianhuang.
Although he had figured out the key to all the problems, Ming Qi couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart. Ultimately, he didn't want to be an invader.
Is there no other way?
His underlying strength was sufficient, but he lacked the external foundation. This troubled him greatly. Unable to achieve godhood, he would inevitably be at a disadvantage in future battles.
After a long moment, a sigh echoed in his mind: "I used to persevere, but now I find there's no reason to continue."
Beishen's voice was filled with desolation and loneliness, and a hint of resentment.
Ming Qi knew that as a native deity of Tianhuang, the reason he had always survived was to drive out invaders. However, Tianhuang was now unrecognizable. It was no longer the vast world he had envisioned, but a ruin. Even the origins of the world were gradually falling into disorder. The demise of Tianhuang was inevitable. Even if all the invaders were driven out and slain, it would be meaningless.
But Beishen's sigh suddenly reminded Ming Qi of something, and he asked, puzzled, "Since the origins of the Tianhuang world have fallen into disorder, this means that the support for the Tianhuang gods is also weakening. Will their strength also weaken?"
"They will eventually fall from the altar, but the changes have just begun, and their foundation is still there, and it will last for a while," Beishen replied.
Ming Qi didn't ask any further. Since these gods who depended on Tianhuang could no longer obtain the power of the origin, their so-called foundation would not last long. They have been maintaining the divine city and the divine weapons, which are all manifestations of energy.
"The military camp's storage area for food and supplies has been destroyed. Even if they brought dry food, it definitely won't last long."
Ming Qi muttered to himself and began to walk in the void. However, this time he had no clear purpose, and he wandered aimlessly in the void.
His route lacked purpose, but that didn't mean he truly lacked a goal. After some reflection, he had a clear objective. The enemy remained the same, the battle remained the same, only the strategy had changed.
Of course, throughout his journey, Ming Qi never relaxed his understanding of the dual paths. Both the Path of God-Slaying and the Path of Immortality possessed immense power. Furthermore, his power was unique in that it no longer stemmed from a single local world, but rather from the void itself. This unique situation ultimately stemmed from the mysterious spirit, Epiphyllum.
Though he still didn't understand the origin of the Epiphyllum spirit, he now felt its power. The void was boundless. If he truly mastered the void as his source of energy, he would easily achieve godhood without relying on any other world's source power.
After thinking it over, Ming Qi was not in a hurry anymore. What he had to do now was to find the right opportunity to give those gods a beating. It didn't matter whether they were killed or not. As long as he could injure them, he would win, because they had no place to recover their energy!