As the floodwaters receded, Ewen—now cleanshaven and dressed in fresh linen robes—drove home with his wife and children, gazing thoughtfully at the wreckage strewn across the ground.
Yet the barrage of cameras at his doorstep left Ewen utterly exasperated. He knew he had become famous—infamous, even—with his name spreading worldwide.
After all, out of the billions of people on Earth, 2.45 billion of whom believed in God, He had chosen none but Ewen for a personal conversation. Didn't that make him a rare specimen?
Even the Pope hadn't received such treatment.
Not only that, but Ewen was also designated by God as Noah II, leading to a change in how the public addressed him—now simply calling him "Noah."
The changes brought by fame were numerous. First, his suspended position as a congressman was quickly reinstated by Congress, though it was mostly for show. After all, who would dare to unjustly suspend "Noah"? Did they want to defy God or something? The believers would probably tear down Capitol Hill the very same day.
Beyond that, local banks immediately called Ewen upon learning his home had been destroyed, offering to personally visit and arrange interest-free loans. As for when Ewen planned to repay, the banks didn't even mention it—they'd be thrilled if he never did. That way, they could boast that even "Noah" had taken a loan from them. If Ewen repaid, such a perfect advertisement would vanish.
The insurance companies, however, weren't having it. "Why take a loan?" they argued. "We're willing to pay out excess compensation!" Never mind that the policy didn't include such a clause—the fine print stated that "final interpretation rights belong to the insurance company." So what if they wanted to pay out?
The only ones in Ewen's family unaffected by all this were probably the three little ones. The reason? Everyone on the Ark had noticed the kids had a good relationship with Death. Who knew if getting involved with those three little troublemakers might incur Death's displeasure? After all, many had witnessed Death casually tossing fireballs around, suggesting a less-than-pleasant temper. Compared to Ewen, who was clearly one of God's righteous, people preferred to stick close to him.
Ignoring the ruins of his home, Ewen motioned for Joan and the three kids to stay in the car. Then, donning a baseball cap, he walked alone toward a distant tent where Li Ming lay sunbathing on the grass. "We're planning a hiking trip," Ewen said. "Want to join?"
Li Ming, still puzzling over what God had meant earlier, replied instinctively, "Going to see the old man? Sure, sure."
Ewen rolled his eyes. "I meant a casual hike and picnic nearby."
Li Ming sprang to his feet, brushing off stray grass with a grin. "Same difference."
As he slung an arm around Ewen's shoulders, he added, "Let's go, let's go! I've been bored out of my mind here—might as well tag along. Too bad there's no beer."
Ewen, noticing the grass stuck to Li Ming's back, pushed him away as if his neat-freak tendencies were acting up. Shrugging, he said, "There were a few cases of beer at home, but who knows where they're buried now."
"Beer under the rubble?" Li Ming's eyes lit up. "Why didn't you say so? Watch this—"
With that, he pointed at Ewen's house and cast the spell "Restore to Original State."
In no time, Ewen's home stood whole again before everyone's eyes. The reporters gathered nearby felt their trip had been more than worth it.A miracle—this was undoubtedly God's favor upon Ewen.
Ewen stared blankly for a moment before shrugging and saying, "Alright, you're a mage. I can't argue with that. Can you cast an invisibility spell? I don't want to push through reporters to get home."
Li Ming curled his lip dismissively. "Invisibility is too troublesome. Those reporters would still notice you when you open the door."
With that, Li Ming waved his hand and opened a Portal connecting to the dining room, motioning for Ewen to hurry and fetch the beer. Meanwhile, he pulled three large, safe-like boxes from his shoulder bag and placed one in each of the three children's rooms.
This was part of Li Ming's earlier promise—to prepare a box for each child, big enough to hold an aircraft carrier.
By the time Li Ming had finished placing the boxes, Ewen had already moved the few remaining cases of beer from home into the living room.
Without hesitation, Li Ming packed all the beer into his shoulder bag and led Ewen out of the house.
Considering the children's young age and limited stamina, Ewen had chosen a hiking route not too far away—just a nearby mountain forest.
By the time Li Ming had finished drinking an entire case of beer while walking, Ewen had led the family to the top of a hill.
Just as Joan was about to lay out the picnic blanket to enjoy sandwiches while admiring the view, Li Ming turned his head and spotted God standing beneath a tree in the distance.
Li Ming patted Ewen's shoulder and asked, "Want to have a private chat with the old man? It's a rare opportunity. After this, I'll probably leave with God and begin my spell training."
Ewen, who had been about to walk toward God, paused mid-step. "You're leaving?"
Though Ewen knew he and Li Ming were different—that Li Ming would eventually vanish from his life—the friendship forged while building the ark still left him with a tinge of reluctance.
Li Ming shrugged and grinned. "I have my own world to return to. Oh, and make sure you all wear the Amulets I gave you."
As Ewen walked toward God, he patted his chest to signal that he was wearing his.
A short while later, after watching God and Ewen converse, Li Ming performed an embarrassingly awkward dance to enter an invisible state. After a moment's thought, he bid farewell to Joan and the three children before also turning invisible and walking toward God.
Beneath the tree, God smiled warmly. "Have you figured it out?"
Li Ming scratched his head uncertainly. "When you mentioned the wolf before, were you telling me to always keep a moral limit in my actions—that going too far would backfire?"
God didn't answer directly, only smiling before saying, "Take out your Spellbook."
Li Ming was confused. He wasn't sure if his answer had satisfied God. But since the old man wanted the Spellbook, that probably meant he was content.
After flipping casually through the pages, God returned the book to Li Ming and asked, "How much do you understand about the darkness within yourself?"
Li Ming accepted the Spellbook respectfully while pulling out the Loki Mask from his shoulder bag. Shaking his head in bewilderment, he replied, "I only know it's caused by using this thing. Beyond that, I have no idea."
God glanced at the mask a few times, shook his head, and smiled. "You must know that Dark Energy is corrosive, but do you know how it corrupts?"
Li Ming pondered for a moment, swallowing nervously before asking, "Are you implying that I've already been corrupted?"
"That's exactly how Dark Energy works—silently altering your personality and temperament," God nodded. "But you're fortunate. The consequences of using the mask in the past made you subconsciously more vigilant, thereby reducing its influence."
Pausing, God crossed his arms and scrutinized Li Ming. "Unless I'm mistaken, you still have a mind-purifying artifact on you, don't you?"
A mind-purifying artifact? Li Ming tilted his head in thought before pulling out the Pseudo-Angel Feather from his satchel. "This feather?"
God glanced at it and gave a slight nod, then lightly tapped the feather with his finger.
Li Ming watched as the feather suddenly burst into white flames and looked at God in curiosity.
"Now, it should be called a Pseudo-Seraph Feather," God said calmly. "It can help soothe your mind and resist Dark Energy's corruption to some extent. But once you become a demigod, the feather will lose its effect."
Li Ming froze, feeling both joy and unease.
The joy was obvious—this feather was now incredibly valuable. Aside from the Mind Stone, it was currently the most precious artifact he possessed.
The unease, however, stemmed from the name "Seraph."
Legend had it that Seraphim, also known as six-winged angels, were the highest order of angels, with three heads and six wings. The most famous among them was the fallen angel Lucifer.
Though the Bible doesn't mention it, certain Christian traditions hold that Lucifer was once the highest-ranking angel in Heaven—a Seraph.
He served as the chief of angels before his fall, but his excessive pride led him to aspire to be equal to God, ultimately causing his descent into becoming Satan.
Thus, the Devil Satan was once the Seraph before his fall.
Li Ming wondered if God was hinting at something—was this a warning that his ambition to become a god might instead turn him into a demon king?
Before Li Ming could fully process this, God vanished after leaving a single phrase: "Take care of yourself."
"Old man, could you at least speak clearly?" Li Ming muttered. "A vague 'take care of yourself' is enough to make my liver tremble!"
But God clearly had no intention of entertaining Li Ming further, signaling he was too busy to bother.
Clicking his tongue, Li Ming carefully placed the Pseudo-Seraph Feather back into his satchel. Delighted, he flipped open his Spellbook and saw that God had meticulously analyzed all light-related spells within it.
Especially the most commonly used spells—they were explained in crystal-clear detail. For instance, the healing spell wasn't just broken down in principle but was even extended into a limb-regeneration spell.
This made Li Ming want to burst into laughter. "Damn it, Mephisto, you're in for it now! With this feather in my left hand, holy water in my right, and an endless stream of Purification Spells in between—let's see you stand a chance!"
After a long while, Li Ming took several deep breaths to calm himself before leading Klee Che to a scenic mountain forest nearby, where they began a two-year cultivation period.
At first, Li Ming didn't bring out the 'Darkhold.' Instead, he focused solely on studying light-based spells. Although his progress was slow due to his mana attributes, he still made some headway.
Moreover, this also helped strengthen his resistance to the 'Darkhold.'
It wasn't until over half a year later that Li Ming shifted his attention to the Mind Stone. After barely managing to craft it into an auxiliary tool, he cautiously took out the 'Darkhold.'
Li Ming had long prepared for what answers he sought from the 'Darkhold.'
His first question was how to combine Hellfire and Fierce Fire and be able to casually summon the fused flames with a spell.
This was a question Li Ming had carefully considered—after all, he specialized in fire-based spells, particularly dark-aligned fire spells.
If he could overlay Hellfire and Fierce Fire onto a nuclear-reaction fireball...
Fierce Fire, which burns endlessly without a counter-spell, and Hellfire, which emphasizes damage to the soul, combined with the explosive radius of a nuclear reaction...
Just thinking about it made him giddy.