Chapter 44: The Water God's Divine Trial
The system notification chimed once more within her mind.
[Congratulations! You have gained the attention of the Water God! Reward: Statue of the Seven, Water God x1]
Furina had been in the midst of gracefully lifting her bone china teacup, the fragrant steam of black tea curling lazily before her. This sudden system alert made her fingers jolt. The teacup clinked sharply against its saucer.
"What's going on?" She furrowed her brow, her water-blue hair gleaming with a soft luster in the sunlight. "I, the Water God, have gained the attention of the Water God? This is far too absurd..."
It suddenly dawned on her—this world's pantheon. The Divine Realm of the Douluo Continent did indeed have a Water God. The seven great Elemental Gods were the God of Fire, the God of Water, the God of Earth, the God of Wind, the God of Light, the God of Darkness, and the God of Space. This configuration was entirely different from the world she knew. There was no place here for a God of Ice, a God of Thunder, or a God of Dendro. Though it had been mentioned in the Douluo 2 era that a God of Ice existed, that deity was not counted among the seven Elemental Gods.
"Wait." Furina set down her teacup, her fingertips tapping lightly against the tabletop. "How could the Water God possibly have noticed me? I never took part in her divine trial, nor did I obtain any divine artifact capable of triggering such a trial."
[Because you have been collecting Faith Power through the Statue of the Seven, and the other party is likewise a deity who wields the authority of water. A resonance was born between divine powers of the same origin, enabling her to sense the anomaly on your side. A mere sweep of her divine consciousness was all it took to discover your existence.]
"So that's how it is..." Furina nodded thoughtfully—then abruptly bolted upright from her chair. "No! If the Water God can find me, then it's only a matter of time before that Tang Buddha detects my presence as well!"
She paced restlessly across the terrace, the pearl-studded hem of her gown tracing graceful arcs with every turn. "Once he discovers I've intercepted his Child of Destiny..." Furina couldn't help pressing a hand to her forehead. "Knowing his methods, he'll use every means at his disposal to come after me."
The mere thought of the Sea God Tang San, seated high in the Divine Realm, was enough to bring on a headache. The Divine Realm's laws clearly stipulated that gods could not arbitrarily interfere in the affairs of the lower realm—unless a demon of god-level proportions appeared to wreak havoc. Yet this Lord Sea God, a God King and one of the three great Enforcers of the Divine Realm, violated those rules again and again. Not only had he dispatched his divine officials, Titan and Azure Sky, to descend upon the Douluo Continent, but he'd later arranged for his own parents to become the masters of the plane itself. Furina strongly suspected that the original consciousness of the plane had long since been erased by his hand.
What worried her most was how few gods in the Divine Realm could truly stand against Tang San. This Lord Sea God was a master of disguise, forever presenting a saintly, upright gentleman's face before the other gods, while in truth he was a calculating schemer—far more troublesome than any honest villain.
The gods of the Douluo Divine Realm, it seemed, were all rather poor at political maneuvering. The Asura God had drifted away without a backward glance after passing his divine seat to Tang San. The God of Evil and the God of Kindness, after bequeathing their divine seats to Ji Dong and Lie Yan, had actually handed the reins of the Divine Realm over to Tang San rather than to the far more senior God of Destruction or Goddess of Life—and then proceeded to lose themselves in endless cycles of reincarnation down in the mortal world, frolicking about without a care. What kind of conduct was that for God Kings?
As for the most upright among them, the God of Destruction—because he commanded the power of destruction, and because the Sins under his command had such infamously poor reputations, the other gods kept their distance. Tang San had seized upon this perfectly, using it to ceaselessly expand his own influence. And the ultimate irony? Even as he stalled the God of Destruction's proposals with arguments that "expanding the Divine Realm could shake its very foundations," he was, at the same time, quietly consolidating his own power in the shadows.
"If only I could gain the help of the God of Destruction..." Furina sighed softly. "If he could keep Tang San in check, I could buy myself more time. But here I am, stuck in the lower realm. How am I supposed to make contact with the Divine Realm?"
She walked to the edge of the terrace and gazed out at the distant, glittering sea. She murmured to herself, "No use. For now, I can only take things one step at a time."
Just at that moment, a clear, melodious female voice rang out beside Furina's ear without the slightest warning:
"Hey there, little sister~ Interested in taking my divine trial? The Water God's Divine Trial, that is~"
The sudden voice made Furina lurch. She nearly tumbled straight off the terrace. Clutching the railing for dear life, her heart pounding wildly, she whipped around.
"What?!" Furina gasped, utterly incredulous.
The voice carried a playful lilt. "It's only a divine trial—is it really worth such a reaction...? Alright, alright, I admit springing it on you like that was a bit startling."
The voice paused, and a note of genuine appreciation entered its tone. "But I find you quite interesting. To think you'd come up with this method of condensing faith in the lower realm and setting foot on the path to godhood... I gave it some thought, and I've decided to lend you a hand. Don't worry—my divine trial won't be too difficult. After all, you're already walking the road to becoming a god, and one of the rarest roads at that. Deliberately making things hard for you would be rather pointless."
Furina had already guessed the identity of the speaker, but she still asked cautiously, "May I ask who you are?"
The other party seemed to straighten up, her voice swelling with pride. "I am one of the seven Elemental Gods of the Divine Realm—the Water God! A堂堂 First-Class Deity! So—how about it? Will you accept my divine trial? Once you pass, you'll inherit my divine seat and become the new Water God."
Furina sank into deep thought. Accepting the Water God's Divine Trial would undoubtedly accelerate her journey to godhood, but it could also draw Tang San's notice. Yet on second thought—since that Sea God was bound to discover her sooner or later anyway—wasn't it better to raise her strength as early as possible?
What tempted her even more was this: once she became the legitimate Water God, she could openly and rightfully protect the people she cared about. Thinking of that Child of Destiny she'd "lured" to her side, Furina's lips curved upward unbidden.
"Alright. I accept," Furina said, her voice resolute. "But I have one condition—I hope the divine trial can be personally overseen by you, Lord Water God. Please do not allow any other deity to interfere."
She had deliberately stressed the word any, hinting at her wariness toward a certain Sea God. After all, the lesson of the Qiankun Love Inquiry Valley was still painfully fresh in her memory—a trial that had clearly belonged to the God of Emotions, and yet Tang San had forcibly meddled in it.
The Water God let out a lilting laugh, like a clear spring burbling over stones. "You can rest easy on that. My divine trial is not something any other god can stick their fingers into. If that God of Fire dares poke his nose in my business, I'll make him go home and kneel on a durian!"
Hearing this, Furina couldn't help a smile. It seemed this Lord Water God was a refreshingly straightforward character.
"What I grant you is the Water God's Three Trials," the Water God continued, turning solemn. "The first trial is simple: spread your Church of the Water God across an entire nation. The time limit is five years. I believe you can accomplish this."
"The reward for completing this trial: your soul power shall increase by ten ranks. You shall receive two god-bestowed soul rings. And one god-bestowed soul bone. How about it—not bad, right?"
Furina's eyes lit up. Such rewards were indeed exceedingly generous—especially the god-bestowed soul rings and soul bone. They would elevate her strength by an immense margin.
"Thank you, Lord Water God, for your generous favor. I will give this everything I have."
"Then it's settled!" The Water God's voice gradually receded into the distance. "Work hard, junior! I very much look forward to seeing the day you succeed~"
As the Water God's voice faded into the air, Furina felt a gentle, warm divine power infuse into her body. She raised her hand and found that a pale blue divine mark had surfaced on the back of it—a pattern of intertwining currents, glimmering faintly under the sunlight.
"Five years, hmm..." Furina gently traced the divine mark on the back of her hand, a steadfast light shining in her eyes. "That's more than enough time."