Chapter 169: 171: The Meaning of Godhood - Food Fermenting in the Darkness
Chapter 169: 171: The Meaning of Godhood - Food Fermenting in the Darkness
Chapter 169: Chapter 171: The Meaning of Godhood – Food Fermenting in the Darkness
Wandering through the land of everlasting flowers, Qin Muye caught sight of the palace where Hades and the Queen of the Underworld resided; the Nymphs of the Netherworld busied themselves with their respective duties.
Nymphs, also known as fairies or lesser goddesses, are the attendants or subordinates of the gods, specifically serving them, and each of them is fair-skinned and beautiful.
It makes sense, being chosen by the Titan Divine Race as attendants, beauty is undoubtedly an important criterion; after all… this group of Titan Divine Race is truly chaotic.
Guided by the Nymphs of the Netherworld, Qin Muye entered the palace; Hades and Persephone had been waiting for a long time already.
“You’ve arrived, Dionysus, this is your mother, Persephone,” Hades said loudly.
“I pay my respects to Hades, Queen of the Underworld,” Qin Muye spoke hesitantly.
This statement inevitably made the atmosphere tense.
“Hmm, take a seat,” Persephone eventually spoke, easing the mood.
Qin Muye had inquired beforehand; Persephone was not a gentle soul, her demeanor when a Seed Goddess was one of pure innocence, but as the Queen of the Underworld, her personality turned cold and ruthless, and she possessed immense power.
She could command various ghosts and demons throughout the Netherworld and would mercilessly drag the deceased into the dark depths below.
The tombs were colloquially known as Persephone’s chambers.
All of these described the Queen’s methods and temperament.
Of course, what’s more important is that the Queen’s father… is Zeus.
Pondering the absurdity, Hades kidnapped his own niece to be his wife, but that wasn’t even the most preposterous part; the most ridiculous fact was Zeus… had his sights on his own daughter, and it seemed… he pursued her.
He vaguely remembered that Hades might have had no offspring, but the Queen of the Underworld did; whether they were Hades’ or Zeus’, it was unclear, though it seemed nothing had transpired just yet.
What a messy family.
So, theoretically, the Queen of the Underworld and Qin Muye, in his previous incarnation as the white horse prince, were first cousins, and now an additional layer had been added with her being a potential stepmother.
“Thank you, Queen of the Underworld,” Qin Muye sat down, not saying anything else; given the atmosphere, what would be the point?
After all, an illegitimate child meeting the main wife, especially when that main wife shares rule over the Netherworld with Hades, starting a dispute would only become a spectacle.
“Cough, since you have returned, it’s time to start learning to deal with the affairs of the Netherworld… wait,” Hades began, seemingly preparing the Crown Prince to oversee the realm.
But Qin Muye interrupted, “Your Majesty Hades, that might not be a good idea; I’m new here and don’t know anything, so let’s forget political affairs.”
The Queen of the Underworld was expressionless, for her, the power of the Netherworld was her scepter, and as long as she remained the Queen, she would never lose that power; she also didn’t care much for it.
And these so-called affairs were more like miscellaneous tasks; Hades couldn’t possibly let Qin Muye ascend to great heights overnight.
“There’s another matter; it seems I don’t have the Titan Divine Race’s bloodline in me,” Qin Muye still posed the question.
“The Nether River has cleansed the bloodline from your body, so if you want to restore it, you’ll need to ascend to a divine position on Mount Olympus. Dionysus is the divine position I’ve chosen for you,” Hades replied, unfazed by Qin Muye’s interruption and answering his query.
“Does it hold any significance?” Qin Muye asked.
“Food ferments in the darkness,” the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, said.
In an instant, Qin Muye understood; he was much like Hercules now.
After becoming divine, Hercules’ name became ‘Hercules’, signifying the glory of Hera.
His situation was similar; most grain crops used for brewing are seeds, so the fermentation of grain into alcohol in the darkness represented the legacy of the Seed Goddess of the Netherworld.
“Alright, Dionysus it is, but I think Zeus might not agree,” Qin Muye remarked nonchalantly.
The significance of wine was not limited to just that; it was an extensive prerogative, not something Hades could grant merely by speaking, but rather required the approval of the king of the gods, Zeus.
“No, he will agree,” Hades confidently stated.
“As long as you’re happy. What should I do now that I’m in the Netherworld? Just hang around?” Qin Muye said casually.
“As a member of the Titan Divine Race, you are too weak. You need to be tempered, so…”
“Hold on, I am a Scholar. Do you understand, Your Majesty Hades?” Qin Muye hastily interjected.
Upon hearing the word ‘tempered,’ Qin Muye did not anticipate anything good. At best, it would involve strenuous training, and at worst, fighting for one’s life. As a scholar, with not even the strength to truss a chicken, such tasks would undoubtedly exhaust him to death.
“Scholar? So you wish to compose poetry for me?” Hades asked, somewhat puzzled.
“No, what I mean is that I want to try and reactivate the Titan bloodline within me on my own instead of relying on Zeus. I do not trust this King of the Gods.”
Qin Muye had laid the groundwork for so long and finally revealed his true intentions.
Hades fell silent for a moment, while Persephone did not react at all. She had no fondness for Zeus either, true, he was her father, but the problem was, this Zeus even coveted his own daughters; Persephone herself had once been one of Zeus’s targets, so how could she harbor any good feelings.
“What support do you need?” Hades asked.
“A quiet, safe environment with the assurance that no one will disturb me. I want to start with the Hades’ Divine Power within me and perhaps reverse-engineer the Titan bloodline from it.”
Qin Muye gave a brief explanation, which was, of course, a lie. The so-called Hades’ Divine Power within him was actually his own King of Hell Talent, not a derivation of Hades’ sovereignty.
“Go to the Elysian Fields, no one will bother you there,” Hades suggested.
The Elysian Fields, also known as a place of happiness, could be considered heaven, albeit within the Netherworld. Souls of the dead without sin would be assigned there to lead a carefree and joyful existence.
However, Qin Muye felt that it would not be easy for the average person to reach this place, especially not knowing the criteria for the Judge of Netherworld’s definition of sin.
And if deemed guilty, one would naturally be sent to the Place of Suffering, Tartarus.
It had to be said that Death God Thanatos was truly the model of hard work, as he was tasked with guiding the souls of the deceased everywhere.
“Thank you, Your Majesty Hades,” Qin Muye said.
As for the bloodline samples he needed, Qin Muye did not request them. Once he asked, it would create a flaw in his story, especially since he needed not only Hades’s but also Persephone’s.
Getting them should not be difficult, but the effectiveness would not meet his expectations, and it might lead to suspicions regarding bloodline transference.
Yet, he had a solution. The Super Space-Time Transmission Channel was incredibly useful; with proper application, it could serve as a means of obtaining samples.
For example, by opening a tiny channel directly to a strand of Hades’s hair and instantly closing it, he could achieve the effect of snipping it off, and thus obtain what he needed.
The risk was significant, but the method was sound.
The Super Space-Time Transmission Channel, although a Divine Artifact and certainly among the top-tier ones—surpassing even the likes of the Magic Source and Harvest Horn.
Apart from this Super Space-Time Transmission Channel, there are no other Divine Artifacts that can easily open channels to other worlds.
When used correctly, spatial objects can be incredibly destructive weapons.
In fact, Qin Muye could even use the Super Space-Time Transmission Channel to instantly kill his enemies, but the artifact was too precious to risk exposure for a single use, hence, he had not utilized it yet.
Like teleporting an enemy and shutting it halfway through the process—part of the enemy would be left on Qin Muye’s side, while the other half would have been sent to the designated location. Even if they did not die, recovery wouldn’t be an easy task.
By employing this technique, Qin Muye managed to obtain bloodline samples from both Hades and Persephone. It didn’t have to be hair or flesh; even skin flakes would suffice.
These two were at least level 8 entities, with formidable strength.
On the same level as Zeus, Queen of the Underworld Persephone might be slightly inferior but not by much.
Therefore, Qin Muye deduced that Gods such as Athena and Apollo on Mount Olympus were also level 8, while Zeus likely possessed around level 9 strength. Of course, that estimation could be off; if he truly was at level 9, he probably would have directly suppressed any resistance.
After an awkward chat of nearly ten more minutes, even Hades seemed unable to bear it any longer and finally had no choice but to arrange a Nymph from the Netherworld to guide Qin Muye on his way. The atmosphere was palpably tense.
Qin Muye remained silent, while Persephone wore a cold expression.
Their sporadic exchanges made the awkwardness visible to the naked eye.
It could only be said that Persephone’s refraining from throwing tantrums and making things difficult was a considerable courtesy to Hades. If it had been Hera, Qin Muye would have been dead the moment he stepped out the door, and his death might have been made amusingly interesting.