For example, helping Hayden regulate the spiritual energy in the surrounding area.
That's right. But don't forget, this is also one of the tasks Hayden must complete. He also wants to research and improve the demi-humans' half-baked "resurrection" technique, combining it with ley line energy, and try to resurrect Alastor.
"I want to control the natural environment of this mountain."
Half a month after arriving at the demi-human tribe, Hayden announced to Karen and Angela that...
"Food is no longer a big problem with Karen's help. However, environmental pollution is getting worse and worse. We can't let the demi-humans continue to endure this, even with Angela's treatment."
If you have to breathe toxic air every day and be tortured half to death, and then be cured by Angela's breath, then life is just too bizarre.
"After all, I am not a real land god, and I cannot manage the environment like a land god."
The so-called land god, as the name suggests, is a deity who rules over this land. By being integrated with the earth's veins, the land god can manipulate the energy of these veins, influencing the climate and environment within a certain area to some extent, thus performing a degree of "land management." For example, making plants grow faster or, when necessary, sending a certain amount of rain. This is precisely why ancient humans regarded the land god as a bringer of bountiful harvests and worshipped and sacrificed to him.
Karen frowned immediately upon hearing Hayden's words: "You don't really want to become a land god, do you? That would be harmful to your self-awareness."
While a living being that permanently merges with the land's spiritual energy will not age, its self-awareness will gradually spread throughout the entire land, becoming assimilated by the mountains and rivers, and eventually losing its self-awareness. In other words, it takes the entire land as its body, and as a result, its consciousness cannot control its excessively large body.
“I’ve heard my father say before that the earth gods among the old gods needed to be replenished through blood sacrifices in order to prevent their self-awareness from disappearing. You don’t want to become one of those things, do you?”
That's why Karen frowned and gave a warning.
If the land god cannot replenish its soul and self through some means, its consciousness will gradually become thin. Therefore, the human blood sacrifices of ancient times were not simply feeding the land god, nor were they some pointless traditions without any real effect.
This gradual fading of the self is actually a form of "soul decay".
"There are still ways to avoid soul decay."
Hayden scratched the back of his head as he finished speaking.
“The ancient gods weren’t stupid, and the local gods also sought ways to slow down or avoid the decay of the soul. So I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and I think I can use the natural materials from this mountain to make a ‘substitute’ to bear the burden for me. Besides, my willpower is pretty strong now. As long as I add a buffer device like this, the problem shouldn’t be too big.”
He has always been adept at finding such clever ways to reduce costs and consequences.
This has always been Hayden's specialty.
However, Karen shook her head upon hearing this: "No. Putting aside whether you can do it—I believe you can—it would be too foolish to become part of the land in order to gain the ability to control a small part of nature, and to worry all day about your gradually fading self."
"Besides, the Earth God isn't a particularly efficient method to begin with. Adding an external substitute as a buffer actually hinders the manipulation of the earth's energy. It would be better to use a more efficient method."
Hayden was taken aback: "...What other ideas do you have?"
Karen glanced at him and sighed, "Have you gone mad from reading ancient books? New times call for new ways of doing things. We don't need to use such outdated things."
Then Karen reached out and drew a large circle around the mountain on the map.
“We directly use modern methods, the methods of the gods—large cities like New Jersey are also built on the earth’s veins, and their control over nature is much stronger than that of the earth gods.”
"Tell me yourself, how does New Jersey control the forces of nature?"
Hayden was speechless.
She truly lives up to her title as the young lady of the Peacock King. Hayden is always thinking about cutting costs, while Karen can casually mention such extravagant spending.
“We can build an arcane barrier, a place ruled by divine power. In the words of those demi-humans, it is what is called a fairyland. In modern terms, it is actually a city.”
A city on a mountain.
City of God.
122: An Unforeseen Path
city
In fact, the word "city" itself, or even the word itself, has a special magical meaning.
Long, long ago, in that ancient era, in the dark ages when human civilization had just begun, the world was surrounded by wilderness, unrestrained and teeming with ferocious beasts and monsters.
In that era, fragile yet tenacious humans could only live on the wasteland, building houses and walls out of mud, uniting to protect themselves from the clutches of monsters.
Built of mud, isolated from the wilderness, it became the domain of human civilization, a place where humans could protect themselves—that was the so-called "city."
A city, formed from earth, is a place that protects the lives and happiness of its inhabitants, governs fortune and misfortune, and defines civilization and order. In fact, since ancient times, the concept of "city" has been imbued with powerful and mysterious magic. This is why ancient cities always had city walls.
In this era, modern metropolises like New Jersey no longer need city walls.
However, they still possess barriers equivalent to, or even more advanced than, city walls.
City barriers are essentially the city walls of a new era, superior to those of the Arcane Age. They not only defend against external enemies and protect residents, but can even establish their own rules.
Therefore, in all the glorious magical achievements of modern arcane arts, few things can compare to the magic of "the city"—a magic so magnificent and exquisite. Sometimes the magic of a "city" is so powerful that it can distort or rewrite the rules of other magic, or even reality itself.
For example, as everyone already knows, many illegal spells are prohibited within the city's protective barrier in New Seattle. Their use will be detected and recorded. The same applies to copyrighted spells held by large corporations. Antisocial entities like demons would be virtually impossible to use in a modern city unless someone within the company secretly grants them access; they would be exposed instantly. Furthermore, magic like teleportation generally requires proper authorization and follows official procedures in the city.
The reason for this effect is that cities possess their own rules of "social civilization." Similarly, a city is a living entity, a dynamic creation, a living magic. It is not merely architecture, not just a barrier; a city is also the integration of its citizens and their thoughts.
Without its citizens and its own culture, how can it be considered a city?
"This kind of thing can't be set up anytime soon, can it?"
No wonder Hayden reacted with outrage: "Are you planning to leave me to do all this by myself?!"
“I didn’t plan to let you do it all by yourself,” Kallen shrugged. “I already said I’d fully support you in terms of resources. The same goes for the technology. I’ll definitely help you prepare the spell for the city barrier.”
"Besides, I'm not asking you to create a real city out of thin air. I just think the environment here already has some necessary conditions, so we can lay a foundation first."
As Karen finished speaking, she turned and looked at the entire mountain not far away.
They are no longer on the mountain or in the tribe, but that allows them to take in the entire abandoned mine.
"The basic conditions for establishing a city have already been partially met here. You can learn the spells and techniques for establishing protective barriers in modern cities, first control the ley lines, and take control of the natural forces of the environment. The rest can be filled in slowly—it will probably take at least ten years before it truly becomes a complete city."
Karen shrugged.
"But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Even a ten-year effort must begin today."
So Hayden was speechless.
This elf lady can easily make plans in five- or ten-year increments!
But upon closer reflection, this is exactly Kallen's style. The new gods are all at least in the hundreds of years old, and Kallen's father, the Peacock King, is an extremely strange being who has lived since the dawn of human civilization. Kallen's dream is to change the entire world; to say she would be so eager to see results next month would be truly insane.
"...a city barrier that governs the earth's veins and natural forces."
Hayden muttered to himself as he thought about this.
Putting aside whether he lives in the city barrier of New Yatu on a daily basis, the fact that he personally created one and controlled its core is a technology and power that Hayden was never qualified to access or could access before.
Controlling the power of nature, resisting the spying and invasion of foreign enemies, refining the energy of the earth, and transforming the core of productivity—the so-called complete modern city is a power sufficient to support modern civilization, far superior to those worthless land gods.
What should he do? Even if Karen provided him with a template for the spell, building a city would require many changes and adjustments based on the actual situation, making the design extremely difficult. Even with a template, the challenge was immense. Hayden's heart was pounding.
"It is not good?"
—On the contrary, Angela spoke up at this moment, and she seemed quite pleased.
“Master, you can build an unprecedented city on this mountain, so that the rest of the world can see that there is another social model different from capitalism... Wouldn't that be wonderful?”
These words made Hayden and Karen exchange a glance, looking at each other in bewilderment.
“You’re right. In the long run, it is indeed necessary. We need to prove that we can forge a new path without following the outdated and stale ways of the capitalists, and that everyone can survive.”
Then Karen spoke first.
"But it's too early at this stage. I'll use my father's name to appease them for now, so as not to be discovered by the other gods."
Angela tilted her head upon hearing this: "Miss Karen, this kind of thing can't be hidden forever. If the city is built on a mountain, everyone will naturally see it."
“That’s why I’m not in a rush to actually build a city so soon. How can it be that fast?” Karen frowned. “I just wanted Hayden to start building the barrier that controls the ley lines first, so I asked him to help regulate the ley lines.”
"Oh, right. Speaking of which, didn't you send me the data on demi-human magic that uses environmental pollution?"
As Karen finished speaking, she took out another small bag.
Hayden took it, opened it, and found a small bag of dream flower seeds inside... at least that's what it looked like.
"Hmm... the waveform of the magic seems a little different?"
He had done some research on Dream Flower before, and could at least see the differences: "2.0 new version?"
"It's not even at the 2.0 level yet."
Karen pouted.
"Their magic that utilizes pollution has great potential for development. So these are specially made Dream Flowers that I adjusted using the information and data you provided earlier. They're like a 1.5 version specifically for demi-humans. I modified the purification output to specifically extract the toxins and pollution corresponding to this area, while retaining some of the toxic properties."
"If toxins can be used as resources, then naturally the [Dream Flower] will also need to be adapted and improved according to local conditions. It is a bit troublesome, but technology, by its very nature, needs to be improved, updated, experimented with, and adjusted. It is impossible to directly apply a permanent and unchanging method in one step."
As she said this, she reached out and beckoned to Hayden: "Stick your head over here, and I'll impart to you the usage and cultivation methods of the new type of [Dream Flower]."
Compared to the new flower varieties, it was these words that truly startled Hayden.
"What!? Initiation!?"
There's no need to elaborate on just how important the technology related to the Dream Flower is. It's not surprising that Karen trusts Hayden so much that she'd give him detailed information about the Dream Flower directly—everyone knows how much Karen trusts Hayden now, so there's no need to emphasize it further.
So Hayden was really surprised by the word "initiation".
"Why is it called an initiation?!"
Hayden, being an avid reader, naturally knew that Karen intended to use Indian-style initiation techniques to "inject" various aspects of the Dream Flower into his mind, transmitting wisdom and revealing secrets.
However, this method has too many drawbacks. Just like how demi-humans learn knowledge by eating corpses, the transmission efficiency of initiation is not as high as that of learning diligently on one's own, and there will be losses in the process of knowledge transmission.
Otherwise, who would be willing to learn on their own?
Moreover, the initiation ceremony is extremely dangerous. If not handled properly, the person receiving the initiation will become confused, suffer a qi deviation, and die.
Moreover, those who bestow initiation upon others also face risks, as it depletes their spiritual energy and can endanger their own lives.
This injury is not incurable, but it requires time to heal. Even with the immense life force of the gods, they still need a long period of rest afterward. Therefore, even celestial beings and bodhisattvas rarely perform initiations, even if the recipient is their own child or close confidant.
Firstly, they feared accidentally killing the person receiving the initiation; secondly, they worried that their abilities would be temporarily weakened, resulting in business losses or enemies taking advantage of the situation.
Hayden wasn't afraid of death, but he was puzzled as to why Karen would do such a thing.
"Because it's fast."
Karen raised an eyebrow.
"Besides, you've already used the 'spirit initiation' spell on me before. Initiation and spirit initiation are actually based on the same principle. The sympathetic connection between us is already strong enough that the chance of failure if I directly initiate you is lower than the chance of failure if I pull a tooth."
"As for my own life being lost..."
As she said this, she turned to look at Angela beside her.
Hayden immediately understood without Karen needing to continue.
Life-threatening?
Does it require a long period of recuperation?
How long will the recovery period take? Not long, about the time it takes Angela to take a breath!
"You can't even use the Holy Grail that's so big and infinite, Angela. I really don't know what to say to you."
Karen made a sarcastic remark, then got serious again.
"Alright, come closer, clear your mind, and integrate the energy and thoughts I'm transmitting. Just pretend you're dead and stop thinking about anything outside of yourself. Otherwise, don't blame me if you get hurt."
Why is this guy even better at using Angela cards than Hayden?!
Hayden remained silent for a while, but then his worries vanished. He closed his eyes, sat quietly, relaxed his mind, and tried not to think about anything, truly imagining himself as a dead person with a blank mind.
Even among close friends and family, it's rare to find someone who can completely let down their guard, trust each other implicitly, and even allow the other person to transmit their energy and thoughts—such a level of trust is extremely rare. This is precisely why the ancient technique of "initiation" is not very efficient.
If one cannot fully trust the other person, cannot completely let down their guard, and cannot open the walls of their heart, the power and knowledge transmitted through enlightenment will naturally be greatly diminished.
As for Hayden… well, one could only say he has a real talent for “receiving power”. Especially after what happened last month, Hayden has completely let go of the past. He's now truly willing to lay his heart bare for the few people he trusts; what is there left for him to hold back?
After that, the initiation ritual lasted for an hour.
Even though Karen has been full of confidence and energy lately, she collapsed to the ground exhausted after the initiation, clearly having expended a great deal of energy.
In contrast, Hayden was drenched in sweat. But he was in high spirits, and when he opened his eyes and saw Karen looking exhausted, he felt both moved and ashamed.
Feeling increasingly pressured? Your boss... no, your partner, has entrusted you with an enormous amount of funding, resources, and a crucial new project without a second thought. If you fail, we all suffer the same fate.
This is undoubtedly a great trust, but it also puts immense pressure on us.
Fortunately, Angela was right there guarding her. She immediately leaned over and gently blew a breath onto Karen. The life force flowed into Karen's body like a refreshing breeze, instantly clearing Karen's blurry vision.
"……sharp."
This was also the first time she had directly experienced Angela's highly pure life force, and she couldn't help but feel shocked. Even bodhisattvas and gods would need time to heal from life-threatening injuries, but Angela had almost completely recovered in one breath, leaving only some mental fatigue.