WebNovel Chapter 967: The Banquet at Hongmen
Chapter 967: The Banquet at Hongmen
...Poseidon was going to relinquish his divinity authority?!
When this news spread from the Sea God Temple, the entire Canglan Divine Realm was thrown into an uproar!
Who was the Sea God?
One of the Five Chief Gods!
And his divine power was ranked first among the Five Chief Gods, said to be second only to the Golden Dragon King in combat prowess!
He was going to divide up his divinity authority?
This was more unbelievable than the sun rising from the west.
The first reaction of the various gods upon hearing this news was not pleasant surprise, but vigilance.
How many years had Poseidon ruled the Endless Sea?
He had been soaking in that sea since the earliest records of the Canglan Divine Realm existed, when had he ever been overextended?
Just last month, he personally crushed a disobedient demigod into a pillar of salt, was that being overextended?
But Poseidon's invitation was written with genuine sincerity, every word and line exuding the weariness of a hero past his prime.
[Having ruled the Endless Sea for many years, with the divine system bloated and divine power stagnating, I am willing to cede authority to capable individuals to jointly govern the seas.]
His Sea God mark was stamped at the signature, impossible to fake.
For a time, undercurrents surged within the Canglan Divine Realm.
...
Hall of Light Temple——
Augustus sat on the main seat, his fingertips tapping the armrest intermittently.
Poseidon's invitation lay on the long table before him, golden divine patterns still slowly swirling.
"Speak."
His voice was very calm, betraying no emotion.
Seven or eight deities sat on either side of the long table, all key members of the Light Divine System.
The atmosphere was somewhat heavy, no one spoke first.
Finally, the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, broke the silence, "I know Poseidon, he is not the type to relinquish authority. There's a problem here."
"There is definitely a problem." The God of War, Ares, crossed his arms and sneered, "But the question is, what is he scheming? Tricking a bunch of deities to his Sea God Temple, and then what? Shut the door and beat the dogs? That Poseidon doesn't have the stomach for that."
"Maybe he really is overextended?" a voice weakly chimed in, belonging to a newly promoted middle god.
Athena glanced at him and said flatly, "Last month when he crushed that demigod, he didn't seem overextended."
The deities fell silent.
Augustus stopped tapping his fingers, he picked up the invitation and looked at it again, his gaze falling on the Sea God mark at the signature.
"The mark is real, the words are also written by him." He paused, "Whatever scheme he is plotting, we will accept this invitation!"
"Why?" Ares asked, puzzled.
Augustus stood up, his back to the deities, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.
"Because if he truly intends to relinquish authority, not going would be foolish. If he is setting a trap..."
He turned around, his gaze sweeping over every face present, "Then we must go even more, to see what he really wants to do."
"The Canglan Divine Realm has been peaceful for too long."
He sat back down on the main seat, his icy voice echoing in the temple hall.
"Send a reply, say the Light Divine System will attend the banquet on time!"
...
Three days later.
Poseidon stood at the entrance of the grand hall, personally welcoming every guest.
He wore a deep-blue divine robe, his smile gentle, his every move exuding a perfectly measured sense of weariness.
"Welcome, welcome."
"Hephaestus, I'm glad you could come."
"Demeter, please come in, take the seat of honor."
Among the several Chief Gods, the grandeur displayed by the God of Light, Augustus, was the most terrifying.
The moment he stepped onto the Sea God Temple's stairs,
The deep-blue mist that perpetually shrouded the deep sea seemed to be forcibly ignited, transforming into a sky full of fine, scorching golden motes.
Blinding divine radiance violently sliced through the gloom of the sea. Several low-level sea creatures on welcoming duty, even if they accidentally caught a glimpse of a single wisp of his scattered divine light, had their eyes scorched, tears of blood streaming down, frightening them into prostrating themselves on the floor tiles, not even daring to breathe heavily.
Poseidon took all of this in.
He unobtrusively rubbed his wine cup, but a flash of cold light flickered in his eyes, gone in an instant.
Inside the hall, the long table stretched endlessly, the mellow aroma of divine wine intertwined with the scent of deep-sea delicacies.
Amidst the clinking of cups, the usually aloof deities shed their disguises, gathering in small groups of three or five, whispering among themselves.
On the surface, the atmosphere was lively as if it were a grand revelry, but in reality, undercurrents surged.
"Is the old Sea God really unable to hold on?" a wind deity whispered, his eyes constantly drifting toward the main seat.
"Who knows, let's wait and see. Might just be toying with us."
"If he's really relinquishing authority, I would fight with this divine body to bite off a piece."
"You? Step back."
Suppressed chuckles spread in the corners, quickly drowned out by the hall's hypocritical clamor.
After three rounds of drinks.
Poseidon heavily set his golden cup down on the table.
A dull *thud*, not ear-shattering, yet strangely suppressed the hall's clamor.
All eyes converged on him in unison.
Greedy, scrutinizing, wary, like invisible nets.
Poseidon slowly stood up, cleared his throat, "Everyone, thank you for honoring me with your presence."
He paused, pulling at the corner of his mouth as if self-mocking, "I've soaked in the Endless Sea for too long, to speak from the heart—I'm truly tired."
"This thing called divinity authority, held in hand for too long, becomes a thorn in rotten flesh.
Rather than letting it rot with me, better to dig it out and divide it.
Let the capable take it, consider it adding some fun to the lifeless Canglan Divine Realm."
A single stone stirred up a thousand waves, the grand hall instantly erupted.
Could such a good thing really be true?
A deity abruptly stood up, knocking over the wine vessel before him, his voice coarse and grating:
"Poseidon, let's speak plainly, how do you plan to carve up this authority?"
Poseidon glanced at him, unhurriedly said, "What's the rush? Before dividing the meat, I must first count how many mouths there are."
He raised his hand and pointed to the left side of the hall, "Those who want a share of the authority, stand over there."
His finger then swept to the right side, "Those who don't want to get involved, stand here."
No formalities, no feigned politeness.
This almost brutal method of taking sides left all the deities present stunned.
The hall fell silent for a moment.
After a brief psychological game, someone finally moved.
Several marginal minor deities who had long lost their divine kingdoms, having nothing to lose, unhesitatingly walked to the left.
This seemed to be a signal. Immediately after, some middle gods, after exchanging glances, gritted their teeth and followed.
Of course, the right side wasn't lacking people either.
Those established deities with deep authority unwilling to take risks, or those purely here to investigate, all tacitly moved to the right side.
The Fire God, Prometheus, stood rooted to the spot like an iron tower, his thick, bushy eyebrows knitted into a frown.
He stared fixedly at Poseidon, his voice low, "Poseidon, don't play with fire."
To this, Poseidon merely smiled and nodded.
Prometheus opened his mouth, finally transforming his full belly of suspicions into a sigh, and strode toward the right.
Among the crowd, Eve and Hades silently watched these deities making their choices, their eyes churning with an unfathomable darkness no outsider could understand. In the end, Eve, with light lotus-like steps, moved to stand on the right. Hades also followed without a word.
The dust settled.
On the left, nearly eighty deities stood densely packed.
This number was even more than Poseidon had anticipated.
The entire Light Divine System, led by Augustus, was among them.
Poseidon's gaze swept over those faces one by one.
Greedy panting, excited flushing, feigned composure...
He engraved these deities' appearances, auras, and divinity origins firmly into his heart.
Poseidon's expression was blank, but his eyes had turned completely cold, "Those who want a share of the authority, follow me."
He turned and walked toward the depths of the grand hall.
The eighty deities on the left exchanged glances.
Some trembled with excitement, some flashed hesitation in their eyes, but before absolute temptation, not a single person stepped back.
Eighty against one, with Augustus leading the charge.
Even if Poseidon was a Chief God, he absolutely could not suppress so many deities at once.
With this layer of confidence, the crowd followed in a mighty procession.
Passing through the grand hall, traversing dark, deep corridors.
The surrounding light grew dimmer, the pressure of the seawater increasingly heavy.
After turning a few hidden corners, an ancient and massive stone gate blocked the way.
The stone gate was covered with intricate Sea God runes, deep-blue glimmers flickering like the heavy breathing of a deep-sea leviathan.
"Poseidon, what trick are you really playing?" a deity, irritated by the oppressive atmosphere, snapped, "Where is the authority you mentioned?"
Poseidon did not turn around.
He stood with his back to the crowd before the gate, the deep-blue rune light cutting his figure into half-light, half-shadow.
"It's inside." His voice suddenly turned icy, not a trace of the gentleness from the hall remained, "My Sea God origin is sealed here."
"Go in and take it yourselves."
As his words fell, he raised his hand and pushed the gate.
Accompanied by a grating, rumbling roar, the heavy stone gate slowly swung open.
However, inside the vast secret chamber, there were no divine artifacts.
Only one person.
A young man clad in white robes, with a head full of pale hair.
...