Cultivating Anti-Divinity

"Fire, starlight, purity, family, nature and earth. These are my attributes."

"Wow, those are a lot of attributes."

Six attributes meant six cultivation manuals, not to mention he still had his own attributes to deal with. Artillian placed a hand on his chin and said, "I'm no expert on the divine, but I learned that gods are limited in terms of attributes. Immortals usually are balanced while gods are those that follow the path of extremes pursuing one path. Why do you have so many attributes? You are more like an immortal now."

Hestia's calm and serene voice responded, "It's about power."

"Power?"

"Yes, that's right, power.

The boundaries between gods and immortals reduce with levels. Meaning, the stronger a god, the more likely they are to be extreme in one attribute, and conversely the weaker the deity the more attributes they are likely to possess. The reverse of that situation applies to immortals. They are essentially two faces of the same coin. The coin of light. Demons and devils are faces on the coin of darkness. You walk both the immoral and divine paths. So half your time must be spent on being a jack of all trades, while the other half must be spent on being a master of some. It's hard to figure out because to be honest, I have never come across this scenario."

Artillian was on the verge of entering a state of mental depression. There was a reason one could not be a jack of all trades and master of all. Such a concept was paradoxical and ridiculous. Artillian sat on his small bed and face-palmed himself.

"Worry not young one. I have a solution. It will not be an easy one but it can work."

Artillian sighed once more and asked, "I'm all ears, even though I don't see a way out of this."

"As a deity who has lived through aeons I possess many manuals, but one stands above them all. Not because it's the strongest as such, but because of its potential. For most it would be useless garbage, but for you it is priceless.

It allows you to divide yourself into multiple avatars. Each focus on training one elemental attribute. These avatars can fuse back into the original and separate at any time. Meaning, if you were able to successfully cultivate this, you could actually cultivate all my attributes and more at the same time."

Artillian's heart reignited with hope. It was only a small ember, but the flame of hope had been kindled. But Artillian knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch.

"I'm a mortal, not an idiot. What's the catch."

Hestia nodded mentally in approval. She was happy that he was able to be clear-headed when given such shocking news.

"Indeed, this isn't simple. This manual comes with many caveats. Firstly, once you die, there is no more reincarnation. Your soul and mind will be obliterated. Secondly, you must naturally possess the space attribute and anti-divinity within you. Last but not least, each of these avatars will foster a unique personality. These personalities will take control of you as time goes on if you possess a weak mind. Meaning if you cultivate this technique, your worst enemy will end up being yourself. Despite knowing this, are you willing to accept?

Artillian was stunned. Death was something he sought, but that was with the knowledge that he would reincarnate. True complete death of his soul was frightening. Not to mention he was already worried about his mind being contaminated by Artillian of Phios. Now things were going in a worse direction.

'But then again, it's what I deserve. Isn't this what I wanted?'

Artillian started to feel conflicted inside. Then a small thought he had at the back of his mind resurfaced.

"Did you just say anti-divinity? What the heck is that?"

"It's one of the rarest attributes in existence. Just as how anti-matter can cancel ordinary matter out of existence, anti-matter can completely wipe away divinity. To deities, nothing is more frightening than anti-divinity. It is a power that, under the right conditions, can even allow a powerful mortal to slay gods and immortals alike." said Hestia with a grave tone.

Artillian hissed as he took in a breath of cold air. He could not believe that such a ridiculous power could exist.

"If it's that amazing how come I haven't heard of it?"

"Deities fear true death more than mortals, and to be killed by a mortal is the most shameful death one can experience. Hence the moment it becomes public knowledge that someone possesses anti-divinity, they are hunted down by local deities. Killing a mortal with anti-divinity has its own rewards for deities but that's not for you to know. Just know that knowledge of anti-divinity is closely monitored by the gods. They don't want their weakness to become public knowledge. I have lost many a comrade to anti-divinity. Why only a few decades earlier I was hunting down anti-divinity users myself."

"Doesn't this mean I'm screwed?" asked Artillian. Even if he did not cultivate the so-called ultimate manual that Hestia wanted to gift him, he still had to ask. He wanted to die, but not true death. At the end of the day, he was human. He had some sense of self-preservation, especially after fusing with Artillian of Phios.

"Yes, you are."

"Thank you for being so direct about it. Your bedside manner is uncanny."

"I'm just telling it as it is, sugar coating such news only has demerits.

Think carefully, because, in my opinion, you don't really have a choice here. Anti-divinity is an ability from the soul. Meaning even after you reincarnate there is a good chance it will pass on to your future lives, hence when deities take action, they want to truly destroy you. Either way, whether you practice this or not, a true death is what awaits you if you fail. But if you practice this, you at least give yourself a fighting chance.

Normally you could just not cultivate and let the attribute die with you once you reach the end of your natural lifespan, but you have my divine essence now attached to your soul. My divinity and your anti-divinity clash. Eventually, the clash of energies will lead to an energy explosion that will alert nearby deities. The only way to stop this is to achieve a perfect balance between the two, to cancel each other out."

"If they are opposing attributes how can they both exist in my soul? Especially if they are unbalanced," asked Artillian after some thinking.

"Because the space attribute is in play. The space attribute is the most mysterious and complex of them all, capable of allowing opposing attributes to rest within the same body. A good example of this is Earth's King of Titans. He has mastery of water and fire, but thanks to his mastery of space, the two exist within him in perfect balance. Of course, his bloodline and mastery of the laws of balance are also involved, but once again I digress."

Artillian had many more questions, to which Hestia responded patiently. After an hour of discussing magic theory and martial arts, Artilian made his decision.

He sat cross-legged on his bed and prepared himself mentally with some simple breathing exercises, "Okay, I'm ready. Pass it to me."

"I have to ask once again, are you sure about this, once you have ridden the tiger's back, you cannot let go. Just possession of this knowledge alone could make you a target. This manual is extremely rare, but I can't guarantee that you will not be hunted for it. After all, I'm not familiar with this world."

Artillian shrugged, "Hey, I don't exactly have a choice. Lay it on me."

I'm passing it to you..." Hestia's voice drifted before she finished.

Artillian waited patiently for some time and just when he was getting worried Hestia spoke again.

"Close your eyes." Artillian grumbled in protest. He was aware of what was about to happen and did not like it. But he forced himself to close his eyes and let go.

"Good, now I want you to take down all your mental defences, and allow me to enter the deepest recesses of your mind."

"Wait what?" screamed Artillian.

"Trust me!"

Artillian hesitated for a moment but he suddenly thought, 'We are sharing a body, what can she possibly do to me that won't hurt her, right.'

He shut his eyes and waited for whatever was to come. And so he waited and waited.

And he waited.

And he waited.

He was growing impatient and just when he thought he had had enough. "Be patient, young one, there is no need to rush." As if knowing that Artillian was slightly impatient, Hestia had spoken out.

Artillian suddenly calmed down when he heard her voice. But just as he calmed down his face became unsightly. He was in intense pain, and a headache, unlike anything he had ever felt suddenly assaulted him. He felt as if his head was going to explode. The information pouring into his mind was too much. At least thousands of pages worth of information was flowing into his brain.

After a couple of breaths, the pain left and only 6 words remained in his mind.

Pathless Origins: Bane of The Gods.