chapter 20; mission gains

<p>at the temple of the gods in Athens a light shone as Athena and Hermes arrived, Athens was one of the main cities of Olympia continent and Athena was the patron of that city. <br/><br/>Many of the gods appeared within this temple whenever they wanted to see her as it was also the anchor of Athena's power. Each of the major cities had a major temple dedicated to the gods and these temples anchored their divine realm to this planet. <br/><br/>in the mean time four gods were waiting for Hermes and Athena, these gods were all god kings from the olympian duodecathon aka the ruling council of twelve gods. <br/><br/>the leader was also the supreme god king of the Olympia divine realm, the lightning god Zeus. <br/><br/>To his right was the sun god Helios and to his left was the Hunter goddess Artemis while besides Artemis was her twin brother the light god Apollo. <br/><br/>together they all focused on the little champions, Shen had passed out from his final battle but he was mostly unscathed, <br/><br/>however that wasn't the same for his weapons as his hammers had over heated and deformed due to being overloaded with energy. <br/><br/>Zeus took the hammers and his heart was shocked, he could still feel the energy that once resided in these hammers. <br/><br/>this was divine power not just a blessing of a god but literal divine essence, he could detect faint residues of the immortal IQ and it was as potent as his own meaning the owner was most likely a god king or at least a half-step god king. <br/><br/>as for the other two young ones, Tian and Yali hadn't left his side despite being in front of six god kings each of which could wipe them out with a thought. <br/><br/>Zeus turned to Apollo asking if he could do anything to help out the young one. <br/><br/>Apollo said that in the old days he could have, however he recently passed on his medicine god seat to one of his children so he can nolonger perform divine level healing, <br/><br/>he then snaps his fingers and amidst a bright light another god appears, he was a young man with white hair dressed in white and green robes while holding a snow white staff with a single snake entwined around it. <br/><br/>this was the medicine god Asclepius, he was a first class god who recently ascended to the divine realm in the last millennium so he was still relatively new, <br/><br/>after Apollo asked him to help Shen out he didn't think twice about it as his eyes glowed with a faint green radiance. <br/><br/>he did a simple scan of Shen's body before he told them that there is no need for him to do anything, the best thing they can do for Shen is grant him one of those lightning bolts of the god king. <br/><br/>the medicine god tells them that Shen possesses a pure lightning physique so lightning is the best remedy to all his complications. <br/><br/>Zeus then summons one of his thuderbolts it wasn't the original divine weapon of the god king because it was made of pure energy however that didnt stop it from making everyone feel extreme fear from the bottom of their hearts. <br/><br/>Shen's body on the other hand replied in the opposite way, his body started glowing with golden radiance as his skin sparkled with a faint silvery electric aura. <br/><br/>the lightning bolt flew from Zeus's hand and landed on Shen's chest before it vanished within his body. <br/><br/>after noticing the situation, Zeus summoned ten more thunder bolts and had them surround Shen instantly, <br/><br/>he then turned to the other soul masters and he told them that Shen is fine, the divine lightning is of a great help to his body and future cultivation so it's better to let him absorb it all to his heart's content, <br/><br/>when he is done his body will undergo a massive evolution and he won't be the Shen they have known but he also won't have any more problems in his cultivation atleast not until he reaches the divine level. <br/><br/>he then tells the rest of the soul masters that they have performed admirably beyond anyone's expectations, <br/><br/>he then makes a mockery that that old man Tang San will become even more insufferable after their victory, he tells them that as a reward they get to study with any of the gods before them until Shen is done with his meditation. <br/><br/>Tian asks whether Shen will also gain the opportunity to study with a divine instructor but Zeus reveals that Shen doesn't need the guidance as he already had a divine master. <br/><br/>after that Helios approaches Tian and wonders whether Tian would like to study from him and Tian agrees without any reservations, <br/><br/>next was Yali who gets approached by both Apollo and Artemis, Artemis seeks to take Yali on as one of her hunters however the catch was that she would have to become an eternal maiden and fore go any and all interests in the opposite gender. <br/><br/>however with that she can become practically immortal and will become a direct student to the huntress goddess with the ability to summon her any time she encounters an impossible life threatening situation. <br/><br/>however before Yali could choose, Apollo then says that she could also gain Apollo's tutelage but that means she doesn't get any of the additional rewards that come with being a huntress. <br/><br/>however since Apollo's personal weapon is also a bow, he promises to help her sharpen her archery skills to divine level, he could also give her some advice about healing and some tips in music which she will need later on. <br/><br/>Yali thinks about her situation for a while, she turns her eyes to the rest of the gods who all await her decision, it was obvious she was at a crossroads in her life and her choice today would affect the direction of her life from this moment onwards. <br/><br/>as she looks towards her two companions, Shen remains there unmoving while Tian nods towards her reassuringly. <br/><br/>however after looking at him her decision was already made from the bottom of her mind and the rest of the gods sensed it, <br/><br/>as she turned back to face Apollo and Artemis, all the huntress said was that she understood Yali's decision and wishes her the best in her life. <br/><br/>she then turned to leave the scene as Apollo takes Yali as an apprentice, as the training begins time passes rather quickly and the lightning bolts around Shen vanish gradually all of which get absorbed by him. <br/><br/>an alarming eight months later Shen opens his eyes to the sight of his friends waiting for him. <br/><br/>they had been informed that he would awaken today which would also be the day they return home, while looking at his friends Shen realized that they looked and felt diferent, they seemed more imposing which meant that in the time he spent unconscious they too hadn't been slacking. <br/><br/>after sensing the lightning god's energy Shen's hammer reacted rather strangely, instead of releasing sparks of energy excitedly, <br/><br/>it released a faint hum and produced a suction effect, it was absorbing the lightning element it felt, after a while a massive surge of lightning entered his dantian and it all surged into his hammer, <br/><br/>a while later someone showed up in his dantian, he introduced himself as Lei Shen, he was the thunder god in the ancient times before duoluo divine realm transformed into the duoluo divine planet. <br/><br/>he revealed that without ample divine energy in the mortal realm he had to rely on human faith as well as the limited thunder element to generate enough power to sustain his divine essence, <br/><br/>he says that he waited for a rightful heir to be born however in the meantime many prospective talents attempted to inherit his position, <br/><br/>a few lucky ones gave up when they realized it was an impossible endeavor however most people capable of advancing the lightning element to quasi god normally have extremely resilient temperaments so they persisted and all of them perished along the way, <br/><br/>he couldn't interfere to warn them as his divine sense was still relatively too weak, the best he could do was preserve their soul essences into his own and merge their martial souls to his divine weapon. <br/><br/>over the millenniums there have been thousands of attempts and all their strength was at the peak of humanity so their martial souls were extremely powerful. <br/><br/>however over a decade ago he sensed the arrival of a new star, he couldn't be certain but he felt that this new star could be the heir he had been waiting for all this time <br/><br/>this was because this little one had the highest affinity to divine energy he had ever sensed since his fall, he was actually comparable to an actual god in that regard so he was perfect.<br/><br/>He sent his best soul essence which had evolved from absorbing all the beast martial souls of the fallen limit soul masters to become a divine soul essence. <br/><br/>that was the thunder beast. however after the little child awakened the thunder beast as his soul essence Lei Shen realized his mistake immediately, <br/><br/>the thunder beast was close to its final evolution after absorbing most of those beast martial souls with it's pure thunder bloodline. <br/><br/>to take the final step it needed massive amounts of heaven and Earth energies or even better divine energy. <br/><br/>that was the kind of energy that was in rare supply in the mortal realms so the child's cultivation stagnated as the soul power he mobilized was practically insignificant to the massive amounts of energy required <br/><br/>however by some stroke of luck the planet the boy resised on happened to possess a heaven and earth well that was inhabited by an infernal lightning vine which was one of the humble followers of the thunder god. <br/><br/>because of this the well was surrounded by a dense thunder aura which would be very helpful for the child's development so he spent most of his energy to influence the child into the forest where luckily the boy absorbed enough energy to start the evolution process. <br/><br/>with more than 2/3rds of the well absorbed and the massive thunder and lightning elements in the air the boy managed to start his development. <br/><br/>Lei Shen says that he entered the boys dantian to ensure that the boy could survive the process and also because he couldn't survive in the wild anymore having spent a massive amount of the divine sense he had gathered over thousands of years. <br/><br/>he says that he fused with the child's second martial soul transforming it from a soul essence into a divine weapon using the limit soul essences he had obtained from hundreds of fallen limit soul masters as well as the remnants of his divine weapon which he wielded when he was still a god in the divine realm. <br/><br/>the result was that the soul essence was transformed into a peak pseudo ultra divine tool which housed the rest of his soul allowing him to live on. <br/><br/>because of that, whenever the child was in need he would stimulate his potential with a few wisps of energy from the divine tool. <br/><br/>however a short while ago he felt divine energy of the lightning attribute. this is the purest form of energy required for Shen to finish his evolution in the fastest way possible without waiting for him to reach a title duoluo's cultivation. <br/><br/>he says that because of this divine energy his fading divine essence was restored to a thousandth of its state when he was in the divine realm which is more than enough to fulfill what Lei Shen had in plans. <br/><br/>he used the rest of the divine energy to speed up the thunder beast's evolution into its final form. <br/><br/>he then says that he merged his divine essence with the soul of the thunder vine that was living inside Shen's body transforming them into a stable form that could interact with Shen and help him out. <br/><br/>the former thunder god and now thunder vine now reveals that he is here to guide Shen through his cultivation and the first thing they need to do is cultivate his bloodline strength to reach as high as possible while it was still exposed in the divine aura that was evolving the thunder beast. <br/><br/>for the next few months Shen learned of ways to maximize his bloodline strength as well as discovering the hidden secrets residing within his body, <br/><br/>he also stated tempering his body into a thunder physique which would prove helpful for him in the future, <br/><br/>at the same time the thunder god helped guide him on his comprehension of the nine absolute techniques of the clear sky hammer from his tribe, the god clarified on their proper use and even modified them slightly, <br/><br/>with his aid Shen managed to completely master the first three techniques and make good progress on the fourth. <br/><br/>In the mean time the thunder beast managed to succeed in its evolution and the result was more than stunning, the previously five feet long thunder beast transformed into a majestic lion three meters long with silver-blue fur that sparked with divine lightning and startling lightning blue eyes. <br/><br/>it's tail sparked wherever it moved tearing through space with each swipe, meanwhile its evolved form had another perk they hadn't expected and that was that it had two pairs of huge silver feathered wings on it's back making it look even more regal. <br/><br/>the thunder beast had transformed into a divine lightning lion. its strength was evaluated to either be equal or possibly superior to a golden dragon which is one of the halves of the ancient dragon god. <br/><br/>at that moment Shen was ready to return to the world as a changed individual, he had gained alot from this mission however it was time for them to return home. <br/><br/>However at that time Lei Shen told him that they had achieved alot in the short time he spent teaching Shen however he also learnt something else. He says that Shen isnt his destined heir however he was a vessel that could contain his power. <br/><br/>He says that Shen is destined for another title, another power that is leagues beyond his and with time he will recieve it, but before then he will host and help strengthen Lei Shen and Shen will train him to the best of his ability as payment.<br/><br/>Though confused, Shen took the words of the god seriously at the sight of his friends Shen was certain their rewards weren't weaker than his. at that very instant a light flared before them as Hermes appeared before them, <br/><br/>he assured them that he was only present to send them back home however the supreme god king asked them to keep all they have seen and learned about their contintent a secret when they return home. <br/><br/>with that he grants Shen a new storage ring, which was the same dragonscale ring he had gotten back on his home planet, it had vanished when he entered duoluo world and now it was back, Shen realizes that the ring he had before had vanished and so had his friends' old storage rings, <br/><br/>Hermes tells them that the old rings and all they held were things crafted by this world and a such cannot leave this world, <br/><br/>however as a way of appreciation the blacksmith god Hephaestus granted them a few rare metals from this continent which should help them in their future should they use them carefully. <br/><br/>with that he opened a gate way for the three soul masters which they stepped through willingly.</p>