All Gods: Starting with Two Families

Chapter 78 The Flower of the StyxZhou Zheng’s Divine Thought cautiously touched the floating black envelope.

The instant it made contact, the envelope violently twisted and transformed, turning into a strange crow with a pitch-black body and feathers that shimmered with a metallic luster!

It let out a harsh, unpleasant screech, its scarlet eyes fixed firmly on Zhou Zheng, and its sharp beak lunged forward with a peck!

Rrrrip!

Space was easily torn open like cloth, creating an irregular gap.

The strange crow looked back at Zhou Zheng, seemingly signaling him to follow.

Zhou Zheng’s gaze tightened, but he did not hesitate at all. His divine thought projection stepped forward, calmly entering the unstable passage.

The strange crow seemed quite surprised by Zhou Zheng’s courage, tilting its head to examine him.

This fearless attitude seemed to please it; it let out a more cheerful, yet still unpleasant ”caw-caw” sound and flapped its wings to lead the way.

At the end of the passage was a boundless, raging sea of scorching fire!

Yet, within these destructive flames, countless blood-red, eerily beautiful flowers were growing—these were the manjusaka, which guide the dead and grow on the banks of the Styx.

At the boundary between the sea of fire and the sea of flowers, a figure lay languidly on her side.

Her face was beautiful, but her body was like a piece of exquisite porcelain that had been shattered and then forcibly pieced back together, covered in countless pitch-black cracks.

Even more bizarrely, those bewitchingly red manjusaka were growing directly out of the cracks in her body, their roots seemingly fused with her.

This scene was both terrifying and possessed a heart-stopping, eerie beauty.

However, from the moment Zhou Zheng stepped into this place, he kept his head slightly lowered, his gaze restrained, and he did not emit even a shred of Divine Thought to probe the other party.

This was because, judging from the unconscious, abyss-like Divine Thought fluctuations radiating from her, this seemingly broken deity before him was actually a powerful existence at the Peak of Rank 3 Godhood!

She was only one step away from condensing a divine office and ascending to become a mid-level deity!

She seemed not to have noticed Zhou Zheng’s arrival, her slender, pale fingers gently stroking the black strange crow that had landed back on her shoulder, her voice lazy and ethereal: ”Little Black seems to like you very much.”

Zhou Zheng did not know how to respond to this, so maintaining silence was the safest choice.

”Hmph, another dull rock, boring.”

She complained softly with displeasure, but her attention shifted quickly, as if the earlier annoyance had never happened.

Her eyes, which seemed capable of devouring a Soul, swept across the surroundings as she introduced herself: ”You can call me Hell Flower.”

”This place is the ’lower level’ of the Myriad Spirits Divine System; all Souls that return to oblivion find their final resting place here. And I,” she paused, her tone flat, ”am responsible for guarding this place.”

Suddenly, a murderous smile appeared on her face: ”And incidentally... I am also responsible for ’inviting’ the Souls of those we find disagreeable, or those whom the God System cannot easily deal with directly, to come here and receive a little... ’judgment’.”

As her voice fell, the entire Plane seemed to come alive!

Countless painful, desperate, and shrill Soul wails erupted from deep within the sea of fire and flowers, weaving together into a hair-raising symphony of despair, enough to drive anyone with a weak mind instantly insane.

Zhou Zheng’s Divine Thought was like a rock, remaining unmoved in this Soul storm, simply asking calmly: ”So... are you the ’black gloves’ of the Myriad Spirits Divine System, specifically used for handling dirty work?”

Hell Flower pouted, seemingly a bit disappointed: ”How boring. But... you’re right. Without those of us doing the dirty, tiring work in the shadows, where would they get their bright, shiny ’peaceful days’ where they preach Life and harmony?”

”How about it, kid? Do you want to join us?”

Hearing this, Zhou Zheng revealed the first smile on his face since arriving in this Plane.

The wild and militant factors in his Bloodline belonging to the Orc God System were completely ignited, and a burning excitement radiated through his Divine Thought.

”Of course,” his voice carried an unquestionable certainty.

This sounded—super cool!

He continued to ask: ”I wonder, what is the name of our organization?”

Hell Flower was stunned upon hearing this, then patted her head with some embarrassment: ”Oh right! I was so busy working and sleeping that I forgot to come up with a name... Hmm...”

She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then waved her hand dismissively: ”Then let’s call it ’Hell’! Simple and easy to remember!”

Zhou Zheng: ”...”

He suddenly felt that something was amiss, and asked tentatively: ”So... how many deities are currently in our organization called ’Hell’?”

Hell Flower finally revealed a cunning, prank-successful smile: ”Of course—it’s just the two of us!”

Zhou Zheng’s vision went black, and he nearly failed to stabilize his divine thought projection.

...

Although this superior who called herself Hell Flower seemed extremely unreliable, her terrifying strength at the Peak of Rank 3 Godhood was the real deal.

Zhou Zheng seized the opportunity to ask a few questions about the use of Divine Power and the condensation of Law; the other party offered a few offhand pointers, which made him feel enlightened and helped him immensely.

Of course, the question he was most concerned about was—

”May I ask, how can one promote Godhood to Rank 2?”