Chapter 1040 — The Fire-Thief

At this point he glanced at Amon, who was listening quietly, hesitated briefly, and then voiced a matter he had been turning over in his mind for some time: "In fact, I believe there must be another path between mortals and gods — a third road besides life-and-death opposition and total separation. I considered this question once before, and now I am all the more convinced of it."

"Overly idealistic and optimistic," Amon finally spoke. "But you do not look like a man who arrived at this notion out of blind optimism or some naive fancy."

"I have my own principles," Gao Yang said, his expression stern as he looked upon this "God of Nature." "I firmly believe one thing — since the existence of the gods is the result of this world's natural laws at work, then those 'natural laws' can be grasped and controlled. It is only a matter of sooner or later. The reason we cannot find the third road now is simply that we do not yet know enough about the mysteries of time. But if we gave up exploring merely because no road could be found at present, then in essence we would be no different from those who turn to the gods at the first sign of difficulty."

"Fearless..." Amon sighed. "You remind me of those first people who walked out of the caves, the ones who held up branches and took fire from the lightning... The dauntless fire-thief ought to possess such qualities. But I must remind you — compared with the lucky ones who succeed in stealing fire, more will die before the first flame ever catches."

Gao Yang nodded solemnly: "Thank you. I will keep your warning close to heart."

"Since you have already come this far, then let me offer a few more suggestions," Amon said suddenly after a moment of quiet. "I imagine you came today chiefly to hear my 'suggestions,' did you not?"

Gao Yang's expression turned serious at once: "I am all ears."

"I do not know by what means you intend to 'master' the laws governing the gods' workings, but there is one point I hope you will keep firmly in mind — whichever god it may be, they are all tightly bound by the 'precepts' laid down at their birth, bound by the initial 'shaping' that mortal currents gave them. Even on the verge of madness, even already mad, their actions in fact still follow these 'original dogmas.'

"On that basis, I have two suggestions. First, what you do should be prudent, but it may also be bold — so long as you strictly conform to the most essential parts of those 'precepts,' you need not in fact fear the gods losing control. All mortals believe the gods are quick to anger and punish the slightest misstep, but in truth... whether 'anger' or 'joy,' the gods' own 'emotions' cannot actually govern their actions at all. They can only act according to the laws.

"No matter how furious a god may be, it cannot punish a believer who has never violated the original dogmas; no matter how joyful a god may be, it cannot bestow blessings at will upon a mortal who does not believe in it. In a sense, the gods enthroned on high are themselves nothing but a pack of pitiable creatures who cannot help themselves.

"Second, I suggest you and your scholars study the oldest, most primitive religious texts, and derive a god's 'laws' from the very source of faith, tracing how those laws changed over the course of history — rather than directly applying the modern scriptures, which have been revised and polished who knows how many times."

"Often enough, modern classics and the most primitive religious texts appear to describe the same thing, but because of the subtle adjustments commentators make, deliberately or not, the doctrines they correspond to have in fact drifted into细微 divergence—and if such subtle divergences are mishandled, they can lead to very serious trouble."

Gao Yang clenched his fist without thinking—this was the first time Amon had offered him such a concrete "suggestion," one that had already crossed into the realm of practical operation.

Clearly, the restraints on this "God of Nature" had been loosened once again, and that change was very likely connected to the battle at the Winterhold front.

His trip had not been in vain.

After firmly committing Amon's reminders to memory, he let out a long breath and a genuine smile surfaced on his face: "Thank you very much for your advice—I will certainly put it to practical use."

Then he took out the mechanical watch he carried and glanced at the time, stepping back half a pace: "I have lingered here too long, and it is time I left. Finally, thank you once again."

"There is no need for thanks—after all, it is rare for me to meet such an interesting conversation partner," Amon's tone seemed to carry a hint of amusement, "but if you truly wish to express your gratitude, there is actually a favor I would like to ask of you."

"A favor from me?" Gao Yang was taken aback, and his gaze involuntarily fell on the crisscrossing restraints around the other party. "Let me say this first—if it is to help you remove these..."

"Do not worry, I know my own situation—I have not yet been fully 'rendered harmless,' so it is entirely normal for you to have misgivings, and therefore I will not ask you to remove the restraints," Amon spoke up before Gao Yang could finish. "It is only that... lying here for so long really is a tedious affair, and I wish to find a little amusement."

"Amusement?" Gao Yang blinked. "What do you want?"

"I hear a new thing called a magic-net terminal has appeared in the human world, somewhat like the communication network of the old Gondor Empire, but more interesting,"—whether it was an illusion or not, Amon's tone hesitated for a moment, but he went on—"...I am rather curious about it."

Get me one of those too.jpg.

Gao Yang: "..."

After a moment of stunned silence, he came back to himself: "The magic-net terminal relies on the magic net to function, and I am not certain whether it can still operate stably after passing through the portal across the Shadow Realm..."

"I believe it can," Amon said. "That ancient portal is actually more stable than you imagine. As far back as the Gondor era, mortal mages transmitted extremely complex magical information through the portal—in theory, it can allow magic power to be transmitted without loss."

Gao Yang: "..."

How had this former god considered even that?