The Death Knell

During these three weeks, after Howard picked up Tony, Su Ming naturally did not stay on the earth forever. He continued his plan.

That is to go to the world of Faerun to find Elminster, the chosen one of the goddess of magic, and try to find a way to use the spider totem through the knowledge of the magic web.

Entering the crystal wall system this time was much smoother than the last time. No gods even had time to cast a glance at the intruders. They were busy dealing with their own affairs.

civil war.

Yes, the iconic War of the Gods, where the gods launched a civil war covering the entire world based on their different doctrines and alignments.

In fact, the essence of everything lies in the competition for the power of faith. Various creatures can provide the power of faith, and these beliefs are accepted by the divine fire to form the power of God, so the population becomes a kind of resource.

The world of Faerûn is so big, and counting the different planes occupied by the hell lords, there is a certain number of people it can support.

The more you get, the less I get, and the power of faith is related to the advancement of the gods. The more the better, so competition is inevitable.

Some gods understand that faith is both power and poison, while others do not. Anyway, in Su Ming's view, the system of belief in gods ties the relationship between gods and humans together, which is really a hidden danger.

But all this has nothing to do with him. The world of Faerun is not part of the overall plan, or in other words, it does not have an important strategic position.

If Faerûn was a complete cake, it would still have some value.

But the cake was divided up and eaten by the guys called gods. Su Ming was too lazy to take the cake out of their stomachs or wait for them to die and dig it out of the corpse.

There is plenty in the world, but a world with chaotic beliefs about local gods is difficult to control.

In fact, before coming back to Elminster for help, Su Ming was a little worried. After all, Elminster was the chosen one of Mystra, the goddess of magic, and whether his behavior of exploring the principles of the magic network would cause any disputes.

Fortunately, Mystra is also very busy now. She stands on the side of the elves and the gods to fight against the evil camp.

When I found him in Elminster's mill-like residence, the great sage of Shadow Valley was dozing off with a long pipe in his mouth as always. There were soup stains from breakfast on his patched robes, and his beard was still there. Breathing slightly trembling.

The hole that Ciri made on the floor last time was still there, and it seemed that it had not been repaired at all. Judging from the color of the wood at the break, it must have been several years.

"You are back? Young traveler." Elminster still remembered him, this eccentric and interesting young man.

Obviously, like all planeswalkers, Deathstroke has already ignited the fire and has the qualifications to become a god, but after so many years, the fire is still just a fire.

He did not choose to collect faith and become a god, using the world as a card to fight others.

Elminster sensed that Deathstroke had become stronger, much stronger than the last time he came. He connected the time and destiny of a world to himself in a way that even the great sages could not understand. Went on an alternative path.

"Hello, Master, I'm here to tell you good news." Su Ming removed his mask and revealed his face.

"Oh? What's the good news? An exciting adventure story? I can exchange it for gold coins and magic props." Elminster opened the space bag with a smile, took out a few pieces of equipment exuding magic aura, and placed them On the table nearby.

He was still thinking about the "ghost blowing out the lantern" story that Deathstroke told before.

The story is obviously not finished yet. The last time it was just about Deathstroke and his teammates breaking into the ancient city of Jingjue, but as far as Elminster knows, as long as adventurers are alive, they are always eager for the next adventure. There must be a follow-up.

Su Ming also remembered this incident. At that time, it was to exchange for Elminster's space bag, so he changed the ghost blowing lamp and put it on himself. Unexpectedly, the old man fell into the trap and was still thinking about it after all these years.

"I'll tell you the story of Longling Mysterious Cave later. I came here to ask you to help me take a look at this thing."

With that said, Deathstroke took out the spider totem from his pocket.

Seeing the carvings that looked like spiders, Elminster immediately frowned. In the world of Faerûn, spiders only represented one existence, and that was the evil god believed in by the dark elves, the Spider God Queen in the Demon Abyss Hell, Luo Silk.

Although Rose and Mystra are not rivals, they have a very bad relationship because Rose is closer to Shar, the Lady of the Night. They are both of the evil alignment, and both are the dungeon gods of the Underdark.

In addition, the 'Shadow Magic Web' created by Shar is an attempt to replace Mystra. Its existence means that Shar's followers can bypass Mystra's supervision and use magic at will, as long as they give Shar Provides the power of faith.

This can be regarded as poaching, no, poaching the lifeblood, Mystra is counting on the magic network to make a living.

But when the small toothpick-like totem was handed to Elminster, he found that things were not at all what he thought. This small wooden stick carried a completely unfamiliar power, like the thread of a spider. The beginning, spanning more than a few spaces, was placed in his hands.

"This is..." Elminster took out his glasses, clamped them on his nose and studied the totem carefully: "Unseen words, strange power, what is it connected to? Is it a kingdom of God? ?”

Su Ming raised his hand and waved it, signaling the old mage to calm down: "I can tell you everything I know, but how to use this thing is what I hope you can explain to me."

So he explained to Elminster the origin of the spider totem, as well as his understanding of the spider network and the spider universe. At the same time, he told the old mage that he hoped to use this prop to travel across the infinite universe.

Not traveling alone, but traveling with a force.

Elminster thought for a moment, rubbing his knuckles on the table beside him, as if he was trying to get the water glass but couldn't reach it.

After a moment, he stopped: "I thought you would choose the magic ship, but I didn't expect you to even look down on that thing."

"The largest recorded magic ship can only hold 400 people at most, and I want more." Su Ming pointed to the totem with his chin, indicating to continue the previous topic: "Then what can you see from this?"

"There is a way. If I were just a pure mage, I might not have figured out how to use this thing. But thanks to my part-time job as a third-level priest when I was young, I have a different understanding of how the gods' energy works."

Spider Ancient God? Divine Network? A connection between different worlds?

Although this energy attribute is very unfamiliar, it comes from a god from another world, so it is still the same thing as priests.

He can sense what it is connected to. Although the signal is weak, this method is feasible. Through the magic of communicating with the gods, he can then trick the gods into connecting him to the Kingdom of God, which is what Deathstroke calls the 'online'.

Elminster had dealt with many gods and demon kings when he was young, and he believed that it would not be difficult to deceive another god.

But there was still something he hadn't figured out. He picked up the totem and put it on the table:

"I still don't quite understand, what exactly are you pursuing? Is it because the goal is so big that I can't see the whole picture?"

Su Ming sat down. Opposite the old mage, a small stove was burning in the dark attic. He stared at the fire inside.

"In the beginning, I just wanted to live, so I transcended death. Later, I wanted to live well, so I transcended time. Now, I want my friends and relatives to live well, so the only way out is Beyond the future, beyond all possibilities, beyond the limits of my own past. Many people don’t know what my plan is, just because they can’t see what I am transcending, but I think you should be able to understand what the way to transcendence is. "

"Is this really the case?" Elminster's eyes were revealed from above his glasses, and his wrinkled face was unusually serious: "For family and friends? With all due respect, you don't look like that kind of person."

"The people of Faerûn, who were raised as food by the gods, are the fate of human beings after they gave up their belief in surpassing the gods." Su Ming lit a cigarette near the fire and puffed out a puff of smoke calmly: "Although I am not well educated It’s not high, and it can’t be compared with a great sage like you, but I know that people live for struggle and resistance. As a human being, isn’t it interesting to fight against the sky?”

Elminster closed his eyes and leaned on his recliner as if asleep. After a moment, he opened his mouth with his eyes closed and said:

"Has anyone ever said that you seem a little crazy?"

"Secret." Su Ming smiled and put the wine bottle into the old mage's hand: "Deal?"

The mage didn't speak. A few minutes later, the sound of two wine bottles gently colliding came from the attic.