Chapter 71
The greatest pain in life: being alive, but your money is gone.
And to make it worse, losing it all overnight.
Lu Chuan had never felt such heartache in his entire life.
And the culprit wasn’t anyone else—it was himself.
He vividly remembered how his reckless, money-burning self hadn’t treated money as money at all, even wanting to keep the [God of Wealth’s Currency] skill running until he died.
Why couldn’t people go back to the past? If he had the chance, he would’ve chopped that god into pieces and sold it!
Sitting on the bed, Lu Chuan almost broke into tears.
[Host, actually, it’s only the money in this dungeon that’s been burned away. In reality, you’ve only lost less than five million.] #888 tried to comfort him. [Luckily, we scraped up quite a bit in this dungeon, so we managed to cover the cost.]
But this “comfort” didn’t make Lu Chuan feel any better.
“Five million. Five million. System, do you realize? A lottery jackpot, after taxes, is only about four million. Even if you earn ten thousand a month, a college graduate would have to work from graduation to retirement, plus their pension, just to reach five million.” Lu Chuan did the math, his heart sinking. “I raked in so much money here, and it still wasn’t enough to keep the skill running?”
Wasn’t his 80-san self supposed to be awesome and arrogant? Why couldn’t he just tank the damage himself, instead of relying on the skill?
After all his effort scrounging for money in this dungeon, he couldn’t even bring it out. Worse—he ended up paying an extra five million. How was he supposed to accept that?
[It was only so costly because we were resisting divine corruption.] #888 explained sincerely.
If the Omniscient God hadn’t interfered, even running the skill all night should’ve only cost dungeon money.
But with a god’s intrusion, the expense skyrocketed.
If Lu Chuan hadn’t immediately fired and driven it away, who knew how much more of his fortune would’ve been drained.
“All that bastard God of Desire’s fault. Without it, I wouldn’t have lost this much. And those 22 sanity points—three shots already cost me 15. Now I’ve got ten bullets, but I can only fire once. Does that make any sense?” Lu Chuan gnashed his teeth.
The Omniscient God wasn’t as strong as the God of Desire, but still took three bullets to drive off.
Now, with only one usable shot left, killing the God of Desire was nearly impossible.
[Host, there’s still time. We’ll earn it back.] #888 coaxed patiently. [With your skills, five million will be easy.]
“You’re right. I need to think of more ways to make money.” Lu Chuan agreed. “How much liquid cash does the Church still have?”
[None.] #888’s voice was barely a whisper.
“…Explain to me what you mean by ‘none.’” Lu Chuan was stunned. “Doesn’t the [God of Wealth’s Currency] skill only use my private stash?”
[Since the entire Church is under your control, it deducts from church assets first. And… you also allocated a huge sum earlier to train the Paladins. Did you forget?] #888 reminded him.
Lu Chuan’s face twisted for a moment.
He remembered now—yes, that had happened.
Ahhhhh, didn’t this mean he didn’t even have enough startup capital left to recover his losses?
Was his 80-san self really trying to bankrupt him? Lu Chuan didn’t even want to admit that idiot was also him.
Sometimes living in this world was just helpless—why couldn’t a person stick to their original heart forever?
“Brother Lu, are you alright?”
“Was there a trace of divine presence?”
“Which god did you clash with? At this point in time… could it have been the [Omniscience God]?”
They all spoke over each other, giving no sense of order. Their chatter made Lu Chuan’s head ache, and he could only answer them one by one.
“I’m fine. I just had a fight with the [Omniscience God]. Fired three shots. It should’ve been driven off, but whether it died or not—I don’t know,” Lu Chuan said casually.
Cynthia and Starry Shasha scanned him up and down.
“Hmph, scourges live a thousand years,” Lilus snorted, still sulking, dragging Edith to watch the show with him.
Starry Shasha stayed quiet for a while.
She knew the conditions for using the [Infinite Divine Pistol]. So now that Brother Lu’s rationality had dropped… would he still love money?
Thinking for a bit, a spark lit up in her mind.
Plink~~
A round, shiny gold coin dropped to the ground, rolling right in front of Lu Chuan.
“Who dropped this coin?” Before Starry Shasha could even finish speaking, Lu Chuan had already bent down instinctively to pick it up.
“Wuwuwu, Brother Lu, you’re finally back to normal.” The moment he straightened, Starry Shasha pounced into his arms. “This money-loving style—that’s the real you.”
…Shasha, you’ve really learned bad habits, actually baiting me like this?
Lu Chuan was a little speechless.
“Coin confiscated. Next time you test me, at least drop a gold ingot,” he sighed. “I’m broke as a beggar right now. By the way, Shasha, I remember you said you still had thirty million in savings for me, right?”
This time, Starry Shasha’s expression froze.
“Ahem, Brother Lu… if I give you thirty million, can you bring Captain Shen back?” she asked hesitantly. “I even know where Captain Shen’s stash is. As long as you save him, I’ll go steal everything from his little treasury.”
Lilus was dumbfounded.
“Is this really how teammates in the Star Guild treat each other?” he muttered. Was he the one out of touch with the times? These days, you had to negotiate the ransom before rescuing a teammate?
To outsiders, it probably looked more like they were the ones who’d kidnapped Shen Li for ransom.
“…Actually, no. When Shasha teamed with me through dungeons, she was quite normal,” Edith spoke up for once.
Maybe things were just different when Lu Chuan was around.
“Deal.” Lu Chuan agreed without hesitation. “Cynthia, we can’t just sit back anymore—it’s time to strike back.”
Cynthia’s smile lit up brightly. “I’ve been waiting for you to say that for a long time.”
It wasn’t as if they lacked the strength. Since the gods had made the first move, the scales of victory had already begun to tip.
This dungeon’s difficulty came mainly from the sheer number of gods and their believers. But so far, the players had already seized most of the advantages.
Lu Chuan’s control over the [Omniscience Church] gave them the strength to face other churches head-on. And the smaller churches, tied up in shared interests, weren’t likely to clash with him directly.
As for the [Church of Light], Cynthia had been working behind the scenes. Now its Pope was convinced their deity was being targeted by an evil god, and so they were keeping a close eye on the [God of Desire].
Messiah, too, was willing to cooperate fully.
On the “righteous” faction’s side, the other players had likely already been corrupted beyond recovery—nothing worth worrying about.
The gods’ side now held almost no advantage.
The players’ only weak link was Shen Li.
But Shen Li wasn’t hard to find.
“You must have some tracking items on you, right?” Lu Chuan asked, glancing at Cynthia and the others.
“I do.” Edith spoke up. “My ability can be used to locate people—I’d made a connection with Captain Shen before.”
Her ability, [Knight], let her cover a little bit of everything—offense, stealth, healing—without mastery in any. But it had one extremely practical trait: once she formed a bond as someone’s teammate, she could always reunite with them.
Naturally, that made it useful for tracking.
Before, with Lu Chuan trying to kill Shen Li, both Edith and Starry Shasha had instinctively kept this secret.
But now that Lu Chuan seemed back to normal, Edith brought it up herself.
“Good,” Lu Chuan nodded. “Then we shouldn’t waste time—let’s move.”
He’d just poured funds into the Paladin Order. In fact, the [Omniscience Church]’s entire fortune now lay in their hands. He had to make the most of them.
So, he directly announced that the [Omniscience God] had been ambushed and gravely injured by the [God of Desire], and ordered the Paladins to hunt down every believer tied to that god.
At the same time, the [Church of Light] issued its own decree to hunt down the [God of Desire]’s believers—open war had begun.
Cynthia, Lilus, and two weaker players went to track down the remaining “righteous faction” players and search for traces of the [God of Desire].
Messiah turned and moved into the [Omniscience Church] temple with Lu Chuan, waiting for the [God of Desire] to come find them.
Meanwhile, Edith and Starry Shasha were given the critical mission of retrieving Shen Li.
At that moment, Shen Li was hiding in a remote temple of the [God of Desire], torn in half.
Because the excess divine power had already been carved out of him, what little remained wasn’t enough to fully warp his mind. He was left trapped in a split state.
On one side, he knew Lu Chuan was his comrade, that he should return, apologize, explain his situation, and work with the guild to recover.
On the other, he felt he hadn’t done anything wrong—that he’d only acted on things he’d never dared to think or do before.
His whole being was caught in painful contradiction.
Sweating buckets, Shen Li had no way out.
Late at night—Edith and Starry Shasha finally tracked him down.
“Who’s there?” Shen Li grabbed his weapon, eyes wary.
“Captain Shen, it’s me—Shasha.” Seeing the unfamiliar look in his eyes, Starry Shasha’s nose stung, and she nearly burst into tears.
“Shasha, you’re siding with Lu Chuan too? Did you come here to catch me?” Shen Li retreated two steps, but didn’t choose to fight her.
Still, he didn’t want to be captured.
“Captain Shen, I need to apologize.” Shasha suddenly bowed deeply.
Both Shen Li and Edith froze.
“I promised Brother Lu that I’d sell off your stash, your savings, your nest egg, even your collections—and hand it all over to him,” Shasha said loudly. “I also know you’ve been saving a dowry for yourself. Sorry, the Vice-Guildmaster told me everything before.”
Edith was stunned.
Wait—Shasha, how on earth do you know these things?
And what’s wrong with your Vice-Guildmaster? Not only keeping tabs on members’ finances, but even gossiping about it to others?
No wonder your Star Guild fell apart.
…Hang on.
I transferred guilds, didn’t I? So now I’m Star Guild too…
Edith fell into silence.
“…How would the Vice-Guildmaster know that?” For a moment, all the divine cravings clouding Shen Li’s mind were crushed by a suffocating sense of exposure.
“He said you never changed the guarantor info when you opened your account—it’s still him,” Shasha admitted in a small voice. “Brother Lu said if we can just bring you back, he has a way to restore you.”
“I won’t let you catch me.” Shen Li’s instincts screamed something was wrong, and he tried to escape.
But how could Edith let him run?
“Captain Shen, you’re the one who recommended me for this team. I’m truly grateful.” She clenched her fists, taking a combat stance. “But now—I must take you back.”
In terms of overall ability, Edith could never match Shen Li.
But when it came purely to fighting, especially melee, swordbearer types always crushed other ability users.
Her physical stats were nearly superhuman.
The weapons Shen Li conjured—blades, spears, halberds—barely scratched her skin.
Starry Shasha had absolute confidence in Edith’s combat strength.
Back in Witch’s Secret Potion, Edith had gone head-to-head with a witch, smashing through fiery and icy spells alike. That was when Shasha understood why Shen Li had recommended her for their squad.
The girl could really fight.
Shen Li was almost powerless under Edith’s assault. Every time he tried to pull away, she rushed him, giving no chance to flee.
He couldn’t go on like this.
Shen Li realized he couldn’t handle Edith in a straight fight.
And worse, he was still wounded—his injuries hadn’t healed yet.
Shen Li immediately used his [Creation] ability to conjure a small aircraft, planning to fly away.
But Starry Shasha didn’t give him the chance—in fact, she had been holding back the whole time, waiting precisely for Shen Li to try and escape.
After all, Shasha was practically raised by Shen Li himself; she knew him inside out.
[Lucky Demon] activated.
The aircraft Shen Li had just created suddenly caught fire midair and crashed straight down.
Edith didn’t even move, yet still ended up with a head full of bumps from the falling debris.
As expected, Shasha’s ability really was too indiscriminate, friend or foe alike.
That was Edith’s last thought before she fainted.
Meanwhile, Cynthia and Lilus, along with the two remaining players, followed the faint trail left by the corrupted players of the Pro-God faction until they reached a folded space.
“So it’s spatial folding.” Cynthia smiled, removing the black cloth from her eyes.
Vision Amplification!
She spotted the hidden seams of the fold and signaled Lilus to tear them open with his right claw, forcibly ripping the space apart from the outside.
“As long as we destroy the descent ritual, the [God of Desire] will have only one move left.” Cynthia stepped in first.
This divine challenge dungeon wasn’t really all that difficult.
Mostly because their teammates were far too strong—everything became twice as easy. Cynthia was increasingly optimistic about the future of their squad.
“Tch, this god really has no taste.” Lilus wrinkled his nose at the grotesque scene inside the ritual. He destroyed the structures while setting fire to the ruins. “So now this god can only go after Messiah, huh? Let’s hope Lu Chuan can protect him, or everything falls apart.”
“Messiah needing Lu Chuan’s protection? Don’t be ridiculous.” Cynthia chuckled. “Before we even formed this team, Messiah was already wrestling with that god across multiple dungeons, even spilling over into reality. If he were truly weak, he wouldn’t have been ranked above you all this time.”
Lilus instantly bristled. “If he didn’t have a god backing him, he wouldn’t necessarily outrank me.”
“Without divine interference, he might’ve been competing with me for first.” Cynthia shook her head. “But now, with Lu Chuan entering the stage, none of that matters. Still—he is Messiah. Noah Guild doesn’t give orphans names like that casually.”
The name “Messiah” had carried Noah Guild’s highest hopes.
Even if they’d been forced to give up on him due to divine interference, that initial recognition wasn’t fake.
Given the chance, Messiah wouldn’t lose to anyone.
The dungeon’s situation was becoming increasingly clear.
Messiah had finally been sleeping soundly these past nights.
But now, with the God of Desire’s followers being slaughtered, and Cynthia using her eyes to uncover the hidden descent ritual, the scales of victory tipped even further toward the players.
For the first time in ages, Messiah once again dreamed—and once again met the god.
[Messiah, Messiah, join with me!]
[We can form a higher marriage contract, and you too shall become a god!]
[Messiah, have you forgotten how many times I’ve saved you?]
[We are destined to be the most perfect partners.]
…
“So this is what you really look like.” In the dream, Messiah looked at the faceless humanoid mass of light before him and couldn’t help remarking.
The [God of Desire] had haunted him for so long, but most of the time it used divine cards to communicate, or simply intruded into his mind. They had never truly met face to face.
Perhaps because to a god, humans were nothing more than vessels—easily deceived under the guise of “love.”
But now, clearly desperate, the god was showing its true form.
Its followers were nearly wiped out, its descent ritual destroyed. The devoured God of Light showed signs of revival through its followers’ prayers, and the tricked God of Omniscience—wounded by failure—wouldn’t spare it either.
The god had lost its chance to fully descend.
Its only option now: forcibly merge with Messiah to resurrect.
In doing so, Messiah would retain more sanity, but the god believed no human willpower could truly resist divinity.
[Messiah, don’t you want to become a god?]
“To become a god?” Messiah laughed. “If you mean the almighty kind from the legends, of course I’d want that. But you? You can’t even maintain a body—you’re pathetic.”
[My gentle Messiah, you blaspheme.]
“I even want to kill gods.” Messiah’s tone was light. “I thought I’d never be rid of you, thought you could wipe us all out. Turns out, you’re just this much.”
[It’s the Main God System that restrains me.]
[I can’t use my full power.]
[Messiah, merge with me—we can escape its shackles together.]
“Sorry. I refuse.” Messiah stepped back firmly. “I’ve waited a long time for this moment.”
The [God of Desire] froze, realizing something was wrong.
In reality, Messiah—still asleep—gripped the [Cross of Godslaying] and drove it hard into his own forehead.
Beside him, Lu Chuan had prepared a heap of healing tools, ready to patch Messiah up instantly.
Messiah was ruthless to others—but even harsher to himself.
“Lu Chuan, the key to the [God of Desire]’s revival is me. The only reason it hasn’t descended yet is the system’s restraint. We can’t give it any opening, or we’re finished.”
“It will come for me.”
“So I’ll strike first!”
Messiah had been clutching the [Cross of Godslaying] even in his sleep.
The instant the god invaded his dreams, he would stab himself without hesitation.
Only then could he truly sever it.
He was Noah Guild’s Messiah, second on the newcomer leaderboard, a genius watched by the world.
How could this Divine Challenge dungeon be left to only Lu Chuan and Cynthia to shine?
——
Observers Number 18 and Number 9 had been monitoring the dungeon all along.
They couldn’t descend themselves unless the dungeon mutated or the gods within used power beyond its limits, at which point they would intervene as agents of the Main God System.
But they could clearly see the players’ actions.
“Senior, this dungeon… it doesn’t look like… wait—senior, why is your gold ingot fluctuating again?” Number 18 was stunned.
Desire marked by a senior was supposed to be constant. Why was it swelling and shrinking like a balloon?
Normally, human desire grows steadily, not wildly oscillating between greed and detachment.
“I see, senior—you’re suspicious of this human.” Number 18 suddenly understood why he had been dragged here. “I’ll keep watch. The moment anything strange happens, I’ll report it to the Main God.”
“I’ll handle him myself.” Number 9 replied coolly. “Keep watching—the dungeon’s nearly over.”
