Chapter 34 The Standards of a God

According to Morris, the standard for the God of Wisdom to bestow blessings seemed to be... something very subtle.

"In most people's minds, followers of the God of Wisdom must be knowledgeable scholars or eccentric geniuses with amazing talents in a certain field—this understanding is certainly not wrong, after all, most followers of the God of Wisdom do have to meet the two conditions of 'erudition' and 'intelligence,' but nothing is absolute."

Morris sat on a chair near the captain's cabin door, ignoring Sherry's subtle expression and explaining earnestly.

"First of all, being favored by the God of Wisdom does not necessarily require a very high level of knowledge, just like A'Gou now—it learns quickly, but compared to a regular follower who has passed the three rounds of church exams, its current academic level is obviously not enough, but it is still received 'Rahm's gaze'. In other city-states, there are many believers, even later famous saints, who received enlightenment before mastering profound knowledge."

"The most prominent example is Professor 'Coleford,' a saint more than two hundred years ago. This great scholar was enlightened at the age of sixteen, and he was a dock coolie at the time, and he didn't even 'know how to read'—only after being enlightened did he have the opportunity to access the knowledge in books."

"On the other hand, there is the opposite example. In the Mocha city-state, there was a well-known scholar who wanted to be favored by the God of Wisdom throughout his life. He almost passed all the exam projects of the Academy of Truth, but he never saw the light of Rahm until his death—afterwards, the Academy of Truth posthumously awarded this scholar the honorary title of saint, and there is more than one similar situation."

Duncan stroked his chin thoughtfully: "Sounds like the God of Wisdom's enrollment standards are a bit arbitrary?"

"It can't be said to be arbitrary, after all, what I said above can only be regarded as a few cases, otherwise the Academy of Truth would not regard the unified examination as an effective means of preliminary screening of believers," Morris shook his head, "It can only be said that gods are so unpredictable, even the four main gods are the same. They have their own standards for measuring the world, and for thousands of years, mortals have only happened to summarize a few of them."

Listening to Morris's rather serious explanation, Duncan didn't speak, just sat there in contemplation, with other opinions in his mind.

The old gentleman's examples in the first part may not be a problem, but his final conclusion is still open to question.

Are the behavioral patterns of the gods really unpredictable? Is there another reason behind those "exceptional" or even "outrageous" situations in the process of Rahm's gaze?

Unconsciously, that strange dark space reappeared in his mind, as well as the communication information he saw in the darkness.

The individual "Lh-02", suspected to be the God of Wisdom Rahm, mentioned at the end of the communication, "Those few words really made him extremely concerned.

If those messages were really happening in real time, if Lh-02 really was Rahm, if everything was really as Duncan thought... then what the beings of the mortal world call the "gods" is really worthy of his careful consideration.

In thought, he couldn't help but raise his eyelids, his eyes falling on A'Gou.

Just like Morris said, although A'Gou has shown amazing learning talent, its current "academic level" is far behind those well-known scholars in the Academy of Truth. But it is such an A'Gou, who had just gotten rid of the "illiterate" stage not long ago, was directly watched by the God of Wisdom Rahm. This is a glory that thousands of students at the Academy of Truth dare not even think about.

Although for A'Gou, this is not a good thing.

So what exactly attracted Rahm? Is it A'Gou's "talent"? Its spirit of learning? Or is it...

Because it is a mutated individual belonging to the abyssal "cluster"?

It obtained a new heart. The abyssal hellhound just happened to meet Lh-02's identification standards?

A'Gou couldn't help shrinking its body. Duncan's silent gaze made it feel chills all over. After holding back for a long time, it couldn't help but open its mouth: "Captain, you..."

Duncan didn't respond to A'Gou, but turned to look at Morris: "In your judgment, is it possible that Sherry will suddenly pass the God of Wisdom's standards at 'some point' and be accepted by Rahm?"

Morris was stunned immediately, and immediately shook his head: "Absolutely impossible!"

"So sure?" Duncan's attitude was very serious, "You just said that Rahm's evaluation criteria are not so absolute, and sometimes even illiterate people will suddenly be taken a fancy to."

"Although there are exceptions to the God of Wisdom's evaluation criteria, there is at least one point: those who have been rejected once never make a mistake.

People will not have a second chance. Although there are very few examples in history of being explicitly rejected by the God of Wisdom, at least..."

Morris paused at this point, glanced at Sherry. "At least when A'Gou was about to be 'taken away,' Sherry was able to pull it back to the real world with her own ability. This is already the most explicit rejection of a mortal by the God of Wisdom that I can imagine."

Duncan looked at Sherry with a complicated expression. The latter seemed a little confused. The girl looked left and right, and after a while, she blurted out: "So what?"

"So you still have to do your homework," Duncan threw out without hesitation, "Don't think about refusing to study on the pretext of helping A'Gou block divine enlightenment."

"Ah..."

The God of Wisdom has made it clear that "I don't want this brain..."

"In this world, more than 90% of people have no chance to enter the Academy of Truth, 99% of people only take the exam to get a diploma, and almost 100% of people will never become saints of Rahm or receive his gaze in their entire lives," Duncan quietly stared into Sherry's eyes, his expression and tone as serious, "Do you think that I decided to teach you to read and write in the first place so that you could become a great scholar like Morris?"

Sherry was startled by Duncan's serious look, opened her mouth a few times but couldn't say a word. After a moment, she slowly lowered her eyelids: "I... I know... I'm sorry, I was willful..."

"It's okay, you're still a child in my eyes... children can be willful," Duncan shook his head gently, "Relax, I'm not blaming you, I'm just thinking...

What should A'Gou do in the future?"

"I'm lying here obediently," A'Gou raised its head blankly, seemingly not keeping up with Duncan's train of thought, "What will happen to me in the future?"

Duncan stared into its eyes: "Have you ever thought that you may be gazed upon by Rahm for the third or fourth time in the future?" A'Gou was stunned for a moment before it realized what he meant. Its eyes... it has no eyes, but its whole body visibly trembled.

"Then... then I can't read books in the future?" It asked nervously.

"The God of Wisdom can't be attracted by books—as a god, he has already noticed you," Morris responded from the side. The old scholar shook his head, his eyes filled with solemnity, "I can't speculate the will of the gods, but since he has an interest in you once, it's hard to guarantee that he won't look for you again in the future. This is the same even if you read books again in the future, even..."

The old scholar paused, his expression slightly strange, seemingly not "knowing whether he should describe the god he believed in like this, but in the end, he shook his head and said: "It can even be said that as long as you are still 'thinking,' then your mind will always remain in the sight of the God of Wisdom, and when he will cast his gaze on you again depends entirely on his intention."

The red light in A'Gou's eyes obviously trembled.

After hearing Morris's words, Duncan couldn't help but feel some strange emotions in his heart—how come, after hearing this description, Rahm's "blessing" seems like a curse from an evil god?

But then he thought about it, and felt that if he put his perspective on an abyssal demon, then the blessing of any righteous god is really no different from the curse of an evil god...

This time, even Alice, who had not spoken all the time, reacted. She suddenly blurted out, "Doesn't that mean that A'Gou will live in danger every day in the future?"

"There is danger, but as long as the connection between it and Sherry is still there, this danger may not be fatal," Duncan shook his head, "From A'Gou's description and mine.

Well, from what I guess, Rahm has no malice. He may not even realize that the mind that just appeared in his sight belongs to an abyssal demon. Based on this, he probably won't use a more 'violent' way to 'take away' A'Gou."

Listening to Duncan's judgment, A'Gou could only lower its head, its tone filled with a trace of sorrow: "Alas... it seems that I can only think so."

"Take it easy. You and Sherry still have my mark on you. Even if the worst happens and Sherry can't hold you back, I should be able to sense it," Duncan comforted the uneasy dog. "Although I haven't tried it, I don't mind trying to snatch someone...snatch a dog... from a 'righteous god'."

"And I will definitely hold you back!" Sherry said immediately, patting her chest and shaking the symbiotic chain in her hand, "A'Gou, don't worry, this is a brain that has been explicitly rejected by the God of Wisdom! It's definitely enough to be your safety anchor!"

A'Gou was about to be moved after hearing Duncan's words, but then it was caught off guard by Sherry's confident and proud attitude. It could only raise its head and stare blankly at her:

"This... it's not something to be proud of, is it?"

Sherry didn't answer, just kept giggling foolishly.

It's just that the fingers holding the chain tightened again and again.