In the depth of the void, my clone frowns. We share a true spirit, so our thoughts are naturally connected.

Attempting to hide a small part of my true spirit away is not a great option. Even if it manages to get away, it would take countless years to recover.

Is the destruction of my universe truly inevitable? That explosion, and the lethargic currents in the river of time…

Oh?

An idea hits me.

Time is a river, flowing from past to future. To move forward in time is to be carried by the current, while to be moving backward in time is to go against the current. Unfortunately, the stronger one is, the stronger the push of the current. Therefore, under normal circumstances, it’s impossible to push oneself back in time.

Furthermore, the river is filled with magical energy, and even moving through the river is incredibly difficult. Thus, unless one uses temporal energy, which is highly suited to moving through the river of time, traversing the river is nothing but a dream.

However, if the currents slow down, and a boat made with proper materials is used, one could indeed push oneself up the river, moving backward in time.

But first, making a boat requires the proper materials.

Due to continuous hunting of void beasts, I have enough materials to construct the structure of the boat, but constructing a power source remains an issue. The boat needs a power source to go against the current. Unfortunately, the defining characteristic of void beasts is that they disperse magical energy, so no power source works. What’s the point of a power source when the energy is dissipated the moment it appears?

Luckily, there is a way to solve this problem.

When a void beast grows large enough, inscriptions start to appear on its body. These inscriptions can be used to store and channel magic.

I discovered this when I stumbled upon two groups of void beasts battling. When their leaders fought, they used these inscriptions to unleash formidable power. If I can harvest these inscriptions from them, I should be able to use it as a power source.

I didn’t dare to venture near the battlefield, so I watched from a distance, only appearing after the battle to collect the corpses of the void beasts.

Void beasts with inscriptions are usually tribal chiefs, meaning that they are always surrounded by followers, and rarely leave the nest.

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A while back, I stumbled into a nest of void beasts. At the time, I turned and fled as fast as I could. Now, it seems that I have to go back.

When I enter the vicinity of the nest, I see around fifty void beasts surrounding their tribe leader, performing a strange ritual. The inscription patterns of this tribe leader have dimmed, signifying that they no longer have any energy remaining.

A newborn void beast is grabbed by the crowd, and crushed to pieces in front of their tribe leader. Afterwards, the inscriptions on the leader’s body light up again, filled with energy, and new inscriptions start to appear on its body.

Faith energy. That’s the energy void beasts use. Though faith energy is usually acquired through belief, the quantity gathered depends on the amount of reverence the worshipper has, as well as the power of the worshipper. If the worshipper is devout enough to offer sacrifices, part of the sacrifice will be converted to faith energy.

This is why some cultures on Earth performed human sacrifices, as they would be rewarded greatly for their deeds.

Now that I know faith energy can coexist with void beasts, there is no longer any need to hunt these beasts. As long as I gather enough faith energy, I can power the boat.

Leaving the nest, I start my trek back home.

Inside my universe, my true body observes Iris. Based on how much energy I used when I created her, she should have around a thousandth of my strength.

Though it doesn’t sound like much, she is far stronger than everyone else in my universe combined.

I created her to help the inhabitants of my universe grow stronger and to gather faith energy to power the ship.

I could have done it myself, but I feel hesitant about revealing my existence to the universe.

A pity that the universe wouldn’t be able to develop naturally.

(POV: Iris)

Master told me to make the inhabitants of the universe stronger and gather faith energy.

To gather faith energy, it would be best if I set up a divine kingdom.

To be considered a deity, one needs four things: Divine body, divine soul, divine will, and a divine kingdom.

A divine body is just a body that can accept faith energy, and a divine soul is something that can actively control faith energy. Sometimes, even without a divine body and divine soul, mortals can use faith energy. For example, if a hero is fighting a dragon, the peasants might pray for the hero, and their faith energy would gather around him, increasing his strength. However, without a divine soul, the hero can’t control the faith energy, and can only clumsily wield it. Furthermore, without a divine body, the faith energy will automatically disperse after the worshippers stop praying.

A divine will is a will that cannot be corrupted by faith energy. Faith energy contains traces of the will of the worshipper, and when large amounts gather, it’s easy to be corrupted. The stronger the divine will, the more energy the body can contain, and the stronger the deity.

Lastly, a divine kingdom functions like a storage. Excess faith energy can be stored here, and the souls of deceased worshippers can also be put here, their souls providing faith for all of eternity.

Any powerful being will usually be born with a divine body, divine soul, and divine will. I was born with all three, and I’m sure Master was too.

Now, all I need to do is create my divine kingdom. For someone as powerful as me, this poses no challenge at all. After creating my divine kingdom, I also made a group of servants to handle things for me.

Now, on to the question of how to gather faith.