Over the course of ten thousand years, Hades collected all the divine artifacts scattered throughout the Underworld. The sheer number of treasuries he created, each piled high with thousands of treasures, attested to the vastness of these divine resources. It also showed just how thorough Zeus had been in stripping Hades of everything, leaving him with nothing.
Hades often wondered:
If it weren't for the fact that the creation of the Helm of Darkness required the unique invisibility cloth, a material that only he could use and no other gods could utilize, Zeus might not have given it up at all.
This lack of security led Hades to take all the divine artifacts with him. He knew that leaving them in the Underworld, even though it would be completely sealed without his permission, was still too risky.
Now, Hades was convinced that the Underworld wasn't entirely safe. If Zeus could enter it in the original myth, it meant that what seemed to be his domain was fraught with hidden vulnerabilities. Gathering up all these divine artifacts was a precautionary measure, even if it was time-consuming.
During his extensive exploration of the vast Underworld, aside from the innumerable divine artifacts, the most critical find was the idol before him.
This idol, appearing as if made entirely of crystal, was enigmatic. Despite its divine appearance, its true identity remained unclear—it was simply an idol, its details shrouded in mystery.
"A faith idol," Hades mused as he gazed at the statue. "I never imagined such a divine object truly existed. I thought it was merely a legend."
Each god, upon their birth, possesses inherited memories. These are the legacies passed down by the mythic world to the gods, akin to how summoned heroic spirits receive modern memories from their heroic spirits' seat. It follows the same principle.
The faith idol was a divine artifact believed to exist only in legend. Because it had never appeared before, many gods doubted its existence, considering it a mere myth or a remnant of ancient tales.
Hades had never expected to find such a precious artifact in the Underworld. The benefits of this faith idol far surpassed all other collected divine artifacts. No matter how valuable they were, they were ultimately just external objects.
The term "faith" immediately indicates that this artifact is connected to the cultivation of faith.
Ordinarily, faith cultivation involves two parts: followers provide faith power, which gods then absorb. After purification, this faith power can be transformed into pure divine power or enhance the gods' comprehension of the laws. Essentially, faith power is a versatile force that can be utilized in various ways.
Typically, if a regular follower can provide 1 unit of faith power, the faith idol's function becomes evident. The idol can purify this 1 unit of faith power. While the purified amount remains 1, the difference between ordinary and top-tier faith power can be immense—often by tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times.
For almost all gods, this is a dream come true. Hades felt it was almost surreal to have discovered such an artifact in the Underworld.
Unsurprisingly, in the original story, Zeus had also taken this faith idol. It seemed that Zeus had stripped Hades of everything, leaving only the bare remnants.
This explains why, among the three brothers—Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus—each corresponding to a different realm of power within the third-generation gods, Zeus ultimately surpassed his siblings. When Zeus sought to transcend fate and handed over the position of God-King to Apollo, even Apollo could easily dominate his uncles.
Zeus's overwhelming dominance was because he had taken everything that originally belonged to Hades and Poseidon.
Now, as Hades carefully put away the faith idol, he remarked, "With the faith idol, the core of faith cultivation is in place. If I could obtain a faith artifact as well, that would be even better. Unfortunately, faith artifacts, like the faith idol, are almost mythical in their rarity."
Hades couldn't help but feel regretful. If the faith idol existed, then faith artifacts must also exist. Together, they would enable the ultimate cultivation of faith power.
Faith artifacts could amplify the faith power provided by followers a hundredfold or a thousandfold. Combined with the faith idol's purification, this synergy would lead to exponential growth.
However, Hades didn't dwell on this for long. After a brief moment of contemplation, he prepared to leave. He had completed his exploration of the Underworld and had more pressing matters to address. With only five hundred thousand years of freedom left, he needed to accumulate sufficient divine power.
Otherwise, after five hundred thousand years, he would face the combined assault of the entire Titan pantheon, including the attention of the twelve main Titan gods. His father, the Titan God-King, might even intervene personally. Betting one's life on the arrogance of others is never wise; a misstep could cost him everything.
Hades couldn't have imagined that the seemingly barren Underworld would contain so many divine treasures. From the invisibility cloth, black gems, divine stones, to countless other rare and precious items, and finally the faith idol, his foundations had been enriched beyond measure.
He naturally extracted the core essence of the Underworld, stored it carefully, sealed the Underworld, and departed.
Next, his destination was to reclaim his natal divine artifact: the 108 Demonic Stars.
To him, these stars were of utmost importance.
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