# 1780
Chapter 1773: Origin Abnormality
The surging spiritual power churned across the sea surface, and the rolling waves caused the ship to shake violently.
Fate Monk held the Heart of Ares in one hand, his eyes slightly narrowed, fingers gently plucking at several threads of causality from the countless strands in the air. He gave Lin Qiye a slight nod.
"Commander Lin, what's wrong?" Jia Shasha and Zhen Xiaoyi stood behind Lin Qiye, asking in confusion.
"Nothing. You two go ahead."
Lin Qiye rose slowly from the bow of the ship, the Straight Blade inscribed with the golden character "seven" held firmly in his grasp.
He turned to smile at the two of them. "I'll come find you in Cangnan once I'm done here."
As his words fell, his figure shot into the air and charged straight toward Ares's corpse. Beneath the darkening sky, the ship gradually sailed away on the sea's surface, and the two silhouettes gradually faded from view.
"Do you think Commander Lin is going to use the god's corpse for something?" Jia Shasha gazed at the distant figure and couldn't help but ask.
"No idea... but it probably isn't something we could understand anyway."
Zhen Xiaoyi sighed.
BOOM——!!!
In an instant, a brilliant golden light erupted from the sea behind the ship, shooting straight up to the heavens!
The violent waves nearly capsized the ship. Everyone gripped the railing tightly to steady themselves. When they turned to look back, the distance had become a golden sea.
...
Meanwhile.
Olympus.
Thunderclouds rolled across the sky above the dormant peak of the sacred mountain. Sea God Poseidon sat upon a cracked golden throne, Trident in hand, gazing toward the direction of Great Xia.
"The time should be about right..." he murmured to himself.
"I always feel this matter won't go as smoothly as planned." Beside the throne, a figure cloaked entirely in shadow spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Why?"
"The humans of Great Xia—we've dealt with them more than seven or eight years ago... Back then, even without the protection of Great Xia's gods, they managed to survive against us with just a few Human Apex individuals. Now that Great Xia's combat power has skyrocketed, do you really think they'll be so easily defeated?"
Poseidon propped one hand beneath his chin, as if deep in thought.
"If that's the case, why did you let them go trouble Great Xia?" he asked.
"Ares was Zeus's loyalist. After we joined forces to kill Zeus, he stayed here for the honor of the Greek gods, but he's no longer on the same side as us... It's a good thing to eliminate such a menace."
"No wonder you let Ares attack from the northern border alone." Poseidon glanced at him. "True to form, Hades."
Hades's form was shrouded in shadow as he gave a grim smile. "As for the other two, they have quite a few tricks up their sleeves. Even if they get ambushed by Great Xia's people, they should have the means to escape back."
"Eliminating threats using Great Xia's hands is indeed a fine choice, but I must remind you—present-day Olympus is no longer what it once was. Of our twelve Chief Gods, some are dead, some have left... Now, besides those who went to Great Xia, there are only you, me, and Apollo left."
" Relying on just three Chief Gods and a group of Lesser Gods, we can't possibly defeat Great Xia."
"Going on the offensive against Great Xia, of course we have no chance of winning. But if they come to us willingly, that's a different story." Hades spoke in an ethereal voice. "Both we and Great Xia are ancient civilizations—speaking of heritage, we're not inferior to them... Back when Zeus was grievously wounded and on the brink of death, Brahma, the creator god of the Heavenly Temple, still didn't manage to escape Olympus, didn't he?"
Poseidon furrowed his brow but said nothing.
"Moreover, although Great Xia's combat power is formidable now, they lack a Supreme God to oversee everything. The two of us control Olympian origins, and combined with this Golden Throne, achieving the至高境界 is merely a matter of these next two years."
"Once one of us rises to至高, then what use would all of Great Xia's ceiling-level experts be?"
Poseidon's expression softened somewhat.
His Trident trembled lightly in his grasp, and a torch-shaped origin materialized before him, burning vigorously with an incomparably powerful force, as if containing an enormous reservoir of energy.
Just as Poseidon was about to speak, the origin in his hand suddenly shook violently!
Threads of causality extended from the void, suddenly binding the origin in his grasp. At the same time, a blinding golden light surged forth from within the origin!
Poseidon froze in place.
BOOM——!!!
Golden light erupted from the origin, shooting skyward like a pillar of light that pierced directly into the clouds. This scene immediately drew the attention of all Olympian deities.
"What's happening? Why was the origin suddenly affected?" Hades's expression shifted as he demanded.
"I don't know... it wasn't me." Poseidon said in a low voice.
"But there's only the two of us here!"
"I told you, it has nothing to do with me!"
Just as the two were arguing, the golden light in the sky gradually faded. But in the next moment, all the Olympian deities stood rooted in place.
Above the mountains, a golden horizontal line and a golden vertical line intersected, forming an enormous cross that branded itself upon the void, encompassing the entire scope of the Olympian divine kingdom.
"What is this?" Hades gazed upward at the golden "ten," asking in bewilderment.
Poseidon said nothing. He waved his hand, and the Trident standing on the ground shot toward the sky, only to pass uselessly through the center of the cross.
"This is impossible..." Poseidon seemed to have thought of something, muttering as he frowned.
Seeing Poseidon's attack miss entirely, Hades launched his own assault. A mass of dark nether energy surged toward the clouds, attempting to devour that golden mark. But not only did the mark show no change, it actually appeared on the surface of the dark energy, like a projection cast upon a screen.
"What the hell is this??"
"Stop trying... This thing was projected from our origin." Poseidon said slowly.
"Origin?" Hades turned, and indeed, within that mass of origin, a faint trace of golden light was visible. "Why would the origin suddenly project something like this?"
"I don't know."
"Can we erase that thing?"
"Useless. Unless we destroy Olympian origin ourselves, that golden mark will continue to exist."
"...Is this some spontaneous abnormality of the origin, or was it done deliberately?"
"Unknown. But the origin has been in my hands this whole time, so deliberate interference seems unlikely."
Hades cast a deep glance at the mark in the sky. After a long moment, he could only shake his head helplessly: "Since that's how it is, let's observe the situation for a while longer..."