Greek Mythology: The Spiritual Dominator.

Chapter 580 Temptation
"I will answer your questions."

"Because I don't care about these false honors... In contrast, I care more about being able to surpass you in your field."

Heracles spoke in a deep voice, looking at the demon in front of him that looked nothing like what he had expected, and spoke bluntly.

The story of Oedipus did surprise him, but he had seen similar things more than once along the way.

Looking around the world, he can find the noblest people as well as the most despicable ones, the most honest people as well as those who are full of lies.

In contrast, when the great hero set foot in this valley that had existed for more than a thousand years, a silent feeling was transmitted to his heart through the Sphinx's unique order field.

This place is filled with the wisdom and desire, greed and fear of countless heroes over thousands of years.

Countless mortals see this as a challenge for the wise and a ladder to fame, but no one has ever truly defeated the master of this field.

Oedipus had come closest, but he failed.

So Hercules planned to take over his job and send the Sphinx and the Golden Balance back to the side of the Goddess of Law.

By the way, it will also eliminate the delusions of those who admire this place in the world, so that this place will no longer become a tool for them to fool the world.

"……Yeah?"

"OK then."

"Young human, according to the rules, as long as you decide to challenge, I have to agree to your request."

"But I'm just reminding you one last time. If you don't answer any of the three questions, then even if I don't want to kill you, you will still die under the guidance of the rules."

His expression became a little more formal, but the sphinx still lay on the ground without getting up.

In front of it, the great hero nodded again, thanking it for the reminder.

"Okay, in that case, let's get started."

He spoke lightly, and with Hercules' affirmation, an invisible force emanated from the Sphinx and enveloped the entire valley.

The laws of this place seem to be distorted, with a very small part of them being rapidly magnified and the vast majority becoming almost non-existent.

This is the realm of the Sphinx, a powerful force comparable to the indestructible body of a giant lion or the immortality of a hydra. Even true gods will be defeated because of this rule and order that cannot be changed by divine power.

The stone balance at the entrance of the valley also shook slightly, as if it was being pulled by the same force and could not help but make a corresponding response.

"Mortal, as you wish, the great demon of wisdom, the Sphinx, will give you three questions, and the stakes are your life and mine."

"The first question is, mortals look up at the stars to know the vastness of the sky; they look down at the earth to know the breadth of the earth."

"Young man, please tell me, how many stars are there in the sky? How many stones are there on the earth?"

"Haha, mortal... Although you have killed more than one of my brothers, I don't care about the life and death of those who only know how to kill. So for the sake of your courage, I want to remind you--"

"The stars in the sky may be born at any moment, and only the great Night Mother knows how many ornaments there are on her hem... and the stones on the ground may break at any moment, and only Gaia knows how much dust there is on her brown clothes."

"Cherish the opportunity to answer, and don't give answers casually. As long as you answer one, I will consider it as you answering my question, and this is the privilege I give you."

"But if you can't answer that, then you're just another arrogant person."

"I will not give you another chance... The remaining two questions will be the epitaphs you write for yourself."

Every word seemed to turn into a rune, as if an ancient contract was signed.

In front of the Sphinx, Hercules frowned slightly.

Just the first question made the hero feel the pressure.

He was not unprepared for this trip to the valley.

The book in Prometheus's hand that recorded countless knowledge was one of his reliances. After all, the rules of the Sphinx had never prohibited the test taker from reading books.

However, when the first question was put before him, Hercules knew that it was impossible for him to find the answer in the book.

Even if it is really an omniscient book, the answer you see at this moment may be correct, but in the next moment, a star may shatter at the edge of the world, or a new star may be born.

"...Mr. Sphinx, before I answer your question, don't you think there is a loophole in your question?"

"You said that only Mother Night knows the number of stars, and only Mother Earth knows the number of stones. Then how can you judge the right and wrong answers? I'm afraid this contradicts what you said."

"I didn't violate it, because in fact, I don't know what the answer is." A cunning smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and the Sphinx's eyes widened slightly: "But I don't know, it doesn't mean that the 'Order' doesn't know."

"I am only responsible for asking questions, but I am not the one to judge whether the answers are right or wrong. Since I am already a contestant, I cannot be a judge."

"Just as the divine duties of gods can influence the natural laws of the world, my special powers can do the same."

"In my field, as long as it determines that your answer is correct, then you are right even if you are wrong."

"On the other hand, if it judges that you are wrong, then even if I think you are right, you are still wrong."

"Living beings may make mistakes, but rules never do."

"So young human, do you have any questions?"

"Have."

Thoughtfully, the hero asked again: "If even your rules cannot determine right from wrong, how should we judge?"

"If that's the case, then you've won the game. Because winning by the rules is also a way to win."

"I see……"

Murmuring softly, Hercules' brows slowly relaxed.

Is it a test of wisdom? Perhaps, but it is more of a test of the way of thinking.

There is no specified time limit for answering the Sphinx's puzzle. Theoretically, if the answerer has endless life, he or she may be able to count the stars in the sky and answer the question at the moment when new stars are not yet born, but this is the lowest-level solution.

On the contrary, if you think in a different way and come up with an answer that cannot be verified by the rules, then perhaps you can answer the difficult problem from another angle.

For example, the simplest one is that the hero just needs to pray to the goddess of night, Nyx, and then lie that he got the answer from the goddess, and finally give a random number. Then, no matter whether the answer is true or false, it is actually true.

After all, as the title itself says, the Lord of Eternal Night knows the answer to the question, so what she said must be true, even if it is false. And whether Hercules got a response from the goddess is also something that cannot be verified by the rules of the Sphinx.

If the person being judged is a living person, he or she will naturally not accept such sophistry; but when faced with a rule, this may very well be the solution to the problem.

Of course, looking at the Sphinx's half-smile, the hero knew that the other party should have thought of this method, but it still raised this question.

Because both of them knew that if Hercules really answered the question in this way, he would have solved a difficult problem.

But in contrast, another more terrifying problem will hit him in the face.

Using the primordial god as an excuse to lie... this is Chaos, the living god.

Think about those kings and heroes who ended up in a miserable situation because of their momentary nonsense. You will know that whoever dares to do so is gambling with his life on the generosity of the goddess. For such a person, the Sphinx would not mind letting him win the first game.

"Well, have you thought of the answer?"

The Sphinx spoke with a smile, and his words seemed to be full of temptation.

"Looks like you've got an idea, right?"

"What a smart human! Haha, you are different from your kind... Come on, mortal, tell me your answer."

"Answering one of my questions with your wisdom is enough to make you famous in history."

"Looking back over the past thousands of years, only a few people have done it."

"Oedipus was like that, and the question he answered was far less difficult than yours. I just asked him what kind of thing has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening... and he told me that it was 'man'."

"What a simple puzzle! It is far from being comparable to yours. Come on, give me your answer. I will remember your answer for ten thousand years to come."

"is it?"

"Ten thousand years... is a really long time."

Shaking his head slightly, Hercules couldn't help but smile at the demon who was still tall even when lying on the ground.

"In that case, please listen to my answer carefully, you and your rules."

"Dreams. I think there are as many stars in the sky as there are dreams. They are the dreams possessed by all living beings in the world, both above and below the earth."

"They are piled up like mountains, and they converge into an abyss... Together they form a part of the spirit world, which the world calls the Dream Spirit World."

"Maybe in the near future I'll go there myself to find some answers, but at least for now, this is my answer."

"Just as you, as the questioner, do not know the number of stars and stones, as the answerer, I do not need to know the number of dreams."

"Your powerful rules will probably help me measure the size of the two - so Sphinx, is my answer correct?"

"..."

There was silence for a moment, with only the demon and the hero staring at each other.

Faintly, an invisible rule runs across heaven and earth.

The stars were ornaments on the garments of the Night Mother, but she never considered them her own.

Therefore, under the influence of the rules, the number of stars is naturally clear.

Pebbles are the dust on the brown clothes of Mother Earth, but Gaia does not see these dusts either.

So under the influence of the rules, the number of stones is naturally clear.

However, when the invisible rules swept across the heaven and earth, a shadow rooted in the depths of time and space, running through the past and the future, blocked its way.

The demon's supernatural power collapsed at this point, and it was unable to count the number of dreams.

The next moment, the rules reversed and fell back into the valley.

Looking at Hercules' confident expression, the big demon nodded with difficulty.

"Yes...you are right."

“There are countless stars in the sky, but if you count them, they are as numerous as the dreams of living beings.”

"Each star represents a life... This is the answer you came up with, and now, it is the truth of the world."

"You answered the first question correctly. Congratulations, young human... By the way, I forgot to ask you, what is your name?"

"Hercules."

He spoke calmly, the great hero not at all surprised by his victory.

"Remember my name... For the next ten thousand years, this is what you need to remember when you are with the Goddess of Justice."

······
The third level of the spirit world, the dream world.

Dreams are like bubbles, with thousands of layers and thousands of streams.

Almost every moment, new dreams are born here and old dreams are shattered here.

Except for a very small number of ancient dream realms and the even rarer 'Dream of the Ancient Gods', the entire territory of the dream spirit world is constantly evolving in creation and destruction, and expanding in destruction and creation.

As the manager here, Iselania likes this very much.

There is no need to do anything unnecessary. She just needs to spread her wings at the right time and let the shadow that covers the sky and the sun cover the world. This will ensure that the entire dream world can be stable when it shrinks to the limit, and will not be empty when it expands to the extreme. Between the opening and closing of the world, the power of the world will naturally increase.

She can lie on the clouds made of dreams and eat some interesting dreams like snacks.

Without any malice, the Heart Dragon has no worldly distinction between good and evil. She just follows her own nature and completes her own "merit".

To understand one's mind is merit, to see one's nature is virtue; do what you want to do, and the mysteries from the soul will naturally flow into your heart.

Ryan was once a little envious of this.

Because he could see that if he continued along these lines, when the realm of [Dream] crossed a certain limit, the Soul Dragon that grew together with it might not only be promoted, but she wouldn't even need any 'divinity' to limit the power of dreams.

Heaven and earth are born with it, and all things are one with it...The purest mind is the greatest shield that can reject all external interference.

Of course, although this resistance seems perfect, it actually has its limitations.

Unlike the path Ryan is pursuing, which, once completed, will allow him to reach the pinnacle of great divine power without having to worry about source power contaminating his personality, the resistance of the mind alone has an upper limit, and it may be around 22 or 23 at most.

Unless Iselania eventually abandons not only the secular notions of good and evil, but also the concept of humanity, then she might be able to completely get rid of the influence of the source force - but if that were the case, then her state would probably be no different from that of Tartarus.

It’s more like eternal sleep than success.

It was just a dialogue, she didn't need to dream too high. The current "dream" had not yet formed a real symbol, so naturally there was no limit to how much it could bear.

Eat and sleep, sleep and play, play and eat, eat and sleep, this is Iselania’s daily routine, but today is a little different.

The core of the dream world was awakened by a sudden 'knock on the door'.

Bai opened her crystal clear eyes and looked out… In that corner of the human world, she saw a giant beast with a sphinx body and a human face, the son of the ancient Titan, gods who believed in deification, and a true god who made her feel a little bit strange, but she didn’t know what was strange about it.

Well... there is also a goddess next to her.

Looking at the sword at her waist, it is probably the god who is often mentioned in dreams and is in charge of justice in the world.

(End of this chapter)