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However, Yang Qiu felt that Ethan was a little different this time, because Ethan's soul exuded a sense of holiness.

“No, it’s not him this time. Instead, the energy comes from his ancient enemy.” Gu walked to Yang Qiu’s side with a smile and touched Ethan’s soul.

In terms of condensing souls, the Ancient One's technique was far superior to Yang Qiu's. Under the influence of her energy, Ethan's soul was solidified as if he were still alive.

However, Ethan's soul remained with its eyes closed, showing no reaction to external stimuli, as if the soul in front of Yang Qiu was merely an empty shell.

The situation before her seemed to be within the Ancient One's expectations. Immediately afterwards, she placed her right hand on Ethan's chest, and golden light burst forth.

Under this light, Yang Qiu could feel the surrounding space and time beginning to recede, as if they were approaching a place with extremely strong repulsive forces.

As the distance shortened, Yang Qiu felt a force pushing him outwards. He glanced at the unaffected Gu Yi beside him and began to modify his outward aura in accordance with Gu Yi's style.

After the repulsive force disappeared, Yang Qiu stopped adjusting himself. Now, the aura on his body felt somewhat similar to the holiness that Ethan had at the beginning, except that Yang Qiu's aura was purer and more inclined towards the scent of "sunshine" and "fire".

A few seconds later, the sensation of movement disappeared, and Yang Qiu followed Gu Yi to their destination.

All that could be seen were two colors: yellow and white.

Amidst the sky filled with yellow and white, Yang Qiu spotted Ethan standing ramrod straight.

A flash of magic crossed Yang Qiu's eyes, and he was certain that Ethan in front of him was neither a soul nor a body, but rather an aggregate of consciousness.

Ethan stands with his hands slightly outstretched, holding a flickering flame between them. When people see the flame, their sense of kindness and justice is aroused, which seems to be the source of the holiness of Ethan's soul on Earth.

"What is he doing?" Yang Qiu asked Gu Yi in a low voice.

He could see the sacred flame and Ethan's consciousness slowly merging, but he couldn't discern what was happening.

Yang Qiu doesn't have much experience in this area, since it's not a mystery he created through script evolution, but rather a remnant of the planet's ancient past. Fortunately, the Ancient One is very knowledgeable about this; many of the history books in Kamar-Taj's library were written by the Ancient One after traveling back in time.

"Accept the test of the sacred flame, accept the test of your heart." As the Ancient One spoke, a light screen appeared in front of them, displaying Ethan's life story.

Chapter 57 The Life of Ethan (Seeking Recommendations)

Ethan was born into a wealthy family in a small town called Miguel. Yes, wealthy, but only compared to those around them.

Because the country and region he lived in had all their resources plundered by another country in many ways.

Ethan's town has its own small defensive armed force; in this place, a town without military power would find it difficult to exist stably.

Because of its relatively strong firepower, and because the town is not located on a major transportation route and there are no particularly valuable resources nearby, the town is generally peaceful compared to other towns.

Ironically, it was because of these negative circumstances that Ethan was able to have a peaceful childhood.

The dominant religion in the town is a very ancient sect, which few people know about or follow today; its name is Zoroastrianism.

The inherited doctrines are relatively simple, which can be summarized in one sentence: goodness and justice are inherently opposites in this world, but goodness and justice will always prevail in the end.

Despite external threats, the sect in the town has not been artificially distorted like some other sects. Under the influence of this sect, the relationship between neighbors in the town is quite friendly, making it an outlier in this place.

Ethan was very smart from a young age. He could master the knowledge taught by the teachers in the town in just a few days, and even come up with some questions that the teachers could not answer.

As Ethan grew older, he could no longer access educational resources in the town, and despite being a minor, he had become the most scientifically knowledgeable person in town.

Under these circumstances, Ethan's parents and the mayor made a decision: to send Ethan to the United States for further studies and to learn the most cutting-edge knowledge.

Ethan did not disappoint them later on. Although his academic achievements could not compare with those of someone like Tony Stark, he was among the top students of his age.

Having witnessed the lives of most Americans, Ethan, as he grew older, had an idea: his hometown shouldn't be like that; it deserved to be better.

Ethan, who was knowledgeable but lacked experience, could only think of one method at the time: to find more children, teach them his knowledge, and then let them go back to build their hometown. He saw himself as an enlightener of higher education in his hometown.

Time moved on, and Ethan, now an adult, had earned multiple doctoral degrees and become an associate professor at an Ivy League university.

With resources, money, and a certain status, Ethan began to execute his plan. After discussing with his family, he gave up the idea of ​​bringing them to the United States and used all his resources to help the children of his hometown leave that place.

Children from the small town of Migra are physically and mentally slower than average American children, but they work incredibly hard, and a few have managed to achieve some success.

At this point, Ethan decided to buy some equipment that would be needed for the development of his hometown and return home with his students. However, something unexpected happened: while the students still respected him, very few of them chose to go home with him.

Even when Ethan was about to leave, most of the equipment he had chosen to take back to his hometown was confiscated due to a student's tip-off, and he was also fined a considerable sum.

None of these difficulties deterred Ethan's desire to give back to his hometown. He returned with the remaining staff and equipment and opened a general hospital.

In this modern society, it is hard for people living in modern cities to imagine that in another part of the same planet, the mortality rate of surgery is still almost the same as in the early days of medicine.

Infection, blood loss, and inadequate medical skills are among the factors that limit the average lifespan of people here.

Ethan's return was very successful; his hospital quickly became the best in the area, and he even made some simple medicine and survival equipment.

But tragedy struck Ethan once again. Several armed groups launched a surprise attack on Miguel, and under their combined attack, Miguel had no power to resist.

If Ethan hadn't insisted on never leaving his hometown, and if those people hadn't wanted to just take advantage of him, his hometown might not exist anymore.

After this incident, Ethan realized that his hometown was not incapable of becoming wealthy, but rather unable to become wealthy; and that the people of his hometown were not incapable of living long lives, but rather unable to live long lives.

He decisively abandoned his initial idea, but after preserving an outward educational pathway, he returned to the United States and spent several years making a name for himself in the medical field.

Unfortunately, apart from this, Ethan still accomplished nothing. Some of the things he fought hard for for his country did not benefit the people; instead, those resources intensified the fighting between various factions.

Ethan realized that what his country needed most was a unified government with effective governance, so he decisively resigned from his hospital job and returned to his hometown alone.

Relying on the reputation he had gained over the years in advocating for the interests of his country, Ethan moved among various factions, persuading them to cease fire and negotiate for peace. However, no matter how good the promises made by the faction leaders were during Ethan's negotiations, they would immediately renege on their word as soon as he left, and there were even instances of leaders being replaced.

Ethan did not give up. He firmly believed that justice would ultimately defeat evil, a belief etched into his heart by Zoroastrianism over the years.

Thanks to his efforts, the country finally saw a glimmer of hope for a ceasefire.

But just then, several missiles launched from an unknown location directly destroyed the small town where he grew up—Migra, his family, his friends, and everything from his childhood.

Ethan knew this was a warning to him. There was no time for sadness or tears. Ethan continued on his journey, viewing everything he had encountered in his life as trials on his road to success.

Ethan, who was "unrepentant to the death," finally angered some people, but the country's forces dared not openly kill him. Ethan, who had dedicated his life to his country, had an extremely resounding reputation, and wherever he went, people would spontaneously protect him.

Eventually, at the instigation of certain individuals, one day when Ethan was leaving a faction with whom he had a good relationship, a group of people who called themselves "peace envoys," whose main area of ​​operation was not in this country, suddenly rushed in, kidnapped Ethan, and took him away from the country.

The forces that Ethan had allied with were also completely destroyed in several conflicts shortly afterward.

Ethan, who had been kidnapped, was not killed immediately because these "peacemakers" wanted him to save someone—the famous Tony Stark.

After spending some time with Tony Stark, Ethan had a feeling that this man might be of some use, at least more useful than he was, who was almost fifty years old.

Knowing he had no chance of leaving this place alive, Ethan began trying to influence some of Tony's thoughts, and apparently, he succeeded.

When death came upon him, Ethan felt nothing but peace, except for the regret that Tony might die with him.

He should go see his family.

He also wanted to apologize to his family, saying, "I'm sorry, after all these years I still haven't been able to keep my promise. I'm sorry for dragging you all into this."

Chapter 58 Faith is Toxic (Seeking Recommendations)

After reading about Ethan's life, Yang Qiu sighed deeply. He was a good comrade, but he didn't meet any like-minded people around him, and the timing wasn't right, which led to his current predicament.

If we go back a few decades, who knows, we might have produced another superstar here, but it would still be more difficult, since this place is too close to the United States.

Such a person who has no regrets in his life is naturally unafraid of the Holy Flame's interrogation of his heart. Of course, this does not mean that Ethan has no remorse.

Ethan always felt that he had implicated his family, but he had no regrets. Even if he had to do it all over again, he would still go down that path, at most he would make arrangements for his family in advance.

"Is he about to succeed?" Yang Qiu asked Gu Yi after noticing that the swaying of the sacred flame had suddenly increased.

Gu Yi sighed, shook her head, and looked on with a hint of regret.

"No way! Someone like this can't even pass the review? Isn't this review mechanism a bit too strict?!" Yang Qiu couldn't help but say.

Yang Qiu has met quite a few people by now, and there are very few who are as noble and selfless as Ethan.

“No, this is not his problem,” the Ancient One explained. “Our planet’s energy activity level has always been low. Recently, the energy activity level increased, which gave this person the opportunity to resonate with the remaining vestiges of Zoroastrian faith after death and come to this broken divine kingdom.”

"Perhaps the level of activity is still not high enough. Faith energy is more inert than ordinary general energy. The review has been passed, but at present, all the accumulated faith energy in the divine kingdom cannot be truly mobilized, which also means that he cannot succeed in becoming a saint."

"What's the solution?" Yang Qiu then asked.

Gu Yi shook her head. "There's no way. His soul can remain in this world because of the resonance generated by his faith. Now that the integration of the sacred fire is half completed, you can also feel how exclusive the power here is. The most likely result of forcibly separating them is that his soul will dissipate."

"Then how can we revitalize the faith in this place?" Yang Qiu asked, looking at the flickering sacred flame. Since he had encountered this person, he would definitely help him if he could.

“Reshaping the direction of faith, as long as the target changes and the target is still alive on Earth, the activity level of faith energy will be increased by a level. If the target can cooperate, the success rate of the saint's conversion will be higher. However, the target must have a certain strength to offset the pressure brought about during and after the reshaping.”

Gu Yi thought for a moment and found a metaphor, "If the mage Blaze you sent here can break through smoothly, he should be able to manage, but I estimate that someone like him would not be willing to come into contact with faith."

At this point, Gu Yi smiled. Blaze had basically been staying in his room studying magic and occasionally making some magical potions. Apart from that, he rarely went out. She admired this kind of person very much; he had the attitude of a researcher.

Blaze?

Yang Qiu paused for a moment. Blaze was a master-level professional in the mage path. After his breakthrough, he would officially become a legendary mage. If someone of that level was to be the target, then it would be a bit troublesome.

Even if Yang Qiu were to design a script specifically for a legendary professional, the difficulty would be very high. His mental strength level limits the upper limit of script evolution. If he were to force it, Yang Qiu felt that he might be facing his second script that failed the evaluation.

"Then who were the figures these beliefs were originally referring to?" Yang Qiu suddenly remembered and asked.

After gaining some strength, Yang Qiu studied several of the world's mainstream beliefs. He was certain that the objects of those beliefs did not exist, at least not on Earth, because the energy transformed from faith, after leaving the believers, scattered into the air and was converted into ubiquitous ordinary energy by the planetary energy circulation system.

“She died at Odin’s hands,” the Ancient One said calmly. “At that time, Odin was leading the Asgardian army to conquer the Nine Realms, and the most powerful figure on Earth was the god that Zoroastrianism claimed to be.”

"After a devastating war, the gods fell, and the remaining Zoroastrian members scattered to other parts of the planet. The accumulated faith energy over the years slowly dissipated in this ruined divine realm."

"Wait a minute, if that's the case, then why did some of the faith that pointed to Odin also simply dissipate into the air?" Yang Qiu sensed something was wrong and asked.

“Faith is poisonous. The gods of Zoroastrianism are not much weaker than Odin was back then, but faith in gods is very risky. It’s easy to be caught off guard and killed in one fell swoop. Odin seized a similar opportunity, so naturally he wouldn’t absorb faith energy, let alone faith from our side,” the Ancient One explained.

This is why she prefers to borrow power from other dimensions rather than rely on the power of faith. While the power of other dimensions poses significant risks, the risks associated with the power of faith will always exist in the future.

While protecting the Earth, it is clearly more appropriate to borrow power from other dimensions.

If she were to use faith energy, and were caught off guard, it could lead to serious problems. Even with the Eye of Agamotto, the Ancient One didn't want to take that risk.

“I understand. How much time does he have left?” Yang Qiu murmured, looking at Ethan in the distance.

"Well, without a deity present, the sacred fire will traverse all energy sources, and only gradually dissipate after determining that there is no more energy to draw upon. As for the time..."

As the Ancient One spoke, the Eye of Agamotto flickered. In that instant, she had seen a thousand future timelines. "If we average a thousand futures, it would be about six months."

Half a year...it's not a long time, but there's still hope.

Gu Yi immediately saw what Yang Qiu was thinking. When she left the ruined divine kingdom with Yang Qiu, she mentioned it again, "Remember, faith is poisonous. Never directly accept the power of faith."

“I understand,” Yang Qiu nodded.

He certainly wouldn't use the power of faith; with the power of the script that even the Eye of Agamotto couldn't see, there was no need for him to do so.

Within six months, Yang Qiu only needs to elevate himself to the level where he can evolve into a legend. Then he can simply change the direction of the Zoroastrian deity.