We evil gods must hide.

Chapter 51 Lin Qi Makes a Decision

"uncle!"

"Just try a little harder and teach him properly."

Lina said sweetly.

"Effort? What's the point of my effort!"

The old thief was so angry he laughed. Looking at his niece, he was disappointed in her and said with a hint of helplessness, "Lina, you don't understand. It's not that I don't want to teach her, it's that he... this kid lacks reverence for the gods."

He looked up at Lin Qi and finally spoke the truth that had been hidden in his heart: "A thief's entry-level skills can never be learned by just practicing endlessly."

"Shadowstep, Backstab Critical Strike, Shadow Stealth—these core skills all require the power of the God of Shadows and Thieves. You must believe in Him, respect Him, pray to Him, and gain His approval before He will lend you his power, allowing you to reach the threshold of advancement."

The old man paused, looking at Lin Qi's expressionless face, his tone turning somber: "You brat, you can't gain the gods' approval to advance? You'll never even learn the most basic Shadow Step."

Lina frowned and said, "Shadow Step doesn't necessarily require the protection of the Thief God."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes."

"Try walking in the Shadow Realm yourself. Without the protection of the gods, you'll be lucky to escape with your life."

While the uncle and nephew were arguing heatedly, Lin Qi's heart sank little by little in the afternoon.

Reverence for God? Seeking God's approval?

He is a forgotten evil god who is hated by the orthodox gods. The god of order, the god of shadow, the god of justice, all the orthodox gods standing on the throne regard him as an anomaly and a taboo that must be erased.

Forget about praying to them or worshipping them; if he dares to reveal even the slightest bit of their divinity, he will only be met with a joint hunt by the gods and a nationwide manhunt by the temples of the entire continent.

The path to becoming a professional was completely blocked for him from the very beginning.

Lin Qi remained silent, having already accepted the fact in his heart.

In her mind, the little black cat's voice became anxious, tinged with worry: "What's so good about those broken gods' powers? We don't need to be at their beck and call. I just don't understand why you're so stubbornly refusing to repair your godhood."

"Strange guy."

"I'm afraid it would scare you to death if I told you."

Lynch responded.

"Heh heh, I am a primordial deity born from a newly formed plane. Since the birth of my consciousness, I have witnessed countless cycles of birth and death of all things. What could possibly frighten me?"

Ignoring the little black cat's mutterings, Lynch began asking Lina about Ella's possible detention location.

"I'll go and secretly investigate, and send you a message if I get any news."

After receiving an affirmative answer, Lynch returned to the dormitory.

There are many people here, and many of them are of unknown origin. No one will care that he is curled up on the bed, covering his face and staring blankly.

Lynch was still struggling.

What heinous things did the evil god, who was besieged and banished by the Pantheon, do?

"Restore divinity."

"This is such a hassle."

Looking at his attribute points, which he could no longer add, and his overflowing faith and divinity, Lin Qi was caught in an extremely conflicted situation.

After pondering for a while, he received a message from Lina.

"A temporary detention center set up in a guild warehouse on the south side of town."

"The guards are three powerful members from a higher-level guild."

...

As night fell, Silverleaf Town was completely shrouded in an impenetrable fog.

Lynch lay in the shadows behind a small building, his back pressed against the wall, his breathing slowed to an extreme.

He had been lying in wait here for almost an hour.

He got Ella's location and general information about her from Lina during the day, and rushed over at night. But as soon as he got close to the warehouse, the little black cat alerted him that there were at least three professionals loitering nearby.

If there were shadowy footsteps belonging to a thief, he was confident he could investigate.

Left with no other choice, he could only retreat to the small building next door to find out about Gao De, the leader of the patrolmen, before looking for an opportunity to rescue him.

The lights were on in the windows on the second floor of the small building, and conversations could be heard drifting out from the cracks in the windows from time to time.

"Young Master Gao, you should get some rest. There's still a lot to do."

The speaker was an elderly voice, filled with respect, likely someone like a personal assistant or similar figure.

"Rest? How can I sleep?"

Gao De's voice was tinged with frustration and barely concealed exhaustion. "Those old fogies in the family, and my cousins, aren't they all eyeing this job of mine? If I succeed, I can obtain the Blue Dragon bloodline, break through to the second tier, and gain a foothold in the family; if I fail, I'll have to go back to the family's old mansion and spend the rest of my life as a good-for-nothing from a collateral branch who just loafs around and waits to die."

The old man sighed.

"The channels for advancement within the family have always been controlled by the main branch. Even if a member of the collateral branches wants to obtain a Dragon Blood Potion for a breakthrough, they have to go through layers of approval and endure all sorts of humiliation. It must have been difficult for you."

"Difficult? That's the fate of those from collateral branches."

Gao De chuckled, his tone full of resentment.

"I painstakingly cultivated the family's secret techniques, and it took me several years to barely reach the threshold of the first rank. But those guys from the main family, with the help of resources, broke through to the first rank before they were even twenty years old..."

The sound of drinking could be heard coming from inside the window.

Gao De's voice sounded a bit drunk:

"Sometimes I really envy those families with divine bloodlines. Even if they are collateral descendants of gods, they can rely on the divine grace in their bloodline to have a smooth journey without having to compete for resources, have to be subservient to others, or risk their lives for opportunities."

"Even... even wild gods would be fine."

His voice lowered, filled with longing, "Without having to worry about family rules, advancement channels, or divine approval, you can climb all the way up, paving your own path to godhood..."

"Be careful what you say, young master, lest someone else hears you."

"It's nothing. There are only those scapegoats they captured nearby. Who else could it be? After three days, no one will know their whereabouts anymore."

This conversation made Lin Qi feel a little strange.

What I possess seems to be something that others can only dream of.

He stubbornly refused to fully restore his divine status, but the path to advancement for mortals in this world had long been blocked by orthodox gods.

The fact that you can't learn the Thief's Shadow Step says it all.

If one does not offer one's faith to the god of shadows and thieves, one's path forward will be cut off.

Lynch clenched his fist slightly.

He recalled Fold's resolute words: "Without the approval of the god of shadows, you will never learn even the most basic shadow step."

He recalled the helplessness he felt when he explored the warehouse during the day, unable to even avoid the outer magic array.

I thought of Ella, who was locked in the warehouse, her fate unknown.

I'm reminded of Gaode's quote, "Even wild gods can travel unimpeded by relying on the power of faith."

Insufficient strength.

All his previous concerns were shattered by reality at this moment.

Fearing that the gods of the Pantheon might sense it?

However, he has been suppressing his divine nature, and it will eventually be exposed. Rather than passively waiting for death, he should take control of his power.

Just then, the door of the small building suddenly opened.

Two patrolling swordsmen came out carrying oil lamps, their eyes sweeping over the direction where Lin Qi was hiding.

Lin Qi's heart tightened instantly. He pressed his body tightly against the wall, trying his best to conceal his aura. Two elite soldiers were walking towards him. Without hesitation, Lin Qi turned and left, using the fog as cover, and quickly retreated into the narrow alley next to him.

He didn't lean against the wall until he had run two blocks, the hesitation in his eyes completely gone, leaving only determination.

"Let's take a gamble."

"Little Black, are you there?"

"Go to your original plane of existence."

"Lin Qi said in his mind."

"That place can shield divine fluctuations, repair divine essence, and won't be easily detected by others."

"Leave it to me!" The little black cat's voice rang out in my mind, with a hint of urgency and anticipation.

"You've finally come to your senses? I told you, we are gods!"

"Why live such a stifling life!"

"I'm grinding goblins every day, but my faith power is coming in way too slowly."

"Let's go."

The next second, deep within Lin Qi's consciousness, the soul contract bound to the little black cat warmed slightly, and a barely perceptible spatial rift quietly opened in this unnoticed corner of Silverleaf Town.

No one was alerted.

Lin Qi's figure vanished instantly from the dormitory bed, stepping into the nascent plane that belonged only to him.

The plane, whose essence was drained a few months ago, is still a hazy gray.

The sky was devoid of sun and moon, only endless silence. The large flower from which Little Black was born also seemed somewhat wilted, standing quietly in the center of the wasteland. The wind swept dust across the empty land without a sound.

The phantom of the little black cat floated out of Lin Qi's arms, its palm-sized body suspended in mid-air, its golden vertical pupils full of seriousness: "I will use the remaining dimensional origin to help you set up a shielding barrier, and those guys outside will definitely not be able to detect the movement here."

"Don't worry about repairing the divine core, I'm here."

Lin Qi nodded and slowly closed his eyes.

"System, repair the divine status."

The system's notification sounded in my mind, cold and mechanical.

[Prompt: Confirm the restoration of the Forgotten Evil God's complete divine status. This may attract the attention of the gods in the Pantheon and consume 10 points of Divinity.]

"confirm."