The Mech Touch novel Chapter 5336

Vulcan had officially got started with the Metal God Method.

While the design spirit had a long journey ahead of him, engaging in a risky but highly lucrative form of artifact cultivation should considerably speed up his journey!

Cynthia Larkinson estimated that Vulcan could reach the threshold to True God in as little as 20 years due to the formidable boost provided by the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown.

Of course, if Vulcan seriously wanted to complete his cultivation at record time, he needed to do his utmost to engage in all four cultivation approaches.

Vulcan not only needed to be more active in spreading his 'faith' among a growing group of devout worshipers, he also had to refine his personal craftsmanship skills by possessing the bodies of many willing artisans.

As reluctant as Ves may be in engaging in a form of superstition, he consoled himself with the fact that the Metal God Method was not too exploitative in nature.

Once Ves verified that Vulcan had successfully drawn the crown to his side, he grew reassured that the threat posed by this ancient relic had been contained.

He retreated from the System Space and directed most of his focus towards Veronica.

The cyborg cat happily announced the results!

"Myaow! It worked, mother! Vulcan only started the first chapter of the new cultivation method for a short amount of time before the crown defected to my incarnation. While I am still a bit concerned about the fact that it is still residing inside the System Space, I'm happy now that it is no longer in direct contact with my Divine Core."

Cynthia's expression hardly changed at the news. It was as if she was absolutely certain that this outcome would happen.

"That is good to hear, my dear. The symbols of authority are all made by different immortal gods, but they are ultimately all the same. Selfishness is written into their blood."

"There's one thing I am unclear about." Veronica spoke. "The crown defected to Vulcan awfully quickly. What is it about Vulcan that attracts the crown so much? I thought that it was intelligent to a degree. Surely it should be aware that my incarnation's Heart of Steel will negate its attempts at manipulation."

His mother released a chuckle. "Oh, dear. You still haven't figured it out. I am disappointed in you. For all of your caution and all of your cleverness, you still failed to see beneath the surface."

Her tone took on a slightly darker edge. It caused Veronica to grow concerned to the point where she no longer felt any jubilation about shifting the crown.

"Uh, what do you mean, mother?"

"Think. Think about what the symbol of authority wants. Think about how Vulcan can appeal to the crown. Since we have established that you do not possess the strength to move the artifact away by force, you have no choice aside from giving what it wants. Did you truly think that you could have lured the crown away without offering sufficiently compelling bait?"

"Wait, what?!" Veronica jumped in the air in alarm! "Did you set a trap in the Metal God Method?! Did you turn Vulcan into bait?!"

"Calm down." The Oblivion Empress admonished the unruly cyborg cat. "Your description is not completely accurate. Let me explain what I have done. You do not need to be afraid about compromising the Heart of Steel. It works exactly as I have portrayed. What you have overlooked is that the devil is in the details."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Do you have any conception of how strong a symbol of authority actually is? No matter whether it is the Golden Laurel Wreath Crown or the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown, they are both transformed from the blood of gods that are powerful enough to crush every living being in a star system. Even a single drop of blood retains a significant fraction of that enormous potential. Compare that to the Heart of Steel. As impressive as it may sound, it is not a divine construct. Vulcan must cultivate it to a much greater extent if he wishes to reluctantly block the full brunt of the crown's manipulation."

Veronica looked a lot more sour now that Cynthia had revealed this ugly truth.

Her mother lied!

She had given the impression that the Heart of Steel would become effective at a relatively early stage, but it turned out that Vulcan needed to cultivate for many years before he could properly guard himself against the malicious influence of the crown!

"When?" The upset cat asked.

"The Metal God Method is divided into 10 stages. I anticipate that Vulcan will need to reach the 7th stage in order to strengthen his Heart of Steel to the point where he can adequately handle any overt pressure exerted by the crown. Even then, the crown may still be able to affect some of his cognition."

Veronica became glum after hearing that. The Metal God Method started off simple but became successively more difficult at the later stages. It would take a lot of years to reach the seventh stage!

"What should Vulcan do in the meantime?" The cat helplessly asked. "Is there nothing my incarnation can do aside from letting the crown brainwash him however it likes?"

"It is not as bad as you think." Cynthia consoled her child. "The Heart of Steel already offers partial protection, and it will grow successfully stronger the closer Vulcan has cultivated to the 7th stage. I have also added another safeguard that should offer an additional layer of protection against the crown."

"Huh? You didn't mention anything about that. What exactly did you do, mother?"

"If you have studied the Metal God Method carefully enough, then you should understand that its deity cultivation aspect is not that simple. If Vulcan practices it properly, he should be able form a stronger connection with his worshipers. Once this has occurred, certain forms of harm that have befallen your incarnation can be diverted to his dedicated subjects. They can bear the burden in his stead. I have worked hard to ensure that any manipulation from the crown can easily be shifted to the masses. This is the release valve and the most effective form of protection that I have been able to devise under the circumstances."

The revelation shocked Veronica. She never thought that this could be done. A part of her felt sickened at what her mother had done.

All of those people that had chosen to bare their hearts to the entity they considered a god had secretly been reduced to decoys of sort.

While it was not their only purpose, Cynthia deliberately turned them into literal human shields just so that Vulcan could escape an attack from the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown!

It was immoral!

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify