Only God-Chapter 572 - 489: Belvan’s Ascension Ceremony

"Belvan, that damned fool, has gone mad!" Kafu the Sixth blurted out without reservation.

Upon hearing this, Prince Mura, contrary to his usual demeanor, did not argue back; he merely furrowed his brows, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

He found Belvan’s decision equally unacceptable.

"How could Belvan consider making it public, making it public? What good does it do to announce it so soon? Let alone those troublesome Gold Silver Clan members, once it’s public, then it no longer belongs exclusively to the Dwarves!"

Kafu the Sixth spoke with an incredibly fast pace, his beard quivering.

"Those Humans, and the Three-eyed Ape People, Elves—they know more about the Ancient Language than we do, yet it was us who discovered that so-called Path of Godly Creation first. If they don’t know about it, then we maintain the advantage, but once they do, with their understanding of the Ancient Language, they’ll overtake us in the blink of an eye!

Tell him I can’t stand by and let this happen. This Path of Godly Creation hasn’t even benefited us yet, and he wants to make it public—as if it’s a grand gift to Humans, Three-eyed Ape People, Elves, and Beastmen?!"

After he had finished speaking, Kafu the Sixth suddenly turned away, clearly enraged.

Prince Mura took a few steps forward, defending his teacher:

"Father, the teacher has just been shocked these past few days, that’s why he spoke those words. And as you know, scholars always enjoy sharing their knowledge.

Besides, making it public isn’t without its merits. Relying only on the studies of a few will yield little progress.

Furthermore, other races will eventually learn of the existence of the Path of Godly Creation. It is not our invention, only our discovery; we can’t monopolize it..."

Just as Prince Mura was speaking, intending to take a deep breath and further defend his teacher, he saw his father turn around and ask a simple question.

"You don’t need to say so much, I just want to know, do you agree or not?"

Kafu the Sixth’s voice was terse and authoritative.

Prince Mura hesitated, and after a long moment, he slowly shook his head,

"I also feel... that it doesn’t seem right..."

Upon seeing this, Kafu the Sixth smiled,

"Alright then, it seems your teacher isn’t some Witch who leads people astray; at least she hasn’t dragged you into the gutter.

Try to persuade Belvan to reconsider. You have no idea how many people hold grievances against him; I have been protecting him all this while."

Prince Mura’s face showed surprise,

"Grievances? I remember my teacher never causing trouble for anyone."

Kafu the Sixth spoke in a measured and deliberate manner:

"Of course, there are grievances. The craftsmen, the members of the Gold Silver Clan, and all the old fogeys who hold traditional views and dislike Humans... The craftsmen exploring Steam Engines feel he won without producing results, yet split the rewards; the members of the Gold Silver Clan think he, coming from a fine background, shouldn’t associate with those from lower Clans or even Wanderers; and those traditional old fogeys are like complaining wives—while they are eager for the new novelties from Humans and Three-eyed Ape People, wearing their clothes, relishing their food and drink, they also discriminate against everything from those races. It’s truly absurd."

According to the King’s description, Belvan managed to displease everyone, and some even denounced him as they would a dog.

Kafu the Sixth might have exaggerated, but he wasn’t fabricating lies; studying the Ancient Language was out of place in a Dwarf society that revered machinery and forging, just like trading in some countries that looked down on merchants.

Prince Mura sincerely said,

"Father, I’ll relay all of this to my teacher."

King Kafu the Sixth sighed and said,

"Just say whatever needs to be said, there’s no need to hide anything for my sake. You know, the person on this throne always finds themselves in a difficult position. Yesterday I was sung praises, and tomorrow there might be grievances.

My son, let me tell you, it’s not your teacher who troubles me the most, but those Nobles from the Gold Silver Clan. They do not like the Steam Engine, nor do they approve of my lavish rewards to the craftsmen, and even more so, they oppose my large-scale copying of the Mechanical Book. These days, they are constantly cursing me. I am aware of it, yet powerless to change it."

Upon hearing this, Prince Mura reached out and patted his father’s shoulder, joining him in a sigh.

These matters were not new to Prince Mura.

The Gold Silver Clan’s opposition to the Steam Engine came in various forms: if machinery replaced hand-crafting, the resulting creations would lack soul and aesthetics. Then there was the Mechanical Book, which no one had deciphered. Who knew if some of its content could lead to the Kingdom’s downfall? And there were claims that the Mechanical Book didn’t come from Hiris but from some other Divine. That Steam Engines allowed lowlier Clans to become too proud, losing the respect they owed...

In the end, those Clans who took their names from noble metals such as gold and silver were afraid the Mechanical Book would shake their established interests and status.

...

Shortly after Prince Mura had his audience with King Kafu the Sixth, he relayed his father’s exact words to Belvan.

To Prince Mura’s surprise, after hearing the blunt words, Belvan showed neither sorrow nor joy.

"I’ll consider it thoroughly; there’s no need to tell your father anything."

As he spoke, Belvan pinched a page of manuscript,

"Now, let’s focus on the task at hand."

On the manuscript was depicted the Scholar’s Path, which appeared much like an axis line on the page, marking ancient words at various points along the path, with various annotations linked to each of these ancient words.

The writing was densely packed, making one dizzy just to look at it, and yet, Belvan had already simplified it beforehand.

Prince Mura read the content carefully and realized it was far more complete than he had anticipated, exceeding even what Belvan had lost in his previous manuscript. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"When do we try, teacher, when?"

Prince Mura asked excitedly.

"Now."

Belvan’s reply was crisp and clean.

Prince Mura was momentarily stunned; and in his bewildered state, Belvan had already taken out a prepared Potion, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp. Unknown to them, the floor of the study had already been carved with a ritual circle.

When Mura regained his senses, he saw Belvan’s eyes turn white, his entire body stiff as if devoid of soul, standing motionless.

After drinking the Potion, Belvan’s thoughts quickly emptied, and he started reciting ancient words from the Scholar’s Path in his mind.

In the past, he had crudely divided one path into seven ranks according to a Nameless Book, with different ancient words required for each rank which he called Rank Words.

Generally speaking, the more ancient words one knew from the same rank, the greater the likelihood of passing the Ascension Ceremony. Conversely, the fewer the words known from the same rank, the lower the chance of success. To undertake an Ascension Ceremony, one had to know at least one ancient word from that path.