I Will Grind My Way To Godhood

She placed her right hand over her ample conscience and introduced herself with a smile:

“My name is Wu Youqing.”

“The 'you' from 'childish,' and the 'qing' from 'clear sky.'”

Xue Jing also introduced himself, “Xue Jing, with the character for 'scenery' beside the 'king' radical.”

“Hmm... so first of all, how did you come into contact with the concept of 'Divine Relics'?” Wu Youqing asked curiously.

“...Sorry, I can't say more about that,” Xue Jing shook his head.

The cat was still presumably being pursued by the Kangde Security Company, so he couldn't casually disclose its information.

“I can only tell you that I've indeed encountered a Divine Relic. If possible, I'd like you to provide me with any information you have on them.” Xue Jing replied cautiously.

“Of course, it's no problem if you're not willing to share. Not being able to provide information first is my issue,” Wu Youqing showed no dissatisfaction with Xue Jing’s vague response.

She pinched her chin and tilted her head, “Then is the 'Divine Relic' you encountered an artifact type, or a creature type?”

“There are creature-type Divine Relics?” Xue Jing said in surprise.

This indirectly answered Wu Youqing's question, and she nodded. "It seems you've encountered a strange object, huh."

The girl finished speaking, thought for a moment, stood up, and walked to the resting area by the wall. She crouched down and pulled on an inconspicuous wooden handle on the wall.

To everyone's surprise, there was a hidden compartment cabinet inside the wall.

As the girl crouched down, her posture accentuated the curve of her hips, drawing attention with the contrast of her slender waist. Xue Jing couldn't help but glance twice.

Tight jeans truly had their charm.

Initially, Xue Jing thought Wu Youqing would retrieve some secret documents from such a concealed spot, but to his surprise, she pulled out a pile of tea sets and a transparent water pitcher filled with water and placed them on the wooden table.

"Do you prefer tea or coffee?" Wu Youqing asked as she wiped the tea sets with a cloth.

"Are those the only options?" Xue Jing looked toward the hidden compartment.

"There's also this." The girl turned around and took out a 330ml can of Coca-Cola from the compartment.

Even though this world had veered off from the historical trajectory of the previous Earth, the expected items still appeared.

Xue Jing reached out to take it: "This will do."

Wu Youqing, however, didn't hand it to him. Instead, she pulled out a blue and gold porcelain cup from the tea tray, opened the tab on the aluminum can with a snap, and poured the black carbonated liquid into the exquisite cup. Using two fingers, she pushed it in front of Xue Jing, reminiscent of a bartender.

Xue Jing's lips twitched, "How refined."

The girl did not reply. She picked up an unknown brand of tea leaves from the side, ripped the package open, and poured them into the teapot. Then, she took the transparent kettle and poured water in—it was actually boiling hot, steaming furiously upon contact with the air.

While performing these steps to brew tea, Wu Youqing said, "Two hundred eighty-seven years ago, 'God' died."

"Or, to be more precise, 'the Divine' died."

Xue Jing listened quietly.

The death of God was the largest event this world had ever experienced in its history. Even after all these years, it remains a topic of much fascination and discussion.

However, whether this deceased 'God' was the omniscient and omnipotent figure from the Christian Bible is unconfirmed. Therefore, the universally accepted term remains 'the death of the Divine.'

This 'Divine' was the deity of this world, had no specific name, and was known only as the conceptual 'God' that humanity recognized. Any other names were titles humanity arbitrarily imposed on it.

The reason it is commonly referred to as God is due to the ingrained concept of the Christian deity, which aligns most closely with the definition of 'the Divine.'

Two hundred eighty-seven years ago, 'the Divine' appeared in the material world for the first and last time.

Historical records detail that on that day, every person on Earth witnessed or somehow perceived a colossal glowing figure holding the planet in its hands, which let out a mighty, plaintive wail before dissolving into countless points of light.

At that moment, the words "God is dead" were indelibly etched into every human consciousness, like an ideological stamp.

From that day onward, sporadic 'inter-world merging phenomena' occurred on the planet. Through stages called 'quakes,' 'minor merges,' and 'major merges,' various 'boundary zones' came into existence.

The appearance of these boundary zones brought humanity countless opportunities and crises.

The administrative divisions of the nine major metropolitan areas in Zhu Xia today are a legacy of a past boundary crisis.

"What most people don't know is that when 'God' died, something was left behind."

Wu Youqing stirred the liquid in her teacup with a small spoon as she began to recount the origin of the divine relics.

"The light that dispersed when God died... let’s call it ‘God’s Blood.’"

"These 'God's Blood' scattered across the world, lodging themselves within various things."

"Be it objects, creatures, or sometimes even a slice of human fantasy..."

"The things transformed by the lodgment of God's Blood, we call them—divine relics."

Xue Jing was listening intently when Wu Youqing slid the brewed cup of tea towards him.

"Have a taste."

Xue Jing accepted, somewhat absentmindedly picking up the teacup, taking a light sip, and swallowing.

Then, he immediately furrowed his brow, looking at the tea inside the cup.

The brownish-red liquid looked evidently like black tea, and the fragrance was the mildly bitter scent of black tea as well.

But as soon as it touched the tongue, there was an odd sweetness.

"What is this?"

"Take a guess," Wu Youqing replied, her eyes gleaming mischievously, a hint of playful satisfaction lurking beneath the surface.

Without much thought, Xue Jing blurted out, "Could it be 'Youqing Tea'..."

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized he might have crossed a line. But considering Wu Youqing, a beautiful girl unlikely to be familiar with such things, he thought she wouldn’t understand the implication.

Before his internal monologue was finished, Wu Youqing's cheeks flushed a delicate pink, and she cast him a peculiar look, as if to say: I didn’t expect this from you, Xue Jing...

Xue Jing cleared his throat, "Alright, stop keeping me in suspense, sister."

Wu Youqing gave him a sidelong glance, lifting the clear water jug with one hand while supporting the base with the other, "Serial Number GOD-1567: Sweet Water Jug."

A divine relic?

A divine relic!

Divine material, right before my eyes!