Cooperation

Zeus asked Poseidon and Athena to each present a gift to the citizens of the city. Whoever's gift won the people's hearts would become the city's patron deity. Both deities found this method feasible and were confident they would win, so they readily agreed to the proposal and prepared their gifts for the citizens.

On Poseidon's side, he was not only the lord of the sea but also the god who managed all fine horses in the world. In his view, there was nothing more sincere than giving a fine horse as a gift. Thus, he presented the residents with a magnificent snow-white steed.

On the other hand, Athena, the goddess of wisdom who had fully inherited her mother Metis's brilliant mind, after much contemplation, decided to give the citizens of the city an olive tree.

In the end, the dispute concluded with Athena's victory. Indeed, while Poseidon's horse was undeniably beautiful, it was just one horse, whereas the citizens numbered in the thousands. How to share a single horse among them posed a significant challenge.

In contrast, Athena's olive tree could be transplanted, and its fruits were not only edible but could also be pressed into olive oil, making it incredibly useful. Moreover, the olive tree itself symbolized prosperity and peace.

Given this comparison, the citizens naturally preferred Athena's gift. They not only chose her as their protector but also named the city Athens in honor of the goddess's grace.

Amidst various antics among the gods vying for worship, Hebe, who had been secluded in the temple, was at a crucial point in her own journey.

In the resplendent temple, the stunning golden-haired goddess sat on her divine throne, her eyes closed and her head crowned with radiant divine light. The immense merit gained from creating humanity had allowed her to ascend to a first-tier deity without any hindrance. While she consolidated her divine status, she also sought to comprehend the laws of the soul and unravel the mysteries of the soul. However, she had not yet fully condensed her divine essence. Considering both her own situation and her relationship with Prometheus, the benefits and consequences of meddling with the authority over souls were not commensurate.

Thus, Hebe merely utilized the power of understanding the laws of the soul to continuously enhance her divine soul, making it more substantial.

After decades of diligent effort, Hebe sensed that her divine soul was nearing perfection and was close to reaching her expectations.

'The Dao produces one, one produces two, two produces three, and three produces all things. All things bear the yin and embrace the yang, and the interplay of energies brings harmony. The way of heaven and earth is encapsulated in the concepts of yin and yang."

Long before she possessed the divine status of youth and ice, Hebe had already formed some ideas. Now, as her youth divine status had transformed into the divine status of life, her determination had only strengthened.

The divine status of life represents growth and is associated with yang.

Conversely, ice and snow are ruthless, symbolizing the powerful destructive forces of nature. The pale terror that evolved from the ice divine status can govern death, representing yin.

Using these two divine statuses as mediators, one representing life and the other death, in a relationship of yin and yang—opposing yet complementary, clashing yet transforming—achieving a perfect balance between life and death would allow her to become the true ruler of life!

But at this moment, she was still unable to merge two completely conflicting powers into one. Although she appeared to possess immense divine power and glory, only she knew that she was essentially dancing on a tightrope.

Merging two entirely conflicting powers within a divine body is inherently dangerous. Have you ever seen a deity who embodies both ice and fire?

Never. Not only because such a deity cannot be born under the rules of the world, but also because the gods themselves know that doing so is tantamount to seeking their own demise.

When two opposing forces are placed in the same vessel, the outcome is predictable. Previously, the ice and snow divine status was dominant, suppressing the life-related divine statuses of youth, purification, and healing. Now that the life divine status is in control and the ice and snow divine status is suppressed, Hebe can avoid exploding due to the energy conflict.

However, if the ice and snow divine status were to grow stronger and evolve into a more powerful death-related divine status in the future, Hebe honestly had no confidence in her ability to immediately neutralize the energy conflict between the two.

Thus, the prudent Hebe decided that she needed to split her soul and forge an avatar to inherit the deathly powers within the ice and snow divine status. Once that avatar developed to a certain extent, she could slowly attempt to merge the two powers together. All of this would require time, patience, and opportunity.

Fortunately, as a deity, she had an abundance of time, and her burning ambition also granted her patience. As for the opportunity, her divine intuition told her it would come in the not-so-distant future.

'Your Highness, the messenger Hermes has arrived."

With her transparent wings fluttering, Aegis approached Hebe, carrying a golden fruit platter filled with her favorite purple grapes.

'Oh? What does Father want?" Hebe asked as she picked up a purple grape, slowly peeling away its skin to reveal the glistening flesh inside. As she took a bite, the rich juice and sweet flavor made her narrow her beautiful eyes in delight. 'Please let him in."

'Of course," Aegis replied respectfully and went outside to bring Hermes in.

'Princess Hebe, it's been a while. Your radiance surpasses even before; the bright moon in the sky would pale in comparison to your brilliance," Hermes said, effortlessly flattering her with his silver tongue. Fortunately, this merchant and protector of thieves had a youthful and handsome face, so his compliments did not come off as insincere.

'Good day, Hermes." Hebe's attitude toward Hermes was casual and cold; in fact, she did not like this favored younger brother of Zeus.

Despite his innocent-looking boyish face, his cunning mind was no less than that of his philandering father.

Otherwise, why do you think Zeus favored him? It was because Hermes was the one who provided cover every time Zeus went out to indulge himself and Hera came to catch him in the act.

Sometimes, the father and son duo were quite indiscreet. After Zeus finished enjoying himself, if Hermes was interested, he would also have a brief encounter with his father's one-night stand; he had quite a number of illegitimate children on earth.

Hebe seriously suspected that Prometheus did not create women when making humanity because he understood too well the nature of the male gods on Mount Olympus and did not want his creations to be tainted.

'Is there something Father wants?"

Hermes shrugged off Hebe's indifference. This goddess was not just cold toward him; across the entire mountain of gods, aside from her two brothers, Ares and Hephaestus, who received a bit of her favor, she always kept her distance from the other male gods.

Many deities had been whispering that Princess Hebe might very well want to follow in the footsteps of the wise goddess Athena and become a maiden goddess.

'The serpent Python has killed the guardian beast of the Delphi temple, Delphona, and has taken over the temple. The Earth Mother has issued a prophecy, asking Father to send deities to eliminate the monster."

Python, a massive serpent born from the depths where the abyss meets the ocean in ancient times, was said to be incredibly huge, covered in hard scales, and naturally possessed the power of destruction and death. It was a terrifying beast with strength comparable to that of a major god.

Sending herself to hunt down a monster of such power? Was Zeus, that convenient father of hers, overestimating her abilities?

'Did Father only send me?" Hebe could not believe that Zeus was unaware of her strength.

'Uh… there's also Brother Apollo," Hermes scratched his head awkwardly. Even though he was a newcomer to the mountain of gods, he was well-informed and had heard about the past entanglements between this goddess and the twin god of light.

'Oh?" Hebe raised an eyebrow. Given her previous confrontation with Artemis, Apollo would likely want to punch her rather than take her along to hunt Python. Wouldn't he just throw her into the serpent's mouth during the battle?

'Ha ha… Princess Hebe, you don't need to worry. Brother Apollo knows his limits. This time, he will take the lead in the operation, and you only need to provide divine support from the back."

Hermes silently lamented. Python, born near the abyss, was infused with the aura of the abyss god Tartarus at birth, inherently possessing powers of destruction and death, and was particularly adept at abyssal magic and curses.

While there were many titans suited for hunting down Python, Zeus did not want them involved in this matter. Among the Olympian gods, aside from the god of light Apollo, Hebe, who held the power of purification, was the strongest in suppressing abyssal magic. If the two could cooperate, eliminating Python would indeed not be a difficult task.

Unfortunately, these two gods had a grudge against each other!

'What does Lord Apollo say?" A beast with powers of destruction and death, especially one of major god level, was quite the challenge. Hebe had already decided that this expedition was necessary, but she still had some reservations about Apollo.