How Am I Still Alive?
Chapter 50 - 50 39 Gods and Transactions

50: Chapter 39: Gods and Transactions 50: Chapter 39: Gods and Transactions “I heard before that the Green New Company is also a subsidiary of the Church of the Lady of the Forest.

They should be considered your people, don’t you care about their lives?”

Lu Ping’an’s doubts were not answered, the Secret Realm reacted somewhat stiffly.

All along, it seemed to only respond to “requests”.

However, Chris seemed to reluctantly utter something.

“Obviously, you don’t understand the divine, the church, and even less so the Lady of the Forest…”

The resentment in her words surged forth.

Without doubt, Lu Ping’an knew Chris had a connection with the Lady of the Forest.

“Isn’t that why you’re here?

Tell me?”

Lu Ping’an assumed he could coax out more secrets with a few casual compliments, as he had done before.

But…

“…Even if I tell you, you wouldn’t understand.

No one but the gods themselves could truly understand why they behave as they do.

But do you know that the Lady of the Forest has sixty-seven churches?

There are eleven major branches and at least nineteen popes, saints, and saintesses that claim to be the representatives of Divine Right on earth.”

No, I’ve never heard of this before.

Lu Ping’an was a bit dazed, not because of these complex branches.

There was a church from another time on earth that was even more chaotic.

But…

“…Isn’t this the era in which all the gods are interfering with the world?

If a lesser-known god of life has such a vast power and so many churches, then the whole world…

”

At this moment, Lu Ping’an remembered that in the second-tier small city of the ancient city, there were several Chasers stadiums, and Lin Ci Hospitals numbered to several.

The power of the Gods’ Church has infiltrated various social welfare sectors that should be served by public rights, such as healthcare and sports.

Is this really alright?

Using even his knee to think, Lu Ping’an felt that the problem was enormous.

Considering again that every manager or owner of each Secret Realm has already acquired territory and authority like an independent kingdom, maybe this world isn’t as orderly as it appears.

Or perhaps a different way to put it might be that the environment in which Lu Ping’an currently finds himself is relatively orderly.

“Guess which of the sixty-seven churches represents her will?”

“…None of them.”

After some contemplation, this was the answer Lu Ping’an gave.

In his memory, for a pastor, the deity is best placed high above, doing nothing, letting the mortal church interpret his power on earth.

“Heh, that’s why I said you don’t understand…

All the churches carry her power, and they all are churches of the true gods.

But only the strongest one is her spokesperson.

In the last ten years, at least three have held this position, and the core doctrines have been revised three times.”

Even the doctrines can be changed?

What is this god really like?

“…Do they fight amongst themselves?”

“‘No one is more ruthless than one’s own kind.’ Remember this phrase, you can use it in many places.”

At the church level, the most contentious are the opposing gods whose nature conflicts.

But if compared to the competition among gods of the same kind, it’s just child’s play.

And the internal power struggles within the branches of the same god are even more lethal and crazy.

Yet this is nothing compared to internal conflicts within the subordinate organizations of the same church.

Lu Ping’an was a bit surprised.

Now he somewhat understood why Chris said that he “didn’t understand.” This was obviously something beyond his reach.

Including himself, ordinary people were just masses being swept along by the tides of the times.

They had become accustomed to the Church and companies meddling in all aspects of life and work, and didn’t find anything abnormal about the government’s absence in these areas.

Lu Ping’an had only one doubt remaining.

“Are all the other gods like this?”

If they all play like this, how chaotic would the entire world be?

Is the modern society beneath this harmonious exterior on the verge of collapse?

“No…

”

With that, Lu Ping’an was relieved.

It seemed that things weren’t as bad as they seemed.

“..the god of life generally acknowledges ‘survival of the fittest,’ so their battles are usually straightforward.

Each of the other deities has its own way of struggling, but without exception, they are all in a state of competition.

Social harmony is only because someone is suppressing it, and there’s a set of rules and bottom lines that must be adhered to…

”

Someone’s suppressing it?

Oh, the government.

So, no problem then.

Just as Lu Ping’an started to praise the great nation, he heard Chris utter something cynically.

“…

but how long can they suppress it?

Fifty years ago, it was inevitable that it would not be able to be suppressed at some point.

Fear and unrest lead to a new round of duels.

Don’t look at me now, being labeled as an Evil God.

If I ascend, I’ll become another Proper God of life, with my own church and path…”

Are the stakes really that high?

But at this moment, the settlement had finally been completed.

[The settlement has been completed, please prepare for the host’s settlement.

But the Lord of the Secret Realm has made a request, asking if they can purchase the two new varieties of 2-tier magical plants.

If sold, the settlement evaluation for the host can be further improved.]

“Huh?

They seriously want to buy it?

This stuff can actually be traded?”

When Lu Ping’an saw the Secret Realm message [Also, would you like to sell that disgustingly dark green vine monster….

I’ll give you a good price for it] before, he thought the other party was joking.

“…..Should I sell it?”

This time, Lu Ping’an was asking Chris.

“…Is there any point in keeping this mod?

Are you planning to write a book and compete with Green New Company in the market?”

“I’ll sell.”

[According to the Life Bank’s rules, all trades are prioritized to be paid in life-points.

After calculations, the price for two unnamed magical plants would be 0.63 life coins and 0.41 life coins, the Secret Realm Master agrees to this price.

Do you confirm the trade?]

They only add up to 1 coin?

I made each one for at least 20 coins!

This doesn’t include the research and development costs, which would still multiply the expenses.

Even considering the goods themselves, you’re buying goods worth 100 coins for only 5 coins.

Not even capitalists are as ruthless as you!

But after a brief shock and irritation, Lu Ping’an was overjoyed.

“…Finally, I found a way to earn life-points, and my suspicion was correct, I could only rely on trades….”

The nature of Lu Ping’an’s system is “Life Trading,” so, naturally, the way to earn points is also through trading.

He had not been able to receive any hints before, probably because the traded goods were not “valuable” enough and the trading parties were not “rich” enough.

“The nature of life points is a high-grade force of life.

Only deities or similar beings have the ability to trade life points.”

Lu Ping’an guessed this from his previous experience investing in magical plants.

At that time, he had one life point which he degraded twice.

From life-points, it degraded into life source force, then into life curse power, and was finally absorbed by the magical plants and became their nourishment for rapid maturation.

Metamorphosis is never easy, there should be a huge gap between each layer.

All his current supernatural abilities are appended with the suffix “spell”, and that should be the lowest level of ‘quality’.

At the time, Lu Ping’an guessed that probably only very high-level beings have the equivalent trading goods that match life-points.

Now that he finally saw the “1.04 life trading”, he saw a hope to survive, however….

“…1 life-point is meaningless to me, can it be exchanged for other equivalent goods?”

[The coordination has been completed.

It can be included in the settlement reward, and the evaluation of it can be improved.]

“Let’s proceed to the settlement.”

[The first-tier Secret Realm ‘Three-ring Forest’ has been completed.

The overall evaluation for Lu Ping’an is ‘S+’.]

[Secret Realm Master’s gift speech (Virtual Persona of the Lady of the Forest): Finally killed those pests that were hurting the seedlings in my garden, sis will give you an extra reward.]

[The host receives 100 store currency (this currency can only be used in the settlement of Secret Realms related to the Lady of the Forest).]

This short assessment reveals a lot of unsettling information for Lu Ping’an.

The Secret Realm Master, as a virtual personality, clearly has her own will and preferences.

However, based on the information revealed, she can only do things according to the rules.

For most Secret Realm travellers, she can be ignored and at most she can only show her presence during the settlement.

If it weren’t for encounters with high-level rule system users like Lu Ping’an, she wouldn’t even be able to express her consciousness.

[According to the overall assessment and the Secret Realm Master’s attitude, your Secret Realm feedback is as follows.

Please make a choice within 3 minutes, otherwise, the Secret Realm Master will randomly choose for you.]

[A.

Confer additional pollution to your body (After Lady of the Forest’s purification).]

[B.

Random blessing of the Lady of the Forest (third-tier or below).]

[C.

Confer additional pollution on some items.]

[D.

Open the Secret Realm store (S-level privileges), allowing designated purchases.]

It looks like these are the standard options, not much different from the last time, but there is an additional system notification.

[The trade has been completed.

The host can select an additional option.

However, the total value of additional rewards obtained must not exceed the estimated value of the traded goods (approximately 100 store coins/1 life coin).]