Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

```

Swoosh—

The North Wind howled, bringing with it the chill of winter.

Within the Maze Lock of Silver Moon City, the God of West Wind felt as if he was on edge every moment.

However, reality never shifted according to one's will. Who knew how long he'd been waiting here silently?

It wasn't until he received that feather quill that belonged to him that the God of West Wind finally felt a glimmer of hope.

Finally, it had arrived. Time to begin... He couldn't wait any longer.

Ending this journey early would be ideal. As a god, he wasn't meant for this damned exam; his destiny was the banquet of Mount Olympus.

Even a second longer here felt like a waste of life to Zephyrus.

"Caw—"

"Brother, how are you prepared for this exam?"

"!"

With feathers puffing up for the third time, the God of West Wind turned around abruptly.

But all he saw was an ordinary three-legged sparrow.

"Can you talk?"

Taken aback, Zephyrus was somewhat surprised by the words.

Just realizing that talking birds were rare, he didn't expect to meet one here... Yet in the next moment, he received a look as if he were a fool.

"Caw—"

"What kind of question is that? Are you stupid?"

"If you couldn't talk, why would you be brought here for the exam? Since you can, I obviously can too."

"..."

Speechless, the God of West Wind felt his claws stiffen.

However, after a moment of thought, he had to admit there was logic to the statement.

As expected, the reason the dozen or so birds brought here were given special treatment was likely because they were all different... Yet, while the explanation sounded reasonable, it did not quell the strange feeling in Zephyrus's heart.

As a god, I was mocked by a bird.

Does this make sense?

It doesn't.

The reason for this situation was that the birds here were too peculiar.

Comforting himself with a few words, the God of West Wind still had to face reality.

Whether it was reasonable or not, his best option was to ignore it.

Killing birds here was impossible, but just wait... At this moment, Zephyrus secretly vowed that when he returned to the Mount of the Gods, he would feast on all birds for a month.

Yet when the God of West Wind tried to ignore him, the three-legged sparrow had no intention of letting him off.

"Caw—"

"Brother, you don't seem very bright."

"Are you really ready for the exam later?"

"If you really can't, I can let you 'borrow' my answers."

"Borrow?"

"I, you—"

Almost choking on his words, Zephyrus's claws tightened slightly.

Borrow? Isn't that called cheating?

With a snapping sound, he couldn't help but break the delicate feather quill.

"No need... Don't trouble yourself."

It was laughable. Just a so-called test, nothing that could truly stump a deity.

Let him cheat? Ridiculous.

However, having just asked a foolish question, he found it hard to immediately retaliate.

"Caw—"

"Hope that's the case. I also hope you can pass on your own merit."

"But brother, why did you break your pen?"

Shaking his head slightly, the three-legged sparrow didn't seem to really trust the words of the God of West Wind.

However, it finally changed the subject, pointing to the broken quill of Zephyrus.

"It's just a pen. What's the big deal whether it's good or bad?"

With a cold laugh, the Wind God seemed indifferent.

Just a pen, really, what's the fuss? If it breaks, it breaks. It's no big deal.

Animals will be animals. If it were a person, they certainly wouldn't care about such a small matter.

"Ding—"

"To the two bird gentlemen, sorry to interrupt your conversation."

"But regarding the issue of intentionally damaging the testing equipment that was just detected, please cooperate and resolve it."

A familiar voice came from behind, and Zephyrus turned his head stiffly.

A pale silver metallic sphere hovered there. The voice undoubtedly came from it.

Stunned for a moment, the God of West Wind finally looked back in the direction of the three-legged sparrow.

Anywhere else, he had ten thousand ways to make a feather quill.

But here, he didn't dare use any power related to gods, not even divine arts.

"Caw—"

"Why are you looking at me? Don't you have money? Otherwise, pluck your own feathers. You don't expect me to do it for you, do you?"

"Rest assured, considering the cost and compensation issues, you only need to pluck five. Using materials to offset the debt isn't strange, right?"

"..."

After a moment, without knowing what kind of feelings he had, Zephyrus plucked five feathers to receive another quill.

With the tool regained, only a slight width was added to his feathers.

Listening to the continued chattering nearby, this time the God of West Wind ignored whatever the sparrow was saying.

For a long while, until another 'ding' from the silver sphere sounded, the God of West Wind, Phobos, raised his claw and grasped a sheet of papyrus.

Finally... finally, he saw the questions...

A strange feeling surged in his heart for a moment, but the God of West Wind quickly pressed it down, preparing to answer.

Though he had encountered many problems before, it wasn't his fault. It was just the peculiar order of Silver Moon City... Fortunately, there was no problem now.

Grasping the quill, Phobos felt his confidence return.

As an eternal deity, the Gods on Mount Olympus mostly didn't understand human knowledge, with a few exceptions.

Like God-King Zeus, or the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena... Of course, the God of West Wind was also among them.

Initially, it was just due to the attention of the Divine King; later, it was his curiosity about the source of faith.

Over time, Phobos read many books, and he considered himself a learned scholar even among humans.

Come on, the City of Silver Moon wouldn't possibly challenge a bird with complex witchcraft knowledge, right? If that were so, he'd accept it.

Taking a deep breath, the God of West Wind spread out the exam paper.

Next, it was time for him to showcase his strength.

...

"..."

Sasa—

"..."

Sasa—

"..."

Sasa—

In the temporary open-air exam hall, the birds who had received their papers wrote busily.

If one only saw the motion of the pen and not the users, no one would believe it was a group of birds answering.

Yet among the diligently writing birds, one stood still, "standing out like a crane among chickens."

"..."

"What is… this thing?"

In front of the papyrus, the claw that held the pen trembled slightly.

At this moment, Phobos felt somewhat bewildered.

Who am I? Where am I? What do I want to do?

No clue, absolutely no clue.

Facing the questions before him, the God of West Wind found himself speechless.

Even if he saw so-called profound witchcraft knowledge, he probably wouldn't have such a reaction.

Frankly, if he really came across such content, Phobos probably wouldn't have continued writing.

On the one hand, he wouldn't understand, and on the other, that would mean he had definitely been discovered.

No one would test a bird, even a talking bird, with such professional and complex content...so no matter how dangerous it was here, if it proved impossible, the God of West Wind would make the right decision.

However, that wasn't the case. At the moment, facing the exam questions, all Phobos felt was bewilderment.

Question 1: Given three rows of numbers,

1, 2, 3

4, 5, 6

7, 8, 9

Now choose numbers to create a sequence.

Get 3, 6, 4,

1, 2, 8,

9, *, 2.

Provide the missing number.

...

Question 2: Given a race between a black bird and a turtle.

The turtle leads the black bird by a hundred paces, advancing one pace every second, while the bird's speed is ten times that of the turtle.

The black bird believed it could win the race because its speed far exceeded that of the turtle.

But the turtle believed the opposite could never win because when the black bird closed the hundred paces, it had already moved further.

And when the black bird closed that distance again, the turtle moved again.

So no matter how hard the black bird tried, it could never catch up to the turtle.

Please give a conclusion for the above question and provide logical explanations.

Explain who would win, why, and where the opponent's logic was flawed.

...

Question 3:

...

"..."

Silent without a word, at this moment Phobos felt he didn't belong here.

These weren't sophisticated questions, nor did they have any professional aspect, yet truly facing them, the God of West Wind felt an overwhelming sense of being intellectually outclassed.

He sensed a logic in the numbers and felt a strange discord in the conversation between the turtle and the bird.

But the result was that he was helpless with either, not to mention the other ten or so questions.

Looking around, the God of West Wind originally thought he wasn't alone in his struggle, but in the end, he despairingly discovered that he was the only one at a loss.

Of the remaining birds, all continued furiously writing as if they found it no difficulty at all.

"..."

"Am I the god, or are they?"

"Maybe they're all gods turned into birds, and I'm the only bird turned into a god?"

A sense of powerlessness surged in his heart. Before this journey, Phobos considered many outcomes.

Like being discovered, then fighting his way out.

Or being detected, trying to bribe these short-lived mortals.

But what the God of West Wind never expected was that he would fail at the beginning, unable to even step into Silver Moon City's gate.

And the reason for his failure was being outdone by a group of birds.

"...ahem, caw—"

"Brother, look over here, I say... are you really not planning on 'borrowing' an answer, or exchanging views or something?"

The soft voice beside him was like rain after a long drought, as if he had found a light at the end of the tunnel.

At this moment, Phobos was immensely grateful to the previously annoying talkative sparrow.

Those who have not experienced it firsthand will never understand how much a person in the exam hall craves answers.

"Ahem..."

"'Borrowing' isn't necessary, but exchanging ideas..."

After pondering a bit, the God of West Wind said with reservation, "A person's thoughts can be a bit inadequate, especially since you're still young."

"Here's the deal, let me guide you."

"..."

Sasa—

Soon enough, this open-air exam hall added another sound of pen to paper.

This time, Phobos declared his earlier judgment correct.

Merely mortal questions, how could they possibly stump a deity?

However, he didn't notice that as he wrote, a silver sphere quietly appeared behind him.

It silently recorded everything, then sent it to the appropriate place.

Cheating was against the rules, but let him finish writing first.

After all, without this uninvited guest, where would Silver Moon City get this test?

...

Woosh woosh...

Along the seacoast, the waves surged.

A rope tied a gigantic pillar so it wouldn't drift away.

An abundance of supplies was sent inside, destined to maintain this sea voyage.

He didn't know that a god, desperately searching for him, was undergoing his first exam in life, nor did he know that he was about to experience being caught cheating for the first time.

Hercules walked to the sea, gazing out at the boundless ocean.

"The sea, unlike land, has depth, not just width."

"Have you ever been to the sea, Lord Ander?"

"No, although more than one person who received my strength has been here, I never have."

"But thinking back now, if not for the choices of the past, maybe this would have been my home..."

With rustling sounds, the puppet crawled out from the pocket.

Remembering the choices once laid before him, only then, he didn't know what they were.

Chess, sailing, theater.

He chose the latter, which was good. But for the two he didn't choose, who knows if they were better answers?

"So don't regret... And believe in every choice you make."

"Hercules, one day you'll become a real hero."

Speaking softly, in Ander's eyes, the so-called human heroes of chaos have never been heroes.

Although he himself didn't know what a real hero was like, at least he thought it shouldn't be like this.

"In the past... Someone told me stories. Hercules, when there's a chance in the future, I'll tell you too."

"As for how you understand them, that'll be up to you."

"I will."

Agreeing earnestly, Hercules looked at the sky.

It was getting late. He originally planned to go to Silver Moon City first, but thinking about it now, waiting a bit was fine.

He would go when he returned; after all, compared to the eastern sea's eye, no one in that city was awaiting his arrival.

```