Lots of purple prose. That was the first bit that Val got out of Tai Yang's lecture, which spoke all about being pure good and shining examples of good people. He doubted that anyone in the first year would become a saint, but nevertheless, didn't speak a single word. Instead, he kept quiet and listened, a skill that he mastered a long time ago.

Being a Land God, more often than not, meant that he had to patiently listen to the rants of heartbroken wives as well. And women were scary, regardless of whether they were mortal or not.

The aspects of 'negative' emotion, though, was something that did interest Val. He never thought too deeply about such things before, rarely caring about whether he was angry or not when he had slew demons in the past. Yes, there was definitely an immense amount of malice and pride during that incident centuries ago, but even then, he didn't recall ever being disadvantaged by it. Was that what Tai Yang meant when it came to controlling negative emotions?

The Land God smiled then. If that was the case, he probably already mastered meditation.

Positioning himself in the most comfortable position possible, which, for him, was floating a few inches off the ground, his hands cradling his head while he lied down parallel to the ground, Val closed his eyes and thought about the idea of Peace, cutting off all breathing, because Land Gods did not truly need to breathe.

Instead of something, the God found nothing.

What was Peace to a God, when such a divine being could only focus on ensuring the Peace of others? His senses sharpened as he absolutely did nothing. His heart stopped pumping 'blood'. His lungs stopped taking in oxygen. Not a single part of his body moved as he entered a state of complete stillness.

He heard the breathing of all the humans in the city, and the heartbeats of all the animals that scurried along their lives. The vastness and exactness of his senses were incredible, but still, there was no particular feeling or thought that came when he invoked the non-existent imagery of Peace. There was nothing there.

That made sense.

A God was an empty being sustained by the prayers and blessings of the people, and thus, constantly held on a leash in order to ensure the happiness of others.

And then, Val wondered.

[i]Are Gods just concepts then? A mass of beliefs given conscious thought?[/i]

Instead of thinking about peace, he mulled over that, all while in a state that most would consider 'dead'.