5: Chapter 5 The First Drop of Faith and the First Crisis

"Orchid Latte, thirty percent sugar, no ice, extra pecans."

The clerk behind the counter didn't even look up, fingers flying across the ordering screen. "Alright, please show your 'Yue Tea' app member code. Queue number A47, estimated wait time is 25 minutes."

A soft sigh rippled through the young people in line as they began scrolling through their phones even faster, the air thick with a faint sense of irritability.

Lin Yuan stood not far from the line, watching like an ordinary bystander. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, attempting to sense the invisible emotional fluctuations around him. At first, it was just chaos, but as he deliberately focused his attention on points like 'irritation from waiting,' 'desire for that specific drink,' and 'unwillingness to waste time,' the dim [God of Ruins] godhood deep within his soul seemed to throb extremely faintly.

It was very blurry and thin, but there were indeed some stray, gray 'threads' floating around. Was this the 'stray thought aspiration power' that hadn't been absorbed by any deity? Among them, there also seemed to be a trace of anticipation to 'drink it sooner.'

He tried to use his will to 'guide' these threads, acting as clumsily as if he were using a slotted spoon to scoop air. Most passed right through him without any reaction. However, perhaps due to the natural inclusivity—or rather, the void-like nature—of his 'nameless' or 'undefined' godhood, a few extremely fine strands were actually attracted and merged into his body.

[faith reserve: 0.5 → 0.501]

The number jumped slightly, an almost negligible amount. But Lin Yuan felt a surge of joy—it worked! Although the efficiency was appallingly low, it proved his theory: he could extract the most primitive dust of faith from these most mundane, tiny 'unmet desires' and 'negative emotions.'

He needed a more efficient method; he needed a 'filter' and an 'amplifier.'

He walked to a street corner, opened his phone, and quickly registered several brand-new social media and niche forum accounts with layers of disguised identity information. Then, he began editing his first piece of 'preaching' content—if it could even be called that.

The content didn't directly mention any deity. Instead, it appeared in the form of a slightly playful and practical 'Urban White-Collar Efficiency Note,' titled: "How I 'Optimized' Half an Hour of Free Time from 25 Minutes of Waiting for Milk Tea."

In the post, he used a relaxed tone to analyze the sources of anxiety while waiting in line and proposed several 'micro-time utilization tips' (such as processing email lists, listening to educational audio, or doing simple neck relaxation exercises). He emphasized that this 'Optimization' wasn't for the sake of working harder, but to use the saved time to truly rest or please oneself. At the end, he used an inconspicuous tag: #Anti-RatRaceOptimization.

He posted this short article to several high-pressure workplace communities and forums where young people gathered. He didn't buy any promotion; he just waited quietly.

At first, it was like a stone sinking into the ocean. But after a few hours, scattered likes and replies began to appear.

"Makes sense, I'll try it next time."

"Hahaha, this hits the soul. I really do just scroll through my phone irritably while waiting in line."

"Saving time just to lie down better—nothing wrong with that!"

"Now this is a healthy outlook on work and life."

With every reply of agreement and every tiny emotional resonance, Lin Yuan could feel gray threads of aspiration power—slightly 'sturdier' than those captured on the street—gathering from across cyberspace. They were still weak, but more focused, carrying positive attributes of 'agreement' and 'anticipation for change' rather than just 'irritation.'

[faith reserve: 0.501 → 0.508 ...0.512 ...0.515]

The growth was slow, but steady! Moreover, as a few people shared the post, the number would occasionally take a small leap. More importantly, in the [Faith Connection] column of the godhood system, it was finally no longer 0, but had become (Weak Connection: 3). This represented the 'agreement' of three people, establishing extremely fragile one-way connections with him.

Success! He had found an extremely niche but viable method for initial faith collection: outputting resonant 'solutions' to satisfy the 'spiritual Optimization' needs of a specific group (urbanites trapped in the rat race), thereby extracting aspiration power.

Though this aspiration power was pitifully small and the 30 points of divine breath felt like an insurmountable chasm, it was a breakthrough from zero to one! He could slowly nurture these connections through continuous content output and eventually guide them to generate stronger, clearly directed aspiration power (praying to him).

The flame of hope had just been lit.

However, just as Lin Yuan was preparing to conceive the next 'Optimization Note' and thinking about how to virtualize the 'Temple' concept (such as establishing a hidden 'spiritual corner' that only those with weak connections could perceive)—

A cold, filthy, and malicious aura, like a freezing venomous snake, suddenly coiled around his godhood, which had just gathered a trace of warmth!

"Ugh!" Lin Yuan groaned, his face turning pale instantly. A corrosive sting radiated from deep within his soul, and that 0.515 faith reserve began to fluctuate unsteadily, even showing signs of dissipating!

[Warning! Malicious faith erosion detected! Source: Unknown low-level evil spirit (or a contaminated collection of aspiration power)!]

[Warning! Your godhood is in a 'Decaying' state; defense is extremely low! Please cut off the connection or purify immediately!]

Lin Yuan snapped his head up, his sharp gaze scanning the surroundings. Pedestrians continued on as usual, neon lights flickered, and there was no visible abnormality.

But in his 'spiritual sense' (the meager perception brought by his 0.515 faith reserve), he could see an extremely dim 'aspiration stream' emitting an aura of mold and curses. It crept out from a darker, dilapidated alleyway nearby, seemingly sweeping past by chance, yet also drawn to the newly born, faint 'ordered aspiration' on his side, like a hyena catching the scent of blood.

Was it a wild evil spirit entrenched in that old urban district, surviving by collecting extreme negative emotions like 'resentment,' 'jealousy,' and 'despair'? Or was it the leaked aura of some low-grade wicked cult?

He had only just started, and he had already attracted a lurker in the dark?

A chill ran down Lin Yuan's spine. He immediately focused all his strength to suppress his godhood's aura, cutting off the active attraction of external aspiration and hiding those three 'weak connections' as deeply as possible. The cold aura lost its clear target, circled in place for a moment, and then slowly receded.

The crisis was temporarily averted, but Lin Yuan's back was soaked in cold sweat.

He realized that this world was far more dangerous than he had imagined. There weren't just high-and-mighty gods monopolizing resources or financial giants like 'Lingxiao Capital'; in the shadows of these glorious stages, countless dark entities crawled, surviving by devouring negative emotions and fragile souls.

His 'Optimization' aspiration power, while positive, also stemmed from pressure and dissatisfaction. To these dark entities, it might be just another kind of 'food,' or... an 'anomaly' worth eradicating.

The road ahead was treacherous and filled with hidden dangers.

Lin Yuan clenched his fists and looked at the system interface.

[faith reserve: 0.511 (Slight loss)]

[divine breath Countdown: 28 days, 05 hours, 11 minutes]

[Faith Connection: 3 (Hidden state)]

The first drop of faith was so difficult to obtain, and the first crisis had come so quickly.

But the fire in his eyes did not go out; instead, because of this cold threat, it burned even more calmly and resolutely.

This gamble of the godhood loan was not just a race against time and debt, but a race against omnipresent malice.

He needed to grow faster, find a way to protect himself, and truly carve out that 'Blue Ocean of Faith' into his own solid territory.

As a first step, perhaps he should 'take a look' at that dark alley to know his enemy. Or, he could find a way to add a little... self-defense capability to this body, which was no different from a mortal's aside from its meager faith.

The night grew deeper. The city's neon lights illuminated the prosperity, but they could not pierce through all the shadows.

In a higher dimension, within a palace shrouded in clouds and mist, an ancient bronze mirror displayed a blurry scene of the block where Lin Yuan was located, along with several imperceptible data streams. Before the mirror, Zhao Wuyong gently swirled the amber-colored immortal brew in his glass, a meaningful smile on his face.

"His reaction speed is decent, and he has some vigilance. It's just that... he's too weak."

"God of Ruins? An interesting name. Can you bring me a surprise for the first installment of divine breath? I'm looking forward to it."