306: Chapter 306 The Network of Willpower, Remote Descent

At this moment, Fang Cheng felt as if he were in a massive surveillance room.

The monitors at the terminal were those points of light floating and flickering in the dark Void Realm.

Meanwhile, the front-end cameras and recorders were the eyes and ears of those connected individuals.

Although he had not officially used his ability to project his consciousness over, Fang Cheng could directly achieve a subtle "initial resonance" through these points of light.

This resonance allowed him to perceive the immediate state of the connected individuals much more conveniently.

Sometimes, it was the intermittent yet real sounds of conversation.

Sometimes, it was fleeting yet exceptionally clear images.

It was as if the thoughts flashing through the other person's mind, or a moment they had just experienced, were precisely captured and transmitted over.

If he wanted to deeply understand the actual condition of a single target, Fang Cheng no longer needed to laboriously search through the golden sphere of light for the light patterns representing specific individual spiritual imprints, as he used to do.

Now, he could more directly select targets through these starlike points of light and establish stable mental channels.

Thereby achieving a deeper level of "Mind Resonance" and perceiving more detailed and specific information.

This significant enhancement of Mental Energy capabilities made the application of "Mind Resonance" much more flexible and efficient.

It was like possessing a surveillance network spread everywhere, capable of controlling the overall situation at any time and switching perspectives.

However, the enhancement of any ability was not without cost and always came with corresponding risks.

The most direct negative impact was the influx of mental information pouring in like a tidal wave.

If they could not be effectively extracted and digested in time, and were allowed to accumulate more and more in the Memory Palace, it would likely cause unpredictable consequences for himself.

In daily life, Fang Cheng might thus experience various hallucinations and auditory hallucinations more frequently, continuously suffering from the intrusion of other people's memory fragments.

He might even develop severe cognitive confusion, gradually failing to distinguish the boundaries between reality and illusion.

Ultimately, it would likely lead to a mental breakdown, driving him mad and deranged.

After all, those were torrents of messy information emanating from other people's consciousnesses, filled with strong personal colors.

When various external heterogeneous information accumulated to a certain extent, it would gradually occupy and distort his original self-cognition.

Over time, quantitative change would lead to qualitative change, turning the guest into the host.

His personality might even split as a result, becoming a chaotic aggregate accommodating countless consciousness fragments of others.

Of course, while bearing the risks, the benefits were also obvious.

Nowadays, between Fang Cheng and all individuals who had established a mental connection with him, there existed a mysterious, hard-to-describe close connection.

Even without entering the Memory Palace and not intentionally paying attention, he could roughly perceive the other party's current living state and relatively strong emotional fluctuations.

Especially when family members encountered sudden danger, that strong mental fluctuation originating from their Bloodline connection could allow Fang Cheng to keenly sense it at the very first moment, thereby making the most timely response measures.

As his thoughts flowed to this point, Fang Cheng's attention returned to the "stars" floating above the dome of the Memory Palace.

He carefully observed those light points of varying brightness and size, feeling the spider-web-like invisible connections between them and the golden sphere of light.

Soon, he discovered a rather interesting phenomenon.

As more Mental Energy was absorbed from the corresponding light point through this connection, that light point would not become dim or shriveled because of it.

Instead, it would become increasingly bright and grand, and the connection with the golden sphere of light would also become tighter and more stable accordingly.

This vaguely revealed that a peculiar symbiotic relationship existed between Fang Cheng and those light points, rather than a simple one-sided taking.

While absorbing the other party's Mental Energy, it seemed that it was also feeding back weakly to those connected individuals through some unknown mechanism.

Meanwhile, the changes in these "strengthened" light points themselves were also exerting a subtle positive influence on the structure and stability of the entire Memory Palace.

It was as if they were further integrating into this magnificent mental space, gradually becoming an inseparable and interdependent part of it.

Both sides seemed to be jointly managing this mental space and sharing the benefits brought by it.

Fang Cheng couldn't help but think of the mysterious origin of that "golden bumpa bottle", as well as the many profound doctrines in Buddhist scriptures concerning "sentient beings' faith" and "Karma".

If this special Mental Energy that could be absorbed, transformed, and possessed the nature of "feedback" was called a generalized "Power Of Will".

Then, wasn't this complex mental connection network he had built currently the embryonic form of a "Power Of Will network"?

One of its core functions was to collect and share the Mental Energy of numerous individuals, and then, like refining Ore, eliminate the Impurities within to turn it into pure, universally usable energy.

Regarding the essence of "Power Of Will", Fang Cheng had also touched upon some related theories in his past reading.

It was usually understood as an energy originating from others' consciousnesses that could be absorbed and utilized, and its generation and effects were often closely linked to the word "Karma".

In Buddhism's definition, "Power Of Will" was regarded as a "karmic force of wishes", a powerful spiritual power generated when practitioners made grand vows—such as Amitabha Buddha's famous forty-eight great vows—and was seen as the foundation for achieving boundless Karma.

Meanwhile, some modern spiritual cultivation schools attempted to explain it by combining emerging quantum physics concepts, analogizing "Power Of Will" to a special energy wave.

They believed that this energy wave could act on others through effects similar to "quantum entanglement", and ultimately feed back to the sender themselves.

According to the so-called "Law of Projection", the "Power Of Will" emitted by a person—whether positive blessings or negative curses—would ultimately bounce back to themselves like a boomerang, thereby forming a perfect closed loop of "Power Of Will is Karma".

In summary, the generation of "Power Of Will" was essentially the result of mental-level interaction between the sender and the receiver.

Its ultimate effect largely depended on whether the initial intention was pure and the belief was firm, and it also followed the Law of the Universe regarding the conservation of energy.

As the number of individuals establishing mental connections with him continued to increase in the future, and the depth of connection between each other continued to strengthen, the total amount of "Power Of Will" that Fang Cheng could collect would inevitably grow more and more.

This would not only profoundly affect Fang Cheng himself, but would also exert a subtle influence on those individuals who had established mental connections with him.

Everyone's mental world might undergo some subtle changes because of this, converging in a certain direction.

And Fang Cheng, as the ultimate convergence hub of this increasingly massive "Power Of Will network", was naturally affected the most and most directly.

During Meditation, the mental torrent formed by countless whispers beside his ears.

In daily life, the sudden auditory hallucinations and illusions...

These were all specific manifestations of the impact of "Power Of Will" and accompanying phenomena of the network's operation.

Fang Cheng needed to more quickly screen out truly valuable content from this increasingly noisy and complicated information.

For example, exceptionally strong distress signals sent by certain individuals connected to him at critical moments.

Or, some malicious thoughts and early warnings directed at himself and his friends and family around him.

How to maintain a sober balance between this subtle boundary of noise and clarity.

How to effectively utilize this massive amount of information without being backlashed and swallowed by it.

All these had become a crucial topic on his path of mental Cultivation in the future.

Fang Cheng's consciousness was immersed in the Memory Palace, his gaze slowly sweeping across.

This was a vast mental space, the contours of the hall looming indistinctly in the dimness.

Above the dome was not a starry sky, but a profound, indescribable darkness.

This mental fortress floating in the conscious world had no lighting facilities of its own.

Due to the existence of the golden sphere of light and numerous light points, the surrounding scenery was finally reluctantly illuminated now.

Several giant pillars and arches supporting the massive structure cast large areas of shadows.

Consciousness swept silently like the wind, making everything appear both solemn and mysterious.

Like a monarch, Fang Cheng inspected this territory.

At this moment, he noticed that the gloss of the edge areas of the palace appeared slightly dim.

The structural joints also showed signs of looseness, just like the beams and pillars of an ancient temple covered in dust, beginning to show subtle cracks.

The Memory Palace itself needed frequent "maintenance".

Otherwise, as time passed, it would also like buildings in reality, gradually heading towards ruin and even eventually collapsing due to lack of repair.

Meanwhile, these "light points" scattered everywhere like stars, although bringing vitality and the possibility of growth to the Memory Palace, also introduced new unstable factors.

In addition to the erosive power coming from the dark Void Realm, Fang Cheng could also vaguely sense that outside the Memory Palace, there seemed to be some even weirder things.

They lurked outside, attempting to use those "starlike light points" representing ordinary people as a springboard to slowly and silently infiltrate.

This feeling was very vague and indescribable, yet it instinctively made Fang Cheng feel a trace of vigilance.

He did not delve deeply into this abnormal feeling for the time being, but silently kept it in his heart, treating it as a phenomenon requiring long-term attention.

Pulling back his chaotic thoughts, Fang Cheng slowly opened his eyes.

The room remained dim, and he glanced at the phone placed beside him.

The screen clearly displayed the current time:

13:26.

It was already past noon, close to two o'clock in the afternoon.

The wind and rain outside the window still hadn't stopped, and the sky was dim and gloomy, as if dusk had descended early.

Fang Cheng's stomach was growling, but he didn't immediately get up to go downstairs to find a restaurant to eat.

The day before yesterday, Xu Hao reported an important piece of news through a secret contact method.

The branch of the Noah Organization in Dongdu City would hold an internal action meeting this afternoon, around this very time.

The main topic was discussing how to hunt down that murderer who slaughtered more than two hundred people in the port warehouse incident and specifically went against the organization.

That was Fang Cheng, who had been "impersonated" by someone.

As for that fellow Xu Hao, in order to obtain more intelligence, he chose to recommend himself.

Perhaps the Noah Organization was really short-handed, or perhaps because he was a local of Dongdu, he actually successfully secured the qualification to participate in the operation.

Xu Hao had sworn at that time that once he got exact news, he would find a way to notify Fang Cheng at the first moment.

But Fang Cheng was not prepared to passively wait for Xu Hao to transmit intelligence.

Instead, he planned to personally "attend" this banquet designed to trap him.

Adjusting his breathing, Fang Cheng resisted the desire to eat and calmed his state of mind.

Then he closed his eyes again, his consciousness sinking into the Memory Palace.

This time, the target was very clear.

His gaze searched among the numerous flickering "starlike light points" for a moment, and soon locked onto a light point with a relatively high brightness.

Concentrating his Focus, he cast his consciousness along that invisible mental silk thread toward the light point representing Xu Hao.

"One-way projection!"

As Fang Cheng silently recited the command in his heart, a buzzing sound of resonance rang in his ears.

In an instant, his vision changed abruptly.

Everything around turned into a colorful tunnel, and countless bizarre scenes flashed by like a fast-forwarded movie, constantly changing, distorting, and stretching.

Fang Cheng felt as if he had transformed into a current of conscious electricity, traversing layers upon layers of spatial barriers at a speed exceeding physical limits.

This feeling was wonderful and dizzying, like a Soul's Soul Emergence, but his consciousness always maintained sobriety and Focus.

Finally, after passing through a hazy halo of light, his vision suddenly cleared up.

Fang Cheng "saw" it.

...

Inside a heavily guarded high-end office building in Dongdu City.

Facing the mirror-smooth floor-to-ceiling window, Xu Hao, who was listlessly fidgeting with his new hairstyle, suddenly felt his heart stir for no apparent reason.

He vaguely felt as if something had "entered" his brain.

But he shook his head and blinked his eyes, and that strange feeling vanished without a trace again.

"What's wrong, Brother Hao? Participating in such a big scene for the first time, a little nervous?"

A slightly teasing voice came from the side.

The speaker was a young man in his late twenties.

Wearing a crisp black suit, his hair was combed shiny, meticulous, as if wearing a helmet.

His name was Liu Yu, and he was another newly recruited member within the Noah Organization.

Because they were both newcomers, his relationship with Xu Hao was neither good nor bad on ordinary days, considered friends in terms of Face.

Hearing this, Xu Hao immediately put away that trace of imperceptible abnormality on his Face.

He grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, and said with his signature reckless tone:

"Nervous? What a joke!"

"What kind of scene hasn't this old man seen? Back in the day, I held two kitchen knives and hacked from one end of the street to the other, who on the streets wouldn't give me a thumbs up..."

He was just about to brag about his glorious deeds when he was impatiently interrupted by Liu Yu.

"Alright, alright, Brother Hao, I know you are fiercely brave."

Liu Yu waved his hand perfunctorily and pointed to the half-open conference room door ahead.

"It's almost time, those big shots should all have arrived, let's go in too."

Xu Hao curled his lips and didn't say anything more.

He tidied up the obviously ill-fitting cheap suit on his body.

This was specially bought from a roadside stall to attend today's meeting.

In the corridor, every few steps stood a guard wearing a black suit and sunglasses.

They were expressionless, brawny, like cold sculptures, exuding an aura of keeping strangers away.

An invisible sense of oppression permeated the air.

Xu Hao and Liu Yu walked side by side, casually chatting about some harmless idle talk.

While walking towards the door of the luxuriously decorated conference room that currently exuded a murderous aura.