438: Chapter 438 I am the sun walking in the world

Above the golden throne, Fang Cheng's gaze was like lightning, sweeping across the hall constructed by his own will.

Light filtered through the narrow stained glass windows on both sides, casting colorful paths of light on the ground that traversed the entire hall like ribbons.

The dozens of meters high stone pillars resembled arms propping up the sky, supporting a semicircular dome with an astonishing span, making the hall appear even more magnificent.

He slowly raised his head, looking up toward the dome.

There were no carved beams or painted rafters there, but rather a vast Universe copied onto it.

Countless points of light flickered quietly in the deep darkness, resembling brilliant stars.

It was as if it had been meticulously arranged by the hands of a deity, shrinking and printing the boundless celestial dimensions onto it.

And right in the center of this starry sky hung a cluster of the most dazzling golden light.

Its volume was dozens of times larger than any surrounding star, like an eternal and undying sun, ruling over this spiritual Universe.

At the core where the flame of light was most blazing, a golden pupil faintly emerged, indifferent and majestic.

It was as if this entire blazing "Sun" was merely its opened eyelid.

Whenever that pupil blinked occasionally, a ring of invisible energy pulse would spread outward.

Instantly, all the points of light on the entire dome resonated accordingly, flashing in unison.

Fang Cheng noticed that the number of these points of light was nearly three times more than before.

They varied in shape; some were as bright as diamonds, while others were as dim as ashes.

There were also some that flickered in and out of view, as if far away on the horizon, appearing extremely unstable.

But they all followed a rule: the closer they were to the "Sun" in the center of the dome, the more brilliant and bright their light became.

Every star was connected to this "Sun" by an invisible spiritual thread.

These threads were like both the light illuminating all things and indestructible anchor cables, maintaining the connection between all stars and the sun.

So that they would not drift with the current in this boundless dark world, lose their direction, and eventually float toward an unknown distance, completely severing the connection.

This was the — Sun Heart Network jointly constructed by the True Self of the Inner Scene World and all spiritual connectors.

When Fang Cheng cast his consciousness toward the entire starry sky, an endless torrent of information swept over him instantly.

In his field of vision, it was as if hundreds of television screens were turned on simultaneously.

There were images of a boxer hitting a punching bag in a venue, the noisy sounds of passersby bargaining on the street, and the bitter taste of coffee in the mouth of a certain white-collar worker.

Even, there was a sudden, violent panting...

Sound, images, smell, touch—information from the five senses poured in like a frenzy.

Yet it was processed in an orderly manner within his consciousness, without any sense of clutter.

This was the omniscient perspective brought by "Mind Resonance".

Fang Cheng, who was on the throne, could simultaneously peek into a corner of all connectors' spiritual worlds and feel their instantaneous sensations.

However, the mental load of this state was extremely terrifying.

Even with Fang Cheng's mental attribute as high as 70 points, he could not maintain it for long.

The figure on the throne narrowed his eyes slightly and instantly withdrew the omniscient perspective,

Instead locking his attention on a few newborn stars with relatively brighter light.

What they represented were the newly added "believers".

When Fang Cheng's gaze suddenly swept across them, several images were immediately and clearly transmitted over.

In a certain government building, Officer Zhou Liang was buried in a pile of case files, his brows tightly furrowed.

At a workstation not far away, A-Li, A-Yang, and Xiao Jie were quietly celebrating.

It seemed they had just completed a thorny task and received praise from their boss, their faces brimming with joy and relaxation.

And...

Fang Cheng's gaze turned to another star.

Inside a hotel room, a slender female figure leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the bustling traffic outside.

Her eyes appeared somewhat hollow, and an unshakable feeling of loneliness was clearly discernible across the spiritual connection.

That was Majima Goro's fiancée, Choi Suyoung.

Fang Cheng guessed that the reason these people formed a spiritual connection with him likely stemmed from the events of that night at the Noah Building.

At that time, he guided everyone to use him as a Meditation coordinate, using the Memory Palace as a carrier, and joined hands with Cheng Jiashu to lead them through the fog of the Inner World, successfully transmigrating to the top floor.

That process itself was already the initial construction of a spiritual connection.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng's heart stirred slightly, and he cast his gaze toward the edge of this starry sky.

There, a star was like the morning star about to fade after dawn.

Its light was so faint that one might even miss it if not looking closely, yet it happened to exude a sense of familiarity.

It was Cheng Jiashu's consciousness coordinate.

Fang Cheng felt it in his heart and immediately focused his consciousness over.

Trying to further check his current situation, he immediately encountered a repulsive force.

That star seemed to exist in this starry sky, but like an illusion, it was elusive and difficult to establish a stable channel with.

After trying for a moment, Fang Cheng abandoned the prankish thought of prying into Cheng Jiashu's privacy.

Instead, looking at the edge of the dome, he continued to search for other similar dim points of light.

"Lin Chuqiao, Bailing, Dachui, and Uncle Li Dingjian..."

Sweeping his gaze across the targets one by one, Fang Cheng silently chanted the names behind them in a low voice.

The people represented by these points of light had a distinct commonality.

They were all ability users.

Fang Cheng had a flash of realization in his heart.

Compared with ordinary people, the process of establishing a spiritual connection with ability users obviously had a barrier originating from the depths of the subconscious.

After this period of Meditation practice, coupled with the information obtained from Ma Jianguo, he was already very clear.

In this world, the source of all special abilities did not arise out of thin air, and could often be traced back to a huge and mysterious existence.

Establishing a spiritual connection with them was essentially equivalent to competing with that mysterious existence for "spiritual food".

In other words, it was snatching meat from the opponent's bowl; the difficulty of doing so could be imagined.

Of course, Wen Xin was an exception.

Deep in her subconscious, her trust in him seemed to have long surpassed the existence that gave her abilities.

And because of this, she had responded to his call while unconscious, breaking free from the dark ice field that imprisoned her Soul.

Strictly speaking, Wen Xin was his first true "believer" in the real sense.

Fang Cheng looked up toward the dome, at that unique star closest to the sun and most dazzling, silently feeling the other person's current state.

In the bright and clean classroom, the girl was listening to the lecture attentively.

Suddenly, her pen tip paused, and as if sensing something, she raised her head to look out the window, a trace of confusion flashing in her amber eyes.

Fang Cheng smiled slightly and gently cut off the connection, not continuing to disturb her.

Instead, he looked at nearby positions, two other relatively brighter stars.

"Xu Hao, Xiaosa."

These two could be said to be the connectors with the most stable spiritual connection with him besides Wen Xin.

Xiaosa was originally an ordinary person. Through his continuous guidance, he had already become a most fanatical believer.

As for Xu Hao, he was not a true ability user, his body had only been modified and strengthened through experimental means.

Precisely because there were not too many constraints from the "source", he was able to successfully establish a spiritual connection with him by cultivating the Great Sun Burning Body Art.

Looking at these two bright stars, Fang Cheng's mind stirred slightly, and he looked again at the ability description of Mind Resonance on the panel.

Through Ideation Descent, the consciousness of multiple connected targets could be forcibly pulled into the Inner Scene World.

What the specific effect of this ability was still had to be tested through personal practice.

However, Fang Cheng did not choose Xu Hao and Xiaosa for the time being.

He had other arrangements for these two precious "guinea pigs".

Fang Cheng's gaze swept across, and among the hundreds of nodes of the Sun Heart Network, he casually selected two targets that looked the most ordinary.

They were both passersby who watched him fight Minister Luo Lie in the rain outside the Noah Building that night.

With his mind made up, Fang Cheng sat upright on the throne, his lips parting slightly as he spat out two words:

"Descent."

As the words fell, a decree took effect instantly within the palace.

Along with a buzzing sound, two pillars of white light suddenly appeared on the ground in the center of the golden hall.

Countless points of light converged, twisted, and stretched within them, finally condensing into two human shapes as the light dissipated.

"Holy crap! Is the internet disconnected? What kind of ghost place is this?"

A slightly chubby youth wearing a tank top and shorts was grabbing his hair, his face full of bewilderment and irritability.

"I was just one hit away from a penta kill! Which goddamned person pulled my internet cable!"

His name was Zhangwei, a standard internet-addicted homebody. The previous second he was still dominating the game, but now he had suddenly descended to this place.

"Is this... the world after death?"

Another middle-aged man in a suit and tie with glasses pushed up his frames, putting on a calm facade as he looked around, though shock was hard to conceal in his eyes.

"I remember... I was just having a meeting with employees discussing next quarter's KPI..."

His name was Liming, an ordinary sales manager. At this moment, his worldview was suffering a violent impact.

He thought he had been working day and night, died of overwork at the company, and then went to heaven.

The two looked at the magnificent and solemn palace scene, and then blankly looked at each other standing a few meters away.

But they found that each other's faces were shrouded in a layer of gray mist, making them unclear to see.

This added even more to the bizarreness and mystery of this place.

Just as they were in doubt and uncertainty, a grandiose voice suddenly sounded, as if echoing directly in the depths of their Souls:

"Do not panic, lost lambs."

The two raised their heads in horror, looking toward the source of the sound.

They saw that at the end of the main hall, above the high steps, a throne cast of pure gold stood quietly.

Seated upon the throne was a humanoid light and shadow that could not be gazed at directly.

Its entire body emitted a brilliance as dazzling as the sun, illuminating the entire magnificent palace into a brilliant splendor.

That light seemed to have life; every alternating dimness and brightness like a breath made their Souls feel an inexplicable shudder.

Zhangwei's irritable mood instantly vanished without a trace, replaced by a heartfelt awe, and he stammered:

"You... who are you? Are you an immortal?"

Liming was a bit calmer than him, but his voice was also trembling:

"Are we... dead?"

"Life and death are merely a link in the cycle."

The figure on the throne did not answer directly, his voice ethereal and philosophical:

"I felt the piety in your hearts, and thus guided you here in a dream to sow the seeds of divine grace."

Dreams? Piety?

Both of them were stunned. They were staunch materialists who rarely even stepped into temples on regular days—where would their piety come from?

"We... don't seem to believe in gods..."

Liming chose his words carefully, fearing that he would anger this existence suspected to be a "deity".

The figure let out a faint chuckle, which turned into substantial ripples and rippled through the air.

"Faith is not spoken of with the mouth, but hidden in the heart."

"That night, the heavy rain poured, and when all people in the world were trapped by fear, you two stopped in the rain and witnessed the moment when darkness was dispelled by light."

Boom!

This sentence was like a flash of lightning, instantly splitting open the fog in the two men's minds.

That rainy night, the Noah Building, the soaring flames into the sky!

And that... that figure suspended in the air like a god and demon, shattering the storm with a single punch!

That incomparably shocking image had long been deeply carved into their minds.

These days, it often reappeared in their dreams.

"It's you!"

Liming trembled all over, crying out in shock: "The superman who flew in the sky and defeated the monster..."

"Holy cow!"

Zhangwei also reacted abruptly, as if seeing an idol, so excited that his face flushed red:

"I remember now, no wonder it looked so familiar! I even took photos back then and posted them on the forum."

"So it was you, Big Bro! No, Great God!"

The figure on the throne slowly raised a hand, his voice becoming even more majestic.

"I am neither Big Bro nor Great God."

"I am the Sun walking in the world, the Law that banishes darkness. What you see is merely my projection in the mortal realm."

Along with his words, the entire starry sky dome suddenly burst into brilliant light, and a huge three-dimensional stereo image slowly unfolded above the two men's heads.

That was precisely the scene around the Noah Building on that rainy night.

Overlooking from high altitude, the perspective clearly displayed the entire process of a muscular hunk fighting another mysterious man who controlled a glass storm.

Every detail could be described as vividly depicted down to the finest hair.

Except for the muscular hunk's underwear area, which was blocked by a layer of Holy Light, receiving a slight special treatment.

Finally, the image froze at a single instant.

The muscular hunk burned with raging flames all over his body, resembling the descent of a God of War, and fiercely threw out that final punch that decided the outcome.

The impact of viewing the scene from a God's-eye view was a hundred times more shocking than looking up from the ground at that time.

"Oh my god..."

Liming was completely speechless, his eyes under his glasses widened round.

"Too... too cool..."

Zhangwei muttered to himself, leaving only fanatical worship in his eyes.

The image on the dome dissipated, and the voice sounded again:

"You are all predestined people. Meeting in a dream today, I can grant you a seed of divine grace to help you go further on your respective paths."

The two were stunned at first, and then overjoyed.

Liming reacted first; many years of sales experience made him understand that opportunities are left to those who are prepared.

Care whether he is a real god or not—such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not grasping it would make one a fool!

Zhangwei's thinking was even more erratic.

Hidden quest! This is definitely triggering a hidden quest of a Divine-Grade NPC!

The two looked at each other and instantly reached a consensus.

Uncannily with a "thump", they knelt on the ground and repeatedly kowtowed toward the figure on the throne, incomparably pious.

"Go."

The voice of the figure on the throne returned to indifference:

"Remember, keep the light in your heart amidst the darkness, only then can you see the light again. We will have a day to meet again."

As the words fell, the two figures began to turn transparent, transforming into points of light and gradually dissipating.

"Wait... we worshipped the god, but it seems we haven't made a wish yet..."

The two extremely excited people suddenly turned their brains around.

However, their consciousness had completely dissipated, and their final cries vanished into nothingness.

The magnificent hall returned to silence.

Fang Cheng sat on the throne, the light around his body gradually receding, revealing his original appearance.

His expression was calm as he raised his head to look at the dome.

The stars representing those two believers were visibly brighter than before, and their connection with him had also become closer.

The first simple experiment was obviously a success.

Of course, the ability "Ideation Descent" was not just used to act like a god playing ghosts and deepen believers' faith.

In the future, after the Illuminati is officially established, this will be the most secretive meeting room.

He could pull in multiple members at the same time and discuss important decisions here without worrying about internal traitors at all.

As long as they were part of the Sun Heart Network, everyone's inner thoughts and emotional fluctuations could not escape his notice.

Fang Cheng gathered his thoughts and looked again at the second half of the ability description.

"Create illusions... materialize powerful enemies based on the connector's memories and fears..."

The application methods of this ability were obviously more flexible and interesting.

Fang Cheng pondered that if the memories of fear in his heart could be directly molded into monsters,

then he could completely construct the most suitable trial ground for organization members, helping them hone their wills and enhance their strength.

And the reverse effect of doing so could also accelerate the speed of his own force's development.

Fang Cheng stared at the two stars representing Xu Hao and Xiaosa, many thoughts bubbling up in his heart.

Perhaps he could refer to those classic horror movies or games from his past life, personally design a scene, and set up some levels.

Then throw these two "guinea pigs" in to see what the specific effect was...

Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth hooked up slightly into an arc.

However, now was not the time.

Wait until evening to enter dreams and talk about it.

(End of Chapter)