Chapter 517

Chapter 517: Chapter 514: "Let Everyone Gather Around You to Listen to the Lighthouse.In fairy tales, there’s often a beautiful story that goes, "A hardworking farmer marries a fairy wife."

For instance, a poor farmer, on an exceedingly ordinary day, accidentally catches a spiritual golden fish.

The golden fish says it is the daughter of the sea and that if the farmer lets it go, it can grant his wishes.

The farmer thought for a bit and said,

...Kind golden fish, a beautiful big house would be the best reward.

...Merciful golden fish, endless fields that one cannot till, healthy cows and horses are also my heart’s desire.

...Compassionate golden fish, I want a beautiful hardworking woman whom I wish could stay with me for a long time.

The golden fish granted his wishes.

Thereupon, a mansion rose from the ground, fields stretched for thousands of acres, strong cattle and horses became numerous, and a wife as beautiful as a celestial being also came to his side.

The farmer lived a life of wealth, without a care for food or clothes for the rest of his life, with a full house of children and grandchildren, happily and contentedly.

...This is a "fairy tale."

The innate human desires for wealth, health, and love retell an idea crucially oriented toward human society, prompting an exploration of the ideal state of life.

Even if it’s just about getting something for nothing, expecting pies to fall from the sky, people still hope to attain happiness like the farmer’s.

The determinants of their fate are no longer enduring labor and supplementary wisdom but a golden fish that might fall into their nets at any time.

But in reality, everyone knows that merely thinking will not bring about the happiness of fantasies.

After all, fairy tales are just fairy tales, and human desires and fantasies are supposed to be just daydreams, meaningless.

...But interestingly enough,

The faith rules of Qiongdi endow these "fantasies" with meaning.

The emergence of faith rules has broken the derogatory view of daydreams.

Because it seems that as long as one fantasizes earnestly, with devout faith, people can indeed fulfill their "fantasies."

Thus, everyone found their own joy and even established a ruling class of daydreamers, prayer rituals, shamanic means, and tribal faiths, taking pride in them.

Xiber had heard such stories.

...For example, as long as you sincerely believe in Bai Shen, believe in His existence, He will surely descend to Qiongdi and bless the people.

However, day after day, people keep repeating various sacrificial acts, blood sacrifices, slaughtering livestock, killing living beings, and throwing children into the lava, thinking that doing so will send their "devotion" up to heaven and bring about the day.

These brutal and meaningless actions have become highly "orthodox" here.

The young Xiber could not understand these; she just liked to draw and write on the walls of the underground passageways.

She was too lonely, without a close friend, and Feng Qiqi, like a little brat, only knew how to build his "Dark Demon King’s Crusade." She could only write things for herself to see.

But one day, her servant Shadow suddenly told her,

After hearing this, Cici said she wanted a friend.

So she took up the red pen and kept writing on the wall.

As she wrote, she expressed her hope to have a friend, to appear by her side one day.

...He should have black hair, black eyes, because she likes the color black.

...He should have a smart mind, the wisdom to respond to situations, because she doesn’t like dummies.

...He should care about his companions, without neglecting one for another, because she’s also that kind of person.

...He should be able to tell stories, to play musical instruments...

...He must...

Similar expectant phrases were written by her over and over again.

The earthen wall was large, with plenty of space for her to write, and she came again and again.

Thus, the densely-packed red characters gradually covered the wall, the repeated rows of "he" filling the spaces between the lines, their traces deep and shallow, because she came often.

These were her words written on the wall.

She waited for a very long, long time, so long that her memory began to blur.

Finally, one day,

...he finally appeared.

"So, your Authority is..." Su Ming’an said.

"Faith," Xiber looked into his eyes: "My Authority is named ’Faith.’ It amplifies my cognitive and faith abilities."

Su Ming’an was somewhat surprised.

...It was such a unique Authority.

In Qiongdi, the collective power of people’s faith could make a Deity materialize.

But to be more precise, this faith power was not only to "make a Deity materialize," but rather to "realize people’s fantasies."

Xiber’s ’Faith’ Authority gave her a faith power stronger than that of the ordinary tribe members. Her solitary prayer was equivalent to the faith of thousands of tribe members.

Therefore, under her constant longing and her prayers for "a companion after her own heart," an adventurer appeared as she wished.

...It was him.

While countless tribespeople failed in their lifetimes, she had succeeded in creating a "daydream."

"I have always been reluctant to tell you about my Authority, because I didn’t want you to know... that you are a creation of my faith," Xiber said, head lowered: "I didn’t expect... that my Authority, which is utterly useless in battle and only amplifies my faith, could really create you."

Her voice was low, tentatively asking, "...You’re not angry, are you?"

"Not angry," Su Ming’an said. He was not angry.

Normally, upon learning that one is a life born out of another’s wish, he should be angry.

But he had already stopped believing anything Xiber said, so naturally, he wasn’t angry with her.

"It’s good you’re not angry. Let’s go up first," Xiber smiled: "The first Guide has radiation on her, so we won’t take her with us. When her curse explodes and she dies, we can come back to retrieve the Black Crow Authority. It’s getting dark too, so let’s stay in this wooden cabin."

"Okay," Su Ming’an followed her to leave.

However, as he looked at her retreating figure, his gaze was no longer as calm as before.

...Lies, when told too frequently, leave scars that cannot heal.

The shepherd boy who often lies will eventually meet their end.

"Ding-dong!"

When leaving the underground basement, Su Ming’an lifted his head to glance at the sky.

"It’s hot," he muttered.

"Hot?" Xiber looked at him in confusion. "It’s the disaster period now; the air might be a bit spicy, and this disaster seems to be poison-related, but it shouldn’t be hot."

Su Ming’an stood still for a while and then felt the strange sensation of heat fade away.

Every now and then, Qiongdi would experience a disaster period. If it was a Fire Series disaster period, during its duration, flames would become hard to extinguish, and disasters such as spontaneous house combustion, forest fires, and volcanic eruptions could occur. If it was a Wind Series disaster period, there would be storms that destroy houses.

Disaster periods were seen by people as a sign of the deities’ anger, similar to the ancient times when dragons were said to churn the earth. They could only endure, try to minimize losses, but were unable to prevent them.

This disaster period was poison-related, and there might be poison gas or poisonous insects attacking Qiongdi. This was also the reason for the air to feel hot—there was a foul, rotten scent in the air.

Su Ming’an ignored the hot sensation and took out a feather pen to start inscribing the Talent Awakening Formation.

In this instance, the last opportunity for Talent Awakening, he planned to use it on Xiber. One reason was to increase favorability, the other to make use of her unique Faith Authority.

As a red light flashed by, Xiber opened her eyes.

"...What a magical feeling," she said, "my authority has indeed been strengthened."

"In what way has it been strengthened?"

"I can now share this authority with others," she said.

"Share it with me," Su Ming’an said.

Xiber took his hand, and he immediately felt a strange, subtle sensation rise in the depths of his heart.

...Perhaps one day, the things he yearned for could be materialized.

However, the change was way too subtle. After all, it took Xiber years of persistent yearning to create him; he couldn’t possibly fantasize anything into reality in just ten days.

He turned and sat down in a corner of the wooden cabin.

"It’s nightfall, let’s sleep," he said.

Xiber sat on the bed, lay down, and covered herself with her blanket.

After her authority was strengthened and her identity as a wish manifestation was confirmed, her favorability had risen to 85 points.

In the darkness, he couldn’t see her face clearly, but she probably wasn’t very happy or sad.

Rustling sounds came through; her voice was somewhat muffled through the blanket.

"It feels like we’re back on the first day the war started," she said. "Back then, you also slept on the ground while I slept on the bed."

Su Ming’an didn’t respond; he was contemplating the clues he had gathered so far.

"When the war is over, and I become the new god, after I topple that Black Wall..." she continued. "We can build here together, construct houses, plant flowers, clean up the forest... You like to play the shaman, don’t you? I can help you create another Lighthouse Church, and if you like to preach, go ahead, or tell stories, and if they don’t listen, I’ll make them; everyone will gather around you to listen to Lighthouse..."

"That’s a future I could do without," Su Ming’an said.

"I thought you would like it," she said. "You were made by me; you should like the future I describe."

She laughed, flipping over in the bed like a red dorayaki.

"Su Ming’an, as my wish manifestation, do you have memories of the past?" she asked.

"I do," Su Ming’an said.

The persona he was embodying was indeed Xiber’s Fantasy Creation. But he himself was a Player who had come from other worlds and retained his independent memories.

Xiber’s vision was too narrow. She was confined to a small patch of sky in the Qiongdi world, naively believing there was only Qiongdi and the world beyond the Black Wall, completely unable to grasp the concept of a Player.

...Player.

He suddenly thought of Yuanyuan.

He hadn’t seen her in three entire worlds now and wondered how she was faring in her travels among different worlds.

He was thankful she didn’t live in the torturous White Sand Paradise, the perilous Pulaya, or inside Qiongdi filled with curses and muck.

None of these were worlds fit for living.

His year would equate to her hundreds of years. As a world traveler who journeyed through many worlds, she didn’t have to suffer the torment of sanity points and Perfect Pass.

... But I hope that in this long world journey, she can obtain the life and future she desires.

The premise is that she doesn’t feel lonely because of it.

"How nice... I’m glad you showed up," Xiber’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

Her sea-blue eyes were open as she stared at the wooden beam above:

"My daydream actually came true. Does this mean that if I fantasize about something else, it can also come true...?"

She blinked her clear eyes.

"Let me think, right, I want to plant lots and lots of flowers, I want a big house covered with wisteria, I actually don’t like the Cursed Fire Flower, it’s too bright..."

"I like the prairies and the eagles, I want to see herds of gallant horses..."

"I also want everyone to be alive, to lift the curse, to live under the sun, I want to walk into the future with them for a long, long time..."

"The rules of this faith are really nice. I’m glad you persuaded me not to purify everyone. Once I become a deity, I should be able to lift the curse on them."

She turned her head, her gaze directly meeting his:

"When that time comes, let’s go see the sea..."

Xiber’s voice grew lower, her breathing more even.

Su Ming’an watched her curled up in the blanket, his eyes colder than ever before.

He closed his eyes.

For some reason, he wasn’t sleepy at all now, he even felt a bit hot.

"Go to sleep," he said.