Chapter 168: Providence II

CH168 Providence II

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Conscious control of Providence was extremely difficult to pull off. In truth, it was rare for an individual to be strong enough to consciously direct their own Providence to make the world bend in their favour.

More often than not, an individual’s Providence worked passively—guided not by their surface-level desires, but by what they truly believed was in their best interest.

Curiously, controlling the Providence of an entity made up of multiple individuals—like a kingdom—was often much easier. A powerful king, for example, could influence the combined Providence of a nation, directing it to serve his agenda or uplift the nation as a whole.

Reading this, Alex was reminded of eastern cultivation novels from his previous life, where nations possessed something called National Fortune—an ethereal force the ruler could wield, especially with the help of rare artefacts known as Fortune-Suppressing Treasures.

Although Merlin’s material made no mention of such artefacts, the underlying principles felt oddly familiar to Alex.

The deeper he thought, the more connections he found.

In those old novels, not all rulers needed Fortune-Suppressing Artefacts. Kings and Emperors who had grasped the fundamental Laws of their world, i.e. were extremely power in their own right, could tap into their nation’s National Fortune directly.

As long as they had the genuine support of their people, there would be no backlash. They could channel the National Fortune freely, using it as they wished. But if the ruler lacked such support—no matter how powerful they were—they would only be able to harness a small portion of it. Worse, they would suffer a grievous backlash proportional to how much of the National Fortune they had forcibly drawn upon.

Realising these similarities helped Alex connect the dots in the material Merlin had provided. It was clear now: Providence worked very much like National Fortune in those niche novels.

One of the clearest and most reliable ways to earn Providence, he recalled, was through something called Providence Feedback.

Because Providence acts both ways.

A person could gain Providence by forming a connection with another person—or by belonging to an entity such as a tribe, faction, or nation. Likewise, the person or entity on the other end of that connection also gained Providence in return.

For example, a human could earn Providence by contributing to humanity as a whole. In turn, every time an individual human’s Providence grew, humanity’s collective Providence increased as well.

The leader of a large organisation—whether hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions strong—naturally gains Providence by virtue of being at its head. Especially when that organisation begins to generate its own Providence.

This was the reason kings and emperors experienced a surge in personal Providence when their kingdoms or empires formed a National Fortune—or a National Providence. Every time the nation advanced in strength, its National Providence grew... and so too did that of the one who ruled it.

It explained why powerful individuals were so intent on building organisations in the first place.

Take Merlin—no, Uthvaazgol—as an example. The Ancient Dragon was powerful enough to have no need for the DragonHold Enclave. As for resources, whatever the Enclave offered him was simply a matter of convenience. Who could stop an Ancient Dragon if he decided to take something for himself?

The more likely reason for founding the Enclave was the Providence it generated for him.

The DragonHold Enclave wasn’t just a powerful institution with a swelling membership. It was also a breeding ground for dragons and phoenixes in human form—geniuses who would go on to carve their names into the world’s history. People like Alex himself... who, without even trying, contribute Providence to the Ancient Dragon’s pool.

Alex alone, by virtue of being Uthvaazgol’s True Disciple, fed the Dragon’s Providence. When multiplied by all the other students of the Enclave—those who rose or stumbled—the result was a passive yet immense stream of Providence flowing steadily back to its founder.

In that light, Providence explained the relentless hunger of leaders. Why those who ruled fiefs, nations, companies, or mage towers were never content with the power they held—why their ambition bordered on greed, always chasing more.

They weren’t just greedy. They were cultivating Providence.

And let’s not forget: the more Providence an individual possessed or had authority over, the easier it was to walk their Path.

What did all the ones capable of wielding Providence have in common?

They were all Legends... or higher.

Which meant they had reached a point in their journey where every step forward took extraordinary effort. A cultivator might need only ten years to go from Novice to Legend—but to go from Early Legend to Mid Legend could take decades. And from there, the climb grew even steeper.

But with more Providence, even that bottleneck could be eased—if only slightly.

It wasn’t a guarantee, no. But it was more than enough of a chance for these peak powerhouses of the world to fight tooth and nail for it.

Alex understood them. He really did.

Thanks to the Providence he’d amassed through his various identities—Reincarnator, heir to Earl Drake Fury, True Disciple of an Ancient Dragon and the Tower Master of the DragonHold Enclave—as well as his accomplishments—Father and Founder of Rune-Tech—he had drawn the attention of ’Daddy Golden Energy’ and been led to the Heartwood Tree.

Compared to the native denizens of the Subspace Sanctuary, his Providence was overwhelming. That was why he’d been chosen. Why that golden light had found him. Why the Heartwood Tree had responded.

In the process, Alex stumbled upon a pool of Heavenroot Nectar—also known as stalagmite milk—which refined his body and bloodline, and granted him the rare Extreme Mana Capacity talent.

He discovered a high-grade Mana Stone Mine, which tempered his Mana Heart and unlocked the Elemental Affinity Enhancement talent.

And nestled deep within that hidden cavern, he found the mana-protected corpse of a Dragon... a discovery that birthed within him the mythical Primal Origin Flame, AetherKindle.

Nor did he forget how that same attraction led to the development of the OmniRune Core’s energy-gathering and spatial opening functions.

In hindsight, he even credited his discovery of the tiny Mite—now evolved into the Nest Queen—to the workings of Providence.

If a mere Beginner Mage could undergo such world-shaking transformation thanks to Providence alone, then one could easily understand why the powerhouses of the world scrambled for every thread of it.

Few things could advance one’s strength so dramatically—without dangerous side effects—like the fortune granted by high Providence.

Truthfully, part of why Alex, a reincarnator, chose to return to the battlefield that was the Fury Noble House, was the Providence it held.

The Fury Noble House, with over three centuries of heritage, contained an enormous reserve of latent Providence. The gain from inheriting and eventually leading such a lineage couldn’t be matched by founding some fledgling organisation of his own.

More so, being named heir of the Fury House also granted him access to planes—territories he could conquer and cultivate. Conquering those planes would, in turn, feed back into his Providence even further.

Everything, eventually, circled back to that word: Providence.

Alex had come to view it as the most essential resource in his path of power—in his path of Cultivation.

Incidentally, after defeating Kurt, and the heirs representing the Family Council, Alex didn’t just claim the title of heir—he cemented it. His actions forced the House to acknowledge him as the rightful successor of Earl Drake Fury’s line, and a viable candidate to lead the entire Fury Family in the future.

That single action boosted his Providence again.

The gain was subtle but real—enough to stimulate further growth in the Heartwood Tree and condense even more of its golden energy, creating an effect Alex had yet to perceive.

Then came the destruction of the goblin village in Dankrot Forest—a pre-emptive strike against a threat to the surrounding territories controlled by an Empire of the human race.

And by eliminating them, Alex had made a genuine contribution to humanity. And the world... had rewarded him again.

This time, the Providence gain was overt.

The energy released from the Heartwood Tree—which he fondly nicknamed ’Daddy Golden Energy’—had grown strong enough to expand the inner space of the Sanctuary pocket dimension and guide the evolution of the Nest Queen with far greater precision.

Now, with the Heavenroot Tree stabilised within the Sanctuary, Alex had firmly established himself as a Providence Farmer—and one comparable in efficiency to Legends and higher, despite his far weaker cultivation.

Ironically, the very amount of Providence that was negligible to the strong was the same amount that held unimaginable power rapidly pushed forward a weakling like Alex.

Every surge of Providence created ground-breaking shifts in his foundation—fuelling a fortune that pushed him ever forward, ever upward...

This, Alex concluded, was the true face of the subtle systemic force he referred to as his Main Character’s Halo.

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Author’s Ramblings

I just finished writing this and, looking back... I can’t believe I basically wrote a textbook Chapter just to explain the MC’s halo in-story.

How many of you actually read it to the end? Was it worth it? Or are you regretting not taking my warning earlier?

Let me know in the comments.

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