Chapter 602: Pillars of Providence II

CH602 Pillars of Providence II

***

One Heaven smiled, habitually running his fingers through his beard.

Rather than answering Alex’s question verbally, he reached beneath the table between them and brought out a box, placing it before Alex.

"Open it," he said.

Alex eyed the box sceptically for a moment before reaching out and opening it.

Inside was an oval crystal.

"An egg?" he raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.

"That is a Legacy object condensed from the power of Heaven and Earth," One Heaven said, still stroking his beard.

"Channel your essence into it, and you will understand."

Alex, who had already been scanning the crystal egg with his Spiritual Force, looked up at the old man and nodded.

Although his Spiritual Force could not penetrate the crystal to discern its true nature, he also sensed no danger from it.

Trusting his Spiritual Force’s instinctive warning against imminent danger —or lack thereof— Alex decided to proceed.

He began channelling his essence into the egg.

Mana... Bloodline energy... True Name concepts... Spiritual Force...

One by one, his energies flowed into the crystal egg.

Then—

Alex’s eyes widened.

As his energies converged, they formed a familiar yet unfamiliar glyph upon the surface of the egg.

’A Greater Rune?’

It was a Greater Rune he had never seen before, yet through his connection to it, he instinctively knew its name.

’National Fortune!’

Before Alex could react, the egg transformed into a beam of light and shot directly into the centre of his forehead.

The egg reappeared within his Mindspace, positioned before OmniRune.

The Greater Rune on the egg’s surface emitted a beam of light that struck OmniRune.

In response, the origin Greater Rune began to shift, morphing into the exact same rune.

Immediately, a connection was established between OmniRune and the egg.

A pulse rippled outward from their point of contact, spreading across the entirety of Alex’s Mindspace.

The energy did not stop at its boundaries.

Instead, it continued outward, traversing into other conceptual spaces within Alex’s body — his Soul Space, his Bloodline Space, and beyond.

Before Alex could make sense of what was happening, he suddenly felt new lines of connection latch onto his mind and soul.

His body jolted.

A faint, ticklish sensation of unfamiliar power seeped into his being.

’What the—?!’

Although the influx was negligible for now, Alex could clearly sense its potential.

If this slow, drop-like trickle of power increased further, it could elevate his strength by an entire stage... perhaps even a full rank... or more.

’How is this possible?!’

He looked at One Heaven in disbelief.

Quickly, Alex focused on the newly formed connections within his mind.

Among them, he recognised familiar endpoints.

His followers.

Only then did it click.

The other connections... were from his wives and the rest of his party.

His expression instantly turned cold.

"Did you just turn me into a Deity Cultivator?" he asked, his voice frigid.

One Heaven’s hand, which had been stroking his beard, paused mid-motion.

"...ha-ha..."

Then, he burst into laughter, as though he had just heard the greatest joke in the world.

"Of course not," he said after finally regaining control of himself. "Deity cultivation requires others to worship you as their deity. Has any of them done that?"

Alex shook his head.

’Obviously not.’

"Then why do I feel like I’m being empowered through my connection to them?" he pressed.

"Faith is a form of belief," One Heaven replied calmly. "But trust and loyalty can also be considered forms of belief."

"Just like faith, trust and loyalty can generate a type of energy— one that can be transferred to another... as you have just experienced."

The old sorcerer shifted his gaze away from Alex, looking out toward the immortal landscape beyond the mountain.

"In the past, while studying the foundations of Gu Mo and the traitors’ cultivation branch, I came to realise something... there already existed more than one benevolent versions of the path."

He turned back to Alex.

"I have already told you about how this plane possesses a faith pool— that is one such direct alternative method."

"Another is the method unconsciously used by Holy Lands and large organisations."

"The more a Holy Land expands —the more people it gathers under its banner— the more those people trust it and remain loyal to it... the more Fate and Fortune the organisation accumulates."

"And the stronger it becomes."

His eyes gleamed faintly.

"I began to wonder— is this not fundamentally similar to the principles of Deity cultivation?"

He paused briefly before continuing.

"It was only after I merged with the Heavens that I came to understand the true answer."

"Faith is not the only way to obtain Fate and Fortune from others."

"Any organisation, once it grows large enough, begins to generate its own Fate and Fortune— drawn from the collective fate and fortune of those beneath its banner."

"And the reason for that... is the emotion and belief those people hold— trust, loyalty, and so on."

"Emotion and belief... just like in Deity cultivation."

One Heaven smiled, once again stroking his beard.

"But then, I quickly realised something else," he continued.

"Unlike typical Deity Cultivation, there is no conceptual feedback where the members’ belief projects onto the identity of the organisation itself."

"It was then I understood— while this phenomenon is similar to Deity cultivation, it is more natural, and more importantly, temporary."

"The fact that it is natural is crucial. It means that while an organisation’s Providence rises or falls due to the collective influence of its members’ providence, they remain separate and unaffected as individuals."

"In other words—"

"The organisation’s providence doesn’t grow by siphoning from its members," Alex interjected.

"Unlike Deity Cultivation, this method is symbiotic. Both the organisation and its members grow together... as they should."

’Wait... as they should? Why did I think that?’ Alex wondered inwardly.

"Exactly." One Heaven nodded approvingly.

"And furthermore, the fact that Trust and Loyalty can be considered both beliefs and emotions..."

’Arguably,’ Alex thought silently.

"...means they generate a form of emotional energy —much like faith— capable of influencing the subject of that belief."

"However," One Heaven continued, "unlike Deity cultivation, this feedback is temporary and does not affect the subject’s cultivation rank."

Alex’s eyes narrowed slightly in thought.

"So, the increase in power I’m feeling right now... is because you’ve turned this observation into a system that allows me to harness the energy generated from my party members’ trust and loyalty?"

"Indeed." One Heaven smiled.

Discussing matters with an intelligent individual was always refreshing.

"Your party, in essence, is an organisation," he continued. "The boost in power you feel now is the result of their collective Trust and Loyalty."

"However, understand this— the boost can only be activated temporarily. It is limited by the size of your party, and it can be depleted."

"At the same time, your party has now become an entity that possesses its own Providence. Managing the Fate and Fortune of your members is no longer optional.

"It is now something you must pay close attention to, because it directly influences the overall providence of your entire organisation."

Alex paused for a moment, his fingers tapping lightly against the table as he digested everything he had just been told.

"So this is why you asked me to build an empire," he finally said.

"An empire allows me to acquire land— that is, Territorial Providence."

"It allows me to gather people in the form of citizens— Collective Providence."

"And finally, an empire itself is an organisation— one that generates its own providence and gathers the trust and loyalty of its people."

"With that, I gain access to an additional source of power that can enhance my strength beyond the constraints of my rank— albeit temporarily."

"That would be Authority Providence."

One Heaven nodded.

So did Alex.

It was, in truth, an elegant system.

It required him to focus on a single objective —growing his empire— and in doing so, he would naturally accumulate all three pillars of Providence simultaneously.

Then, a final realisation struck him.

"The quality of Providence..." he muttered.

"Since the empire’s providence is naturally formed from the collective providence of its citizens, the overall quality will be significantly higher."

"That means I wouldn’t need to go through the trouble of refining it."

"Exactly." One Heaven’s face broke into a genuinely appreciative smile.

’Say one thing, and he understands three... no, ten,’ he thought with satisfaction.

’It seems I have indeed found a worthy Legatee.’

However, his expression soon turned slightly serious.

"Nothing is without flaw," he cautioned.

"This system also has its limitations."

"An organisation’s —or an empire’s— providence is inherently difficult to grow."

"You will need to improve the lives of your citizens both broadly and rapidly."

Unexpectedly, Alex smiled.

’Develop broadly and rapidly... that shouldn’t be too difficult,’ he thought.

’This world is practically in the dark ages. As long as my Rune-Tech recovers, I can drag it forward into something akin to the 22nd century.’

’Wouldn’t that qualify as both broad and rapid development?’ He almost grinned.

While Alex drifted into thoughts of sweeping technological revolutions powered by his Rune-Tech and knowledge from his past life, One Heaven suddenly manifested a scroll in front of him.

"What is this?" Alex asked.

"The method I used to transform Sorcery casting into the formation of hand seals," One Heaven replied.

Then he added,

"With this method, you can create any Mystic Art or develop your own casting systems."

Alex’s eyes widened slightly.

"Wait... any Mystic Art?" he asked. "You’re saying I can create any type of spell I want?"

"Yes, you can," One Heaven confirmed with a solemn nod.

***

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Any guesses on the spell Alex will create?

Hint: Rune-Tech.

See you in the next Chapter.