C88 — “Sea of Consciousness”

Mu Sichen couldn’t help but look at the largest town he saw on the map at the time, which was also the only town that was lit at the time.

In the “Spiritual Sea of ​​Consciousness”, the largest town now only had a faint light, flickering, and it seemed that it could go out at any time.

In the largest town, Mu Sichen felt a familiar sight.

Mu Sichen felt a strange feeling in his heart. He gently spread his hands, and a small self-totem appeared in his palm.

This self-totem was connected to countless transparent silk threads, most of which were immersed in Hope Town. This was the line connecting the townspeople.

One of the threads was particularly thick and bright, which should be his Hope Follower No. 002, Cheng Xubo.

There were hundreds of other thin threads extending to a dark town. This town was near Hope Town. There was a very small bright spot in the town, which couldn’t be seen without careful observation. This dark town was obviously Butterfly Town, and the bright spot was the Ideal Restaurant that had just been occupied by Mu Sichen.

Hundreds of lines extended into the bright spot, two of which were as thick and bright as Cheng Xubo, and they were Chi Lian and He Fei.

There was also a line thinner than the others, extending to the dark area of ​​Butterfly Town, which should be Ji Xianan.

Since entering the “Spiritual Sea of ​​​​Consciousness”, Mu Sichen realized that he was getting closer and closer to the Hope followers. He could lock Ji Xianan’s position through this dark line without being restricted by the domain.

This was probably why Qin Zu could ignore the barriers of time and space and pay attention to every follower.

Mu Sichen controlled his consciousness and put it into the flickering line, and actually “saw” Ji Xianan.

Ji Xianan knelt on the ground with a knife in her hand, the knife was covered with blood, and under her feet was a body that had obviously just died.

Mu Sichen could even hear Ji Xianan’s voice through this thin line.

“I just woke up and saw a corpse. Are you trying to frame me?”

“I don’t mind killing one or two fallen people in Butterfly Town, but I really didn’t kill this person. I have to find a way to get rid of those annoying policemen.”

So Mu Sichen saw Ji Xian’an wrap the corpse with a bed sheet, open a huge freezer in the room, roll up the corpse and stuff it into the freezer.

Mu Sichen even heard the sound of bones breaking after the corpse was folded in half.

If it weren’t for the powerful Ji Xian’an, ordinary people really couldn’t stuff the corpse into a small space like a pillow.

Ji Xian’an…what kind of “pillar” was she trapped in?

Could he save Ji Xian’an temporarily?

Mu Sichen’s mind moved, and he passed a sentence along the silk thread: “Go to the Ideal Restaurant.”

Ji Xian’an was wiping the blood on the floor of the room. She was stunned when he heard the voice, and then said: “Mu Sichen? You can also issue oracles? Where is the Ideal Restaurant?”

Mu Sichen didn’t answer her, but controlled the bright spot representing the Ideal Restaurant to approach Ji Xian’an.

Without the ability of space, it would be impossible to transfer space in other towns, but there was no space distance in Mengdie Town. Ideal Restaurant was a restaurant that could move effortlessly.

Ji Xianan cleaned up the room, changed into clean clothes, carried cleaning tools, garbage and dirty clothes, and walked out of the door.

She looked like a murderer who had just destroyed a body.

As soon as she went out, she saw the Ideal Restaurant at the doorstep.

Ji Xianan: “…”

She wanted to enter the Ideal Restaurant, but it was as if an invisible barrier blocked her path, making it impossible for her to step through the door.

Mu Sichen understood that Ji Xian’an was currently inside a “Pillar.” A formless domain was controlling her, preventing her from entering another domain.

But now that he had located Ji Xian’an, how could he just stand by and watch her remain in danger?

Was there any way to help?

Mu Sichen remembered that he had become a pseudo-god, which meant he could bestow items and abilities upon his followers.

Currently, the only abilities that could transfer Ji Xian’an from one “Pillar” to another were Cheng Xubo’s “Spatial Relocation” and his own “Wall-Digging.”

But Cheng Xubo’s ability was too weak and couldn’t break through a domain. Plus, this was a dreamscape—his spatial skills were ineffective here.

It seemed the only choice was to borrow the crossaxe… though he was rather reluctant.

Mu Sichen took out the crossaxe and whispered a negotiation to it. The crossaxe looked furious and, very unwillingly, returned to the weapon inventory on its own.

Mu Sichen: “…”

He felt pretty humiliated as a pseudo-god.

Just then, the system panel popped up in front of Mu Sichen, and on the trust meter, 10% of the trust value was flickering.

Mu Sichen understood what the crossaxe meant—it wanted trust value in exchange for being lent to He Fei.

He had a total of 60% trust value: 10% had already been used to bait the butterfly, 10% for leveling up, and another 10% to activate “Wall-Digging” and occupy the “Pillar.” Only 30% remained now, and Mu Sichen was reluctant to part with it.

“At most, 1%,” Mu Sichen bargained.

The flickering trust value changed to 8%.

“3%, not a drop more,” Mu Sichen insisted.

It blinked down to 6%.

“5%. That’s my bottom line,” Mu Sichen finalized the deal.

The pickaxe seemed to accept, and 5% of the trust value immediately vanished. Mu Sichen was left with only 25%, giving him a sense of looming financial crisis.

He took out the crossaxe again—it had become much more obedient.

Mu Sichen thought, if the crossaxe kept evolving like this, it might eventually turn against him.

Through the thread, he contacted He Fei: “Go to the restaurant entrance and retrieve Ji Xian’an.”

Then he shrank the crossaxe and passed it along the thread to He Fei: “Make sure to return it.”

Possibly the stingiest divine commandment ever.

He Fei and Chi Lian had already realized the Ideal Restaurant had become their territory, but Mu Sichen was still unconscious. The two were worrying about him when He Fei heard his roommate’s voice.

“You’re okay? That’s great! Why aren’t you back yet?” He Fei asked nonstop. “You even found Sister Ji? Alright, I’ll go get her right now!”

He Fei noticed a crossaxe had appeared in his inventory. He tapped on it, triggering a system notification:

[Shattered Moon Dream-Rending Pickaxe: Pseudo-God-Level Item, Level 40, possesses a certain level of self-awareness. It must be treated with respect.]

“Why’d Little Mu name this dumb crossaxe something so ugly?” He Fei scratched his head. “It’s hideous too—looks like half a fan blade.”

Crossaxe: “…”

Without a shred of respect for the pseudo-god-tier item, He Fei carried the crossaxe downstairs and saw Ji Xian’an battling the invisible wall about a meter from the door.

“Sister Ji, I’m here to get you! Step aside a bit,” He Fei said, then threw the crossaxe like a dart.

The crossaxe flew out, hooked Ji Xian’an by the ankle, and dug into the ground with a powerful twist, pulling her inside from beyond the barrier.

Mu Sichen clearly saw that about 3% of the trust value had disappeared from the crossaxe.

No wonder it refused the 3% offer—it turned out it needed to consume a certain amount of energy itself.

Ji Xian’an carried an unknown power. It didn’t feel like pollution, but more like a form of logic.

Mu Sichen tried to purify this power, but found that the power of his own totem had no effect on it.

[Ji Xian’an has become part of a causal chain. She’s now a link in that sequence. Unless the cause-and-effect chain is severed, she cannot escape this force. Even if she returns to Hope Town, she’ll keep falling back into the chain in her dreams.]

“Causal chain… Is this also a type of ‘Pillar’?” Mu Sichen asked.

[Congratulations, player, you’ve unlocked the second type of “Pillar” and discovered a hidden support of Dream Butterfly Town.]

Mu Sichen didn’t see this as something to be celebrated—if anything, it only confirmed that the “Pillars” were far more terrifying than he had imagined.

Just as he began to grasp one rule about the Pillars, they upgraded again.

“Why were the Pillars in Tongzhi Town just ordinary territories?” Mu Sichen asked.

[Because the “Eye of the Sky” is merely a hidden star, while the “Dream-Eating Butterfly” is about to evolve into one that eclipses the sun. Didn’t the player want to know why the Dream-Eating Butterfly spared you? Beyond your insignificant ‘Self’ power, you can find the second reason in the ‘Mind Sea of Perception’.]

[The ‘Mind Sea of Perception’ drains a great deal of mental energy. The player’s reserves are limited and nearing depletion. Although you’ve sensed the Mind Sea’s existence, opportunities to access it are rare and unpredictable—make sure to extract as much knowledge as you can this time.]

So there was a time limit—no wonder he was been feeling increasingly fatigued. His mental energy was nearly spent.

After He Fei rescued Ji Xian’an, the crossaxe shrank to a size barely visible to the eye, slid along an invisible thread, and returned to Mu Sichen’s weapon inventory on its own.

Only then did Mu Sichen have the energy to focus on the remaining threads.

Besides Hope Town and the Ideal Restaurant, there were others—some so transparent they almost merged with the seawater and were practically invisible without careful observation.

One of those threads extended into a massive, fading town.

Mu Sichen knew instantly—that was Xiangping Town. The fading light belonged to Qin Zu.

He now understood what “light” and “darkness” truly meant on the map.

The lights on the map never represented individuals, but divine-level monsters or domains.

Light represented original intention. Most of the divine monsters on the map had been consumed by their powers—driven insane, losing their humanity. Only Qin Zu had maintained his humanity through absolute rationality. But now, even that was beginning to fade.

Xiangping Town had grown significantly since Mu Sichen last saw it.

[While the player was seizing control of Tongzhi Town, the “Guardian Deity of Humanity” devoured two more hidden-star-level divine monsters: “Abyss of Greed” and “Sea of Resentment.” The Sea of Resentment was manageable, but the Abyss of Greed contained the power of the earth—it’s amplifying Greed. The “Relatively Rational One” is now being eroded by it.]

 

“So many of Xiangping Town’s followers are scattered everywhere?” Mu Sichen asked.

Almost every town had someone from Xiangping—they were spread across the entire world.

[Because Xiangping Town doesn’t consume. The Guardian Deity of Humanity doesn’t devour soul energy, and even feeds power back into its Pillar. Xiangping Town currently has the highest surviving population—over one million. If it collapses, it would trigger a catastrophic chain reaction across the world.]

[“The Guardian Deity of Humanity” has no other choice. If it doesn’t draw energy from humans, it must continuously devour other god-level monsters to replace soul energy. But the more it reclaims the power of the earth, the closer it moves toward the Sky Covering level. Once it reaches Sky Covering, all of its remaining sanity will be destroyed. The long-suppressed madness will rebound onto Xiangping Town, and in an instant, it will annihilate the town and devour all souls within it.]

[Because of this, after devouring a god-level monster with the earth’s power, the “Guardian Deity of Humanity” must immediately devour one with sky or sea energy to suppress its own transformation.]

 

[Now, the final earth-powered entity—”Abyss of Greed”—has already been absorbed. Once the Guardian fully digests its power, it will ascend to Sky Covering.]

[At that point, the world will collapse.]

Mu Sichen listened to the system’s words, and a single tear fell uncontrollably from his eye.

This was the Mind Sea of Perception —a place where all things returned to their emotional roots and spiritual origin.

The tear he shed for Qin Zu, enveloped by the current, dropped into the vast and dark city below—Xiangping Town.

[Fortunately, the Guardian Deity of Humanity has absorbed too many conflicting powers. These powers hinder its transformation into a pure Earth entity. It’s digesting the “Abyss of Greed” much slower than other god-level creatures. The player still has time. It’s waiting for you.]

“System… why are you saying so much today?” Mu Sichen asked. “And why haven’t I been corrupted, despite learning so much about the Mi-Tian[Sky Covering] level?”

[Because this information was delivered to you through the Mind Sea of Perception. The system is merely relaying the message truthfully.]

“…Doesn’t it have unreasonably high expectations of me?” Mu Sichen reached toward that vast, unreachable domain. With his current strength, he couldn’t even touch Qin Zu’s shadow.

[There’s no one else to expect anything from. You may be small and weak, but you are the only remaining light of hope.]

[Player, time is running out.] the system reminded him.

Mu Sichen forced himself to look away from Qin Zu and turned to the other faint threads.

He found it strange that he could see every person who had come into contact with a totem of self, but there were still 20 or 30 lines he didn’t recognize.

Following those threads, he saw something astonishing—they extended all the way to the edge of the dark world map.

Why could Mu Sichen see this map of darkness? What made its darkness stand out?

The outside world.

The Mind Sea of Perception stretched far beyond the map—it was vast and endless. Beyond the dark world, there was an enormous, radiant ocean of light.

Those fine threads were coming from the light—from what contrasted with the darkness.

“It’s He Fei’s company staff… the ones I helped during that dream in the real world! That time, I used a totem of self!” Mu Sichen realized.

Back then, a Pillar that hadn’t fully formed appeared in the dream. Taking advantage of its weakness, Mu Sichen seized it, converted it into a totem of self, and used its power to help his deeply trapped coworkers return to reality.

That was when they made contact with the totem—and that was what left these spiritual threads.

But that wasn’t the key point.

The real shock was this: with his current sight, Mu Sichen could now see microscopic black dots within that vast ocean of light.

They were smaller than nanoparticles—but their presence was deeply chilling.

Because it meant: once this world was completely destroyed, the next to fall into catastrophe would be the real world—his own reality.

No wonder the system kept urging him to gather more knowledge in the Mind Sea of Perception—this was the true reason.

“How long… do I have left?” Mu Sichen asked in a trembling voice.

[Once a being beyond Mi-Tian emerges in this world, the disaster will move on to the next. But don’t worry, player—you’ll be killed by that force long before you witness the world’s destruction.]

Mu Sichen: “…”

Was that supposed to be comforting?

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