Chapter 15: Countless Spaces Born from a Single Thought
"A move that kills multiple birds with one stone!"
Yan Cang praised inwardly.
The internet fee of the Fate Net was a stable daily source of energy. How could he solidify this foundation?
This was an unavoidable issue.
Although most users currently stayed online to maintain contact, this was largely because the channels for spending Fate Points were limited, making them seem worthless.
Once more consumption avenues appeared and Fate Points appreciated in value, it was inevitable that users would start budgeting carefully and reducing their online time—this scenario was entirely predictable.
Unexpectedly, the concepts of the Mental Space and the Trading House could perfectly resolve this potential problem.
It was like a pillow arriving just as he was nodding off.
He hesitated no longer and immediately purchased this skill book.
Clapping his hands together, the skill scroll transformed into a stream of light that vanished into his brow.
A single golden spark fell into the originally dim Sea of Consciousness, suddenly illuminating all directions.
As the light rippled, a seemingly boundless microcosm spread like water waves within his mind.
Unfamiliar knowledge and complex key points surged forth, allowing him to instantly grasp the various mysteries of the [Mental Space].
[Ding! You have learned the skill "Mental Space (Beginner)".]
"Oh, so that's how it is..."
"I've got it!"
That said, if he were to actually try it right now, he would probably only manage the most basic storage and retrieval of items.
This was far from the intricate blueprint in his plan—a design to construct countless subspaces relying on the mental network of the Fate Net.
At the very least, he had no idea where to start when it came to using the mental powers connected to the Fate Net to open spaces.
After carefully reflecting on the process of opening the Mental Space, Yan Cang had a revelation: "So skill books don't just impart knowledge; they also guide you across the initial threshold."
Compared to the imagined scenario of self-studying from scratch and struggling to explore, this method was clearly far more reasonable.
After all, this involved the entirely unfamiliar realm of mental power.
Even with the highest talent, learning step by step would take months of effort.
The value of a skill book lay precisely in skipping the most difficult beginner stage and imprinting the complete knowledge system into the mind.
But this didn't match his needs.
Although the knowledge points about [Mental Space] in his mind also included information on how to open a mental space.
It was like the Celestial-Grade techniques of old Master Qian—far too profound.
The earlier mention of needing months to learn was already an extremely optimistic estimate.
If things went poorly, it could take years to master.
Keep in mind, the Trading House wasn't just a tool to make Fate Points valuable; it was also an urgent need for most current Fate Net users.
For example, a trial participant who started in the unfortunate desert zone could avoid elimination if they could buy water—how much Faction Contribution could that earn...
Ahem, anyway, it couldn't be delayed.
So what to do?
Yan Cang naturally turned his gaze to the all-purpose talent—[Great Fate Art].
In just one day, he had already become deeply reliant on it.
With a thought, his Fate Star in the Fate Star Sea suddenly lit up, and the power of fate began to evolve.
A "future" where [Mental Space] was wielded with consummate skill emerged before him.
Yan Cang reached out and lightly grasped that shimmering vision of the future—
"Ah, I've got it!"
This time, it wasn't just empty talk.
He truly understood.
If he opened his Status Panel, he would see that the proficiency of [Mental Space] had instantly leaped to "Peak Mastery" (First Glimpse → Entering the Hall → Pure Proficiency → Peak Mastery).
There might be even higher realms beyond this, and Yan Cang could still continue to evolve it using Fate Power.
But there was no need.
At this moment, he could already command Mental Power at will and open spaces.
The cost, however, was quite steep.
More importantly, the price was too high—his earlier estimates of a few months or years had been far too optimistic.
Even in the future he had evolved for focused study, he had spent over a decade, consuming nearly a tenth of his energy.
This cost was enough to make Yan Cang's heart ache.
But as long as it allowed him to complete the Trading House plan, it was all worth it.
Having solved the challenge of independently opening Mental Spaces, Yan Cang finally had the leisure to examine his own Mental Space.
His consciousness sank into it, and the space within seemed boundless;
Yet when his mind shifted away, it shrank to the size of a mustard seed.
As a master of Peak Mastery, he naturally understood its mystery: this space had no fixed physical size—it was purely determined by the mind. Whatever you believed it could hold, it would hold.
It sounded simple, but in practice, it was far from easy.
At the very least, deceiving one's subconscious was an extremely difficult task.
What was most astonishing, however, was that even the faint Mental Power of an ordinary person could sustain such a purely mental construct.
If this knowledge originated from a real civilization in the universe, their research into the mental realm must be terrifyingly thorough.
"I wonder if I'll encounter such things on the future battlefields of civilizations..."
Yan Cang's thoughts drifted for a moment, suddenly struck by this idea.
But he quickly dismissed it—that was thinking too far ahead.
Back to business.
Since all the difficult points had been resolved,
the Trading House could now be built.
"The framework can follow mainstream e-commerce platforms—search, filtering, and categorization functions must all be included."
"Also, perhaps I can add a Wanted Zone to the Fate Net Forum..."
"Although it overlaps slightly with the Bounty Zone, their purposes are different, so I'll add it anyway."
"Next up... the pricing standards."
Thinking of this, Yan Cang habitually began estimating operational costs:
Launching the trading marketplace was essentially like adding another section to the Fate Net, requiring no extra consumption.
As for opening countless subspaces, it actually drew on the users' own Mental Power.
With his current proficiency in [Mental Space], it was almost as trivial as a mere thought.
Moreover, these Mental Spaces were rooted in the Fate Star Sea, and as the creator of this sea of stars, Yan Cang could manipulate them at will.
After granting users of the Fate Net certain permissions related to Mental Spaces, he didn't even need to bother with much.
After careful calculation, the only operational cost was maintaining the Fate Star Sea.
However, the internet fees paid by Fate Net users had already covered this expense in advance.
In other words, this Trading House operated at nearly zero cost.
The only expenses were the [Mental Space] skill book, which was essentially a Golden Chest,
and the massive amount of energy required to raise proficiency to Peak Mastery.
Among these, the Portable Space was also quite useful to him.
"Operating cost is zero..."
This was certainly a cause for celebration.
However, it undoubtedly dashed his hopes of calculating transaction fees based on cost.
Although Yan Cang was well aware that the price of a commodity is not determined by its cost, but by its market value,
he had originally intended to use it as a baseline reference, much like the internet fees for the Fate Net.
Now that the result was zero, he was at a loss and had to think of another approach.
This was undoubtedly a happy dilemma.
After thinking it over, Yan Cang quickly made a decision: "Let's go with 10 points, with a minimum fee of 1 Fate Point."
"Secure transactions, one-click delivery—this service fee isn't too high, is it?"
"If it's too little, I'll just consider it as earning Faction Contribution."
And with that, it was happily decided!
So, he couldn't help but look toward the deep, vast Fate Star Sea.
With a slight shift in his mind, countless strands of dispersed Mental Power converged like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, coalescing into a brilliant golden sun.
Under its radiant light, within every illusory Fate Star, a tiny Inner Space quietly materialized.
Just like a Buddha's single thought giving rise to three thousand worlds.