Chapter 84

Chapter 084: The Path to Divinity through Borrowed Wills

Noon arrived in the blink of an eye.

Just as he was still pondering whether to recruit people, the familiar prompt sounded.

[Ding! Congratulations on surviving eight full days in the Trial Ground. Your faction gains +1 Faction Point.]

[You receive +1 Faction Contribution.]

[The Faction Ranking and Personal Contribution Ranking have been updated.]

Hearing the sound, Yan Cang instinctively lifted his gaze and glanced out the window.

Then he was startled.

The area he had turned into barren white ground with his sword energy yesterday had now completely restored to its original state.

What met his eyes was a lush, verdant forest.

The trees were tall, with thick foliage, perfectly blending into the distant environment.

"Restored... this quickly?"

Yan Cang couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. He stood up, walked to the window, and leaned out to take a look.

The fresh air, carrying the scent of grass and trees, rushed into his nostrils, and the crisp chirping of birds came from the nearby branches.

Everything was as it had been, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Truly miraculous!"

Although he had heard about it before, seeing this scene, like a game map refreshing, he couldn't help but marvel.

But this world called the Trial Ground was, in essence, not a normal world.

The perfectly consistent time, the unchanging weather, and the daily refreshing Supply Boxes...

Everything here reminded him that this was a designed trial ground.

Since it was pre-set, perhaps the map refreshing wasn't worth being surprised about?

Of course, he was still quite curious in his heart.

But the thought that investigating this matter would likely consume a lot of energy with little use quickly extinguished this bold idea.

Yan Cang withdrew his gaze and returned to the main topic.

"Whether to pull other factions into the Fate Net... let's check the rankings first."

He said this to himself as he opened the Status Panel, his eyes falling on the Faction Ranking.

[First Place: Huaxia, Faction Points: 9,353,775,238]

[Second Place: India, Faction Points: 456,387,287]

[Third Place: United States, Faction Points: 431,452,836]

[Fourth Place: Brazil, Faction Points: 382,131,839]

[Fifth Place: Russia, Faction Points: 329,207,298]

...

"Hmm, another increase of over 1.4 billion."

Yan Cang glanced at Huaxia's points. This increase was roughly the same as in previous days, nothing surprising.

His gaze moved down to look at the data of other factions.

The top few—India, the United States, Brazil, Russia... their point increases today were generally between 100 million and 200 million.

Although the increase couldn't compare to Huaxia's, which was proportional to its population, compared to the dire situation of a few days ago when they frequently suffered negative growth, this situation could now be said to have completely stabilized.

Now, that "Charlie Marvin," who was still in fifth place yesterday, has been directly pushed out of the top ten.

And India, relying on its population advantage, has returned to second place.

"It seems everyone has more or less adapted."

Yan Cang rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.

Thinking carefully, wouldn't now be a good time to recruit people?

It wouldn't have too much impact on the point increase of other factions, avoiding any suspicion of aiding the enemy.

But while it's good, if the Fate Net appears when things aren't particularly difficult, it might leave a mediocre impression.

Anyway, he didn't like that.

So Yan Cang thought it over and decided to wait a bit longer.

"I heard the trial ground's difficulty increases after ten days? No harm in waiting until then to recruit."

He muttered to himself, "The Fate Net should make its entrance as a savior!"

"As for whether I'll actually save them... we'll see."

Yan Cang, who had a prejudice against foreigners, grew more convinced that this idea of his was a good one.

At this stage, survivors from other factions, though struggling, were still managing to get by.

If he pulled them into the Fate Net now, they wouldn't be grateful and indebted—they'd only be full of complaints.

But if he appeared just when they were about to break, their mindset would be completely different.

"Yeah, let them tough it out for two more days."

Yan Cang made the decision cheerfully, then turned his attention to another important matter.

Today's golden chest—what should he open?

He habitually listed the conditions in his mind.

As mentioned before, the [Chain of Tyranny] was already sufficient for now; there was no need to invest in attributes.

As for energy... everyone was currently enthusiastic about topping up Fate Points, but this had basically reached its peak.

To further increase the growth rate of the energy pool, he either needed to expand the user base or enable each user to top up more.

He had already decided to wait on expanding the user base, so the remaining direction was to allow each person to top up more.

How could this be achieved?

Yan Cang pondered.

Topping up Fate Points mostly consumed physical strength.

So if everyone's physical strength recovery speed could be faster, they could naturally top up more times each day.

The problem was that physical strength recovery speed was limited by physical fitness.

Although the path of "Everyone Becomes Stronger" had already been paved with the foundation of the "Light Body Nine-Segment Guiding Technique,"

this was a long-term endeavor.

As for hoping for stronger cultivation methods?

That brought up the issue of popularity—stronger methods couldn't be easy to learn.

At least, they didn't exist in the golden chest.

Moreover, even if everyone could learn them, the effects wouldn't be immediate.

In short, improving everyone's physique was something that could never be accomplished overnight.

After all, how much energy would that consume?

Unthinkable!

However, he could find another way.

For example... granting everyone the ability to quickly recover physical strength?

As soon as this thought appeared, Yan Cang felt it was feasible.

He just worried that the golden chest might not contain it.

Then he remembered that since the Good Fortune Coins had gone online, the Fate Net had become exceptionally lively.

The reason was that after everyone topped up their Fate Points and waited for their Physical Strength to recover, they chose to kill time on the Fate Net.

This idle time could be put to use...

"Well, you have to lose something to gain something!"

"But as for the specific operation, I'll leave it to the 'Great Fate Art'!"

With a thought from Yan Cang, an invisible surge of Fate Power flowed out, and at the same time, he reached out to touch the Supply Box before him.

As it transformed into a Golden Chest,

countless phantom images of the future unfolded in his mind.

Following his will, they rapidly collapsed.

After a moment, only a scroll emitting a faint white light remained.

The scroll was blank—nothing on it!

What was this?

Just as doubt arose, the relevant information was naturally obtained:

[The Path to Divinity through Borrowed Wills (Skill Book): Can construct thoughts into a totem. When countless beings visualize me, their myriad thoughts converge, forging a Dharma Image.]

A thousand eyes gaze upon it, ten thousand spirits offer worship—a god!

"Sounds impressive, but what does this have to do with what I asked for?" Yan Cang thought, puzzled.

Even though he knew his talent wouldn't make a mistake, he couldn't help but complain:

"What do I need with countless thoughts worshipping me as a god? It's not like I'm asking to increase my [Spirit] attribute, am I?"

"And just looking at that word 'borrow' tells me it's some unorthodox method. I'm not learning that!"

As he thought, more information surfaced in his mind: "Hmm? It can be used as a medium to grant abilities to those who visualize it?"

"I can grant abilities freely? That means I'm not limited to just restoring Physical Strength?"

"There are also other things like control, damage..."

Realizing this, Yan Cang seized that future.

"A fine Cultivation Method!"