Chapter 113: Chapter 112, Annihilation Projection
After Georgette finished speaking, Gu Hang asked the critical question, “How can we defeat it? Are we supposed to defeat a Primal Psychic Creature that has achieved godhood?”
“No, it hasn’t come to that,” Georgette continued to explain. “I’ve sensed that it is still some distance away from tearing apart the veil of reality and truly awakening. If nearly a million people from Revival City indeed perish in the storm, such a vast spiritual reaction would echo repeatedly at the site of the ritual, and it really could pull it out of hell.”
“But to approach this layer of the True Universe, it still needs an anchor. Its eight spiritual avatars are here. What we need to eliminate are these avatars, soul to soul. A strong spirit is the key to defeating it.”
…
Gu Hang roughly understood what Georgette meant.
Although she had mentioned some rather abstruse concepts, they seemed related to the underlying logic of the entire world. He found some answers in his memories.
In the legitimate study for Spiritual Energy users, it is understood that beneath the entire reality of the universe, there’s a believed layer of an illusory universe filled with pure energy but no matter, considered to be the birthplace of the real universe, its foundation, also referred to as the ‘True Universe.’
It is speculated that tens of thousands of years ago, during the Golden Age, humans wielded advanced technology, properly harnessing the energy of the True Universe. This boundless energy source gave rise to a brilliant civilization.
All of this ended after the emergence of ‘hell.’
‘Hell’ is seen as the gathering place of energies that are unusable or discharged after use. It is rife with madness, destruction, and chaos.
Modern Scholars of Spiritual Energy generally believe that the True Universe is now divided into two layers. The Star Spirit Realm is the outer layer, a usable sea of Spiritual Energy. The Spirit Network constructed by the Divine Emperor supports the entire Spirit Realm, allowing safe Spiritual Energy users to emerge among humans, who also utilize Spiritual Energy as an advanced source of energy.
Of course, the Theological Council of the state religion doesn’t see it that way. In their theory, the Spirit Network is the Divine Realm established by the Emperor upon His ascension. The Emperor blesses the people of this world from within His realm. People should believe wholly in the Emperor and upon death, their souls should return to the Divine Realm, achieving transcendence.
The Mechanical Sect has their own theories, to be set aside for now.
But regardless of the debate, in essence, Spiritual Energy originates from the Spirit Realm and the ascended Emperor bestows protection upon humanity.
However, hell still exists—disordered, chaotic, insane—filled with destructive energy.
According to Georgette, the ‘Primal Fury Owl’ is classified as a kind of powerful psychic creature, and it has fallen into hell for reasons unknown. Now, due to the rituals of the cultists, it is about to tear open the veil of the real universe and descend.
Within the eight wind farms, there exist eight avatars of the Fury Owl, essentially eight mental projections of the Primal Fury Owl that have torn a small opening in the real universe, allowing the insane Spiritual Energy storm to sweep through it.
If these eight Fury Owl projections are killed in the Mental Realm, it would mean a complete termination of the avatars’ reconstitution, preventing the arrival of the Primal Fury Owl and permanently solving the storm issue.
How do we kill these Fury Owl projections?
“Just touch the void,” Georgette provided a very specific solution, further explaining, “I was trying to see the source earlier; that’s why…if it were only about challenging the projection, it wouldn’t be like this.”
Oh, so you still went and acted rashly.
“Then, has the projection avatar here been dealt with?”
“No…” Georgette admitted somewhat awkwardly, “After my injury, I no longer have enough mental strength to destroy the projection.”
Oh, after acting rashly, you’re too weak to do the actual work.
Isn’t that just giving it away for free?
Gu Hang took a deep breath, deciding…
“I’ll do it.” Priest Rizzo stepped forward. “Just touching it will suffice?”
“Yes,” Georgette replied. “As long as you don’t venture too deep, just annihilate that creature.”
“Alright.”
Priest Rizzo reached out and touched the void.
Moments later, he lowered his hand, looking a bit wilted and weak, but his voice was light as he spoke, “Mission accomplished.”
As his words fell, Gu Hang could clearly see the void shrinking at a visible rate, soon disappearing entirely.
Gu Hang was overjoyed!
Dawn was in sight!
“We now need to rush to the other seven wind farms immediately! We have less than three hours; we can still make it!”
Watching the governor become invigorated, the priest sighed and cooled the excitement.
“Your Excellency,” Rizzo began, “I’m afraid it’s not as simple as we thought.”
“What do you mean?”
“Projecting the soul into the Mental Realm for combat is much more difficult than imagined. Defeating that creature doesn’t cost me much, but the transit back and forth burdens the spirit heavily. I can’t do it again in a short amount of time. Otherwise, just the act of projecting the soul could leave me unconscious, and I need at least two days of rest to recover.”
Everyone has a two-day cooldown to enter the Mental Realm?
Gu Hang looked at Georgette.
“I’m in a similar situation.”
Rizzo continued: “To withstand the pressure of soul projection, one needs a very resilient spirit. Even for the Sisters of Saintly Lilies, it would be extremely dangerous. Only we Phoenixes have the capability to endure it.”