Chapter 199 Approaching the Divine (21)
The academic Genius Liu Sheng truly spent an entire night copying and reading books.
“What is this called?”
“Burning the midnight oil.”
But there was no other way; burning the midnight oil was a necessary action.
Firstly, she needed to copy another divine book for Song Yanran.
Secondly, she hadn't had time to read the books she had brought back.
This day, she had been out running around, covering half the Xuan Thirty-Nine City, and had experienced four weird objects incidents, big and small, but even so, she had successfully spread the will of a god, although it was a different god than expected.
There really couldn't be a more diligent divine official than her, could there?
However, she didn't actually intend to forgo rest.
Liu Sheng also understood that for a long-term battle, she needed sufficient sleep, especially since this body was not that of a cultivator and required careful nurturing.
So, of course, she had to use her old trick.
She first recorded several segments as material for the World to expertly edit.
During this time, she ate all the boiled peanuts, nodding as she ate, confirming that Song Yanran's cooking was indeed good.
Seeing a quilt in the small study, she figured it was brought by a previous intern divine official for all-night copying, and it would come in handy.
So, she rested her head on a soft cushion, wrapped herself in the quilt, and lay down behind the desk, falling into a deep sleep.
But while her body slept, and a part of her consciousness slept, the remaining part…
“Time to get to work!”
The on-duty Liu Sheng came online.
She systematically directed Little Tentacle to begin copying books at high speed.
She would have more divine officials and believers in the future, so she decided to print, no, copy more, to distribute as promotional materials.
Later, she could even organize divine book recitation sessions, where she would recite it publicly once, then distribute a copy to everyone, wouldn't that surely skyrocket the success rate of her missionary work?
She still needed to make good use of probability theory.
Another part of Liu Sheng was responsible for controlling Little Tentacle to input the map into the World.
“We clearly got a prefecture-level map, but this map only shows Xuan Thirty-Nine City, and beyond Xuan Thirty-Nine City is strangely blank.”
“That means the scope we can explore should only be that large, after all, this is just a simple illusion.”
“Beyond Xuan Thirty-Nine City, there are three villages, located to the east, west, and north, and to the south is Xuan Mountain.”
“We can start with these villages and the mountain, exploring along the edges to see if we truly cannot leave.”
“What if we can leave?”
“Then there will be other ways to play.”
“Looking forward to it.”
The map input was complete; from now on, when navigation was needed, she could directly ask the World.
Next book, the County Annals.
This illusion was a historical slice; NPCs lacked knowledge of the past, and to truly understand their past, one had to start with the books left in the slice.
Little Tentacle opened the County Annals, its many eyes rapidly scanning.
Suddenly, seeing a line, all the Liu Shengs collectively let out a light gasp, and the more they read, the more they whispered among themselves.
“Look at this entry: Recorded in the 36th year of Jiahe, Mirror Lake, thirty li south of the city. Travelers sometimes reported seeing a woman standing on the clear waves at night, with wet hair covering her face, a strange expression, and wet clothes. The villagers called her ‘Lake Woman.’ Legend has it that this woman was harmed by someone, drowned in the lake, and then turned into a vengeful ghost. Later, a county official attempted to investigate, rowing a boat into the lake, and was never heard from again. Since then, Mirror Lake became a Forbidden Land.”
“And this one: Recorded in the 35th year of Jiahe, the old locust tree outside the North Gate, over a hundred years old, with dense foliage. At night, passersby often saw shadowy figures hanging upside down from the tree. This tree was once an ancient execution ground where condemned prisoners met their fate; it is suspected that their wronged souls cling to the human world and refuse to leave. On nights of Yin wind, the Yin Qi beneath the tree is chilling, striking fear into passersby, so no one dares approach it.”
“Recorded in the 31st year of Jiahe, an stone statue stands on the open ground east of the city, its origin and erector unknown. Even if moved, it returns the next day. During continuous spring rains, the statue’s eyes weep blood, a sight that fills observers with terror. Those who show disrespect lose their sight, thus everyone avoids it from afar.”
“I didn’t expect that besides normal government affairs, important events, and disasters, the County Annals also recorded many such weird objects incidents.”
“From the 10th year of Jiahe to the present, a rough count shows over twenty such strange occurrences.”
“And the frequency is increasing.”
“According to historical records, no one can truly pinpoint when weird objects first appeared, because initially, people only regarded them as strange tales and did not realize they would become a world-ending disaster.”
“But, have you thought of it?”
“Thought of what?”
“According to this County Annals, the locations and characteristics of these weird objects are recorded so clearly, can we then go to…”
“Farm dungeons.”
“Isn’t this a dungeon clue?”
“That makes sense.”
“And we need more weird objects as means.”
Thinking this, Liu Sheng directed Little Tentacle to take out the ancient bronze mirror, wrapped in cloth, from her lapel.
---
Name: Song Clan Mirror Weird Object
Analysis Completion: 100%
Effect Description: Look into the mirror and feel the gaze of intense attention. Each time you look, one more gaze is added. Don't you like the feeling of being the center of attention? As for the source of the gazes, it should be quite clear, shouldn't it?
Influence Rank: D
Analysis Evaluation: The Song Clan is a prominent family; their every move is watched. Do not act rashly, otherwise...
---
This was a weird object obtained from Song Yanran, and the World had already deleted the code for its weird object infection, leaving only its special ability.
Now that she thought about it, this was also the principle of so-called “purification.”
Discard the dross, keep the essence.
She just didn't know how to operate it in reality.
This weird object was not particularly strong, had many restrictions, and could not be lethal.
But for an unexpected sneak attack, it could produce miraculous effects and was a means of mental control.
One must know that such malicious gazes of close attention could drive a person to collapse.
Liu Sheng had experienced it.
It seemed Song Yanran also deeply understood this.
If Liu Sheng hadn't intervened, Song Yanran would probably have reached a dead end before long.
That's why Song Yanran envied Liu Sheng's ability to protect herself and longed to possess it.
“So, the question is.”
“As our divine official, how do we empower her?”
“If she doesn’t have powerful means, how can she be worthy of Earth Mother?”
“She’s not us; she can’t get rewards and skills by completing tasks.”
“This is simple.”
“Right, ‘Mom’?”
Little Tentacle tapped its pointed tip, a nod of sorts.
Then, a section of Little Tentacle actually detached, transforming into a shimmering black bead, within which vast starlight sparkled.
This bead landed on the cloth wrapping of the 【Song Clan Mirror Weird Object】, then slipped through a seam beneath the coarse cloth, rolling across the mirror surface, which was somewhat blurry from not being properly wiped for a long time.
Afterward, it gradually seeped into the mirror surface, eventually becoming one with it.
Liu Sheng felt the part of Little Tentacle inside the mirror, very satisfied, and even assigned a consciousness to control it.
Anyway, she had an inexhaustible supply of consciousnesses.
Little Tentacle could control weird objects; thus, as long as the user, her divine official, invoked the Little Tentacle inside by praying to “Earth Mother,” Little Tentacle could do its best to help the user wield the weird object.
In the user's eyes, it would probably be similar to automatic combat.
“Doesn’t this count as bestowing power?”
“That makes sense.”
“Moreover, when we acquire more weird objects and bestow them upon more divine officials, there's a second layer of benefit.”
“Hmm, I’ve thought of it; it truly is a Genius design.”
“We are all Geniuses.”