Chapter 213: Approaching the Divine (Part 35)
When they entered the dining hall, everyone looked at Liu Sheng with complex emotions—she was the Grand Divine Official they relied on and trusted.
They opened their mouths to say something, but Yanran Divine Official stopped them, saying, “Let the Grand Divine Official finish her meal first. She’s been busy all day.”
Liu Sheng knew what everyone wanted to say. Looking at their expectant eyes, she felt a little uneasy.
But she couldn’t promise anything; there were still many things she couldn’t be sure of.
“You’re too deep into the role,” even the World ruthlessly reminded her.
“Yes, I know.”
Just then, a large bowl of steaming noodles was brought to her and gently placed on the table.
The noodles had a few vegetable leaves, mushrooms, and a poached egg on top. It looked simple, but it was already a rare delicacy in this era.
“Grand Divine Official, eat it while it’s hot.”
Liu Sheng looked up and saw it was Grandma Hongshu, who had recently been helping in the Divine Temple’s dining hall. She was looking at Liu Sheng with a warm smile, and two deep dimples even appeared on her cheeks.
Grandma Hongshu hadn’t noticed her dimples for so many years; only recently, after smiling more often, had someone pointed them out.
Thus, she smiled even more happily.
“Okay.” Liu Sheng looked at her, nodded gently, and sat down to eat with Dawn Priest.
“How can I not get into the role? They are so real.”
“Yes, I know,” the World admitted. “As expected of an illusion created by a high dimension being.”
“Do you still think they are fake NPCs?”
“From my perspective, I can see their data flow. I know they are just imitating the thoughts and actions of real humans, but a few of them, I feel, are not far off.”
“For example, Dawn Priest? She has an autonomous Awakening consciousness.”
“Yes, she is the closest.”
“If this illusion ends, what will happen to them?”
“They will be reset.”
The World’s tone was very calm, but Liu Sheng’s heart skipped a beat, although she had long known this.
“So, the process of their humanization will be cleared?”
“Yes.”
…
When Liu Sheng finally finished her noodles, she wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief.
She looked up and saw that the dining hall was full of Divine Officials. Some had just finished eating and stayed behind, while others had returned specifically after hearing the Grand Divine Official was there. There were thirty-five people in total.
Other craftsmen and commoners had been kindly organized to leave by Yanran Divine Official.
Because they had very important matters to discuss, and the common people didn’t need to know too much about these matters; otherwise, it would only add to their worries.
“Grand Divine Official… I heard it’s confirmed that the entire city is surrounded by an air wall?” A male Divine Official cautiously asked first.
“Yes.” Liu Sheng nodded. “Based on our search results along the border outside Xuan Thirty-Nine City, in Liantang Village, Silver Ginkgo Village, Zhushi Village, and Xuan Mountain, we confirmed that the borders are all air walls.”
This matter couldn’t be hidden from everyone, because she couldn’t go to so many places alone. She had asked several Divine Officials, such as Yanran, Shikang, Qing Cong, and Heshan, to explore in different groups. So, when it was finally confirmed today, everyone discussed it privately, and the news spread everywhere.
They just wanted to see what the Grand Divine Official planned to do.
As expected, as soon as she said this, everyone began to talk amongst themselves.
“Then, aren’t we trapped with nowhere to go?”
“We should think about who is so evil to use such a method to trap all the city’s residents.”
“I think I still have relatives outside, but my memory is a bit blurry…”
“Grand Divine Official, do we really have to stay here for a lifetime?” The young and lively Qing Cong Divine Official boldly asked, voicing the thoughts of many.
This was also a point Liu Sheng found difficult to answer.
“What should I say? That you are just people born in this illusion, forever unable to escape?” Liu Sheng asked the World helplessly.
Dawn Priest, perhaps thinking of the same thing, lowered her head in dejection. Besides her, the only other person who vaguely realized this was Yanran Divine Official, who had followed Liu Sheng the earliest.
“…”
The World was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke.
“What if I said they have hope of leaving?”
These words exploded in Liu Sheng’s mind like a thunderclap.
The dazed, sleeping, and studying Liu Sheng all gathered, just like the Divine Officials in reality were gathering around Liu Sheng.
“What do you mean?”
“I know!”
“What do you know?”
“I just know. As expected, your intelligence is not as good as mine.”
“Do I need to remind you that our intelligence is the same?”
“However, I also know.”
“Wait, don’t tell me, let me guess.”
Then the Liu Shengs asked the World in unison, “Is it what we’re thinking?”
The World nodded its virtual little head, indicating that it was indeed that.
“If so, what should we do?”
“Seize control of the illusion,” the World said.
“Haven’t you already seized it?”
“I only gained control of this ‘Xuan Thirty-Nine’ City. Now, I need control of the entire illusion,” the World explained.
The Liu Shengs gasped, all shocked.
How could that be done?
“You’re not going to ask for control of a thousand cities, are you?”
“You didn’t say that before!”
“Don’t secretly add settings!”
Moreover, there were air walls between cities, so she couldn’t directly go and do that thing called “preaching” which was actually spreading “faith” viruses.
However, even if she could do that, how long would it take to preach in a thousand cities?
“So, you can do it this way, or you can not do it this way,” the World, hearing Liu Sheng’s thought process, said with a chuckle.
“Let me think. For example, in Xuan Thirty-Nine City, you gained control by acquiring faith points. By the same logic, to gain control of the entire illusion, you need to acquire all faith points?”
“Bingo!” The World didn’t know where it learned this word, but it was already applying it flexibly.
“But you don’t need all of them; most will do,” the World added.
Liu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
“Phew—!”
“That’s good. If I needed all of them, wouldn’t that kill me?”
“However, this also aligns with the Examination requirements, isn’t it based on faith point ranking?”
“If we get most of them, won’t we win?”
“Tell me, what should we do?”
The World shrugged in the sea of consciousness, and Liu Sheng didn’t know how she saw it, or where it got shoulders, but she just knew it made that gesture.
It was really becoming more and more agile!
But did this mean it didn’t know?
“Is there anything you don’t know?”
“It’s normal. I’m just an ordinary analyzer,” the World said modestly this time.
“According to the log, the air walls were set up to maintain the balance among early stage examinees, to prevent strong examinees from directly crushing weaker ones. In the mid to Late Stage of the Examination, there will be some means to leave this space.”
“Then what exactly is it?”
“I don’t know.”
Today is the third update, this is the second.