Chapter 814: Garden of Truth (Part 2)
Now, what concerns Lin Rui more is the scene he saw in the ruins and his mentor and senior sister.
Luo Wangshu and Meng Weiyun have been in seclusion recently, although they sit at the heart of the Sky Pond, they seldom pay attention to the war affairs.
The management there is mostly handled by Luo Wangshu's disciples, led by Zhuang Mingyue.
The Immortal Dragon Lord might know about the Great Song's forces in the Sky Pond, with the overt support being the East Abyss while the actual backing is the Master of Light, hence there hasn't been much effort made there, nor is there a desire to let the 'Master of Light' continue harvesting the demon Blood Evil.
Therefore, for the past three years, the strategy of the Demon Army under the Immortal Dragon Lord has been to maintain contact, focusing on containment, trying to avoid direct combat, while vigorously disrupting and destabilizing the surface of the East Continent, weakening the Great Song's national strength.
Lin Rui guesses this is most likely the strategy of the former emperor of the Great Song.
This emperor was indeed strategic, but unfortunately, his fortune was lacking. He was suppressed by the East Abyss while on the surface, and was forced to defect, only to be manipulated by the Immortal Dragon Lord afterward, truly a pity.
Hence Luo Wangshu typically doesn't need to worry about war affairs, spending eleven months of the year in seclusion.
However, the longer his mentor and senior sister are in seclusion, the more Lin Rui worries.
The last time Lin Rui met them was twenty days ago.
That was when Lin Rui habitually performed purification for Luo Wangshu and Meng Weiyun, and he still remembers the feeling when he saw their hair falling like the Star River after purifying them.
Lin Rui's Pure Method is not omnipotent. For instance, the spiritual imprint and will belonging to the Godburn Crucible within his Source Material Core cannot be thoroughly refined.
And the Divine Thought of the Supreme Heavenly Venerate is exceedingly powerful, how magnificent is that force!
Luo Wangshu's Truth Method had been cultivated up to 93% a year ago, and although she stopped when it was good enough and did not delve further, Lin Rui must expend a great deal of divine power every time to cleanse the remnants of the Supreme, applying layers of seals and suppressions to keep Luo Wangshu's self-awareness intact.
Meng Weiyun is similar; his senior sister is particularly bold, halting only when the Truth Method was near perfection.
They each have their own confidence. Luo Wangshu's fundamental Martial Intent is 'Mind Only Me', maintaining a strong self-will; Meng Weiyun, meanwhile, specializes in the methods of 'Ideal' and 'Changeable', her soul power extremely potent, capable even of controlling numerous variables that were eroded by the Supreme.
Nevertheless, Lin Rui can still perceive the Supreme Heavenly Venerate's contamination and assimilation of their souls and bloodline.
It's a silent, gradual corrosion, eroding their soul and flesh imperceptibly.
Fortunately, the Truth Concept greatly aids their fundamental Martial Intent; Luo Wangshu's 'Refinement' and 'Elevation' are nearly cultivated to perfection, her physical strength increasingly formidable, approaching the Quasi-Abyss level.
In Lin Rui's eyes, they now race in an extremely dangerous competition, seeing whether Luo Wangshu and Meng Weiyun ascend to Abyss status before being assimilated by the Supreme, or if the Supreme revives within their bodies before their Conceptual Power reaches the divine rank.
Lin Rui even had to consider a solution — actively permitting the Supreme's revival in another 'Supreme Blood' body.
Returning to Luojing, Lin Rui intentionally checked the situation of his mentor and senior sister.
He sensed through the door, and after feeling that the situation was under control, he withdrew his focus entirely, continuing to deduce his fundamental Martial Intent with the help of the Truth Divine Throne.
It was morning prayer time, with seventy-seven billion followers praying to him during breakfast.
Lin Rui's current followers number about 270 billion, but only nineteen billion are willing to engage in morning prayer, with another fifty-eight billion participating during the Holy Communion.
They must complete morning prayers under the Priest's guidance to receive the Holy Communion.
Though their faith is not particularly devout, their gratitude toward the Light King Sect for salvation is profound.
Among them, there are many indifferent and ungrateful ones, yet the majority, as long as basic needs are met, can maintain a fundamental moral perspective.
Over the past three years, the Light King Sect has helped at least 2.3 billion followers establish themselves in various Base Cities, prompting them to reciprocate to the church once they achieve stable employment and income sources.
Currently, two-thirds of the donations to the Light King Sect come from these followers.
During morning prayers, these followers' understanding of the Master of Light sharply increases, giving Lin Rui tremendous pressure.
To Lin Rui's relief, Ji Xueying and the priests remain quite effective, as now very few sing the 'Milk and Eggs' Holy Song, less than one in ten thousand.
Conversely, these followers' understanding of 'Holy Thunder Tribulation Fire', the all-powerful 'Master of Light', substantially increases Lin Rui's Concept Divine Power.
Guided by 34 Jingyi Altars, 52 Radiant Holy Altars, combined with the aggregation of the massive underground Array and Concept Macro Force Field in the core experimental area and the purification by the Truth Divine Throne, Lin Rui's fundamental Martial Intent can reach 99% strength, with the Holy Thunder Tribulation Fire and Pure Concept nearing Superlimit!
Lin Rui's thoughts plunged into the root, using his personal 'One' cultivation method to sort through the chaotic concepts within the root.
If he knew the thoughts of the Great Sun Venerate, he would marvel at the accuracy of this ancient Divine King's perception — seeking to become the 'source' and 'end' of these concepts.
If the myriad concepts within the root were likened to nearly two thousand intertwined ropes, Lin Rui's task is to untangle these ropes and connect himself to their source and end.
According to statistics, approximately 300 deities have been born on the Sky Extreme Star over six hundred thousand years, with each grasping over two concepts.
Many like Limitless Saber Venerable just ascended only to fall, these complete divine rank concepts total over 1,200 types, with incomplete ones reaching thousands, far exceeding the 'Three Thousand Dao' number, these conceptual powers have similarities and conflicts, incredibly complex.
This work resembles arranging the tangled wires and data cables in a server room, a myriad of connections.
Lin Rui must try to avoid the conceptual powers controlled by current Abyss entities, preventing their alertness.
Thus he needs time, a lot of time; the longer the transcendent war drags on, the better.
Though he looks supportive of the artificial sky, and has taken many orders for constructing the sky bases of the gods, he secretly uses various concealed and hard-to-detect methods to undermine and place obstacles for the gods.
He discovered that the root will itself cooperates, craving order and wanting to integrate these concepts.
However, as Lin Rui's 'One' becomes the source and end of increasingly more concepts, his influence on the root deepens.
Meanwhile, the root's will is also reciprocally eroding him.
Lin Rui essentially wagers against the root, seeing whether he survives to eventually control the root while maintaining self-awareness, or if the root assimilates him, acquiring all he has.
Therefore, this Light Faith cannot be neglected; the more numerous the believers, the better, and he must do his utmost to enhance the believers' recognition of him.
In the subsequent three months, Lin Rui spent his time in this core experimental lab, studying concepts day after day, sorting the root.
Until three months later, Lin Rui received a message conveyed through Divine Sense.
This Divine Sense pierced through layers of Force Field Shields and Array Defense at the dock base, directly linking Lin Rui's soul.
"Dreamy Heavenly Venerate?"
Suspicion appeared in Lin Rui's eyes, pondering why this Divine King sought him.
Meeting now is fine, but the timing is sensitive, potentially triggering a chain reaction among other Abyss entities, and Lin Rui worried about having his recent plans uncovered by this deity, potent in spiritual power and Illusion Technique.
While he considered, he received another wisp of intent from Dreamy Heavenly Venerate.
Perceiving it, Lin Rui's eyes slightly narrowed, and with a flick of his sleeve, paused the computation group operating at full capacity beside him.
This invitation from Dreamy Heavenly Venerate involves the Master of Destiny.