Plate Twenty-Four: Without Greater Effort, They Will Soon Overtake You

The projection vanished. Staring at the wall adorned with the hanging banner and mural, Sang Sang felt a moment of melancholy.

Little Jin, disappointed, ceased its calculations and flew from Sang Sang’s shoulder to its personal swing. “The gaps in knowledge are too wide, and the time was too short. I couldn’t analyze the core principles, only gleaned a few superficial insights.”

“At least we know that the Heavenly Emperor and the others are doing well,” Sang Sang replied, expressing her gratitude to Senna.

“Why didn’t you ask about the Heavenly Emperor’s refinement concentration?” Senna was deeply concerned with this question. Although it was impossible to discern the Heavenly Emperor’s potential through the video, the fact that Little Jin’s remark about breaking records had gone unchallenged made him believe it was no joke. Was it over twenty-one times? Or twenty-two? Even twenty-three? For someone as discerning as Commander Kain to take notice, the Heavenly Emperor must possess a talent surpassing Sang Sang’s!

And all of Sang Sang’s companions who participated in the refinement exceeded fifteen times!

What kind of concept was this? The Temple was already a gathering place for geniuses, yet those with more than fifteen times the talent made up only a fifth. This meant all of Sang Sang’s companions were elites. It was said that her logistics team numbered over three thousand, and only the limited supply of potions prevented them all from undergoing refinement. If their potential was similar…

Senna shivered.

Was it truly that advanced civilizations lived in such comfort and overprotected their youth to the point that their willpower and conviction lagged behind those from lesser civilizations? Or was there some truth to the rumor circulating in small circles—that the Milky Way was once a place where several mid-tier civilization alliances exiled powerful criminals, and that so-called Sin Cities persisted because their inhabitants bore criminal genes?

At this thought, Senna quickly dismissed his own suspicion.

No, how could he take those slanderous comments, meant to bar Little Red Leaf from the selection, seriously? It must simply be that like attracts like—geniuses befriend geniuses. Little Red Leaf’s group was extraordinary even among the elite of galactic civilization.

Unaware of Senna’s internal struggle, Sang Sang asked with a curious expression, “Why ask? Regardless of his refinement concentration, he will always be my Commander of Knights.”

Senna persisted, “But what if he really broke the record?”

Sang Sang’s eyes were as clear as the purest amber as she fixed her gaze on Senna. “Grandpa Anthony’s ship is connected to the network. If the record is broken, it will be reported.”

Under the innocent, unblemished gaze—as clear as a newborn’s—Senna felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, calming him slightly. “No, that’s His Excellency Anthony’s bishop’s ship. To protect true prodigies who have not yet matured, they can choose not to enter the rankings. According to your companion, Commander Kain does not intend to make the Heavenly Emperor’s achievement public.”

“Since you understand that immature geniuses need protection, why insist on knowing?” Sang Sang’s expression shed its childlike purity; her eyes deepened, her smile disappeared, and she spoke with the composure and seriousness of an adult. “Uncle Kain’s actions are Grandpa Anthony’s decisions. Even if you knew, it would make no difference. When they arrive and register their information, it will be announced.”

Senna fell silent. He could not refute Sang Sang’s words. In truth, he did not even know why he was so eager to learn the Heavenly Emperor’s exact refinement concentration.

“Uncle, the Heavenly Emperor’s future is already decided—he will be my Commander of the Guardians. This was his decision when I agreed to become the Holy Maiden at Grandpa Anthony’s request. You all see him as a child, his mind yet unsettled, his aspirations still changeable. But reality will alter your views. Once we make a decision, we won’t change it for any external reason.”

Having spoken, Sang Sang ignored whatever Senna’s reaction might be, logged onto the StarNet, and entered the Wild One account to accept challenges.

“I never said I wanted to change your aspirations. With a super-genius as your Guardian Commander, I’m only impatient for him to grow up. Otherwise, I couldn’t be more pleased.” After a long pause, Senna shook his head with a wry smile, inwardly sighing: Lesser civilizations still have their advantages. At least, among their peers, their psychological maturity far outpaces the norm. That maturity is a true advantage.

With reassurance about her companions’ safety and invigorated by the Heavenly Emperor’s example, Sang Sang threw herself into her studies with renewed vigor. Having finally surpassed the Heavenly Emperor, she was determined to keep her lead. Once she was sure her physical abilities were sufficient for the assessment, she practiced magic in the Vast Illusion.

The Wild One’s spells, clearly marked by the style of the clergy, surprised those watching her. When someone revealed that she was using a Temple invitation card, the discussion quickly shifted to her identity. Was she a candidate for Holy Maiden—a top contender? In any case, since clergy skills were mostly group support, more people invited Sang Sang to join their teams for group battles, which helped her practice her abilities.

Of course, practicing magic was important, but what truly captured Sang Sang’s devotion was Boya’s course.

The creation of faith diagrams was a unique form of artifact forging. People no longer cared about the artwork itself, but rather how much it could enhance their own power.

Infusing laws into the faith diagram was extremely difficult. To manifest the laws was even harder, especially without using thought power or inner energy as a vessel. It was like being forced to conduct large transactions without online banking, only cash.

First, you had to know what cash looked like—which was rare, since everyone had a fixed bank account from birth. Then, you needed to have enough cash. Finally, you had to be able to carry large sums by hand, without any tools. Similarly, one had to master the laws so thoroughly they became second nature—or else truly understand their core principles—before they could be stored in a vessel.

Law candies could provide rapid advancement, but the law contained in each candy was very dilute. To master a particular law, one had to consume many candies of the same type. Even so, understanding the core structure and principles required time for meditation and comprehension.

What Sang Sang lacked was time. Most of her laws were borrowed from others; she hadn’t fully mastered them. She could use them, but not store them in her creations. She could never add laws from outside her own mind to her paintings without using thought power, so, following Boya’s advice, she settled for infusing spells and kept practicing her clergy skills.

Even infusing spells was no easy task, but compared to laws, it was much simpler.

As long as one understood the principles of the spell and could wield energy with sufficient skill, it was possible.

For Sang Sang, both requirements were within reach.

Take, for example, Purge Abnormality from the Holy Light Ministry—a purification law, primarily based on life-energy light.

In fact, whether light should be categorized under the life system was a subject of ongoing debate.

The core of the life system was to promote vitality, thereby healing and restoring. The light system, though it possessed life-promoting characteristics, was eighty percent exclusionary—violently so. Its most obvious target was dark energy, but it also suppressed ordinary elemental energy. Refined light energy was the most common form of powerful infectious energy.

By rights, light energy should be classified as an offensive element, but because it was the energy most commonly used by the Divine Court—the greatest force in the universe, famed for its healing—it was curiously assigned to the life system.

Light energy was divided into hot and cold varieties—hot light affected the body, cold light the soul. To create a faith work that purged abnormalities, one needed to control both types simultaneously, refine their exclusionary properties, and enhance their life-giving traits.