Walker Of The Worlds

2791  Path Of Faith

There had been no books that described the cultivation methodology of the people—at least, none that Lin Mu had found. All he discovered was that as long as one remained devout and prayed regularly, their strength would grow.

He couldnʼt help but wonder if this was an intentionally guarded secret—or perhaps something so fundamental to this world that no one questioned it.

Something like breathing air.

WHOOSH

In the middle of their investigation, the Dao Shell and Dao Embryo within the corpse faded away, unable to sustain themselves without the life force of the man they once belonged to.

”Dammit,” Daoist Chu cursed, frustrated by what appeared to be a dead end.

”No…” Lin Mu muttered, sensing something else—something more.

He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again—his Spatial Perception now fully active.

He peered into the seemingly empty air, focusing on the fabric of space itself. Thatʼs when he saw it: a strange energy stream, subtle and thin, slipping into a minuscule hole that had opened in the spatial fabric. The anomaly was so tiny that no ordinary cultivator would have sensed it—there were almost no fluctuations at all.

Only a Spatial Cultivator like Lin Mu could perceive something this faint.

ʼIt entered the hole? But where did it go?ʼ Lin Mu concentrated harder, pushing his perception beyond the ordinary layers of space.

SHUA

His vision extended, revealing the vast emptiness of the void. But aside from the void itself, there was nothing.

The strange energy had simply vanished.

ʼNo, not vanished… it went somewhere,ʼ Lin Mu thought, confident in his observation.

If it had merely dissipated, there would have been residual traces—displaced spatial energy, faint ripples, lingering distortion.

This wasnʼt that.

ʼItʼs almost like it was sucked through a teleportation portal—but far more subtle,ʼ he considered.

What made it even more familiar was that this strange energy resembled the one he had felt emanating from the statues of the so-called Supreme God.

”What is it?” Daoist Chu asked, noticing Lin Muʼs silence.

”This is certainly not what I expected,” Lin Mu replied slowly. ”Their cultivation… it doesnʼt seem to be truly theirs.”

”What do you mean?” Monk Hushu asked, eyes narrowing.

Lin Mu then explained what he had seen.

”The way the energy disappeared—it was as if it was being drawn to something… as if summoned,” Lin Mu said, still watching the spot where the anomaly had appeared.

”Where did it go?” Daoist Chu wondered aloud.

”Iʼll have to find out. I need to test more,” Lin Mu said, giving him a determined look.

”Do what you must,” Daoist Chu said firmly. He knew this was no time to be cautious.

”Iʼll inform you when I learn something,” Lin Mu said, then immediately sank into the ground.

He reappeared outside, the cool air brushing past his face.

It was the middle of the night. The streets were quiet, cloaked in shadows. Only a few guards patrolled nearby, their footsteps echoing on stone. Occasionally, a straggler made their way home, wrapped tightly in a cloak.

Lin Mu was just about to leave the alleyway when he felt something shift.

SHUA

His surroundings grew deathly still, as if the air itself had frozen.

”What—?” Lin Mu tried to speak, but no sound came out. ʼI canʼt speak?ʼ he realized, startled.

Thatʼs when he heard a voice.

”I donʼt have much time. I can only maintain this barrier for a short while,” said a familiar tone.

The Saintess.

”Saintess!” Lin Mu exclaimed, or at least tried to. He had been wondering what she had been doing all this time.

”You need to be very careful here,” the Saintess warned. ”This world is not what it seems. The people here… they arenʼt true cultivators.”

”They arenʼt cultivators?” Lin Mu blinked in disbelief. ”Then what are they?”

”They are essentially mortals,” the Saintess said. ”Mortals who live off borrowed power.”

”Borrowed power… Is that why the energy disappeared?” Lin Mu asked, connecting the dots.

”So you saw it,” the Saintess said, her tone confirming his suspicions.

”Yes. When the Dao Embryo of the corpse faded, the energy within it—the same one I sensed in the statues and people—disappeared into a tiny hole in space. I didnʼt feel any spatial manipulation at all. It was almost… natural,” Lin Mu explained.

”Youʼre very close to the truth,” the Saintess said. ”The people who live here borrow their cultivation from the being they call the ʼSupreme Godʼ.”

”Itʼs an actual person?” Lin Mu asked, taken aback.

Lin Mu stared in disbelief. This wasnʼt just divine posturing. It was literal ownership.

”The celestial grants power through the Dao Embryo. Itʼs a Dao Embryo of the Dao of Faith—though I donʼt know its true name,” the Saintess explained. ”It acts as a conduit for his power. It can grant most of the benefits of cultivation to the people here.”

”Such a thing is possible?” Lin Mu asked. ”A single celestial can sustain so many?”

”That man is a True Celestial,” she said. ”And a strong one. This is his cultivation path—the Path of Faith.”

”The Path of Faith… like the Buddhist path?” Lin Mu asked.

”Theyʼre not the same,” the Saintess said. ”The Buddhist path still allows independence. The Path of Faith does not. It is a primitive, abandoned form of cultivation. But some old practitioners still keep it alive.”

Lin Muʼs eyes narrowed. ”Then what does this have to do with the disappearances?”

”They arenʼt disappearances,” the Saintess said grimly. ”Theyʼre sacrifices.”

That word sent a chill down his spine.

”It was one of the reasons this path was abandoned,” she continued. ”While it grants no independence, it does allow those with higher ranks of faith to grow stronger… by cannibalizing those beneath them.”

”Theyʼre… eating people?” Lin Mu was stunned.

”Not in the literal sense,” she clarified. ”They consume their ʼcultivationʼ. And what do you think happens when a person whoʼs lived hundreds of years—someone whose life has been extended only through borrowed power—suddenly loses it all?”