Chapter 3 Prologue 3: Faith
Note: Most practitioners in this work follow five immortal paths: Heaven, Earth, Human, God, and Ghost.
Heavenly Immortals embody the will of civilization; Earthly Immortals are ineffable chaos beyond the understanding of civilization; Human Immortals are transfigured and transcendent beings who forge their own paths (the only individual life form, mostly unable to be resurrected if they die); Divine Immortals are gods of faith, parasitic in the "affirmative cognition" of countless intelligent civilizations towards them; Ghost Immortals transform into endless rule-based Ghost Storiesand anomalous entities, parasitic in the "negative cognition" of countless intelligent civilizations towards them.
All gods in the World of Gods will start with half of the faith god path (Innate Gods can only parasitize within the rules of their own plane, while faith gods can spread to many other planes), later transitioning to other paths.
The protagonist, as a dead person, obtains the Godhead of the God of Life, and in the early stage, also relies on faith gods for transition.
After dying once, he will become a paradoxical, eerie existence...
Although this world has just been established and its area is relatively small, it has already begun to devour certain energy and matter in the endless void, its volume expanding daily, and the depth of information dimensions it can accommodate deepening daily.
At this moment, as the last human tottered into their small group, Bai Zhe suddenly felt an empty loneliness.
It was as if the boredom inherent in the essence of life was surging like a tide, engulfing his existence.
It was an unavoidable emptiness; all creation, abundance, and reproduction had already paved a self-sufficient path for the world.
The established rules had long begun to operate, and even without his participation, this world could continue its growth process.
Bai Zhe, as the God of Life, had completed his initial mission.
At this time, the void will that had once granted him power resonated again, a grand voice echoing like thunder in the depths of his consciousness:
"Life has been established, all things have been born, and the world has been formed.
Your mission is complete, yet your divine office remains.
I bestow upon you the divine name — 'Persistence.'"
"May you protect this world, guard its prosperity, until eternity."
A warm and solemn power surged into Bai Zhe's consciousness like a tide.
It was the void will's coronation of him, the affirmation of his divine power by the laws of heaven and earth.
However, Bai Zhe still had some doubts: "What exactly is a god?"
He muttered to himself, as if walking from chaos towards the other shore of some truth.
Under the compulsion of nothingness, inspiration surged madly, like golden lightning tearing through chaotic clouds.
Bai Zhe realized: "This so-called god seems to be high above, transcending reality, but precisely because of this, we must rely on believers as carriers to materialize ourselves, to load our righteousness and principles into reality, only then can our righteousness and principles be expanded through practice."
"More importantly, I have now discovered that this world suffers from severe cognitive impairment.
The stronger one's power, the more severe their own observation distorts and covers the world.
Therefore, if a god wants to learn new knowledge or initiate new projects, they must connect with believers, using a lower-dimensional perspective as an important supplement to their information source.
Otherwise, all of a god's thoughts, ideas, and feelings are merely endless reproduction of their own cognitive impairment — pure Innate Gods are truly just worms parasitizing rules, without any potential for growth."
"And the brains of believers are the source of our wisdom."
Bai Zhe's eyes flickered slightly.
He realized that only when believers believed in and revered him could his image occupy the core position of their souls, and only then could he requisition their brainpower and sparks of thought from their brains to maintain his high-dimensional wisdom from collapsing.
This is the necessity of believers.
So-called faith is a large-scale cuckoo-style usurpation of other people's souls.
The more magnificent a believer considers the object of their worship, the more thorough this usurpation becomes.
"Perhaps this is what I need to do."
Bai Zhe whispered, "I want humans to know the origin of life, to understand my existence, hehehe..."
"Let them accept my faith, become my people.
Perhaps this game of faith will be more interesting."
He looked up, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
Thus, Bai Zhe began his plan — to spread faith to humanity under the divine name of "Persistence."
He selected some exceptionally gifted individuals with particularly keen perceptions and appeared in their dreams.
In their dreams, he recounted the origin of life, telling the story of how he created this world.
The dream visions were as vivid as miracles.
Upon waking, those who received the revelation shared everything from their dreams with their kin, becoming the first believers of the god of continuation and the initial priests of the Life Cult.
The early doctrines of the Life Cult were still relatively simple:
Revere life, for life is a gift from the god of continuation.
Be grateful for abundance, for abundance is the bounty of the Earth Mother, a symbol of the god of continuation's protection.
Advocate reproduction, for reproduction is the continuation of life, an embodiment of the god of continuation's power.
The faith of the Life Cult spread rapidly among human tribes like a spring breeze.
People began to build temples, offer sacrifices to the god of continuation, and pray for protection.
They prayed for a bountiful harvest before sowing, for safety before hunting, and for a strong male child before childbirth.
The existence of the god of continuation quickly became the pillar of humanity's spiritual world.
And just as Bai Zhe had anticipated, other Innate Gods gradually realized the importance of the power of faith.
After all, for gods, faith is the source of power, the proof of their existence in this world.
Thus, a silent competition among gods quietly unfolded.
The Sun God displayed His endless radiance and warmth, proclaiming Himself "Lord of Radiance" and establishing the Heavenly Radiance Divine Cult; the Earth God displayed Her profound and steady aura, proclaiming Herself "Bearer of the World," and the Earth Mother Divine Cult spread rapidly; the Ocean God stirred up monstrous waves, showcasing His mysterious and violent power, proclaiming Himself "King of the Deep Sea," and the Ocean Church gradually took shape...
For a time, various cults flourished like bamboo shoots after rain in human society, each centered around its own god, proclaiming its greatness and attempting to attract more believers.
However, in this struggle for faith among the gods, the god of continuation — Bai Zhe — naturally held an unparalleled advantage.
Firstly, he seized the initiative.
While other gods were still figuring out how to communicate with humans, Bai Zhe had already revealed his existence to humanity through dreams, and the Life Cult had long taken root in the tribes, possessing a broad popular base.
Secondly, and more importantly, Bai Zhe was the creator of humanity.
Deep in the human soul, there was a natural and profound sense of closeness and belonging to the god of continuation.
They instinctively believed that it was the god of continuation who granted them life and protected their reproduction and proliferation.
This innate connection made Bai Zhe's faith difficult to shake, becoming an advantage that other gods could not match.
Although other gods tried their best to demonstrate their power through various miracles, the Life Cult still firmly held the dominant position in human hearts...
Soon, the clamor and turmoil of creation's beginning gradually subsided, and the world entered a relatively stable period of development.
The gods spread faith among humans, established cults, and accumulated power, while Bai Zhe returned to his divine kingdom — the Creation Divine Court.
The Creation Divine Court, as its name suggests, is the birthplace of life and the core of the god of continuation's power.
Here, there are no sun, moon, or stars, no mountains or rivers, only an boundless green sea of light.
This sea of light is composed of the purest life energy, radiating vibrant vitality, and within it, countless ethereal figures of life can be vaguely seen swimming, which are the informational structure projections of all life forms in the world.
In the center of the sea of light, there is a colossal divine throne entwined by countless vines of life.
The god of continuation, Bai Zhe, sits upon the divine throne, pondering the future direction.
"Life has spread throughout the world, and faith has also been widely disseminated.
What should I do next?"
His thoughts expanded infinitely, and the devout faith of his believerswas transformed into a powerful cognitive potential, continuously pouring into his consciousness.
Bai Zhe did not directly respond to these believers but instead appropriated the computing power and thoughts generated in their brains when they worshipped him, immersing himself in his own problem domain.
He was conducting a complex and complex experiment, pondering how to create an extremely special life structure.
"If I can create a pure life force carrier, as an extension of my will, perhaps I can better understand the mysteries of life."
"Cancer cells would be a good material."
Bai Zhe's heart stirred, and a possibility flashed in his mind — he decided to try operating on cancer cells, which have endless division and proliferation capabilities, to inject them with new life force and more complex life information structures, enabling them to create a brand new, unique life form through continuous self-mutation.
Without further ado, Bai Zhe extracted a large amount of disorganized life information structures from the green sea of light.
He even accepted all the garbage information generated by various organisms during their life activities.
He poured those information like light streams into cancer cells, in the form of massive overloaded information meme contamination, re-editing the function, connection, and content of each cancer cell, causing them to undergo drastic changes.
With the continuous injection of endless life information structures, the division of cancer cells began to show unpredictable trends.
They swelled, twisted, mutated in a pathological way, and in this process released a large number of deformed waste cells.
These pathological cells dissipated in Bai Zhe's Divine Court, like a small, bizarre storm brewing, and at the core of the storm, the main body of the cancer cells gradually evolved into a massive, amorphous mass of flesh. Its surface constantly writhed, growing countless tentacles and mouths, emitting a horrifying roar, as if an undead monster was awakening from the abyss.
Bai Zhe watched all of this, a surge of excitement rising within him. "Hehehehe, this is exactly what I wanted."
Bai Zhe gave these amorphous masses of flesh a name—Black Goat—and defined their species as—Divine Abominations.
The Black Goat let out a low roar, responding to Bai Zhe's command. Though ugly and deformed, they possessed immense power and infinite potential, perhaps destined to become the sharpest weapon in the god of continuation's hands.
However, Bai Zhe did not stop there. When the Black Goat was born, the large number of waste cells it released still permeated the surroundings. These cells were twisted and pathological, but with the infusion of the power of persistence, they displayed a chaotic yet vigorous vitality, like the spread of a virulent virus, diffusing a catastrophic destruction into every inch of space.
He collected these pathological cells, which continuously produced viruses (essentially fragmented life information structures), into multiple super-large petri dishes, meticulously observing their changes, while pondering how to better utilize the characteristics of these waste cells.
"When a person contracts a virus from a pig, does that count as the pig's life information genetic structure polluting the human, or the human's life information genetic structure polluting the pig?"
Bai Zhe brainstormed, pondering the essence of viruses—
For biological systems, viruses themselves possess subversive characteristics; their existence completely transcends the definitions imposed by humans on various populations in the natural world from the perspective of biological taxonomy. This is because the basis of biological species classification is reproductive isolation, but viruses transcend reproductive isolation, able to freely multiply within the genes of countless species. Bai Zhe recalled that his former scientists, in order to define viruses, regulate and understand their harmfulness, constantly invented various taxonomic terms to describe them, while viruses, parasitic in their own endless changes, continually escaped the microscopic taxonomic spectrum and the new terms constantly invented to represent and position their functions.
In essence, as a fragmented life information structure of genetic material discarded by the internal structure of cells, viruses are freed from the constraints of biological forms, changing infinitely and running rampant within the bodies of all life—viruses have no fixed life form; they can be considered a part of whatever life they enter. Viruses also lack basic cellular structures, instead appropriating the operational structures of life to replicate and change themselves, counting neither as living nor non-living, neither dead nor alive.
"Hahahahaha, I've comprehended, I've comprehended! This Daoist understands everything, everything! This virus, it is what the philosopher Zhuangzi in my previous life advocated: equating all things, and life and death! Hehehehehehe."
After observing for three full years, Bai Zhe finally achieved enlightenment, inventing this cultivation method named "Blood Fungus Calamity Sea Devouring Heaven Pathogen Extinction Heart Sutra" (the 'Heaven' in Devouring Heaven refers to the information dimension). The core of this method lies in strengthening the infectivity and mutation ability of the viruses within these pathological cells through the power of persistence, enabling them to spread, reproduce, and transform the surrounding environment more effectively.
Whenever the cultivation method is activated, the viruses within the pathogenic cells rapidly infect all matter they come into contact with. They not only proliferate themselves but also "upload" this pathological and mutated semi-life form into the information dimension at a certain rate (energy and material consumption are borne by the enemy's life cells) to occupy more area in the information dimension. Then, in turn, they "download" more life information structures from their occupied share of the information dimension into reality to occupy more real-world life (energy and material consumption are borne by the junk information in the information sea). This not only achieves dual pollution and spread in both the reality dimension and the information dimension but also enables the transmission of information from the material dimension and matter from the information dimension, leading to a co-diffusion where initial spread drives subsequent spread, accelerating exponentially, like lifting oneself by one's own bootstraps, rapidly forming an unstoppable, infinitely spreading torrent of destruction.
"Hehehehehehe, my ability to invent cultivation methods is as formidable as Kosmos and Ophelia in the Divine Realm."
"Each of these Black Goat possesses unique skills, and the secret weapon, Blood Fungus Calamity Sea Devouring Heaven Pathogen Extinction Heart Sutra, can bring endless surprises to this world!"
In this process, Bai Zhe also gained a deeper understanding of the laws of life, and his divine power also began to slowly increase towards an unknown, terrifying domain, towards something darker, deeper, and more bizarre... However, Bai Zhe soon discovered his own problem: delving into the academic path alone, although he was constantly advancing, this complex research also gradually made him feel bored.
Thus, a novel idea quietly arose in his mind—why not outsource these repetitive minutiae and uncreative, complex calculation tasks? Bai Zhewas not incompetent; rather, he understood better how to mobilize the wisdom of others to serve his grand plan.
He instantly drafted a new set of rules—from now on, all members of the Life Cult must accumulate contribution points by "solving problems," and these points could be exchanged for various cultivation methods invented by him, Bai Zhe.
A sinister and cunning smile appeared on Bai Zhe's lips.
"This way, I can outsource the repetitive calculation content of research projects, only needing to focus on higher-level creation and thinking."
"I can also absorb the large number of thoughts and computing power generated by their brains during the calculation process, greatly accelerating my core research."
"And it can make my subordinates smarter and smarter; as their brains, nourished by the power of life, become more agile with use, I will have more thoughts and computing power to relentlessly exploit."
"It's truly a triple win, a triple win. A triple win means I, Bai Zhe, have won three times in a row, hehehehehehe."
So, the next day, the priests of the God of Life received a series of challenging questions. These questions were filled with imaginative scientific concepts and wild theories, leaving every priest who received them utterly shocked.
"When an adult male's lower body encounters 1.6 trillion hummingbird avian life information structure meme pollution, will his urethral stratified columnar epithelial tissue and transitional epithelial tissue reconstruct to produce hummingbird-shaped connections visible to the naked eye of an ordinary person?"
"Calculate how many Kos of extraordinary fluctuation per second a unit of protoplasmic astrocytes produces under the observational pollution of a newly promoted fire-element extraordinary, with the specific conditions as follows: the observation environment is one standard atmosphere, and the fire-element extraordinary's internal energy level is..."
Soon, the priests of the Life Cult began to experience unprecedented trials. Endless problems hung over their heads like dark clouds, and every priest's face showed an indescribable weariness and anxiety.
And Ted, as one of the young priests, already felt like he was about to give up. Those profound and complex problems made him feel as if he was caught in an endless vortex of problem-solving, trying to struggle but unable to escape. As he solved problems, he couldn't help but complain to Chris next to him: "These problems are too difficult, the God of Life is too cruel! How can I ever finish them?"
Chris, already accustomed to this extraordinary level of calculation and challenge, remained focused, head down, solving problems, his eyes hardly leaving the appearing words and numbers. He said in a flat tone: "Complain less, solve more problems. When you complain about him, he will also steal the thoughts and brain computing power generated by your complaints, affecting your problem-solving speed."
Ted was stunned, momentarily speechless: "Holy shit, is he even human? He can steal even that?"
Chris's tone remained unchanged; he didn't even look at Ted: "See, you're getting anxious again. The more anxious you are, the dumber you become, and the more you complain about him and think about him, the more computing power from your brain he steals. That's why he doesn't mind this."
"Complaining is not a solution; it only makes you more stagnant."
"If you don't solve them, plenty of others will. Others want to join our Life Cult as priests but can't."
"You can look at me; this week, I've solved eight hundred twenty-seven problems on Xiaobai's problem set. That's why I'm a cardinal, and you're just a foot soldier. As long as you keep solving problems, as long as you work hard, one day, you too can become a cardinal."
Ted, hearing this, was filled with indignation but was also refuted by these words, left speechless.
He lowered his head, looking at the seemingly endless calculation problems, his heart full of helplessness: "If this were a horror world, my resentment would have already turned me into a cardinal."
Ted continued to mumble.
Chris remained silent, simply continuing to solve problems