[166] The Village's Only Hope

In truth, Yu Xian felt the sky's transformation more acutely than anyone. Even without looking up, he could sense the spatial barrier descending like a colossal, sky-spanning hand, carving through space with wild intensity. Anchored to the stele Dao foundations, the entirety of Huaxia was being drawn into a grotto-heaven world, leaving behind only a single teapot in reality. This teapot was the sole key and anchor point for entering the Huaxia grotto-heaven from the outside world. As for why a teapot of all things, probably only Li Zhangzong knew. Yu Xian suspected it was just the old man's twisted sense of humor. In fact, many elderly experts loved cracking jokes and making references, except their memes dated back centuries or even a millennium. Without looking them up online, Yu Xian's generation wouldn't even realize they were making references. That, perhaps, was the so-called generation gap. "Number two hundred and five!" At that moment, Yu Xian teleported underground beneath another city and swiftly pressed his hand against the stele. The surging conviction of the masses rushed into the stele like the roaring waters of the Yellow River. In that instant, the torment in his brain eased slightly, and his expression relaxed. If there were a web novel where one could check their brain at the door, Yu Xian felt he wouldn't hesitate for a second to leave his behind. That sensation—like countless middle-aged women endlessly muttering inside his skull—was pure agony. Even with his Super Brain, he was tempted to bash his head against the ground. His scalp prickled incessantly, as if the voices rattling in his brain were about to erupt out into the open any second. "Three hundred and twenty steles left. Just kill me now!" Filling the stele to capacity with the masses' conviction, Yu Xian sensed the spatial coordinates and groaned inwardly. The next second, he teleported underground beneath yet another city and slammed his hand onto the stele. The conviction of the masses surged forth once more, promptly covering the stele's golden lines with tiny, black tadpole-like script. "Three hundred and eighteen left. Hang in there, comrade!" After topping off this stele, he flashed underground beneath another city. Sensing the remaining coordinates, he silently sent a blessing to his other comrade. Yet scarcely had that prayer left his heart when Xuanming, far away in another city, collapsed powerlessly. His thighs were covered in lacerations. Though he had done his best to stem the bleeding, he had lost far too much blood, and while charging the stele, he finally buckled and lost consciousness. With that, both of Yu Xian's comrades had fallen, leaving him alone with three hundred and eighteen steles to charge. The stele Dao foundations had been deployed according to the number of cities. Huaxia had a total of 663 cities, and thus 663 steles in all. Once every stele was fully charged with the conviction of the masses, Huaxia would completely transition into a grotto-heaven. From then on, even if the Earth exploded, Huaxia would remain unscathed. The outside world could tear itself apart however it pleased, and no matter how formidable the Blood Clan Progenitor grew, it would have nothing to do with Huaxia. This was the fundamental reason the nation had initiated the Grotto-Heaven Plan. Yu Xian had merely reported the concept of "Star Rank," yet Yu Lie and the upper echelon had already prepared for the worst possible outcome, making the most conservative choice out of an overriding sense of responsibility. While other nations scoured the globe for the Blood Clan Progenitor and aimed missiles at Rome Huchen, Huaxia chose to safeguard the lives of its own people first. Everything else took a backseat. Ten minutes later, Yu Xian teleported to the city where Xuanming had fallen. Seeing Xuanming lying bloodstained on the floor, he let out a long sigh. Stepping forward, he removed Xuanming's bracelet, enveloped him in a spatial bubble, and sent him back to headquarters in Yanjing. Then, Yu Xian pressed his hand against the stele and continued channeling energy into it. The reason he had been able to track this spot down was that Xuanming had already begun charging it. However, Xuanming hadn't completely filled the stele. Observed through spatial perception, the stele had been in a faintly glowing state. Sensing something amiss, Yu Xian had followed the coordinates here. Now that both comrades were down, the remaining steles rested entirely on his shoulders. If he fell as well, the Grotto-Heaven Plan would end in failure. "Three hundred and seventeen!" Yu Xian muttered to himself after filling the stele with the conviction of the masses. Then he teleported to the next city and resumed charging. He used to think the fewer spatial ability users there were, the better—fewer spatial ability users meant less competition. Now, though, he wished everyone possessed spatial abilities. Sadly, that was an impossible wish. Most of the spatial ability users in the country had already been recruited by the state. Yet having spatial abilities didn't necessarily mean one had the ability to perceive space. For example, the boy sent by Azure Dragon possessed spatial power, but his ability to perceive spatial coordinates was remarkably weak. The two traits did not inherently go hand in hand. When Yu Xian first acquired spatial bubbles, his perception of spatial coordinates was quite poor as well; he had relied entirely on spatial bubbles for positioning. Only after learning spatial arts did his spatial perception grow stronger and stronger. And especially after gaining Super Brain, his spatial perception became thoroughly enhanced, because calculating spatial coordinates was child's play for him. At present, the only person in the country who could rival his spatial perception was probably Li Zhangzong. The problem was that Li Zhangzong was too old. He had aged to the point where he couldn't leave his grotto-heaven world; the moment he stepped outside, he would almost certainly drop dead on the spot. As long as he remained within his grotto-heaven world, however, he would never die. This was one of the effects of Gazing Across Past and Present, the divine ability of the Art of Grotto-Heaven. Immortal and undying, surveying past and present. ... ... Yu Xian had once pondered a question: If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up—but what if you're the tall one? Now, as the whole village's only hope, Yu Xian finally had his answer. Even with his scalp crawling and his mind in absolute agony, he could only grit his teeth and endure. After all, besides him, there was no one left who could see this through. "Three hundred and sixteen. Today is dragging on forever!" Yu Xian appeared underground in Ice City and pressed his hand onto the stele. This trip to Ice City had felt endless. Not only had he subdued Xiong Da and the female assassin Nangong Wanwan, but he had also mastered the Art of Grotto-Heaven. "Three hundred and eleven. I really want some fried chicken!" Yu Xian appeared underground in Spring City and pressed his hand onto the stele. He remembered that Spring City's signature dish was fried chicken. "Three hundred and five. Nora..." Yu Xian appeared underground in Silver City and pressed his hand onto the stele. "Two hundred and sixty-six. Auntie..." Yu Xian appeared underground in Tianjing City, mechanically charging the stele. The further he went, the more exhausted his brain became. To keep from going completely numb, he began imitating Xuanming, using pain to stay conscious. He pierced his other arm with black threads, instantly binding the entire limb, and then contracted the threads so they sliced into the arm bit by bit. It hurt fiercely. Yet it was undeniably effective. Moreover, his healing factor was too powerful; less than a second after the flesh was cut, the wounds automatically closed up. He was forced to slice back and forth repeatedly. Aside from the pain, not a single drop of blood leaked out throughout the whole ordeal. Yet a greater trial still lay ahead. The conviction of the masses grew worse the longer this dragged on, and people's thoughts turned increasingly dark. After all, when everyone was made to stay in formation-inscribed public squares without permission to leave, and without being told what was actually going on, people naturally became more and more impatient. Such was human nature. Even Yu Xian was gradually influenced, his mind sprouting thoughts that had no place there. He wanted so badly to give up. A voice seemed to tempt him within his brain: the other two had already failed anyway, so failing would be only natural for him; if everyone failed, it didn't count as failure. Then another voice chimed in: Are these people even worth protecting? Their thoughts are so ugly and dark. Do they even know what you're sacrificing? The light in Yu Xian's eyes slowly faded. His hand against the stele seemed to lose all strength, slipping downward inch by inch. "Salty Fish, don't make me look down on you! You can do this!" "Little Bro Salty Fish, it's Fat Cat! You've got this!" "Little Yu, hang in there! I've even written up the petition—once you finish this mission, I'll have you replace the giant panda as a national treasure!" "Little Bro Salty Fish, it's Goblin! Big sister likes men who can go the distance, you know! Toughen up, don't go all limp!" "Salty Fish..." "Salty Fish..." "Salty Fish!" Just as his spirit was on the verge of exhaustion, more and more encouraging voices abruptly reached him through the masses' collective thoughts. In Yanjing, Zhang Shou stood at the back of the crowd with a group of nurses, gritting his teeth and cheering Yu Xian on relentlessly in his heart. Having just finished treating Xuanming, and upon learning that Yu Xian was performing the very same task, he had contacted many acquaintances, and everyone was rallying support for Yu Xian from their respective cities. He didn't know if Yu Xian would notice, but it was the only thing he could think of to do for him. Undoubtedly, Yu Xian noticed. His slipping hand slammed firmly back against the stele, and light flared in his eyes once more. The darkness of human nature was terrifying, true, but there would always be those passing on the light. Zhang Shou and the others had passed their light to him. Now it was his turn to shine—after all, he was a Shiny Vampire, and shining was what he was meant to do!