Glorious God Throne

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Li Fufeng and Liu Ningshuang’s serious demeanor was quite intimidating. Under their watchful gaze, Xue Hao and the others honestly recounted everything they knew.

In fact, the details about Shi Cheng’s personal situation were simple. The Special Case Investigation Team could easily access his records from childhood to adulthood.

He came from a decent family background. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree, he found a job at a company with little work and plenty of free time. His monthly salary was enough to satisfy his material desires. His greatest interest was browsing antique markets, collecting Taoist scriptures and ancient texts. During holidays, he would travel to various places to explore and learn about local folklore, or engage in discussions with netizens on fantasy forums. He had even written a few web novels in the xianxia and wuxia genres, though they all flopped due to weak plotlines and an excessive focus on cultivation fantasies, with the protagonist constantly training without any interesting developments… In short, all the collected information indicated that he was a quintessential older chuunibyou youth.

After the revival of spiritual energy and the descent of the extraordinary into reality, it seemed that his fantasies had come true overnight, and this guy became even more obsessed than before.

Initially, he actively participated in martial arts training classes, but was told that his innate talent was too poor, and he had no hope on the path of martial arts—

The first step to entering the world of martial arts was to absorb spiritual energy into the body, generate the first thread of internal energy, circulate it throughout the body, and refine one’s flesh and blood. The most talented geniuses only needed a quarter of an hour, those with excellent aptitude could do it within three days, and those with average talent could manage it in at most half a month. Those who couldn’t accomplish this within a month were basically useless in martial arts and had no need to pursue this path, as ten years of hard work might not even match half a month’s progress for others. It was better for them to casually practice some external martial techniques that didn’t require internal energy and become simple martial arts enthusiasts.

—This was also the choice of many people.

After all, practicing martial arts was a discipline that required accumulated effort over time. While most people in this era enjoyed more abundant material lives than in the past, they had also lost the perseverance to endure hardships.

At first, they might have been excited about the opportunity to become martial arts practitioners, but after the initial enthusiasm faded, they would quickly be dominated by negative emotions such as hardship, fatigue, and slow progress. Beautiful fantasies about the future were clearly not enough to sustain their day and night of bitter training.

Therefore, although martial arts training was in full swing throughout the Yao Country, at least 70% of participants were martial arts enthusiasts who hadn’t even entered the door, and only a small number of people with talent and perseverance would embark on this path, crossing the true threshold of martial arts and qualifying to call themselves martial arts practitioners.

For martial arts failures like Shi Cheng, there was no need to court hardship. It would have been better to continue along the path he was on before the revival of spiritual energy, where he might still achieve happiness under ordinary societal values.

But he refused to give up.

While other office workers only attended martial arts classes in their spare time to keep fit and develop hobbies, unless their talent was exceptionally high, Shi Cheng was different. From the very beginning, he resigned from his job and devoted himself wholeheartedly to martial arts training.

Even though he already knew his talent was unimaginably poor.

—When others absorbed spiritual energy, even if it wasn’t as overwhelming as a river flowing backwards, at worst it would accumulate bit by bit like water dripping from a faucet. For him, it was as if the faucet was almost completely blocked, with just a tiny gap. The difficulty of absorbing spiritual energy into his body was more than just one level slower.

As a result, after months of effort, he had barely refined a few threads of internal energy, ultimately only making his body slightly stronger than an ordinary person’s.

Most people would have given up by this point.

But he still refused to quit.

Realizing his talent was pitiful, this older chuunibyou youth who refused to give up even after hitting a wall turned his attention to external aids.

First were spiritual objects.

Since the revival of spiritual energy, the areas near the Five Domain Mountains that had been baptized by spiritual tides had become treasured lands known throughout the world.

Now, the portions of these treasured lands within the borders of major countries were undoubtedly controlled by national authorities. Even the real estate markets in nearby cities were affected, with housing prices skyrocketing.

As for the parts within smaller countries, due to different national conditions, they were often divided among major powers, financial groups, and aristocrats.

In any case, these were no longer places ordinary people could access. Instead, they were developed into bases for cultivating spiritual plants and raising small animals.

Whether it was spiritual plants growing in these spiritually rich lands or the flesh and blood of animals washed by spiritual tides, they undoubtedly contained abundant spiritual energy. The effects of directly consuming these spiritual objects far surpassed one’s own bitter cultivation and absorption of spiritual energy.

Because of this, the market prices for spiritual objects were quite exorbitant, and they were often unavailable even at high prices. Normally, they flowed into the hands of officials and those cultivated by various powers. Only a very small portion leaked into the underground world through black market channels.

Years of desperately seeking extraordinary powers had not been in vain for this chuunibyou. At the very least, Shi Cheng had mastered extensive knowledge of Taoism and ancient culture through self-study, and had some understanding of antique appraisal. In this new era where everyone practiced martial arts, explored ancient ruins, and studied ancient texts and artifacts, Shi Cheng’s knowledge became very useful.

Even though he had resigned from his original job, by simply guiding martial arts novices on basic human physiology knowledge on the Extraordinary Forum, spreading ancient culture, and providing various consultation services for rich kids like Xue Hao, he earned much more than his previous salary.

Coincidentally, Xue Hao’s family trading company had already expanded internationally to the Island Alliance, which was the location of one of the five major spiritual veins. They even had a share in the spiritual plant business in the Island Alliance, with a small quota for spiritual objects. This allowed Shi Cheng to successfully purchase a few spiritual fruits.

After consuming them, he found them to be effective.

The only problem was that it was too expensive and required too many connections!

For a martial arts failure of his level, the number of spiritual fruits needed to advance on the path of martial arts was terrifyingly high. Even if he had enough money, he didn’t have the connections or channels.

With this path blocked, Shi Cheng turned his attention to extraordinary artifacts.

As is well known, extraordinary artifacts come in all shapes and sizes, are difficult to understand, and possess various bizarre properties. Perhaps some artifact might have the ability to fundamentally change his status as a martial arts failure. Even if it couldn’t, the artifact itself was a coveted supernatural power.

Obtaining an artifact that resonated with him and thus escaping the ordinary was the best solution Shi Cheng could think of at present.

Thus, the older chuunibyou youth, along with the rich kid he had managed to excite, plus two friends introduced by the latter who had entered the door of martial arts cultivation, officially formed a small team. Their purpose was to search for extraordinary artifacts, while also exploring ancient objects and folk legends.

Like many other similar people, they were active on the mysterious Extraordinary Forum, chasing traces of the supernatural.

Because they understood Shi Cheng’s desire for extraordinary powers, when Xue Hao and the others “woke up” from their dream and didn’t see any trace of Shi Cheng, but instead learned from An Xiaoxi’s account that he had left with that mysterious extraordinary being, they didn’t find it strange at all. Instead, they felt it was normal, with a sense of “it finally happened.”

In the words of the Ji Heng and Ji Nian siblings—

“…This is exactly the kind of thing he would do. It feels like if he lived in ancient times, he’d definitely be the type to abandon his family and go off seeking immortals and the Dao. Leaving without a care for the consequences to follow that clearly dangerous extraordinary being – it’s totally normal for him.”

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An Xiaoxi, recalling the scene, couldn’t help but agree with them.

In fact, she wasn’t clear on exactly what had happened. She only knew that a couple of minutes after Shi Cheng ran out chasing after Mr. Joey, he excitedly ran back, hastily leaving a message. “I’ll be away for a while, please let them know for me.” Before An Xiaoxi could respond, he had eagerly dashed out again.

Thinking back now, her strongest impression was,

“When he said those words, his eyes were so bright, so bright…”

It was the kind of gleam that showed he had found his goal, was chasing his hope, and would not waver. It was an experience An Xiaoxi had never had in all these years, leaving her unable to voice any words of concern or dissuasion.

Because of this, she was willing to believe the outcome would be good.

Thinking this way, she smiled slightly, sincerely blessing this newly-met friend. “I hope he can fulfill his wishes.”

Whether Shi Cheng could actually fulfill his wishes, An Xiaoxi and the others had no way of knowing. In the end, they could only offer their blessings in their hearts. From the moment he left, it was as if he had vanished from the world. They completely lost all news about Shi Cheng.

It wasn’t until a week later that they heard the latest news about their companion from Liu Ningshuang—

As it turned out, that mysterious extraordinary being, Joey, had appeared again.

It was a day ago, hundreds of miles away. He had stayed overnight in a village while passing through, and incidentally resolved the disturbance caused by an extraordinary artifact that had been causing ghost sightings in the village. He was immediately warmly welcomed by the entire village.

This extraordinary being, who was marked with labels such as “aloof,” “reclusive,” and “eccentric” in the Special Case Investigation Team’s assessment reports, not only accepted their hospitality graciously but also acted uncharacteristically down-to-earth.

—He openly asked the locals for instruction, learned how to make local delicacies, and immediately showed off by preparing some local-style barbecue.

The result was that everyone who smelled the aroma of the barbecue fell into an unbelievable state of euphoria.

Their souls seemed to be baptized by sweet springs, as if all the dust and grime had been swept away from their spirits, floating up to heaven like immortal music. Yet their bodies, from the moment their noses caught the scent and their tongues tasted the meat, plummeted straight from the mortal realm to hell.

This irreconcilable contradiction caused everyone’s face to show an expression that seemed to be smiling yet crying, both laughing and weeping, neither smiling nor crying. Joy and pain coexisted, pleasure and fear appeared simultaneously.

The scene at that time was truly indescribable.

It was said that a migrant worker who happened to be returning home by train that night mistook the villagers for publicly engaging in drug use or being brainwashed into some kind of cult ritual… He was so frightened that he didn’t dare approach them, instead running frantically to a nearby forest before shakily taking out his phone to call the police.

—Mr. Joey, who had long disappeared from public view, thus re-entered the sights of the Special Case Investigation Team.

And their companion Shi Cheng was reportedly by Joey’s side at the time. He was even working as an assistant at that bizarre feast.

Unfortunately, by the time the police arrived, Joey and Shi Cheng had already left, leaving behind only tables of leftovers and a group of villagers who lay motionless in their seats, as if their souls had left their bodies.

Although the villagers denied using drugs, their condition was so suggestive that the local police had no choice but to take everyone in for questioning, and also collected the leftovers for testing.

However, the final test results showed that these people had no drug components in their bodies, but their mental state was inexplicably over-excited, with clarity amid the excitement. Especially for several elderly people who had previously been dizzy and confused due to age, their mental state seemed to have rejuvenated by ten years. Even the symptoms of senile dementia that some had before disappeared without a trace. Everyone claimed that their thought processes suddenly became extremely smooth.

—This state of mental clarity lasted for a full hour before slowly fading, but everyone still felt much better than usual.

The incident was so bizarre that, after repeatedly confirming that the villagers were not lying, it was quickly transferred to the local branch of the Special Case Investigation Team, as the police suspected it involved extraordinary powers.

And their suspicions were indeed correct.

Upon learning Joey’s name from the villagers and hearing their description of this kind-hearted person, the Special Case Investigation Team immediately confirmed his identity, and also confirmed that the assistant by his side was Shi Cheng, who had left with Joey.

Thinking about the good Samaritan praised to the skies by the villagers, and imagining the scene of him happily discussing local culinary methods with the villagers, even cooking personally… Compared with the unfathomable mysterious extraordinary being from previous records, Li Fufeng and others found their feelings indescribable.

“…”

…It was just too absurd.

Clearly, the personality profile of Joey summarized by various experts and other speculations had all become obsolete. They had to overturn and rewrite everything overnight, nearly working themselves bald.

What they didn’t know was that this was just the beginning.

In the extremely short time that followed, accompanied by the emergence of more and more extraordinary artifacts, increasingly frequent bizarre events, and martial arts practitioners becoming gradually more active as their strength grew, the entire world, with the Yao Country as a microcosm, was showing signs of impending upheaval.

Bai Yi had thrown a pebble of spiritual energy revival into this world locked by physical rules, and the ripples it created were constantly spreading outward in a subtle manner. Until someday in the future, the brewing turbulent waves would shake the entire world.

Perhaps then, it would truly mark the arrival of the era of the extraordinary.

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