Always There

"Lucifer..." Lin Qiye had yet to recover from the overwhelming amount of information Zhao Kongcheng had given him, and he stood there stunned for a long while.

"So, you're saying... ever since that mist appeared, mythological gods had inexplicably begun appearing one after another?"

"That's right. The higher-ups had been investigating the reason behind this and came up with two possibilities." Zhao Kongcheng held up two fingers.

"First, these gods never existed in the first place. But after the mist appeared, some mysterious change occurred and manifested them from mythology."

"Second, mythology wasn't ancient people's fantasy, but something that truly existed. As humanity became increasingly active, they hid somewhere on Earth for some reason, and the sudden appearance of the mist awakened them."

Lin Qiye nodded. "Then what did you mean when you said not all gods exist?"

"The number of gods currently on Earth isn't large. Not every mythical creature descended here. Those that have appeared are only a tiny fraction of vast mythological systems. We don't know why it was them. It had nothing to do with strength, popularity of their stories, good or evil, or national borders. Their appearance seemed to follow no pattern at all; it was completely random. And it wasn't just the Bible—Greek Mythology, Norse Mythology, the Cthulhu Mythos... among the gods known to humanity today, every mythological system was represented."

"If it's every mythological system, then what about Great Xia's gods?" Lin Qiye asked curiously. "Like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the Third Prince, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Jade Emperor... Where are they? If they existed, they could definitely beat the Western gods into the ground, right?"

After a brief silence, Zhao Kongcheng shook his head. "We thought of all that too. Over the past century, we searched Great Xia countless times, trying to find their whereabouts..."

"But for an entire century, we found nothing. Not even an Earth God."

"Some said it was because the mist hadn't swallowed Great Xia yet, so Great Xia's mythology wouldn't appear."

"Others said..."

Lin Qiye could not help asking, "Others said what?"

"Others said... they had always been here."

"Always been here?"

"Why do you think the entire Earth was swallowed by the mist, while only Great Xia survived? The mist had reached Great Xia's borders, yet it was blocked at the national boundary and couldn't advance an inch."

Lin Qiye's mouth fell open. "You mean..."

"This is only a guess—or rather... a beautiful fantasy." Zhao Kongcheng shook his head. "No matter what, we have never discovered any trace of Great Xia's gods."

"Alright."

The information alone had already shattered Lin Qiye's worldview. If he had not personally witnessed the Seraph's existence, he might have turned around and called a psychiatric hospital to drag Zhao Kongcheng away.

This was even worse than his own condition back then!

"Then what was that Golden Pillar of Light that came from me last night?" Lin Qiye asked his next question.

"Forbidden Ruins," Zhao Kongcheng answered. "After the mist enveloped Earth, the changes weren't limited to the appearance of gods. These mists seemed to have a mysterious effect on the human body."

"Although the mist never entered Great Xia's territory, it seemed to contain an energy similar to radiation that catalyzed certain people's bodies. Children born after the mist descended had a chance of developing a peculiar power within them."

"Under the influence of certain environments, those powers could be triggered, forming a special force capable of affecting reality, much like a domain. The characteristics of these powers varied from person to person."

"And these extraordinary domains that could influence one's surroundings through their own power were called 'Forbidden Ruins.'"

Lin Qiye fell into thought.

Simply put, "Forbidden Ruins" were superpowered domains possessed by a few lucky people.

Looking at it that way, his ability to sense everything within twenty meters through something like mental perception, his extremely powerful dynamic vision, and even his use of Seraphim Divine Might were all forms of Forbidden Ruins.

"Can these Forbidden Ruins grow?"

"Yes. A Forbidden Ruin's power, range, and special properties would increase along with its owner's Mental Power. Mental Power was an important standard for measuring a Forbidden Ruin's strength."

"Based on Mental Power, we divided Forbidden Ruins into six major realms."

"When Mental Power was like water in a cup—little and still—it was called the First Realm, the 'Cup' Realm."

"When Mental Power was like water in a pond—abundant yet still—it was called the Second Realm, the 'Pond' Realm."

"When it was like flowing river water—abundant and circulating—it was called the Third Realm, the 'River' Realm."

"When it was like ocean water—vast and boundless—it was called the Fourth Realm, the 'Sea' Realm."

"When Mental Power was nearly infinite, vast and mighty, it was the Fifth Realm, 'Measureless.'"

"When Mental Power was inexhaustible, breaking through spatial dimensions and resembling a Klein bottle, it was the Sixth Realm, 'Klein.'"

"What about me? What realm am I in now?" Lin Qiye asked.

"You? You're currently in the 'Cup' Realm. You're just a newcomer who had only just become capable of using a Forbidden Ruin." Zhao Kongcheng seemed to enjoy knocking Lin Qiye down a peg. "You could only be considered... hmm... a slightly stronger ordinary person."

Lin Qiye was instantly speechless.

In that case, the reason he had been able to open the doors of the Psychiatric Hospital in his mind last night was probably because he had entered the "Cup" Realm. The same was true for opening Nyx's ward door.

Did that mean that every time he broke into a new realm in the future, he could release another patient?

"What about you? You're so strong—what realm are you in?" Lin Qiye looked at Zhao Kongcheng and asked.

Zhao Kongcheng's old face reddened. Somewhat awkwardly, he turned to look out the window. "I... I don't have a Forbidden Ruin myself, so naturally I don't have Mental Power."

"You don't have a Forbidden Ruin?" Lin Qiye's eyes widened. "Then how did you kill that monster?"

Lin Qiye was genuinely shocked. Even with his freakish dynamic vision, he could barely deal with that kind of monster. Yet Zhao Kongcheng had completely overwhelmed it. How could someone so fierce not have a Forbidden Ruin?

"That thing was called a Ghost-faced Man," Zhao Kongcheng corrected. "I killed it solely through years of training and extensive combat experience. Before joining the Night Watchmen, I was a special forces soldier, the kind who specialized in close combat."

Zhao Kongcheng continued, "There are three ways to obtain a Forbidden Ruin. The first is what I just mentioned: only a small number of lucky people were born with the talent to use one."

"The second is through items that possess Forbidden Ruins. It wasn't only people who could be affected by the mist and gain Forbidden Ruins. Under certain coincidences, some objects could gain them as well. These Forbidden Ruins were generally extremely special and rare. If humans could control them, they could use the power of Forbidden Ruins too."

"I belong to the second type. However, the Forbidden Item I possess isn't an offensive type, but a standard-issue support Forbidden Item exclusive to the Night Watchmen—the 'Signboard.' It had only one function..."

"To deploy the Boundless Void Domain!"