On the morning of the sixty-sixth day, as Xu Wuyi lifted his teacup on the stump, he sensed an entirely new signal.
That signal came from every node in the territory's network, from every believer in the Eastern Meadow, from every core in the T-09 Star Realm, and from every individual connected to the ancient god tree.
The signal's waveform was uniform and stable, carrying exactly the same information-a form of address, a will, an acknowledgment.
He received those signals through his inner perception, confirming their sources and contents. Every believer had sent the same signal at the same moment, as though the entire network had lit up at once.
He set his teacup back on the stump's cut surface, stood, and returned to the Core Residence hall.
As he sat down at the console, Zero One's projection lit up beside him. "Lord, all nodes in the territory's network have synchronously transmitted a uniform signal over the past four hours. The signal consists of the words 'My Lord,' and its sources encompass every believer's core."
Xu Wuyi sat at the console for a while, reviewing that data in his mind. Every believer had uttered the same form of address at the same moment-this meant that the ancient god tree's root network had completed a deep synchronization of the believers' consciousnesses.
He stood and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. Morning light poured in from outside, washing the hall floor in warm colors. In the sunlight, the trunk of the enormous tree outside displayed deep-brown wood grain, with warm golden light flowing slowly through every inch of it.
He stood by the window for a while, then turned and returned to his seat at the console. He entered an instruction into the communications interface and sent it to every node in the