Chapter Fifty-Five: The Unexpected Baptism of the Void Source Power Array

Humanity is not unique.

Other races, equally favored by the laws of chaos, possess bodies governed by these digitized laws and hold unimaginable potential. They are mortal enemies of human civilization, to be slain on sight.

In truth, present-day human civilization has already discovered several such races, also blessed by the laws of chaos and destiny, and has been at war with them for thousands of years.

However, such matters are far beyond the reach of those like them, small fry who have not even graduated from university. At this stage, it is virtually impossible for them to come into contact with such affairs, nor do they need to understand or worry about them.

For now, all they need to do is find ways to strengthen themselves. When their power is great enough, understanding will come naturally.

The array activated slowly. Nearly two minutes passed before Chu Cheng suddenly felt the void tremble fiercely. The surrounding space shattered, revealing the vastness of the starry sky.

Above, stars began to light up and shift, like meteors trailing long tails of light as they fell toward him.

Chu Cheng saw a meteor plummeting straight at him and instinctively closed his eyes. In the next moment, he felt something pierce into his body, then explode into countless streams that spread into his limbs and bones.

Yet he sensed that only part of this luminous stream truly merged into his body, while another part failed to integrate and instead seeped out through his pores.

In that instant, understanding dawned in his heart: these falling stars were the source energy of the void. Whatever merged into his body could be absorbed and converted into attribute points.

The more his body absorbed, the more attribute points would be gained.

One after another, meteors were drawn down by the void array. Chu Cheng felt the continual influx into his body, a faint sense of fullness and contentment—a feeling so comfortable it was almost intoxicating.

“As Mo Han said, how much one can improve depends on how much one absorbs. Generally, absorbing more than half means all attributes can rise by over ten points, which is extremely rare.”

“My absorption rate is already over half; these twenty gold coins are well spent...”

“Hmm!”

Just as he was making these calculations, the golden orb in his mind—the “cheat” that had lain dormant since his initial awakening—suddenly lit up of its own accord. A powerful attraction followed, pulling all the void source energy that had entered his body straight into the glowing orb.

“What’s this...”

Far from being alarmed, Chu Cheng was delighted.

“Could this be an advancement?”

When his cheat first awoke, Chu Cheng had known that its initial state was only the foundation, not yet complete.

Back then, with nothing to draw upon, his cheat had taken years to accumulate enough to activate and had no energy left to advance further.

Now, with the void array extracting source energy, the orb in his mind drank it in like parched earth receiving rain, devouring the void source power with wild abandon.

So, this void source energy could actually charge his cheat?

“If void source energy works, what about domain essence?”

After all, in essence, the two were the same. In theory, it should be possible. But he had no domain essence at hand to test this idea—perhaps in the future, if he could obtain some, he could experiment.

For now, Chu Cheng looked up in anticipation. Perhaps influenced by his cheat, he noticed that more and more stars were lighting up above, and at an ever-increasing pace. The falling stars grew more numerous.

This change did not escape the notice of the two mages outside the array. Mo Han asked in surprise:

“Lord Erin, has the void array been adjusted?”

The old mage was equally astonished.

“No—it can only mean one thing: he has an extremely high affinity for void energy. He’s a very promising mage indeed.”

The words had barely left his lips when the array suddenly blazed with light. An invisible ripple surged out, and the void energy exploded in a tide that swept over them. Their expressions changed as the stars above suddenly multiplied tenfold, and a meteor shower cascaded before their very eyes.

A dense swarm of meteors fell from the void, converging above the observatory into a dazzling funnel that poured into the array.

The starlight was so brilliant that Chu Cheng’s figure was lost from view.

“What in the world...”

The two mages were stunned. Mo Han looked up, his voice steady:

“I think we need to stop the array.”

Archmage Erin raised a hand but then shook his head grimly.

“It’s not possible. Too much void source energy has been drawn in a short time. If we forcibly halt the process, the rampaging energy will strike the mage tower directly.”

“Can’t we divert it to the energy pool?”

“I’m already doing that, but the pool’s capacity is limited.”

Mo Han opened his mouth to say more, but Erin silenced him with a gesture, his face alight with excitement.

“Don’t you see this is a good thing? Such a dramatic change means he’s truly special. This sort of thing is beloved by certain entities in the void. I might be able to use this to communicate with them, maybe even forge a stable connection.”

“No!” Mo Han refused firmly. “He is the best student in the school. The principal would never agree to your plan.”

Erin’s expression shifted as he tried to persuade her.

“This is a rare opportunity. He might not face real danger—he could even win the favor of a powerful existence and become its chosen one.”

Mo Han’s tone was unyielding.

“I said no.”

“Very well,” Erin sighed, shrugging.

After a brief pause, he added, “But at this rate, the attention of certain beings in the void will soon fall on him. Danger is inevitable—so why not—”

“Even so, he must decide for himself. You are not to influence him in any way.”

“All right.”

The two mages silently watched the spectacle of the starry river pouring down, occasionally glancing up at the sky. As mages with formidable mental strength, they could vaguely sense subtle gazes from deep within the stars.

“There are two presences watching.”

As master of the mage tower, Erin could extend his senses dozens of times further with the tower’s power and clearly perceive the wills lurking in the void.

Mo Han’s face remained expressionless as she replied, “Whether he can resist temptation is his own affair. In any case, we will not interfere.”

“It’s a real pity, this chance,” Erin muttered, his gaze lingering on the radiant array. “I wonder if this young man is fortunate or doomed.”

And within that blinding void array, Chu Cheng had already entered a state of deep meditation.

It was not by his own will, but because the cheat, after absorbing enough void source energy, had finally fully activated. His consciousness had entered the glowing golden orb within his mind.

To outside observers, it simply appeared that he had entered deep meditation.