Start with push-ups to gain experience

Chapter 306 The Network of Willpower, Remote Descent

At this moment, Fang Cheng felt as if he were in a huge monitoring room.

The terminal's monitor is those points of light that float and flicker in the dark void.

The front-end camera and recorder are the eyes and ears of those being connected.

Although he did not formally use his abilities to project his consciousness, Fang Cheng was able to achieve a subtle "initial resonance" directly through these points of light.

This resonance allows him to more easily perceive the linker's real-time status.

Sometimes, it's the sound of intermittent but real conversation.

Sometimes, it's a fleeting yet exceptionally clear image.

It was as if a fleeting thought or a moment that had just occurred to the other person had been precisely captured and transmitted.

If Fang Cheng wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the actual situation of a single target, he no longer needed to painstakingly search for the light patterns representing the spiritual imprint of a specific individual within the golden sphere, as he had done before.

Now, we can more directly select our goals and establish stable mental channels through these star-like points of light.

This leads to a deeper level of "spiritual resonance," allowing one to perceive more detailed and specific information.

This significant enhancement of mental abilities makes the application of "spiritual resonance" more flexible and efficient.

It's like having a surveillance network that's everywhere, allowing you to control the whole situation and switch perspectives at any time.

However, any enhancement of ability is not without cost; it always comes with corresponding risks.

The most direct negative impact is the flood of mental information that comes in like a tidal wave.

If these memories are not effectively extracted and processed in a timely manner, and are allowed to accumulate in the memory palace, they may cause unpredictable consequences.

In daily life, Fang Cheng may experience various hallucinations and auditory hallucinations more frequently as a result, and continue to be disturbed by fragments of other people's memories.

This can even lead to severe cognitive dissonance, gradually blurring the lines between reality and illusion.

Ultimately, it could lead to a mental breakdown and insanity.

After all, those are chaotic torrents of information emanating from the consciousness of others, filled with strong personal characteristics.

When various external heterogeneous information accumulates to a certain extent, it will gradually encroach upon and distort one's original self-perception.

If this continues, quantitative changes will lead to qualitative changes, and the objective will become the subjective.

Even one's personality may be split as a result, becoming a chaotic aggregate that contains countless fragments of other people's consciousness.

Of course, while taking on risks, the benefits are also obvious.

Today, Fang Cheng and all the individuals with whom he has established a spiritual connection share a close, inexplicable bond that is difficult to describe in words.

Even without entering the memory palace or paying special attention, one can roughly perceive the other person's current living situation and relatively strong emotional fluctuations.

Especially when family members encounter sudden danger, the strong emotional fluctuations stemming from blood ties allow Fang Cheng to sense them immediately and take the most timely countermeasures.

With his thoughts drifting to this point, Fang Cheng's attention returned to the "stars" floating above the dome of the memory palace.

He carefully observed the light spots of varying brightness and size, sensing the invisible, spiderweb-like connections between them and the golden sphere.

Soon, a rather interesting phenomenon was discovered.

As more spiritual energy is absorbed from the corresponding point of light through this connection, that point of light will not become dim or shrink.

Instead, it will become brighter and stronger, and the connection between it and the golden sphere will become tighter and more stable.

This subtly reveals that there is a peculiar symbiotic relationship between Fang Cheng and those points of light, rather than a simple case of one-sided taking.

While absorbing the spiritual energy of others, it also seems to be subtly giving back to those who are linked through some unknown mechanism.

These "enhanced" light spots, through their own changes, also have a subtle but positive impact on the structure and stability of the entire memory palace.

It's as if they are further integrating into this magnificent spiritual space, gradually becoming an inseparable and interdependent part of it.

Both parties appear to be jointly managing this spiritual space and sharing the benefits it brings.

Fang Cheng couldn't help but recall the mysterious origin of the "Golden Bamba Vase" and the many profound doctrines in Buddhist scriptures about "beliefs of sentient beings" and "cause and effect, karma".

If we call this special spiritual energy, which can be absorbed and transformed and also has a "feedback" nature, a kind of "willpower" in a broad sense.

So, isn't the complex network of spiritual connections that I'm building now just the prototype of a "willpower network"?
One of its core functions is to collect and share the spiritual energy of many individuals, and then, like refining ore, remove impurities to turn it into pure energy that can be used universally.

Regarding the essence of "willpower," Fang Cheng had previously explored some related theories in his reading.

It is usually understood as a kind of energy that originates from the consciousness of others and can be absorbed and utilized. Its generation and effects are often closely related to the concept of "cause and effect".

In Buddhism, "vow power" is considered a kind of "karmic power of aspiration," which is the powerful spiritual force generated by practitioners through making grand vows, such as Amitabha Buddha's famous forty-eight great vows. It is regarded as the foundation for achieving immeasurable merit.

Some modern spiritual schools attempt to explain this by incorporating emerging concepts from quantum physics, comparing "willpower" to a special kind of energy wave.

They believe that this energy wave can act on others through an effect similar to "quantum entanglement" and ultimately feed back to the sender.

According to the so-called "law of projection," the energy of a person's "willpower," whether it is a positive blessing or a negative curse, will eventually bounce back to themselves like a boomerang, thus forming a perfect closed loop of "willpower as cause and effect."

In summary, the generation of "willpower" is essentially the result of the spiritual interaction between the sender and the receiver.

Its ultimate effect largely depends on whether the intention is pure, the belief is firm, and also follows the universal law of conservation of energy.

As the number of individuals who establish spiritual connections with him continues to increase, and as the depth of these connections continues to strengthen, the total amount of "willpower" that Fang Cheng will be able to collect will inevitably increase as well.

This will not only profoundly affect Fang Cheng himself, but will also have a subtle influence on those individuals who have established a spiritual connection with him.

Everyone's mental world may undergo subtle changes as a result, converging in a certain direction.

As the central hub where this ever-growing "network of willpower" ultimately converges, Fang Cheng is naturally the one most affected and the most direct.

During meditation, countless whispers converge into a torrent of spiritual energy in one's ears.

In daily life, sudden auditory and visual hallucinations...

These are all concrete manifestations of the influence of "willpower," and are accompanying phenomena in the operation of this network.

Fang Cheng needs to be able to quickly filter out the truly valuable content from this increasingly noisy and complex information.

For example, some individuals connected to him may send unusually strong distress signals during critical moments.

Or, it could be malicious thoughts and warnings directed at him and his family and friends.

How to maintain a clear-headed balance between this delicate boundary of noise and clarity.

How to effectively utilize this massive amount of information without being overwhelmed or consumed by it.

These have all become crucial topics on the path of spiritual cultivation in the future.

Fang Cheng's consciousness was immersed in the palace of memories, his gaze slowly sweeping across it.

This is a vast spiritual space, with the outline of the halls appearing and disappearing in the darkness.

Above the dome, there was not a starry sky, but a deep, indescribable darkness.

This spiritual fortress, floating in the world of consciousness, has no lighting facilities.

Thanks to the presence of the golden sphere and numerous points of light, the surrounding scenery was finally able to be illuminated, albeit with some difficulty.

Several massive pillars and arches supporting the enormous structure cast large swaths of shadow.

Consciousness swept by silently like the wind, making everything appear both solemn and mysterious. Fang Cheng surveyed this territory like a king.

At this moment, one notices that the luster around the edges of the palace appears slightly dimmer.

The structural joints also showed signs of loosening, like the beams and pillars of an ancient temple covered in dust, with fine cracks beginning to appear.

Memory palaces themselves require frequent "maintenance".

Otherwise, as time goes by, it will, like a real building, gradually fall into disrepair due to lack of maintenance, and eventually collapse.

These scattered "spots of light," like stars, bring vitality and the possibility of growth to the memory palace, but also introduce new unstable factors.

Besides the corrosive power from the dark void, Fang Cheng could also vaguely sense that there seemed to be something even more bizarre outside the memory palace.

They lurk outside, trying to use those "starlight points" that represent ordinary people as springboards to slowly and silently infiltrate.

This feeling was very vague and indescribable, yet it instinctively made Fang Cheng feel a sense of vigilance.

He didn't delve into this strange feeling for the time being, but simply kept it in mind as a phenomenon that needed long-term attention.

Gathering his chaotic thoughts, Fang Cheng slowly opened his eyes.

The room was still dimly lit. He glanced at the phone beside him.

The current time is clearly displayed on the screen:
13: 26.

It's past noon, almost 2 p.m.

The wind and rain outside the window continued unabated, and the sky was dark and gloomy, as if dusk had arrived early.

Fang Cheng's stomach was growling, but he didn't immediately get up and go downstairs to find a restaurant to eat at.

Two days ago, Xu Hao reported an important message through a secret meeting.

The Noah Organization's branch in Dongdu City will hold an internal operations meeting this afternoon, around this time.

The main topic of discussion was how to hunt down the murderer who killed more than two hundred people in the port warehouse incident and who specifically opposed the organization.

That is, Fang Cheng, who was "impersonated".

Xu Hao, in order to obtain more information, chose to volunteer himself.

Perhaps it was because Noah's organization was really short-handed, or perhaps it was because he was a local of Dongdu, that he managed to secure the qualification to participate in the operation.

Xu Hao confidently stated that once he received definite information, he would find a way to inform Fang Cheng immediately.

However, Fang Cheng was not prepared to passively wait for Xu Hao to deliver intelligence.

Instead, he planned to personally "attend" this trap set against him.

After adjusting his breathing, Fang Cheng suppressed his urge to eat and calmed his mind.

Then he closed his eyes again, and his consciousness sank into the palace of memories.

This time, the goal is very clear.

After searching through the many twinkling "starlight points" for a moment, my eyes quickly locked onto a relatively bright spot.

Concentrate your mind and direct your consciousness along that invisible spiritual thread toward the point of light representing Xu Hao.

"One-way shot!"

As Fang Cheng silently recited the command, a buzzing resonance sound rang in his ears.

In an instant, my vision spun around.

Everything around us transformed into a dazzling tunnel.

Countless bizarre and fantastical scenes flashed by like a movie in fast motion, constantly changing, distorting, and stretching.

Fang Cheng felt as if he had transformed into a current of consciousness.

It is moving at a speed that exceeds the limits of physics, traversing the endless rain and layer upon layer of buildings.

The feeling was strange and dizzying, like an out-of-body experience, but my consciousness remained clear and focused.

Finally, after passing through a hazy halo, the view suddenly fixed and became clear.

Fang Cheng "saw" it.

....................................

Inside a heavily guarded upscale office building in Dongdu City.

Facing the gleaming floor-to-ceiling window, Xu Hao, who was idly fiddling with his new hairstyle, suddenly felt a slight, inexplicable stirring in his heart.

I vaguely sensed that something had "entered" my brain.

But he shook his head and blinked, and the strange feeling vanished without a trace.

"What's wrong, Hao-ge? Is it your first time participating in such a big event? Are you a little nervous?"

A slightly teasing voice came from the side.

The speaker was a young man in his late twenties.

He was dressed in a sharp black suit, his hair was slicked back and shiny, meticulously combed, as if he were wearing a helmet.

His name is Liu Yu, and he is another new member of the Noah organization.

Because they were both newcomers, their relationship was neither good nor bad; they were just friends on the surface.

Upon hearing this, Xu Hao immediately concealed the subtle change in his expression.

He grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, and said in his signature nonchalant tone:
"Nervous? Are you kidding me!"

"What haven't I seen? Back in the day, I wielded two cleavers and hacked my way from one end of the street to the other, and everyone in the underworld gave me a thumbs up..."

He was about to boast about his glorious deeds when Liu Yu impatiently interrupted him.

"Alright, alright, Brother Hao, I know you're incredibly brave."

Liu Yu waved his hand dismissively and pointed to the half-open conference room door in front of him.

"It's about time. The big shots should all be here by now. Let's go in."

Xu Hao pursed his lips and didn't say anything more.

He straightened the cheap suit he was wearing, which was clearly ill-fitting.

I bought this from a roadside stall specifically for today's meeting.

In the corridor, a guard in a black suit and sunglasses stood every few steps.

They were expressionless, with burly builds, like cold sculptures, exuding an aura that kept strangers at bay.

An invisible sense of oppression permeated the air.

Xu Hao and Liu Yu walked side by side, chatting casually about trivial matters.

They walked towards the door of the luxuriously decorated conference room, which now exuded a somber atmosphere.