Chapter 566: Special Belief

A faint meat fragrance drilled into the nostrils.

Thanks to the Awakened Ones' extraordinary senses, Lin An could even smell the crisp aroma of oil mixed with burnt outer skin.

On the platform, the man who first ignited his finger raised his right hand high, his expression frenzied.

On his pain‑twisted face, his features were scrunched together, yet it did not hinder the sense of exhilaration revealed in his eyes.

It seemed as if what was burning was not his flesh, but his mortal enemy.

The crowd below stared unblinking, shouting cheer after cheer to encourage him.

Many people, excited, tried to imitate.

To them, this self‑torturous method seemed to have considerable benefits?

Such scenes seemed to have occurred not infrequently at Fortress Number Nine.

Or perhaps, throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty.

"What are they doing?"

"Damn it, are they playing self‑harm again?"

Xiong Hanzi furrowed his brows, puzzled, and asked Lin An.

Since entering this instance, he has been increasingly unable to understand this place.

Everyone seems like a pervert.

After looking for a moment, Lin An gestured for the guide officer to stop first, then replied uncertainly:

"Burning finger..."

"Offering to Buddha?"

The scene before him resembled what religious fanatics in the real world would do.

Through self‑harm, self‑torture, and a series of actions beyond human endurance, they prove their faith in the divine.

Or perhaps to hone their steadfast will.

For this phenomenon, many scholars in the real world define such people as deriving pleasure from martyrdom.

Indeed, for those who perform such acts.

Pain, sacrifice, even death can grant them spiritual and mental pleasure.

However, the humans of this Secret Realm world are even more frenzied.

Like the ordinary practice of "burning finger to offer to Buddha," they usually tie off the fingertip with a thin string before igniting it.

This causes localized necrosis, eliminating pain.

Otherwise, few could endure this pain that surpasses human limits.

Watching the man burning his finger, Lin An couldn't help adding a new insight about the people of this world.

Willpower is generally extremely strong.

Pain tolerance far exceeds that of the real world, or perhaps...

Could there be an even stronger pleasure?

Physically, or psychologically?

Clues are sorted and integrated one by one.

Lin An continually pieces together various information about the Secret Realm's humans.

After receiving the two major missions, he consciously linked the information he had gathered.

Whether eliminating Ascetic Practitioners or blood corpses, the prerequisite is first to understand them.

"Squeak—pop"

Like wax spurting from a burning candle, the man who had ignited his finger saw his right hand already charred, and decisively lit his left hand.

"Burn my body, strengthen my resolve!"

Frantic howl.

At the moment he ignited it, a subtle mysterious wave suddenly burst forth.

In the instant the wave arose, the man's withered, wrinkled face suddenly flushed with blood.

He gained enhancement!?

Watching this strange scene, Lin An's pupils constricted slightly.

This was the first time he had witnessed an Ascetic Practitioner gaining power.

As expected, at the instant he gained a faint power, the man frantically roared at the sky, then knelt and kowtowed while weeping bitterly.

"What the hell!?"

"Heretical sorcery!"

As the man gained power, amid deafening cheers, Xiong Hanzi and the guide officer spoke at the same time.

Zhang Tie was astonished by this method.

Meanwhile, the officer in charge of guiding glanced contemptuously at the man on the platform.

Lin An glanced at him, quite surprised.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard the officer respectfully clasp his hands, as if sensing his doubt:

"Venerable Ascetic Practitioner."

"You must have come from a remote region, through long years of cultivation, firming your belief, thereby obtaining transcendent power, right?"

His words carried a hint of envy.

"You look so young now, yet your combat strength is strong; you must have practiced asceticism for at least a hundred years."

He sighed, the officer pointing at the restless crowd ahead, then said slowly:

"Please excuse my rudeness."

Nowadays, few ascetic practitioners can persist that long.

These people, each of them would rather pursue shortcuts, using these heretical methods to firm their belief!

Hmph!

Besides being fast, this way of gaining power is utterly useless!

Not only can it only borrow a bit of vitality from the future, it also lacks any precognitive ability!

While speaking, the man performing second on the platform swallowed a piece of liuli in one gulp.

Simply fired liuli shards are even more throat-irritating than glass.

His teeth crushed the liuli shards, leaving his mouth full of blood.

The sharp shards cut his tongue, the intense pain making his whole body tremble.

All that could be seen was the man who had swallowed the liuli, his eyes blood-red, as if still not in enough pain, trembling as he aimed a thin slice of liuli at the tip of his tongue.

Slosh!

He pulled hard, as if cutting the tongue, slowly and firmly splitting the spit-out tongue into two strips.

Clack!

The liuli shard slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, covered in blood.

All that could be seen was him wailing incoherently, his mouth like a snake's tongue, blood streaming forth.

Five-colored liuli shards piled in his mouth, mixing with red under the light, emitting a strange hue.

Afterward.

The man who had cut his tongue was exhilarated, and again difficultly swallowed the liuli dregs in his throat.

Seeing such a brutal scene, Xiong Hanzi's face turned deathly pale.

Unlike Zhang Tie, whose mouth corners were twitching, Lin An paid more attention to the new information revealed by the officer.

Does this method yield even less power?

Ascetic Practitioners... indeed have precognitive ability.

With a thought, Lin An clearly realized from his words the identity arranged for him by the system.

The ascetic practitioners in remote areas are actually over a hundred years old.

Not a bad identity.

Being in a remote area means I know little about the ascetic practitioners' information, so I can openly ask many questions.

After thinking, Lin An turned his head toward the officer leading the team, calmly asking:

"Precognition..."

"Does the precognitive ability of the 67th ascetic practitioner allow one to see fragments of the future?"

His voice was very soft.

Seemingly calm, Lin An's right hand slightly moved behind his back.

"Hiss!"

Behind him, the third man standing on the platform slit his own belly.

Then, with a ferocious expression, he emptied his abdominal cavity.

In midair, a drop of fresh blood spattered onto the officer's forehead, right between his eyebrows.

For a moment.

The officer leading the way inexplicably felt a chill.