Chapter 279: The Second Anomaly of the Omniscient Crystal

As Wu Chang boarded the ship, the storm soon dispersed; the dark clouds overhead cleared, revealing the sinking sun.

The orange-red afterglow bathed the Valo, gilding its hull with a golden edge, lending it an air of sacredness.

From the moment crew members uploaded the video to dikdok to the Valo's arrival at port, less than an hour passed, successfully drawing nationwide media attention.

As the ship docked, the pier was packed with media outlets, cameras flashing nonstop, as if eager to shove lenses straight into Wu Chang's mouth.

In Gao Mu, no news was more explosive than the resurrection of the Great Gao Mu Hero.

Wu Chang did not grant interviews at the port; citing exhaustion and the need for rest, he refused all questions and checked directly into a hotel suite near the harbor.

But before entering the hotel, he relented slightly, stating he would hold a press conference at six a. m. the next day in the hotel lobby.

He left ample time—given Gao Mu's size, even those at its farthest reaches could drive there in time.

The next morning, when Wu Chang arrived at the hotel lobby, nearly everyone who should or shouldn't have come was already there.

Those who should have come were naturally Star Sky Group, Star Color Gang members, and all media outlets; his former secretary and Qinglong had already arrived, maintaining order on-site.

Those who shouldn't have come were naturally Gao Mu's military representatives, political figures, and Midi representatives.

Of course, there were also some who should have come but didn't.

To enhance the visual drama of the news, media invited many survivors from the Star Leap, and several others, hearing Li Zaishi had survived, came of their own accord.

But among them, Wu Chang saw neither Li Yubin the journalist nor Choi Seong-jae the survivor.

Tsk, you said you missed me so much—just your mouth moves, not your body, huh?

During the interview, the media's foremost concern was undoubtedly how Wu Chang had survived alone at sea for over twenty days after falling overboard, and how he'd returned to Gao Mu riding the waves, as shown in the video.

For this question, Wu Chang had already prepared a ready-made story.

In his account, he had fallen into the sea while attempting to rescue someone; after falling, he found a life jacket someone had discarded, drifting with the waves to an unnamed island.

He used resources from the island and debris washed ashore to build a makeshift shelter and attempted to construct a raft to return to Gao Mu.

Unfortunately, on the third day after arriving on the island, he encountered a massive storm.

At the time, he was on the opposite side of the uninhabited island and barely escaped by hiding in a cave, but the storm carried away his stored freshwater, his shelter, and his only knife and lighter kept inside it.

Just as he was consumed by despair, he saw a deity.

The deity called herself the Eternal Pure Light; when the Star Leap had been lost at sea, she had appeared to guide the passengers.

Guided by the Eternal Pure Light, he found a ruin on the island, discovering traces of human habitation and tools left behind.

With these tools, he rebuilt his shelter and crafted a bamboo raft capable of drifting across the sea.

Following the Eternal Pure Light's instructions, he set out at a specific time; shortly after leaving the island, he encountered another storm, but under the deity's protection, he rode the waves until the storm passed—only then did he realize he had returned to Gao Mu's coastal waters, where he encountered the Valo crew.

Wu Chang's account was extraordinary, but the video of him riding the waves on his raft served as proof, leaving no one able to refute it.

Gao Mu is known as a museum of cults, a nation of devout believers; for the Great Gao Mu Hero to be protected by a goddess during a maritime disaster sounded entirely plausible.

Though the Eternal Pure Light sounded unfamiliar, it didn't matter—first time strange, second time familiar; before the Xinyuzhou Sect became a national religion, their deity also sounded strange.

Foreign moons chant sutras; the stranger the deity, the faster the miracles.

After Wu Chang's interview was released, media immediately hailed it as the modern-day Robinson Crusoe; some even claimed his wave-riding journey was Gao Mu's version of Moses parting the sea—a divine mercy.

Media later interviewed other Star Leap survivors, many of whom claimed that just before their rescue, they had glimpsed a white-golden light, resembling a deity.

The Star Leap's return was when survivors noticed the ship being pulled by an inexplicable force; before they could react, they had left the wreck zone and returned to Gao Mu's coastal waters.

The Great Gao Mu Hero Li Zaishi's return was also when the ship was moved by an inexplicable force; before they realized it, they were rescued.

Both events were tied to the Star Leap and both involved the deity Eternal Pure Light.

The two cases echoed each other—people instantly solved the mystery.

The Star Leap had been saved not by the Sea God, but by the Eternal Pure Light.

The very next day, the name Eternal Pure Light spread across every street and alley in Gao Mu; young and old, men and women, all knew of this new deity protecting Gao Mu.

The people of Gao Mu held contradictory beliefs: flexible in their religious boundaries, yet deeply devout.

Upon learning of the Eternal Pure Light's efficacy, people prepared to switch their faith; when they rolled up their sleeves and cleared space in their homes for new idols, they were stunned to discover this new deity had no church.

What should they do?

The believers panicked; Wu Chang panicked more.

Like Ai Lin, he had used the "Report on Miracles and Devotional Power" and gained the talent "Miracle Guide."

With this talent, combined with his powerful intuition, he sensed a surge of devout faith energy rising across Gao Mu.

These faith energies drifted in the skies above Gao Mu, pointing directly toward Ai Lin, who embodied the Eternal Pure Light—but without a church as a conduit, they could not be gathered or precisely channeled, leaving Ai Lin helplessly watching, unable to absorb them.

Wu Chang tapped his fingers on the desk, muttering softly: "I must find a way to establish a church."

But before that, he had other matters to attend to.

By assuming Li Zaishi's identity, he had immediately sparked a massive news sensation and drawn in vast faith—naturally, he must also shoulder the troubles tied to Li Zaishi's identity.

For instance, this resurrection meant many affairs of Star Sky Group and Star Color Gang now fell to him.

Simultaneously, as a member of the conglomerate, he had to juggle representatives from the political sphere, the military, and Midi.

After expressing admiration and condolences for his ordeal, all of them revealed one message.

During his disappearance, the world had changed; they had severed all ties with the Xinyuzhou Sect, claimed no knowledge of its actions, and warned him not to blame them for its misdeeds.

Especially the Midi military representative, who subtly boasted of Midi's methods: four days before Wu Chang's return to Gao Mu, Midi had suffered four plane crashes, losing five aircraft.

What is a master of the skies? This is a master of the skies!

Think carefully—what year is it?

Mr. Li Zaishi of Gao Mu, you wouldn't want your own plane to become this year's next aviation accident, would you?

Though Wu Chang wasn't afraid of such crude threats, he was here to harvest faith and had no desire to stir up trouble, so he pretended to believe their words and blamed everything on the deceased Zheng Ruiyuan and the suicide victim Zheng Chengxun.

Once convinced Wu Chang wouldn't cause trouble, the three parties left satisfied.

His true self was still en route to Wanghai City and had not entered the instance dungeon with him; without his avatar, everything now rested on his own shoulders.

Only after dealing with these troublesome figures could Wu Chang turn his attention to the real matter at hand.

This time, returning to the Silent Voyage instance dungeon with Ailin, he had two things to do.

First, establish a church belonging to Ailin, gain faith from the Silent Voyage dimension, and prepare for the All-Knowing Crystal's demands.

Beyond establishing a church, if he could conveniently take over the former Xinyuzhou Sect's assets, that would be even better.

Second, he needed to meet Cui Chengze—more precisely, to use Cui Chengze to meet the Sea God General.

Given that they were friends and had fought together against the Evil God's remains, he planned to eat meat and let the Sea God General have a sip of broth, granting him a title like Guardian Deity and sharing some faith with him.

In return, the Sea God General only needed to watch over the church when he left the Silent Voyage dimension, and occasionally produce divine miracles to attract new believers.

After discussing the Sea God General's appointment, he also wanted to casually ask if the Sea God General knew anything about the All-Knowing Crystal. After all, the Sea God General was a native deity who had lived for over a thousand years; though weak in power, he was well-traveled and might know something.

To accomplish these two tasks, Wu Chang needed to find the current leader of the Xinyuzhou Sect and Cui Chengze, and he delegated the task of locating them to his secretary.

After he finished dealing with the final Midian military forces, the secretary delivered the information he needed.

Looking at the contents of the report, Wu Chang couldn't help frowning.

The name listed as the current leader of the Xinyuzhou Sect was Cui Chengze.

Attached to the written material was a screenshot of Cui Chengze's appointment, clearly showing it was him, not someone with the same name.

What the hell is he doing?

Could it be that the Sea God General had the same idea, and also wanted to seize the Xinyuzhou Sect to directly absorb vast amounts of faith?

He examined the appointment screenshot closely and saw that the background wall and ceiling decorations bearing celebratory streamers displayed the logo of Xingtian Group, proving Xingtian Group was still the Xinyuzhou Sect's largest sponsor.

He looked at his secretary and said, "Arrange a meeting with this new sect leader. How long will it take?"

The secretary said, "Cui Zongzhu once left a message saying that if you returned, he could appear anytime you wished to meet him."

!

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow. Not hiding from him—even anticipating his appearance? Interesting.

"Then tonight."

After the secretary left, Wu Chang returned to the rest room, entered the inner world, and joined Ailin, who was binge-watching a drama.

"Young Lady Ailin, stop watching for now. Tonight, stay by my side—we're meeting an old acquaintance."

Ailin wiped away her tears with a tissue, looked up at Wu Chang, observed for a moment, then asked, "Is the person we're meeting dangerous?"

Wu Chang stared at Ailin in surprise. All those movies and TV shows hadn't been wasted—just one glance, and Ailin had sensed his unease about tonight's meeting.

Had she really trained this well?

He shrugged and said, "We're meeting Cui Chengze. It's not necessarily dangerous, but his behavior is odd—I'm worried he's been influenced by Leyman."

Ailin nodded. "I have my terrestrial divine realm here. If He's truly present, He won't escape."

Wu Chang praised, "No wonder you're my Eternal Purity Light—you're reliable."

Ailin's cheeks flushed slightly; she turned her gaze back to the screen, but her eyes were distracted.

"Just come get me when it's time."

Cui Chengze arrived quickly. Wu Chang had expected him at dinnertime, but less than two hours after expressing his desire to meet, Cui Chengze rushed into Xingtian Group.

Seeing how eager he was, Wu Chang's suspicions lessened slightly, and he chose his office as the meeting location.

As soon as Cui Chengze entered, he first performed a mystical ritual to block detection, then finally greeted Wu Chang.

"Director Li, long time no see."

Wu Chang, seated behind his desk, spread his hands. "Should I call you Director Cui now, or Sect Leader Cui?"

Cui Chengze glanced at Ailin on the sofa, watching her drama, and said, "Director Li, you're too formal. Just call me Xiao Cui."

"This must be the legendary Eternal Purity Light."

During their earlier mission in the Silent Voyage instance dungeon, when they reached the End Sea, Cui Chengze's body had been taken over by the Sea God General; his memories of that time were vague.

His image of Ailin was unclear, but his memory of the Sea God General's fear of Ailin's power was sharp.

He knew she was a true deity, stronger than the Sea God General.

Wu Chang detected no abnormality from Cui Chengze, so he relaxed his expression and said calmly, "Tell me—how did you become the leader of the Xinyuzhou Sect?"

At the mention of this, Cui Chengze also looked helpless.

"I never wanted to be the sect leader to begin with…"

As Cui Chengze spoke, Wu Chang learned the full story.

Because of Wu Chang and Li Yubin's actions, the safety of the Xingyue had been confirmed early, and with the Sea God General's help, the Xingyue returned directly to Gao Mu's coastal waters, leaving the three factions unable to silence the survivors—they had no choice but to rescue them.

Almost all passengers survived, but "passengers" here refers to those defined in Wu Chang's mission criteria.

The ordinary passengers lived, but many of the Xinyuzhou Sect followers and military crew members sent aboard died.

Such a large-scale death event demanded accountability.

The failed Xinyuzhou Sect naturally bore responsibility.

Zheng Ruiyuan had already died aboard the ship; the sect's actual controller, Zheng Chengxun, was quietly eliminated. Dead men don't implicate others, and under mutual tacit agreement, the incident was classified as a terrorist attack with a cult background.

Li Zaishi successfully defused the crisis, led the passengers to kill the attackers, and the mastermind, Zheng Chengxun, committed suicide out of guilt. The president, realizing he had been deceived for years, was heartbroken and deeply regretful, bowing deeply to the public in apology.

Fortunately, no ordinary civilians died; the happy ending meant the people of Gao Mu didn't dig deeper.

As for the Lan Island, where everyone perished and the hull was used to create the Evil God's remains, it was declared to have suffered manufacturing defects and improper operation, sinking into the sea.

With the Zheng family father and daughter dead, the Xinyuzhou Sect was leaderless, yet its followers were scattered nationwide—it must immediately appoint a new sect leader to stabilize the organization.

Outsiders didn't know, but the government and military knew well: the Xinyuzhou Sect could truly communicate with deities and wield supernatural abilities.

If they didn't have supernatural power, why would they have partnered with them in the first place?

This mission's failure, combined with the three factions' lightning-fast disengagement, had already offended the deity behind the Xinyuzhou Sect. They couldn't let the sect's followers continue to control it—otherwise, once the sect recovered, it would reconnect with the deity and retaliate.

They had to first control the sect with their own people, slowly eliminate hardcore believers, and finally dissolve the sect.

Easy to say, but finding someone to control it was difficult: the candidate had to have a grudge against the Xinyuzhou Sect, not side with them, possess supernatural abilities, and be able to command authority.

After screening, the sole survivor of the Xingyue, Cui Chengze, chairman of Gao Mu's Folk Mystical Studies Association, became the ideal candidate.

Cui Chengze did not have Li Zaishi's family background, so the officials and military treated him with no courtesy at all, directly dispatching an old general to apply pressure.

Chengze, what year were you born?

Oh, if you hadn't said so, I would've thought you were eighty. Hey, you little whelp born in '46, you dare stand up straight in front of a '44 senior?

A junior from Yanjiang University, and born into a prestigious family — is this the upbringing of your Cui clan, teaching you to say things like "might not be convenient" and "can't do it" to your seniors?

Damn it, this is for the prosperity of Gao Mu Nation, for the stability of society — you, the sort who makes money off fortune-telling and divination, lavishly enjoying the dividends created by your forebears, don't want to contribute a single thing?

After that slick little combo, Cui Chengze immediately couldn't hold up, agreed to become the Sect Leader, and cooperated with several factions to dismantle the Xinyuzhou Sect from within.

Although he understood mysticism and was no slouch in combat, in the Silent Voyage instance, fighters and firearms were subject to the world's rule correction, and with his ordinary person's body, he still could not contend against the machinery of the state.

Even the miniature state apparatus of a Gao Mu Nation, the sort that is "small but also quite cute."

At first Cui Chengze was forced into becoming Sect Leader, but not long after taking office, he discovered that the remnants of the Zheng clan had not given up because of it.

They gathered a band of extremist Xinyuzhou Sect believers, opened the Zheng father and daughter's secret vault, took several mystical artifacts from it, and attempted to re-establish contact with Lyman.

Among them were several mystical artifacts that were important cultural relics in the history of Gao Mu Nation, divine instruments used by the gods in mythological tales.

If they succeeded, it was very likely they would draw Lyman again.

To ensure the world would not be spied upon by an evil god, Cui Chengze shifted from passive to active, proactively tracking those extremists' traces, preparing to wreck their plan.

At the same time, fearing they would succeed and he could not resist, he left a message for the Xingtian Group, requesting Li Zaishi's help.

Speaking of which, Cui Chengze took out a stack of photographs; the items in the photographs were all important relics secretly hoarded by the Zheng father and daughter, recalled by the upper echelons of the Xinyuzhou Sect.

Wu Chang flipped through the photographs, and when he saw one of them, the Omniscient Crystal suddenly reacted.

(End of chapter)