From the end of the world

Chapter 666 Spirit Incarnation
"You mean... just like how Taoyuan Township Lord believes in 'Shangri-La,' I should also do something similar to believe in myself, and then... what would happen?" I tried to understand the line of thought that Dongche was talking about.

Jiao Shu seemed to quickly accept this line of thought, and bluntly asked, "You want Zhuang Cheng to use himself as the object of his faith, and then, through the communication channel between believers and gods, summon his full power into the city's barrier to achieve a complete restoration of his power?"

Believers can invoke the power of the gods, and the deeper their faith, the more power they can invoke.

At the same time, an individual's talent and compatibility with the deity are also crucial. The more a believer is able to summon the power of the deity, the more they will exhibit the deity's own ideological nature; conversely, if a person's beliefs are already perfectly aligned with the target deity, they will be able to summon more divine power under the same level of faith.

This is a complex issue involving many factors, including the mystical theory of similarity. Simply put, if someone in this world were to exist with an exact resemblance to me, and that person became my devout follower, they might easily become a "saint" or "holy child" of the "Zhuangcheng Faith." If I were to die someday, such a person could perhaps claim to be my reincarnation, drawing power from my remaining spiritual body as easily as breathing, effortlessly unleashing magical power at least at the Great Perfection level.

So what if I were to become my own believer?
First of all, I think it's incredibly difficult from the outset. To be a devout believer in oneself—that requires an incredibly narcissistic person. While I never belittle myself, I'm not so self-important as to worship myself as a god.

Furthermore, even if I could truly achieve that, as a believer, the ultimate state I would reach would simply be the ability to wield my power with effortless grace. Thinking about it this way, the ultimate goal of the believer's path could perhaps be interpreted as "becoming a god himself," a darkly humorous notion reminiscent of the ancient Chinese ideal of ascending to the throne after serving as an official. And by that standard, haven't I already reached the end?
Unless I perform a powerful spiritual separation, completely distinguishing the weak self in this place from the complete self that has not been able to fully enter the city's barrier—since the Peach Blossom Village Master Meng Zhang and "Peach Blossom Spring" are different existences, and if I want to emulate this relationship, I must of course achieve this level.

Then, relying on strong faith, unique characteristics, and the cooperation of the complete self, the weaker self draws power from its own manifestation body, or even from the complete self, within the city's barrier. Given the strength of the connection between the weaker and complete selves, it might be possible to transfer a large amount of magical power in one go with an unstoppable force, even by ubiquitous resistance.

Thinking of this, I thought of Silver Moon. Although the Silver Moon that manifested in Chang'an can be considered a different individual from the Silver Moon in life, the former was able to inherit the latter's magic and supernatural abilities immediately after its revival, and could even recover to its peak by devouring the Silver Moon incarnation—the Ancient Moon God. Perhaps there are some common principles involved.

But I have no intention of developing a split personality. After I shared my thoughts, Dongche immediately shook his head vigorously, saying, "No matter what, it's impossible to do that. Not only is the feasibility extremely low, but cutting yourself off is inherently dangerous and has endless consequences. Who knows what kind of disastrous results it might cause in the future..."

"So what exactly is your method?" Jiao Shu asked.

"This one……"

The winter carriage seemed to have only a vague direction, unable to pinpoint exactly what it was going to do. His gaze darted around, as if searching for clues that could provide a hint.

He glanced at the totem mark on Xiao Qiao's hand, then at the Furnace Slag Impermanence Sword hanging at his waist, and finally at me. Suddenly, it was as if a lightbulb went off in his head, and his eyes immediately began to sparkle.

“I’ve got it… it’s ‘incarnation’!” he exclaimed excitedly.

"An avatar?" Jiao Shu's expression changed after thinking for a moment. "So that's how it is... This method will work!"

"What method?" I asked curiously.

"The key to whether Senior Zhuang Cheng's full power can be transmitted into the city's barrier lies in whether we can prepare a sufficiently strong communication channel and a suitable medium to receive all that power," Dongche explained happily. "Previously, I used the Slag Impermanence Sword. As the spiritual substance bound to Senior Zhuang Cheng, 'slag' is quite excellent by the standards of a spirit summoning ritual medium, but it's still not powerful enough. Therefore, we must prepare a more powerful medium..."

"This medium is right in front of us now, and that is Senior Zhuang Cheng himself, who is currently standing in front of us!"

"What could be more suitable as a medium to summon all the power of a deity than a divine avatar? Moreover, this doesn't seem to be a simple condensation of magical power, but rather a complete body and soul, just like a legendary manifestor proving the Dao..."

"Those who inherit the bloodline of their ancestors can have the soul of their ancestors descend into their bodies through blood relations. The deeper the blood relation, the easier it is. And what if it is oneself? The principle is the same. If even this is not possible, then there is truly no other viable path."

"Moreover, Senior Zhuang Cheng can now serve as the most suitable vessel. I remember that according to past information, Senior Zhuang Cheng has the ability to transform into a fire elemental, which allows him to temporarily expand his own scale of existence by absorbing external fire, or instantly restore all his missing parts... With this property, he can definitely withstand any amount of power that is brought down by the spirit, and increasing it a thousand or ten thousand times is just a piece of cake. Returning to his complete state is definitely not a problem!"

The Great Impermanence can use others as vessels of power, making them his own incarnations in the outside world. The Children of God can also do something similar; the small bowl we have now is such a product.

Throughout Luoshan's history, there have been instances of devout believers voluntarily offering their bodies and minds to become incarnations of deities.

Winter's approach wasn't about making me his follower, but about making me his embodiment. I also think this is a reasonable method. My intuition also tells me—yes, this is it. This is the breakthrough I instinctively sensed, the one I could find after uniting with my followers.

"Let's use this plan," I decided. "So, what should I do next? I'm a complete novice when it comes to spirit possession rituals."

While I've never actually turned others into vessels for spirit summoning, I believe I could do it through metaphysical manipulation. Turning myself into a vessel for spirit summoning, with a slight shift in perspective, shouldn't be impossible either. However, due to resistance, my current meager power prevents me from undertaking large-scale spirit summoning. I must rely on external forces, namely, ritual arrangements.

“It’s alright, I have knowledge of spirit possession rituals and know how to arrange them.” Dongche was eager to try. “I can’t arrange this ritual by myself in a short time; I need to call on others as well…”

Towards the end, he sent a telepathic message in a certain direction. I could directly hear its contents, which were the results of our previous discussion. The recipient was likely the former leader of the believers.

The leader of the believers quickly sent back the "received" message.

“The ceremony should be set up in a few hours,” Dongche told me.

Junior student Xiao Qiao asked cautiously, "If you regain all your power, senior, can you send all the people here out of this city?"

“It can definitely be done,” Dongche said with unwavering conviction. “Senior Zhuangcheng is a man of great unpredictability.”

"So I won't bother you anymore?" Junior Sister Qiao asked tentatively.

"Yes, thank you for your hard work. Please go back and get some rest." Dongche nodded.

However, Xiao Qiao did not turn around and leave immediately, but hesitated and stood there, as if she wanted to ask something.

Dongche said in a gentle tone, "Is there anything else? If it's something I can help with, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm happy to help."

"It's not that there's any trouble, I just don't understand why you asked me to observe the interrogation before?" Junior Qiao said疑惑地. "That was obviously not something I should be involved in. In fact, I didn't help at all. Just now, I couldn't understand a word you were saying, and I couldn't join in at all."

Jiao Shu didn't comment, but her eyes clearly indicated that she thought Xiao Qiao was completely useless. Although I didn't intend to gossip about Zhu Shi's classmates and friends, I couldn't see the point of Xiao Qiao's presence, and I was also curious about Dong Che's thoughts.

Dongche paused for a moment to gather his thoughts before saying, "...because I want to hear your opinion."

"My opinion?" Junior Sister Qiao was even more puzzled.

"The ideal vision pursued by governance is that ordinary people and witchers can jointly govern society. Therefore, I have recommended some ordinary people with management experience to other witchers in the past, so that they can become part of the management team of this shelter and participate in its operation," Wintercar said earnestly. "Besides those in management positions, I also hope that someone with the perspective of an ordinary citizen can stand beside us, observe our every move, and then express their thoughts..."

"So... I'm the one you chose?" Junior Sister Qiao asked.

“It’s not entirely confirmed yet, and it’s not necessarily a fixed location. It could be this person today, and that person tomorrow. But considering this shelter will be closing soon, there probably won’t be any other candidates,” Dongche asked. “So, I’d like to take this opportunity to ask you a question…”

"What's the problem?" asked Xiao Qiao, a junior student.

"As one of the survivors of this city, how do you view everything you've experienced, the present and future of this world, and us Witchers?" Wintercar asked.

(End of this chapter)