I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

In a cheap rental room in the old town of Jiangnan City.

Gu Qing stood shirtless in front of the rusty sink. The man in the mirror was thin and bony, with his ribs clearly visible.

"Cough...cough cough cough!"

A violent cough bent him over like a shrimp. His hands trembled as he scooped up a handful of cold water and splashed it on his face, the blood-tinged saliva swirling down the drain.

He looked up, wiped his mouth with a towel, and his gaze fell on the crumpled piece of paper on the sink.

[Diagnosis Report from Jiangnan City First People's Hospital]

Name: Gu Qing

[Diagnosis: Gastric cancer (T4 stage), with multiple peritoneal metastases...]

Death sentence.

This was the gift he received three days ago. For a 24-year-old who had just graduated from university and whose life was just beginning, this was not only despair but also an absurd mockery.

"System," Gu Qing said hoarsely, looking at his sunken eyes in the mirror, "Check the current status."

[Ding! The Myth Creation System is at your service.]

[Host: Gu Qing]

[Current life countdown: 92 days (extended by 3 days due to faith feedback)]

Current Faith Value: 145 points

[Current Status: Physically extremely weak; newbie protection period has ended.]

Gu Qing chuckled self-deprecatingly, picked up a bottle of painkillers, and chewed two pills dry.

Three days ago, on the afternoon of his diagnosis, he sat despairingly on the hospital rooftop, and this voice echoed in his mind. The system told him that as long as he could make all living beings believe in the existence of "myth" and draw "faith power," he could use faith power to reconstruct his physical body, and even... achieve immortality.

In order to survive, he accepted it like a madman.

[System notification: Host, your "Newbie Experience Card (Divine Journey Through the Void)" expired last night. From now on, you will no longer be able to instantly traverse the Kunlun Mountains and the East Sea in spirit form.]

Every action you take now requires either a mortal body or a huge amount of faith power to exchange for.

"I know."

Gu Qing put on a black trench coat, which covered her thin body.

Two days ago, with the "divine travel" ability given to him by the system, his consciousness separated from his body and created the "resurrection of the dried corpse" in Kunlun Mountain and the "illusory dragon palace" in the East China Sea. At that time, he was like a true god, looking down on the world.

But now, his trial period has expired, and he has returned to being a terminal cancer patient who gets breathless even climbing stairs.

"But system, this isn't just about surviving, is it?"

Gu Qing walked to the window, gazing at the brightly lit city of Jiangnan outside. On his retina, the scene the system had once shown him reappeared—

It was a dark shadow rapidly approaching Earth from the depths of space. Void creatures, hunters preying on civilization. In this materialistic world, no force could stop them.

Unless... this world is turned into a myth.

"Deception is the means, truth is the end." Gu Qing murmured, his eyes gradually turning cold and resolute. "If I don't lie, humanity will die, and I will die too. In that case, let me be the biggest liar."

He not only wants to cure his own illness.

He also wants to forge this world, as fragile as paper, into steel. Even if the price is that he has to abandon his weak humanity and become a high-ranking operator.

"Time to go out."

Gu Qing put on a baseball cap, covering most of her face.

"Since we can no longer bombard people with 'miracles,' we must start by planning with 'people.' We need a seed."

……

[Outside the library at Jiangnan University]

The night wind in late autumn carried a chill.

Gu Qing sat on a bench, holding a thread-bound book he had bought for five yuan at a used bookstore—"Taoist Health Cultivation Exercises (Pirated)".

He was waiting for someone.

The system's big data filtering function had already identified the target several hours earlier.

[Target: Chu Tian]

[Compatibility: 91%]

[Current state: Extremely depressed, weak mental defenses, yearning for power and change.]

Not far away, a thin boy walked over, looking dejected. His name was Chu Tian, ​​a sophomore. Just half an hour earlier, he had been humiliated by his counselor for not being able to pay certain "extra material fees" as defined by the financial aid system for impoverished students. Then, he saw the girl he had a crush on get into someone else's sports car.

It's a very cliché plot.

But that's exactly what Gu Qing needs. Only someone who is utterly disillusioned with reality will not hesitate to grasp at that illusory straw.

Gu Qing watched Chu Tian approach. He could feel waves of cramping pain in his stomach; the cancer cells were gnawing at his internal organs. The pain brought him to his senses and also gave him a subtle empathy for the "chess piece" before him.

You also feel that the world is unfair, right?

me too.

So, I'll give you a chance, and I'll give myself a chance too.

As Chu Tian passed the bench, Gu Qing coughed twice "casually," and the old book in her hand slipped to the ground, blocking Chu Tian's path.

"Classmate," Gu Qing's voice, slightly adjusted by the system, sounded aged yet magnetic, as if it had traversed the dust of time, "your heart is in turmoil."

Chu Tian stopped and stared blankly at the man who was wearing a hat and looked as pale as a ghost in the middle of the night.

"Are you... talking to me?"

Gu Qing didn't answer, but simply bent down to pick up the book.

In that instant, he consumed a full 100 points of Faith (which was most of his wealth earned from causing trouble in Kunlun and Donghai).

[Ding! Reality Distortion activated.]

[Target Item: Taoist Health Cultivation Qigong]

[Attributes: Spiritual Guidance (One-time use), Hallucinogenic Suggestion]

[Note: This is not a real cultivation technique; it's merely bait, a key.]

Gu Qing's fingers gently traced the book cover, and in Chu Tian's eyes, the tattered book seemed to flash with an almost imperceptible glint of light.

"To meet is to be destined."

Gu Qing stood up, enduring the dizziness (mental exhaustion caused by the depletion of her spiritual energy), and handed the book to Chu Tian.

"I see your forehead... though it has an ominous look, it also faintly exudes a purple hue. This thing is useless to a useless person like me, so I'm giving it to you."

Chu Tian instinctively wanted to refuse; it looked too much like a scam at the train station.

But the moment his hand touched the book, an unprecedented warmth flowed through his fingertips and into his body, causing his heart, which had been chilled by anger and sorrow, to skip a beat.

it is true!

This electric shock-like feeling...

"This..." Chu Tian suddenly looked up, wanting to ask a question.

However, the bench was already empty.

Only under the distant streetlights could one vaguely see the figure in the black trench coat, staggering into the darkness.

Gu Qing did not turn around.

He cannot turn back.

At this moment, blood was gushing from his nose, and he had to cover his mouth tightly with his hand to prevent himself from coughing and ruining the image of this "master".

When they reached a secluded corner, Gu Qing finally couldn't hold on any longer and slid down to the ground, panting heavily.

[Remaining Faith Points: 45]

[Warning: Host's bodily functions are declining.]

Gu Qing wiped away the blood from her nose and looked at the flashing dot representing Chu Tian on the system panel in her hand.

"Cough cough... Acting is really tiring."

He leaned against the cold brick wall, a hint of madness flashing in his eyes.

"Chu Tian, ​​don't let me down. I've staked all my money for life-saving medicine on you for this role."

"Go practice, go crazy."

"Let the world see what a cultivator is."

The wind blew past the hem of his clothes.

At this moment, Gu Qing was no longer the cancer patient waiting to die.

He is the director behind the curtain, the only audience member, and the greatest rebel of this old world.