Chapter 166: The Only Hope
Yu Xian felt the changes in the sky most keenly. Even without looking up, he could sense the barrier descending like a colossal hand blotting out the sky, relentlessly severing the space around Huaxia.
With the stone steles serving as anchors, the pocket dimension would swallow all of Huaxia, leaving behind nothing in the real world except a teapot. That teapot would serve as the key through which the outside world could enter Huaxia's pocket dimension. As for why Li Zhangzong had chosen a teapot, only he himself knew. Yu Xian suspected it was simply his peculiar sense of humor.
Many ancient experts enjoyed making jokes and references. The problem was that theirs were all from several centuries or even a thousand years ago. Unless people of Yu Xian's generation searched for the jokes online, they would have no idea what the older experts were referring to. That was probably what they called a generation gap.
Yu Xian teleported beneath another city and swiftly pressed his hand against the stone stele. The endless collective thoughts of the populace surged into it like the waters of the Yellow River. "The 205th!"
At that moment, the pain in his head eased, and his expression relaxed considerably.
Had there been some online novel where readers could temporarily deposit their brains, Yu Xian felt that he would have handed his over without the slightest hesitation. The sensation of countless middle-aged women endlessly muttering inside his head was simply unbearable. Even with Super Brain, he wanted nothing more than to slam his head against the ground. His scalp kept itching, as though all the voices inside his mind would burst out at any moment.
After filling the 205th stele with the collective thoughts, Yu Xian sensed the remaining spatial coordinates and lamented inwardly. "There are still 320 stone steles left. Just kill me now!"
The next instant, he teleported beneath another city and slammed his hand against the stone stele. The collective thoughts surged out once more, and tiny black tadpole-like characters filled the golden lines across its surface.
After filling the stele, he teleported beneath yet another city. Sensing the remaining coordinates, he silently offered his encouragement to the only other comrade still standing. "Only 318 left. My comrades, you have to hold on."
However, just as he did so, Mystic Light collapsed in another city far away. Mystic Light had already pushed himself far beyond his limits, and due to the accumulated strain, he finally lost consciousness while charging a stele.
Both of Yu Xian's comrades had fallen, which left only him to charge the remaining 318 stone steles. The stone steles had been installed according to the number of cities. Huaxia had 663 cities in total, so there were also 663 stone steles. Once every stele was filled with the collective thoughts of the populace, Huaxia would be completely transformed into a pocket dimension.
From that point onward, even if the Blue Planet itself exploded, Huaxia would remain unaffected. The countries outside could cause as much chaos as they wished and the progenitor of the Blood Race could become as strong as he wanted, but it would have nothing to do with Huaxia. That was the fundamental reason the country had activated the National Pocket Dimension Project.
Yu Xian had merely reported the concept of a Star-rank expert, yet Yu Lie and the other senior officials had prepared for the worst. Out of responsibility for the population, they had chosen the most cautious course of action. While other countries searched the world for the Blood Race's progenitor and aimed their missiles at Romulus Dominion, Huaxia chose to secure the safety of its people first. Every other issue had to come afterward.
Ten minutes later, Yu Xian teleported to the city where Mystic Light had collapsed. Seeing him lying unconscious on the ground, he let out a long sigh. He stepped forward, removed Mystic Light's wristband, enveloped him in a spatial bubble, and sent him to headquarters in Yanjing.
He then pressed his hand against the stone stele and continued charging it. The reason he had been able to find this place was that Mystic Light had already begun infusing the stele with the collective thoughts of the populace. However, he had failed in the process. Yu Xian, through his spatial perception, had sensed that the stele was only faintly glowing. Realizing that something was wrong, he had followed the coordinates and come here.
Now that both his comrades had fallen, the remaining stone steles were clearly all up to him. If he collapsed as well, the National Pocket Dimension Project would fail.
After filling this stele too, Yu Xian muttered, "Only 317 left!"
He teleported to the next city and continued charging the stone steles. In the past, he had thought that the fewer spatial ability users there were, the better it was. After all, fewer spatial ability users meant fewer people competing with him. Now, however, he wished everyone possessed a spatial ability.
Unfortunately, that was impossible. The government had already recruited most of the country's spatial ability users. Moreover, possessing a spatial ability did not necessarily mean being able to sense space coordinates. The young man from Azure Dragon, for example, certainly possessed a spatial ability, but his sensitivity to spatial coordinates was extremely weak.
The two were not contradictory. When Yu Xian first obtained his spatial bubbles, his ability to sense spatial coordinates had also been poor. He had relied entirely on the bubbles themselves to determine locations. It was only after he learned spatial arts that his spatial perception had gradually grown stronger. Then, Super Brain had enhanced his spatial perception in every respect, and calculating spatial coordinates had become incredibly easy for him.
Currently, the only person in the country who could likely rival his spatial perception was Li Zhangzong. But Li Zhangzong was too old. He had already reached the point where he could no longer leave his pocket dimension. The moment he stepped outside, he would most likely drop dead. However, as long as he remained inside his pocket dimension, he would never die.
This was one of the effects of Observe Past and Present, a divine ability of the Art of the World within a Pot—immortal and undying, watching the ages pass.
***
Yu Xian had once wondered about one thing. People always said that if the sky fell, someone would hold it up. But what if that "someone" was him?
Now that he had become Huaxia's only hope, Yu Xian finally knew the answer. Even with his scalp tingling and his mind wracked with pain, all he could do was grit his teeth and endure. After all, no one else was capable of completing the task.
Yu Xian appeared beneath Ice City and pressed his hand against the stone stele. "Only 316 left. Today feels endless!"
This trip to Ice City had lasted far longer than expected. Not only had he recruited Xiong Da and the female assassin Nangong Wanwan, but he had also learned the Art of the World within a Pot.
Yu Xian appeared beneath Spring City and pressed his hand against the stone stele. "Now, 311 left. I really want fried chicken!"
Fried chicken was one of the city's specialties.
Yu Xian appeared beneath Silver City and pressed his hand against the stone steles. "Only 305 left. Nora..."
Yu Xian appeared beneath Zenith City and mechanically charged the stone steles. "Only 266 left. Auntie..."
The farther he progressed, the more exhausted his mind became. To prevent himself from slipping into complete numbness, he followed Mystic Light's example and used pain to keep himself alert. He tightly wrapped one arm in black threads and gradually increased the pressure, using the sharp pain to force himself to remain conscious.
It hurt. But it was undeniably effective. His healing ability was simply too powerful. His injuries healed almost the instant they appeared, which forced him to inflict pain on himself again and again, just to remain alert. Throughout the entire process, not a single drop of blood was shed.
Yet a greater trial lay ahead. The further he progressed, the darker the collective thoughts of the populace grew. After all, the authorities had ordered everyone to remain inside the prepared formations without telling them what was actually happening. Naturally, people became more and more impatient. That was human nature.
Yu Xian was gradually getting affected as well. Thoughts he should have never entertained crept into his mind. He desperately wanted to give up. A voice seemed to whisper inside his head, tempting him. The other two have already failed, so it will be perfectly understandable if you fail too. If everyone fails, then it will not truly count as failure.
Then another voice spoke. Are these people really worth protecting? Their thoughts are so dark. Do they even know how much you are sacrificing for them?
The light gradually faded from Yu Xian's eyes. The hand pressed against the stone stele seemed to lose all strength and slowly fell.
However, just as he was about to exhaust the last of his strength, more and more voices of encouragement reached him through the collective thoughts of the populace.
—Salted Fish, don't make me look down on you! Keep going!
—Brother Salted Fish, this is Fat Cat. You can do it!
—Little Fish, hang in there! I've already written the application. Once you complete the mission, I'll have you replace the panda as our national treasure!
—Little Brother Salted Fish, this is Fae. Big Sis likes a man with stamina, so stay strong and don't go limp on me!
—Salted Fish...
—Salted Fish...
—Salted Fish!
In Yanjing, Zhang Shou stood at the back of the crowd with a group of nurses, gritting his teeth as he silently cheered Yu Xian on. He had just finished treating Mystic Light. After learning that Yu Xian was enduring the same ordeal, he had contacted many people he knew, and they began encouraging Yu Xian from their respective cities. Zhang Shou had no idea whether Yu Xian would notice this, but it was the only thing he could think of doing for him.
Without a doubt, Yu Xian noticed. The hand that had nearly fallen away pressed firmly against the stone stele once more, and the light returned to his eyes. The darkness in human nature was frightening, but there would always be people passing on the light.
Zhang Shou and the others had passed their light to him. Now it was his turn to shine. After all, he was the Shining Vampire. He was supposed to shine!