Chapter 168: Providence II
CH168 Providence II
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Conscious control of Providence was extremely difficult to pull off. In truth, it was rare for an individual to be strong enough to consciously direct their own Providence to make the world bend in their favour.
More often than not, an individual’s Providence worked passively—guided not by their surface-level desires, but by what they truly believed was in their best interest.
Curiously, controlling the Providence of an entity made up of multiple individuals—like a kingdom—was often much easier. A powerful king, for example, could influence the combined Providence of a nation, directing it to serve his agenda or uplift the nation as a whole.
Reading this, Alex was reminded of eastern cultivation novels from his previous life, where nations possessed something called National Fortune—an ethereal force the ruler could wield, especially with the help of rare artefacts known as Fortune-Suppressing Treasures.
Although Merlin’s material made no mention of such artefacts, the underlying principles felt oddly familiar to Alex.
The deeper he thought, the more connections he found.
In those old novels, not all rulers needed Fortune-Suppressing Artefacts. Kings and Emperors who had grasped the fundamental Laws of their world, i.e. were extremely power in their own right, could tap into their nation’s National Fortune directly.
As long as they had the genuine support of their people, there would be no backlash. They could channel the National Fortune freely, using it as they wished. But if the ruler lacked such support—no matter how powerful they were—they would only be able to harness a small portion of it. Worse, they would suffer a grievous backlash proportional to how much of the National Fortune they had forcibly drawn upon.
Realising these similarities helped Alex connect the dots in the material Merlin had provided. It was clear now: Providence worked very much like National Fortune in those niche novels.
One of the clearest and most reliable ways to earn Providence, he recalled, was through something called Providence Feedback.