Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

The Ci Hang Sect seemed no different than before, with the sound of chanting and bell ringing in the distance, which greatly relaxed Fan Qinghui.

”Has anything happened recently in the sect?”

Fan Qinghui looked at her two junior sisters beside her, who shook their heads with a smile.

”No, Senior Sister.”

”But Senior Sister, how is the situation outside? You must have been spreading Buddhism in the secular world by now.”

”Ah... um...”

Facing her two junior sisters’ inquiries, Fan Qinghui looked a bit embarrassed. In truth, she hadn’t completed her task at all; in fact, she had almost suffered a crushing defeat. Of course, Fan Qinghui didn’t need to mention this to her little junior sisters.

”I have something to report to Master. Can you take me to see her?”

”Of course, Senior Sister!”

Looking at the two junior sisters in front of her, Fan Qinghui breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.

Everything was as usual.

Indeed.

Everything was as usual...

”Dong!!”

Just then, suddenly, a bell tolled. It was originally just an ordinary bell sound, but as soon as Fan Qinghui heard it, she felt the scene in front of her began to blur. Not only that, the solid ground beneath her feet started to turn soft, and even the tranquil temple before her seemed to transform into something else.

A bizarre, foul stench assaulted her senses, and the houses in front of her seemed to morph into some strange form in that instant.

”Dong---!”

The bell sounded again, but this time, along with it came countless screams, wails, and piercing noises that suddenly surged forth, directly pouring into Fan Qinghui’s mind. At that moment, Fan Qinghui even felt as though those sounds had turned into warped worms, quickly crawling into her ears. They wriggled inside, burrowing into her brain, making Fan Qinghui feel an overwhelming urge to tear off her own scalp and yank those worms out.

But she didn’t do that. Her body swayed abruptly, then she lifted her head once more, yet by now, everything before Fan Qinghui’s eyes had changed.

The blue sky and white clouds were gone, and the lush green woods had silently vanished.

In their place, Fan Qinghui saw some eerie, twisted flying insects obscuring the sky, and those green trees had turned into some terrifying, indescribable creatures!

The next moment, everything turned black before her eyes, and she passed out without a sound.

”Interesting.”

Standing by the window, looking at Fan Qinghui who had fainted to the ground, Fang Zheng nodded silently. He raised his hand, and with Fang Zheng’s movement, a translucent, azure tentacle emerged and then disappeared.

”Hmm... so this is what a mental invasion is like, I see.”

For Fang Zheng, the Ci Hang Sect was the perfect place to experiment with the abilities of the Ancient Gods. He couldn’t do this elsewhere, but when facing the Ci Hang Sect, Fang Zheng didn’t need to show any mercy. His belief was always to treat his enemies as leaves swept away by the autumn wind. Once someone was identified as an enemy by Fang Zheng, there was no honor or human rights to speak of. For Fang Zheng, enemies were to be wiped out by any means necessary.

He wouldn’t grant his foes respect, nor would he show them any trace of mercy or kindness.

In the Black World, those humans who abused the Cursed Child had been identified as enemies by Fang Zheng and had almost entirely been consumed by the Zerg.

In the Main World, the Kingdom of Flame, identified as enemies by Fang Zheng, had been completely transformed into a living Hell under the Devil’s shadow.

Here, it was the same. For Fang Zheng, enemies were things to be used, to be destroyed, but never to be shown compassion or respect.

Because enemies and adversaries were different.

To ordinary people, perhaps they would think the methods of the Ci Hang Sect were problematic, but the intention was good. They wished for universal harmony, for the light of Buddhism to shine everywhere, so all could live in peace and happiness. They held noble ideals, but for various reasons, had strayed off course.

However, Fang Zheng didn’t see it that way. He didn’t think these disciples’ ideals were noble, let alone great. Instead, he believed that all their actions only serve to corrode a race, a nation, a civilization. Therefore, from Fang Zheng’s perspective, facing something utterly meaningless apart from its harm, there was no need to feel the slightest pity.

Currently, Fang Zheng was using Fan Qinghui as a test subject for his Ancient God abilities.

Even though one could see the introduction from the system, it was just like how you only truly understand a game skill once you actually use it. Only by truly utilizing the Ancient God’s powers can one comprehend the manifestation of these forces.

Technically, the power of the Ancient Gods is not a curse but a blessing.

Its essence is to elevate the practitioner to a higher level.

On the surface, this appears to be a good thing.

But in reality?

Take vision, for example. Humans only have three types of photoreceptors, while the mantis shrimp has sixteen, so the world the mantis shrimp sees is completely different from what humans see. If humans had the mantis shrimp’s sixteen photoreceptors, what would the world look like to them?

And hearing, humans cannot capture certain high or low-frequency sound waves, but many animals can, and it is not just that hearing becomes more acute.

The noise from those sound waves would likely be unbearable for humans.

Simply put, the entire process of elevation can completely shatter a person’s worldview and cognitive system formed since birth. The mortal brain cannot bear such world-altering sights.

And to withstand this effect, they must actively evolve their form in that direction. Fang Zheng always wondered why those close to the Ancient Gods in the Cthulhu World were either mad or turned into creatures. Now he understood why madness ensued because their brains couldn’t handle higher-level sensory capabilities, and becoming creatures was because only by actively evolving their bodies to that level could they coexist with such a ”blessing.”

This is the terrifying aspect of the Ancient Gods.

They weren’t like the Devils or Demons of the Main World, harboring malice towards lower life forms, making it a joy to persecute, manipulate, or torment them. On the contrary, they merely existed, and those who felt them were unconsciously drawn into this domain, receiving their blessing.

Indeed, a blessing.

Just like Saya, whose instinct as Black Mountain’s progeny is to propagate life, and the higher-level aspect of Black Mountain’s offspring infects all lower existences that come near, transforming them and eventually turning the whole world into one of flesh and blood.

Of course, in Saya’s eyes, this would certainly be a beautiful world, but for humans, it would be a living Hell.

This might become his trump card.

Fang Zheng was very fond of the abilities of the Ancient Gods; after all, the subversion of worldview could cause any life form to lose control, and because this is a blessing, not a curse, it is also hard to resist.

For now... let’s use Fan Qinghui as a test subject.

”..........”

It was unclear how long it had been before Kiyoe slowly opened her eyes.

She turned her head and looked around in confusion, quickly realizing she was in her room. It had been cleaned, with not a speck of dust. But to Kiyoe, it felt somewhat strange.

”Where am I...?”

The girl shook her head, forcing herself to regain her composure. Just then, she caught a sound.

”Squeak squeak squeak!!”

Accompanying the sound, the girl saw something crawling slowly from all directions under the bed. They appeared like dried, withered monkeys, but without fur. The eyes of these creatures were pitch black, their mouths opened wide, with not a single tooth inside. Just seeing this scene made Kiyoe’s heart start to panic with fear. She wanted to struggle, but these small creatures seemed to possess the strength of a thousand pounds, pinning her firmly to the bed. Then they opened their mouths and lunged toward Kiyoe!

”—————!”

At that moment, Kiyoe instinctively raised her hand, but when she opened her eyes again, the creatures were nowhere to be seen.

Was it... a dream?

Kiyoe got up from the bed and looked around but found no traces of any creatures. She stood up, straightened her clothes, and then left the room.

To Kiyoe’s surprise, her two junior disciples were standing there waiting for her.

”Ah, Senior Sister, you’re awake.”

”Senior Sister, are you alright? You must have been too tired from going outside.”

”But Master wants to see you, our midday class is about to begin.”

”Come on, Senior Sister.”

Saying this, the two junior disciples simultaneously reached out to Kiyoe. Although it felt a bit odd, Kiyoe nodded and extended her hand to hold theirs. Then the two junior disciples let out a silver-bell-like laugh and ran with Kiyoe toward the direction of the Scripture Hall.

”Wait, what about the others?”

Passing through the corridor, Kiyoe noticed no one else around, making her quite puzzled. Although the midday chant session was attended by everyone, some stayed behind to clean and cook. But looking around, Kiyoe couldn’t detect a trace of life, as if only the three of them remained in the Ci Hang Sect.

”Everyone is waiting in the Scripture Hall because the Buddha is going to preach the Dharma to us.”

”Yes, the Dharma is very comforting, everyone likes it.”

”Senior Sister Fan, you’ll like it too.”

”Huh? What? What do you mean?”

Hearing the bizarre words from the two junior disciples, Kiyoe felt a bit bewildered. But before she could regain her composure, the two junior disciples reached the front of the Scripture Hall and opened the door, pulling Kiyoe inside.

Then...

”Boom.”

The door slowly closed, and the whole room was suddenly shrouded in pitch blackness. At that moment, Kiyoe realized the two junior disciples had somehow let go of her hands and vanished.

”What’s going on?”

Staring at the pitch-black Scripture Hall, Kiyoe’s unease reached its peak. Not only that, she heard a sound in the darkness, like someone breathing and softly moaning. And this sound was...

”Welcome back, Miss Fan.”

Suddenly, a voice echoed. Hearing this voice, Kiyoe froze for a moment, then tensed up instantly.

It was a man’s voice, and she knew this voice well; it was...

”Young Master Fang?”

”That’s right.”

Following the response, Kiyoe heard a light ”snap,” and the originally pitch-black Scripture Hall abruptly brightened up. At that moment, Kiyoe also clearly saw everything in front of her.

But the scene before her left her dumbfounded.

In the Scripture Hall, her familiar sect sisters were now twisted and collapsed on the ground. They were wearing only thin clothes, and some were completely naked. Azure, snake-like tentacles wound around their limbs, enveloping them fully. Under the tentacles’ coils, caresses, and impacts, the girls were moaning and sighing in satisfaction.

”This, this is...”

”This is the guidance your Buddha has given you.”

Kiyoe looked up, seeing Fang Zheng sitting atop a Buddha statue in the center of the Scripture Hall, smiling as he stared at her. The azure tentacles extended from behind the statue, wrapping around everyone present.

”You demon monster!”

At this moment, Kiyoe couldn’t hold it any longer. She shouted in anger and drew her longsword to stab at Fang Zheng. But just as she leaped, several tentacles appeared out of the void, tightly entwining her limbs and neck, fixing her in the air.

Then, Kiyoe was brought before Fang Zheng.

”Demon monster?”

Fang Zheng squinted his eyes, looking at the enraged Kiyoe, his lips curling into a cold smile.

”Who is really the demon monster? Me? Or you cultists trying to revolt and spread your teachings on someone else’s territory?”

”You... ugh!”

Facing Fang Zheng, Kiyoe tried to open her mouth to shout angrily, but just as she did, a tentacle slid directly into her mouth, blocking her from speaking further.

”Your Buddha can’t save you all. Oh, that’s wrong, I should say, I am your Buddha.”

Fang Zheng reached out and tapped the Buddha statue’s head below, then looked at Kiyoe with a slight smile.

”So, Miss Fan, are you ready to accept the Buddha’s guidance, aren’t you...?”

As Fang Zheng spoke, more and more tentacles emerged from the void. The next moment, they rushed at the girl like beasts discovering prey.

”Ugh... mmm!!!”

Faced with this scene, Kiyoe could only let out a few muffled groans and sharp screams. Immediately after, she was completely engulfed, disappearing from sight.