Faith

Hao Nhien frowned slightly.

“Faith…”

He slowly repeated the word, then fell silent for a moment before saying:

“I have some understanding of it.”

Lang Tuyet looked up.

“You’ve encountered it before?”

“Not in the same way you just described.”

Hao Nhien shook his head.

“In the place where I once lived, some people saw faith as superstition, while others relied on it to remain standing when nearly everything else had been taken from them. I’ve never thought of it as something with only one side.”

Lang Tuyet looked at him for several breaths, the corner of her mouth slowly curving upward.

“Sometimes I truly suspect you aren’t from this world.”

Hao Nhien froze and immediately looked at her.

But Lang Tuyet had already laughed.

“I’m only joking.”

Hao Nhien did not respond. He simply lifted his teacup and took a sip.

The smile on Lang Tuyet’s lips gradually faded as well.

“But what you said is not wrong. Faith itself does not determine good or evil. It can help a weak person stand again, and it can also make tens of thousands willingly march into war.”

She looked directly at him.

“What matters is what all of that will is being directed toward.”

Hao Nhien set down his cup.

“Explain.”

Lang Tuyet nodded.

“In the fragments of memory I received, faith does not necessarily begin with kneeling before a god or praying every day. As long as enough people truly believe in the same person, symbol, or idea, their collective will can gradually converge.”

She paused slightly, as though trying to find the clearest parts among the scattered memories.

“One person alone can hardly create any meaningful effect. But when that number becomes hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands, what gathers begins to change in nature.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“It can become a kind of power?”

“Mm.”

Lang Tuyet nodded lightly.

“At least according to the memories I received, it can nourish inheritances, preserve part of a will, and even allow something belonging to an existence that has already disappeared to remain in the world.”

Hao Nhien fell silent.

A name immediately surfaced in his mind.

Hoang Sam.

Lang Tuyet noticed his expression.

“You thought of him too?”

“Mm.”

The smile on her lips vanished completely.

“Most of the memories are extremely fragmented, but the parts concerning Hoang Sam are much clearer. I suspect the Saintess deliberately left those behind.”

Hao Nhien leaned slightly forward.

“She only wanted those who came later to know what truly mattered?”

“I think so too.”

Lang Tuyet said:

“I did not experience her entire life. I only saw fragments directly connected to Heavenly Spirit, Hoang Sam, the seal, and the war that followed.”

Hao Nhien did not interrupt.

Lang Tuyet began to explain.

“The Heavenly Spirit Clan was once a merchant people capable of traveling between many worlds.”

“We…”

The word slipped out before she suddenly stopped.

Hao Nhien noticed as well.

We.

Not they.

Lang Tuyet was silent for a brief moment, then continued, as though unwilling to dwell too long on the instinctive choice of words.

“The Heavenly Spirit Clan traded resources, secret arts, knowledge, artifacts, and items that existed only in certain unique worlds. But whenever they entered another world, they followed one very important principle: they avoided interfering too deeply with local systems of faith.”

Hao Nhien asked:

“Why?”

“Because faith can be tied very deeply to the roots and order of a world.”

Lang Tuyet replied.

“The Heavenly Spirit people passed through too many worlds. If they destroyed local beliefs wherever they went, forced the natives to submit, or turned themselves into gods in order to gather faith, trade would quickly become conquest.”

She shook her head slightly.

“Merchants cannot survive if every door they pass through leads to war.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

That was easy enough to understand.

Lang Tuyet looked down at the red command token on the table.

“When the passage to Linh Van was opened, the Heavenly Spirit people discovered something distinctive about this place. Cultivators valued personal cultivation, clans, sects, cities, and countless other bonds. Forms of belief still existed, but they were far more scattered than in certain other worlds.”

She paused.

“In the Saintess’s memories, that was simply one characteristic of Linh Van.”

“But to Hoang Sam…”

Hao Nhien narrowed his eyes.

“It was an empty space.”

Lang Tuyet nodded.

“Perhaps that was exactly how he saw it.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, seemingly following the clearest fragment of memory.

“I saw him standing before a group of residents. At first, there were very few, perhaps only a few dozen. Then the memory cut off.”

“The next fragment had hundreds.”

“Then thousands.”

“I don’t know how many years passed between those fragments. I only remember one symbol appearing more and more often.”

Hao Nhien asked:

“What symbol?”

Lang Tuyet raised one finger and pointed to her own eye.

“An eye.”

Hao Nhien was silent for several breaths.

“Heavenly Eye.”

“Mm.”

The two words were spoken softly, yet the entire room seemed to grow quieter.

Lang Tuyet continued:

“In the memories, Hoang Sam gradually built the image of an existence capable of seeing everywhere, blessing those who obeyed and punishing those who resisted. At first, perhaps no one even called him a god. But as more and more people directed their will toward one single symbol, his position gradually changed.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“Faith pushed him toward that.”

“Possibly.”

Lang Tuyet replied.

“I cannot draw a complete conclusion from this part, but the memories show that the Heavenly Spirit people had already begun treating it as a threat.”

The things Heavenly Eye was doing in the Western Wastes immediately surfaced in Hao Nhien’s mind: absorbing tribes, controlling water sources, destroying forces capable of remaining independent, then gradually drawing more and more people into the same system.

Taken individually, those actions could be seen as simple expansion of power.

But if the final goal was to make all of those people direct their will toward the same symbol, then the meaning behind everything changed completely.

“Heavenly Spirit discovered it?”

Hao Nhien asked.

“Yes.”

Lang Tuyet replied.

“The higher-ranking members once ordered Hoang Sam to stop. After that, the memories contain a very large gap, so I do not know exactly how the conflict developed. I only know that in the end, he was forced out of Linh Van and sent back toward Firmament.”

Her gaze darkened.

“After that, he obtained the Immortal Heart.”

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Hao Nhien immediately asked:

“How?”

“That part is missing.”

Lang Tuyet shook her head.

“I only know the Immortal Heart never fully acknowledged him. Even so, by some means, Hoang Sam still managed to keep it within his body and use part of its power.”

Hao Nhien fell silent.

Lang Tuyet continued:

“The Saintess was still in Linh Van at the time. She was tasked with sealing the passage, erasing the influence Hoang Sam had left behind, and preventing forces from Firmament from continuing to cross over.”

“But before the seal was completed, Hoang Sam’s faction launched an attack.”

Her voice slowed.

“That conflict became part of the great war from a thousand years ago.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

The deserts of the Western Wastes.

Ruined cities.

Ancient remains buried deep beneath the earth.

Lands that once held spirit veins before becoming wasteland.

One piece after another began connecting.

“Was that war what turned the Western Wastes into what they are now?”

“I can’t say the entire Western Wastes became this way because of it.”

Lang Tuyet replied.

“What I saw only confirms that the war destroyed an enormous region. The seal was forced to operate in the middle of battle, space shattered in many places, and the spirit veins suffered severe damage. Afterward, large stretches of land gradually lost their vitality.”

Hao Nhien nodded slightly.

That matched what he had personally witnessed.

“And the Saintess?”

Lang Tuyet was silent for a while.

“When these memories were prepared, the Saintess was still trying to complete the seal, while Hoang Sam’s faction had already begun its attack. What she deliberately left behind ends at that stage.”

The atmosphere in the room gradually grew heavier.

After a while, Lang Tuyet continued:

“Within the memories and intent she left behind, she also entrusted several tasks to whoever came after her, in case she herself could not return.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“What tasks?”

“To weaken Hoang Sam’s mark upon Linh Van.”

Lang Tuyet said.

“And to find a way back to Firmament.”

Hao Nhien was silent for a long time.

“How do we weaken his mark?”

“This part is still only a set of rather vague conclusions.”

Lang Tuyet leaned slightly forward.

“Destroying places used to spread his faith is one method, but the Saintess seemed to believe that would only treat the surface.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“And the root?”

“Give people other things worth believing in and protecting.”

Lang Tuyet replied.

“Family, community, the place they live, rules they maintain together, or a future they can build through their own effort. When faith is no longer concentrated entirely upon one individual, it becomes much harder for Hoang Sam to gather it the way he once did.”

Hao Nhien fell silent.

Hoa Van appeared in his mind.

The newly opened roads.

The market.

The medicinal gardens.

The patrols.

Independent cultivators, once-isolated tribes, and families who were gradually beginning to see the place as somewhere they could truly settle.

He had never wanted anyone to kneel before him.

What he wanted them to trust was the place where they lived, the work they themselves put in, and the belief that their future did not have to be granted by someone stronger.

If Lang Tuyet was right, then Hoa Van had long been walking a path completely opposite to Hoang Sam’s.

Lang Tuyet watched his expression.

“You’re thinking about Hoa Van?”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“Mm.”

“So was I.”

She spoke softly.

“Perhaps that is why I find all of this so strange. You began walking against Hoang Sam’s path before you even knew who he was.”

Hao Nhien did not answer immediately.

After a moment, he asked:

“What about the road to Firmament?”

Lang Tuyet looked at him.

“It requires a key.”

Hao Nhien’s gaze immediately changed.

“There are three pieces.”

“Three?”

“Mm.”

Lang Tuyet nodded.

“Only by joining all three pieces together is there a possibility of reopening the passage.”

She continued:

“One piece was left inside the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association.”

She looked at him.

“When you came here before, did you take anything resembling part of a broken key?”

Hao Nhien thought briefly before reaching into his storage ring.

A small box appeared.

He opened it.

Inside lay a gray-silver fragment of irregular shape, its surface covered in tiny runes.

The instant Lang Tuyet saw it, her expression changed.

“That’s it.”

Hao Nhien handed the fragment to her.

Lang Tuyet examined it for several breaths before returning it.

“You keep it.”

Hao Nhien looked slightly surprised.

“You don’t need it?”

“Not right now.”

Lang Tuyet looked at him.

“Besides, it is safer with you.”

Hao Nhien asked nothing more and stored the key fragment away again.

“The second piece?”

Lang Tuyet was silent for a moment.

“That piece was lost during the war.”

Hao Nhien asked:

“No one knows who took it?”

“The Saintess could not confirm.”

Lang Tuyet replied.

“In the information she prepared before the final battle, the second fragment had already disappeared. Based on what she knew at the time, the most likely possibility was that it had fallen into the hands of Hoang Sam’s faction.”

Hao Nhien’s gaze darkened slightly.

“Heavenly Eye.”

“Very possibly.”

Lang Tuyet replied.

“But that was only her judgment at the time those memories were prepared. After a thousand years, whether the fragment is still in that organization’s hands or has changed owners, I cannot know.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“And the last piece?”

“The third fragment was entrusted to a group of Heavenly Spirit clansmen who left the area before the seal was completed.”

“Where did they go?”

Lang Tuyet slowly shook her head.

“Even the Saintess did not know.”

“The situation was already too chaotic. She only knew that group carried the key fragment away. Where they went, whether they survived the war, or who they eventually passed it to—none of that appears in the memories I received.”

She paused before saying:

“After a thousand years, perhaps even their descendants no longer know they once belonged to Heavenly Spirit.”

Hao Nhien fell silent.

The three pieces of the key were now in three completely different states.

One was in his hands.

One might once have fallen into Hoang Sam’s faction.

The final piece had disappeared with a group of Heavenly Spirit clansmen a thousand years ago.

A path had appeared, but it was still far from clear.

Hao Nhien asked:

“Is Hoang Sam still in Firmament now?”

“I don’t know.”

Lang Tuyet replied.

“The memories I received seem to have been prepared by the Saintess in advance, when the final battle was already approaching and the seal had still not been completed.”

She paused.

“In other words, she never had the chance to leave behind what happened afterward.”

Hao Nhien nodded slightly.

That also explained why so many fragments ended at precisely the most important moments, while the true outcome of the war, the fate of those who fought in it, and what happened after the seal was activated were all missing.

Those gaps only made everything harder to predict.

Another figure suddenly surfaced in his mind.

The Great King.

The one who had wanted to erase the current world and build a new one in its place.

If that person truly had some connection to Hoang Sam, then perhaps destroying an old world was not merely about creating stronger beings.

Destroying the old order would also erase the beliefs that already existed, making it possible to rebuild everything around one single symbol.

Himself.

A faint chill ran down Hao Nhien’s spine.

But he immediately pushed the thought aside.

Similarities were still not enough to prove the two were the same person.

The room remained silent for a long time.

Finally, Hao Nhien looked at Lang Tuyet.

“Sister Lang.”

“Mm?”

“This is far beyond what we can handle right now.”

Lang Tuyet did not disagree.

Hao Nhien continued:

“Hoang Sam was once capable of opposing the Heavenly Spirit people, keeping the Immortal Heart within his body, and drawing faith from countless living beings. I am only at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment, while you have only just entered Golden Core.”

He looked at her.

“Even if one day we truly gather all three key fragments and reopen the passage, that does not mean we would survive whatever waits on the other side.”

Lang Tuyet nodded.

“I understand.”

Hao Nhien asked:

“And you still want to continue?”

Lang Tuyet remained silent.

Her gaze never left him.

The silence lasted long enough for Hao Nhien to frown slightly.

Only then did Lang Tuyet slowly speak.

“I know. But I still have reasons to believe this can be done.”

He paused.

“You do?”

Lang Tuyet nodded.

“Because of you.”

Hao Nhien instinctively tensed.

The words immediately made him think of Lieu Thien Van.

Back then, when the old man had chosen him as the one to enter the Western Wastes, his gaze had lingered on Hao Nhien for a long time in almost the same way.

At the time, Hao Nhien had never understood why Lieu Thien Van chose him over people with higher cultivation and far greater experience.

Now Lang Tuyet was looking at him with almost the same expression.

A distinctly unpleasant feeling immediately appeared.

Don’t tell me…

Hao Nhien looked at her warily.

“Sister Lang, don’t tell me…”

The corner of Lang Tuyet’s mouth curved slightly, but this time there was almost no teasing in her eyes.

“I began thinking about this from the moment those memories started returning.”

She slowly placed one hand over the ancient ring.

“The more I compare what the Saintess left behind with the situation now, the more I feel that several things appeared at exactly the right time.”

Hao Nhien did not interrupt.

“The three key fragments, Heavenly Eye, the Western Wastes, Firmament…”

She looked directly at him.

“And you.”

Hao Nhien’s expression shifted slightly.

Lang Tuyet continued:

“I have just entered Golden Core. From now on, returning to the Western Wastes will be difficult for me. But you can still enter and leave that place. You have Hoa Van as your foundation, and you have already come into direct contact with Heavenly Eye.”

She paused.

“Second, Hoa Van. Without intending to, you built a place that runs directly against the way Hoang Sam gathers faith. That matters more than you realize.”

Hao Nhien was silent for a moment.

“And the final reason?”

Lang Tuyet did not answer immediately.

Her gaze lingered on him longer than before.

“Because we now know too many of each other’s secrets.”

Hao Nhien paused slightly.

Lang Tuyet continued:

“You know about Heavenly Spirit, the memories I received, the possibility that I am connected to the Saintess, the ring, the command token, the three key fragments, Hoang Sam, and faith.”

“And I know about the Cosmic Ark, about Anh Nhien, about her soul being in Firmament, and why you must find your way there.”

“If these secrets fell into the wrong hands, the consequences could be enormous. But we have already placed them in each other’s hands.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

Lang Tuyet did not avoid his gaze.

“I do not think I could easily find someone more suitable.”

This time, Hao Nhien did not argue.

That reason was more practical than any talk of fate.

They had already entrusted too many dangerous secrets to one another.

If either betrayed the other, both would pay a price.

Hao Nhien remained silent.

Lang Tuyet looked at him.

“I also cannot promise that the entire Heavenly Spirit Clan will stand behind us. I do not even know where the others are, or whether they would acknowledge me.”

She placed her hand over the ancient ring.

“But what I already possess can still be used.”

“Thien Bao Pavilion.”

“The Hoang Linh network within the limits of my authority.”

“Trade routes, information, spirit stones, and resources.”

Her eyes gradually regained the sharpness of someone who had stood across countless negotiation tables.

“I can place this wager with you.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“Sister Lang, are you trying to tempt me?”

Lang Tuyet leaned slightly forward.

“I am making a trade.”

Her voice was calm.

“I am not selling you an empty promise. I am offering you an opportunity to move closer to the place you must reach.”

“In return, I need you to pursue this matter with me to the end.”

Hao Nhien fell silent.

The task was enormous.

The enemy was so powerful that he could not yet even see its limits.

But if he stayed out of it, Heavenly Eye would still exist.

Hoa Van would still lie beside the Western Wastes.

Anh Nhien would still be in Firmament.

And if the Great King truly was connected to Hoang Sam, then sooner or later, their paths would cross anyway.

After a long while, Hao Nhien exhaled softly.

The corner of his mouth curved upward.

“All right.”

Lang Tuyet only looked at him.

Hao Nhien continued:

“I’ll do it with you.”

The corner of her mouth slowly curved as well.

“I knew you would agree.”

“Not so fast.”

Hao Nhien said.

Lang Tuyet raised an eyebrow.

“You just said this was a trade.”

“Correct.”

“Then I have one condition.”

Her smile deepened slightly.

“Say it.”

Hao Nhien looked at her with complete seriousness.

“I don’t know whether the Heavenly Spirit Clan will be stingy in the future, but Sister Lang, when you invest in me, don’t be too stingy.”

Lang Tuyet froze.

Several breaths later, she burst out laughing.

“Little Brother.”

“I’m beginning to feel that if we keep negotiating, this elder sister might truly lose at the table to a tomb robber.”

Hao Nhien immediately objected.

“Archaeologist.”

“What?”

“I told you already.”

He corrected her seriously.

“I am not a tomb robber. I simply help preserve things that have been buried underground for too long without anyone looking after them.”

Lang Tuyet looked at him, then at the ancient ring on her own hand.

Her smile became even more obvious.

“Fine.”

“Archaeologist.”

“This elder sister will try to invest generously in the future.”

Hao Nhien nodded in satisfaction.

“Good.”

The heavy atmosphere in the room finally eased somewhat.

After a while, Lang Tuyet withdrew her smile and stored away the ring and command token.

“Let’s go.”

“Staying here any longer won’t help us figure out where we actually are outside.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

The two stood and headed toward the exit of the Cosmic Ark.

The doorway of light slowly opened.

Cold mountain air immediately flowed in.

Outside, morning mist still covered the slope, while the first light of dawn had only just begun breaking through the thin cloud cover.

Everything looked completely normal.

Hao Nhien stepped out first.

Lang Tuyet followed.

But only a few breaths later, both of them stopped almost at the same time.

The wind vanished from the forest.

The treetops that had been swaying moments earlier suddenly became still.

Hao Nhien looked up.

The morning light across the mountain slope was rapidly dimming.

From the horizon, layer after layer of thick black clouds began rolling toward them.

At first, they were only a faint band in the distance.

But before long, the clouds began gathering with visibly increasing speed.

Dark clouds surged in from multiple directions and converged above the mountain, stacking layer upon layer until the sky, which had only just begun to brighten, slowly sank back into darkness.

Lang Tuyet also raised her head.

The smile on her face disappeared completely.

“Something is wrong.”

Hao Nhien did not answer.

He looked toward Lang Tuyet.

She was looking at him as well.

The same uncertainty appeared in both their eyes.

A low rumble suddenly sounded from deep within the clouds.

Boom…

The sound was still distant.

Yet the entire forest seemed to tremble with it.

Lang Tuyet’s expression changed.

Hao Nhien also felt an incomprehensible pressure slowly descending from above.

The black clouds continued gathering.

And this time, both of them realized the same thing.

They were converging directly above Lang Tuyet.