# 914
Chapter 915: Power of Faith
Lin Qiye fell into silence.
"What? You don't even know if you like someone or not?" Merlin's brow lifted slightly.
Lin Qiye gazed toward the room's direction, pondering for a long moment before taking a deep breath:
"I do like her, it's just..."
"Just what?"
"It's just that I'm not sure if this liking comes from my true heart, or... a false illusion." Lin Qiye raised his hand, pointing at his own chest, and sighed helplessly,
"Before, she once personally thrust a Cupid's arrow of love into my heart."
"Cupid's arrow of love?"
Merlin was stunned. His gaze shifted to Lin Qiye's chest, eyes narrowing as he studied it carefully for a long while, his expression gradually becoming nuanced. "Hmm... I understand."
Merlin glanced at Lin Qiye with an enigmatic smile, then turned and walked toward the carriage. "Go wake up that little girl. We should continue on our way."
...
Under the red moon, a silver carriage raced swiftly through the ruins and broken walls. The heavy wheel tracks pressed into the earth, leaving deep marks—elegant arcs carved into the blood-colored land, mysterious and rhythmic.
"Lord Merlin, why have we come back here?"
Lin Qiye gazed at the seemingly familiar scenery outside the window, asking in confusion.
Sitting across from him, Merlin's eyes remained closed as he spoke calmly, "Have we?"
"Yes, I think I've seen these buildings just now..."
Merlin slowly opened his eyes, the weariness in his brow even more pronounced. He rubbed the corner of his eye. "The buildings in Takamagahara all look similar. You must be mistaken."
Lin Qiye was taken aback.
Just as he was about to say more, Merlin raised his fingertip, and the silver carriage slowly came to a halt.
"Get out. Your gift is inside."
Merlin pointed outside the window.
Lin Qiye turned to look. On a mountain peak not far away, a vermillion torii gate stood quietly on the mountainside. Behind it, a blurry golden giant shadow loomed faintly visible.
"What is that?" Lin Qiye squinted, trying to make out the full shape of that massive shadow.
"You'll know when we get there."
Merlin smiled mysteriously and led Lin Qiye and the others down the carriage. They followed the white jade steps up the mountain's center, ascending directly toward the torii gate on the mountainside.
This mountain peak should be the highest point in all of Takamagahara. As Lin Qiye walked all the way to the front of the vermillion torii gate and turned to look back, beneath the blood-red sky, the barren and shattered earth extended infinitely toward the distance. Near the edge of his vision, he could faintly make out a mountain of corpses stacked high...
From the direction of that corpse mountain, Lin Qiye could still faintly hear waves of agonized roars.
That... was the deepest part of Takamagahara?
Lin Qiye stared at that direction for a moment before withdrawing his gaze, following closely behind Merlin. Together, they passed through the vermillion torii gate.
Only then did Lin Qiye see the full shape of that golden giant shadow.
It was a tall, grand golden temple. Though its corners were somewhat damaged, it was still the most complete building Lin Qiye had seen so far. The gilded roof shimmered with a sacred aura under the red moon. Several wind bells hung from the temple's eaves, producing crisp sounds in the breeze carrying the scent of blood.
Merlin walked to the front of this temple and casually waved his hand. The temple's gates swung open automatically, revealing an immense interior space.
The moment he stepped inside the temple, Lin Qiye froze in place.
The interior space of this temple was far larger than it appeared from outside. A tall black dome hung overhead, and within it, countless stars twinkled, as if the night sky stretched impossibly far above.
In the spacious great hall, a silver mirror with a broken corner floated quietly in mid-air. Countless brilliant aurora rivers flowed outward from the mirror's surface, intertwining with each other and connecting to the star-filled expanse above—like something from a dream.
These aurora rivers...
Lin Qiye seemed to have thought of something, his eyes narrowing slightly.
In his mind, the palace floating above the clouds in that ruin surfaced once more, along with that mysterious Prayer Mat.
In the "Human Enclosure" ruins in Japan, Lin Qiye had followed the aurora rivers in the sky and eventually found Baili Pangpang seated at the end of those rivers. He clearly remembered that the Prayer Mat beneath Baili Pangpang at the time had also flowed with the same aurora rivers.
"What are these?" Lin Qiye pointed toward the floating aurora rivers.
"Belief." Merlin strode forward, passing calmly through the intertwined aurora rivers. "They are the belief that has been continuously generated over these fifty-plus years from within the 'Human Enclosure.'"
Lin Qiye stood frozen in place.
Belief generated from the "Human Enclosure"?
His gaze followed the direction Merlin was heading and fell upon the suspended mirror at the center, constantly flowing with the river of aurora.
"So that's..."
"The sacred artifact used by Takamagahara to house the 'Human Enclosure'—the Yata Mirror."
An expression of shock appeared on Lin Qiye's face. He walked to the front of that mirror and examined it closely.
The "Human Enclosure," which perfectly replicated Japan's territory and housed tens of millions of people, was actually contained within this small mirror surface?
"The Yata Mirror's surface divides into yin and yang. What we're seeing now is its yang pole. Its yin pole lies beneath the Japanese seas, reflecting the entirety of Japan. This is also the true source of Takamagahara's 'Human Enclosure.'"
Merlin continued explaining. "The purpose of the 'Human Enclosure's' existence is to provide belief. This temple is the structure used to collect and store that belief.
Fifty-plus years ago, after Takamagahara fell into turmoil and the gods withered, the 'Human Enclosure' was completely abandoned. However, the generation of belief was never interrupted. The belief force generated from the 'Human Enclosure' over these fifty-plus years has all accumulated here."
Merlin raised his hand, pointing toward the shining stars above their heads.
"So that's how it is..." Lin Qiye stared blankly for a while, then asked in confusion, "What exactly is belief used for?"
"For deities, belief force has countless uses. The most critical one is amplifying one's own divine laws."
"Amplifying divine laws?"
"After ascending to godhood, there are still differences in strength. Using belief force to amplify divine laws is the fastest shortcut for deities to increase their own power. There's no need to spend massive amounts of time accumulating and沉淀. As long as one possesses an enormous quantity of belief force, one can easily raise the power of their divine laws to terrifying heights.
Among the various divine pantheons existing in the world today, the vast majority of powerful deities at the top tier of their respective pantheons reached that position through massive belief amplification.
This is also why deities enjoy leaving legends throughout the world, and why the more culturally deep-rooted a pantheon is, the more powerful it tends to be."