Chapter 367: The Staircase to Godhood

A sharp pain shot through Lu Xin’s head but he quickly tapped his temple, not wanting to miss a single word.

Doctor An seemed oblivious to whether Lu Xin understood simply continuing her explanation.

“Back then our Research Institute had another genius researcher. His surname was Lin, I wonder if you’ve heard of him? He’s most known for leaving behind three prophecies before jumping from the rooftop of this very building…”

She paused slightly here then spoke softly.

“He disagreed with Professor Wang Jingyun’s views at the time. He believed the professor’s experiments set a terrible precedent and that the research itself had strayed off course. Because of his significant influence most people in the Institute started leaning towards his side. They even submitted a proposal intending to terminate Professor Wang Jingyun’s research just as the Institute was preparing to relocate to Central City…”

“Unexpectedly Professor Wang didn’t bother arguing with anyone. He chose to leave directly!”

After a slight pause she sighed softly and said, “Perhaps this also showed his attitude.”

“He was determined to continue his experiments regardless of whether others understood, even if it meant severing ties with the Institute.”

…

Lu Xin didn’t know how to react to this piece of history.

He couldn’t even figure out where he fit into this story.

He just digested the information before slowly asking, “What happened next?”

“What happened next… perhaps we know roughly the same amount…”

Doctor An sighed gently. She picked up a red soft candy from her desk bit off a piece then offered one to Lu Xin. Lu Xin shook his head firmly. The woman’s eyes crinkled into a smile as she popped the rest into her mouth.

“Professor Wang Jingyun vanished after that. There was no news for many years.”

“After all if he had the ability to silently steal an entire middle car from a high-speed train—a feat we still haven’t figured out—then he certainly had the means to hide away and quietly conduct his experiments…”

“It wasn’t until his assistant Chen Xun was discovered by undercover units not long ago that we finally found information about him again…”

“However.”

She paused before whispering, “We still believe his research was a failure.”

“The Black Table incident gives us some clues.”

“As Professor Wang Jingyun’s assistant Chen Xun was undoubtedly his loyal follower.”

“In fact Chen Xun’s experiments were essentially an extension of Professor Wang Jingyun’s work. But as you saw the so-called ‘controllable god’ he created using the power of the Black Table and certain individuals in Central City was merely a crude application of mental entities.”

“The ‘god’ he created was at best a flesh-and-blood machine capable of following simple commands a kind of deterrent weapon.”

“If you hadn’t intervened the correct experimental procedure after creating the ‘god’ would have been to leverage the hundred thousand drifters in Water Buffalo City to achieve a terrifying level of psychic power and subsequently create an army of immortal monsters…”

“Unfortunately he never considered this was just an experiment that would lead to the malfunction of a single type of mental entity. He mistakenly thought holding the button gave him power over everyone in the world—a typical problem researchers of mental entities often encounter.”

“Trying to control powers beyond human comprehension with human logic.”

…

Lu Xin frowned listening to her evaluation of Chen Xun.

He could understand Doctor An’s assessment of Chen Xun but not her attitude.

“Of course the Black Table experiment doesn’t completely prove Professor Wang Jingyun’s theories wrong.”

As Doctor An spoke her expression seemed to turn somewhat mysterious her gaze gently falling upon Lu Xin.

“After all…”

She looked at Lu Xin her eyes seeming to brighten slightly, “We discovered you…”

“Your existence in a way actually proves Professor Wang Jingyun’s theory was correct.”

…

“Correct? You actually say he was correct?”

A sudden inexplicable irritation welled up inside Lu Xin. He quickly raised his hand and took a sip of the already cool water.

From his personal perspective he absolutely refused to accept anything related to this kind of experiment being labeled ‘correct’. Although he understood intellectually this was just their theoretical standpoint he still disliked it.

“Theory is theory attitude is attitude.”

Doctor An spoke softly glancing coolly at Lu Xin as she talked.

She seemed to be observing Lu Xin’s emotional fluctuations picking up a recording pen from the desk and switching it on.

“Unstable use of mental power difficult to control emotions.”

…

Lu Xin silently watched her do these things. After a long moment he slowly spoke.

“You said you believe he was correct to some extent because you saw me. Then…”

“What exactly am I?”

…

An Sisi brushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead sighed and looked at Lu Xin just as seriously, “You are an Apostle of God.”

“Or you could say a Candidate for God.”

“Of course the most accurate term should be:”

“Third Stage Creation.”

…

“Third Stage…”

Lu Xin felt a strong sense of confusion towards this term which shouldn’t have felt unfamiliar.

He had already encountered the concepts of the First Stage and Second Stage.

He had even entered the Second Stage with Professor Bai’s help. But when did he become the Third Stage?

“Yes your essence is already that of a Third Stage Ability User.”

“That’s why you can bear such powerful mental entities without losing control.”

“You could even easily handle the monster created by the Black Table…”

“After all the thing Black Table created was flawed. It didn’t even possess complete consciousness or thought…”

“Simply put according to that staircase theory your position is higher than its.”

…

This woman said many things Lu Xin couldn’t comprehend but he keenly caught one word.

“What is this staircase you mentioned?”

Doctor An sighed softly looked earnestly at Lu Xin and said, “The staircase to Godhood.”

Her expression seemed to turn serious now. “The Staircase Theory is the most important research left behind before death by that genius researcher I mentioned earlier the one who disagreed with Professor Wang Jingyun back then.”

“That person was truly brilliant.”

“He only lived to be twenty-seven yet he was universally acknowledged as a genius within the Institute.”

“He essentially only did two things. One is the most known to outsiders: the three prophecies left before his death.”

“These three prophecies brought despair to this world.”

“But the other thing he did which hasn’t been fully disclosed yet was leaving behind the Staircase to Godhood theory.”

“After his death we discovered from his notes that he had already found some hidden truth through studying thirteen abnormal mental entities. He had even calculated the gap between humans and God and identified seven steps within this gap. If someone could ascend these seven steps reaching the very top of the pyramid then…”

“…they would become a true God!”

Reaching this point she shook her head slightly plucked another red soft candy and chewed it gently.

“Do people often ask such stupid questions?”

Her voice held a note of self-mockery, “What exactly is the gap between humans and God?”

“This person provided the answer: just seven steps!”

…

“God?”

Hearing this word gave Lu Xin a headache.

He had just persuaded a relative driven mad by this very word to get back on the right path.

How could he suddenly hear someone in this Research Institute discussing such things so seriously?

“Yes.”

Doctor An seemed not to notice Lu Xin’s aversion to the word explaining earnestly, “You can hate God or replace the word with terms like Ultimate Monster or Most Stable Pollution Source but you cannot deny that such a thing could come into existence.”

“Anyway that genius but short-lived fellow left behind the theory of these seven steps but he himself died.”

“Have you ever wondered why?”

As she said this her eyes locked directly onto Lu Xin’s.

Lu Xin frowned and slowly shook his head.

He sympathized with anyone who committed suicide; they must have endured unbearable unresolvable pain.

But pain is the least shareable of experiences.

A slight smile touched Doctor An’s lips. Her red lips looked particularly vivid under the soft glow of the incandescent lamp.

“I guess he despaired…”

Doctor An said this as if devoid of any emotional fluctuation letting out a low sigh.

“Not only did he die afterward many people who studied his theory practically wished they could follow him to death.”

“Because many discovered that while his theory of seven steps seemed sound verifying these steps and putting them into practice revealed too many gaps like how to stably ascend to the third step…”

“Do you understand?”

“Seeing the correct path but not knowing how to walk it is the most painful thing.”

“Especially painful makes you want to bang your head…”

“All sorts of attempts were made some successful some failures but it was always hard to inspire ultimate confidence…”

…

She spoke slowly seeming increasingly agitated before her voice finally softened slightly.

Sighing gently she looked at Lu Xin examining him greedily a smile gradually appearing on her face, “However this pain suddenly lessened the moment we saw you. Because seeing you we suddenly saw hope.”

“We don’t know how Professor Wang Jingyun enabled you to stably enter the Third Stage.”

“But undoubtedly you are an extremely stable Third Stage Creation. And what’s most tantalizing is…”

Her gaze on Lu Xin grew faintly fervent.

The tip of her bright red tongue lightly licked her lips. Her delicate face slowly moved closer to Lu Xin her breath carrying the sweet scent of candy.

“You possess even greater potential!”

“Stopping at just the third step would be a tremendous waste for you!”

“You… were created to ascend to the seventh step…”