Chapter 761: The Power Beyond Reality
by xennovel“Do you understand what I just explained?”
Mom watched as Lu Xin pondered deeply, waiting a moment before speaking softly.
“I do.”
Lu Xin’s response certainly lived up to his university degree.
At first, he instinctively used the power of hallucination to disrupt the Midnight Tribunal’s logic chain, halting its judgment on Teacher Xiao Lu and cutting off its influence over Qinggang Satellite City No. 2. But after Mom’s explanation in the Abyss, he finally grasped what true hallucination power really was—and its layered nature…
“Now, I’m going to explain the next two tiers…”
Mom nodded in satisfaction and said quietly, “Listen closely—this is the power tier of the opponent you will soon face.”
“…”
“…”
“Beyond the Fifth Stage lies something even greater: True Creation.”
When she mentioned the Sixth Stage, Mom’s voice softened slightly—a seemingly inadvertent action, as if she feared that speaking too loudly might alert some unknown force, drawing His wrath and calamity.
“Most of the abilities and monsters we encounter operate on a mental level,”
Mom said quietly, “And you should understand this better than anyone else.”
“Yet there are some peculiar forms of mental power that begin to affect reality. They give birth to monsters that defy physical laws and common sense—creatures that materialize from the Abyss into our world—but only when fueled by power beyond the Fifth Stage.”
“…”
Lu Xin listened, nodding involuntarily.
He knew this all too well; after all, he’d possessed the ability to see mental monsters from the start.
It was a strange sensation—the ability made handling many pollution incidents easier. But it also distanced his perception from that of other Ability Users. While they saw nothing more than a tangle of distorted mental energy, to him it was a vividly horrifying mass of writhing flesh and tentacle-like monstrosities.
Yet it wasn’t entirely so.
Since joining the Special Cleaning Department, he had witnessed several monsters with real substance.
For instance, there was the brain from Heichao City that could pull Xiao Qin, and later, the ultimate creature they engineered: God.
These were tangible mental monsters, existing in reality for all to see.
“Using True Creation power is extremely dangerous,”
Mom said softly, “Very few humans have been able to control this level of power without losing control. But the fact that we can’t control it doesn’t mean we won’t discover it—and even attempt to harness it…”
“It’s like a child playing with fire—the very act we despise most.”
“…”
Lu Xin suddenly realized: Is this why Mom despised the Black Table experiments so much?
Moreover, encounters with Black Table’s experiment subjects truly revealed how much their creations affected him.
Had they inherently tapped into a higher tier of power?
“…”
“…”
“The power of True Creation reaches heights unimaginable to ordinary people. In a way, you could say it belongs to the domain of gods—only beings on the brink of divinity can control it. It can release what exists solely on the mental plane into reality, truly upending the natural order and destroying the very foundation of humanity.”
“Simply put, once True Creation power manifests, humanity stands no chance of resistance.”
“…”
“Is it really that terrifying?”
Lu Xin couldn’t help but wonder.
In truth, he had seen a glimpse of the Sixth Stage’s True Creation power.
It wasn’t complete, but certain traits were already evident.
The simplest effect was its influence on reality.
Up to now, he had encountered at least two individuals with powers to affect reality.
One was Number Two he saw in Flame City,
and the other was his younger self—or rather, the ‘Tyrant.’
Number Two could turn a cup of water into an apple, and young Tyrant could transform a vase into a poisonous serpent.
It all sounded a bit like magic.
Each time Lu Xin thought of it, he found it utterly incredible.
It blatantly defied the laws of physics.
Just like the elementary physics books that taught turning stone into gold was impossible.
Nowadays, if he handed someone a stone and convinced them it was gold, they could even show it to others, tamper with their perceptions and thoughts, and have everyone believe the test results somehow confirmed the stone was gold…
Yet a stone is just a stone.
No matter how intricate or grand the hallucination, there would always be a fatal flaw.
Perhaps one day the tester might suddenly realize the flaw in the test, or notice that if the stone’s test result indicated gold, wouldn’t that imply his house and coffee table were also made of gold?
That flaw could never be patched.
But according to Mom, reaching the Sixth Stage would mask that very flaw?
“True Creation is the most terrifying kind of power…”
While Lu Xin was lost in thought, Mom led him to a strange spot within the Abyss.
This place resembled a gloomy ocean, where the glow of the Red Moon seemed muted, as if it had been devoured.
Gazing at the sea, she murmured,
“I can’t fully explain this in words, but I’ll show you how this power is formed.”
“…”
After saying that, she turned to Lu Xin and asked quietly, “Are you ready?”
Lu Xin paused briefly, and in her eyes he saw a deep-seated fear; his heart sank.
What could be happening that would make even Mom so worried?
After a brief silence, Lu Xin broke into a smile and said lightly, “Alright.”
“…”
“…”
Lu Xin’s smile eased Mom’s tension. Taking hold of his arm, she gently squeezed, and together, under the watchful gaze of the Red Moon, they slowly descended towards what appeared to be another sea—or perhaps an even deeper Abyss.
From the moment they entered the Abyss, Mom had been taking Lu Xin on a stroll through it.
It was as if she was deliberately ensuring he understood this place.
Now, as they moved even deeper, an uncanny sensation began to stir within Lu Xin. He felt as though he had entered a gravity-free world where everything was inverted—a vivid, surreal dream in which he sank deeper, drifting away from reality, and even further from the dark red Abyss.
It was like deep-sea diving.
Layer upon layer of different scenes unfolded before him.
As the dark red world began to blur, everything around him turned to darkness.
In that profound darkness, it seemed as though nothing existed.
But when Lu Xin looked closer, a cold sweat broke out all over him.
He saw massive statues of gods—some serene Buddhas with a subtle smile, some celestial beings holding ceremonial dusters, others that looked like sorrowful heavenly fathers, along with various demonic fox-snake gods. Standing before them, Lu Xin felt as insignificant as a fly, overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness.
Yet these countless statues and Buddhas were hidden in the darkness, silent and unmoving.
A terror of despair hung in the air…
“Here, nothing is unexpected…”
Mom explained quietly, “The Abyss is like the human heart; it hides everything within it.”
“Some things are forgotten, some are deliberately concealed,”
she continued, “and others are never admitted to, yet they persist in affecting us all throughout our lives.”
“…”
Lu Xin remained silent, walking deeper into the Abyss alongside Mom.
He witnessed bizarre, surreal scenes.
He saw enormous tombstones standing in the endless darkness.
He saw rusted trophies piled into colossal heaps of garbage.
He saw faces of beautiful women, in every color, strung together like dried fish on fine threads.
He saw every kind of firearm being cradled and played with by gigantic infants as tall as high-rise buildings…
“…”
“…”
It was as if countless nightmares from people around the world had been abstractly displayed in a gigantic exhibition, allowing one to feel the raw, vivid despair and desolation of these grotesque scenes.
He saw forests of despair, flowers of death, lonely monsters, and forlorn souls.
The deeper he ventured, the more despair and bizarre visions he encountered.
Yet, as he plunged further into the Abyss, the illusory images dwindled, leaving only vast expanses of darkness.
The eternal solitude and death seemed inescapable.
Gradually, a shiver rose from deep within his heart.
Suddenly, he heard low, mournful wails—a desperate struggle from the Jack of Spades, as if it had sensed fear.
“Shasha…”
The sound of tens of thousands of silkworms nibbling on mulberry leaves filled his ears, eyes, and mind.
“That is…”
Even Lu Xin felt an unexpected surge of tension.
“Don’t worry, you only need to see…”
Mom’s voice resounded by his side, her face unwavering with determination.
Somehow, her body had begun to bear large wounds and streams of blood, yet her expression remained resolute—almost decisive.
“It’s all worth the risk, just to let you see this…”