All along, Qin Siyang and Li Tianming had supported each other.
By now, their relationship had reached the point where nothing was left unsaid.
So when facing Li Tianming's question, Qin Siyang didn't hold anything back, "It's somewhere between success and failure."
Li Tianming frowned, "Quit talking nonsense here. Success is success, failure is failure. What kind of half-success talk is that? Talking to you really takes effort. Be straightforward, did you see the Path of Believers or not?"
"I saw it."
"Was the Path of Believers at the [Dawn Level]?"
"Brighter than the [Dawn Level]. Just staring at the path almost blinded me."
"Even above the [Dawn Level]? That theoretically perfect pair of sacrificial offerings, the Lava Crocodile and the Ice Crystal Giant Moth, can actually summon a Path of Believers above [Dawn Level]?"
Qin Siyang nodded, "I think it should be the [Noon Level]."
Li Tianming grinned, "Whatever level it is, you've struck it rich, kid! From now on you'd better—wait, you just said it's between success and failure. Don't tell me you didn't break through?"
"I did break through."
"Then what do you mean?"
"After I broke through, I didn't become Sequence Level Six."
"Not Sequence Level Six?", Li Tianming frowned, "Don't tell me you jumped straight to Sequence Level Seven? I've never heard of sacrificial offerings letting someone skip ranks on the Path of Believers."
"No. I'm not even a Sequence anymore. After the breakthrough, I became a Origin Sequence, currently Origin Sequence Level One."
Li Tianming looked at Qin Siyang with confusion, "Kid, you're not messing with me, are you?"
Qin Siyang took out the bird-shaped lie detector.
"I didn't walk the Path of Believers. I chose another road instead. After stepping onto it, I awakened the Origin Sequence and became Origin Sequence Level One."
["Truth."]
"What?", Hearing the lie detector's voice, Li Tianming stared at Qin Siyang in disbelief, "You succeeded in walking another path? Your Path of Believers had two roads?"
Qin Siyang sighed, "Honestly, I can't really explain it clearly either. I originally wanted to talk it through with you, ask if you knew anything about the Origin Sequence, or if you had any thoughts about it. But it looks like you don't know anything either."
Li Tianming immediately said, "Tell me in detail about what happened!"
So Qin Siyang truthfully recounted everything to Li Tianming, from before he stepped onto the light brick to what happened afterward.
After hearing it, Li Tianming's expression turned complicated as he quietly continued driving the capsule cabin.
About ten minutes later, he finally murmured, "Old Zhang told me a few times before that the sacrificial offerings on the Path of Believers don't seem explainable through theology. Because whether it's the opposing relationship between the medium-sized god round armor plates, or the point totals of the small god round armor plates, neither seems to have a sufficiently reasonable purpose."
"Based on your experience, the medium-sized god round armor plates formed two barriers. Relying on their extremely strong opposing attributes, they were able to neutralize that violent wind, pass the [Succession Trial], and turn the raging wind from a tool meant to kill you into a force that helped you break through. Meanwhile, the points from the small god round armor plates determined the degree of improvement to your physical body after the breakthrough."
"The opposing relationship of the main sacrifices, and the point values of the secondary sacrifices, it all sounds perfectly explained."
"And… you also resisted temptation and pressure, turned your back to the image of the god, and firmly took a step forward. It even seems like there was a test of character involved."
Even so, Li Tianming's gaze was still filled with uncertainty, "Little Qin, why do I feel like the road you took is the correct one?"
Qin Siyang nodded and chuckled, "Great minds think alike."
Then his expression turned serious, "Old Li, I just find it strange. Turning your head back to see the light bricks isn't very difficult, yet I've never heard anyone mention it. That feels odd. Could it be that the tens of thousands of people who walked the Path of Believers all lost themselves because of greed?"
Li Tianming shook his head, "I've never opened the Path of Believers myself. I can only verify things about it indirectly from what I've heard, so I can't give you a precise answer. But there are millions of Sequence ability users, and at least tens of thousands have opened the Path of Believers. They can't all be greedy people. Sequence awakening has existed for five years already, someone must have tried."
He frowned as he analyzed, "Perhaps most of the people who tried didn't have a strong enough opposing relationship between their main sacrificial round armor plates, so they couldn't neutralize that world-destroying violent wind. So they died during the breakthrough."
Qin Siyang asked curiously, "Old Li, do you actually know someone who died while opening the Path of Believers? Why didn't you tell me before I broke through? At least it would've prepared me mentally."
Li Tianming said, "I told you before. When and where someone opens the Path of Believers is the most important secret a person has. Normal people keep it absolutely confidential."
Li Tianming pointed toward the professors sitting behind them, "Aside from Old Zhang, I don't even know what Sequence level any of them are."
"Then how do you know someone died during a breakthrough?"
"I guessed," Li Tianming let out a long sigh, "If you look through every edition of the Warren Chamber of Commerce's Tiger Cards and Wolf Cards, you'll notice the personnel changes extremely frequently."
"Among those who were replaced, about one-tenth are confirmed dead, about one-tenth lost their early momentum and were eliminated after failing to keep up, and the remaining eight-tenths of the replaced Tiger Card members and top Wolf Card students all disappeared. Missing in the sense that they were never seen alive again, and no corpse was ever found."
"I think that besides those killed by gods and those secretly murdered by enemies, some of them may also have died during breakthroughs."
Qin Siyang pondered, "I see… Oh right, Old Li, what do you think about the Origin Sequence?"
Li Tianming sighed again, "That Origin Sequence of yours practically overturns everything I previously understood about Sequences. Everyone always believed that after Sequence Level Five, it should be Sequence Level Six, Sequence Level Seven, continuing along the Path of Believers."
"But from what you're saying, Sequence Level Five is actually the completion of the Sequence. After that, what should break through isn't the level, but the Sequence itself. This is… way too subversive."
Qin Siyang nodded, "I was shocked at the time too. But if after Sequence Level Five one should open the Origin Sequence, then why do Sequence Levels Six and Seven still exist?"
"Who knows," Li Tianming sighed with endless emotion, "Maybe it's part of some sort of selection mechanism, or maybe—"
"It's just a little trick the gods use to fool humanity. Anyway, I've always believed that if gods really exist, there's no way they'd protect a low-level species like humans. Toying with them a bit, though, that sounds pretty reasonable."
At this point, Li Tianming laughed.
And Li Tianming's laughter, in Qin Siyang's heart, was undoubtedly the strongest expression of unwavering atheistic belief.
A moment later, Li Tianming put away his smile, his gaze turning worried.
"Little Qin, if your Origin Sequence is real, then it means that the Sequence system the public has believed in for the past five years, the one that's taken root so deeply, has been heading completely in the wrong direction."
"That makes me feel uneasy about humanity's situation in this apocalypse."
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