A light.

Gu Shen felt like a fish suspended in the deep sea.

It was an unprecedented feeling… his ideology stripped away, existing completely independently in another space.

It was difficult to describe it with the word "technology."

It was more like… a miracle.

A great miracle that only a god could accomplish, yet it was completed by a computer. Gu Shen stretched out his hands, sensing his "living" on another level.

Was this… transcendent linking?

The ordinary residents of the five continents lived in the real material world, completely unaware that the deep sea provided a deeper level of transcendent linking… a dreamland more like one controlled by subjective consciousness.

And the light before him… was that the deep sea?

Gu Shen reached out, trying to touch the light, but his hand passed through empty air.

The moment his fingertips touched it, the light dissipated, like fireflies gathering in the night, scattering at the slightest touch… Countless fluorescent lights flowed backward, transforming into blurry human figures, their height and build changing rapidly in the flowing data.

Was the deep sea choosing an image?

Finally, the light settled into the outline of a child.

The child bowed slowly to Gu Shen. "Sequence z340011240001, welcome to the 'Deep Water Zone.' With the current sequence's permissions… only the transcendent trial test and the first layer of the deep sea are available."

After saying that, the child's image blurred instantly, transforming into countless turbulent currents, ultimately condensing into a not-so-wide "door" in the floating dreamscape.

Gu Shen focused his attention, observing his surroundings.

Apart from the door… there was no other exit. This was different from what he had imagined the deep sea to be. It seemed that each person undergoing transcendent linking existed as an independent individual? At least, that was what he had discovered so far.

Then the only host connected was the "deep sea."

He once again marveled at the greatness of Alan Turing. The real transcendence should be the "deep sea," handling countless tasks while being able to link to billions of living beings…

"If I enter this door, I should be able to sense my 'transcendent power.'"

Gu Shen held his breath, cautiously touching and pushing it open.

A warm current enveloped him.

The world melted once again… his sight disappeared, and the entire world became very dim.

Gu Shen sensed that he was turning his head… but it was still pitch black. He opened his eyes, closed them, and blinked again, confirming that he could control his five senses in the ideological form.

It felt like arriving in the darkest night, or true blindness.

"Wait a minute… has the transcendent trial of the first layer of the deep sea already begun?"

Gu Shen's heart suddenly calmed down. He recalled Senior Sister Luo's words.

The deep sea provides a link for every transcendent… As the trial deepens, the control over transcendent powers will become more and more skillful.

Then the first layer should be the most basic perception.

Chu Ling said that the assessment of his abilities by the review team was inaccurate… that tearing should be replaced by creation, while the blazing light was not much different… The world before him was so dark because his transcendent power was still too weak.

"Hoo…"

Gu Shen let out a long breath.

He smiled, and even heard his own laughter.

Now he truly felt like he had come to the Cage of the Wraith… He was facing his most genuine transcendent power, a power that was not as strong as it was in the world of evil thoughts, but as fragile as a flickering flame.

Easily shattered.

He reached out a hand, struggling to touch the dark world before him.

His fingertips seemed to tear something… It was much more difficult than tearing the Cage of the Wraith… He was destroying the chaos in this space, thereby establishing his own "order."

This tearing was, in essence, creation.

And so, in the darkness, a wisp of flame slowly lit up.

This wisp of flame was too weak, like a swaying strand of hair, a withered blade of grass, hovering around Gu Shen's fingertips, as if a gust of wind would extinguish most of it, while the remaining part swayed wildly.

But even though there was only a wisp left, it would never be extinguished.

"Am I… this weak…"

Gu Shen grinned.

He felt boundless satisfaction in his heart. Although his mental strength was being consumed at a tremendous rate, he had truly seen his "transcendent power" in the literal sense. It was a wisp of orderly firelight in the darkness, but so weak that it could be accidentally blown out with a breath.

Having it was enough.

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

He tried his best to maintain the burning of this flame… but as his mental strength was consumed, it seemed that many winds had sprung up out of nowhere in the first layer of the trial space, forces from all directions trying to extinguish the firelight.

A ray of light illuminated the paleness of Gu Shen's face.

This blazing fire was too beautiful.

He couldn't bear to look away, and even more unwilling to let it go out.

"Don't push yourself too hard, you'll hurt yourself."

Chu Ling's voice sounded softly in the first layer of the trial space. "Your power has strong growth potential. Being able to summon it for the first trial is already very difficult. It may take some time to maintain stability."

"You're right… it really is not easy…"

Gu Shen's voice was very low, and one could hear that he was a little weak, but more than that, he couldn't suppress his joy. "This firelight… is this my power?"

His voice was very soft, but extremely firm.

"Let me look at it for a while longer, okay?"

Chu Ling was silent for a while.

She did not interrupt the young man's stubborn persistence, but quietly accompanied him, gazing at the wisp of fire that was burning with difficulty in the darkness.

This wisp of fire was too weak and would be extinguished in less than two seconds.

Two seconds, three seconds.

It didn't go out.

A minute passed…

The fire was still burning.

In the first layer of the trial space, the wind gradually picked up. The wisp of firelight was no longer trembling and hovering at Gu Shen's fingertips, but was carefully held in his palm, half-covered to protect it.

Gu Shen's ideological form began to tremble uncontrollably… The essence of transcendent linking was that the deep sea provided computing power, and the host provided mental strength, but his mental strength had long been almost exhausted, and he was persevering with willpower alone.

The stability of this space had become difficult to maintain, and the violent wind swept through, as if to blow away one's bones.

Three minutes… five minutes…

If no one interrupted him, he would continue to persevere with his willpower.

"Gu Shen…"

Chu Ling spoke with some heartache.

The moment her voice appeared—

The firelight went out.

The wind also stopped.

The stability of this space returned to normal.

Gu Shen had unknowingly curled up into a ball in order to protect the blazing fire, and he had exhausted all his mental strength… After a long time of recovery, he smiled palely, and slowly spread out his palm, as if showing off his child, with a hint of boastfulness.

In the palm of his hand, there was a slender flame.

Slowly pulsating.

Very stable.

"Does this count as… maintaining stability?"