Ash and the others immediately turned their heads to look at the empty corridor, avoiding the sight of the worship scene inside.

The power of worship was something they had experienced at the hospital camp. Even if they weren't inside, merely gazing from a distance could draw them in.

Only Tamasi could afford occasional glances. The fiery ideal that he harbored not only allowed him to withstand the biting green chills of the night, but also enabled him to confront other glows without dimming his own shine.

"What's the worship of the Transcend Sect like?" Igula hadn't heard any noise. "Why is there no sound at all?"

Tamasi: "Hard to say."

"What are they doing then?"

"Many strange patterns appear in the air, and then everyone just stares at them, transfixed."

"What kind of patterns specifically?"

"Indescribable—seemingly simple yet profound."

"Can you draw them on the palm of our hands?"

Tamasi didn't refuse, tracing the patterns he had seen onto the palms of Ash and Igula. As he drew, the expressions on Ash and Igula's faces grew increasingly strange, until they finally exchanged looks and fell into thought.

Igula then asked, "How are these patterns arranged?"

Tamasi replied, "They are divided into grids by vertical and horizontal lines, some with sixteen squares, some with twenty-five, some with thirty-six. Most of the squares contain these patterns, but some squares are empty..."

"Sudoku!" Ash blurted out instantly; he too had been obsessed with this brain game during the boredom of junior high.

"What is Sudoku?"

As Tamasi asked, Harvey also understood why Ash and the others had been silent. But he wasn't close enough to Tamasi to spare his feelings and calmly explained, "It's an intellectual game involving the arrangement of numbers, where you need to figure out the missing numbers based on the patterns among them."

"Oh." Tamasi paused, then laughed, "I see, it's the game I'm worst at."

"How strange, is the Transcend Sect's worship just a group of people playing Sudoku together?" Ash quickly shifted the topic, pondering, "This is far from what I imagined worship to be..."

"Each sect's worship, from an outsider's perspective, is basically incomprehensible," said Tamasi. "I once saw a sect whose worship was for everyone to sleep because they followed the Great Skill of the Drifting Clouds, with an ideal of leisurely living for all."

"Worship is not just about worshipping the Great Skill, but also the ideal. Every sect's worship is related to their ideals."

Igula had a sudden realization, "Worship is the believers imagining the future when their ideals are realized, thus causing a Resonance with the Great Skill!"

Ash too understood—the sect that sought a leisurely life worships by sleeping; the sect that sought to exterminate the wicked worships by gathering for recreation and rest; the Four Pillars God Sect worships in unbridled indulgence...

"What does playing Sudoku games have to do with Transcend Consciousness?" Harvey was puzzled. "Is the future of Transcend Consciousness playing Sudoku?"

"It's because they also don't know what the future after Transcending Consciousness will be like, they can't even fantasize about it, and yet worship must involve all believers, so they substitute it with intellectual games," analyzed Igula. "Sudoku is just one option; there might be others for worship."

"But this situation is very advantageous for us," Swindler said. "All the Transcend Believers are sitting in their seats, any unusual movement would be very noticeable. Once Silver Lamp tries to seize the Great Skill, she will certainly be stopped by the believers immediately."

"Now we only need to worry about whether Silver Lamp Society will give up on acting tonight, but the Transcend Sect's worship is probably of this stationary type every night. It would be pointless for her to keep waiting. On the other hand, if we leave, she likely won't even find a scapegoat."

The reason Ash and the others believed that Silver Lamp would act swiftly was because of the location of the Transcendence Method—it was at the very bottom. It would not be easy for Silver Lamp to steal the Great Skill and escape; it was akin to breaking through from the 100th floor to the ground floor. But if there were scapegoats to divert attention, the difficulty would be significantly reduced.

Without a doubt, Ash and his companions were the perfect scapegoats.

So why didn't Ash and his group leave the Transcend building and lie in wait outside?

Because the worship was carried out at night, and if they didn't stay inside the Transcend building, they dared not risk sleeping outdoors. In case Silver Lamp really did steal the Great Skill and escape, they would have to wait in a nearby town until daytime to continue pursuit, essentially skipping this round of battle.

Tamasi asked, "In case Silver Lamp really disguises herself as one of us and shifts the blame for stealing the Great Skill onto us, have you thought about an escape route?"

Ash looked at Igula in surprise. Igula, not looking back at him, said to Ya Sha Jin, "No need to escape. When Silver Lamp successfully takes the Great Skill, it will inevitably cause chaos; she who can Host God will certainly do so immediately, using the power of the Transcendence Method to fight her way out. When worship is interrupted and chaos ensues, we'll be responsible for blocking the exits. Ash will look for the chance to Host God another Transcendence Method, and then together we'll pinch Silver Lamp. At that moment, we'll definitely be able to catch that woman."

It was only now that Igula shared the plan with Tamasi.

"Aren't you afraid the Transcend Sect will also see Ash as a usurper?"

"As long as he doesn't try to take away the Great Skill and helps intercept Silver Lamp who does, why would the Transcend Sect view him as an enemy?" Igula laughed. "Moreover, unlike Silver Lamp, Ash can Host God with a one hundred percent chance—you should understand the impact of this on the Transcend Sect."

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