A sound broke Kuming out of his thoughts. He turned around to see the survivors staring at him. The moonlight just so happened to catch his position and wrapped around him like a mystic cloak, making him appear breathtaking.

"Who are you?"

Kuming looked toward the speaker and saw that it was Feiyan, one of his group members. “Don't you recognize me?” He paused as he remembered the changes. “You're right, I changed a bit too much. I'm Kuming.”

"Kuming? You're really Kuming?" Feiyan asked with his raspy voice.

Before he could say anything else, the other group members also started speaking. "You're amazing. You killed that monster so easily!"

"Yeah, not even the warlord's subordinates could do it so fast," another beggar said.

"They had to use guns to do it as quickly as you!"

"Ah pei!" one of the older members said. "'I've seen them using guns before. They have to shoot over ten bullets for a chance to kill a monster, but you just sliced it in half like it was nothing."

As more people heaped praise upon him, Kuming felt himself become floaty. He had always thought it was stupid when the people from the central district of the city would stand there and let people praise them, but now, he kinda understood how they felt.

However, the praise they heaped onto him became tiring quickly. He raised his hand. "Alright, alright. It's still nighttime; we should move to a new place for the night. We still have to go back tomorrow."

No one disagreed with Kuming. They began moving the supplies out of the building they were staying at into a new one. The blood from the corpses might draw a monster's attention, so they had no choice, even if they didn't mind the bloody smell.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, no one asked Kuming to move the supplies, so he was the freest of them all. Occasionally, people glanced or stared at him when they had time. All their eyes glued onto the saber in his hand with greed, causing him to frown.

Kuming blinked when his hand felt empty. He looked down to see the saber gone, and panic settled in. Just as he was about to search for it, the silver saber reappeared in his hand. After testing it a few times, he discovered that he could materialize and dematerialize the saber at will.

His group members averted their eyes. They didn't question the magical scene they just saw. They struggled to live day by day; they didn't have time to care about the paranormal. Instead, they saw Kuming's act as a purposeful warning.

In an hour, the group had relocated to a new building over a hundred meters away, and they all turned in for the night. One stayed up to keep watch. Earlier, someone also kept watch, but the monster had killed him before he had a chance to warn anyone. It might have been useless, but it was better than nothing.

The group gave the coziest spot to Kuming and laid down around him, feeling safer. For his part, Kuming also closed his eyes, but he didn't fall asleep, and his mind spun.

He hadn’t noticed it earlier, but his thoughts were sharper. It was as if he was living with wool covering his brain before. Because the apocalypse came while he was in elementary, his education never surpassed that, resulting in his less-than-average knowledge.

That all changed now. Information that he had never learned automatically appeared in his head. Kuming recalled the butterfly goddess in his mind, her perfect white figure appeared as if imprinted into his very soul.

Kuming piously praised the Grandmaster of Heaven in his mind. When he saw and felt no change, he started muttering praises but still nothing. Kuming frowned but decided to worry about it later. Too much had happened, and the adrenaline was fading. Soon, he drifted off to sleep, but unlike the last time, he didn't see the butterfly goddess in his dream again.

When he awoke, the sun had not yet risen. He looked around to see everyone still sleeping. Quietly, he stood up and walked to an empty spot. With but a thought, the silver saber appeared in his hand again.

Acting on muscle memories he didn't know he had, Kuming slowly went through several martial forms and stances. Each one seemed simple, but only Kuming knew how much strength his body used. He had the illusion that even a concrete pillar would instantly split under his saber’s arc.

Kuming tested it out and swung the saber at a nearby pillar. His eyes nearly bulged out when he effortlessly sliced through, but he frowned when he noticed no cut line on the pillar. He looked closer and still saw nothing. Confused, he pushed against it and nearly jumped out in fright when the top actually shifted, showing him where the saber had cut.

While dazed, the sun had risen, and sunlight poured through the openings. Kuming's eyes caught something flashing on his saber and looked closer. It was an engraved word. Despite not recognizing the language, he could still understand its meaning.

Fluttering Time—that was the saber's name.

"Kuming?"

Kuming stored Fluttering Time and turned toward the voice to see Feiyan waking up. He wasn't the only one, as the others woke up one by one. "Let's go back."

No one objected to Kuming's words. After waking everyone up, they started their journey back. The journey back was not as peaceful as the journey to the abandoned city, but Kuming showed his newly gained martial prowess. He slew three monsters, each with a single slice and each faster than the previous. When they finally saw the city walls, the group stared at Kuming with near worship.

The guard did a double-take when he saw Kuming. He looked better than the direct subordinates of the warlord, but he wore rags. The guard didn't think much of it when he saw what they brought. Excitement colored his face when he saw the generator. He had only seen a generator once during his tenure, and the last time was over six years ago.

He hastily jotted down the group members' names and didn't bother collecting anything else. The generator was more than enough for them. The guards fought over who would go to the central district to report, and while they did that, Kuming brought his earnings back to his shack.

Upon sealing the entrance by leaning a slab of wood against the opening, Kuming dropped his new wealth and searched for the totem. It didn't take any time at all. The white color stood out like a sore thumb.

Kuming got onto his knees and bowed to it, singing its praises. The totem seemed almost too holy for the dirt ground it lay on. He quickly rectified that as he built a pedestal out of the cans, placing five as offerings.

"Supreme Grandmaster of Heaven, praise be to you. Please accept my offering," Kuming said as he worshipped the totem by knocking his forehead on the ground three times. Disappointingly, nothing extraordinary happened.

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Kuming sighed and stood up. He blinked, realizing that he didn't feel hungry. Hunger had followed him constantly for the past twenty years, so he was unaccustomed to not feeling the pang. Furthermore, he found it strange. He heard that those with bigger bodies needed more food, but he didn't feel the need to eat, and his last meal had been in the jewelry shop.

He just chalked it up to habit.

After a while, Kuming walked out of the shack. Usually, he would just wait until his food ran out, but he felt anxious for some reason, like there was something he needed to do but didn't know what. He decided to practice the moves ingrained into his body. Although he could easily kill the monsters he encountered, monsters a hundred times larger than the ones Kuming had slain roamed the wasteland.

Kuming didn't go far from his shack. There was a chance someone would break in to steal his food. He would know—he had done the same thing. Sometimes he succeeded, but most times, he got caught and almost died. Losing food was only a nuisance at best, but losing the totem would make him go mad.

He didn't summon Fluttering Time. No matter what had happened and how his forage group accepted it, something appearing out of nowhere was still weird. Instead, he closed his eyes and began to move his body on instinct.

With each movement, his moves became more refined. As Kuming continued, the image of the butterfly goddess materialized in his mind. At first, it was extremely blurry but the more he refined his techniques, the clearer her image became.

Kuming's instinct told him that if he were to perfect the technique within his body, her face would be revealed to him. His motivation burned, and he increased his concentration. When he finally felt tired and opened his eyes again, his mouth gaped in shock at the night sky. Did he train for hours without noticing?

For the following days, Kuming religiously trained in the technique. Magically, the technique's name appeared in his mind like the name of Fluttering Time.

Dreaming Butterfly Classic.

The night Kuming learned of the technique's name, he dreamed again. Unlike his previous dreams, he did not appear in a place on a vast land. Behind him, thousands upon thousands of people stood behind, but unlike him, their faces were obscured in shadows. In front of him, the totem of the butterfly goddess had grown until it pierced the sky.

"Kneel," Kuming heard himself say. His voice reached every person behind him.

In one synchronized motion, everyone kneeled to the totem. Without any prompting, they all started praying to the giant totem. As the worshippers prayed, the totem exuded a light that intensified with each passing moment.

Kuming's body also began to glow. Although only a fraction of the totem's intensity, he could feel a connection to every believer behind him. Every prayer uttered increased his power.

He awoke with a gasp. The sun had not yet risen, but any sign of drowsiness disappeared from Kuming's eyes. His eyes glanced over to the totem next to his pile of canned food, which had barely diminished. At most, he ate one can every two to three days.

Kuming thought back to his dream. He had learned how to differentiate the difference between visions bestowed by the butterfly goddess and regular dreams. Compared to normal dreams, he could remember every instance of the visions, as if they had been seared into his mind.

It was the first vision he received in two weeks. Kuming immediately kneeled in front of the totem and prayed to it before doing anything else. Once he finished, he sat cross-legged and began to think.

Did the butterfly goddess want him to find more believers? He had already obtained Fluttering Time and a mystical technique from worshiping the goddess, but what would happen to him if other people received it?

His eyes narrowed. According to his dream, his strength might even increase the more followers there were. Kuming weighed the pros and cons. After a while, he sighed. He would find followers for the butterfly goddess. His powers came from her. What if she became angry that he didn't follow her orders and rescinded her blessing?

The problem was how.

Should he go out and look for believers? Who would believe him, and even if he got them to pray, how many would be sincere? What if the goddess didn't like empty platitudes?

Fluttering Time appeared in Kuming's hands. Should he try to convince people with the gift bestowed by the goddess?

Kuming shook his head and decided to go out. Normally, he would have already run out of food, forcing him to leave the safety of the city to forage, but with his new diet, he could last for at least another three weeks.

As he practiced the Dreaming Butterfly Classic, Kuming frowned. Although they were hidden, he could still sense the people peeking at him. He couldn't concentrate with all the prying eyes, so he frowned and said, "Come out, I know you're there."

The wind rustled, and just as Kuming was about to drag these people out, a figure in rags came out. One that he recognized. "Feiyan?"

Behind Feiyan were several other members of the group that he had returned with. They seemed a bit more fleshed out, literally, but a heavy atmosphere surrounded them.

"Kuming, no, Boss," Feiyan said as he and the other people kneeled down in quick succession. Kuming counted eleven, around half of the group that he returned with.

"Boss, please take us foraging. You can take half of everything we find, and we'll move the supplies for you," Feiyan said.

Kuming sunk into thought. He already guessed that these people were after protection. He didn't need the food. In fact, he didn't need these people at all, but their proposal did give him an idea.

"I can take you, and I don't need half the food," Kuming said.

"Boss," Feiyan said as he looked at Kuming with teary eyes.

"But that doesn't mean you won't have to pay a price," Kuming said.

Instantly, the group became nervous. Feiyan hugged his body and bit the bottom of his lips but said nothing. Kuming pretended not to see and said, "Follow me."

The group of people shared a look and gritted their teeth. Whatever Kuming wanted them to do, it couldn't be worse than starving to death. They followed Kuming to his shack. There, they saw a pristine totem atop a platform built of cans. They didn't even notice the pile of unopened cans near it, enthralled by the beauty of the totem.

Kuming nodded. The totem certainly looked far more sacred than when he first prayed to it. He mentally thanked the person who threw the totem away and allowed him to pick it up.

"Kneel and pray to the goddess. If you're not sincere enough, I won't bring you with me." Kuming's words broke the people out of their enthralment. Although they found the totem beautiful and otherworldly, it didn't have the same allure as food. What use was something pretty when you were going to die?

However, they saw the seriousness in Kuming's eyes. One by one, they got onto their knees. Kuming's shack wasn't enough to fit everyone, so nine people had to kneel outside. Praises sprung forth from their tongues with increasing intensity thanks to mob mentality. The fact that it determined their spot in Kuming's group was undoubtedly a major motivation.

While octaves increased, Kuming stared at the totem unblinkingly. He didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but he could see a faint line going from the totem to him and from him, several lines attached to the group of praying people. All except one.

Only Feiyan didn't have a line attached to him. Kuming frowned and planned to exclude Feiyan from the group, but at that moment, the totem shined brilliantly. The prayers stopped as the people stared in awe and fear, not knowing what was going to happen.

The totem of the butterfly goddess now resembled a ball of light. Moments later, a second ball of light separated from the original, and it had a line connecting Feiyan and it. When the light dimmed, the totem of the butterfly goddess returned to normal, but the second ball of light turned into a second totem.

The second totem resembled a beautiful woman wearing ancient clothing riding atop a phoenix. Unlike the pristine white of the butterfly goddess, this second totem had nine different hues of blue.

The praying people slowly regained their cognition back and stared at Kuming for guidance. Kuming slowly walked toward the blue totem and picked it up. He couldn't feel the same connection he had with the totem of the butterfly goddess.

Kuming glanced at Feiyan and then handed the totem to him. Feiyan clutched the blue totem a bit too hard, whether out of awe or fear was unknown. "We'll leave to forage tomorrow. Feiyan, take the totem home with you and pray to it before going to sleep."

Hearing the dismissal, everyone left, giving one last fearful glance at Kuming. Kuming ignored them and closed his shack. Once sealed, he stared at the totem and kneeled.