Endless Chaos – Chaos Void Plane: The Path of Knowledge
Chapter 16 – The Faith Vault
The staircase descended deep into the mountain.
Each step Arin took echoed softly in the silent underground halls. The air became heavier the farther he went, filled with faint traces of ancient faith energy.
The golden lines carved along the walls flickered weakly as he passed, as if the ancient systems were slowly waking from a long sleep.
The Chaos Wonder Artifact of Knowledge hovered beside him, continuously scanning the environment.
[Energy Density Increasing]
[Source Located Ahead]
Arin continued downward until the staircase finally opened into a massive underground chamber.
He stopped at the entrance.
Before him stretched an enormous circular vault.
Stone pillars lined the walls, each covered in complex faith conduits and divine inscriptions.
But what caught Arin's attention most was the center of the chamber.
A giant crystal structure floated there.
It was nearly three meters tall.
Golden light flowed slowly within it like liquid sunlight.
Even after thousands of years, the crystal still radiated powerful faith energy.
Arin stared in amazement.
"So this is where they stored it…"
The Artifact confirmed his observation.
[Structure Identified: Faith Energy Storage Core]
[Status: Dormant but functional]
Ancient priests must have collected belief energy from thousands of followers and stored it here for divine rituals or offerings.
Over centuries, most of the energy had faded.
But the crystal still contained a massive reserve compared to anything Arin had seen before.
Arin approached slowly.
The air near the crystal felt warm and heavy with spiritual pressure.
The golden energy flowing inside it pulsed gently like a heartbeat.
He extended his hand carefully.
The moment his fingers touched the surface—
A faint ripple spread through the crystal.
The entire vault lit up.
Ancient inscriptions across the chamber walls began glowing again.
The Artifact reacted immediately.
[Vault System Reawakening]
A low humming sound filled the chamber.
For a moment, Arin thought he might have triggered another guardian.
But instead, a soft voice echoed from the crystal itself.
"Faith Reserve System Active."
Arin raised an eyebrow.
"Another automated system."
A faint projection of golden light appeared above the crystal.
It was not a person.
Just a simple recording construct, designed to manage the vault.
The voice continued speaking.
"Sanctuary Status: Abandoned."
"Faith Reserves: 3% Remaining."
Arin nodded thoughtfully.
Even three percent of an ancient divine storage core was enormous compared to his tiny experiments.
The voice continued.
"Authorized user detected."
The system had recognized the Divine Faith Crystal Arin carried earlier.
But then the voice paused.
The projection flickered slightly.
The system began scanning Arin again.
The Artifact displayed a warning.
[Unknown Conceptual Signature Detected]
The vault had sensed something unusual.
Arin's newly born Knowledge Path.
The projection slowly turned toward him.
"Unregistered conceptual structure detected."
"Analyzing…"
Arin remained calm.
The system was simply trying to understand him.
After a few seconds, the voice spoke again.
"New conceptual alignment recorded."
"Classification: Knowledge."
Arin's eyes widened slightly.
Even the ancient sanctuary system could detect the concept.
The vault continued speaking.
"No conflict detected."
"Vault access permitted."
The giant crystal pulsed again.
A small fragment of golden energy slowly separated from the main core and floated toward Arin.
The Artifact quickly analyzed it.
[High-Purity Faith Energy Fragment]
It was far stronger than the crystals Arin had created earlier.
Carefully, Arin took the fragment into his hand.
Warm divine energy flowed through his fingers.
His mind immediately began analyzing its structure.
"This will be extremely useful."
With this much faith energy, he could conduct far more advanced experiments.
But something else had also happened.
The moment Arin took the fragment, the Knowledge Path thread connected to his mind grew slightly stronger.
The Artifact recorded the change.
[Concept Path Growth Detected]
Arin smiled faintly.
Studying the vault itself had already strengthened his understanding.
Which meant his cultivation method was working.
But far away…
Inside the hidden divine realm…
The God of Belief watched the scene carefully.
Arin had now accessed one of the old faith vaults and taken a fragment of divine energy.
Yet the ancient god did not interfere.
Instead, he simply whispered softly.
"Knowledge grows quickly…"
The god leaned back upon his throne of faith.
For now, Arin was still small.
But every discovery he made was pushing the Path of Knowledge forward.
And if that path continued expanding…
One day it might reveal truths that even gods preferred to keep hidden.
Back inside the underground vault, Arin looked around the chamber again.
If one faith vault existed here…
There might be many more scattered across the world.
Forgotten sanctuaries.
Ancient divine systems.
Hidden knowledge waiting to be discovered.
Arin placed the faith fragment safely inside the Chaos Artifact.
Then he turned toward the deeper tunnels beyond the chamber.
Because the vault was not the end of the sanctuary.
It was only one part of a much larger structure.
And something in the deeper darkness…
Was still waiting to be discovered.