I will burn books and slay gods.

On the third day after the mission report was submitted, the atmosphere at Morningstar Hospital became subtle.

Chen Ye could feel the gazes of his unfamiliar night watch colleagues—curious, scrutinizing, and even a little wary.

As he ate in the cafeteria, two veteran night watchmen passed by his table, and fragments of their hushed conversation drifted to his ears: "...It's that newcomer...even the concept drafters have noticed him..."

"...Cognitive compatibility is too rare...it's easy to get out of control..."

Lin Su placed the plate opposite him and sat down with her usual brisk movements: "Don't worry about it. The Night Watch is always very sensitive to newly emerging affinity types, especially those that can directly interfere with 'definition'."

"Definition?" Chen Ye looked up.

"Your way of fighting against Xu Yan."

Lin Su poked at the salad with her fork. "You're not using force against force, but rather using your 'declaration of existence' to shake up the logical framework he's woven. This is essentially redefining local reality—though the scope is small and the time is short, it is indeed an interference at the definitional level."

She paused for a moment: "This ability is dangerous. Dangerous to the enemy, but even more dangerous to the user. Every Night's Watchman in history who has followed the defined path has either become the embodiment of the rules, or... completely lost in the labyrinth of concepts, forgetting even who they are."

Chen Ye recalled the feeling during the battle—the surrounding reality became malleable clay, and it seemed that he could reshape everything if he wanted.

That kind of temptation is terrifying.

"All those gazes..."

"They are evaluating it."

Lin Su calmly said, "Assess whether you are stable, trustworthy, and whether... you might become the next Xu Yan."

Wang Xiaoming floated over carrying a tray. Today, he had glowing letter stickers on his body that read: I am Wang Xiaoming.

It looks a bit silly, but it works—at least now everyone who sees him can immediately recall his name.

"Breaking news..."

His voice was still weak when he sat down, but a little clearer than a few days ago, "The conceptual anatomist's analysis results... are in... that gelatinous sample..."

He opened his tablet and brought up a report.

The screen displays complex molecular formulas, but instead of chemical names, they are labeled with conceptual tags: [Dullness], [Inertness], [Amnesia].

"The material structure of the sample... is a carrier..."

Wang Xiaoming zoomed in on the image and thought, "The real content is... encapsulated conceptual fragments... the cult is mass-producing 'cognitive poison'..."

Chen Ye stared at the labels.

If gel can encapsulate concepts, then people who inject or inhale gel...

"They will directly obtain the corresponding conceptual state."

Lin Su picked up the conversation, her expression grave, "No need to go through the process, no need to understand the reasons, just directly 'become' Yu Dun's lazy, amnesiac person. This is... brainwashing at the conceptual level."

"Mass production of conformists..."

Chen Ye felt a chill. "Or perhaps we could eliminate the rebels in large numbers."

"What's worse..."

Wang Xiaoming turned to the next page, which contained an energy flow analysis diagram. "These conceptual fragments... can be combined... for example, [dullness] + [obedience] = [servility]... The cult is experimenting with... a social engineering project of conceptual stitching..."

The three fell silent.

This goes beyond simply cultivating Nightmares; it's an attempt to redefine the very foundation of human society—human thought and will.

In the afternoon, Chen Ye was summoned to Lao Li's studio.

The old man wasn't fiddling with the radio today; instead, he spread out a huge blueprint on his worktable.

The drawing wasn't a mechanical design, but a complex and dizzying... mind map?

Countless nodes and connections, with a rotating vortex at the center, surrounded by unfolding ring structures, each ring labeled with a different tag: [Perception], [Memory], [Logic], [Emotion], [Intuition]...

"sit."

Old Li didn't even look up. "Give me the monitoring device."

Chen Ye handed it over, and Lao Li connected the monitoring device to a strange instrument. The instrument emitted a soft buzzing sound and began to project onto the drawing—Chen Ye's soul fire and karmic fog were materialized into dynamic 3D images, embedded in the center area of ​​the drawing.

The diagram shows that Chen Ye's soul fire is stable, but its structure has changed.

Fine crystalline structures began to appear in the originally uniform flame—a sign of solidified knowledge.

The karmic fog coiled around the flames like vines, and in some places even began to seep into the cracks of the crystals.

"The second stage of cognitive deepening."

Old Li used a glowing pen to mark on the drawing. "Knowledge begins to form fixed nodes in your thought structure. This is a good thing—the more nodes you have, the more complex the concepts you can handle at the same time. It's also a bad thing—nodes can harden your thinking, making it increasingly difficult for you to accept information that doesn't fit your existing knowledge framework."

He looked up at Chen Ye: "Simply put, you're transitioning from a 'learner' to a 'knower.' Learners ask 'why,' while knowers say 'that's just how it is.' Which do you think is more dangerous?"

Chen Ye thought for a moment: "Those who know. Because if what they 'know' is wrong..."

"Or it may be incomplete."

Old Li nodded, "They would get stuck in a cognitive loop and never be able to get out. Those definition-based night watchmen who went mad in history were all trapped in the knowledge labyrinths they built themselves."

He drew a line on the drawing board, extending from the central vortex to the outermost ring: "You need to expand. You can't just stay at the level of logic and knowledge. A true cognitive blueprint should be complete—including the emotions you've been avoiding, including vague intuitions, including experiences that can't be described in words."

"How do we do it?" Chen Ye asked.

Old Li took out an old wooden box from under the worktable and opened it.

Inside was a stack of yellowed cards, each with a simple drawing: a flame, a drop of water, a tree, an eye, a hand...

"Cognitive Anchor Cards"

Old Li said, "These are training tools left behind by the original Night's Watch. Each pattern corresponds to a basic dimension of experience. What you have to do is, in a completely awake state, look at the card and then recreate the complete experience in your mind—not thinking, but experiencing."

He pulled out a flame card: "For example, this one. Don't think of 'fire as an oxidation reaction of combustion,' but recall the feeling when you first saw Lin Su's flames. The temperature, the light, the duality of danger and protection. Recall it with all your senses."

Chen Ye took the card and tried to do as instructed.

It was difficult at first, but then the philosopher's voice immediately emerged, and he began to analyze the "symbolic meaning of fire".

He tried to suppress the sounds and focus on the images in his memory—

The pale flame at Lin Su's fingertips danced in the mist of the old library.

That light was both cold and hot, bringing both purification and burning.

The shadow cast by the flickering flame...

Suddenly, the image of the Soulfire on the monitor changed.

A very faint, almost invisible warm-toned halo appeared around the flames.

"very good."

Old Li recorded the data: "A little bit of connection has been established on the emotional dimension. Keep going, practice every day, and expand your cognitive blueprint. Only when the blueprint is complete can you safely master the ability to define deeper levels."

He closed the wooden box: "Also, there's a ceremony tomorrow that you need to attend."

"ceremony?"

"Purification Ritual".