Chapter 358: Naming
The thunderclap nearly shattered Xu Zhi’s eardrums. In that fleeting moment when her consciousness went blank, she seemed to glimpse strange patterns rising within her body. They appeared to be formed from the fragments that had melted after entering her. The lightning struck her, was absorbed by those intricate patterns, and ultimately guided toward her talent circuits.
The silver-white lightning, carrying a powerful aura of secrecy and law, descended upon the circuits. In that instant, the golden and gray circuits flickered, collided with the lightning, and rapidly devoured all the energy contained within it, expanding at a tremendous rate.
Her mind went completely blank. Her consciousness blurred. All she could hear was endless thunder. In that dazed state, Xu Zhi seemed to hear the voice of an unseen will—a whisper from [Radiance], an unrecognizable “language,” a sound even more deafening than thunder that pierced directly through her mind.
That voice existed for only a single instant. Afterward, Xu Zhi could no longer recall even the slightest trace of it.
An overwhelming exhaustion swept over her. She could no longer remain conscious and sank completely into the boundless dream.
When Xu Zhi woke again, it was already the evening of the next day.
She had slept for nearly an entire day and night. When she woke, her mind was still foggy—truly foggy, the kind where her head buzzed incessantly.
Her usually smooth hair was sticking up wildly for the first time in a long while. Xu Zhi sat up and took about ten minutes to recover before the buzzing in her head gradually subsided. Then, all at once, she realized—
She had become a [Named].
A flood of information suddenly poured into her mind. The haziness upon waking felt like a buffer, preventing her brain from crashing under the overwhelming influx.
She sorted through the massive amount of new, chaotic information, organizing it piece by piece. Only then did she finally gain a real sense that she had truly reached the level of Naming.
Among all of it, what concerned her the most was the [Title] she had obtained upon achieving Naming.
After waking, she understood what that voice—louder than thunder—that she had heard amidst the lightning truly was.
Her “Name.”
Every [Named] obtains a unique “Name” from the Mansus. Some call it a “True Name,” others a “Honorific,” or a “Title.” There are many terms, but one thing is certain: a [Name] is unique, never repeated, and possesses power.
The path a Named chooses, their disposition, even their supernatural inclinations—all are reflected to some degree in their “Name.” And the closer a Name aligns with its attribute, the more powerful it is.
In a sense, the “supernatural true name” obtained in the Mansus represents one’s talent on that path.
Names such as [The Dancer], [The One in the Mirror], [Daughter of the Serpent], [Keeper of Secrets], [The Second Process], [Strife of Flame and Smoke], [The Day of Decay]—these strange yet highly indicative true names all belong to extremely powerful Named individuals.
But there is another, even rarer kind—names that directly contain the attribute itself. Those are exceedingly scarce. Among the known individuals with such names, most are [Agents].
For example, the Agent of Winter, [Winter and Frost]. The Agent of Initiation, [Apocalypse].
This knowledge was written in textbooks as common sense—rules that nearly all supernatural beings understood.
And precisely because of this, Xu Zhi’s expression at this moment was rather peculiar.
It was widely known that a “True Name” is unique. Was that because most people only possessed a single attribute and one talent circuit?
Otherwise, how could it be explained that she had awakened with two “True Names”?
And moreover—
She belonged to the extremely rare category whose “True Names” directly contained their attributes.
[Everlasting Lamp] and [The Moth That Beats Its Wings Within the Skull]
“…Hiss.”
She couldn’t quite make sense of why these were her “True Names.”
[The Moth That Beats Its Wings Within the Skull] seemed related to her supernatural ability [Moth], yet it also seemed to allude to her personality and who she was as a person. It was strange, but Xu Zhi quite liked it—even found it fitting.
But what about [Everlasting Lamp]? Wasn’t that a kind of lamp that never goes out?
It was also called an undying flame. And such lamps were often placed… in tombs.
What did that mean?
Could it be related to the Federation?
Xu Zhi couldn’t quite grasp why the Mansus had given her this title. But at the very least, [Everlasting Lamp] didn’t seem strange on the surface—it was a name she could present without issue.
Although having [Lamp] directly in her name might startle people, she was, after all, a genius. Surely everyone could understand, right?
For now, she chose to interpret it as a blessing from the Mansus—a wish that she would burn on like an everlasting lamp, never extinguished.
Once a [Named] obtains a true name, it is equivalent to gaining a certain kind of “authority.”
When someone chants her true name, she will sense it. And any intangible techniques targeting a “name” must target the “true name.” Yet true names possess extremely high resistance, granted by the Mansus itself, making it difficult for Named individuals to be harmed through their names.
When a supernatural being enters the Great Dream, silently reciting one’s true name can also help maintain sanity. However, if one forgets their “Name” within the Mansus, they will become lost. Remembering one’s name is therefore crucial.
Xu Zhi felt that forgetting one’s “True Name” would be difficult. Once you possess it, it becomes like an instinct—just as you don’t need to think about how to breathe before you breathe. A true name is much the same.
Additionally, according to the textbooks, the more people who recite a Named’s true name, the stronger their abilities become.
Somewhat like “faith.” Xu Zhi neither confirmed nor denied it.
Many so-called “common rules” of the supernatural world didn’t necessarily apply to her. Perhaps this was no exception.
After some thought, Xu Zhi took out paper and pen and tried to write down her true names.
When she attempted to write the three characters [Everlasting Lamp], she found the strokes far more difficult than usual—as if she wasn’t writing words, but engraving a universal circuit.
Yet it didn’t consume any supernatural energy.
When the three characters appeared on the paper, Xu Zhi faintly sensed a subtle connection with them—very slight, but undeniably present.
“So this is a true name?”
How fascinating.
After studying it for a while longer, Xu Zhi set the matter aside for the time being.
Advancing to [Named] had changed her in many ways. The true name was just one of them. Another was her body.
Once a supernatural being steps into the level of [Named], their life tier rises. Xu Zhi looked at herself in the mirror, only to find that her appearance hadn’t changed much.
“That’s not right, is it?”
Didn’t the books say that Named individuals’ appearances would become closer to their “true names” and inherent attributes?
It was said that when a group of Named gathered, their hair came in all sorts of colors, and even their pupils were different.
She had thought that after waking up, her hair might have changed color as well—but it hadn’t.
