"If that's the case, next time I must bring him to witness a truly grand scene, and let that Fourth Epoch bumpkin who loves to show off see the luxury of modern nobility!"
Seeing the last line of this page, Klein pondered for a moment, then reproduced a page of diary he had received from Sharon a few months ago. Immediately, a few lines of text that greatly satisfied him appeared before his eyes:
"June 6th. What happened today was simply a disaster!
"I swear by these words:
"If I ever bring the 'Calamity Seal' to another ball, I'll eat the shit excreted by Sanguine's 'Three Lights'!"
Under the shroud of gray fog, Klein's lips curved slightly, and he sighed inwardly:
The Emperor really was someone who never turned back until he hit a dead end!
Karen warned you not to go deep into the Sea of Mist, yet you insisted, only to stumble into a bizarre island and then fall into the Abyss…
Liu Bo warned you not to land on the moon, but you went anyway. As a result, you were likely polluted by the "Primordial Moon," maybe even fathered a child up there, who was cast down a hundred years later and indirectly harmed five ladies…
As for the "Calamity Seal," his words were most likely a veiled warning to you about his own problem… but you refused to listen… and now you've made a mess of things, haven't you?
Still, the Liu Bo version of the "Calamity Seal" had issues of his own—always playing the riddleman. Couldn't he just say things clearly? Wait… was it possible he did it on purpose, leading Roselle straight into the trap? Very possible… judging from what I've observed, the Liu Bo here in the Tarot Club is also quite the trickster.
After roasting both of his transmigrated compatriots, Klein shifted to another thought:
So Bernadette's birthday is May 19th… and Roselle became Chancellor and entered White Maple Palace in 1173. According to this diary, Bernadette turned eighteen that year…
That meant she was born on May 19th, 1155. By now, she was nearly 195 years old… yet still looked so young!
Wait, why am I calculating this?
Klein shook his head, cast aside the distracting thoughts, and picked up the second page of the diary:
"March 6th. That unspeakable organization convened another gathering of its members…
"This sentence seems to have been repeated countless times in my diary? Fine, let me phrase it differently—
"The great Son of Steam, Chancellor of Intis, and the collective dream lover of Trier's noble ladies, Roselle Gustav, graced the secret gathering of that unspeakable organization.
"Back to the topic. Today, while discussing the characteristics of various pathways with a suspected Church of Knowledge member codenamed 'Doctor,' I discovered several pitfall potion sequences. They all shared one common trait: their sequence names carried the modifier 'Ancient.'
"They were: 'Ancient Alchemist,' 'Ancient Scholar,' and 'Ancient Evil.'
"'Ancient Alchemist' was Sequence 4 of the Planter pathway. Why was it a pitfall? Because its advancement ritual required personally creating a 'Stone of Life'!
"At first, I had no idea what a 'Stone of Life' meant, but after the Doctor's explanation, I learned that one of its conditions was extracting three hundred years of one's own future lifespan.
"Though demigods of the Planter pathway lived relatively long, they were no match for the Sanguine… if you lost three hundred years in one stroke and couldn't advance to Sequence 3 in time to make up for it, you'd fall behind even ordinary demigods without longevity advantages!
"Calculating this way, Madam Helen's husband might not live much longer… I might still have a chance…
"By the way, the Stone of Life made from one's own lifespan had a certain effect of reviving the dead, but only if the person hadn't died too long ago and suffered no irreversible fatal injury.
"This sequence was truly the epitome of self-sacrifice! A total pitfall!"
"Stone of Life"? Klein recalled that when Ebner went to Tingen to resurrect the captain, he had used a Stone of Life personally crafted by the "Earth Mother." It seemed that the higher the sequence, the stronger the Stone of Life's power. After all, when the captain was resurrected, not only had his heart been gone, but most of his characteristics had already dispersed, and he had been dead nearly a week!
Tapping his fingers thoughtfully, Klein couldn't help but add: Emperor, really? You were still eyeing Madam Helen? Cullen was your friend!
As he criticized the Emperor's lecherous antics, Klein read on:
"'Ancient Scholar' was Sequence 3 of the Seer pathway. I already knew this, and thanks to Zaratul, I was very familiar with its abilities!
"Heh, as long as you worked with an 'Ancient Scholar,' you'd find yourself being unknowingly exploited for free countless times.
"But I only learned today how much of a pitfall its advancement ritual was!
"To completely detach from reality for at least three hundred years, and only after becoming part of history, no longer belonging to the current era, could you consume the potion?
"Could there be a worse ritual? Which Bizarro Sorcerer could live for three hundred years, let alone detach from reality?
"No more '500 trash posts from Lingtak,' no Douyin girls, no Honor of Kings or PUBG to play… life would already be unbearable! And without balls, without the enchanting, pure, mature, or youthful Madam Julia, Countess Valinian, Madam Bennet, or Miss Isaka… how would life go on?
"You wouldn't last even a single day, let alone three hundred years!
"I have no idea how Zaratul completed it back then… no wonder he turned out so twisted!"
So Sequence 3 of the Seer pathway was called 'Ancient Scholar'… Klein muttered inwardly, then froze. His eyes fixed on the Emperor's description of the ritual, particularly the phrase: "no longer belonging to the current era."
It instantly made him think of one of his own honorifics:
"The Fool that does not belong to this era!"
This mysterious space above the gray fog clearly had close ties to the Spectator pathway… was the so-called "Sefirah Castle" truly a derivative of a uniqueness? Klein felt both delighted and grave, uncertain what sort of price such a "gift" entailed.
Then another thought struck him: how would he complete this ritual himself?
I can't wait three hundred years… I need to find a way home as soon as possible… it seems that after becoming a Bizarro Sorcerer, I'll have to consider jumping to a neighboring pathway.
And switching pathways might also help me escape that vague and inexplicable "arrangement."
After mulling it over, Klein set the matter aside for now. He wasn't even a demigod yet—thinking that far ahead was pointless.
Taking a deep breath, he lowered his gaze back to the diary:
"'Ancient Evil' was the name of Sequence 2 of the Prisoner pathway, always controlled by the Rose School of Thought. Its ritual was extremely twisted: one had to transform oneself into a 'Cursed Item,' to be used by others for at least three hundred years.
"And that was only one of its requirements—the Doctor himself didn't know the rest.
"Heh, three hundred years again… so three hundred years was the baseline for anything bearing the 'Ancient' modifier! But for me, even a hundred years ago already counted as ancient.
"And regardless of other requirements, turning yourself into an object for others to use—what if you were used for something unspeakable? Were you supposed to remain motionless and let them do as they pleased? Absolutely unacceptable!
"No wonder it was called 'Ancient Evil'! Truly 'evil' indeed!"
That's so like you, Old Huang! How did your mind jump there first thing? And a 'Silent Servant' turned into a Cursed Item would certainly be a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact. Any faction would handle it with extreme care—how could it be like what you imagined…
Klein nearly held his forehead. He guessed this diary entry must have been written not long after Roselle became Chancellor, when he was riding high, and had found a fellow transmigrator in the "Calamity Seal," so he was a bit carried away.
But what about Sharon in the future—how would she roleplay this? Did she really have to turn into a Sealed Artifact for three hundred years? Was there a clever workaround?
While Klein sank into thought, Ebner, bored at the lower end of the table, began reviewing Fors' pages of diary as well.
When his eyes fell on the ritual of the "Ancient Evil," his indifferent expression froze, and he grew serious:
When I saw that yellow stone in the Floating City with the mental imprint of the 'Mechanical Emperor' Evans, I guessed that Danit Tinikor—myself from that lifetime—might not have died completely, and still had some scheme…
Now it seems he was used as Sealed Artifact 1-025 by the Church of Storms for centuries… could that have been his advancement ritual to Ancient Evil?
And now 1-025 has already been "sacrificed" by me to the "Chained God," becoming part of His original body… this really looks like digging a pit for myself!
Moreover, since it entered the Chained God' body, once He descends into it… could that also complete the ritual for a God Spawn? Or maybe just a roleplaying step… since I don't yet know what the ritual for God Spawn is.
Lost in his own thoughts, the Fool Klein didn't notice Ebner's shifting mood. He lowered his head again, reading the last part of the diary page:
"Also, don't ask me why a member of the Church of Knowledge would join an organization hostile to them, or why that organization would accept him…
"The answer is: it's a tradition of the Church of Knowledge."
So, according to you, the Church of Knowledge's tradition is mass-producing traitors? No wonder later you called the 'God of Knowledge and Wisdom' the 'Two-Five Dragon'…
In fact, in this respect, the Tarot Club he founded wasn't much better.
With a bit of self-mockery, Klein made the diary vanish from his hand, leaned back in his chair, and looked toward Justice, the Hanged Man, and the others:
"You may trade freely."
(End of Chapter)