join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for dozens of advance chapters for over a dozen fics | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter
Howard Philip nodded, and in the surrounding gray mist, points of light suddenly lit up, each containing a different Howard from a different period and identity.
Hermes raised his right hand, and with his index finger, traced lines of flickering light in mid-air.
These were like images from the deepest dreams.
A few seconds later, those faint lights absorbed one of the light points, twisting and transforming into a middle-aged man with golden hair and brown eyes, becoming another Howard Philip.
What differed from Howard was that this gentleman also possessed a strong scholarly demeanor, and the depths of his eyes lacked the cold indifference of someone who had seen through everything.
"Teacher, Mr. Gluttony, good evening."
"Howard" performed a standard Loen noble bow, greeting them courteously.
Howard looked at the identity that had been separated from him, as if recalling something. After a moment of silence, he waved his hand, and "Howard" instantly transformed into a point of light and vanished.
A few seconds later, the points of light that had illuminated in the surrounding gray mist converged to form a ball of light, revealing the scene on the second floor of Flora Jacob's villa.
Watching the unfolding scenes, Hermes's eyes gleamed slightly. As a Sequence 2 Discerner, he seemed to have discovered something interesting.
-----------------
Aaron glanced at the sealed silver pocket watch corresponding to the Marionettist and put it away with satisfaction.
Without wasting time searching, Aaron took out his divination pendant and directly divined for high-value items in the room.
A moment later, Aaron pried open the wall of the compartment, broke through the Wall of Spirituality on it, and found a brown box.
Without the obstruction of the Wall of Spirituality, Aaron saw the colorful spiritual hues within the box through Spirit Vision.
Feeling no danger, Aaron directly forced open the lock, picked up the item with the strongest spiritual fluctuation, pried open the outer layer of gold, and saw the item wrapped inside.
It was a strange decorative item, similar to a brooch, entirely grayish-white, with peculiar folds and protrusions. Patterns and symbols formed a miniature Door in the center of the brooch.
The divination pendant quietly floated above the brooch. A moment later, Aaron frowned slightly and opened his eyes.
"Travel Brooch"
Ability 1: Teleportation Door - Allows one to perform Spirit World travel that can sense the outside world and self-locate. Beyonders of different Sequences, due to the varying strength of their spiritual bodies, can withstand different teleportation times, and the effect and distance of Spirit World travel will also vary significantly.
Ability 2: Record - Retains some of the Scribe's abilities at Sequence 5 level. It can record one demigod-level Beyonder ability at most, with specific effects close to Sequence 4.
Negative Effects: 1. If not isolated by gold, it will continuously affect the wearer and even those around them, causing hallucinations until they go mad.
2. When opening the Travel Door, self-localization will be affected, with a certain probability of being teleported to an unknown area.
Aaron looked at the "Travel Brooch" in his hand with a headache. He now roughly guessed why this item, corresponding to the Sequence 5 Traveler, was sealed here and not used.
Although its abilities were good, the two negative effects truly impacted the practicality of this Sealed Artifact.
Having to constantly use gold for isolation was acceptable; he could just carry a gold box. But the divination pendant's revelation of "a certain probability of being teleported to an unknown area" corresponded to too many possibilities.
Does he really have to use the divination pendant to divine whether there will be a problem before every trip?
Sighing, Aaron decided to use it for now and later find time to extract the pure Beyonder characteristic. When he reached the Southern Continent, he would have Harland Rooney re-forge it into a new Mystical Item.
As for the remaining items, they were all some mid-to-low Sequence Beyonder materials and a few low-Sequence Sealed Artifacts. However, Aaron found a silver box at the bottom of the box.
Unexpectedly, he found 5 Worms of Time inside. Although the Beyonder characteristic contained within them had long since flowed back to the main body, they were still extremely high-end spiritual materials that could be used to make talismans.
Looking at the Worms of Time quietly placed in the box, Aaron couldn't help but ponder:
"The essence of a talisman is to pray for power from a high-level existence and fix the obtained power with suitable materials and corresponding symbols."
"But in actual operation, as long as one achieves divinity and becomes a demigod, they can create some talismans. The sealing talismans I used before were of this kind."
"These Worms of Time can indeed serve as unique carrying materials. They are high enough in level, conform to the essence, and their spirituality is sufficient to meet the needs.
"However, the uniqueness of the carrying material will also affect the effect of the final talisman. In other words, different special materials can induce different types of responsive power."
"The talismans I can currently make roughly correspond to the Justiciar, Black Emperor, Red Priest, Evernight, and Destiny Pathways, but none of these are compatible with the Worms of Time."
"But among the three Pathways most compatible with the Worms of Time, besides Amon, the remaining high-level existences are either dead or injured. What a pity."
Aaron regretfully put away the Worms of Time and went to the first floor to take the two Beyonder characteristics, putting them into the brown box as well.
With a slight spiritual movement, the scene before Aaron immediately became richly colored, like an abstract painting. Taking a step, he arrived in the Spirit World. At this moment, he seemed to have forgotten something.
Recalling the Spirit World coordinates of Osel, Aaron did not stop, wandering in the Spirit World, which was difficult to distinguish directions and appeared exceptionally chaotic.
With one step, Aaron had already arrived in the Duke of East Tucker Gusman Weil's study. The Duke of East Tucker Gusman Weil, who should have already departed for the Southern Continent, was now quietly sitting behind his desk.
Aaron's expression remained unchanged, as if he had long expected this. He sat down on a nearby sofa and heard a familiar voice:
"As soon as I arrived in the Southern Continent, I was attacked by at least two demigods. One of them seemed to have borrowed the power of an angel through some ritual, while the other was a demigod in the spiritual domain."
"Fortunately, I timely used my reserves to awaken my ancestor. As soon as he made a move, the entire battlefield was enveloped in storms and lightning."
Then Gusman's tone carried a hint of worry and fear:
"Although the enemies were repelled, I could clearly feel that my ancestor's state was extremely poor. It seemed that after confronting the angel who secretly made a move, he could no longer maintain his own state."
"At the same time, I also felt some prying gazes that only disappeared after my ancestor appeared. Finally, the mysterious head of MI9 in the Southern Continent made a move."
At this point, Gusman sighed, with some surprise:
"I didn't expect him to be Prince Grove of the Loen Royal Family, a Sequence 3 Chaos Hunter of the Arbiter Pathway."
"He came to the battlefield in West Balam with a Royal Family's Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. Because of his joining, the war ended quickly, and I returned to Osel."
Aaron listened intently, not saying a single word from beginning to end.
Everything Gusman said was so smooth, like a beautiful dream.
That's right, it was a beautiful dream.
Because of the Evernight Goddess's blessing, Aaron, who could always remain clear-headed in dreams, discovered as soon as he entered the Spirit World that he was already in a real dream woven by someone else!
Such a level of real dream, there were not many existences in the entire Spectator Pathway who could achieve it. Aaron was also very curious who the existence who made the move was? And what was their purpose?
Therefore, regarding being in a real dream, Aaron pretended not to notice, following the will of that existence, and like an ordinary Beyonder, deliberately ignored the illogical parts of the conversation.
Because he had not yet detected any malice, and even though he was in a dream, he could still sense the presence of the Darkness Mark, which was Aaron's greatest confidence.
And through the information revealed in the words of this "Gusman" before him, Aaron already had many guesses in his mind.
With this thought, Aaron smiled, stood up, and bowed to "Gusman":
"Thank you for your guidance, senior. May I ask if senior would grant me a meeting?"
As soon as the words fell, the real dream Aaron was in disappeared silently. Everything around him seemed to return to normal.
He was standing on the first floor of Flora Jacob's villa, still holding the brown box in his arms. He had never left.
Aaron's eyes darkened. He suddenly turned to look at the corner of the room, where a mirror had appeared. The mirror surface was hazy, unable to even reflect a human figure.
Aaron's hand went into his pocket, gripping a paper crane, and he silently called out in his heart.
After a moment, Aaron stepped into the mirror. After an indescribable strangeness, he saw layer upon layer of stairs.
Aaron's originally strong physical qualities seemed to have vanished into thin air, and the box he had been holding in his arms also disappeared. He could only move forward step by step along the stairs.
What Aaron did not notice was that points of light slowly emerged on both sides of the stairs he walked past. This seemed to be an external manifestation of a person's subconscious, reflecting his experiences, identity, and even emotions.
Unlike Howard, all of Aaron's light points were covered in a thick dark golden mist, making them impossible to peek into.
The concept of time here seemed to be distorted, or Aaron's perception of time was distorted. After an unknown period of walking, he finally reached the end of the stairs.
It was a solid, blurry, gray "ground," with shimmering light and shadows swaying and roaming above it. They were dense, they overlapped, like an illusory ocean.
Sea of Collective Subconscious...
This term unconsciously surfaced in Aaron's mind. He then looked up, surprisingly finding that his vision was no longer obscured, and the sky above was clearly visible.
There were countless indescribable figures there, and seven clear, bright lights of different colors, containing infinite knowledge.
Although Aaron was not of the Spectator Pathway, the cat in his house was a Spectator, so he had some understanding of psychological concepts. He instantly recognized it:
"The spiritual sky."
Suddenly, Aaron felt his consciousness explode, and his body seemed to be infected, becoming somewhat ethereal.
At this moment, his mental body, Astral Body, and Ether Body all seemed to be absorbed and assimilated by his Body of Mind and Heart. His entire being was like an aggregate of pure thoughts, floating.
And because of this, he sensed the boundless Sea of Collective Subconscious connected to all living beings, and he sensed the spiritual sky corresponding to it.
Seemingly having passed through some obstruction, Aaron blinked in a daze, then alertly opened his eyes and looked around.
He saw an ordinary-looking old man floating in mid-air, looking at him calmly, and sighing in ancient hermes:
"I cannot peek into your Mind Island. I originally intended to guide you through dreams to show your uniqueness."
"I didn't expect you to see through the dream I wove. It seems your secrets are far more than this."
After saying this with a hint of meaning, the old man in the gray-white robe chuckled softly and kindly added:
"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hermes."
Hermes? The angel of the Spectator Pathway who survived from the second epoch and created the ancient Hermes?
Aaron was first startled, then confirmed some of his thoughts, but also many questions arose.
-----------------
Southern Continent, Caesar Port.
The civilian district here was far from the port area and the Western District where the church was located. The Intis people ignored it, and the locals didn't want to manage it.
Therefore, law and order were extremely poor, a place where various gangs ran rampant, and also a breeding ground for various gray transactions.
In a particularly spacious underground room in the civilian district, open coffins were scattered about. The bodies inside, though emaciated and clearly from the lowest class, had peaceful expressions before death.
These coffins were strangely arranged according to the patterns on the underground floor. As several members of the Numinous Episcopate's Sleeping Faction chanted in low voices, one pattern after another lit up.
Checker Ward, who had recently become a Sequence 7 Spirit Medium, first glanced at Anthony standing at the very front, then focused his gaze on the patterns inscribed on the ground.
As a Spirit Medium, he himself mastered various mystical rituals related to spirits and could directly communicate with the natural spirits and lingering souls of the real world.
He had also previously traded with Sharron for Shaman King Klarman's "Book of Secrets," and was extremely knowledgeable about mysticism and ritual knowledge, barely able to recognize that this was likely a targeted awakening ritual.
Thinking this, Checker suddenly felt a cold wind sweeping through the underground room. The few natural spirits that had been present wailed and left, as if sensing some aura.
Anthony took out a white feather stained with light yellow grease from his embrace, used it to cut his wrist, and crimson blood merged into the patterns.
A mysterious Door, as if leading to the underworld, slowly emerged. A pale, bony hand reached out from within, and a figure slowly walked out.
This figure was dressed luxuriously with a distinct Fourth Epoch style, but white feathers grew from his back.
He tilted his head slightly, revealing the obvious red patches on his face, as well as dull, blank, emotionless eyes. It was "Undying" Faus Ellen, currently the Sleeping Faction's only saint.
As an Undying, he would die once and resurrect once every sixty years, forgetting most of his past memories, which he would slowly retrieve later, like starting a new life.
And this period was precisely the stage of him searching for his memories and slowly recovering, which was also the main reason for the Sleeping Faction's recent decline.
The blood-stained white feather with light yellow grease slowly floated to Faus Ellen's forehead and directly merged into it. Those dull, blank, emotionless eyes instantly became sharp.
Everyone present felt as if they were frozen in an instant, having the illusion of becoming corpses.
Anthony raised his stiff fingers, signaling everyone to retreat. After they had all left, he meticulously recounted Shaman King Klarman's request for cooperation from beginning to end.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for dozens of advance chapters for over a dozen fics | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter