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*****
"I will use Taoist artifact-refining techniques to refine Sefirah Castle. Withdraw for now, and only re-enter once the pacifier I gave you begins to flicker."
After George dismissed Klein from Sefirah Castle, he reached out with a sharp, slicing motion, forcibly dragging the ancient space into his own personal world.
His hands moved in a blurred sequence of mudras, causing chains of universal rules to manifest within his world. They coiled around Sefirah Castle like constricting pythons, and the process of refinement began in earnest.
Although Sefirah Castle was one of the nine Great Sefirot, its current 'master' was merely the Sequence 8 Klein—and more importantly, Klein had offered it up of his own free will.
Consequently, George did not find it particularly difficult to refine it using his own world's laws. Once the process was complete, he would be the true master of Sefirah Castle, capable of wielding its vast abilities.
However, at his current level, Sefirah Castle could only function as an external artifact or a powerful tool; it could not yet fundamentally increase his intrinsic power. Only after he ascended to Sequence 0 would he be able to merge this 'artifact' into his physical form. Only then would a miraculous reaction occur between the Sefirah and the Beyonder characteristics within him, resulting in a qualitative leap in strength.
To put it simply, the refined Sefirah Castle was currently like an ordinary blade. One could use it to strike enemies or even chop vegetables, but one's innate physical strength wouldn't increase simply by holding the knife. Once he reached Sequence 0, the Sefirah would transform from a mundane blade into a soul-bound dharma treasure. At that stage, its latent energy would pour into the master's body, tempering the flesh and providing a massive boost to strength, speed, and every other attribute.
"Done!"
Because he was operating within his own world—and because one of his recent clones had learned several methods for refining Primordial Treasures from the Three Goddesses of the Honghuang—George managed to completely refine Sefirah Castle into his own possession in less than half an hour.
Precisely because he employed the techniques taught by the Goddesses, Sefirah Castle was now securely his. Forget other True Gods; even if the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth himself were to resurrect this very moment, he would be unable to seize it back. The only way to take Sefirah Castle now was to kill George.
Furthermore, killing just this single clone in this world wouldn't suffice. One would have to hunt down his main body and every single one of his clones across all worlds to truly wipe out his soul imprint and re-refine the Sefirah. By refining it, George had etched his soul's mark into the very foundation of the castle. Killing a mere avatar could not destroy that imprint.
Meanwhile, Klein, whose soul had returned to his body, suddenly felt his faint connection to Sefirah Castle snap.
Seeing the pacifier artifact glowing with a rhythmic light, Klein followed the ritualistic steps he had used before. A strand of energy from the pacifier entwined itself around Klein's soul, pulling him back up into the space above the gray fog.
The pacifier was a magical tool created by George. While Klein was the user, the item fundamentally belonged to George and remained under his absolute control. George used the pacifier as a lens to see Klein and as a medium to pull him back into Sefirah Castle using the Sefirah's own power. It was exactly like how Klein used to pull in members of the Tarot Club.
George reached out, his fingers forming a seal, and tapped Klein's soul between the eyebrows, leaving behind a subtle magical mark. Immediately, Klein felt his connection to Sefirah Castle return. However, this new bond felt distinctly different from the one he had held before.
"Use Sefirah Castle exactly as you did before. There will be virtually no change in its operation," George explained.
In the past, the true master of Sefirah Castle was the Celestial Worthy. Before his 'death,' the Worthy had programmed the Sefirah to release souls as part of a grand plan for his resurrection. Klein was one of those souls, serving as a temporary administrator. The stronger Klein became, the more power he could draw from the castle, and upon reaching Sequence 0, he would have fully inherited it—but by then, 'Klein' would have been replaced by the revived Celestial Worthy.
Now, George had forcibly refined the castle and scrubbed away the backdoors left by the Celestial Worthy, becoming the true master. He had granted Klein the 'user rights' to the castle, meaning Klein remained its temporary administrator.
However, because George—the true master—had opened all administrative permissions to Klein, Klein could theoretically wield far more of the Sefirah's power than he ever could before. This was George's way of rewarding Klein for his cooperation. Additionally, it ensured Klein had enough self-preservation capability so that he wouldn't have to call for help every time a problem arose.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Tarot Club meeting commenced precisely on time.
The members of the club remained blissfully unaware that the 'Mr. Fool' sitting at the head of the table was no longer the ultimate authority of this realm. The true leader was now 'Mr. Strength,' who sat quietly among them.
The moment Audrey and Alger appeared, their eyes instinctively drifted toward George.
Seeing his clearly adult soul, and recalling the infant form they had seen at the banquet, both were lost in a whirlwind of complex thoughts.
After the customary greetings, Alger turned to Klein and spoke respectfully: "Mr. Fool, I have obtained a total of nineteen pages of Roselle's diary this time. However, I can only commit six pages to memory at a time; I will need several sessions to transcribe them all."
"Very good," Klein replied with a nod, taking the manifested notes into his hand.
Alger then turned his gaze toward George. "Mr. Strength, I must thank you for helping me eliminate Qilangos. However, I have not yet secured the historical materials from the earlier Epochs that you requested. I am willing to pay in gold, Beyonder items, materials, or any other information you might require."
In his official capacity, Alger was merely a low-sequence Beyonder within the Church. He didn't have the clearance to access precious records from the ancient eras. He only had access to Roselle's diary because no one else could read it, making the Church undervalue it.
"There is no need. Mr. Fool has already settled the debt on your behalf," George said with a casual wave of his hand. "Those nineteen pages of Roselle's diary you collected will serve as the exchange."
George smiled inwardly. Through the True Creator, he had already gained most of the intelligence regarding the first three Epochs, so he no longer needed Alger to dig for them. Saying 'The Fool' paid for it bolstered Klein's image—it was only natural for an ancient existence like The Fool to possess knowledge of the early Epochs, after all.
Besides, the impoverished Klein wouldn't have been able to pay Alger for nineteen pages of the diary anyway. Since Klein was now his 'proxy,' helping him maintain his status as The Fool during transactions with the Tarot Club, George naturally wouldn't let his cover be blown.
Furthermore, Roselle's diary was still useful to George. While he knew much about the first three Epochs, his knowledge of the events following the Third Epoch was sparse. Roselle's notes were the perfect way to fill those gaps.
Roselle had also documented the complete pathways for all twenty-two Sequences and created the Blasphemy Cards. If George could use the diary entries to track those cards down, it would be a significant gain.
The current Tarot Club was still weak. Only by nurturing them could they eventually become useful to him. George didn't mind putting in a little extra effort and resources during the early stages. With the 'Acting Method,' as long as resources were plentiful, advancing from low to high Sequences wouldn't actually take very long.
(End of Chapter)