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*****
"Interesting!"
The moment George laid eyes on the Magic Wishing Lamp, his eyes lit up with intrigue.
Firstly, he sensed a high-sequence Beyonder characteristic from his own pathway within the lamp. If his assessment was correct, its energy intensity reached the level of a Sequence 2.
The Church of the Evernight Goddess had mentioned that their available potion formula for the Seer pathway only went up to Sequence 1. However, the actual materials they could provide only reached Sequence 4. They lacked the primary materials for Sequence 3, 2, and 1—let alone Sequence 0.
This meant that once George reached Sequence 4, hunting cultists would only grant him formulas; he would have to find the materials himself. This lamp, possessing a Sequence 2 Beyonder characteristic, was perfect. He could eventually extract it to prepare his own Sequence 2 potion.
Secondly, George perceived a sealed soul within the lamp. This was no ordinary spirit; it was a soul far more powerful than a true god. He surmised that the lamp's immense power and its twisted side effects were only partially due to the Sequence 2 characteristic. The primary reason was likely the sheer spiritual potency of the soul fueling the artifact.
If he could devour that soul directly, he might gain god-level spirituality without having to advance to Sequence 0 or complete a formal power conversion. Currently, the spirituality within his body was only at the level of a Sequence 4. Part of it came from the Marionette Master characteristic, while the rest was converted from his own inherent power.
Consequently, the magic spells he cast were generally capped at a Sequence 4 power level. While some spells were inherently potent enough to punch above their weight, they were still limited by the quality of his internal spiritual energy. The only spell in his arsenal that could rival a true god's attack was Fairy Law, but that was because it primarily consumed his life force rather than spirituality.
However, if he brought the soul from the lamp into his own world and consumed it, he could elevate his spiritual energy to the level of a true god instantly. At that point, even if he remained a Sequence 5 Marionette Master, his internal reserves would be god-tier. For a typical Beyonder, having god-level spirituality at Sequence 5 would merely mean they could spam their skills indefinitely. But in George's hands, it was different—with that energy, he could cast high-level magic at full, divine power.
Furthermore, a soul stronger than a god undoubtedly possessed a wealth of occult knowledge and likely a complete set of high-sequence formulas. That would be an invaluable bonus.
"Take this. Once you find the location of the island and are ready to depart, send a wisp of spirituality into it, and I will sense it," George said, accepting the deal. He handed a temporarily condensed fire pearl to Bernadette. As long as she infused it with energy, he could use "Flaming Jump" to teleport directly to her side.
"I will find the island as quickly as possible," Bernadette replied, taking the pearl. She retracted her mystical abilities and vanished from the Backlund Bridge, traversing through the Spirit World.
George landed back on the bridge, watching the disappearing pea vines with a chuckle. "This 'Mystic Re-enactment' ability is quite fascinating."
The "Pea Forest" Bernadette had manifested was a power awakened at Sequence 4: Mysticologist of the Hermit pathway. It allowed a Beyonder to draw power from their accumulated occult knowledge to create magic or sorcery. The fewer people who knew of a particular piece of knowledge, the more powerful the resulting spell would be.
Normally, this ability was mediocre. Most famous legends and myths were widely known, which diluted the potency of spells based on them. However, Bernadette's father, Roselle—or rather, Huang Tao—was a soul from the modern era. Since childhood, Bernadette had heard countless fairy tales that were entirely unknown to the people of this world.
Using Mystic Re-enactment, she had turned those stories into fairy-tale magic. Because the number of people who knew these stories could be counted on one hand, their power was devastating. The vines she had just used were clearly derived from Jack and the Beanstalk.
"Even though I didn't get any leads on the other Blasphemy Cards, I gained quite a bit of intelligence on the Fourth Epoch and discovered a Wishing Lamp. Not a bad haul."
George transformed back into his infant form and took to the sky. Humming a little tune in a good mood, he resumed his patrol over Backlund.
While the diaries Bernadette provided were numerous, they didn't contain direct clues regarding the Blasphemy Cards. Most of the entries were simply the daily romantic exploits of Huang Tao—either he was seducing a noble's wife or chasing a noble's daughter. It seemed that as long as a woman was beautiful, even if she were a Demoness, he had to have a taste.
A smaller portion of the diaries recorded his corruption, his construction of the nine mausoleums, and his plan to jump to the Black Emperor pathway to save himself.
One thing that piqued George's interest was the organization Huang Tao had joined: the Twilight Hermit Order. To George's surprise, this organization not only boasted many powerful Beyonders but also possessed the second Blasphemy Slate. Roselle had been able to create the Blasphemy Cards specifically because he had viewed that slate.
The members of this organization believed that humanity was slowly losing its "self" until they eventually "fell asleep." Therefore, one had to observe oneself diligently and remember who they were, using that clarity and various forms of knowledge to achieve purification in preparation for the final apocalypse. They guarded secrets spanning thousands of years, believing that "Twilight" was inevitable and the end of the world unavoidable.
They worshipped the Original Creator, believing He had never truly died. They believed that when Twilight arrived and the end of all things manifested, He would awaken from His slumber, reclaim everything into Himself, and initiate a new world and a new history.
Curiously, this organization was extremely hostile toward the "True Creator," often describing Him with various words denoting depravity and evil. They also possessed the trait of "all who speak of it will be known"—meaning that whenever the organization was mentioned by name, its leader would sense it. Furthermore, their meetings were unique, conducted within a shared dream.
Based on these details and the information he had gathered from the True Creator previously, George had a strong guess as to the identity of the leader of the Twilight Hermit Order. It was likely one of the contingency plans for the Ancient Sun God's resurrection—a manifestation of the Ancient Sun God's divinity. He was one of the eight Kings of Angels: the Angel of Imagination, Adam.
Adam was a Sequence 1 "Author" of the Spectator pathway, and he possessed the Uniqueness of that pathway.
(End of Chapter)