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Harvest Church!
Emlyn White's mind immediately brought up that name, as the Church of the Earth Mother only had this one church in Backlund.
Some bad rumors flashed through his mind. He cursed under his breath and quickly turned around before the other party could discover him.
A heavy creaking sound came, and Emlyn White, who was about to run, saw the church's heavy doors slowly opening. At the very front of the neatly arranged rows of seats, beneath the massive Holy Emblem of Life, stood a tall man in his forties or fifties, dressed in a brown priest's robe.
Just kneeling there, he resembled a small mountain, exerting immense pressure. In his hand, he held a strange candle.
The outer layer of that small, half-burnt candle seemed to be wrapped in a layer of human skin, but it also protruded with several bumps.
Its wick was only a finger-joint high, completely black, and branched into fine, dense scale-like patterns.
The faint candlelight reflected in Emlyn White's eyes, causing him to instantly fall into a trance. While horrified, he no longer had any qualms. A thick black mist emanated from his back, forming a pair of ethereal bat wings, ready to take flight and escape.
Doing this in a place like Backlund was very risky, especially since Duke Negan had been assassinated just a few days ago. However, it was indeed the best way to attract the attention of other official Beyonders.
Even if he were detained by the officials, his identity as a Sanguine would not truly lead to anything severe. Although it would trouble the elders of the Sanguine to vouch for him, it was still better than being captured by the Church of the Earth Mother.
Looking at the Harvest Church, which had become a small dot in his vision, Emlyn White hadn't even had time to breathe a sigh of relief when he found the surrounding light and shadows rapidly transforming.
Everything he had just experienced seemed like an illusion. A faint, sweet scent lingered in Emlyn White's nostrils, and his eyes met a pair of light blue ones.
At the same time, candles lit up one by one in the dim church. The entire hall suddenly brightened, but the light was soft and not harsh, like the dawn breaking just as night ended.
What's going on? As this question flashed through his mind, the ethereal bat wings on his back were inexplicably suppressed, and Emlyn White's heart instantly sank to rock bottom.
A sharp pain shot through his chest, and Emlyn White was sent flying backward. The ethereal armor condensed from shadows on his body shattered directly, and crimson blood splattered.
The giant, wearing a bishop's mitre, slowly stood up, looking down at Emlyn White, who was half-kneeling on the ground. He raised the exaggerated greatsword in his hand, which seemed to be condensed from light, and sneered with a distorted face:
"I thought that guy had found some helper. Letting this easily defeated ant in, are you insulting me?"
The thought, 'This Lunatic is so strong,' flashed through his mind. Emlyn White bared his fangs slightly, looking at the giant who was roaring at someone unknown and hadn't taken the opportunity to continue attacking. A thick black mist emanated from his back.
Ethereal shackles surged on the ground, rapidly approaching the giant bishop. A group of ethereal bats entwined with black flames simultaneously appeared around them, attempting to block his vision and buy time for escape.
A grating friction sound accompanied by a gust of wind struck. Emlyn White manipulated his bat wings, forcibly changing direction mid-flight, only managing to condense a blood-red bat shield in front of his chest.
Reflected in his pupils was a giant completely covered in silver-white armor, dragging several precarious deep black chains, causing the church to seemingly tremble under his steps. He raised that even more dazzling greatsword and, with a stance as if to cleave through a building, brought it down upon him from above.
"Wait, let's talk this out, I am....."
That nearly real feeling of impending Death caused fine beads of sweat to seep from the Sanguine's forehead. He suddenly opened his eyes and saw the strange candle in front of him, saw its black wick and pale flame.
The floor shattered, the chairs destroyed, and the candles cut during the battle had all returned to their pre-battle state, showing no signs of damage.
The originally fierce and menacing tall man in the brown bishop's robe was now looking at him with a benevolent expression.
His eyes blurred for a moment, and Emlyn White's mouth twitched slightly. He subconsciously retorted:
"Who exactly are you? That bishop just now..."
As he spoke, he reached into his embrace, astonished to find that his body was empty at some point, leaving only his clothes. The hidden potions and his two Mystical Items had disappeared.
Looking at the even paler Emlyn White, Utravsky extended his broad right hand. Inside, besides a brass key, there was also an item resembling a combination of a needle, a soft tube, and a container.
"My name is Utravsky, and I am the bishop of Harvest Church. However, I prefer to be called Father."
Looking at the two Mystical Items that originally belonged to him, Emlyn White's eyes immediately widened. He took a few deep breaths before saying with a pained expression:
"Respected Father Utravsky, I have no more questions. I apologize for disturbing you so late. I should also go home."
Bishop Utravsky slowly raised his head upon hearing this, but did not respond. Instead, the atmosphere in the church became oppressive. He gazed at the Holy Emblem of Life in front of him, and said with deep emotion:
"I was born in Indo, along the Midseashire coast. I was a person fanatical about battle and killing. I committed many serious crimes. Fortunately, before I truly fell into the hell of my own mind, I was lucky enough to meet a missionary of the Mother God."
"After that day, I understood the preciousness of life, the charm of all things growing, and gained a pure joy derived from life itself."
"To allow more people to experience this joy, I swore an oath before the Mother God's Holy Emblem to spread Her faith to other nations, as an atonement for my bloody past."
"But the old me, who loved killing, did not completely die with my heartfelt repentance. I can clearly feel that he still lives within my body, always wanting to regain control of everything. What you encountered in the spiritual world was my past self."
The ominous feeling in his heart grew stronger. Emlyn White watched as the Father raised that strange candle and looked at him:
"Previously, I gave you a chance. If you could kill my past self, you would be able to leave this place."
"Now I can give you another chance. If you are willing to believe in the Mother God and recite the holy texts under the Holy Emblem, you can also leave on your own."
Perhaps due to that strange battle just now, Emlyn White felt unusually weak, but his pride still made him roar loudly:
"Recite the holy texts? Bah! I am a noble Sanguine! I tell you, I worship the Moon and will never convert to the Earth Mother! Give up, you hateful Father!"
No expression of regret appeared on his face. Bishop Utravsky nodded, and the stone door in the basement at the back of the hall, inscribed with the "Holy Emblem of Life" and numerous mysterious symbols, lit up:
"Many people have been as stubborn as you. I will explain the holy texts to you. One day, you will realize the preciousness of life and the joy of harvest..."
-----------------
Emerald Palace. Bernadette relied on the fairytale magic "Peach Blossom Source" created by Mystical Reenactment.
The entire space trembled. A pale mask with a metallic sheen floated, causing the originally vibrant peach forest to be filled with Death, gradually decaying, and then rapidly weathering. The ground even began to grow feathered serpent down.
At the center of the surrounding Death was an item that was entirely golden, resembling a miniature kettle, its surface covered with mysterious and complex symbols, and a wick extended from its spout.
It was Sealed Artifact 0-05, "Genie Lamp"!
At this moment, the wick at the spout of the "Genie Lamp" had actually ignited on its own!
The light emitted by the wick was unusually viscous, like water mixed with a lot of sugar. They surged upwards, converging into a distorted and blurred light-gold human figure.
The gaze of this golden figure seemed to penetrate the obstruction of "Pale Death" and the "Peach Blossom Source," looking towards a certain location. An exceptionally grand voice echoed:
"This aura... it's a long-lost familiarity..."
-----------------
In the library filled with books, a thick, dark-gold mist suddenly appeared before Aaron's eyes. Unlike usual, Aaron could feel an inexplicable sense of restlessness.
"The only thing that can give me this feeling here is probably that Genie..."
With a slight upward curve of his lips, Aaron had no intention of delving deeper. After he successfully advanced to Sequence 3 and established "Moon City" in the Nation of Disorder, he had truly taken control of this Sefirah.
Although limited by his own Beyonder characteristics and unable to fully exert the power of the Sefirah, as long as he didn't foolishly offer the "Genie Lamp" to the Nation of Disorder, the Genie, still in its sealed state, could do nothing to him now.
This was also the capital that allowed Aaron to stride in alone and brazenly.
As the creator of the "Peach Blossom Source," Bernadette clearly sensed that some anomaly was occurring.
Looking at the frowning Bernadette, Aaron hinted meaningfully:
"I don't know how Roselle once admonished you, but I must remind you that an unspeakable existence is sealed within the 'Genie Lamp.'"
"Furthermore, My Lord and that fellow have irreconcilable conflicts. If it weren't for the approaching apocalypse, My Lord would need to accumulate strength to deal with a more severe future, and wouldn't have time to bother with that poor sealed creature."
A peculiar glint flashed in her eyes. Bernadette didn't ask Aaron why he knew she possessed the "Genie Lamp." After a moment of thought, she spoke softly:
"I apologize, I must excuse myself for a moment. All the original diaries of my father are stored here. Although many are still missing, I believe they will still be helpful to you."
Bernadette did not use this to ask Aaron to teach her how to interpret that language. Instead, she used a tactic of 'retreat to advance,' actively offering the diaries to Aaron and, by extension, to the Lord of Order, to convey her goodwill.
Watching Bernadette dissipate into pure white feathers, Aaron refocused his gaze on the thick diary in his hand.
Although Bernadette couldn't read Chinese, she had arranged the diaries according to the approximate chronological order in which Roselle wrote them, based on her memory.
This saved Aaron a lot of reading time, though what Aaron found quite regrettable was that there were five thick volumes of Roselle's diaries, neatly organized and bound.
However, the majority of them were Roselle's romantic history and various Beyonder knowledge that Aaron already knew. But this was to be expected; after Roselle gained divinity and even became an angel, the further loss of his humanity would significantly reduce the frequency of 'writing diaries,' something only humans would do.
The diaries that could truly help Aaron now were precisely those written in Roselle's later period. Coupled with the missing diaries, the actual gains were not many.
One of them was probably a diary Roselle wrote during the Sequence 3 Arcane Scholar stage. Perhaps sensing a certain change in the attitude of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, Roselle described in detail the potion formulas and corresponding rituals from Sequence 9 Savant to Sequence 4 Alchemist in that diary.
It might be because the God of Church of the God of Steam and Machinery directly provided the Sequence 3 Arcane Scholar potion, so Roselle only described the Arcane Scholar's advancement ritual.
And this meant that the 'Artisans' cultivated by the East Tucker family finally had the opportunity to continue advancing, no longer having to pay a price to trade formulas with the God of Church of the God of Steam and Machinery.
Besides this unexpected pleasant surprise, what attracted Aaron the most was the diary he now held in his hand:
"May 1192, I have already advanced to Knowledge Emperor according to His will, but the attitude of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery still makes me feel uneasy. Perhaps that crazy Genie was right."
"I should accept the gift from that organization. I want to become an Emperor. Only by becoming a Black Emperor can I break free from the shackles of the 'Son of Steam' and truly protect Bernadette and them."
"Also, yesterday, when I was making the 'Pale Death' mask, I noticed something: that Death of the Fourth Epoch might not have completely perished, and there is more than one resurrection contingency left behind."
"Some of them might be related to that River of Eternal Darkness. Haha, 'Death' certainly isn't that easy to die."
....
"September 1192, today I sought confirmation from the Genie. There is indeed a stronger existence Above the Sequence 0, and the Hidden Sage's existence has already blocked all my paths to advancement."
"I feel like I've become more extreme, but my final choice might be the Black Emperor. As for the imperial title, let's call it 'Caesar'!
"Also, today's conversation deepened my apprehension towards this Genie. He might originate from an era even older than the First Epoch. He has deep grudges with the master of Sefirah Castle and with that Floating Life Profound Yellow Celestial Worthy who transmigrated me to this era."
....
"February 1198, the Eternal Blazing Sun Church and the Sauron family seem to have come together, but it no longer matters. The Black Emperor's advancement ritual is almost ready. As long as I succeed, everything will be fine."
"I have already left the Wheel of Fortune card and the Hermit card to Bernadette. If I fail, combined with those few Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, they can protect her as she grows."
"Since that's the case, I'll leave this Justiciar card to my future lucky person. I hid it in a city named after my imperial title."
"To prevent it from being opened prematurely, I also set an additional activation incantation for it: 'I came! I conquered!'....."
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