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Klein calmly assessed Emlyn's brown priest robe, composed himself, and jokingly asked, "You wouldn't happen to be from the Harvest Church, would you?"
"That psychological cue, you haven't resolved it yet, have you? I remember you said you could write a letter to ask more noble sirs for help, didn't you? Your Sanguine should not lack powerful individuals."
Listening to the barrage of questions, Emlyn's mouth twitched, and his expression fell, his face turning the color of cooled ashes:
"They said Father Utravsky is a Blessed of the Earth Mother, and they don't want to directly conflict with him. They're currently researching other ways to remove the psychological cue."
Leaning back on the sofa somewhat dejectedly, Emlyn muttered with dull eyes:
"By the time they figure it out, by the time they find a powerful individual in the spiritual domain, perhaps I'll already be a loyal believer of the Earth Mother. It's only been two days, and now I'm increasingly feeling how precious life is, and how joyful harvest is..."
A Blessed of the Earth Mother? Father Utravsky is a Blessed of the Earth Mother? Klein first marveled, then felt a wave of lingering fear.
If I had lost that night, I might have been locked in the basement and forcibly detained. If I had won, I would have offended another deity.
No, I couldn't have won at all. A Blessed of the Earth Mother definitely has corresponding trump cards. If Father Utravsky hadn't suppressed the split personality back then, I probably wouldn't have even defeated him...
Klein wisely chose not to delve deeper into the topic and, after some thought, suggested:
"You can try to find an organization called the Psychology Alchemists. They might be able to help you."
Otherwise, you can only wait for Miss Justice of our Tarot Club to become a Psychiatrist, but by then, perhaps you'll already be unwilling to abandon your faith in the Earth Mother... Klein silently added in his mind.
After agreeing to help Emlyn look for clues about the Psychology Alchemists, Klein glanced at the crimson Moon already high in the sky, took out his cloak and mask. Tonight, there was a Beyonder gathering at the Bravehearts Bar.
"This Beast Tamer potion formula and the medullary crystal of the Elf Spring can be sold separately to that Viscount and the fat Apothecary. After deducting the cost of the Elf Spring from the premium sale, it should be around 700 pounds."
"Adding the 1500 pounds in activity funds that Mr. Hanged Man promised to make up this week, I'll still owe Maric 2000 pounds."
Calculating silently in his mind, Klein felt his wallet was like a leaky sieve, causing him immense heartache.
-----------------
In the deeper regions of Calderon, below the River of Eternal Darkness, Gregrace's eyes erupted with bronze light, and an invisible, terrifying suction swept towards Aaron and the strange statue that was drawing water from the River of Eternal Darkness, attempting to drag them both underwater.
Feeling the terrifying suction, and weighing his current predicament, Aaron instantly made a decision. His consciousness connected with the Nation of Disorder, mobilizing the power of the Sefirah.
The illusory Moon City glowed faintly. As the Chain of Order vibrated, an Invisible Force augmented Aaron. Dark golden Mist of Order resisted the decaying, deathly silent force.
Seizing this brief opportunity, Aaron manipulated his historical projection to retrieve the wolf-headed, snake-bodied statue, which had been floating in the illusory River water and had already absorbed a small amount of it.
Without waiting for the River of Eternal Darkness to fully erupt, Aaron, already manifesting an incomplete Mythical Creature form under the magnification of the Nation of Disorder, directly and forcefully modified the rules. Having successfully obtained the branch River water of the River of Eternal Darkness, he no longer cared what anomalies might occur. He took a single step and returned directly to the outer regions of Calderon.
Recalling the scene he had witnessed earlier, Aaron mused:
"The Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace, this ancient god, has completely sunk into the River of Eternal Darkness. It can be said that she has completely lost the possibility of resurrection."
"And if Salinger cannot resurrect within Azik before the Evernight Goddess, then after the Evernight Goddess truly accommodates the Uniqueness of the Death Pathway, he should also sink into the water like Gregrace, and Gregrace's Death imprint will further dissolve as a result."
"However, it seems the River of Eternal Darkness only has a strong pull on Sequence 0 of the Death Pathway. After all, Giant King Aurmir is a Sequence 0 of an adjacent Pathway, yet there is no Death imprint of his."
This judgment was not mere conjecture. This branch of the River of Eternal Darkness originally appeared in the outside world because of Gregrace, so it was reasonable for it to be more closely tied to the Death Pathway.
"Hmm, that's a bit too rash. Perhaps Aurmir's Death imprint is deeper within the River of Eternal Darkness, and I just haven't discovered it yet..."
Just then, the deeper regions of Calderon suddenly experienced violent tremors, as if a colossal entity, provoked, was awakening. Illusory sounds of surging waves were like an endless River rising.
That indescribable sensation even coalesced into a vast expanse of illusory gray-white, like a flood, rising layer by layer from the abyssal pit.
Looking at Calderon, where order was completely disrupted, Aaron did not hesitate, rushing directly towards the exit of the outer region.
He had no immediate desire to delve deeper into the other secrets hidden within Calderon, the City of Calamity, or the River of Eternal Darkness and the blurred figures lurking within it.
He hadn't forgotten that Underworld Emperor Salinger intended to indirectly use the River of Eternal Darkness to fuse with the Red Priest Uniqueness and forge a new Outer Deity Pathway.
Although he eventually went mad, no longer able to control his desire to aggregate the Twilight and Darkness Pathways, in a sense, it could also mean that he truly succeeded in fusing with the Red Priest Uniqueness, only to become like the ancient gods of the ancient era.
Whether the Evernight Goddess played a role in this, Aaron didn't want to delve into it. The crucial point was that Medici, the Red Angel, the original holder of the Red Priest Uniqueness, might have been secretly corrupted by the City of Calamity itself.
In other words, if he counted himself, Calderon would simultaneously be linked to four Sefirot. If it truly triggered some peculiar interaction between the Sefirot, Aaron did not possess the strength of the Celestial Worthy to bring those Sefirot into submission.
Passing through the invisible barrier, Aaron again felt an extremely decaying aura of Death, almost thinking that the power of the River of Eternal Darkness had broken through some restraint and permeated outside Calderon.
Noticing that the Nation of Disorder had calmed down, Aaron followed his senses and looked in a certain direction. The vibrant colors there were completely tinged with a gloomy green, and a white-feathered arm slowly retracted from within, followed by a rapid fading of the heavy Death aura.
Stopping Astolfo, who still wanted to pursue through the Spirit World fluctuations, Aaron narrowed his eyes slightly. That was merely a power projection of a Death Consul. Rashly pursuing it could easily lead to a trap.
Ordinary angels could not sense the changes in Calderon so quickly. Excluding Mr. Azik, who was still searching for the past, only the two from the Numinous Episcopate, closely related to Death, remained.
It wasn't his true body, just a power projection. Aaron narrowed his eyes, instantly thinking of a name: Haiter, the former High Priest of the Church of Death. He had been severely corrupted during a certain ritual and currently could not leave his mausoleum, otherwise he would immediately lose control. That's why he used a more troublesome power projection to investigate the anomaly in Calderon.
-----------------
In a special area deep within the Spirit World, which converged various symbols, Shaman King Klarman, silently following behind the Death scion, Ferryman Arod Eggers, looked at the boundless, dim world ahead, his eyelids twitching slightly as he couldn't help but murmur:
"Is this the legendary Underworld?"
After the ancient Death, the Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace, opened up the Underworld in the Spirit World, apart from the "Door of the Underworld" which could be briefly connected, the exact location of the Underworld was considered unknown. Only the most outstanding among the Death scions could find it.
"Yes, this journey has been smooth. Soon I can fulfill my promise, and your safety will be guaranteed."
As he spoke, Arod Eggers's face silently rotted and fell off, but he simply reattached it to his face.
Although that Classical Alchemist had used his life to reshape his body, bearing the power of the Ferryman was still too much of a strain. Moreover, he had been corrupted by the Uniqueness activated by the Artificial Death, and thus had no choice but to come to the Underworld to seek help.
As the aura of the Ferryman emanated, the dark green, abyssal void immediately became translucent. Skeletons with open mouths, vines with infant faces protruding, bloody arms, and strange, toothy, slimy tentacles frantically reached out, both excited and ferocious.
Ignoring the grotesque and sinister scene, Arod Eggers slowly uttered words that normal beings could not understand. The surroundings instantly grew dimmer, both hazy and illusory.
This was the language of Death from hell, from the Underworld!
"The destination of all Death;"
"The hell hidden deep within the Spirit World;"
"The witness to the decay of all things;"
"The kingdom belonging solely to Death."
As the words of Death echoed, the void immediately ignited with a ghastly green flame, illuminating the surroundings with a sinister chill. A pale green light, flowing with a gloomy green, suddenly spread, and a bronze Door covered in mysterious patterns slowly emerged.
This Door, covered in mysterious patterns, merged with endless deathly stillness, rapidly expanding to over thirty meters in height.
It stood there, using the Spirit World burning with ghastly green flames as its base, like a connection to another world, different from the current one.
Clang!
The bronze Door suddenly opened, and an indescribable Darkness surged out, bypassing Arod Eggers and directly enveloping Klarman.
Seized by transparent, rotting, pale, or illusory hands from the Darkness, Klarman felt a chill from the depths of his Spirit Body, unable to control his body.
He finally couldn't maintain the composure on his face, horrified to discover that his Spirit Body was uncontrollably floating upwards, separating from his body inch by inch!
He was a Sequence 4 of the Moon Pathway, and his spirituality was inherently stronger than that of a demigod of the same level, with mastery over his Spirit Body being effortless. Yet, even so, he couldn't control the feeling of his Spirit Body being gradually extracted.
An illusory black River of the Underworld surged from Arod Eggers, enveloping Klarman. Klarman, who had regained control of his body, gasped a few times and asked with some surprise and uncertainty:
"It seems entering the Underworld at your level doesn't require such trouble..."
You wouldn't be trying to take this opportunity to kill me, would you... Klarman only dared to ponder the latter half of the sentence in his mind.
"Naturally not. If I wanted to enter, I could simply use the power of the Ferryman. But since I am asking for a favor, I naturally need to greet the current master here."
The master of the Underworld? Klarman's face stiffened slightly. At present, the only one still qualified to bear that title seemed to be the leader of the Numinous Episcopate's royal faction, Pale Empress Sia Palenque Eggers.
Cold sweat involuntarily broke out on his forehead. The collapse of the Balam Empire was inextricably linked to the Rose School of Thought. Although he had only joined the Rose School of Thought later, who could be sure that the Empress wouldn't settle old scores with him?
Before he could speak, a dense deathly stillness instantly engulfed his five senses. Arod Eggers directly led him into that substantial bronze Door, which seemed made for giants.
At the center of the deep, gloomy world was a mottled palace covered in feathers. A pure black coffin rested on a high platform in the center of the palace, its lid now open.
A female figure stood, wearing a deep black robe embroidered with gold threads and a golden bird-shaped crown. Her features were soft, with distinct Southern Continent characteristics, yet she gave off an extremely vague, eerie, and terrifying sensation.
It seemed to make every beholder believe that once the contours of this face became clear enough, it would come alive, from ancient times, from the eternal Darkness where the dead slumber.
At that time, this body, spirituality, and consciousness would all belong to this face.
As this face slowly turned, the stone walls and floor tiles inside the palace began to weather, so rapidly that it seemed to have undergone thousands of years of erosion in just a second or two.
They quickly became mottled, constantly shedding fragments or being stirred into dust by the wind, while tiny, pale white downy hairs grew in the cracks.
These downy hairs, in the blink of an eye, grew into large white feathers, their surfaces seemingly soaked in a faint yellow oil stain.
Within these deep black eyes, pale lines emerged, outlining extremely complex and mysterious three-dimensional symbols. It was like a bird with abnormally long feathers, or a feathered serpent coiled up.
This symbol absorbed the surrounding light, quickly gaining substance, and then detached from her eyes, unfurling its "body," and flew towards Arod Eggers, who had suddenly appeared in the palace.
Along its path, this strange symbol made the surroundings even dimmer, causing the floor tiles and stone walls to weather and decay once more, as if the deity who commanded Death had delivered the final judgment.
The falling rubble and rising dust followed the materialized symbol, reaching Arod Eggers, then coiled around him, enveloping the Ferryman.
During this process, Arod Eggers felt the same sensation of being easily manipulated that Klarman had experienced.
As the symbol merged into his figure, he seemed to instantly establish a connection with the source of deathly aura within the palace. For a moment, he seemed to see an illusory deity high above countless undead, and bloated bodies like water ghosts lingering in a dark River.
He also saw black threads extending from his body into the endless void, being violently torn apart. This was the Uniqueness of the Death Pathway corrupting High-Sequence Beyonders of the Death Pathway.
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