"Heh... I didn't expect it was really you who reported him, but reporting someone from your own organization to another organization, won't that be considered betrayal?" After hearing Mr. Aldrich's words, Miss Dorothy asked curiously, and the other party replied calmly.
"No, I reported him precisely for the sake of the Craftsmen's Guild. Think about it, if Deer Skull really relied on devouring the people of a city to create a sufficiently excellent work, won the competition, and took a seat on the Golden Council, and afterwards his actions were investigated and exposed, and the Hidden Spec Ops and the Shining Light Church came looking for an explanation, and he was already one of the Golden Council members, to a certain extent directly representing the entire Craftsmen's Guild, it would be very difficult to handle. If the other two seats were to forcibly deal with him, Deer Skull, who had already become Golden, would have the ability to directly split the Craftsmen's Guild."
"Ultimately, this would escalate into a complete deterioration of the relationship between the Craftsmen's Guild and a major country's government and the Shining Light Church, which would be absolutely detrimental to the future of the Craftsmen's Guild. My report was also for the future of the entire organization."
Mr. Aldrich responded righteously. Listening to Mr. Aldrich's words, Miss Dorothy felt that it made sense for a moment. Deer Skull's actions were indeed gambling with the future of the entire organization, and whether Mr. Aldrich intended it or not, he objectively saved the lives of the people in a city. In this regard, it was undoubtedly good.
"So what happened next? Deer Skull was expelled from the Craftsmen's Guild, so you were the final winner, right? Then why didn't you successfully become Golden?"
Miss Dorothy continued to ask, and Mr. Aldrich spoke after letting out a sigh of relief.
"After that, I did win and gained the qualification to advance to Golden. As for my victory, Deer Skull held a grudge. While I was holding the final ceremony, he secretly tripped me up, causing an accident during the advancement ceremony. I suffered a backlash as a result."
"In fact, this ceremony was not a complete failure. After the ceremony, I had already obtained most of the Golden rank and abilities, but the backlash from the ceremony also caused serious damage to my body, especially the Spiritual Network that stores Spirituality, which was greatly damaged. Although I can barely be considered half a Golden now, I can only store Spirituality equivalent to roughly the Black Rank."
"I cannot retain more Spirituality. With only Black Rank level Spirituality, let alone Golden, it is difficult to even use Scarlet and Chalk level abilities. This is why I have so many Stone statues hidden in the school, because I can only rely on external objects to release and use high-level abilities. So, in the battle just now, your battle with Deer Skull's subordinates was the key to deciding the entire outcome of the battle."
After Mr. Aldrich finished speaking, Miss Dorothy nodded thoughtfully after listening.
'It seems this ceremony's backlash directly cut the old man's MP limit by more than half, which is why he needed so many blue potions when fighting.'
"You said Deer Skull tripped you up and caused your advancement to fail. Then his action should have directly been hostile to the entire Craftsmen's Guild, right? Did no one from the Craftsmen's Guild deal with him afterwards?" Miss Dorothy continued to ask. Crippling a Golden who had spent a lot of effort to advance, the Craftsmen's Guild couldn't tolerate such a thing, could they? Expelling him before might have been out of old sentiment, but after he pulled this stunt, wouldn't the Golden Council members of the Craftsmen's Guild just kill him directly?
"They did. The Golden Council immediately issued a kill order for Deer Skull, but Deer Skull found a new backer at this time. I don't know what method he used, but he convinced the great society of'Silence', the Ming Guan Jiao Tuan (Netherworld Coffin Order), to accept him. The upper echelons of the Ming Guan Jiao Tuan (Netherworld Coffin Order) came forward to mediate and protect Deer Skull, and the Golden Council was persuaded by them."
Mr. Aldrich responded, and Miss Dorothy couldn't help but say in astonishment.
"They could be persuaded by this?"
"Heh heh... Of course they could. The Netherworld Coffin Society persuaded the Craftsmen's Guild using the Craftsmen's Guild's principles. They proposed to make a deal with the Craftsmen's Guild, saying they were willing to exchange something from within the Ming Guan Jiao Tuan (Netherworld Coffin Order) for Deer Skull's life. This item would be decided by the Craftsmen's Guild."
"Trade is the principle of the Craftsmen's Guild. We can do business with anyone. Since someone proposed a trade, the Golden Council will accept it as much as possible. To compensate me, the Golden Council decided to give me the right to choose, allowing me to take something from the Netherworld Coffin Society to make up for my own losses."
Mr. Aldrich continued. Listening to Mr. Aldrich's words, a hint of curiosity appeared in Miss Dorothy's eyes. She asked.
"So, what did you choose?"
Hearing Miss Dorothy's question, Mr. Aldrich smiled slightly, then continued.
"I chose the unfinished work of Deer Skull, who had already joined the Netherworld Coffin Society."
"His work? What do you want that thing for?"
"Heh heh, naturally for revenge. For us'Shi' (Stone) practitioners, the process of creating a work is the process of the Golden advancement ceremony. Once the Golden advancement ceremony begins, there is no turning back. If he wants to successfully advance to Golden, he must complete his work and then hold the ceremony. I took it from him. Without his work, he can never hope to advance to Golden."
"But in that case, wouldn't you be in a death feud situation? Is it worth it?" Miss Dorothy said, feeling a bit incredible. Mr. Aldrich's action was equivalent to creating an absolute arch-enemy at the peak of Scarlet for his already half-crippled self, a death feud.
Regarding Miss Dorothy's question, Mr. Aldrich continued to answer easily.
"Of course it's worth it. I hold grudges, even if I'm crippled. He ruined my ceremony, so he can never hope to successfully advance."
"After that, I left the upper echelons of the Craftsmen's Guild and started to live in seclusion in random cities, acting as an ordinary city manager for the Craftsmen's Guild in the city I was living in. As for Deer Skull, he went mad searching for me, trying to get his work back. We played hide-and-seek like this for over a hundred years."
"He occasionally found me and attacked, but I was warned in advance and called upon the high-ranking members of the Craftsmen's Guild and other old friends to help fight him back. After that, I would change locations. After doing this several times, until thirty years ago, I came here to be the principal under the introduction of my old friend, Saint Amanda, and have been doing it ever since. Finally, that guy found me again."
"This time, he learned to be smart. To avoid alerting me, he didn't come to investigate personally, but sent two inconspicuous Black Rank members. After confirming the reconnaissance, in order to achieve a quick victory and prevent me from having time to find old friends like before, he directly sent his subordinates to summon clones to fight me, thinking this would solve me."
"Heh heh... But what he didn't expect was that I met reliable new friends here."
Saying this, Mr. Aldrich glanced at Miss Dorothy, and Miss Dorothy also twitched the corner of her mouth after hearing it.
'This old man is really something, risking his life to block his enemy's advancement. But looking at the current situation, he can only block it. And he's actually friends with Saint Amanda, the founder of this school? It seems he has quite a network.'
"Alright, you are pretty much clear about the grudges between me and that guy. So, Miss Meisihuos, what else do you want to ask next?"
Mr. Aldrich continued to speak to Miss Dorothy, and Miss Dorothy immediately responded.
"Mr. Aldrich, you are an Extraordinary primarily of'Shi' (Stone) and secondarily of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment), right? I want to ask you if you know anything about the 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) pathway."
Miss Dorothy said directly, and Mr. Aldrich looked at her playfully before answering seriously.
"Although I had some suspicions before, I didn't expect Miss Meisihuos to really be an Extraordinary related to 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment). More importantly, you are still an Apprentice and cannot choose a secondary Spirituality, therefore... you have been on the 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) pathway from the beginning, a true Extraordinary primarily of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment). Am I right?"
Facing Mr. Aldrich's words, Miss Dorothy did not respond, just remained silent and acquiesced. Seeing Miss Dorothy's response, Mr. Aldrich burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha... Amanda, Amanda, you really didn't introduce me wrongly to this small place. I didn't expect that I would be able to see a practitioner of the 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) pathway here, a genuine Extraordinary of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) who has never appeared in our era. I didn't expect this old bone of mine could still witness history, hahahaha..."
Mr. Aldrich laughed heartily. After laughing, he continued to look at Miss Dorothy and then said a noun.
"Xing Shu Xiu Shu Hui (Star Numerology Scripture Society), this is the only hidden society recorded in hidden history that followed the ""enlightenment"" pathway. It was active from the Second to Fourth Eras, was once prosperous but was destroyed by an unknown disaster."
"The ruins of the Xing Shu Xiu Shu Hui (Star Numerology Scripture Society) are spread across the continent. For anyone who wants to glimpse the secret of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment), the best way is to seek out these ruins. It was also during an accidental exploration of a Xing Shu Xiu Shu Hui (Star Numerology Scripture Society) ruin that I gained the opportunity to use 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) as a secondary Spirituality. I can tell you the location of this ruin, and you might be able to find more things inside."
While speaking, Mr. Aldrich looked seriously into Miss Dorothy's eyes, then slowly said.
"That ruin is not far, it is within the Preet Kingdom, in the capital of this country, Tivian."