Following the records on the Stone tablet, Dorothy began her promotion ritual. Fortunately, this secret chamber was a place specifically used for promotions by the Xing Shu Xiu Shu Hui (Star Numerology Scripture Society). The magic circle within the secret chamber was specially made to provide ritual support for all Extraordinary from Apprentice to Black Earth Stage on the path of """enlightenment""".
After being left dormant for thousands of years, the magic circle inside the secret chamber finally began to activate again. As Dorothy chanted, the Spirituality symbols on the magic circle lit up one by one. First was the largest """enlightenment""" in the center, followed by the five other smaller Spirituality symbols around """enlightenment""".
As the chanting ended, a prompt to apply for guidance appeared in Dorothy's mind system. Just like a few months ago, Dorothy agreed to be guided.
Immediately after, the Spirituality symbols in the magic circle shone brightly. Dorothy felt as if an invisible wind swept through her consciousness, causing a moment of confusion. She felt her thoughts expanding boundlessly, making it difficult for her to locate herself. It wasn't until a while later that the expanding thoughts began to contract, and her sense of self slowly returned.
When Dorothy's consciousness returned to clarity, she thought her advancement ritual was complete and was about to get up. However, she found that the magic circle around her was still glowing. Clearly, the ritual was not over, and she hadn't felt any increase in her abilities yet.
'What's going on? I clearly performed the ritual according to the method on the Stone tablet, right? The conditions for promotion were also met. Why is the ritual stuck here? Could there be a problem somewhere? Or is what's written on the Stone tablet wrong?'
Dorothy thought this in her heart. Just as she was feeling confused, a piece of information appeared in her mind.
"""Select the rank to simulate."""
'Rank to simulate?' Seeing this information, Dorothy was surprised and puzzled. But as more detailed information from the ritual itself appeared, she clearly understood what was happening.
It turned out that for other rank professions, the advancement should have ended by now. But Erudite was different. The current Erudite advancement had one more step: simulation selection.
When advancing, an Erudite can choose one other branch path on the path of """enlightenment""" to simulate and gain some of its main abilities.
That is to say, Dorothy can now choose one of the four branch paths: Puppeteer, Thunder Technique User, Diviner, or Dream Interpreter, to gain some of its abilities. Then, during the next advancement, she can choose another one. Each time an Erudite advances, they can choose a branch path on the path of """enlightenment""" to simulate. The simulated abilities will be weaker and incomplete compared to the original version, not all abilities can be simulated, and simulating abilities requires prior preparation.
'Yo ho~ This means I get to choose a profession again, and every time I advance after this, I can choose a new professional skill. Later on, won't I be able to master most of the abilities on the path of """enlightenment"""? This truly lives up to the name Erudite, doesn't it? Knowing a bit about everything, so learned.'
Seeing the introduction to the Erudite's abilities, Dorothy thought this in her heart. Then she began to seriously consider which branch path she should choose for the first simulation.
'It feels like there are many options. Puppeteer can strengthen my current combat style, Thunder Technique User improves my direct combat ability, Diviner further enhances intelligence gathering, and I'm not quite sure what Dream Interpreter does for now...'
Considering the several branch paths, Dorothy thought carefully. She had to make a cautious choice, after all, once she chose, she would only be able to use the abilities of that branch path until the White Rank.
Finally, after a period of deliberation, Dorothy made her choice. She decided to choose Puppeteer, which is close to """Cup""", as her first simulated branch path.
The reason was that Dorothy was already very used to the combat style of Corpse Puppet, and using Puppeteer would also be quite easy for her. Furthermore, after the advancement ritual was complete and 5 points were deducted from each Spirituality, most of her Spirituality would drop to a very low level. Her current reserves of """Cup""" and """Stone""" were decent, and she would have a bit more left after deducting 5 points. Additionally, she had already stockpiled many Corpse Puppet and developed tactics centered around Corpse Puppet, thus having the resource foundation for Puppeteer.
"Heh, then let me take a few more steps down the Puppeteer path first..."
Murmuring, Dorothy continued with the ritual. After she chose Puppeteer as the first simulated branch path, among the five other small Spirituality symbols on the magic circle, the other four dimmed one after another. Only the largest """enlightenment""" and the slightly smaller """Cup""" remained lit.
After the ritual ended, all the Spirituality symbols temporarily dimmed. Dorothy, having completed the ritual, slowly stood up. At this moment, she felt her consciousness was unprecedentedly vast, her thoughts leaped rapidly, and there was even a trace of uncontrollable frenzy in her mind.
After pausing in place for a while, Dorothy slowly restored her mental state back to normal. Then she looked at her hands and murmured.
"So... I'm an Erudite now? An Erudite who first studied 'Cup', a Black Earth Stage Extraordinary..."
Dorothy murmured, then took off the Corpse Puppet Ring on her hand, looking at the bodies scattered on the ground. These were the "contestants" from the "First Dorothy Cup Chess Competition" just now.
Looking at the "contestants" on the ground, Dorothy waved her hand. Without wearing the Corpse Puppet Ring, she simultaneously pulled up all four of them, making them laugh and celebrate among themselves, jointly congratulating Edrick on his victory.
Now, Corpse Puppet manipulation was Dorothy's inherent ability. She could perform it without the Corpse Puppet Ring, and the manipulation limit was four puppets, unlike the Corpse Puppet Ring which only allowed two and required extra Spirituality overload to increase the limit. Dorothy now did not need to consume extra Spirituality to manipulate up to four Corpse Puppet.
In addition, the manipulation range of Dorothy's Corpse Puppet had also significantly increased. Within a radius of 5 kilometers, she could freely manipulate four Corpse Puppet. Beyond 5 kilometers, she could reduce the number of Corpse Puppet manipulated to extend the range. The fewer Corpse Puppet manipulated, the further the distance. When manipulating a single Corpse Puppet, she could extend the control distance up to 10 kilometers.
While maintaining the maximum limit of four Corpse Puppet and the maximum range of a 5-kilometer radius, Dorothy's Spirituality consumption would be relatively low.
Of course, in addition to the increased control quantity limit and control distance, Puppeteer also had some other abilities. These were just basic enhancements, but there was no opportunity to experiment now.
After examining the Puppeteer abilities, Dorothy also discovered a significant problem, which was the flaw of the Erudite branch path: Spirituality.
After advancing to Erudite, Dorothy now possessed 10 points of inherent """enlightenment""" Spirituality, which is 10 points of """enlightenment""" blue bar, and her Spirituality recovery speed increased to 4 points per day.
But the problem was, Dorothy had no auxiliary Spirituality. Although she simulated the Puppeteer's abilities, she was not the original Puppeteer.
Generally speaking, Black Rank Extraordinary would have an auxiliary Spirituality blue bar in addition to their main Spirituality blue bar. That is to say, the original Puppeteer, besides """enlightenment""", would also have an additional """Cup""" blue bar, allowing """Cup""" to automatically recover as well.
Although the auxiliary Spirituality blue bar would not be as large as the main Spirituality, it could still greatly alleviate the Spirituality needs of Black Rank Extraordinary. Since both main and auxiliary Spirituality could automatically recover, their usual combat strength could be guaranteed.
However, Dorothy was different. Dorothy was essentially an Erudite, and the Puppeteer's abilities were simulated. As a pure path of """enlightenment""", an Erudite would still only have the """enlightenment""" blue bar after reaching the Black Rank.