Chapter 140: Expert At Courting Death
"The origins of this drop of golden liquid."
After reciting the divination statement seven times, Klein held onto the
goatskin and the illusory golden liquid before leaning back in his seat.
He didn't know if he could divine with the item that was instantiated
based purely on a feeling. All he could do was make bold assumptions and
carefully seek confirmation.
In seconds, Klein's eyes darkened, turning from brown to black as he
entered a state of Cogitation.
His eyelids drooped down and he "saw" the illusory yet blurry dream.
In the blurry world that looked in shambles, a golden, glaring sun
suddenly appeared!
A low grunt resounded across the void. The pure and clean light suddenly
lit everything up as the gold and burning flames swept outwards.
Boom!
Klein was instantly expelled from his dreamworld and flipped onto his
side as he shivered. His body seemed to become a huge bonfire which
burned with a raging flame.
At that moment, his thoughts were all over the place. No proper idea
could form from the chaos in his mind.
Rumble!
The mysterious space above the gray fog shook violently, and the lofty
palace collapsed inch by inch. The ancient, mottled bronze table broke
into a few pieces.
The terrifying changes only continued for three seconds before the world
above the gray fog returned to tranquility as though nothing had
happened.
The gold flame on Klein gradually extinguished. He rolled around on his
charred skin as he groaned in pain, until he eventually regained his
ability to think.
He supported himself on the armrest of the high chair and stood up with
great difficulty. He was terrified and confused about what had just
happened.
He had never imagined that a mere divination would result in such
consequences!
He panted and lifted his head to survey his surroundings. He realized
that the lofty palace and ancient bronze table, which looked like they
had stood unchanged since ancient times, had been damaged. In the world
above the gray fog, which had never experienced any abnormality, it was
simply an unprecedented level of damage.
*What happened? Did my divination point towards some unfathomable
existence?* Klein calmed down slightly and let his burned flesh
shed while he speculated. *If I wasn't protected by this mysterious
space above the gray fog, there might not even be ashes of me left
behind... Could that drop of gold liquid be the blood of a god? Did I
see the Eternal Blazing Sun, or some powerful angel of His? No, that was
the sun, so I think it was the former... Damn, did I just look directly
at a god?*
Klein felt more fear as he thought about it. He felt that he had nearly
died.
*Those who know nothing fear nothing, but those who don't court death
won't die... In the future, I can't just divine anything and everything.
Who knows what I'll see!*
*If that were to happen once more, I don't know if this mysterious space
could even shelter me from fatal damage... When that happens, I'd
actually die...*
*Yes, it definitely won't do if I continue making experiments with the
golden liquid. The existence from before which was likely Eternal
Blazing Sun. He must have sensed the sudden, hidden and unexpected
influence from the divination above the gray fog and failed to respond
in time... If He were prepared, this mysterious space might not have
been able to withstand the repercussions...*
Having come to this realization, Klein's body had already returned to
normal. It was no longer charred, but compared to before, he was dimmer
and more incorporeal than before.
He lifted his hand to massage his temples and commanded with his mind to
restore the palace and the long table.
Then, the palace that looked like the home of a giant and the long table
cast out of bronze returned to normal. Everything looked like it had
before.
Klein sat down and leaned against the back of the chair. He engaged in
self-mockery.
*Well, this isn't entirely bad. At least I know the limit of the
mysterious space and I have a certain goal... Only powers approaching
the angels of the gods can completely influence the power of the area
above the gray fog?*
*Sigh, I have to add another new rule to my Seer principles. 'Do not
randomly divine things that involve a high-level entity.' Yes, I
shouldn't hastily activate my Spirit Vision either. If I were to look
directly at things that shouldn't be looked at directly, it might be
game over. In the outside world, I don't have the mysterious space to
fend off most of the negative effects...*
After a while, Klein's expression turned odd because some knowledge was
reverberating in his head.
Yes, knowledge!
In the short time he had spent with what appeared to be Eternal Blazing
Sun, Klein was constantly in his divination state. Hence, he could
instinctively divine certain matters and knowledge from the being that
he was looking at.
He quickly used a dream divination to recall and organize what he had
gathered that wasn't his primary objective. He picked up the black
fountain pen and wrote one line after another.
"1. Do not look directly at God.
"2. White Angel.
"3. The technique of making a Flaring Sun Charm... It's a relatively
high level charm in the domain of the Sun. Its potency can last a year
before it deteriorates... There's no need for a ritual to pray to the
Eternal Blazing Sun, but the procedure requires the Sealed Artifact
3-0782 to take the ritual's place. It will siphon power from the Mutated
Sun Sacred Emblem...
"4. Extremely hostile towards Lord of Storms and God of Knowledge and
Wisdom.
"5. Bard potion formula:
Main ingredients: a Crystal Sunflower or an adult Flint Bird's tail
feather or a Fire Bird's tail feather... A piece of Siren Rock or a
Singing Sunflower...
Supplementary ingredients: a blade of Midsummer Grass, 5 drops of July
Wine Juice, a blade of Elf Dark Leaf...
"6. Light Suppliant potion formula:
Main ingredients: a piece of Brilliance Rock or powder of Dazzling Soul
or... Blood of a Mirror Hedgehog or the Heart of a Magma Titan...
Supplementary ingredients: a Golden-edged Sunflower, three drops of
Aconite Juice...
"7. Priest of Light potion formula:
Information of main ingredients missing.
Supplementary ingredients: 5 grams of Rosemary, 7 drops of fingered
citron juices, Rock Water...
"8. Sequence 4, Unshadowed potion formula. Main ingredients could be the
golden blood of god extracted from the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem. It
could also be replaced with three adult Sun Divine Bird's tail feathers
and a piece of Holy Brilliance Rock.
Information of supplementary ingredients missing..."
After writing down the eight lines, Klein couldn't help but rap the edge
of the long bronze table.
He had gained way more than he imagined!
He was already satisfied with surviving his reckless divination earlier,
but now he had received an unexpected "survival reward."
From the confidential information he received from the Nighthawks, he
knew that the Sequence pathway that the Church of the Eternal Blazing
Sun held was called Sun, and its Sequence 9 was Bard. It would allow the
Beyonder to imbue courage and strength for themselves and their allies
through their singing, a "job" that brought about devotion and
submission. Their slogan was "Let us praise the Sun!"
The corresponding Sequence 8 was Light Suppliant. They could cast spells
and hold rituals from the Sun's domain which were very effective against
corpses and spirits. Sequence 7 was called Solar High Priest, which
greatly enhanced the spells and rituals within its domain.
*In other words, I have obtained the complete potion formulas of
Sequence 9 and Sequence 8 in the Sun Sequence pathway. Yes, unlike
before, the potion formula even lists replacement items and ingredient
names from different eras... As expected of formulas obtained directly
from Eternal Blazing Sun through divination!* Klein thought in
satisfaction.
He had originally planned on seeing if The Hanged Man could solve the
request of the young man from the City of Silver. After all, the Church
of Storms and the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun were the most
ancient orthodox sects. They had fought against each other for thousands
of years, so it would only make sense for the two churches to have
learned the initial sequence of each other's pathways.
*The Hanged Man might not have cared about the Sun pathway previously,
but since he is very likely a Sequence 7 Seafarer, it would probably be
easy for him if he really needed to gather the information. However, I
don't need him now. I solved it myself, through an unbelievable yet
extremely dangerous method... Miss Justice, Mr. Hanged Man, my Sun
friend, your Fool nearly turned himself into a charred
corpse...* Klein lampooned silently while still feeling a
lingering sense of fear.
He lowered his head and looked at the records on the goatskin before
him. He thought of another formula.
*Would the Priest of Light be an ancient name of Solar High Priest? The
confidential information of the Nighthawks never mentioned it, and my
divination didn't pinpoint the Sequence number... Is it Sequence 6, or
Sequence 5?*
*Sequence 4, Unshadowed... This is the first High-Sequence formula that
I've obtained! It's such a pity that it lacks the supplementary
ingredients. I wonder how I can fill in the blanks? I can't believe that
drop of golden liquid is really the blood of a god. Sealed Artifact
3-0782 is probably far stronger than anyone imagines. From what I can
see, it's sufficient to become a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact.*
*Yes, it's likely that the Nighthawks from before only determined
whether the item has any traits of the living, how much danger it would
cause to nearby humans, how difficult it is to control the item's
effects, and if it can be used against corpses and spirits. They had no
way of discovering its unique origin.*
*The Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem can probably even fight against evil
spirits... How could the examiner find an evil spirit to experiment
on?*
*As an official Nighthawk, I can't become the owner of Sealed Artifact
3-0782, but, yes, I can find an opportunity to make a Flaring Sun Charm
and siphon its power? Sigh. I certainly can't do it now. I haven't
prepared the necessary ingredients. Why would I, a Nighthawk of the
Evernight Goddess, carry the ingredients of the Sun around with
me?*
Klein massaged his forehead regrettably. He saw that there was no other
movement in the world above the gray fog and finally relaxed. He
confirmed that the Eternal Blazing Sun hadn't managed to track him down.
*Do not look directly at God, do not look directly at a high-level
entity. I must remember this!*
*Why would the Eternal Blazing Sun be extremely hostile towards the Lord
of Storms and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom?*
What the hell is a White Angel?
As these mixed thoughts filled his brain, Klein felt the emptiness and
an aching pain in his head. Plus, he felt that too much time had passed.
He had to return to the outer world, just in case someone discovered
anything amiss.
Back then, he thought it would take a minute or so to divine two or
three times in the mysterious space. Plus, there was a spirituality wall
isolating him from everything else. Once it was touched, his body in the
world above the gray fog would sense it. Hence, he felt utterly safe,
but he hadn't considered the possibility of having some sort of
accident. In the end, he nearly lost his life and that wasted quite a
bit of time.
Due to the fact that he was afraid that he would be greeted by a Light
of Purification beam or discover that the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem was
damaged, he enveloped his body with spirituality before he stimulated a
descent with his heart in his mouth.
The crimson moonlight reflected in his eyes, and there was a darkness
hidden within. Klein saw the sparse forest and the weeds before him, as
well as the intact Sealed Artifact 3-0782 in his hands.
After a few seconds of breathless anxiety, he finally believed that he
was safe.
Phew... Klein let out a breath of relief. He felt exhausted
after his insane probing at the border of death.