World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 151 Rating Improvement
Watching the local deity depart, Lin An spun the Philosopher's Stone, the Ouroboros swam, and a stream of energy enveloped his body before he and the Ouroboros emerged from the ceiling.

He looked around; the chaos around him was about to come to an end.

The dawn's light illuminated the inner walls of the Wailing Wall, which had been ravaged by a night of fighting. The artificial lake at headquarters shimmered with an unnatural red hue, corpses floated on its surface, and there were also some mysterious figures whose fates were unknown.

Fortunately, with the cooperation of the foundation's staff and the Dawn Association's new recruits, the unrest in various regions subsided.

As Lin An descended the Tree of Life from the "Crown" area, passing the two major points of "Wisdom" and "Understanding," he saw more than a dozen points of light in the emptying mode.

He later heard that after the moose and beaver left, the higher-ups in the Direct Division discovered that the obstruction in the passage had disappeared. They quickly entered the General Manager's office and relayed the news of X's loss of control to all branches. The Dawn Association also replaced it with a new supercomputer.

Each branch weathered the crisis smoothly, and the chain reaction prevented the situation from spiraling out of control.

He continued descent until the outer wall of the "basic" area came into Lin An's view. He found a broken window, went through it, and stood on the floor of the hall.

After cleaning up the broken glass, Lin An lay down on his back, quietly waiting to be rescued.

Because of his remote location, no one was passing by for the time being, and with nothing else to do, Lin An pulled up the entry for "The Complete Book of Magic II".

If I remember correctly, when I completed the crafting of the Philosopher's Stone, the system said that the rating of this item had increased.

As expected, all the alchemy techniques from "The Complete Book of Magic II" were transformed into Mythical C-rank arcane arts, and several new entries were even added.

However, they are shrouded in shadow, and the data is all unknown.

After a moment's thought, Lin An closed his eyes and completely immersed himself in the Philosopher's Stone, aligning his thoughts with those of the serpent-dragon statue he was standing on.

Suddenly, he was immersed in a completely different mental world.

The sun and moon, the seven-symbol planetary metals, and the light floating around the Philosopher's Stone swept by, clearing away all distractions. Countless thoughts drifted away with the wind, leaving only the pure and ethereal essence of the spirit to gather.

After experiencing it for a few minutes, Lin An opened his eyes.

In Western terms, this state is called "epiphany"; in Chinese terms, it is called "contemplation".

The mystical arts of the world are indeed similar in their underlying principles; isn't this just the same as cultivating immortality and attaining enlightenment?

Lin An gazed at the Philosopher's Stone, which stood alone in its own right, with great interest. He had read many fantasy novels during his junior and senior high school years, but he never expected that the overlap of "Komos" would allow him to experience the joy of a mortal cultivating immortality.

However, his visualizations did not depict Bai Ze, Guanyin, or similar figures, but rather symbols representing celestial bodies and metals, such as the crown of Apollo, the moon of Diana, and the rose of Venus.

Rather than breathing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, Lin An is absorbing the brilliance of the sun and moon through the statue.

It's a bit of a comical misalignment.

Zeus stroked my head, granting me eternal life?
Damn it, we're both "gods," so why does it feel so perverted to be touched by Zeus?

Lin An has determined that maintaining a state of "enlightenment" for an extended period can grant him wisdom from the Philosopher's Stone, thereby unlocking those ambiguous entries.

It seems that mysterious objects can also provide enlightenment, just like the "Complete Book of Magic".

I now have another way to get encyclopedia entries.

Sure enough, exploring the world of "Comers" always brought him all sorts of surprises.

Lin An thought to himself, then turned to the panel of "The Encyclopedia of Magic II".

"Brother Tongzi, I didn't know ratings could be improved in this way. Does that mean other magic encyclopedias can also have their ratings increased by crafting corresponding mystical items or merging entries with the same name?"

He was communicating with the system while trying to sort out his thoughts.

"Yes."

"Including Hittite rituals at the source level?"

"Yes."

"But if this level is upgraded further, it will be the statue level, while you are only at the source level B. Wouldn't you be unable to control it?"

"As you delve deeper into the 'Encyclopedia of Magic,' the rating of the [Mysterious Encyclopedia] will rise in tandem with the completion of its entries," the system said.

"Are you Sakura's Clow Card? Do you want me to unleash your true power?"

"..."

These words left the system speechless. After a moment's thought, Lin An took the initiative to continue.

"In other words, if I include an entry that can be traced back to the 'Hittite ritual,' you will become a statuary-level archetype?"

He couldn't help but think of Doris Wood, who rode the Canaanite Slab in Dietrich. According to Cardenas's intelligence, she had fallen out with [Xion] for some reason, left her family, and was currently completing some kind of ritual in Dietrich.

You don't want to be Eve Cadmund, do you?

"Collecting the mysterious prototypes of Hittite rituals, or searching for entries on Canaanite magic, can complete the entry 'The Encyclopedia of Magic I: The Necromancer, Fertility and the Dark Earth - Hittite Worship Ritual,' as they belong to the same supreme god."

The system affirmed this.

Through his conversations with the system, Lin An gradually determined what he needed to do upon returning to Dietrich.

"Don't forget, Lin An." The system sensed his thoughts and abruptly reminded him, "You need to find a way to reduce the level of contamination in the 'Seeker of Knowledge' medium. Once the contamination level reaches the next critical point, I will go into hibernation again."

"Is there another service shutdown for maintenance?"

Upon hearing the system's words, Lin An gritted his teeth.

"Brother Tongzi, you've been awakened for so many months now. Can you learn from Brother Luzi's mysterious prototype and try harder to reduce the pollution yourself?"

"I could be a check-in system." "Huh?"

"Just keep reading the Complete Book of Magic," the system calmly suggested. "Until you've collected all 12 volumes, you can't use any arcane magic during that time."

“Even if I hadn’t joined the Foundation, Lei would have taken me away anyway, and I would still be standing at headquarters now.” Lin An brought up the second possibility of fate, “But the Philosopher’s Stone probably wouldn’t exist in that timeline.”

"As long as you don't use any mystical arts, no one will notice you."

"Am I supposed to just let Heda Steiner kill Sasaki? The gears of fate started turning from that moment. Besides, who knew you couldn't include the 'Encyclopedia of Magic IV' in electronic format? Luckily, I managed to finish translating the cloud document despite my motion sickness."

Thinking of this, Lin An stopped talking.

The system can only include entries by accessing the original text, which means that the ancient books in my great-grandfather's estate are themselves mysterious items.

Jericho also mentioned that high-ranking mystics need a bit of "archaeology".

Do ancient objects inherently carry radiation?
How are they preserved, and how can we determine their authenticity?
Speaking of which, doesn't the University of Ann Arbor have a bunch of artifacts donated by its alumni association over the years?

This semester I also went to a museum for field research...

Professor, is our university really not going to be wiped out when "Commerx" arrives?

Taking a deep breath, Lin An put away the data and closed his eyes.

He heard the sounds of the rescue team in the distance, and some foundation employees discovered Lin An's body lying there.

"There's another survivor over there! A survivor found unconscious in Sector E!" The man rushed to Lin An. "Hey, buddy, hang in there! We'll get you to the emergency room right away!"

About three minutes later, Lin An was placed on a stretcher and taken to the makeshift emergency room.

To avoid wasting medical resources, he rolled out of bed and, to the astonishment of his caregivers, strode briskly toward the door.

"Sir, you are still very weak, please do not move!" they quickly stopped him.

"Thank you everyone, I feel much better."

"What nonsense are you talking about? You haven't had a doctor's check-up or treatment yet!"

“The physique of the Mystic is different from that of ordinary people.” Whether it was due to the increased radiation levels or the Philosopher’s Stone, Lin An didn’t even feel tired or sleepy. “Have you received a wounded person here named Simon Lloyd?”

…………

Three days later, on a clear morning in Yici Leye.

No longer shrouded in the intense clamor of Kadmon, Jericho walked slowly and laboriously through the temple.

He revealed his human form, which was even more handsome and charming than before. He was now on the verge of death, and would occasionally touch his chest with his hand, the empty wound repeatedly sending waves of intense pain through him.

A pathetic failure...

Led by two men in white robes, Jericho passed through a semi-circular archway and arrived at a prayer room.

Its walls were also snow-white and flawless, and the floor was covered with a diamond-blue carpet.

The light shone on the face of the girl with long, flowing hair, casting a dappled shadow on one side and creating a halo of seven colors.

She wore a moon-white robe with gold trim, two dark blue ribbons hanging down to the ground at the back, and a tall hat with five-pointed stars on it. She was tall and slender.

"call."

The girl exhaled and blew on the golden lampstand with its seven lamps, and the flames burned from top to bottom, heralding the arrival of the Sabbath in Wanning.

"Long time no see, my dear aunt."

Upon hearing Jericho's polite greeting, the girl turned around.

She looked to be twenty, or perhaps thirty, forty, or fifty, possessing the qualities of a boy, a woman, and an old lady all at once. Her blue eyes were as deep as the ocean, and strangely, there were two pupils inside each eye, each enclosed by a radiating ring.

"Avel, what has made me so fortunate to have your visit?"

The girl's pronunciation was strange, her voice seemed to come from the heavens, completely different from her young and beautiful appearance, making her seem untouchable.

“My needs of you, madam,” Jericho bowed, “and your needs of me.”

“I am glad to hear the first part of your words, Avel; but the latter part is…” the girl leaned against the table in the prayer room, “you are not a demigod now, at most a quarter statue.”

“Undeniably,” Jericho said modestly, “please believe that I have the utmost sincerity and respect for an elder like you, but I must be frank—otherwise our conversation would drag on and I would suffer greatly—whom do you want me to replace?”

“I never talked to you about replacing you, nephew Avel. Did I say those words? By comparison, ‘succeeding’ is less aggressive and grammatically more appropriate.” The girl held out her hand. “I want you to replace someone.”

“Oh, Auntie, my strength can now withstand any test.”

"Very good, you agree."

Jericho kissed the girl's hand respectfully.

“I can’t think of a reason to refuse. You are playing the role of the Colossus of Rhodes in this century; the ocean passes beneath your feet but cannot shake your seventy-two-letter name.”

“I will heal your wounds immediately, Avil.”

The girl embraced Jericho with tenderness; he returned the embrace.

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(End of this chapter)