He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

【The Grand Shrine at Dusk】

Ai Yi knelt in the murky pool, her face blank, staring at the characters that appeared on the pure white door.

"The silent red liquid flowed into the cavity, filling it, and your 'wound' healed."

"The silent light of your skull fills the pores between your cavities, making you taciturn, but also allowing you to understand the principle of trace amounts of 'ashes,' the reason for silence, rest, and the remnants of charred ashes."

"In silence, you learned the 'Art of Silence'."

Warmth flowed through his body, the red liquid transformed into muscles and bones, fused into flesh and blood, and repaired the hideous lacerations on his chest and abdomen.

He gently ran his fingertips across his chest. Although the wound was completely healed, the texture he felt was neither smooth nor even; the dense bumps and ridges resembled rugged mountains. After scraping away the smooth, flawless skin, only a deep "scar" remained.

Even now, this "scar" still buzzes.

Ai looked up, his exhausted thoughts rekindled, and the meaning carved on the ash wood door once again entered his eyes:

"By resolutely grasping boundaries, scars are both wisdom and regret, one often arising from the other."

You have received "Scars - The Never-Ending Resonance".

"The influence of the 'moth' permeates your crimson fluids; the 'moth's' hairs pierce your scars. Even in moments of heightened emotion, the sinews of your chest and abdomen remain supple and malleable; you have made a permanent sacrifice for power."

"Through the scars, you understand the principle of a few 'moths': this is the principle of chaos, disorder, and eternal change."

The passage paused for a few seconds, followed by a wave of dizziness, and my body uncontrollably tilted towards an unseen direction:

"Your serous fluid sloshed, and you lost your balance. You felt your body tilt: it seemed to tilt two horizontally in the direction of vibration, and one horizontally in the direction of silence."

"When you tilt at a sufficient angle, more paths emerge from the pool... Can you find a path to tread through this murky red liquid by adopting an inverted perspective?"

……

"I never even considered sending it this way..."

Ai smiled bitterly. Who would have thought that he almost died while taking a nap? He still doesn't know how he survived.

The radiance helped him drive away the moths, but it did not remove His influence—this was only the power of that magnificent being rising from the bottom of the Great Sacrifice Pool to the mortal world through the flapping of his wings, diluted by countless layers of red liquid, enough to dissolve the mind of any mortal.

"We've been targeted by something terrible." Ai shook her head and sighed softly, feeling that her future was bleak.

While at work in Chaodu, having just learned the art of invisibility, Si Chen grabbed him and sucked on his throat.

Nobody would believe me if I told them...

But now, there's no turning back on the path to advancement. The influence of "Moth" has taken root in his scars, and he has become the prey of that Si Chen.

Only Glow... chose to protect itself.

However, this world is not all day. In the "season of rising night," the radiance dies. What if a moth wakes up in the middle of the night and suddenly craves this little treat? Should it just wait to die?

You should call the police and tell them, "I've been targeted by a large moth, please help me."

Okay, that's bullshit.

Therefore, we can only save ourselves.

As Ai browsed the last line of text, he suddenly had an impulse, a thought: the appearance of "2" was the beginning of all change. If he had two different mediums, could he put them together to react...?

The moment this thought arose, before he could take any actual action, the red liquid flowed from Ai's skull opening. Without any sense of reality, it split into two streams in the air, one silent and the other vibrating.

Two streams of red liquid flowed into the Grand Ceremony Pool, and then he heard a response from the pool water:

"You dissolved the moth hairs from the scar in a dish along with the Silence spell... This seems like an experiment: 'Dissecting the Slug's Sacrum'—what will I learn from studying this boneless worm? But if I can separate the slug's sacrum from its mucus, then perhaps I can try the skeleton of a god too..."

This means... the synthesis was successful?

Ai tilted her head: What is this thing? Is it useful? Do I have to separate the moth's bones?

Damn it...

Instead of grappling with these riddle-like texts, upon closer examination, perhaps hiding is an easier approach.

Ai rubbed her temples: "I need to go deeper...and hide."

Previously, the attempt to climb was for the vision of the "top of the tower," but now, it's for my own life.

If one can pass through this ash wood gate and truly enter the world of intangible arts, the Great Gift Pool, then even moths cannot freely cross the area deep within the pool to seek prey in the territories of other celestial beings. At that time, Ai can find a powerful figure's territory to hide in; at least that will save her life.

That's the only way. The most urgent thing is to get through the ash wood gate.

Ai turned her attention to the door again, and the guidance of sowing slowly emerged:

"Beauty is disqualified, effort is futile. The inchworm climbs from the abyss, wrapped in beeswax dripping from pine resin, and falls into another hollow, where birds peck at it..."

Falling... Searching for food...

Who is the inchworm, and who is the bird?

Ai swallowed the bloody saliva. A glass-like object had cut a gash in his throat, and blood began to flow. But this was internal blood, invisible blood; unless his soul were dissected, no one would know of the wound.

He remembered those beautiful wings with their golden-red feathers, and the girl who laughed while hugging her own tail—

"idiot……"

He rubbed his temples, remaining silent for a long time. The door, understanding his stillness, lowered its volume, and tiny tentacles peeked out from the crack, catching the red liquid flowing from his eye sockets before retreating back into the depths of the crack.

"Grief turns into red liquid, rolling down from your invisible eye sockets, dissolving and sinking deep into the soil, nourishing the growth of seeds."

"Feed collected: Grief (1/3)"

"In the next 'suitable growing season,' your seed will attempt to sprout, but nutrients are still scarce; hopefully, it will break through the soil. Or... perhaps try collecting more grief?"

Only a third has been collected, and it's already sprouting?

My seed, it's working very hard.

Quickly pulling herself out of that strange feeling, Ai stroked her chin thoughtfully, sensing that something was amiss—

"What are the chances of the buds budding successfully?"

The door stammered in response: "...30%"

So precise?

"Uh..." Ai was having a bit of a headache. "What happens if the budding process fails?"

Ash wood door: "..."

Well, we can't pin our hopes on probability. The task still needs to be done before the "right time for budding" arrives.

However, collecting grief-stricken stories was not as simple as Ai had imagined—he had already read no less than a hundred hellish jokes before coming to the company today, and some of the most chilling tragedies failed to evoke even the slightest empathy from him.

The only source of nourishment must come from Nana's misfortune.

Only the suffering of those around him can become his sustenance.

"This is absolutely terrible..." Ai looked up helplessly. "This is one of the reasons why I hate the Cult. Their leveling system is so inhumane."

He abhorred in-depth discussions and was weary of empathy.

A seemingly wicked nature, a charming performance and a facade, are all a cover for a deep-seated misanthropy and cold-heartedness.

The secret left to him by his predecessor would not have been used by Ai Yi if it weren't for Nie's guidance—he didn't feel that he had a strong desire for "all things to give way to my worship." Whether in his previous life or after transmigrating, he was a marginal character with very low emotional value. He didn't want to output to the outside world, nor did he want to obtain from the outside world.

This is so troublesome...

Glancing at the sky unintentionally, I saw that the world of the Grand Pool also had an incomprehensible alternation of day and night. The surrounding mist was changing from warm colors to gray-black particles, like drifting black rain.

The twilight glow was fading around the door; the "gloomy season of twilight" was about to pass, and night was about to fall.

The reflection on the pool's surface was no longer clear, but increasingly murky. Swarms of shadows coalesced into worm-like, writhing entities. Ai shook off a few clumps of shadow worms that were trying to crawl up her calves, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

Don't stay here for long!

Ai closed her eyes in the pool, and her body seemed to lose weight and began to rise until she was completely out of the red pool water.

He returned to the present world.

……

In the darkness of ignorance, the remaining meaning on the pure white door was gradually covered by worms. Unable to find a place to bite, they could only gather in the glimmer of light in the crack of the door, piling up a thick shadow.

They moved haphazardly, crawling and wriggling without any order...