Today, they too are going to their deaths.

Moments later, Doreen, a cult follower and anti-human terrorist, was successfully promoted.

Previously, she saw no hope, but after Cui Xun's explanation and understanding of the key to change, her mind was filled with the idea of ​​taking action, spreading the theory, and fighting to the death.

Of course, before she could start fighting again, she had to fulfill her promise to Cui Xun and explain to him the current state of the Snake Worship Cult and the secret arts of the snake.

"Our founder and current leader of the Serpent Worship Cult is known as the Serpent Mother. No one knows where she obtained the Serpent Worship Cult's legacy, or how she developed and expanded it in just a few decades, defeating almost all unofficial supernatural organizations, but everyone knows that she possesses superhuman strength and wisdom."

"She called those powers the power of the serpent god."

"The Snake Goddess's senses allow her to accurately identify the most talented among millions of people; her eloquence allows her to explain the key points of a spell in just a few words; her wisdom allows her to foresee the future and avoid misfortune; her blood allows her to shed her skin countless times and escape death..."

"The Serpent's Secret Technique is an imitation and degraded version of the Serpent God's power. In exchange for greatly weakened power, it has become so universal that even an ordinary mortal like me can master it after a few years of training."

"The key to performing the serpent's secret arts lies in the ancient serpent language that deceives the world and the gestures that anchor power."

Doreen stopped, made a strange sound, and then explained, "What I just said is a word in the language of the ancient serpent that is similar to 'activation.' When combined with a gesture that represents 'granting,' it can bring a designated inanimate object to life."

"To become a high-level believer qualified to cultivate higher levels of power, one needs to make the rope move like a snake."

"You possess power similar to that of the Serpent Worship Cult, which should allow you to bypass the accumulation phase and directly cast spells. So, would you like to give it a try?"

Cui Xun ran the word "activity" through his mind.

He felt a burning sensation in his mouth, as if he were transforming into a form capable of uttering the ancient serpent's language in the best possible way.

The moment the heat dissipated, he uttered a sound even more precise, beautiful, and strangely rhythmic than Doreen's. Then, before Cui Xun could make a gesture, the willpower that followed Cui Xun's will pierced into the distant ice and snow.

The next instant, hundreds of snow snakes made of ice and snow raised their heads at the same time, as if looking up at their monarch, worshipping Cui Xun and hissing, before turning back into ice and snow.

Doreen found it hard to describe how she felt.

It took her three years to learn the basics of the ancient serpent language, and another two years to hone her spirit to the point where she could cast spells. Now, someone heard her utter a single word and, with a more perfect intonation, performed a spell without hand gestures, achieving a result a hundred times stronger than hers.

Faced with this situation, she could only manage to squeeze out a few words: "How are you feeling? Normal believers experience intense fatigue the first time they cast a spell, and some may even collapse from exhaustion."

Cui Xun assessed his condition and said uncertainly, "I'm alright, nothing serious."

In fact, doing this level of activity caused him no physical strain; on the contrary, his body felt more active as if it had been warmed up.

Does this mean the mana bar dropped by 1% and then immediately regenerated to full? That doesn't seem quite right.

He might be closer to casting spells based on rage points, except he has a base rage value, but he can accumulate more rage points during combat and unleash even greater power.

Doreen tried to adjust her mindset.

Upon closer examination, Cui Xun is, after all, a powerful figure who views changing the world as a romantic ideal. He possesses such a grand ambition, so it is reasonable for him to have an extraordinary amount of spirituality.

He wasn't a newcomer; he was just a super strong individual who hadn't previously learned the secret arts of the snake.

That makes perfect sense...

"Speaking of which, what are the resources consumed during spellcasting called? And how do you accumulate and replenish them?"

Doreen felt her gums start to hurt.

Do extraordinary individuals who are unaware of their spirituality truly exist in this world? How did you acquire your power?

But Doreen still answered Cui Xun seriously: "This kind of thing is generally called spirituality. It is a mixture of life force and spirit, with spirit playing a dominant role."

"To accumulate spirituality, one generally needs to train the body, take elixirs, and read various books. The books do not need to contain extraordinary knowledge; they only need to inspire a sense of learning. Typically, truly accomplished scholars accumulate a massive amount of spirituality in a short period of time after taking their first step towards becoming extraordinary."

"Aside from special rituals and elixirs, the simplest way to restore spirituality is through meditation and a good night's sleep. Generally, four hours of effective meditation or eight hours of regular sleep can replenish spirituality."

Cui Xun pressed further, "Then, can spirituality directly follow a person's will and exhibit extraordinary effects?"

Doreen shook her head: "Almost impossible. Spirituality is an abstract force; it needs to be guided to be effective. If you..."

Doreen stared blankly as Cui Xun, without using language imbued with power, gestures anchoring power, or even emanating the slightest sense of abnormality she was familiar with, raised a large snowball from a distance simply through imagination.

She really wanted to ask, "Are you some kind of war god who killed the snake god's brother, only to be killed in a final counterattack that caused you to lose your memory and think you're just an ordinary person, and then you use divine power or something to fool her?"

In the end, she just gave an awkward smile and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I don't know what kind of power you're using, but it shouldn't be spiritual. Let's go back to the spirituality I'm familiar with."

"I don't know if other traditions have similar effects, but the tradition of the Snake Worship Sect will lead to a strong impulse to share wisdom after spiritual accumulation reaches a certain stage."

"According to the scriptures, this is because the serpent god once bestowed wisdom upon humankind, so those who imitate the serpent god will also experience similar impulses. Therefore, bishops often have their own classes to facilitate the release of these impulses."

"This also greatly enhanced the bishops' teaching abilities."

"Those who have listened to the bishop's explanations during a spiritual outburst are often able to embark on the extraordinary path more easily, and bishops can also cause large-scale spiritual chaos by actively imparting wisdom."

"However, because it may cause aftereffects such as amnesia, it is generally not used for missionary work."

Cui Xun recalled, "Was it similar to how my previous explanation caused chaos among the crowd?"

Doreen nodded and then shook her head, then explained, "I was busy getting away at the time and didn't witness the outcome firsthand, but I had a vague feeling that a strong anomaly had erupted on that street. Now it seems more like you accidentally activated your special ability with that special power."

"That was probably not a spiritual outburst, but something similar to the eloquent tongue of the legendary serpent god, which may have led to other effects as well."

Cui Xun nodded knowingly.

During his battles with the monster, it repeatedly attempted to interfere mentally through vocalizations, but he easily bypassed most of these attempts. Looking back now, those abilities were probably quite powerful, and he may have fully inherited those mental interference abilities.

Who knows, one day he might get so angry that he might pull off a true hero's move of killing with his eyes, blasting someone to death with a single eye beam.

However, compared to his innate talent which he could figure out on his own later, Cui Xun was more looking forward to other snake-related secret techniques.

"Are there any other secret techniques about snakes that you can teach me?"

Doreen affirmed, "Of course there is more! Since you have already proven your accumulated knowledge, let's skip all the intermediate steps and directly explore the advanced applications of the Serpent's Secret Technique."

"The secret arts of the serpent are profound and complex. The ancient serpent language and gestures have hundreds of different combinations. Skilled followers can even create suitable spells according to the environment and their own needs. It is completely different from the conventional spells that follow the rules."

"Besides activities, I use 'Hibernation' and 'Shedding Skin' most often. The power generated by 'Hibernation' can force objects to become inert, build defenses, and weaken attacks. Internally, it can suppress injuries and conceal one's aura. 'Shedding Skin' can directly peel off a person's skin and bones externally, and internally, it can accelerate healing and strengthen the body and mind."

"By mastering 'activity,' 'dormant,' and 'molting,' you can basically achieve a unified offense and defense."

"This gives the followers of the Serpent Cult a wide variety of tactics."

"We can use the Snake Movement technique combined with Breath Concealment to transform into a humanoid snake and launch a sneak attack through ventilation ducts; we can throw smoke bombs and activate thermal perception and blindness to sense enemies through vibration and then kill them through the smoke; we can activate surrounding objects to fight positional warfare, or temporarily inert highly dangerous substances to set up traps."

After mentioning a few tactics, Doreen suddenly stopped, saying apologetically, "I'm sorry, I treated you like an ordinary fellow believer. You should have your own set of tactics, you don't need that kind of thing, do you?"

Cui Xun didn't mind at all; on the contrary, he was quite looking forward to it: "I lack common sense, and I need all kinds of knowledge. Moreover, these tactics commonly used by the Serpent Worship Cult are very useful to me. If I make contact with the Serpent Worship Cult, they can make it easier for me to annihilate the opposing believers."

Doreen didn't mind at all; in fact, being able to sell out fellow believers only made her more interested.

She spoke at an extremely fast pace, recounting numerous practical examples of the serpent's secret arts, before turning her attention to the bishops she knew well.

"Unlike believers who are still confined to the realm of humanity, bishops have basically completed the molting ritual, and their vitality has become extremely vigorous. Apart from their brains and hearts, they have no vital organs, and they can even transfer their vital organs, making their feigned death very convincing. So if you kill them, remember to grind their bones to ashes."

"In addition, the molting ritual also grants them the ability to change their appearance. Legend has it that some bishops have used this ability to steal other people's identities, but I don't know any such bishops."

"My former direct superior bishop used the human identity of Ferdinand Howard Surrey, also known as the Duke of Surrey, a famous financial tycoon."

"In addition to the general power that bishops possess, he has reached the pinnacle of the 'Activity' magic system, which allows him to turn everything around him into an aid."

"When prepared, he can turn water into a war behemoth comparable to siege equipment, make a person's blood vessels burst out of their body with a single glance, and turn flying bullets into bronze snakes, but he is not good at dealing with fire."

"He can block ordinary flames with other things or simply command them, but the flames and shockwaves that can blow up an entire manor are definitely enough to severely injure or even kill him."

Cui Xun interrupted, "Isn't your hostility towards this former boss a bit too strong?"

Doreen exclaimed in a trembling voice, "He's a loan shark!"

Of course, it wasn't the Duke who personally went to lend the money, but without his support, there would definitely be far fewer cases of families being ruined and destroyed because of usury.

"I see." Cui Xun pondered for a moment and said slowly, "I actually have some experience in the synthesis of high-energy explosives, but I lack the right environment and materials."

Doreen immediately suggested, "Then how about going to the Royal Academy of Sciences?"

"Aside from my former direct superior, the president of the Royal Academy of Sciences, he is the only bishop whose true identity I know."

"Gottlieb Dalem, he may be the 'bishop' with the largest spiritual reserves, but he joined the church in his old age out of fear of aging. He was not willing to take on the responsibilities of a bishop, nor was he good at fighting."

"I haven't met him in person, but according to my friend, his attitude should be neutral, so you can completely ignore him and collect explosive materials through the Royal Academy of Sciences on your own."

Cui Xun seemed to be deep in thought.

Science and technology are forces that can change the times. If one can personally get in touch with the front line of technology and combine the modern technology he has mastered with local characteristics to create something new, it will definitely be of great benefit to what he will do next. And recruiting technical experts is inseparable from the most cutting-edge research facilities.

The only problem is how he's going to get in.

Should I rely on my own abilities to get into the special admission program, or try to get in through connections? In any case, it's impossible to get a job at the Royal Academy of Sciences after studying honestly for a few years.

But whatever happens, that's a matter for later.

"Doreen, now please show me how to pronounce 'hibernation' and 'molting'."

So, for the next period of time, Cui Xun immersed himself in learning the secret arts of snakes from Doreen, and he vaguely felt a kind of "programming" fun from it.

Only when the sun reached its highest point, announcing the arrival of noon, did Cui Xun, who had exhausted Doreen's magical reserves, feel his curiosity somewhat satisfied and give up.

But his investigation is not over yet.

"Doreen, do you have any information about the Serpent Cult followers in this city?"

Doreen readily gave Cui Xun a hand-drawn city map and added, "I don't have all the information. After all, I'm practically a half-defector from the Serpent Worship Cult. But the Serpent Worship Cult doesn't have a rule against defecting, and I haven't made a big fuss about it, so no one will bother me unnecessarily."

"These are some of the strongholds that left a deep impression on me. Sometimes I would attend their gatherings to gather intelligence."

"The organization of the Serpent Cult is quite loose. They have no habit of monitoring the movement of believers. Branches in different cities may not even know each other. The main way believers are identified is by their strength. Those who can master the secret arts of the serpent are basically high-ranking believers who have been vetted, and they will naturally place their trust in them."

Upon receiving the intelligence, Cui Xun immediately turned around, preparing to seek out the local Snake Worship Cult to gain a deeper understanding of the current situation.

But before he left completely, Doreen called him back and asked, "By the way, what should I call you now? I don't mean your real name, but what you mean to people who came from this slum."

After pondering for a moment, Cui replied, "Since the believers are unaware of the bishops' true identities, and I possess bishop-level power, I could easily be a bishop of the Serpent Worship Church who has just completed the molting ritual on my own and was previously unknown. This identity would be very useful to me."

"My code name will be 'Mentor.' As for how the people in the slums should know me? If they can truly live a good life, they should thank themselves and the people who directly helped them, not someone who schemes for their own ambitions."

"They must distinguish who their friends are and who are just using them, and break with those who are using them when necessary."

Doreen was a little embarrassed: "Ah, I've met six cult followers who called themselves 'mentors,' so that title might be a bit too repetitive."

Cui Xun waved his hand dismissively: "Then, after me, this code name will only refer to one person."