Mystery: Starting with the Night Pope.

Chapter 201 The Twilight Hermit's Meeting

One late night, Truman was fiddling with a badge in his hand. The badge was engraved with a dragon head, seemingly real yet ethereal, and one could vaguely sense the dark, undulating sea surrounding it.

This is the ocean of the collective unconscious.

The entire badge was "found" by Truman in the ocean of the collective unconscious.

Ahem... Actually, he sensed something and reached out to grab it, then casually modified the information above to point to him.

Its function is simple: to guide the way in the sea of ​​the collective unconscious, the end of which is probably a dream.

The dream depicts a gathering with a long history, possibly dating back to the early Quaternary period.

"Let's go check it out!" Truman followed the connection and found a dream gathering in the sea of ​​the collective unconscious.

And now is party time.

"It seems pretty good!" Truman's consciousness directly entered the dream.

What comes into view is a large cathedral dedicated to the Creator, but it does not enshrine the one from the Tertiary period, but rather the "First Creator".

The church has two levels, an outer and an inner. The outer level is very spacious and can accommodate thousands of people to pray, while the inner level is where meetings are held.

Truman walked in and saw an enormous long table surrounded by dozens of high-backed chairs.

"Another newcomer?" Most of the high-backed chairs were already occupied, and the people looking at Truman either nodded in a friendly manner or remained indifferent.

These people's appearances were all displayed without any concealment, highlighting their confidence.

"There are vacancies here." A voice rang out, and the attendee closest to Truman gestured for Truman to sit down.

It wasn't that the man was particularly hospitable, but rather that it was his first time attending the conference, and he instinctively wanted to find allies.

Truman turned his head and saw a familiar face.

Russell Gustave.

This is the "Twilight Hermits," a secret organization founded by Adam.

Those who are able to sit here are all core members of the Twilight Hermit Society, not the peripheral errand boys.

Russell Gustav was able to receive an invitation to enter the core circle of the "Twilight Hermits" based on his Sequence Six rank, most likely because of his special status in the "Church of Craftsmen".

"Now that the two newcomers have arrived, I will represent the president to introduce our basic rules." An elderly man standing closest to the president stood up and looked at Russell and Truman.

This is a Sequence 3 "Dream Weaver" from the "Audience" pathway, representing the mysterious summoner.

The people here also have their own speculations about the organizer.

"We believe in the original Creator, and everything we do is for His awakening..."

"Twilight will inevitably come, and the end is unavoidable. Then He will awaken from His slumber, return everything to Himself, and create a new world..."

"We are all part of that..."

"People gradually lose themselves until they 'fall asleep,' so we must observe ourselves and remember ourselves..."

Russell listened attentively; it was his first time attending such an unusually high-level gathering, and he was very cautious.

Truman's lips twitched; he felt that Adam was subtly criticizing him in that last sentence.

No, that phrase "gradually losing oneself" is already a clear slip-up.

"To welcome the new member, we will bestow upon him knowledge of one of the pathways of the second 'Blasphemy Tablet,' along with the names of all sequences."

Russell gasped. The knowledge of a single path and the names of all the sequences was a tremendous treasure in itself!

Wait... a second blasphemous slab?!

Rosell heard a term that only existed in mythology.

"This organization made the right choice!"

Rosell excitedly looked at the ancient stone slab that had suddenly appeared in the old man's hand and memorized everything he could see.

Aside from the knowledge gained through the "General Knowledge" pathway, the other pathways only provide sequence names; acquiring more specific knowledge requires paying a corresponding price.

"Great! Welcome to our team!" Many of the more friendly attendees applauded.

"However..." the old man suddenly changed his tone, "Just a reminder, if you mention gatherings or related matters to outsiders without permission, it will be detected and you will be dealt with."

"The last one to be cleansed was Honoré Iker, the 'Holy Hand,' a Sequence Two angel."

Russell's expression was solemn as he nodded slightly.

Truman didn't react, and the old man took it as tacit agreement.

"The next step is the transaction." The old man nodded in satisfaction.

After a moment of silence, someone finally spoke up, "I need a 'Night Watcher' trait."

The "Night Watchman" is the fourth rank of the "Sleepless" pathway in the Church of the Night, making him a demigod. Within the Church of the Night, he would be one of the highest-ranking individuals.

"I suggest you go directly to the Church of Tranquility and kill one; that's the fastest way," someone mocked.

"Of course, in that case, you might have to face the papacy of the Church of the Night."

"Resources for the 'Sleepless' pathway are too scarce. They are strictly controlled by the Church of the Night, and there are almost no demigods left outside," someone else said.

"I suggest you choose either 'Demon Hunter' or 'Undead'."

The people here are all high-ranking officials, wielding unimaginable power and knowing far too many secrets.

Russell felt that his worldview had been greatly impacted.

In just a few words, he had already revealed the knowledge of the interchange of pathways, which benefited him greatly.

The person who made the request nodded slightly, "If it has the other two characteristics, that's also acceptable."

This time, someone agreed, indicating that they could obtain the resources.

The resources here are not just characteristics, but also "people".

The method of hunting demigods to obtain their traits can only be revealed here.

"Very good, what do you need?"

Eventually, some people also proposed their own rewards, and gold coins were not the only option; more often, they offered trades based on specific characteristics.

"Wow, this is so high-class!" Rosell blinked, like a husky that had infiltrated a pack of wolves, too afraid to say a word.

However, transactions involving beings above the demigod level are rare at such gatherings, and only one has occurred so far.

What followed was more about the exchange of interests between various forces.

The people here are all of high rank and power. Among the people Russell could recognize were ministers of the Solomon Empire's emperor and generals of the military.

These people are openly buying and selling the interests of the empire.

The counterparties in the transaction were kingdoms and high-ranking members of the church outside of Solomon.

"This is...so evil, and so powerful!"

Russell sighed, then looked at the newcomer next to him, who was also attending the conference for the first time, just like himself.

It's an old rule for newcomers to stick together.

(End of this chapter)