Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

In the captain's cabin of the "Future" in the waters of the Roside Islands.

Cattleya opened her eyes from her meditation, her purple eyes filled with deep worry and surprise.

As a highly secretive organization, everyone knows that the members of the Aurora Society are madmen. But this madness is not due to their inherent nature, but rather because they follow the path of the "Secret Prayer."

Any extraordinary individual who follows the 'Mystic' pathway will perceive the presence of something mysterious and terrifying. And once they advance to Sequence 8, the 'Listener,' they can directly hear whispers from the true Creator, becoming further corrupted by them.

It is precisely because of the influence of "True Creation" that extraordinary individuals in this path often experience distorted cognitive perspectives and are prone to losing control.

Therefore, to official Beyonders, any Beyonder who uses the "Mystic" pathway is a potential criminal, and they are treated completely differently from other wild Beyonders—once discovered, they will inevitably be captured or even eliminated on the spot by official Beyonders.

Compared to the extraordinary ones who follow the 'Secret Prayer' path, the 'Secret Seeker' path is better, but only 'some'.

Just as Extraordinary Beings of the 'Mystic' pathway hear the murmurs of 'True Creation', Extraordinary Beings of the 'Mystic' pathway are also inevitably influenced by the 'Hidden Sage,' a high-sequence being of the 'Mystic' pathway.

The oldest existing secret society, the Morse Order, possesses the means to become a "secret seeker".

Originally, the Morse Order worshipped an impersonal deity, the "Hidden Sage".

This is described as a deity, but it is closer to an idea, a natural law, such as all things are numbers, and the Hidden Sage is the embodiment of numbers; or knowledge is supreme, and the Hidden Sage is knowledge itself. Therefore, the early Morse Order was a highly respected organization with good relations with major churches.

But one day, the god worshipped by the Morse ascetic, the Hidden Sage, came to life!

He became a personified evil god!

From that day on, just like the 'True Creator' who enjoys instilling ramblings in believers, the activated 'Hidden Sage' is equally keen to instill 'knowledge' into extraordinary individuals who follow the 'Hidden One' path.

But for most extraordinary individuals, this "knowledge" is more like poison, a poison called pollution.

As Emperor Roselle once said, it is not we who pursue knowledge, but knowledge that pursues us. The Hidden Sage is knowledge itself; it is pursuing us, pursuing every member of the Ascetic Order of Morse. When a great deal of knowledge is poured in, but we cannot digest and master it quickly, there are only two possibilities: either lower your mental defenses and accept the transformation of the Hidden Sage, or persevere with willpower. If you cannot hold on, you will lose control.

No extraordinary being who follows the "Hidden Seeker" pathway can escape this predicament of being pursued by knowledge. Whether it is a Sequence 9 "Hidden Seeker" or a Sequence 5 "Astrologer," no extraordinary being who follows the "Hidden Seeker" pathway can avoid the fate of being pursued by knowledge.

Even Cattleya, who has now been promoted to Sequence 4 'Mystic' and is already a demigod, is not immune to this.

She was once tormented by the pursuit of knowledge by the "Hidden Sage" and nearly lost control, but it was Mr. "Fool" who saved her.

Now that she has become a demigod, she is able to begin to resist the knowledge imparted by the 'Hidden Sage'. This resistance is not a matter of simply rejecting knowledge; even as a demigod, it would be difficult for her to refuse a god's 'gift.' Rather, it means that she is now able to begin to 'accept' and 'understand' this knowledge, so that it no longer becomes 'poison'.

As long as she doesn't actively seek knowledge from the hidden sage, the knowledge she passively pursues won't have a significant impact on her.

But in any case, the pursuit of knowledge will never cease. Only when she ascends above the gray fog will this "knowledge" temporarily halt its pursuit of her due to the obstruction of Mr. Fool's divine realm.

But now, the situation has suddenly changed.

Since last week, Cattleya has lost the ability to sense the pursuit of knowledge.

The "Hidden Sage," who was so eager to impart knowledge to all those extraordinary individuals on the "Secret Seeker" path, suddenly stopped, as if he had vanished without a trace in an instant.

Cattleya didn't understand what this change meant, and she wasn't even sure if it was a good thing.

Although the Hidden Sage stopped imparting knowledge to her, it saved her from the risk of losing control and prevented her from having to spend a lot of energy every day digesting this knowledge, lest the 'knowledge' accumulate into a poison that would make her lose control.

But Gadria had a bad feeling. It was more like the calm before the storm to her. The temporary disappearance of the Hidden Sages did not necessarily mean liberation, but more likely it was a harbinger of destruction!

As a "living" deity, the essence of the "Hidden Sage" is influenced by the original "Ascetic Order of Moss," meaning that knowledge is imparted to individuals. As long as the "Hidden Sage" lives, He will not cease imparting knowledge to extraordinary individuals on the "Hidden Ones" path.

The sudden disappearance of the "Hidden Sages" and their cessation of pursuit of those with extraordinary "Secret Seekers" can only be attributed to two possibilities:

Either the 'Hidden Sage' has already fallen, so He can no longer pursue others.

But a god cannot fall silently. When He falls, His power will be poured into the whole world without reservation, and everyone will feel it, especially the extraordinary ones who share the same path.

But Cattleya didn't have a similar feeling, so it could only be the second possibility—

The Hidden Sage is attempting to reach a higher level, so He has temporarily stopped chasing after others!

Cattleya knew very well that the "Hidden Sage" was not a true god; He was closer to a unique "King of Angels," like Adam and Amun before Him. And if He wished to ascend to a higher level, only the throne of true God remained!

"The 'Hidden' Sage is about to advance to Sequence 0!"

A crazy thought popped into Cattleya's mind, and an uncontrollable fear surged into her heart.

The mere presence of the "Hidden Sage" of the "Angel King" nearly drove her to the brink of madness. What would happen if He became a true god of Sequence 0? Moreover, the Hidden Sage has existed for thousands of years, and He has never shown any signs of advancement in those thousands of years. Why is He advancing now of all times?

What does this mean?

Cattleya dared not think any further. She immediately recited the name of the 'Fool' and told the great being her guess.

-

Above the gray fog, Klein, who had listened to the prayer of the "Hermit" lady, was somewhat surprised:

"The Hidden Sage is going to become a god?"

He was absolutely certain that the "Hidden Sage" was not a true god!

Because over a hundred years ago, Emperor Roselle followed the 'Perfect One' path, but since the 'Sequence 0' at the pinnacle of the 'Perfect One' path had already been occupied by the God of Steam and Machines, he had to switch to the adjacent path, the 'Hermit' path, and ascend to the 'Knowledge Emperor' at Sequence 1.

However, due to Roselle's lack of confidence in hunting the "Hidden Sage," and the contamination he suffered on the moon, he had no choice but to take the risk of switching to the "Black Emperor" pathway. Therefore, at that time, Roselle possessed one Sequence 1 "Knowledge Emperor" extraordinary trait, three Sequence 1 "Slaughter Prince" extraordinary trait, and the uniqueness of the "Black Emperor" pathway.

Since Emperor Roselle ultimately perished at the White Maple Palace, these extraordinary properties will most likely end up in the hands of the Steam Church and the Eternal Sun Church—theoretically speaking.

Any adjacent pathway is beneficial to extraordinary individuals with low to medium sequences because they can freely switch between adjacent pathways.

But for those beings located at the vertices of adjacent paths, their relationship is only one: a fight to the death!

The goddess of night and the god of war are like this, as are the lord of storms, the eternal sun, the god of knowledge and wisdom, Adam, and the true creation.

Therefore, without a doubt, the 'Lord of Steam' and the 'Hidden Sage', being adjacent pathways, will be no exception.

Therefore, if the extraordinary characteristics of Sequence 1 'Knowledge Emperor' were in the hands of the Steam Church, then 'Lord of Steam' would absolutely not give this extraordinary characteristic to 'Hidden Sage', as this would be a blatant act of aiding the enemy.

The Hidden Sage, who has not yet become a god, has already given the Lord of Steam a lot of trouble. What would happen if the Hidden Sage became a true god of Sequence 0?

Therefore, before this, the Hidden Sage could at most be an Angel King possessing uniqueness and two extraordinary traits of the 'Knowledge Emperor'. As long as He couldn't obtain that final extraordinary trait of the 'Knowledge Emperor', He was destined to never become a god!

If that last extraordinary trait of the "Knowledge Emperor" were in the hands of the Steam Church, the Lord of Steam would try to contain it, even at the risk of losing control, rather than give it to the Hidden Sage.

Even if we assume that the Lord of Steam had a "long-term plan" and placed the extraordinary characteristics of the "Emperor of Knowledge" in the Steam Church to lure the "Hidden Sage" to seize it, this would inevitably cause a huge commotion, and there would be no way there would be no reaction.

The problem is that since the "Hidden Sage" is preparing to become a god, it means that He must have already obtained the last of the extraordinary characteristics of the "Knowledge Emperor".

Where do His extraordinary qualities come from?

By meticulously piecing together all the intelligence, Klein quickly pinpointed the answer—

"The Twilight Hermits, Adam!"

Klein took a deep breath; he should have expected this.

After Roselle's death, his extraordinary properties should theoretically have been acquired by the Church of the Eternal Sun and the Church of Steam, since those in the right place would have an advantage.

However, the case of George III shows that this is not the case.

The three extraordinary traits of "Prince of the Killer" and the uniqueness of "Black Emperor" that "George III" obtained were clearly provided by the Twilight Hermits and Adam. This is enough to show that the Twilight Hermits were involved in Roselle's downfall, or at least they took Roselle's extraordinary traits at the last moment.

Since even the uniqueness of the Black Emperor's path is in the hands of the Twilight Hermits, the extraordinary characteristics of the "Knowledge Emperor" will naturally be no exception.

This explains where the "Hidden Sage" got the last Sequence 1 Extraordinary trait—given by Adam.

Since Adam has already begun to act again, it means that He has now become a god. Only by becoming a true god of sequence 0 can He begin a new round of planning without any worries.

The "Hidden Sage" may be the key to his new scheme.

As the embodiment of "the distant past", Adam was, if not completely isolated among the gods, at least utterly alone.

The Eternal Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom need no introduction; their relationship with Adam is one of irreconcilable conflict. The goddesses of night and earth also have far from harmonious relationships with Adam. Even the god of war, though he waged war with Adam's help, was at best a case of mutual exploitation, not a steadfast ally.

Even the True Creation, which is also an incarnation of the Far Tai, is not exactly friendly towards Adam. Their fusion is inevitable, but neither side will give up the dominant position after the fusion. Moreover, the True Creation has the support of the Embers, so Adam's chances of winning are very small.

So even though Adam had become a god, He did not rush to find the "true creation" to merge with, but instead tried to cultivate His own allies.

Without a doubt, the 'Hidden Sage' is the most suitable candidate.

Firstly, the 'Hidden Sage' is only one step away from Sequence 0, and Adam can definitely help Him cross that final step.

Secondly, the "Hidden Sages" are also solitary individuals, and their alliances will be very close.

Of course, it's also possible that all of this was Adam's scheme.

His purpose in cultivating the Hidden Sage may have been to allow Amun to take his place in the Hidden Sage's initiation ceremony.

But in any case, the goal of cultivating allies remains unchanged.

Although Klein felt that whether Amon was more reliable than the "Hidden Sage" was highly debatable, Adam clearly had his own plans.

If it is indeed the latter, then Klein will have to make plans sooner rather than later.

After all, if Amon becomes a god before him, the other party might very well try to seize the Source Castle.

Although the source castle still has embers, it can be said to be foolproof.

But Adam would have anticipated this and drawn away the embers beforehand. This wouldn't be difficult, since Adam also had the First Flame.

At that time, Klein will have to rely on his own strength to defend the Source Castle.

Therefore, it is essential to advance to Sequence 0 before Amon.

"Utopia is nearing completion, and I will soon be promoted to Sequence 1."

"Next, once the 'Book of the Holy Word' is completed, and with the cooperation of a certain orthodox church, the Sequence 0 ritual will not be a problem."

"In comparison, whether it's the Hidden Sage or Amon becoming a god, the prerequisite is that the Hidden Sage must first prepare His ascension ritual. But judging from the current situation, the Hidden Sage should still be digesting that extraordinary characteristic of the Knowledge Emperor."

"Even with Adam and Amon helping to prepare for the ceremony, it will still take a very long time."

"So, at least for now, there is still plenty of time."