During the Tarot meeting, after everyone heard that the current military commander of Lenburg was the evil spirit "Red Angel," only "The Fool" Klein thought to himself: He really went to Lenburg!
Klein was standing nearby when Odis was recruiting the "Red Angel" evil spirit, and he wasn't surprised by it.
The other members were taken aback at first, then showed surprised expressions.
Alger, the "Hanged Man," thought to himself, "Just what kind of being is the 'Lord of Mysteries'? How can he have such a powerful influence!"
Then he recalled that not long ago, the "Hermit" had inquired about the "Red Angel" evil spirit, but he never expected that it was actually a plan to make contact with it.
Alger was unclear about the specifics of the talks, but the result was that the "Red Angel" evil spirit now served the "Lord of Mysteries".
Leonard, nicknamed "Star," hadn't considered this. He thought the evil spirit "Red Angel" had gone to join the "Lord of Mysteries" on his own initiative. This made him think to himself: I guessed that the "Lord of Mysteries" would have some high-level subordinates, but I didn't expect them to be this high-level!
"The Magician" Fors was also quite surprised: he never expected that the "leader's" current colleague would reach such a level.
They all believed that the "Red Angel" evil spirit was serving the "Lord of Mysteries".
It is perfectly reasonable for this "Angel King," who once symbolized "war," to set up the simple and effective defensive system that is found in southern Remnburg.
After a brief moment of surprise, Hugh, the "judge," was the first to recover: "So the wars that took place at the Krish Pass in Vorta and the war in Lilotta, a city south of Remnburg, were both commanded by the evil spirit 'Red Angel'?"
"That's right," Odis said. "The outcome of the battle wasn't as the newspapers of the Kingdom of Feneport reported."
Both sides suffered losses. However, the Remburg army, despite being outnumbered, drove the invaders out of Remburg.
"In particular, the defense of Lirota took place, where the garrison of only two thousand men managed to hold off an attack from Feneport by more than one hundred thousand men from the north and south."
It was during this battle that Odis realized the importance of a command system.
Before the "Data Processing Center" was available, the "Red Angels" demons' tactics were very conservative. However, after acquiring the "Data Processing Center," their tactics became nothing short of insane. Two hundred "Extraordinary Puppets" dared to raid deep into enemy territory.
They captured the city of Lirota.
Two thousand "extraordinary puppets" dared to block an army of over ten thousand.
Leonard asked, "Didn't Feneport send out any extraordinary players?"
In his opinion, it was not surprising that the "Red Angel" evil spirit could achieve such a record. He was just wondering why the enemy would definitely send out demigods when faced with such an insurmountable city.
"They've mobilized," Odis smiled. "The result is that the extraordinary individuals they've deployed have enriched the 'Dawnbreaker's' inventory of extraordinary attributes."
Klein thought to himself: This guy's getting a bit cocky!
The other members were also stunned for a moment before smiling.
After looking around at everyone, Odis said, "The future of Remenberg will surely be even brighter!"
The other members weren't concerned about whether Remnantburg could become better, but they did have some expectations for the country, believing it should frequently generate news.
Because they already knew very well that this country was currently exceptionally powerful, with two angels supporting the new regime, and there should be several other extraordinary beings at the saint level. The president was the highly creative "Hermit" Odis, and the military commander was the "Red Angel" evil spirit.
This strength is roughly equivalent to that of one of the "Four Great Powers".
After discussing the international situation for a while, Klein announced the end of this tarot session.
Odis returned to the real world and, as usual, stared blankly at the ceiling for a while before getting up to complete the transaction with "Little Sun" for extraordinary materials in exchange for extraordinary weapons.
Then, Odis found Bernadette and told her that he planned to perform the ascension that night. He then added, "This ascension is quite dangerous, but I have already 'invited' some help. However, I still need your and Ellebella's protection, and I also need to call in all the demigods I can."
Adam helps deal with the Hidden Sages, but Odis estimates that the Ascetic Order of Morse is likely to launch a full-scale attack on the Extraordinary Ones protecting their ascension.
Therefore, all available resources should be mobilized, just in case.
Hearing Odis say this, Bernadette was slightly taken aback: "Someone is trying to cause trouble?"
Could it be that he's still the "God of Steam and Machinery"? Is he going to fight the entire Steam Church this time?
"I have received reliable information that the 'Hidden Sage' wants to merge with me, who has been promoted to angel," Odis said truthfully.
Bernadette's brow furrowed even deeper: "Why should I merge with you?"
Odis could only explain, "This is a struggle between the 'Hidden Sage' and the 'Lord of Mysteries.' Whether the 'Lord of Mysteries' can further restore his power depends on whether I can ascend to the next level."
He hesitated for a moment, feeling that he couldn't tell Bernadette that he was the "Lord of Mysteries" yet, but he wasn't lying when he said it.
This promotion is indeed very important. As long as Odis becomes an angel, the "Lord of Mysteries" will be able to further restore his power.
Moreover, based on Odis's experience of ascending to demigod status, after becoming an angel, he would be able to further master the "Wilderness of Knowledge," and under certain circumstances, he could possess the strength of Sequence 1. Neither the "Hidden Sage" nor the "God of Steam" would be able to control him anymore.
Of course, this also means the end of the "newbie period". At that time, you may often have friction with these two gods, and you may need to advance to Series 1 as soon as possible.
Bernadette didn't ask any further questions: "I will bring the two demigods of the 'Dawn of Elements' right now."
The first mate of the "Dawn" has been promoted, and Bernadette now has two subordinates at the demigod level.
Odis agreed, and the two went their separate ways.
Odis then informed Elbera, then went to the Misty Sea Elf Clan to request reinforcements, and found "Iceberg General" Edwina, telling her about his plan for ascension, but did not seek help from the Church of Knowledge.
Finally, Odis arrived in East Chester County of the Kingdom of Loen, and in a church of the Goddess of Night, he prayed to the goddess and informed her of the impending ascension.
After doing all this, Odis returned to Azshara to finally adjust his condition.
Odis stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the president's office, watching the gas streetlights in Azshara light up one by one. He didn't go to dinner because he was going to drink a potion soon.
After admiring Azshara's night view for a while, Odis returned to his desk and began concocting potions.
After taking out the beaker, Odis first took out three jade scales. These were jade scales from an extraordinary creature that is now extinct. They were crystal clear white jade pieces surrounded by a ring of solidified spiritual energy, making them look somewhat unreal.
Oh no~
When you put them into the beaker, you can hear a crisp clinking sound.
Then Odis took out a small vial of blood, which was 50 milliliters of blood provided by Elbera.
This is actually a substitute. In ancient potion recipes, the second auxiliary ingredient was the liver of the "Blue Charm Multi-Handed Golden Thread Monkey," but this extraordinary creature is now extinct, so we had to find a suitable substitute.
The "brain of the Blue Charm Multi-Handed Golden Thread Monkey" is the main material of the "Knowledge Mentor," so this auxiliary material can be replaced by the blood of the "Knowledge Mentor."
Upon the addition of blood with its shimmering, ethereal glow, the "jade scales" immediately began to melt.
The final supplementary material is three "multi-eyed bookworms," which are small insects with a ring of eyes on their heads. They only appear in manuscripts that are over a thousand years old, and specifically in manuscripts that record occult knowledge.
After the three materials are combined, they become a liquid with a clear luster and a somewhat viscous appearance.
Finally, Odis retrieved the extraordinary qualities of the "Sage" from the "wilderness of knowledge" and placed them in a beaker.
This constantly rolling ball of light, composed of streams of information, drifted down to the bottom of the cup as lightly as a feather.
It immediately reacted with the auxiliary materials, causing the liquid at the bottom of the cup to bubble, and each bubble seemed to contain a transparent eye.
Odis took a deep breath and carefully poured the potion into the glass bottle.
At that moment, a prayer arose from the "Wilderness of Knowledge." Odis paused for a moment, but immediately entered the "Wilderness of Knowledge" to investigate. It was Rosalind: "The essence of knowledge, the field of mystery—the great 'Lord of Mysteries,' the Hidden Sage has suddenly summoned all members of the 'Ten Pillars.'"
The other person's prayer was brief, but very important. It made it clear to Odis that the "Hidden Sage" was indeed determined to do everything in his power to achieve his goal.
Moreover, such prayers are very dangerous, because the "hidden sage" might notice the other party's "small actions".
Odis then used "True Vision" to glance around and confirm that Rosalind was not being watched by any unknown gaze.
Then he replied, "I understand."
Back in the real world, Odis pondered for a moment, still feeling somewhat uneasy. Ultimately, he decided to go to the church of the Church of Knowledge to pray to the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom" and inform him of his impending ascension.
Back at the presidential palace, he checked his condition one last time, then informed Bernadette and Ellebella of the "Hidden Sages'" operation, telling them and their subordinates to prepare themselves mentally.
Then the group rode the Kunpeng that Odis "recreated" and arrived at a mountain in the outskirts of Azshara that was rarely visited by people.
Odis stopped on a sparsely wooded hilltop, making way for the others, took a deep breath, and then shouted, "Adam, Adam, Adam!"
Immediately afterwards, Odis felt a penetrating gaze; he knew it was Adam looking at him.
So Odis took out the prepared potion and thought one last time about the ritual of ascension: to prevent a disaster involving high-level powers.
His spirituality is certain that preventing George III from becoming a god was entirely in line with the requirements of the ascension ceremony.
From this perspective, George III's ascension to godhood was indeed a disaster for the world. It might really be as Odis imagined, that George III's ascension to godhood would cause a world war to last for a very long time.
Thinking of this, Odis uncorked the bottle and glanced at Bernadette on the mountainside. His eyes were very firm, more firm than ever before.
Odis had had enough of being kept in the dark by higher-level beings, and even being used as a tool in their struggles!
After exchanging a worried glance with Bernadette, Odis tilted his head back and drank the potion. His mind went numb, his consciousness froze, and his body uncontrollably transformed into streams of information composed of numbers and symbols.
Just then, a light appeared in mid-air that even a demigod could hardly detect. Bernadette and Elbera immediately realized that it was the true form of the "Hidden Sage"!
One of them wanted to transform into a stream of information, and the other wanted to transform into a ray of light to step forward and block it, but they found that under the gaze of the "Hidden Sage," they could not enter the state of the mythical creature!
A gentle voice rang out: "'The Hidden Sage' became somewhat unstable when facing the owner of 'The Wilderness of Knowledge,' recalling the harm 'The Wilderness of Knowledge' had once inflicted upon him."
The beam of light instantly transformed into a complex, torrent-like flow of information. At this moment, many of these information streams seemed to be trying to escape from the torrent. The "Hidden Sage" paused there, as if trying to gather back the escaping information streams.
Immediately, the demigods on the desolate mountain saw the true form of the "Hidden Sage." Bernadette and Elbera immediately felt much less pressure and were able to enter their mythical creature state again.
At this moment, two angels and demigods from the "Order of Morse" launched an attack on the barren mountain, and Bernadette and Elbera immediately led their people to rush up and stop them.
However, because the number of demigods in the "Ascetic Order of Morse" was too large, while Bernadette only had five demigods, it was difficult to stop the demigods' offensive for the time being.
These five demigods included Cattleya.
Having just earned the title of "Ten Pillars," Cattleya knew very well that she had to stand firmly on Odis's side. If she was exposed, so be it; she could simply return to the Queen's side.
North of Remnburg, on the border with the Republic of Intis.
A hazy light descended from the sky. This light had no color and seemed to be composed of a vast amount of illusory things, giving people a sense of historical weight.
This is the "God of Steam and Machinery" who has just completed his divine descent. After completing the process, he immediately went to the location of Odis's ascension, intending to ambush Adam.
But at this moment, a phantom tower appeared ahead of the hazy light. Each level of it was composed of thick books, and each book had a brass-colored eye on it. The higher the level, the deeper it became.
This is the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom" who has completed his divine descent. The two gods did not immediately clash, but instead faced off at the border.
But the vegetation beneath them began to grow wildly, and illusory bronze eyes appeared on the newly grown leaves.
Meanwhile, some vegetation seemed to lose its life instantly, quickly withering away.
Odis suddenly saw a city filled with bright and clear light in his mind.
That city was his ideal city, with clean and tidy streets, and floating civilian vehicles driving on the road, while the GG signs on the buildings displayed dynamic images.
The residents' homes contain various objects powered by spiritual energy, such as spiritual refrigerators and spiritual stoves.
Household chores are done by "extraordinary puppets," and people only need to enjoy life to the fullest after working four or five hours a day.
A giant ship flew across the sky; it was a large "data processing center" that provided coordinated computing power for all the "extraordinary puppets" and "extraordinary intelligent" products on the ground.
Suddenly, everything shattered and twisted. A person wearing a crown and black armor wanted to enter and rule this place!
With a crash, Odis felt as if a pane of glass had shattered in front of him. He snapped back to reality and understood the meaning of the images he had just witnessed: if George III was not prevented from becoming a god, all efforts would be thwarted by the "Black Emperor."
Odis took a deep breath, just as he was about to regain control, when suddenly the scene before him changed again, as if he had been placed in a traditional Chinese ink painting.
Before me lies a tranquil pond, in which several fish, outlined in ink wash style, swim gracefully, creating a sense of movement within stillness.
A misty haze hung over the water, naturally bringing Odis a sense of comfort and peace to her heart.
In a corner of the pond, amidst a cluster of lotus leaves, lies a stubborn black rock.
Sitting cross-legged above was a man who bore a resemblance to Odis, with a long beard and wearing a robe with an oriental flair.
Odis exclaimed, "Celestial Master!"
That was the same Celestial Master he had met in the "Wilderness of Knowledge" before.
The other person slowly opened their eyes: "You've come."
On a barren mountain outside Azshara.
Odis on the mountaintop remains a tangled mess of information, neither real nor illusory.
Adam completely blocked the "Hidden Sage" in mid-air, preventing him from bringing any power to the ground.
At the foot of the mountain, a fierce and extraordinary battle is taking place. The battle between the angels has turned a large part of the mountain into a stream of illusory information and caused a large area of vegetation to lose its life.
The battles between demigods were also extremely fierce, with each "mysterious reappearance" causing the surrounding area to suffer constant battles from different domains.
Just now, Odis's side, being at the Saint level, was indeed outnumbered in the battle.
However, Edwina and Archbishop Douglas were the first to arrive to provide support, which greatly reduced the pressure on Cattleya and the others.
Then two elven demigods, along with Archbishop Anthony and another demigod from the Church of the Goddess of Night, arrived one after another and quickly stabilized the situation.
At this time, the "Morse Ascetic Order" still holds the advantage. Currently, they only have seven of the "Ten Pillars," but in addition to the members of the "Ten Pillars," there are also several demigods who manage the "Hidden Sage" altar in the "Ideal Land."
This time, they mobilized their entire force.
However, because Rosalind and the other two demigods did not put in their full effort, although the "Morse Penitentiary" had a numerical advantage in this battle, they did not have any obvious advantage.
At this moment, a subtle change suddenly occurred on the battlefield. The battlefield of the demigods was the first to be isolated, followed by the battlefield of Bernadette and Elbera against the two angels of the "Ascetic Order of Morse". Finally, even the battle between Adam and the "Hidden Sage" was isolated to some extent.
Bernadette was somewhat anxious. She knew that a new angel had appeared, but with the head of the "Order of Morse," Torriopo, holding her back, she was unable to use her full strength to break through the barrier.
At this moment, a man dressed in a classical and luxurious robe, with a long face and a mustache on his upper lip, arrived.
The people of Fenneport should be very familiar with this face, because it is the face of James Castile, the king who founded the country, on the high-denomination banknotes!
James I swiftly appeared on the barren mountain and rapidly approached the currently helpless Odis.
Bernadette's heart was in her throat.
The Celestial Master said to Odis, "You have arrived."
Odis looked around: "We are—"
"In your mind," the Celestial Master said with a gentle smile, "you must have many questions, right?"
"Yes."
"Before answering your question, let's talk about the 'original creator'," the Celestial Master suggested.
Odis smiled helplessly: "All I can say is yes."
The Celestial Master smiled and said, "Our conversation will involve a lot about 'the beginning,' so we need to first discuss some conceptual issues."
Xiu paused for a moment, then continued, "People, even many gods, have a misconception that 'the Beginning' was an extremely indifferent being, even akin to the cold rules of the entire universe."
Odis was taken aback: "Isn't that so?"
"Your question shows that you've overlooked a fact: humans, and other intelligent beings, are emotional beings," the Celestial Master said calmly.
"If they were truly so indifferent 'initially,' why do intelligent beings possess emotions?"
Odis felt an urge to scratch his head: "This is a blind spot in my thinking; I'd forgotten that 'initially' also represented all desires."
The angel said, "Not only that, but also all that is good and evil; this is the foundation upon which all the ideologies of intelligent beings are formed."
"He made everyone feel like an independent individual, yet he also brought people together, thus creating society."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "Have you ever wondered why he insisted on creating intelligent species?"
Odis honestly shook his head; this was the first time he had ever thought about this question.
"You should have heard the answer to this question," the Celestial Master said. "Humanity is the key to overcoming all the madness and chaos in the extraordinary."
"Human nature may seem complex, but it can stably generate warm emotions to neutralize its cold and extraordinary nature."
Xiu took a deep breath and continued, "In the Common Era, the plan to combat the extraordinary cold was proceeding according to the 'original' plan. We developed the concept of the unity of heaven and man, and we understood the idea of following the natural way. If we continue to develop along this line of thought, perhaps we can truly find a stable way to combat extraordinary characteristics—."
"Wait a minute," Odis said. "You mean to say that the 'original' development of civilization was in order to find a way to contend with the extraordinary?"
The Celestial Master said calmly, "This is just my guess; it may not be true."
Odis then asked, "Why did he do that?"
"Because 'the beginning' was also plagued by extraordinary madness and chaos," the Celestial Master said. "The only way is through slumber, allowing the part of one's desires to fight against the part of one's coldness."
This conversation had completely gone beyond Odis's previous thinking: "Isn't he the creator of everything? Even he has things he can't solve?"
"The extraordinary is the most frustrating product in the world." The Celestial Master explained: "The extraordinary may have been created by the 'original' in the hope that it would make the universe prosperous, and he was even willing to share his authority with the creatures he created, but the extraordinary is obviously no longer under the control of the 'original'."
"It's also possible that the Extraordinary created the 'Original,' and later the 'Original' wanted to control the Extraordinary; in any case, there was a struggle between the 'Original' and the Extraordinary."
Odis took a deep breath, feeling that this topic had seriously gone beyond her scope.
But then he immediately thought of the sealed object that had come to life; the advanced extraordinary properties that gave rise to consciousness didn't seem like a strange thing.
Odis breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness: "I'll sit down for a bit too."
As he spoke, he sat down next to the Celestial Master: "You can't get definite answers to these questions either, you can only make reasonable guesses, right?"
"Yes," the Celestial Master said, "because in order to understand the true purpose of the 'original', it is very likely that the consciousness of the 'Celestial Venerable' and the 'Primordial Creator' will be revived first."
In a broad sense, "Celestial Venerable" and "Primordial" are part of "The Beginning," but different personalities of "The Beginning." They are "The Beginning," and "The Beginning" is them.
"But they also possess a certain degree of independence, each wanting to hold a dominant position in the 'original' consciousness. They are unwilling to see the 'original' able to withstand the madness and indifference brought by the extraordinary. Because that would signify that they would relinquish a part of themselves and become a whole again."
"The end of the Common Era was essentially a disaster orchestrated by them, intended to end the continuation of certain ideas and bring about further qualitative changes."
"You can think about it. In the era you traveled to, wasn't the world in turmoil again? Often, in such times, new breakthroughs emerge because of the clash of ideas."
Odis noticed that the Celestial Master only referred to the "Origin" as "" and all other beings as "he" or "them." Odis then made a guess: "The 'Origin' was used by them?"
"That's one way to put it," the Celestial Master said. "Otherwise, given that the extraordinary environment had been maintained for so long, why did 'Initially' suddenly awaken?"
At this point, Odis asked, "During the Common Era—or rather, in those ancient times—were many of those gods real?"
"That's right, most of the characters from Eastern mythology have appeared here," the Celestial Master said. "That's because at the beginning of the Common Era, the world was also filled with many extraordinary beings, and intelligent beings were the first to be affected."
Odis asked, "Then why did the extraordinary become less and less common later on?"
"Sever the connection between heaven and earth!"
"Did that incident really happen?" Odis vaguely remembered this myth. It said that the order between gods and humans was very chaotic, so he cleared the way between gods and humans. Some say that he destroyed the passage between heaven and earth, so that gods and humans could each perform their duties.
But in retrospect, this story may have been a way to bridge the gap between humans and extraordinary individuals back then.
The Celestial Master continued, "There are corresponding records in the 'Wilderness of Knowledge.' At that time, there was no 'Child of Chaos.' Xiang once possessed the complete 'Disordered Kingdom' and mastered three extraordinary paths."
"He is the symbol of the cosmic order, so he decreed that after the fall of the ancient extraordinary beings, their characteristics would return to the 'Chaos Sea' and their authority would return to the 'Source Castle'." This also applied to his own characteristics and authority.
"Therefore, thousands of years later, extraordinary characteristics have become quite rare."
"However, some laws governing extraordinary characteristics cannot be changed even in the 'initial' state. After a large number of characteristics gathered in the Chaos Sea, a certain tendency to split emerged. Therefore, a small number of characteristics still exist in the real world."
Odis nodded, not expecting the reality to be even harsher than the myths and legends. It wasn't just a re-evaluation of the relationship between humans and gods; it was tantamount to gradually eliminating all the gods.
"This is absolutely a momentous chapter in the history of the world." The Celestial Master continued, "Thousands of years later, humanity became the mainstream of the era, and the thoughts of intelligent beings shone brightly time and time again."
"Without such measures, the world would be the same as it is now, with society controlled by extraordinary individuals, unable to leverage the collective advantages of humanity."
"Of course, all of this is based on the premise that Fuxi completed the process of 'enlightenment', enabling the advanced extraordinary beings of that time to understand the 'original' intention."
"Although this resulted in the 'Primordial' and 'Celestial Venerable' occupying the 'Chaos Sea' and 'Source Castle' awakening earlier than the 'First One', it created a possibility that if things continued to develop, perhaps the humanity that emerged in the world could suppress the coldness and chaos within the 'First One'."
"At that time, as the world's extraordinary achievements gradually increase, perhaps an even more brilliant civilization can be created."
Odis laughed and said, "In that case, Roselle played a very positive role. He brought the ideas of the Common Era and made new possibilities for the world."
The Celestial Master shook his head: "He existed for too short a time and did not complete the process of 'enlightenment' at all."
"For example, if he hadn't discovered oil, he wouldn't have known how to develop. But no one stipulated that you had to have oil to develop modern industry. In the Common Era, the first cars were powered by electric motors."
"People have not found a substitute for oil in industry, which shows that the wisdom of ordinary people is still being suppressed, because the substitute is not as hard to find as imagined."
Odis nodded, not continuing the discussion: "And then?"
"I mean, what happens after the Common Era ends?"
"And why did I travel through time?"
The Celestial Master looked at Odis and said, "You have never traveled through time; you have always been here!"
"You are the 'sage,' the 'master,' and part of the 'wilderness of knowledge'!"
Odiston was there: "Am I some kind of creation from the 'wilderness of knowledge'?"
The Celestial Master laughed and said, "No, we were once human, but we conquered the 'Wilderness of Knowledge' and became the masters of this place!"