After conversing with Lucca Brewster of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom for a while, Leyton took his leave.
He walked casually down the street, curiously observing his surroundings. This was his first time in the Southern Continent, and he was curious about everything here.
The people of the Southern Continent generally had deep bronze skin, making Leyton extremely conspicuous here. Curious, malicious, or envious gazes constantly fell upon him.
From time to time, local residents would walk by carrying coffin-like vehicles, and sometimes they would stop to invite Leyton to ride.
In the shops on both sides of the street, gazes occasionally fell on Leyton, seemingly hoping he would step inside and browse.
Why has my spiritual intuition become so sensitive to the emotions contained in the gazes around me?
Caw~
Lost in thought, he heard the loud cry from Crow Anu above his head.
Leyton looked up at the crow circling in the sky, then followed its gaze to a middle-aged man who looked somewhat like a vagrant at the street corner ahead.
Leyton's gaze deepened slightly; he noticed some incongruous traces on the man.
A strong middle-aged man who appeared to be of normal intelligence did not seem like someone who would become a vagrant. His spirit felt extremely ancient, completely out of sync with his body.
As he pondered, he raised his hand and waved at the sky, then quickly followed the departing figure of the vagrant.
Crow Anu glided directly from mid-air and landed on his shoulder.
"Boss, that person's soul seems to be dying, but his body is very healthy, as if his life was infinitely extended at the moment of impending death."
"His body and soul are very harmonious, and there are no signs of evil spirits possessing him. Interesting." Leyton mused, quickening his pace.
As he passed a corner, he casually pulled out a tranquil night curtain to cover himself, miraculously concealing all his traces and aura.
He followed the strange vagrant at a steady pace, going out of the city with him, watching him walk towards the large Paz River in the center of the Paz River Valley as if on a pilgrimage.
"Boss, he seems to be going to commit suicide."
Crow Anu stood on Leyton's shoulder, speaking in a strange tone.
Leyton nodded slightly, his figure suddenly blurred, instantly fading and disappearing, then reappearing in front of the vagrant.
Before the other party could react, he magically flipped his wrist, conjuring a burning match.
The moment the vagrant saw the flame on the match, he fell into an illusion.
Leyton gently rubbed his fingers, creating specks of starlight that entered the other's head, influencing his thoughts.
In the illusion, he had already arrived at the wide Paz River in the middle of the Paz River Valley.
He ignored all inconsistencies, praying aloud as if on a pilgrimage:
"Great Mother, the source of all things, the unique Crimson Moon, symbol of life and beauty..."
As he chanted, Leyton felt that the environment he had created was being affected by some unknown influence, beginning to evolve in an uncontrollable direction.
The vagrant prayed as he stepped into the river before him.
With his actions, the originally calm river began to undergo unknown changes, seemingly gradually coming alive, establishing a connection with a great existence.
Figures began to appear around, also walking into the Paz River as if on a pilgrimage. They were either male or female, but without exception, all had relatively young, strong bodies and ancient souls.
The river water glowed with an eerie greenish hue, and distorted human faces constantly floated. The river level began to rise uncontrollably, as if the river was self-replicating.
Sizzle~ Leyton reached out and pinched out the match in his hand, directly interrupting the illusion that was becoming uncontrollable.
As the illusion ended, the vagrant in front of him suddenly sobered up. He was bewildered for a moment, then stared at Leyton with venomous eyes, like a fanatic seeing a blasphemer.
"Who are you?"
His voice was very hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.
"A follower of knowledge, and who are you?"
Leyton's tone was very gentle, with a seductive quality, his words interspersed with subtle spirituality, disturbing the other's thoughts and influencing his judgment.
The middle-aged vagrant in front of him was just an ordinary person. Although somewhat strange, he could still only be considered an ordinary person. He was completely unable to resist the allure in Leyton's words. After only a moment of struggle, he spoke:
"I am... Rhodes."
"...A follower of the Great Mother."
"What are you doing?" Leyton continued to ask.
Rhodes' expression suddenly became extremely pious and fanatical, even resisting Leyton's influence on his mind.
He looked towards the Paz River and spoke with fanaticism:
"I am returning to Mother's embrace!"
"Returning to Mother's embrace to do what?"
Leyton continued to ask with little change in his voice, but the spirituality interspersed in his words intensified.
"To embrace new life!"
"The Paz River is our Mother River; it nurtured the life of this land. We return here when life ends, and we emerge from the river when life begins..."
"She is the Great Mother who nurtures all, the incarnation of this continent, She is the unique Crimson Moon, the symbol of life and beauty..."
Leyton's spiritual intuition suddenly warned him. His body suddenly became transparent, transforming into a transparent statue constructed of brilliant starlight, then instantly shattered, turning into specks of starlight, carrying Crow Anu on his shoulder away from his original position.
A surgical knife shimmering with a silvery-white cold light abruptly appeared at Leyton's previous location.
"Oh? ...Fast reaction!"
"You can even transform yourself into a starlight state? Are you one of those Lunatics from the Moses Ascetic Order?"
"I really want to study how the Beyonder of your Pathway differ from ordinary people in their structure."
The vagrant in front of him suddenly seemed like a different person. His light green eyes flickered with a pathological madness. The veins on his body bulged, as if something was about to burst out.
Starlight gathered in mid-air, and Leyton's figure coalesced from the specks of starlight. A faint purple glow appeared in his eyes.
Under the vision of the Eyes of Mystery Prying, he saw the invisible threads extending from the middle-aged man's flesh, coiling around his spirit, wrapping it into a pale white cocoon.
A somewhat distorted and ferocious human face faintly appeared on the cocoon. It was like a possessing Wraith, easily manipulating this body.
These threads distorted into a thick vine that shot straight into the sky, vaguely connecting with a scarlet entity. Leyton then withdrew his gaze; the Clairvoyant's intuition was preventing him from prying further.
Leyton observed the manipulated puppet in front of him expressionlessly, feigning a sigh as he spoke:
"To be called a lunatic by a lunatic, it's truly hard to accept."
As he spoke, he gently poked his finger, and a layer of shadow descended like an all-encompassing curtain. The originally bright sunlight instantly dimmed, and even the surrounding temperature dropped significantly.
Cold, indifferent eyes emerged from the shadows, and cold gazes fixedly fell upon the puppet in the center, as if no secrets could hide from these gazes.
Fallen and madness instantly permeated, tangibly infecting everything around.
The manipulated puppet opposite casually surveyed its surroundings, its eyes full of scrutiny. If the current situation weren't inappropriate, Leyton had no doubt that he would dissect and study every eye that grew out of the shadows around him.
Is this a Dependents of that Mother? No wonder he's called a lunatic, he truly is insane... The method he used to turn this person into his puppet seems to be by planting his own divine flesh in this body. I wonder how many parts he has divided himself into.
Even for a Demigod, divinity is limited. Once the limit is exceeded, one will instantly lose control and go mad. Is he treating himself like a collection of bugs from the 'Cowardly Trio' to torment himself?