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Mist, Helasha Island, Emerald City.
The tall Bernadette stood behind the railing, gazing at the suddenly bright and then dim crimson moon.
Her azure eyes suddenly became deep and distant, as if piercing through reality, observing fate. However, in just one second, Bernadette abruptly closed her eyes, her spirituality vibrated, and blood tears streamed from the corners of her eyes.
Without time to interpret the revelations gained from the adventurous prophecy, peach blossoms instantly fell around Bernadette, vivid and colorful.
A peach grove, lush with vegetation and blooming flowers, appeared before her eyes, cut off by a mountain at the end of the water source in the grove, only able to attempt to peer out from a small cave.
This was Bernadette's fairy tale magic, "Peach Blossom Source" created based on "Mystical Reenactment."
It could create a barrier isolated from the outside world and difficult to connect, which was also how Bernadette sealed the three Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts her father left her.
Taking a step, her figure disappeared into that seemingly unreal cave, through which water flowed.
The originally vibrant peach grove was now filled with death, gradually decaying, and then rapidly weathering. The ground even began to grow the downy feathers of feathered snakes.
The source of the death was a pale mask with a metallic sheen. The mask only had holes for the eyes, with no other gaps, and it was precisely "Pale Death."
At this moment, the item encompassed by this Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was an ornament, its core a vertical eye inlaid with "diamonds," shimmering with pure light.
It constantly tried to decompose into complex knowledge, transforming into a pure information flow to escape, but it was always blocked by "Pale Death."
Within the range of this Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, which was essentially a Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic, even the concept of "death" itself would weather and vanish, naturally including conceptualized information flow.
However, as a price, "Pale Death" would also be gradually awakened, requiring a certain cost to appease it again. Fortunately, most of the time, the "Sage Frontlet" was in a normal state, and such anomalies rarely occurred.
Using one Grade 0 Sealed Artifact to seal another Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was a last resort. The "Sage Frontlet" was essentially a Mystery Pryer Pathway Sequence 2 Beyonder characteristic, easily sensed by the Hidden Sage. After losing Roselle's protection, she could only resort to this.
A phantom separated from Bernadette's body, overall tending towards transparency and quite illusory. "She" wore clothes identical to Bernadette's, and her eyes were as blue as the projection of the sea, clearly Bernadette herself. This was the part of her spirit she had separated.
Peering into fate just now had caused her a considerable backlash. To prevent these Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts from further worsening her condition, Bernadette did not intend for her main body to participate.
The pale mask with a metallic sheen covered the face of Bernadette's half-body phantom. Combined with Bernadette's own Sequence 3 Beyonder status, it quickly re-suppressed and sealed the "Sage Frontlet."
Just then, an illusory, seductive murmur reached Bernadette's ears:
"Wish upon me, and I can help you solve this problem. In exchange, I can even help you advance to an Angel…"
The metallic-sheened mask covering the phantom's face suddenly softened and rapidly writhed, as if to form a face that did not belong to Bernadette.
That face had soft features and distinct Southern Continent characteristics, yet it gave an extremely bizarre and terrifying feeling. Once the contours of this face became clear enough, it would come alive, returning from ancient times, from the eternal darkness where the dead slumber.
At that time, Bernadette's body, spirituality, and consciousness would all belong to this face.
Her azure eyes were unperturbed. Silently, a pair of eyes appeared on Bernadette's forehead.
They were almost transparent, cold and emotionless, without eyelashes.
"Eyes of Mystery Prying"!
These eyes rotated slightly, seeing a clear distortion within the barrier constructed by the "Peach Blossom Source." Complex symbols emerged from her eyes, and the scene abruptly changed.
The "Pale Death," which was about to revive, was still that featureless pale mask. Although the surging death aura did not come alive, everything just now was merely an illusion.
Bernadette expressionlessly looked towards the source of the distorted illusion. It was an item that was entirely golden, shaped like a miniature teapot, its surface covered with mysterious and complex symbols, with a wick extending from its spout.
0-05 "Magic Wishing Lamp"… As this name appeared in her mind, Bernadette also recalled Roselle's warning to her.
Sighing lightly, without any hesitation, Bernadette withdrew her gaze and took out two ancient playing cards from her Inventory.
Their fronts both featured Roselle Gustav, and the upper left corner of both had text formed by starlight: "Sequence 0 Hermit," "Sequence 0 Wheel of Fortune"…
The part of her spirit wearing the "Pale Mask" used "The Emperor's New Clothes," becoming something that fundamentally didn't exist, and thus naturally wouldn't be affected!
Before this Sealed Artifact could further revive, the two Blasphemy Cards covered the front and back of the mask. This was also one of the few items Bernadette currently possessed that could resist death's decay.
As Roselle's daughter, she also had some understanding of the creation of the "Blasphemy Cards":
At that time, Roselle, who had already advanced to Sequence 1 "Knowledge Emperor," could not only draw power from knowledge but also imbue abstract knowledge with substantial power!
This was also why the Blasphemy Cards, despite not having Beyonder characteristics, were still terrifyingly powerful in some aspects.
Although she didn't know what materials her father used as a basis for their creation, or how he achieved anti-divination and anti-prophecy at the level of a deity, Bernadette knew how to maximize the use of these two Blasphemy Cards.
The next second, Bernadette's body suddenly became transparent, turning into a pile of bubbles. These bubbles quickly dispersed, transforming into an illusory torrent of fate, connecting to the two Blasphemy Cards.
As a Sequence 3 Clairvoyant of the Mystery Pryer Pathway, she could already peek into the secrets of fate to a limited extent.
With the Beyonder status bonus of the two Blasphemy Cards and their shared characteristic of pointing towards fate, she briefly connected to the River of Fate.
Of course, being so smooth also owed much to Roselle's painstaking efforts on these two Blasphemy Cards.
Roselle, who knew very well what the Hidden Sage was, naturally had to prepare a fallback for Bernadette after feeling abandoned by the Seven Deities.
The combined use of these two Blasphemy Cards was the fundamental reason Bernadette was able to survive the initial searches by various parties before becoming a major figure in the mystical world.
Splendid white feathers reformed into Bernadette. Looking at the "Pale Death" caught in a fate loop and with its will fading, she put the two Blasphemy Cards back, carefully placing them on her chest.
Ignoring the incessant allure of the "Magic Wishing Lamp," Bernadette recalled the prophecy she had glimpsed earlier, and her azure eyes instantly transformed into a deep ocean.
-----------------
Dong!
The sound of a bell, as if traveling through history, rang out, reverberating far and wide in the "empty" hidden world.
Night enveloped the world, and a huge, sacred crimson moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the monastery with its many ancient buildings below.
Aaron's stagnant thoughts gradually recovered, and he suddenly opened his eyes to find Arianna, in a simple linen robe, slowly floating before him. Her dark eyes looked at Aaron and she spoke calmly:
"The Goddess has expelled the lurking mark for you, and the remaining corruption has also been erased."
Rubbing his still throbbing forehead, Aaron's expression was solemn. He drew a crimson moon on his chest, expressing his gratitude to the Goddess.
After bowing slightly to the Matron of the Church of Evernight, Aaron immediately used "Teleportation," flashing into the crimson moon, and departed from this hidden world from another location.
Upon returning to the real world, an indescribable drowsiness washed over him. With a slight movement of his spirituality, Aaron did not resist, found a safe spot, sat cross-legged, and entered a dream.
Within the hazy dream world, Aaron saw a slightly dilapidated spire on that barren plain, and he saw a sulking Will Auceptin.
Recalling the fate reset that had held back the Hidden Sage at the most critical moment, Aaron's face showed an awkward yet polite smile:
"Thank you for your help, Mr.President."
Will Auceptin snorted, pointing to the dilapidated spire behind him with a pained expression, muttering softly:
"This time I helped you block the Hidden Sage, which greatly affected my state…"
Wait… Aaron interrupted Will Auceptin with a wry smile:
"I remember you weren't like this even when facing Ouroboros before. Although the Hidden Sage is stronger than him, he's not his true body. You…"
Although he didn't finish his sentence, the meaning was clear: I truly appreciate your help, but one thing at a time, you can't take advantage of the situation and ask for too much!
Will Auceptin cleared his throat to hide his slight guilt, then explained righteously:
"That's different, okay? And my aura is now not only locked onto by Ouroboros, but even that Hidden Sage knows about it. He also involves the domain of fate, and in my current state, I simply cannot bear this pressure."
Will Auceptin glanced at Aaron, who was frowning slightly, and said concisely:
"So I need to reset, change my identity, and escape the perception of those two guys. So as compensation, your future gratuitous help will have to be added one more time."
Reset… Aaron looked at Will Auceptin with some suspicion. Although he felt something was off, the other party had just saved him, and the request wasn't excessive, so he nodded and then asked:
"When will you reset? Is there anything I can help with?"
Seeing that this guy agreed, Will Auceptin's expression softened, but he was secretly delighted. What he said was indeed true, but he also concealed some information.
While confronting the Hidden Sage, he had glimpsed some secrets in the surging River of Fate, which was the main reason that prompted him to decide to reset.
Of course, he couldn't say this directly, otherwise, if he said he reset on his own initiative, how could he demand compensation? But upon hearing Aaron's second question, his expression stiffened slightly:
"Probably within two or three months. The Die of Probability still needs some arrangements. As for help, well, just don't cause me any other trouble."
What kind of words are these… Being told directly by the victim, Aaron was also slightly embarrassed. He then heard this Snake of Fate add:
"After I reset, apart from certain special items acting as a medium, my power range might temporarily be limited to Backlund, and I won't be able to spare attention for the Life School of Thought."
"If those guys from the Moses Ascetic Order make any moves, I hope you can lend a hand."
Naturally, Aaron had already put that "Star-Moon Pillar" on his kill list. Not to mention this attack, just that title alone—any cat or dog could call themselves a Pillar.
Feeling the undisguised killing intent, Will Auceptin hummed and added:
"The Moses Ascetic Order lost a Sequence 3 this time, and the Hidden Sage was also affected. There won't be much movement in the short term, but you must not let your guard down."
"Just like this time, if the Hidden Sage wants to scheme against you, his portion of the authority of fate will interfere with my precognition, and I won't be able to give you specific revelations."
With the Hidden Sage still present, the "Star-Moon Pillar" also fell? Aaron nodded without changing his expression, suppressing his doubts for now, and showed a friendly smile:
"That… the paper cranes you gave me before are all used up, you see…"
Before he could finish, the scene before him suddenly blurred and shattered. When Aaron came to his senses, he found himself already out of the dream, and the last words lingering in his ears made Aaron's expression change slightly:
"Almost forgot to say, your subordinate, that 'Scholar of Yore,' is in a bit of an abnormal state right now. A kind reminder from your friend, Will Auceptin."
Too late to complain about that guy's stinginess, remembering Cavendish Lancer, who had helped him block the Hidden Sage's first wave of invasion, Aaron immediately teleported back to the Duke's mansion in Osel. After setting up a Wall of Spirituality, his consciousness sank, and he arrived in the Nation of Disorder.
Looking at the dim light of faith, Aaron unhesitatingly integrated the Black Emperor card into his body, leveraging the dark golden mist to spread towards the light spot.
Cavendish Lancer's condition was quite bad. Even through the historical projection, the complex knowledge corruption still affected him, who was at the forefront.
Out of spiritual instinct for self-preservation, Cavendish Lancer rapidly decomposed the knowledge corruption into various Spirit Body Threads, simulating the state of advancing to Scholar of Yore, dispersing all Spirit Body Threads into the historical fog.
Relying on the Scholar of Yore's inherent characteristics, he used the cleansing of the historical fog to get rid of the corruption. If Cavendish Lancer hadn't already digested most of the potion, merely dispersing the Spirit Body Threads into the historical fog would have caused him to lose control.
It was also fortunate that this was only corruption transmitted from the Hidden Sage's power projection through the historical fog; otherwise, he, who had not yet mastered a complete mythical creature form, would have simply collapsed on the spot.
Unable to reassemble his body, he would have turned into a very strange and difficult-to-deal-with Monster in mysticism: a Knowledge Fairy!
And this was also known as an "Information Organism."
After all, this was not the knowledge infusion endured by those members of the Moses Ascetic Order, but malicious knowledge corruption!
Quickly grasping the situation, and feeling that his loyal subordinate was not in mortal danger, Aaron's tense expression also relaxed slightly.
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