Chapter 165

When you are trapped in dilemma, you may invoke the reverent name of the Sacrificer.

The God of Light not of this era

The light of hope for redemption and grace

The alien god of destruction and downfall

The successive pieces of information, like confronting a mythological being of high-rank existence, nearly caused thoughts to descend into chaos or stagnation, triggering uncontrollable fear and exhilaration.

At this moment, contradictions surfaced among the members of the Tarot Club.

The Fool's words echoed in everyone's minds.

The God of Light not of this era stirred violent storms even within Audrey's heart as an Audience; she could not maintain her "Audience" state for a short while.

Is He the Fool Mr.'s subordinate god?! Does he also not belong to this era because, in the distant past, he entered slumber alongside the Fool Mr., only awakening recently?

He is at least an angel; only an Angel of Sequence 2, known in ancient myths as a subordinate god, may include the character "god" in his reverent name. In fact, in modern times, very few angels include "god" in their reverent names. This only occurred during the ancient epoch, when gods and angels walked the earth and established terrestrial divine kingdoms.

They turned to another man whose face was likewise not concealed by gray mist—could the Fool Mr. have awakened two subordinate gods at once?! Or even three?!

The Tarot Club members waited for the Fool Mr. to continue reciting the full reverent name of the Sacrificer.

"If you need to obtain healing power, you may also invoke the Sacrificer's reverent name to receive light from Him."

After speaking, the Fool fell silent, granting everyone time to process.

A three-part description?!

In other rituals, this signifies—this points to—the seven deities overseeing the entire world!

Something is wrong! They realized with shock that two segments of this reverent name directly point to deities: the God of Light not of this era and the alien god of destruction and downfall.

One who can precisely locate oneself through a three-part description, without relying on a closely related deity as the first segment of the reverent name…

This is at least an Angel-King who has absorbed a uniqueness?! Moreover, the power of light—the Eternal Sun—is already a Sequence 0 True God; why does the Sun Path still have a Sequence 1 Angel-King?!

All members of the Tarot Club knew that history: the unique natures of the Eternal Sun, the Lord of Storms, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom originated from the Ancient Sun God, and there had never been a struggle with other angels.

A more terrifying speculation simultaneously surfaced in the minds of some Tarot Club members.

Did the Ancient Sun God's uniqueness once originate from Him?!

After his defeat, he submitted under the Fool Mr.'s banner—He is a primordial god from the Second Era?!

The members felt as if they had slowly unraveled layers of historical cocoons, uncovering a clearer thread of history.

Seeing the atmosphere sufficiently prepared, Kleen continued speaking:

"Likewise, if during this period you discover traces of Amon or cult organizations in Beckenland, you may also invoke the Pope's reverent name."

The Earth God not of this era

The God of Trade who governs wealth and commerce

The Witness of Fairness and Contracts

Another one?! As expected!

These two originated from distant eras; they are very likely former Angel-Kings, or even former gods!

The Hanged Man, Alger, tensed, his mind racing—he could almost confirm that the Fool Mr. had awakened two primordial gods from slumber, and that the Fool Mr. may have paid a price, and will again briefly fall into slumber at some future moment!

Only now did the Tarot Club members realize just how profound the foundation of the Tarot Club—or rather, of Mr. Fool—truly was.

"Alright, you may now freely exchange information."

Thud.

After tapping the bronze long table, the Fool propped his head on one hand, assuming a relaxed posture as he gazed down upon them.

It was again time for the Tarot Club members to exchange information and conduct transactions.

"It seems Mr. Emperor is not a primordial god?" the members deduced.

But with two former primordial gods present, everyone felt somewhat restrained.

They glanced at each other, unsure who should break the silence first.

"I've heard you often exchange knowledge or items of equivalent value here," Zhongli set down his teacup, gently turned his head, and swept a sidelong glance over them.

"Yes, Mr. Pope," Audrey's tone lifted lightly, regaining a cheerful cadence; after a pause, she added: "Sometimes we also entrust each other with tasks, receiving assistance from members in exchange for compensation."

"Excellent," Zhongli smiled and nodded.

Everyone immediately recalled one segment of the Pope's reverent name—the Witness of Fairness and Contracts—and wondered whether, in ancient times, this deity had also represented wealth and commerce.

"If you have any new things, interesting Supernatural Items, or precious artworks, bring them to trade with me," Zhongli told them.

Upon hearing this, Kleen nearly widened his eyes—if not for the gray mist obscuring his face, everyone would have seen the Fool Mr. grinning crookedly as if suffering a toothache.

He has only recently awakened and wishes to engage with modern society? New things, Supernatural Items, artworks—this newly awakened primordial god, Mr. Pope, shows great curiosity about this world.

"Does what I've written count as something new?" Foursea thought, then jolted and instantly cast the irreverent notion into the clouds.

"This is a great opportunity," Alger thought inwardly, rapidly recalling what items he currently possessed that he could trade with this primordial god. Gathering artworks and Supernatural Items was relatively easy for someone who spent most of his time at sea.

Alger subtly glanced at the Hermit, Gardeliah; she too remained silent, undoubtedly pondering what she could offer to impress this Pope.

"This title relates to wealth and commerce—he surely won't lack money. But if I merely want to sell my goods at a good price, I can simply go to black-market merchants; the Storm Church even has dedicated money-laundering organizations."

"Heh, why waste such a good opportunity? Perhaps he has the unique traits or potion recipes I lack?"

Alger slowly reined in his scattered thoughts, focusing on the words "interesting" and "new."

"I also need to collect potion ingredients for the Farmer Path—from Sequence 9 to Sequence 4," Zhongli told them; he wished to analyze how different worlds utilize the power of the earth, which here resembles the application of natural forces, unlike in Teyvat.

"I can attempt to obtain them from the Church of the Earth Mother," Moon. Emlyn spoke up.

Kleen thought for a moment, then spoke in his Fool identity:

"The ritual for offering sacrifices to the Pope is as follows."

"Place four fresh candles on the altar, one at each corner—preferably those with sandalwood scent. Place some gold pounds on the upper-left candle, a gold riso from the Kingdom of Fenipot on the upper-right candle, a Faeljin on the lower-left, and some banknotes on the lower-right, creating a sealed spiritual environment."

This was his modified version of his own ritual.

Su Lin, at this moment, transferred his spirit from the historical fissure into the historical projection frozen in posture, and spoke to Moon. Emlyn:

"I've heard from The World about you — you have some personal collection?"

Emlyn never expected the priest to bring this up at a moment like this. He whipped his head around to look at The World, seated at the very end opposite Mr. Fool — had he actually told an ancient god about his personal hobby?!

'Mr. World has already made the acquaintance of these two ancient gods in advance?' Audrey also turned her gaze toward The World.

'As Mr. Fool's favored one, perhaps it was he who went to awaken these two ancient gods.'

Seeing that The World showed no reaction at all, merely resting both hands on the tabletop as though lost in thought, Emlyn turned back a little awkwardly and said with some embarrassment to Su Lin: "Yes. Those are my personal tastes."

Emlyn was a young Blood Race dweller in the capital of the Loen Kingdom, Backlund. Both his parents were outstanding doctors; in daily life he kept the law and never maliciously harmed others to obtain fresh blood.

But as a vampire who didn't care to go out socializing, he had one hobby known to no one — a passion for collecting all manner of dolls.

Lifelike life-sized dolls!

"Do they take custom orders?" Su Lin crossed his Yang Erlang legs, rested both hands on his feet, and asked.

"What?" Emlyn was a little stunned; he suspected he'd misheard.

Su Lin stretched out one hand toward Emlyn and gestured as he spoke: "That shop — do they take custom orders? Or rather, did you make those yourself?"

"You—" Emlyn parted his lips. His pupils beneath the gray fog were trembling as he looked at Su Lin in disbelief. He sprang up from his chair in one motion, his tone agitated: "Could it be that you also—"

Su Lin gave a slight nod, smiling. "You haven't answered my question yet."

Emlyn's tone carried a hint of eagerness as he said: "Of course, and there are several shops at that — 139 Berkland Street, 21 Rose Long Street—"

"But the master at the shop in the South of the River District has retired, and his apprentice's craft has a few flaws, so for the moment the best craftsmanship is still over in St. George District—"

Halfway through speaking, Emlyn suddenly remembered this was the Tarot Club — everyone else was looking at him with strange expressions, he had no idea what they were thinking.

"Ahem." His face reddened slightly beneath the gray fog. He cleared his throat twice. "That's about it."

Audrey's personality profile of The Moon grew richer by another few strokes. The corner of her mouth held a smile, and her emerald-green eyes shifted curiously between Su Lin and Emlyn.

"Are you free lately? I'd like to go to your place and see those collections." Su Lin said to Emlyn: "I want to commission you to take me to visit those masters."

"Of-of course!" Emlyn had never expected such a commission — it was practically stepping right into his area of expertise.

Don't get the wrong idea — Su Lin wanted to commission a doll modeled after his Light God form, to record all his various handsome poses.

Of course.

Commissioning a few figurines on the side wouldn't be out of the question either.

Miss Kelaien saw the atmosphere gradually taking a strange turn, sighed inwardly, and, controlling the dummy 'The World,' said to The Hermit. Cattleya:

"Get in touch with the Queen of Mystery for me. I have important matters to discuss with her."

The Hermit. Cattleya was briefly lost in thought, then came back to herself. After a few seconds of silence, she answered: "Understood."

Miss Kelaien nodded. It was time to go meet this fellow countryman of his ahead of schedule.

He was quite the famous person.

'He's even blown up in another world.' Miss Kelaien cast a silent sidelong glance at Lu Mingfei, who was completely bewildered and had no idea what to do.

'The Witch's—'