Chapter 3: Walking with the Saint

Chumen looked out, and it was a massive mountain range that towered into the clouds, its peak difficult to discern.

Further away, there seemed to be several terrifying giant beasts rolling about, and from afar, the sound of wolf howls could be heard echoing.

"To think this place is not far from the God's Kingdom of the Destruction Demon Wolf?!" Chumen gasped.

Playing the "darkness under the lamp" trick is truly masterful!

Chumen's hand, wearing the Ancient One's Glove, grabbed at the air as if catching something, and his entire person vanished.

When he reappeared, Chumen had already put some distance between himself and the Destruction Demon Wolf's God's Kingdom.

Subsequently, he saw all sorts of strange and bizarre things.

Demon wolves, Mist Treants, Thousand-Faced Hunters—one could even see these Extraordinary Creatures that, in later ages, could directly become potion ingredients.

This was the area around the Destruction Demon Wolf's God's Kingdom; these creatures, or rather the extraordinary substances within them, were unconsciously gathering here, arriving at this mountain range.

And with these Extraordinary Creatures gathered together, the scene could be imagined.

Beasts might have times when they are full, but these creatures only want to eat more the more they eat.

Bloody, insane, bizarre—all sorts of scenes that challenged the limits of human cognition appeared before Chumen's eyes; one could see Extraordinary Creatures falling into madness at any time due to ingesting too many mixed Characteristics.

Of course, there were also those "Chosen Ones" who survived the madness and, by a stroke of luck, crossed the threshold of their level.

Chumen observed from the sidelines for a long time, sighing once more at the chaos that existed before the Sequence formulas of the First Blasphemy Slate appeared.

Nowadays, the name of the Ancient Sun God had not even spread in this world, so naturally, there were no Blasphemy Slates.

He was about to leave, but as the hem of his Sage's Robe lifted, his fingers gently flicked, using the Ancient One's Glove to manipulate the Spirit Body Threads of this area.

The Sage's Robe was constantly analyzing the knowledge of this world, and the key to this was naturally the Ancient One's Glove on Chumen's hand.

And Chumen could use the Traveler's simulation to manifest many abilities.

"Why doesn't this Saint reveal themselves?" Chumen was not trying to put the hidden person to death, but rather gently flicked the Spirit Body Threads to make that Saint unable to hide any longer.

Since Chumen addressed them as a Saint, they were naturally no weaker than a Sequence 4 of later ages.

It was at this moment that a figure suddenly appeared in the air.

It was a young man with a nervous expression, wearing a gray-white robe, with thick hair and an impressive temperament, though his features were somewhat plain.

"Are you a god?" This young man appeared somewhat fearful.

However, both the intuition of the Dream Book and the knowledge of the Sage's Robe reminded Chumen that this person felt no awe whatsoever toward so-called gods.

He was observing him, high and mighty like a Dragon, and it seemed no action of his could escape those eyes.

Even, it seemed that some things were disappearing...

The hypnosis and virtual personality of the Spectator Pathway had made him forget some memories, and even modified his personality to a certain extent?

It was only because it was him—both the Dream Book and the Sage's Robe had such intuitions reminding him—that if a Demigod like a Warrior came along, they might even have the Characteristics on their body swindled away.

Chumen looked at the other party, then discovered something, "You are a human?"

Yes, this was a human.

The young man's expression changed just right, and Chumen's expression was also somewhat strange.

"What is your name?" Chumen asked.

"Hermes." The young man was already looking for an escape route, and invisible power was spreading on the mental level.

Chumen revealed a smile; could this be considered a kind of wish fulfillment, a dream come true?

This was one of the goals of his outing; who would have thought he would run into him just after stepping out?

Chumen withdrew his hand, no longer holding the Spirit Body Threads, and the atmosphere between the two quickly eased.

"I am not a god, I am also a human," Chumen explained to this Saint.

Chumen had a certain favorable impression of this founder of human mysticism; he thought for a moment and withdrew the Hidden ability of the Divinity Badge, causing Hermes opposite him to widen his eyes slightly.

"Truly a human?!" Hermes confirmed this fact; the spirit body had absolutely no traces of mystery or Corruption, purer even than a newborn human infant!

"But..." Hermes had doubts, but at the very least, he relaxed on the surface.

In this era, Hermes was still young, harboring the ideal of carving out an extraordinary path for humanity, which showed his sense of belonging to humanity; Chumen's human identity was enough to make him lower some of his vigilance.

And honestly, most humans of this era were a bit excessively honest and simple...

"Are you observing the advancement of these Extraordinary Creatures?" Chumen looked at a Thousand-Faced Hunter in front of Hermes; it was one of the "Chosen Ones."

After a chaotic battle, it had swallowed the crystal of a Six-Winged Gargoyle, its luck exploding, and it directly possessed even greater power.

"Are you observing them to try and find the patterns within?"

"This... Sequence 6 advancing to Sequence 5, the leap is not large, and with a bit of luck, it is quite reasonable; it's just that it went mad," Chumen commented.

It was just a simple comment, but it made the eyes of Hermes opposite him tremble; the concept of "Sequence" within it made Hermes feel as if a door to a new world had been opened.

He was unfamiliar with this term, but relying on a foundation of mysticism that was solid enough for this era and even later ages, he could vaguely guess the implications behind it.

That was order, and it was also the hope of humanity!

Whoosh! A Saint of the Dragon Pathway—that is, the later Spectator Pathway—could no longer hide his thoughts; that thirst for knowledge even made the Sage's Robe on Chumen's body react.

"Can you teach me? About this Sequence!" Hermes lowered his head and requested.

Chumen chuckled, "Naturally I can, but I have one small request."

"Take me to the various human city-states to find some people."

"... No problem!" Hermes hesitated for a moment, then finally agreed.

The other party was a pure human; surely he couldn't be worse than those extraordinary races that treated humans as slaves or even food?

Hermes at this time probably didn't know the word "human traitor"...

"Very good, but I will still ask presumptuously: how did you become a Saint? This has a certain connection to Sequence knowledge." The atmosphere between the two eased, and Chumen also asked curiously.

Related to Sequence... Hermes had a realization; Chumen's insight that transcended the era was extremely brilliant in the eyes of an explorer like him, which made his heart even more restless.

"When my city-state was being destroyed by a Monster, I forcibly swallowed a crystal containing mysterious power..." Hermes gave a rough introduction to the situation at the time.

"The current Hermes is equivalent to a Sequence 4 Manipulator of later ages..." Chumen thought to himself, "And when the city fell, there was no shortage of resonance with emotions of Despair or desperation; it counts as having completed the ritual by mistake."

"You are very lucky, and of course, also very remarkable." The key to the Manipulator ritual is resonance; without a heart determined to live or die with the city-state, the ritual cannot be completed.

"So, what are your thoughts on your advancement?" The two walked together, far from this chaotic battlefield, discussing Sequence knowledge.

The Spirit World faithfully records all information, and in later ages, Ancient Scholars will also glimpse one of the most important moments in human history from within the mists of history.