Chapter 107: New Member

Lei Kedun picked up a shivering crow from the ground, also picked up the bread that had fallen to one side, and stuffed it into the crow's claws.

"The bread you snatched is yours, and the crow I picked up is mine."

Lei Kedun, in a good mood, said to the crow in his hand.

He took a step forward, and his figure swiftly turned transparent and vanished at the spot.

He reappeared, already back in the room on Mingsike Jie.

"Boss, you're back!"

Tu Ba Ge sat upright on the sofa, gnawing on a fruit of unknown origin.

"Hmm, I picked up a crow; if nothing unexpected happens, it will be your lackey from now on."

Lei Kedun nodded, then raised his hand and shook the crow he was pinching. Afterwards he curiously asked:

"Where did you get the fruit?"

"The potted plant upstairs; I improved it a bit, and it has turned from an ornamental plant into a fruit tree. The materials are insufficient, otherwise I could graft different branches onto it, letting it bear many kinds of fruit at once!"

Tu Ba Ge said excitedly.

Lei Kedun was stunned for a moment, never expecting the potted plant could be used this way; he felt that this rabbit had already graduated from Frank in some aspects.

"Don't modify overly strange plants; well, forget it. From now on, whenever you modify plants at home, give me a report!"

To prevent overly strange plants from appearing at home, Lei Kedun made a request of Tu Ba Ge.

""Write a report!"" Tu Ba Ge's eyes turned red and widened."

Lei Kedun ignored Tu Ba Ge's shock, took a fruit that Tu Ba Ge had just grown, and took a bite.

""Hmm, the taste is not bad!"" He gave Tu Ba Ge an evaluation."

Then, carrying the crow playing dead on his hand, he went up to the second-floor study.

Lei Kedun found a piece of parchment, then took out a ritual silver pen, quickly wrote a contract, and drew the Omniscient Eye symbol symbolizing the God of Knowledge, taking the God of Knowledge as a witness.

Lei Kedun communicated with the crow on a spiritual level through his ability to simulate an audience; after threatening and enticing it, the crow agreed to the contract.

Lei Kedun let the crow bleed a bit, dripped the blood onto the parchment contract, and then wrote his own name on it as well.

""Notarization: contract established!"" By simulating a notary's ability, the contract took effect under the witness of the God of Knowledge.

Lei Kedun felt that he now had some mystical connection with the crow.

He took out the materials prepared for use on the future ship, one by one.

Following the formula previously given by Xiya, he added the auxiliary materials, and finally added a Corpse Collector's extraordinary trait.

A bottle of azure liquid, suspending black spots of various sizes, the Corpse Collector's magic potion was thus prepared.

Lei Kedun's eyes again glowed with blue-white fluorescence; through his ability to simulate an audience, he communicated spiritually with it. He then handed the potion to the crow, tilting the bottle slightly.

The crow's body naturally made a drinking motion; however, Lei Kedun saw it drinking very slowly, sip by sip.

He directly used his water-attribute magical ability, condensing the potion into a water column and pouring it straight into the crow's mouth.

Given the potion's trait of dissolving upon entry, the crow did not choke from Lei Kedun's rough method of pouring the magic potion.

Lei Kedun carefully observed the crow's changes through the Peeping Eye, finding that besides its spirituality surging, a deathly aura clung to its body, and the whole bird began to shift toward a corpse-like state.

""Ga!"" A loud birdcall rang out in the study.

In Lei Kedun's view through the Peeping Eye, he found that after consuming the potion, the crow's spirituality surpassed that of many Sequence Nine extraordinary beings, showing no sign of having just taken the potion.

""Has your potion been digested?"" Lei Kedun asked, not entirely sure.

""Has your potion been digested?"" the crow repeated Lei Kedun's words in a somewhat sharp voice.

""Lacking common sense; once your spirituality settles, I'll have the Hidden Sage give you a knowledge infusion—teaching bit by bit is too troublesome."" Lei Kedun didn't mind the crow's lack of knowledge.

""Let's give you a name first!"" Lei Kedun pondered for a moment.

""Let's give you a name first! \""

The crow repeated Lei Kedun's words again.

""Since you're on the Death God path, let's call you Anu·Bis, nickname Anu; it's a shame you're not a dog, otherwise the name would suit you even better! \"

Lei Kedun quickly decided on the crow's name.

""It's a shame you're not a dog; otherwise it would suit you even more! \" the crow repeated Lei Kedun's words.

Lei Kedun's eyebrows twitched:

""You're not a parrot; why are you learning human speech? \""

""You're not a parrot; why are you learning human speech? \""

The crow repeated again.

Lei Kedun stopped paying attention to the parrot-mimicking crow, brought it downstairs, and handed it to Tu Ba Ge, who was gnawing on fruit.

""It's yours now; it temporarily lacks some common sense. As long as it doesn't cause trouble, you don't need to manage it. In a few days I'll give it a knowledge infusion, and that'll be enough. \"

Lei Kedun gave Tu Ba Ge an instruction.

""Okay, boss. \" Tu Ba Ge agreed readily.

But Lei Kedun felt that before long this rabbit would regret his words, even wishing to knock out that crow.

""Huh? Why did this conclusion suddenly pop into my mind? A kind of prophecy? But I'm neither a prophet nor a master prophet. \" Lei Kedun hesitated for a moment.

His brain raced, quickly arriving at a reasonable conclusion:

""The Sequence Two sage trait within my body is gradually merging with my body—not a staged separation of partial traits letting me advance, but it itself is gradually fusing into one with my body. \"

""When did it start? Was it already there from the beginning? Or when I first uttered the title Great Sage? \" Lei Kedun frowned and pondered.

Intuition told Lei Kedun that merging the Sequence Two trait too quickly brought him no benefit; for him it was closer to a loss of control.

""You take care of this crow. \"

Lei Kedun gave an instruction to Tu Ba Ge, who was gnawing on fruit.

Then he turned back to the second-floor study; he needed to find Mr. Huang to discuss this matter. Since he himself possessed a sage trait, Lei Kedun felt Mr. Huang likely knew of it, otherwise he wouldn't have said those words last time.

Sitting on the back‑rested chair at the desk, Lei Ke Dun quickly meditated in his mind, while resonating his own spirit.

His spirit rippled like water, and a broken circular ring made of gears and chains materialized behind him.

Lei Ke Dun's spirit body, via the ring behind him and a direct link to the library deep in the spirit realm, returned to this magnificent library.

Mr Huang was leafing through an antiquated book, occasionally making notes on it.

Lei Ke Dun did not approach to disturb; Mr Huang dislikes being interrupted while reading, a piece of information Lei Ke Dun earned after three consecutive days of examinations.

Without waiting long, Mr Huang closed the old book in his hands.

"You arrived earlier than I expected. I cannot solve your problem; becoming a Sage is a destiny already fixed for you, unchangeable."

Mr Huang seemed to have anticipated Lei Ke Dun's purpose and spoke very directly.

Mr Huang's words made Lei Ke Dun's mood grow heavier again; after pondering for a moment, he asked:

"Then, is there a way to slow this trend?"

"The best method is for you to ascend quickly, then seek another Angel‑grade trait to consume, and afterward strip the current trait from your body."

Mr Huang offered a solution that cannot be achieved in the short term.

"Extra Angel‑grade traits? There are no surplus Knowledge‑Emperor or Sage traits!"

Lei Ke Dun gave a wry smile.

"There is one in Steam, a remnant from Luosi Er's death."

Mr Huang gave a not‑surprising answer.

"Is there another one on the Hidden Sage?" Lei Ke Dun asked tentatively.

Mr Huang smiled without replying.

Lei Ke Dun understood and did not linger on the question, turning to ask:

"Do I need a ritual to advance on the Path of the Seeker of Secrets now?"

"It would be best to have one, though not required; it would reduce some of the risk you might face when stripping that trait in the future," Mr Huang replied.

Lei Ke Dun nodded in understanding.

"If I wish to use the Sage trait inside me, how can I avoid its effect on myself? For example, grafting that power onto a clone?"

Seeing the trend of the trait merging into himself was unavoidable, Lei Ke Dun simply asked how to exploit it.

"Your reaction is swift."

Mr Huang praised him once, then said:

"You can try to improve the Paper‑Man substitute spell; your messenger book is a good vessel, and after being altered by that drop of divine blood, its capacity for power has increased considerably."

Lei Ke Dun nodded thoughtfully; although he did not receive a directly usable method, he grasped the direction.

"I wish to acquire knowledge about the starry sky, mainly constellations; where should I start?"

Lei Ke Dun turned to ask another question.

This is the advancement ritual for the Path of the Seeker of Secrets, the Fifth‑Star Astrologer sequence, which requires sufficient knowledge of the constellations and the offering of related knowledge as sacrifice, while ingesting a demon potion during the ceremony.

"You have seen Him; He is the symbol of the astrological realm," Mr Huang answered without hesitation.

Lei Ke Dun also realized, Huang Guangweinitan, one of the pure lights who once told the traveler Abraham the prophecy of the End.

After finishing his exchange with Mr Huang, Lei Ke Dun's spirit body returned to his own body.

He had intended to use the ritual to communicate with Huang Guangweinitan and obtain knowledge of forms, but could not find the corresponding gemstone, "emerald", among the materials.

"The material repository still needs expansion! Moreover, ritual magic that uses gemstones as components does burn money; it seems I'll have to sail the seas more often in the future."

Lei Ke Dun lowered his head and murmured a couple of lines.

(End of Chapter)