Chapter 163: Faith and Anchor

Having just left the Grey Mist not long ago, Ke Lai En, who was meditating to restore his spirit, suddenly heard layers of prayer voices at his ears.

"Is it Xiao Taiyang? Did you finish the secret pact ceremony so quickly?"

Ke Lai En was a bit puzzled, but he quickly rose, walked four steps backward, recited the honored name, and arrived atop the Grey Mist.

The deep‑red star representing Xiao Taiyang was continuously expanding and contracting, sending out concentric deep‑red ripples.

Ke Lai En's consciousness immediately touched that deep‑red star, and a scene unfolded: Xiao Taiyang sat in a dim corner of a room, with some unarranged ritual items beside him.

Is this praying to oneself right after completing the ceremony?

Ke Lai En, still a little doubtful, then focused on Xiao Taiyang's prayer words:

"Honored Mr. Fool, please convey to Mr. White Tower that I have completed the secret pact ceremony to seek knowledge from the Venerable of Profound Knowledge, and have obtained some extraordinary knowledge of condensing light into weapons."

"I acknowledge," Ke Lai En said, sending his words into the deep‑red star representing Xiao Taiyang, then pouring Xiao Taiyang's prayer image and voice into the deep‑red star representing Bai Ta.

After doing all that, Ke Lai En whispered to himself:

"The extraordinary knowledge of condensing light into weapons—isn't that the ability of the Dawn Knight on the Warrior path? Can it also be taught directly to extraordinary beings of other paths by granting knowledge?"

Then Ke Lai En left that space atop the Grey Mist again.

After cutting off the link with Xiao Taiyang, Lei Ke Dun immediately turned his attention to the Hanged Man tattoo on his left forearm, its once blood‑deep red color fading slightly.

Lei Ke Dun frowned slightly, seeming to bear the pressure from the Sage's trait; for this avatar of the True Creator, it was also a considerable burden.

"No wonder you're eager to restore the angelic rank and power," he muttered softly, rolled down his sleeves, and returned to the study.

He was studying a city map of Beckland, pondering the terrain of Beckland and his subsequent plans.

Suddenly, a swirl of gray‑white mist rose in his view, and a ball of deep‑red light blossomed within it, coalescing into a painting.

Xiao Taiyang Dairike was praying to Mr. Fool in a dim corner, asking the Fool to now acknowledge that his secret pact ceremony had succeeded and that he had obtained some extraordinary knowledge.

The scene ended, the gray mist in his view gradually dissipated, and Lei Ke Dun whispered to the map before him:

"The Light‑prayer person and the ability to condense brightness into weapons match well, but lacking the demon‑elixir boost that Dawn Knights have, it's a bit cumbersome and difficult to use."

He stared at the Beckland city map for a long time but had no thoughts. Meanwhile, Ke Lai En actually knocked on the downstairs door.

Tu Ba Ge ran over, opened the door for him, and then led Ke Lai En to the second‑floor study.

Ke Lai En handed over an amethyst ring and a deep‑black talisman:

"The misfortune on this ring has been stripped and forged into a talisman; the activation word of this talisman is 'misfortune.'"

Taking the amethyst ring and talisman, Lei Ke Dun glanced at Ke Lai En in surprise; in his view, Ke Lai En at this stage shouldn't be able to wield such a level of power—had he sought aid from the Night Goddess?

"What's wrong?" Ke Lai En asked curiously after the other gave him a once‑over before taking the items.

He shook his head slightly and said, "Nothing, you came to see me for something else, right?"

Ke Lai En nodded and produced the Universal Key:

"I performed a divination with it and saw something; where did you obtain this wondrous item?"

Lei Ke Dun's mouth curled into a smile as he spoke to Ke Lai En's puzzled gaze:

"At the Harvest Church you visited last time, there was an unlucky vampire volunteering there; this is the loot the priest obtained from him."

"A vampire volunteering at Harvest Church?"

Ke Lai En's expression turned odd; he recalled that orthodox vampires revere the blood‑clan progenitor Lilith, and most extraordinary beings who ascend by ingesting demon elixirs are followers of the primal moon.

A vampire who worships the Mother Earth deity—this was the first he'd heard of.

Lei Ke Dun fetched a wooden box, stored the amethyst ring and the misfortune talisman inside, and poured a cup of coffee for himself and Ke Lai En.

Only then did he sigh slightly and answer Ke Lai En's question: "The Earth Church is eager to enlighten every blood‑clan member."

"Are you planning to visit the residence of that unlucky Abraham family member?"

Ke Lai En was momentarily stunned; he wanted to ask how the other knew this, but recalling that the Universal Key was given by him, and that the Seeker path also excels at divination, he suppressed his curiosity.

After weighing his words, Ke Lai En finally said, "The Venerable of Profound Knowledge you mentioned—do you mean the Knowledge Wilderness?"

"Yes," Lei Ke Dun nodded, noting that it was not information to conceal.

"You—" Ke Lai En began to ask why he posed a question of changing faith to Xiao Taiyang, but remembering that Mr. World had not heard the transaction between them, he swallowed the words.

"What did I say?" Lei Ke Dun asked curiously, glancing at Ke Lai En.

"You mentioned the anchor earlier; could you explain it in detail? I'm a bit confused."

Under the clown's ability, Ke Lai En smoothly changed the subject.

Lei Ke Dun didn't probe whether Ke Lai En's words had shifted, and nodded slightly, saying:

"The so‑called extraordinary trait is more precisely the divinity left by the original Creator; the demon‑elixir system is a path that aggregates divinity."

"Anyone who walks this path inevitably receives the residual original will of the divinity, and the trait's inherent madness instinct erodes them."

Ke Lai En furrowed his brow; this sounded as if the demon‑elixir system were a road destined for madness.

Lei Ke Dun sat back in the chair beside his desk and continued:

"If one ascends using the extraordinary trait, they will also be affected by the lingering mental imprints of one or several preceding extraordinary beings."

"That is why extraordinary beings become increasingly prone to losing control as their rank rises."

"An anchor is others' perception of you—in simple terms, faith. Believers are the deity's anchors; their faith prevents the deity from being corrupted by the trait's inherent madness, the lingering mental imprint, and the original will that would otherwise cause loss of control."

Ke Lai En nodded heavily, understanding why higher ranks become more prone to losing control; as rank rises, the aggregated divinity within grows geometrically.

"In a sense, the Aurora Society's claim that all things possess divinity is indeed correct."

Ke Lai En recalled the Aurora Society's doctrine and mused.

Lei Ke Dun gave a noncommittal nod:

"Each church's doctrine has its merits, yet none is wholly correct; after all, they interpret the world solely from the perspective of the deity they worship."

Ke Lai En lifted his coffee, took a sip, and the bitter taste spread in his mouth, sharpening his mind.

"So the Knowledge Wilderness's doctrine is the line you mentioned earlier: all things are questions, and every question has an answer?"

Lei Ke Dun was taken aback, then shook his head slightly and said:

No, the Knowledge Wilderness has no followers, so what ideology could there be? That sentence is just my own understanding.

The Moses Ascetic Society, however, has its own doctrine; they believe that all things are numbers and knowledge is supreme.

Speaking of faith, Rekton thought of the Western Continent where a mass of primal substance has been sealed.

The Knowledge Wilderness should have followers there, but this belongs to the next version of the map, so we can skip it for now.

When the topic turned to the Moses Ascetic Society, Klein recalled that he had previously discussed this matter with Old Neil, and he sighed:

If the Hidden Sage had not become a personified evil god, the Moses Ascetic Society might not have turned into a cult organization.

Rekton shook his head slightly, not really agreeing with the other's view:

Aside from the Seven Great Divine Churches, everything else is a cult organization; that won't change, and the gods' struggle over faith will not let any power slip by.

It's just that now the alliance of the seven gods has the upper hand; in a more ancient era, the side of the True Creator was the orthodox church, and the six gods back then were all secret organizations, cult forces.

"This" Klein froze, took a deep breath, sighed inwardly, and thought that much of the information recorded by the church, especially regarding history, is unreliable.

"You know a lot."

Klein said, either sighing or probing.

Today at the Tarot Society, the other party's proposal to let Little Sun change the faith of Silver City still put Klein on alert.

He seriously doubted whether his fellow townsman had truly been contaminated by the Knowledge Wilderness and had even changed his personality.

Rekton glanced at his coffee, paid no heed to Klein's probing, and chuckled:

"The Hidden Sage is knowledge itself; in this world, few secrets can be kept from Him, even if they are hidden."

"Because with sufficient knowledge, one can use it as a basis to deduce even more knowledge."

Klein silently nodded, neither saying he believed this explanation nor denying it.

In the study, for a moment only the sound of Tu Ba Ge gnawing on fruit remained.

"I want to go see the place where that member of the Abraham family died; do you know where it is?"

After a long while, Klein spoke again, and the topic returned to the universal key.

Rekton shook his head slightly: "You can go to the Harvest Church to find that unlucky blood clan."

(End of chapter)