Chapter 545: Gray Mist

Kelei En leaned back in the high‑backed chair, let out a silent sigh, remained silent for a while, then suddenly spoke:

"I want to purchase a Generalist's magic elixir formula and materials."

Kelei En's sudden words surprised Lei Kedun. He turned his head, scrutinized Kelei En's expression, and said like a detective, "Prepared for Mei Lisha? Buying both the materials and the formula at once—are you planning to let her dip her toes into the mysterious world?"

"Yes, I suddenly realized that I actually lack the ability to protect them properly; I can only keep evading, watching them from afar."

"Instead of that, as you said before, let the Mei Lisha who wishes to learn more encounter the mysterious world. With my help, she won't face many dangers; as long as she stays at a low Sequence, the risk of losing control won't be great."

Kelei En tilted his head slightly in reply, as if having gone through a journey, suddenly much more mature.

Lei Kedun nodded calmly, "Then who do you intend to have as her teacher to guide her into the mysterious world? Will you yourself assume a different guise?"

Kelei En remained silent, offering no answer—a tacit acceptance.

Leaning back in the high‑backed chair, Lei Kedun let out a light laugh, his right index finger gently tapping the armrest as he spoke:

"How about I recommend a few candidates for you."

He paused, met Kelei En's scrutinizing gaze, and continued, "The well‑suited teacher, Iceberg General, possesses ample knowledge and can obtain Generalist pathway formulas below Sequence Six. You know something about her character, but as a captain she cannot be away from the Golden Dream for long."

"The second candidate is in Beikeland, someone you know—Leipade, the inventor of the bicycle. He has become a Sequence Eight Archaeologist. He can take Mei Lisha as his laboratory assistant, which not only lets her learn some knowledge of the mysterious world but also provides a well‑paying job."

"The third candidate is Beiernadai; she has mastered all Generalist pathway formulas except those of Sequence One. Elemental Dawn also cultivates its own 'craftsmen'; simply put, you can trust Huang Tao."

"Although she is often elusive, having Mei Lisha join Elemental Dawn and be trained there is still feasible."

"Your speaking style still retains the habits of the Knowledge Church," Kelei En said half in sigh, half in sarcasm.

After a second of silence, he continued, "Each of them is tied to some faction."

"I haven't formally left the Knowledge Church," Lei Kedun spread his hands in explanation, then followed Kelei En's previous words, "It's inevitable, or you could choose to teach her yourself; after all, you're heading back to Beikeland anyway."

After a long silence, Kelei En finally spoke again:

"Write me a recommendation letter for Leipade, a well‑paying job; it's also important for Benson and Mei Lisha."

"You can find my duplicate; have him send you a letter," Lei Kedun said lazily, leaning against the chair back.

Kelei En gave a flat nod, after two seconds of silence said quietly, "That'll do."

Lei Kedun hummed, and a deep crimson light surged before his eyes. He felt a brief daze; when he came to, he was back in front of a fire among the city ruins of Divine Abandoned Land.

He let out a long sigh, rose from the ground, brushed dust off his clothes, then pulled out a stack of pale yellow paper figures and tossed them into the air.

Each paper figure rapidly expanded and twisted in midair, sticking together to form a normal human shape, wearing a coarse cloth coat, with crude features.

It was a tangible paper figure; under Lei Kedun's control it bent stiffly, picking up the dark copper lantern from the ground.

In the dim yellow light, Lei Kedun and the paper figure's silhouettes twisted abruptly, vanished from the spot, and reappeared dozens of meters away.

Snap! He suddenly raised his hand and snapped his fingers; a tranquil night veil slowly descended, covering the spot where he had rested, magically obscuring all the traces he left.

Following his own intuition, he continued eastward toward Divine Abandoned Land. After several alternating bursts of frequent and gentle lightning, at the edge of his sight appeared a familiar gray‑white mist, exactly like the gray mist beneath their feet during every Monday gathering.

The gray mist spread endlessly at the horizon of his vision, with no discernible beginning or end.

The next moment, his figure suddenly became transparent, as if turned into a statue composed of countless points of starlight.

The statue shattered, turning into sparkling stellar radiance that surged, engulfing the nearby paper figure holding the dark copper lantern, merging into glittering points of starlight that moved toward the distant gray mist.

Beneath the endless gray mist, clusters of star rays reconvened inside, revealing Lei Kedun's silhouette.

He held a dark copper lantern in his right hand, standing before the boundless gray mist, with frequent slipping bolts of silver‑white lightning behind him, flashing and illuminating the barren land. Wh‑wh— a phantom, ethereal wailing suddenly sounded in Lei Kedun's ears, as if from an endless distance yet right beside him.

Behind him, a fragmented circular ring made of countless gears and chains materialized; at its center, an illusory tome flipped continuously, specks of dazzling starlight peeling from it and swirling around him.

The starlight gathered ever more, forming a vast star river, each star moving according to a peculiar rhythm, as if embodying some kind of knowledge.

Opposite him, the previously calm gray mist suddenly surged, flashing faint glimmers that were repeatedly concealed by the mist and then revealed, as if engaged in a tug‑of‑war.

As the flickering lights within the gray mist pulsed, countless voices gradually echoed in Lei Kedun's ears—some loud, some soft, some distant, some near—each bearing intense devotion and fervent belief, shouting and chanting something. Whenever he tried to listen closely, the sounds grew noisy and indistinct.

Around him, the vast, brilliant star river began to rotate slowly, then faster, stirring up a pale‑blue, dazzling storm of light!

Stars flickered one after another in the sky, scattering rays upon rays; Lei Kedun, at the very center of it all, fell into a brief trance.

An illusory sound echoed in his ears, as if something were shattering.

At that moment, he felt himself fully merge with his extraordinary traits, spinning at high speed in midair as the sparkling stars gradually converged inward, merging into his body.

His aura surged upward rapidly, his spirit seemed infinitely elevated, flesh and blood constantly writhing and twisting, appearing eerie and terrifying.

Faintly, he seemed to grasp something, seeing the positions of the illusory stars in the void and understanding what they represented.

During this process, his body and consciousness were gradually broken down, turning into countless massive pure data streams, flowing wildly in both the material world and the spirit realm.

More and more information was drawn in, merging into the torrent of data; the originally ethereal knowledge gradually solidified into a faint, barely visible glow, surging like a flood between the spirit realm and reality.

On the other side, the gray‑white mist churned more violently, as if something within it kept crashing outward, trying to break the seal and unleash its power.

Within the gray mist, countless vague light points flickered, as if a hidden, brilliant starry sky full of knowledge lay concealed.

In Beikeland, at a hotel in the Hillside District, having just finished the lunch delivered to his room by the inn's waiter, Kelei En, about to leave, suddenly halted.

A dense gray mist suddenly swirled in his eyes, restless and turbulent, causing his own spirit to sense an omen.

"Is this... a change above that gray mist that has triggered me, who is directly linked there?"

Muttering softly, he released his grip on the door handle, turned into the bathroom on the other side of the room, and, with practiced motions, recited a chant while stepping backward four paces.

Within the grand ancient palace above the gray mist, Kelei En stared at the endlessly surging gray mist before him, feeling bewildered.

There was no aura of other beings; it seemed only the gray mist here sensed something and reacted spontaneously. As long as the former master of the 'Source Fortress' hasn't returned, it's fine; otherwise he would discover his home had been stolen, taken by a weak Sequence Five.

After a brief sigh in his heart, he immediately manifested a paper and pen, wrote a divination script, and tried to divine the source of this anomaly.

In a hazy dream, he suddenly awoke, seeing boundless gray mist; within it countless star‑like brilliant things flickered, surged, constantly striking the mist.

An indescribable force was released, trying to break through the mist's seal, but always fell short, never truly breaching the gray mist.

Suddenly, specks of dazzling stellar radiance appeared beyond the gray mist, dense and blinding.

"Huh" Kelei En suddenly opened his eyes, leaned forward, hands braced on the mottled long table's edge, gasping heavily.

At the moment he saw those dazzling stars, he felt his mind flooded with countless massive, pure yet useless knowledge, as if his head were about to explode from within.

After a breath, he leaned back against the chair, closed his eyes, and restored his condition through meditation.

About a minute later, he opened his eyes again, saw the gray mist around him that had already subsided, and suddenly let out a sigh: 'That just now was somewhat like the Hidden Sage's knowledge that follows a person; what I saw was some angel of the Secret-Seeker's path?'

(End of chapter)