Chapter 548: The New Week's Gathering

High Priest Nim, standing at the front, took the beast‑skin lantern from the hunched‑backed youth beside him, leaned forward a little nervously, and stopped less than five meters from Lei Kedun.

Perhaps because he was very old, or because he had long eaten polluted food, his eyesight was not very good; after surveying Lei Kedun from different angles for a while, he finally spoke in a somewhat nervous voice:

"We are very sorry; we did not intend to discuss you. This is our first time seeing a human other than ourselves, please understand."

"No need to be so formal," Lei Kedun replied with a faint nod.

Nim seemed to have finally confirmed something and, curious, said:

"You do not seem to be from this area, or perhaps not from this continent. Your language is strange; although I can grasp its meaning, it must be a magical effect you imposed, as it does not belong to any language I know."

Lei Kedun lightly nodded and said:

"It is the Faineibote language, spoken by a nation outside the Divine Abandoned Land."

"Divine Abandoned Land?" Nim murmured with a complex expression, as if he had suddenly grown much older.

After a pause, as if mustering courage, he asked, "May I ask how one can leave this Divine Abandoned Land? What price must we pay for it?"

"Ha, no price is needed, because you simply cannot achieve it," Lei Kedun said with a light laugh, paused two seconds, then continued:

"Heading west from here requires crossing the entire continent; the Giant King's Court there is the passage out of the Divine Abandoned Land."

"Giant King's Court. I know that place," High Priest Nim lowered his head, murmuring softly, his voice growing fainter until it vanished.

The scene fell silent for a moment; then he lifted his head again and gave Lei Kedun a bitter smile.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Lei Kedun interrupted:

"You need not ask me for anything; your fate is not in my hands."

"Wait. In a year, someone will return here, bearing divine decree and hope; that will be your chance to leave."

"It is a prophecy."

As the final sentence fell, Lei Kedun's figure suddenly became transparent and ethereal, breaking into countless strands of tangled knowledge, turning into a pure information‑flow entity that surged like a torrent toward the distance.

Nim stood dumbfounded, watching the spot where Lei Kedun vanished, a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

Taking a deep breath and regaining composure, he hoisted the beast‑skin lantern and retreated into the ranks of the Moon City crowd.

As soon as he approached, the anxious onlookers from Moon City, who had been watching nearby, hurriedly asked:

"High Priest, what did that person say at the end? Is he truly a human from the outside world?"

Nim looked at the crowd's complicated expressions and slowly said:

"A prophecy."

After leaving Moon City, Lei Kedun traveled west for a while and entered a collapsed, abandoned temple.

In the darkness, the temple's depths glowed with streaks of scarlet light, and a wind tinged with a foul, fishy odor howled toward them.

Thick teal vines dropped from the heights, covering the surrounding area like a downpour, completely enveloping Lei Kedun's figure, which vanished in an instant.

Only a few indistinct silhouettes in the darkness struck the temple's walls and floor, producing the sound of bricks and stones collapsing, making the already half‑ruined temple even more dilapidated.

In a dimension separated from reality, the teal vines intertwined, swiftly forming a vast emerald forest that layered upward, its canopy invisible.

Under Lei Kedun's deliberate control, some of the teal vines around him intertwined into a set of teal‑colored tables and chairs.

He placed the lantern he was holding onto the table, lounged lazily on a long chair woven from vines, and closed his eyes for a short rest.

After a few minutes, a dense gray mist swirled in his eyes, and Ke Lai En's somewhat ethereal, high‑pitched voice echoed in his ears:

"Prepare the gathering."

Unlike before, this time he sensed some aura of the Source Fortress; his gaze turned deeply upward toward the ceiling, as if spanning space to meet Ke Lai En's eyes. Above the gray mist, Ke Lai En's heartbeat inexplicably quickened by two beats, and he awkwardly averted his gaze that had been meeting Lei Kedun's.

After two seconds, he curiously looked back again, but Lei Kedun had already withdrawn his gaze.

"Strange, what has happened to him? Even above the gray mist I feel a sense of danger; he seems to possess some quality that can disturb this mist,"

Muttering to himself for a while, Ke Lai En decided to perform a divination; with practiced movements he manifested the yellow crystal pendant commonly used for scrying, closed his eyes, and silently recited the incantation.

After repeating it several times, he opened his eyes and looked at the yellow crystal pendant turning slowly counter‑clockwise in his hand, feeling a bit relaxed: "Fortunately, the changes in him pose no danger to me, but what exactly has happened to him? He has undergone a considerable transformation, one that is hard to discern."

Soon it was three o'clock in the afternoon; Lei Kedun watched the gray‑white mist and deep crimson light reappear before his eyes, and it seemed that a slight pinch would sever his connection to the mist above, allowing him to easily refuse Ke Lai En's pulling gesture.

Suppressing the urge to try, he meditated to stay calm, letting his spirit body follow the tug created by Ke Lai En into the space above the gray mist.

Above the gray mist, within a palace whose vaulted dome rose high.

Streaks of deep crimson light rose, then quickly receded inward, coalescing on either side of the mottled long table into vague human silhouettes.

Ke Lai En carefully and covertly activated his spiritual sight, observing that Miss Zhengyi Aodaili and Miss Moshushi Foersi's spirits had not fully settled; it seemed they had completed their ascension the previous week.

His gaze did not linger; he turned his head toward the opposite side of the mottled long table, and at that instant a strong warning surged in his mind, causing him to instinctively withdraw his sight.

"Can't look, can't look! Who is it I must not see? A Er? Has he ascended to Sage in the Divine Abandoned Land?"

As thoughts churned in Ke Lai En's mind, he shut off his spiritual sight, and, using the gray mist as cover, calmly glanced toward the side of the mottled long table where Lei Kedun lounged lazily in a high‑back chair.

He could see no change, only a vague sense that Lei Kedun seemed a bit calmer and more rational.

As his thoughts turned, he heard Miss Zhengyi Aodaili's greeting.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool~"

Miss Zhengyi Aodaili rose gracefully and deftly, lifting her skirt slightly, and bowed toward the head of the mottled long table where Fool Ke Lai En sat.

Following Miss Zhengyi's lead, the other members of the Tarot Society also rose to bow, then nodded to each other.

Having attended the Tarot Society twice, "Chariot" Anderson had gradually adapted; his posture had shifted from the upright, school‑like stance to that of a carefree adventurer.

Scanning the crowd, Ke Lai En, before the "Hermit" Jiadeliya could materialize the diary, tapped his finger on the table and, with a relaxed voice tinged with admiration, said:

"First, let us congratulate our Miss Hypnotist and Miss Recorder on their successful ascension, and of course, our newly risen Sage!"

Miss Zhengyi Aodaili and "Magician" Foersi, surprised and delighted, turned sideways and bowed slightly toward Fool Ke Lai En at the head of the mottled long table.

At the same time they wondered internally which sequence the title "Sage" belonged to.

The newly ascended Sage, "White Tower," had already become a Sage; that pace was absurdly fast. The rapidity was abnormal, and Jiadeliya, the "Hermit" who knows Sages best, couldn't control her expression, turning with surprise and excitement toward Lei Kedun seated just ahead of her.

The queen had lingered at the third‑sequence "Prophecy Master" stage for so long without finding a chance to ascend, yet he rose so quickly and easily—this is definitely abnormal! With curiosity and concern, she asked, "How did you ascend to Sage?"

Lei Kedun shifted slightly, looked at Jiadeliya opposite him, and chuckled lightly:

I have always had a Sage's trait; when it fully merges with me, I naturally get promoted.

This, a natural-born angel? Only the 'Hidden Sage' can achieve this with that path, no wonder. Jiādélìyǎ was slightly stunned, quickly reacted, and she swiftly restrained her exposed emotions, speaking calmly:

You need to pay attention to the balance between your divinity and humanity; your situation is more dangerous than that of ordinary angels.

Angel? The 'Sage' is an angel of Sequence Two! No wonder Mr. Yúzhe privately mentioned our promotion before the meeting started; it turns out they saw that Mr. Báitǎ had already been promoted to become an angel. Justice Àodàilì's gaze, unable to hide curiosity, looked toward the lax Léikèdùn sitting in the high-backed chair.

Angel! Actually an angel! I was still feeling smug about my promotion a second ago, and the next second I was told that someone on the Tarot Society had been promoted to angel? Everyone's ages are roughly the same, no, Mr. Báitǎ looks like he's a bit younger than me. This suddenly felt worse: Magician Fúěrsī lay back lazily, and she suddenly had the thought that she was actually a waste.

Angel! Is this guy still human? This promotion speed is frankly too shocking. Moon Āimǔlín and Chariot Āndèsēn's thoughts coincidentally matched.

(End of chapter)