Chapter 554: Return to Sai Xiting

In the god‑abandoned land, amid the ruins of Sai Xiting, a faint, barely visible glow rose from the spirit realm's depths, countless massive pure bits of knowledge rapidly converged, reconstituting Lei Kedun's body.

After ascending to "Sage" and regaining his identity, he merely appeared here and sensed the hidden "Knowledge Mentor" trait.

It seems that if his will is strong enough, that trait will break its seal and fly into his hand.

He now has some control over matters of the "Perfecter" path, though it is weaker than his own "Hermit" path, which muttered a couple of lines in his mind; suddenly he extended his right hand forward and grasped at the void.

The quiet Sai Xiting, shrouded in dense darkness, suddenly emitted an illusory light from all directions; the lights overlapped, as if constructing a massive, intricate city.

These lights gradually merged into the ruin‑like city, and the whole city seemed to come alive at that moment.

He directly seized the information world hidden on the other side of the city's ruins and forcefully fused it with the real city.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Mechanical whirring and gear‑meshing sounds filled the air; the city seemed to become a massive machine factory, and the streets gradually lit with dim amber flames.

Lei Kedun calmly stepped forward; behind him, patches of pure white, illusory feathers coalesced, layering outward like an exaggerated pair of pure white wings.

Beneath the pure white wings, his body swiftly split open with fissures, the blackness hidden beneath his skin surfacing bit by bit; his entire form became a black mass studded with countless eyes, exuding madness, destruction, ominousness, and disaster.

As the aura spread, under the influence of "Mysterious Reappearance", eyes brimming with madness and ominousness sprouted in the surrounding air, dust, ground, and collapsed building ruins.

They scanned the surroundings indiscriminately, analyzing and recording everything they saw, and transmitted that information into Lei Kedun's mind.

During this process, frantic mechanical puppets kept emerging in the city revived within the darkness; their bodies, assembled from steel plates, wooden slats, dry straw, and other materials, were undergoing wild mutations.

The painted surface oozed black, viscous liquid; green leaves sprouted on the dry straw, along with deep‑red fruits; rust‑stained steel plates showed layers of cracking; spiky scales extended outward like barbs; and from the seams of the puppets' bodies grew broad, pure white feathers.

In their eye sockets, a deep crimson flowed slowly like blood, brimming with madness and bloodlust, as if long‑suppressed frenzy finally burst forth, showing no concealment of malice.

With each step forward, a clack‑clack sounded from their bodies, shedding one or two white feathers or dripping a few drops of black, viscous liquid.

Beneath the pure white wings, the eyes on the black strands suddenly deepened, exuding a faint violet hue; he scrutinized each frantic puppet emerging from the darkness, his gaze piercing their bodies, dismantling them piece by piece, analyzing and recording.

Every puppet observed by those eyes grew sluggish and heavy, its components creaking under strain as if about to fall apart and scatter like debris.

The puppets' mutations accelerated rapidly; the broad white feathers sprouting from the seams fell one by one, revealing the lone flesh‑filled eye hidden beneath.

A wailing wind roared, and a violent, sharp gust swept the surrounding streets, blowing the frenzied mutated puppets to pieces.

The swirling wind seemed to carry countless tiny blades, leaving fine scratches on the puppets' bodies, the ground, and the collapsed ruins on both sides of the street.

Amid the raging, howling wind, occasional silvery white lightning streaked, accompanied by crimson fireballs and a mournful, undead‑like screech.

The continuously mutating puppets around completely ignored Lei Kedun walking in the road's center, and began tearing and attacking each other.

Lei Kedun, maintaining his mythic creature form, moved at a steady pace through the ruins of Sai Xiting.

Soon, eyes brimming with madness, destruction, ominousness, and disaster covered the entire city, dense and pervasive, as if to assimilate it.

After traversing the whole city, Lei Kedun finally halted before the intact Zenith Cathedral; beneath the pure white wings, the eye‑filled black mass contracted and churned inward, reshaping back into Lei Kedun.

He raised his right hand high, gathering a slowly rotating, radiant cluster of Star Sand; as if drawn, the eyes sprouting in every corner of the ruined city began to sparkle, appearing like one star after another, dense and dazzling, the pale blue starlight bathing the entire city.

These stars shed beam after beam, converging into a grand Light Giant Pillar that enveloped the whole city.

Within this radiance, whether street, ruined buildings, or the frenzied mutating puppets attacking each other, all began to dissolve piece by piece, collapsing into tiny pale‑blue light specks that, under the starlight, rose and fell, slowly drifting toward Lei Kedun's position and merging into the slowly rotating Star Sand in his hand. The rotating Star Sand grew larger and faster, eventually covering the entire Zenith Cathedral ahead.

The massive, majestic cathedral built of giant stones and Steel seemed provoked, emitting a blend of bright yellow and deep red light from within, forming a huge light screen that shrouded the entire temple, attempting to disperse the surrounding starlight.

Lei Kedun gazed at the scene, his eyes slightly lowered, feeling the will deep within the temple stirring, and whispered softly, "Will you choose to awaken recklessly, or fade away completely in slumber?"

As if answering his words, an ancient, desolate, chaotic and mad aura spread from the depths of the cathedral, the consciousness sleeping here gradually awakening,

Above the cathedral, the bright yellow and deep red lights began to retract and warp, gradually taking on substance, becoming countless interlocking gears turning slowly.

Clack— clack— mechanical whirring rang constantly in Lei Kedun's ears; in front of him, the slowly turning Star Sand gradually solidified, its colors evaporating swiftly, as if about to shatter into the tiniest particles.

Lei Kedun's figure flickered, and in an instant he rose from the ground into mid‑air, gazing at the colorless, collapsing Star Sand below, then pressed his right hand down.

Silently, brilliant starlight fell from mid‑air, sinking into the dim, colorless Star Sand that enveloped the entire cathedral.

The dim starlight became radiant again, regaining its color; the pale blue, hazy starlight glowed anew, gradually dissolving the interwoven bright yellow and deep red light screen, revealing below a temple flickering with a faint bronze glow.

Snap! Lei Kedun snapped his fingers, reclining leisurely, and specks of starlight fell around him, quickly coalescing into a floating high‑back chair.

Leaning on the high‑back chair, Lei Kedun lowered his gaze, his eyes constantly flickering with starlight, reflecting a patchwork of light and shadow across a barren wilderness.

In this state, he could clearly feel the "Knowledge Mentor" trait of the temple below drawing him.

With another snap, he snapped his fingers again, using the "Fallen Count" trait he had shattered and restored, distorting and amplifying the synergistic effect among his extraordinary traits.

The temple below trembled continuously, as if about to disintegrate, and specks of bronze‑colored light peeled away, converging toward Lei Kedun.

"Ah~~"

The moment the bronze‑colored glow neared him, ethereal, wavering shouts echoed in Lei Kedun's ears, sounding like helpless howls begging for mercy, and also like a mournful curse.

As more light specks gathered around him, the grand Zenith Cathedral below gradually disintegrated into fragments, floating amid the bright yellow and deep red light.

During this process, ethereal, wavering screams kept echoing in his ears until no more light specks emerged, after which the sound gradually faded.

From start to finish, the will of the "Secret Angel" never truly manifested, only the echoing screams within the mental imprint.

"After I left that information world last time, what did A Meng do? The lingering will of that "Secret Angel" is so weak it can't even return in the form of a mad monster,"

"At first I thought it was too cowardly to return in a corrupted, fully mad form, but it turned out it only had enough strength left to lie on the ground and moan,"

Muttering to himself twice, Lei Kedun clenched his right hand hard; the freshly formed "Knowledge Mentor" trait shattered in his palm, turning into floating bronze‑colored light specks.

Through his deliberate control, the bronze‑colored specks swirled around his arm, gradually coalescing into a mechanical glove etched with intricate patterns, its surface shimmering with bronze luster.

As the glove formed, corresponding information automatically surfaced in his mind:

The glove contains one of each trait from the "Generalist" path's sequences nine through two; it possesses a certain living trait but is rigid, highly mechanical, and periodically attracts nearby dangers, creating chaos and panic.

It requires life force to be drawn at set intervals and infused into the glove; otherwise it will automatically siphon the user's life force, and after each use it also needs life force to feed it. The minimum amount is one person, the maximum a whole city; the exact amount is determined by the glove, and if unmet it will directly drain the user's life force.

(End of Chapter)