Chapter 699: The

Gazing at that strange soil, Lu Mi recalled the scene when Hela drew water from the Spring of the Samaritan Woman.

After pondering for a while, he took out gold bars and coins from the Traveler's Satchel and ignited a brilliant white fireball in his palm.

Amid the rising flames, the gold bars and coins gradually melted, shaped under spiritual influence into a small golden box.

Immediately afterward, Lu Mi used flame as a blade, giving the golden box a lid.

Once done, and after the temperature dropped and the gold stabilized, he used his straight sword as a shovel to transfer all the palm-sized strange soil into the box and sealed the lid.

After stowing the golden box, Lu Mi glanced at the straight sword in his hand and found it now rusted and rotting, on the verge of breaking.

To this, Lu Mi was not alarmed but delighted, murmuring softly:

"That soil truly has miraculous properties…"

This was also one of the fruits of his "Dream Festival."

After the man and woman who refused to take Reyasa and Maxlo's extraordinary traits and serve the devil vanished mysteriously again, Lu Mi finally acquired something tangible.

He continued searching the area for a while but found no other traces, so he "teleported" back to the second floor of Buriu Inn.

At this moment, the dust from the meteor had largely dispersed, and the red moon's glow brought a chilly clarity to Tizamo Town.

Lu Mi's gaze fell at once on the folded square of paper on the master bedroom desk, beneath which lay a thin metal plate cast in brass.

"The 'Magician' Lady replied quickly tonight…" Lu Mi picked up the brass plate, turning it over and over to examine its mysterious patterns and script-like symbols, yet could discern neither their meaning nor function, nor even sense any corresponding spiritual radiance.

Shaking his head, Lu Mi set the brass plate aside for now, then gently grasped with his right hand to summon a floating sphere of brilliant white fire.

By the light of the fireball, he sat down and unfolded the 'Magician' Lady's reply, beginning to read carefully:

"No need to doubt—based on the current situation, the corpse in the Dream Tomb is indeed Naporedisli's.

"And Naporedisli is almost certainly a pseudonym of the Demon King Fabuti, or perhaps a true name activated under certain conditions.

"Isn't it strange that Naporedisli, as a Demon King and one of the Eight Ancient Gods who once ruled the world, could bestow the supernatural power of the 'Prisoner' Path?

"Such abnormality is perfectly normal for the Ancient Gods.

"They did not ascend through the divine paths; they were born directly due to certain reasons, their essences entangled, each possessing one or even multiple Sequence 1 extraordinary traits from other paths—you can see how mad and violent the Ancient Gods are by referencing the case of the 'Devil Wizard' Borman.

"There are clear distinctions between the Ancient Gods and the later True Gods, but that doesn't mean they are weak; they may even be stronger.

"Among them, Fabuti, though a Demon King, fused the adjacent path's Sequence 1 'Divine Scourge,' making his condition one of the best among the Eight Ancient Gods, and the only one still alive in his original form.

"In truth, had Fabuti gathered the materials of the Demon Path as a Sequence 1 'Divine Scourge' and completed the ritual of godhood, he would have become a True God—stronger than the current ones—not the Ancient God known for madness, cruelty, brutality, and bloodlust.

"Of course, as a Demon King, even if he had done so, he would inevitably have manifested 'I am the Abyss, the Abyss is I,' profoundly influenced by this path—and you know well what the state of demons is—so Fabuti is also among the maddest of the Ancient Gods, which does not contradict his better condition.

"That's enough about Ancient Gods for now; that's not the main purpose of this letter.

"In short, the corpse in the Dream Tomb is indeed Naporedisli—a Naporedisli existing in the 'Divine Scourge' state."

So that's how it is… The Ancient Gods possess extraordinary traits from adjacent or non-adjacent paths, and Naporedisli had already demonstrated the ability to separate different desires and emotions into independent entities… Lu Mi no longer had any doubt about why Naporedisli's cold corpse could bestow the power of 'Soul of Resentment.'

He thought for a while, then reread the 'Magician' Lady's letter:

"You mentioned that Naporedisli willingly returned to the Dream Tomb and remained in a dead state—this is a perfectly normal choice for Him.

"Moreover, I must say: good that He's dead—stay dead, remain dead until after the End!

"You don't need to know the exact reasons; simply put, as you've noticed, Naporedisli—the Demon King Fabuti—is currently in very poor condition; for Him, death as a 'Divine Scourge' is far more suitable than life, for both Himself and this world.

"Of course, this cannot be simple death; He chose an excellent place of death, one that allows His corpse to rest in peace and tranquility, untouched by the 'Mother of Desires.'

"Now you should understand: the one who wrote the story, engineered coincidences, and guided you to encounter Naporedisli in the Kingdom of Fenepot, then sent you to Hanter Island and New Silver City, did so solely to deliver a message to Naporedisli in the Dream Tomb—to keep Him sleeping, keep Him as a corpse, dissuade Him from resurrection, and simultaneously prevent any faction from attempting to seize His Sequence 1 extraordinary trait.

"Hmm, that one is truly a remnant of the ancient age, the protagonist who personally ended the rule of the Ancient Gods; the secrets He knows and the key matters He controls may exceed all of us combined.

"Besides Him and the 'Goddess of Night,' who governs secrecy, who else could know of the 'Dream Festival,' a mystical holiday forgotten upon waking? Who else could have guessed that the corpse was part of a Demon King?

"The massive digestion of the 'Harvester' elixir, the acquisition of the golden mask, and the formation of the corrupted soil—all these must be the rewards He 'promised.'

"Remember to give me that corrupted soil—it has no use for you, but I can exchange it for something, perhaps even an opportunity; what exactly, I haven't seen yet.

"With that golden mask, you can boldly venture into the Underworld when the chance arises, for otherwise, a living person cannot survive even a second in the Underworld.

"Those golden masks were forged from the fallen 'God of Death,' the ancestor of the Egges family; they were originally created to help the direct descendants of the 'God of Death' enter and exit the Underworld, enter and exit His realm.

Their functions are twofold: first, to shield the wearer from the corruption of death's aura; second, to transform the wearer into an undead being, eliminating bodily vital points while preserving the spirit and consciousness in their living state.

"Now you understand why Naporedisli's corpse wore the 'God of Death's' mask—without it, the corpse would have died utterly in the Dream Tomb, with no possibility of resurrection.

Similarly, knowing the mask's function and the corpse's state, you should now understand why 'Siso' wore that golden mask—it allowed the corpse in its instinctual state to mistake 'Siso' for one of its own kind, preventing any influence upon him, while also protecting 'Siso' from the tomb's death aura.

"The first 'Ascension to Godhood' phantom can activate the corpse's dormant spirit under the mask's protection, without awakening its consciousness; in this state, 'Siso' can leverage the many similarities between himself and the corpse, causing the corpse to mistake him for its own soul and accept his dominance—doesn't this style feel familiar? That Celestial Sovereign is truly the supreme god of exploiting errors and loopholes.

"When the second 'Ascension to Godhood' phantom enters the Dream Tomb, the corpse's consciousness is preliminarily awakened; even if 'Siso' is still alive, he can no longer complete his grand plan.

"The whole affair is roughly this: the 'Spiritualist Sect' seeks the tomb itself and the golden mask that has absorbed corresponding corruption for over a thousand years within the chamber; the Duke of the Nos family—the collaborator of the 'Rose School'—wants Naporedisli's corpse; the 'Temperance Faction' hopes to reclaim Miss Messenger's heart; their goals are all different, yet they fight desperately to the death—truly, this is both humorous and ironic.

"Of course, this is mainly because they cannot trust each other, and a winner-takes-all outcome is genuinely possible—does Miss Messenger want to consume Naporedisli's 'Divine Scourge' body? Of course she does!"

Miss Messenger… the lady who bought the heart from Ludwig with the lucky coin? Why call her Miss Messenger? She can't possibly be anyone's messenger—she's an angel! Wait… the 'Fool's' messenger? So the lucky coin is closely tied to the 'Fool'… Lu Mi's thoughts cleared quickly, and he formed a hypothesis.

He continued reading the latter part of the letter:

"I forgot to mention: wearing that golden mask also brings some problems.

"You can imagine: transformed into an undead being with no vital points, sunlight and lightning purification will be fatal to you; moreover, if a living person wears the golden mask too long, they will truly become a dead one—once the mask is removed, the spirit and consciousness lose protection and die instantly.

"Let me think what else I haven't mentioned…

"Ah, you mentioned that both the Mingdaoren and Naporedisli's corpse, upon gazing at Ivelista Egges, did nothing to him—this gave me some ideas.

"The one who buried Naporedisli's 'Divine Scourge' corpse and built the Dream Tomb was likely the ancestor of the Egges family—the fallen 'God of Death.'

"After going mad, He may have encountered the Mingdaoren who guarded the river and the 'Blood Emperor's' shadow, and for some reason, agreed to Naporedisli's plea, allowing His 'Divine Scourge' corpse to slumber within a special dream.

"Thus, whether the Mingdaoren or Naporedisli's corpse, even with only instinct remaining, will treat the Egges bloodline specially."

(End of Chapter)