The Monkey King's hair? Eight or nine chances out of ten, that's also my fault…
But since Sun Wukong's story could be "Mystically Reappeared," that means he must have really existed.
Seventy-two Transformations… skilled at calling for help… plus this hair that can turn into clones.
Could that monkey have been an "Ancient Scholar"? Being pressed under the Five Elements Mountain for five hundred years—was that to complete the ritual of "detaching from reality and becoming history"?
While Ebner was letting his imagination run wild, Lady Yaloran once again stretched out her fair palm and turned it upward.
Then, a redwood "Eight Immortals Table" appeared between the two of them.
After inviting Ebner to sit, Yaloran produced a teapot and two teacups from who-knows-where. She personally stood, poured out a cup of green tea, and placed it before him.
Am I imagining things, or does this scene feel familiar? As if I've experienced it before… Ebner felt slightly dazed, but he didn't touch the tea. After all, this place was essentially a "Nightmare," nothing but phantoms. Drinking tea here would be drinking emptiness.
"This was once your favorite tea, one you personally cultivated back when you were in 'Rhine'… why don't you drink?"
Only when Yaloran's clear, melodious voice reached him did Ebner snap back. This time, he didn't hesitate. He raised the cup and took a sip.
A bitterness followed by lingering sweetness—indeed not bad. But the taste was ultimately not authentic, lacking something. Ebner sighed inwardly, put the cup down, and instead steered to the real topic, probing:
"I heard from Gehrman that you wanted to see me?"
In fact, Vera had also mentioned it—it was she who told him Yaloran's condition might not be good, which prompted Ebner to set up this meeting.
But he naturally left Vera's involvement unspoken.
"There's no need for such formality between us… Unfortunately, you've yet to fully recover your memories. Hehe, well… even though for you now, opening the path toward the 'Unknown' is far easier than before, there's no way you can delve into it deeply while still at Sequence 4." Yaloran sighed a few lines, then fell silent, as though lost in memory.
Hearing this, Ebner's heart stirred, and he carefully asked:
"Was it very difficult for 'me' to open the Pure White… 'Passage' before?"
Yaloran woke from her recollection and patiently replied:
"Of course it was difficult! I remember when you were still 'Oliver,' even borrowing the uniqueness of the 'Wheel of Fortune,' you could only barely pry the 'Passage' open for a short time… It wasn't until you opened the 'God Casket' that things improved."
"Oliver?" Ebner subconsciously asked. That name must have been borrowed from Arcane Throne's great Arcanist…
Did I really like that novel that much?
Well… before reading Lord of the Mysteries, my favorite book probably was Arcane…
"'Oliver Constantine,' also known as the 'God of Luck'… to be exact, that was the name you later gave yourself after taking human form.
"By the way, besides the formal title 'God of Luck,' you once even styled yourself as the 'Goddess's Poem'…"
At this, Yaloran couldn't help glancing at Ebner.
If not for having endured the true Beauty Goddess's trials at Lilith's place, that glance alone might have stolen his very soul…
No good, I need to distract myself… Hmm, 'Goddess's Poem'? Back then, I really knew how to play—using the name of the 'Hand of Annihilation' while topping it with Mr. Brooke's title? And judging by Yaloran's attitude, that so-called 'Poem' of mine was probably not very proper either…
And another thing: these secrets of the Third Epoch, even the Second Epoch—how does Yaloran, who only became a demigod in the Fourth Epoch, know them? Did some past version of 'me' tell her? Or is my earlier suspicion correct? That she… is actually the 'Queen of Calamity' Cohinem?
As thoughts spun, Ebner steadied himself and asked along Yaloran's words:
"The 'God Casket'—what connection does it have with the space beyond that 'Passage'?"
"I don't know for sure, but I don't believe there's a direct connection…" Yaloran answered, then her blood-red pupils locked with Ebner's eyes, the corner of her lips curling. "And you needn't try to probe me further. All the information about you, I can tell you…
"Well, how about this: I do need your help. And as the price, I'll tell you everything I know about you… How does that sound?"
For this proposal, Ebner pondered briefly, then cautiously asked:
"And what is it you wish me to do?"
"No rush. Once I've told you about yourself, you'll naturally understand… Then you can choose whether to help me." Yaloran smoothed her silver hair and smiled, suggesting.
After speaking, she refilled Ebner's cup with tea.
Her demeanor brimmed with confidence, as though certain Ebner would not refuse once he heard.
"Very well…" Since the proposal left him in the position of initiative, Ebner had no objections and readily agreed. "Please, go ahead."
Yaloran didn't answer immediately. She reached out toward the depths of the church. Soon, a delicate crystal box with Elven craftsmanship floated over.
Aside from her race, Yaloran's aesthetic feels a little Eastern… Is that also one of "my" influences? Ebner griped inwardly. Then he watched her open the box and take out a gem of red and black, inside which lingered the will and spirit of an unfamiliar soul.
This gem… it feels similar to that yellow gem left on the statue by the 'Mechanical Emperor'… But the imprint isn't mine…
Ebner frowned. He faintly sensed this object's essence might be similar to what each of his incarnations left behind after death.
"Do you know what this is?"
Lifting the red-and-black gem, Yaloran didn't wait for him to answer but continued herself:
"This is actually Soniathrym!"
Soniathrym? The Elven King? The special soul inside the God Casket?
Vera said the 'Night Emperor,' as another special soul, would leave behind a Soul Stone after death, and entrusted me to find it…
Soniathrym wished, upon his death, that the God Casket be returned to the Western Continent, into the embrace of its corresponding Sefirot, so that He could 'resurrect.'
And when 'I' was the 'God of Luck,' I once opened the God Casket, stripped away the imprint of the Tenebrous World, and reincarnated that special soul into the Abyss… That became Yaldabaoth, later picked up by Roselle.
Putting this together, maybe each time I fall, that half-dead, half-alive special state of mine was the result of researching the special souls within the God Casket…
A flash of insight streaked across Ebner's mind, linking together clues he'd never connected before.
Yaloran immediately noticed and smiled:
"Perhaps you've already guessed it… Yes, before you were the 'God of Luck,' you may have had other lives. But when you died then, you truly died—leaving no body polluted by the 'Unknown,' no memory imprint lingering in the 'Unknown'… so even you yourself know nothing of your earlier existences.
"Of course, even after the 'God of Luck,' to have your body—no, more precisely, your corpse—retain that special state, you still needed to reach demigod first.
"And all of this, you only managed after studying Soniathrym's Soul Stone in the God Casket.
"Furthermore, you used the stripped special soul of the Tenebrous World—that later became Yaldabaoth—as well as… me, to conduct so-called 'reincarnation' experiments. You gave what should have been a completely chaotic 'transmigration' some regularity.
"That is, you could 'revive' inside the bodies of those who became Beyonders using characteristics polluted by you.
"Of course, this still relied greatly on luck—it was never guaranteed.
"Mhm, the time you transmigrated into the Calamity Seal was the most successful case of such directed operation.
"First, the Sauron family's Sequence 9 through Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics all came from you, carrying the aura of the 'Unknown'…
"Second, you had also given Soniathrym's Soul Stone to Him… Though before His fall He may have sensed something and returned it to you, the connection was already forged.
"Also, that Soul Stone had been inside the 'Unknown' for a long time. Even though the imprint of the City of Calamity on it wasn't stripped away by you, and still held dominion of that Sefirot's power, it nevertheless established a bond with you.
"And finally, the Calamity Seal, imbued with both the imprint of the City of Calamity and your pollution, naturally became the perfect vessel for your 'transmigration.'"
Here, Yaloran lifted her cup and took a sip of tea, giving Ebner time to digest.
Meanwhile, Ebner's mind was racing, quickly tying all the threads together and discerning the essence of these so-called Soul Stones.
Retaining spirit and imprint… remnants after death…
The God Casket was crafted by "God" as a backhand against the "Celestial Worthy"…
So, these Soul Stones are actually reduced versions of the 'Blasphemy Slates'!
I see… In hindsight, my method of transmigration isn't essentially different from "God's" method of reviving within Beyonders' bodies…
The only difference is that I'm more 'gentle,' only 'reviving' after the corresponding Beyonder dies…
Wait… not necessarily 'gentle'… Anyone who becomes a Beyonder with my characteristics, or who carries their contamination… their luck probably won't be very good…
Ebner thought of how, as the "God of Luck," his body contained far more than just "luck"… but also overwhelming misfortune.