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Not long after leaving the Gray Fog, Klein, who was meditating to restore his spirituality, suddenly heard layers of overlapping prayers.
"Is it The Sun? Has he completed the Covenant Ritual so quickly?"
Klein was a little confused, but he quickly got up, walked four steps counter-clockwise, and chanted the honorific name, arriving at the Gray Fog.
The crimson star representing The Sun was constantly expanding and contracting, with circles of deep red ripples spreading out.
Klein's consciousness immediately touched that crimson star, and a scene unfolded: The Sun was sitting in a dark corner of a room, with some uncleaned ritual items beside him.
Did he pray to me immediately after completing the ritual?
Klein was slightly puzzled, but then he focused on The Sun's prayer:
"Respected Mr. Fool, please convey to Mr. Tower that I have completed the Covenant Ritual to implore knowledge from the Hidden Sage, and have obtained some Beyonder knowledge on how to condense light into weapons."
"I understand."
Klein projected his words into the crimson star representing The Sun, and then projected The Sun's prayer scene and voice into the crimson star representing Mr. Tower.
After doing all this, Klein muttered to himself in a low voice:
"Beyonder knowledge of condensing light into weapons? Isn't this the ability of a Dawn Paladin from the Warrior Pathway? Can it even be directly taught to Beyonders of other Pathways by imbuing knowledge?"
Then Klein left the space above the Gray Fog again.
After severing the connection with The Sun, Leyton immediately focused on the Hanged Man tattoo on his left forearm; its original blood-red color had faded somewhat.
Leyton frowned slightly. It seemed that helping him bear the pressure from the Sage characteristic was not a small burden for this avatar of the True Creator.
"No wonder he's so eager to restore his angelic rank and strength."
Muttering in a low voice, Leyton put down his rolled-up sleeve and returned to the study.
He was studying a map of Backlund City, considering how to Exploit Backlund's terrain and planning his next moves.
Suddenly, a burst of grayish-white mist surged into his vision, and a crimson light bloomed within it, condensing into a picture.
The Sun Derrick was praying to Mr. Fool in a dark corner, asking Mr. Fool to convey that his Covenant Ritual had succeeded and that he had obtained some Beyonder knowledge.
The scene ended, and the gray mist in his vision gradually dispersed.
Leyton murmured to the map in front of him:
"The Light Supplicant and the ability to condense light into weapons are a good match, but without the potion bonus of a Dawn Paladin, it will be more troublesome and difficult to use."
He stared at the map of Backlund City for a long time without any thoughts. However, Klein actually knocked on the door downstairs.
Bugs Bunny ran over to open the door for him, then led Klein to the study on the second floor.
Klein handed over an amethyst ring and a dark black charm:
"The bad luck on this ring has been stripped and made into a charm. The activation word for this charm is 'Misfortune'."
Taking the amethyst ring and charm, Leyton looked at Klein in surprise. In his opinion, Klein at this stage should not be able to leverage this level of power. Did he seek help from the Evernight Goddess?
"What's wrong?"
Klein saw the other party look him over before taking the items, and asked curiously.
Leyton shook his head slightly and said, "Nothing. You came to see me for something else, didn't you?"
Klein nodded and took out the Master Key:
"I did a divination on it and saw some things. Where did you get this Mystical Item?"
Leyton's lips gradually curved into an arc, and in Klein's puzzled gaze, he said:
"The Harvest Church you visited last time, a unlucky Sanguine who was doing volunteer work there. This was the spoils of war the priest got from him."
"A Sanguine doing volunteer work at the Harvest Church?"
Klein's expression became a bit strange. He remembered that orthodox Sanguine believed in Lilith, the progenitor of the Sanguine, and most Beyonders who advanced by consuming potions were Followers of the Primordial Moon.
This was the first time he had heard of a Sanguine running to believe in the Earth Mother.
Leyton found a wooden box to put away the amethyst ring and the Misfortune Charm, then poured coffee for himself and Klein.
Only then did he answer Klein's question with a slight sigh:
"The Church of the Earth Mother is happy to convert every Sanguine."
"Are you planning to go to the residence of that unlucky Abraham Family member who died?"
Klein was stunned for a moment. He originally wanted to ask how the other party knew all this, but remembering that the Master Key was given to him by the other party, and that the Mystery Pryer pathway was also good at divination, he suppressed the doubts in his heart.
After carefully choosing his words, Klein finally spoke, "The 'Hidden Sage' you mentioned, does it refer to the Knowledge Moor?"
"Yes."
Leyton nodded. This was not something that needed to be hidden.
"You..."
Klein originally wanted to ask why he had suggested to The Sun to change his faith, but then remembered that Mr. World had not heard the transaction between the other party and The Sun, so he swallowed his words.
"Me what?"
Leyton looked at Klein curiously.
"Can you explain in detail what you said about 'anchors' before? I have some doubts."
Under the Clown's ability, Klein naturally changed the subject.
Leyton didn't delve into whether Klein's intended words had changed before and after, and nodded slightly, saying:
"The so-called Beyonder characteristic, more accurately, is actually the divinity left behind by the original Creator. The potion system is a path to aggregate divinity."
"Everyone who embarks on this path will inevitably be instinctively corroded by the original will remaining in the divinity and the madness inherent in the characteristics."
Klein's brows gradually furrowed. This sounded like the potion system was a path destined to lead to madness.
Leyton sat back in the armchair by the desk and continued:
"If one advances using a Beyonder characteristic, they will also be affected by the residual mental imprints of the previous, or even several previous, Beyonders on the characteristic."
"This is why Beyonders become increasingly prone to losing control as their Sequence increases."
"An anchor is other people's perception of you. Simply put, it's faith. Believers are the anchors of gods. The faith of believers prevents gods from losing control due to the inherent madness of the characteristics, the residual mental imprints in the characteristics, and the original lingering will."
Klein nodded heavily. He understood why it became easier to lose control with higher Sequences; as the Sequence increased, the aggregated divinity within the body grew exponentially.
"In a sense, the Aurora Order's preaching that all things have divinity is actually correct."
Klein thought of the Aurora Order's doctrine and sighed.
Leyton nodded noncommittally:
"Every church's philosophy has its merits, but it's not entirely correct, after all, they only interpret this world from the perspective of the God they believe in."
Klein picked up his coffee, took a sip, and the bitter taste spread in his mouth, seemingly making his mind clearer.
"So the philosophy of the Knowledge Moor is what you said before: 'All things are questions, and everything has an answer?'"
Leyton was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then shook his head slightly and said:
"No, the Knowledge Moor doesn't even have believers, so how can there be a philosophy? That sentence is just my own understanding."
"The Moses Ascetic Order, however, has its own doctrine. They believe that all things are numbers, and knowledge is supreme."
Speaking of faith, Leyton thought of the Western Continent, which sealed a bunch of original substances.
The Knowledge Moor should have believers there, but this belongs to the next version of the map, so it can be skipped for now.
As the conversation turned to the Moses Ascetic Order, Klein remembered discussing this issue with Old Neil before, and sighed:
"If the Hidden Sage hadn't become a personified evil god, perhaps the Moses Ascetic Order wouldn't have become a cult organization."
Leyton shook his head slightly, not quite agreeing with the other party's view:
"Except for the Seven Orthodox Churches, all others are cult organizations; this will not change. The Gods' struggle for faith will not spare any force."
"It's just that the alliance of the Six Gods is currently in the upper hand. In a much older era, the True Creator's side was the orthodox church, and the Six Gods at that time were all Concealment organizations, cult forces."
"This..."
Klein was stunned, took a deep breath, and sighed inwardly. Much of the information recorded by the churches, especially regarding history, was not credible.
"You know a lot."
Klein said, partly in admiration and partly as a test.
Today at the Tarot Club, the other party's suggestion to The Sun about the City of Silver changing its faith had made Klein wary.
He seriously suspected whether his fellow countryman had truly been corrupted by the Knowledge Moor and had a different personality.
Leyton glanced at the coffee in his hand, ignoring Klein's probing, and chuckled:
"The Hidden Sage is knowledge itself. There are few secrets in this world that can escape Him, even hidden ones."
"Because with enough knowledge, one can deduce more knowledge from it."
Klein nodded silently, neither saying he believed this explanation nor denying it.
For a moment, only the sound of Bugs Bunny gnawing on fruit remained in the study.
"I want to go see the place where that Abraham Family member died. Do you know where it is?"
After a long while, Klein spoke again, the topic returning to the Master Key.
Leyton shook his head slightly: "You can go to the Harvest Church to find that unlucky Sanguine."
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