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Sighing inwardly, Aaron recalled what his ancestor had just said and had a flash of inspiration:
"Because it's not sufficiently justified, to the outside world, the Arbiter pathway formulas below Sequence 4 in our family all come from the Arbiter pathway demigods we killed at the end of the Fourth Epoch."
"If our family suddenly produced a Beyonder of the Arbiter pathway at Sequence 3 or higher, that King of Loen and the Loen royal family's suspicion towards us would be endless."
"After all, the only forces currently possessing the higher Sequence potions of the Arbiter pathway, besides themselves, are the Castiya family in Feynapotter and the Trunsoest family, which they believe has long been lost to history."
"Therefore, whether they believe we are cooperating with the Castiya family, suspect we have obtained remnants of the Trunsoest Empire, or even doubt our family's true identity."
"These various uncontrollable risks led you to choose to let them temporarily maintain their Sequence 4 strength and wait for an opportunity, after weighing the pros and cons."
Varna looked at Aaron with an appreciative gaze and slowly said:
"Most of the reasons are correct, and you've considered it very thoroughly."
Suddenly, Their tone shifted, and They abruptly asked, "Have you heard of the 'Specter Empire'?"
Aaron's eyebrow twitched, and he couldn't help but ask, "That legendary ghost ship, the 'Specter Empire' ship, which is said to carry the last treasures of the Trunsoest Empire?"
Varna was silent for a moment, then replied in a slightly sorrowful tone:
"That's right, but that's not just a legend."
"You should know that after the fall of the Solomon First Empire during the Age of Strife in the Fourth Epoch, my father, the Emperor, recovered Solomon's Black Emperor characteristic, advanced to Sequence 1 'Prince of Abolition', and established the 'Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire' with dual regents to rule the Northern Continent."
"One requirement for the Black Emperor's ascension ritual is to drive the populace to secretly build nine pyramid-like mausoleums, and then enter one of them, consuming the Sequence 0 potion during corresponding sacrificial rituals held in different cities, with the participation of the vast majority of the populace."
"Once the advancement is successful, the 'Black Emperor' will not truly die until all nine secret mausoleums are destroyed; even if They perish, They can revive and return from one of the mausoleums."
"Therefore, my father built a massive ghost ship the size of a city, and secretly constructed the first, and also the last, mausoleum within it."
"My father wanted to use the Specter Empire's ability to etherealize itself and roam the spirit world to build a mausoleum for himself that would be almost impossible to find."
Varna paused and said with a tone of slight melancholy:
"Fate is truly unpredictable. After the Specter Empire and the first mausoleum within it were built, that Black Emperor also revived and returned, causing my father to drop to Sequence 2 'Duke of Entropy', and that mausoleum lost its purpose."
"Until the end, my father realized that the fall of the Trunsoest Empire was inevitable, and having learned from the experience of the Solomon family's demise during the fall of the Solomon Empire, He decided to leave behind a seed of hope for the family's revival."
"My father left two contingency plans. One was me; he dispatched his most trusted subordinate, who was also the captain of the imperial guards at the time, Elvin Gallow, a Sequence 2 Ancient Bane."
"He personally brought that Sequence 2 Beyonder characteristic to East Chester County and found me, who had changed my identity and was accumulating strength at the time."
"He handed over some sealed artifacts of the Empire that had not been displayed to the outside world, as well as some Beyonder characteristics and potion formulas from pathways other than the Arbiter and Black Emperor sequences, to me."
"The second contingency plan was that Specter Empire ship. Some of my father's imperial guards were ordered to carry high-level Beyonder characteristics from the Arbiter, Black Emperor, and some other sequences, specifically those at Sequence 4 and above, into the Specter Empire ship."
Varna's brown eyes narrowed slightly, and They glanced at Aaron, asking, "Do you know why even those True Gods covet the Specter Empire?"
Aaron, somewhat bewildered, countered, "Because of those high-level Beyonder characteristics?"
Varna chuckled, "Heh... You think too superficially of deities. They are just some Beyonder characteristics, at most Sequence 2, perhaps even just some Sequence 3 or Sequence 4 Beyonder materials. Although precious, they are not worth those high and mighty deities making a move."
Aaron couldn't help but grumble inwardly, "Why isn't it worth it? If it were me, I would definitely try to snatch them."
"And this Lord of Order in front of me is even thinking of requesting a Sequence 9 potion from the family. Since you're talking so big, I'll ask for a hefty price later."
Varna did not have the ability to read minds, and even if They did, protected by the dark golden mist emanating from the high point of the Mind Island, They could not read Aaron's thoughts. They stopped beating around the bush and directly stated the reason.
"In the Fourth Epoch, with the support of the Six Gods and the Sanguine, my father, along with the Blood Emperor Alista Tudor, jointly killed the Black Emperor and successfully seized that Black Emperor's remains. And after my father's demise, He and that Black Emperor's remains disappeared together, just like that Specter Empire ship."
"And since my father's demise at the end of the Fourth Epoch, over 1000 years have passed. There have only ever been two Sequence 1 'Hand of Order' of the Arbiter pathway, and the other Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic is still missing."
Aaron below felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his mind slightly blank. After calming down, his thoughts raced:
"The remains of two True Gods, corresponding to two Beyonder pathways from the Source of Disorder respectively. And a Sequence 1 'Hand of Order' Beyonder characteristic from this pathway, which might even contain the remaining Sequence 2 to Sequence 9 Beyonder characteristics."
"This... this is truly a vast treasure. No wonder even True Gods are tempted."
Varna sat quietly on the high platform, slightly surprised to find Aaron calming down so quickly, but did not say anything further.
Flipping Their right hand, a dark golden token appeared out of thin air, floating above Their palm. Aaron felt an inexplicable pull, and his gaze involuntarily lifted to look at the token.
Before Aaron could ask, Varna spoke first:
"If you want to open the treasure of the Specter Empire, you must first gain the approval of the Evernight Goddess and lift the influence of the Concealment authority on you. You have now done that."
"Secondly, only the bloodline of our Trunsoest family can serve as a bloodline connection to sense the approximate location of the Specter Empire."
"Finally, only a Beyonder of our family who walks the Arbiter pathway and holds the token in my hand can truly find and open the Specter Empire. Otherwise, even if you sense the approximate location, you won't be able to find it."
Varna was silent for a moment, then said with some helplessness:
"The two Imperative Mages in the family have both carried this token to search for traces of the Specter Empire. Perhaps the Evernight Goddess did not approve of them, so they were unsuccessful, only sensing that it was roughly near the Sonia Sea."
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