This bizarre scene made the Seven Gods' expressions subtly change, an ineffable sense of unease welling up in their hearts.
However, Rayder seemed completely oblivious to the Seven Gods' arrival; he remained engrossed in his work, gripping the sword hilt tightly, carefully tapping the beads into the eye sockets.
As the last bead was tapped in, Rayder contentedly rotated the skull statue, causing the two beads in its eye sockets to glimmer faintly in the candlelight.
He meticulously examined his masterpiece, deeming it to have reached a near-perfect state, with only a tiny flaw—a small chip in the skull statue's eye socket.
However, Rayder didn't care about this minor detail; after all, in his opinion, it was a trivial issue.
Meanwhile, the Seven Gods, despite usually being known for their profound self-restraint, found their patience pushed to its limit by such an absurd scene.
If an ordinary person had made such a gesture, the Seven Gods would probably have long since been unable to suppress their anger, unhesitatingly transforming into the Stranger to take the person's soul, making them deeply experience the severe consequences of blasphemy.
However, Rayder, standing before him, was clearly no ordinary person.
The Seven Gods could sense that multiple different powers surged within Rayder, these powers intertwining, making Rayder extraordinarily powerful and difficult to control.
Facing such a tricky opponent, the Seven Gods had to re-evaluate their strategy.
The Seven Gods watched Rayder, who, contrary to his expectation, did not immediately turn around upon realizing his arrival, but instead stared intently at the seven newly crafted statues.
Seeing this, the Seven Gods felt a bit helpless and had no choice but to speak, "This is our first meeting, isn't it? Don't you find it a bit awkward to stare at me like that?"
Rayder heard the Seven Gods' words and slowly turned around. There was no hint of politeness on his face as he directly replied, "Oh? So you know what awkward means? I thought you leaving me here for so long didn't seem wrong to you at all."
As Rayder spoke, he scrutinized the Seven Gods up and down.
At this moment, the Seven Gods had a middle-aged beard, appearing neither old nor young, which made him look somewhat peculiar.
Just as Rayder was critiquing the Seven Gods' appearance, the Seven Gods' form suddenly changed.
His body rapidly swelled, muscles bulging, and in an instant, he transformed into the image of a mighty warrior.
Not only that, but his voice also became deep and resonant, as if containing endless power.
"I bear you no ill will; in fact, I must thank you," the Seven Gods' voice echoed through the air, carrying an undeniable authority.
Rayder clearly hadn't expected the Seven Gods to say such a thing. He was somewhat surprised but quickly recovered, immediately asking, "Oh? And how do you plan to thank me?"
The Seven Gods' appearance changed again; this time, he transformed into the image of an old man.
He looked at Rayder, a hint of confusion on his face, seemingly puzzled by Rayder's reaction.
"Hmm... shouldn't most people, upon hearing me say I want to thank them, first ask why I'm thanking them? Why do you directly ask for benefits?"
The Seven Gods secretly mused, "This Rayder is truly unfathomable; he completely goes against common sense."
However, she didn't dwell on it too much and readily replied, "I can teach you how to control the power within you."
Upon hearing this, Rayder unceremoniously extended his hand and bluntly said, "Alright then, give me the tutorial. I'll go back and learn it myself."
The Seven Gods was taken aback by this and asked, full of suspicion, "What tutorial?"
Rayder then realized he had let something slip. He quickly explained, "Oh, just give me the magic books! I'll go back and read them myself. My self-learning ability is really strong!"
The Seven Gods was somewhat confused by this unfamiliar term, but after listening to Rayder's explanation, she seemed to understand a little.
Her image instantly changed from an old woman back to a young girl, a sweet smile blooming on her face as she said, "Books can't describe these things; you can only comprehend them yourself."
Upon hearing this, Rayder's facial muscles twitched uncontrollably, and he cursed inwardly, "What kind of answer is that? How is it any different from saying nothing!"
However, the meaning in the Seven Gods' words successfully piqued his curiosity, so he pressed, "Then how exactly do you plan to teach me?"
Before he finished speaking, the Seven Gods' image suddenly changed from a young girl to a skeleton. He extended a hand, and a mass of black gas emerged like a phantom.
Rayder's eyes widened, staring intently at the skeleton's bony hand.
Within the white bones, a wisp of black gas was slowly seeping out.
This gas seemed to have a life of its own, floating and swirling in the bony hand, like a black vortex.
However, just as Rayder thought this gas would continue to float like that, it suddenly began to slowly seep back into the pristine bony palm, as if drawn by some force.
The entire process, though brief, was clearly visible.
After the gas had completely seeped back, the Seven Gods' white bony palm slowly closed, then clenched tightly into a fist.
The moment the fist clenched, a faint black glimmer flashed across it, as if it were the last lingering trace of the black gas.
Everything ended so quickly, so fast that one might doubt if what they had just witnessed had truly happened.
The Seven Gods then turned to Rayder, asking expressionlessly, "How much did you understand?"
Rayder showed no shame for his ignorance; he frankly replied, "I didn't understand anything at all."
The Seven Gods didn't seem surprised by this answer. He simply said, "It's alright, watch again." With that, he began to repeat the action.
Although Rayder was still puzzled, he followed the Seven Gods' request, carefully observing every detail.
He dared not relax in the slightest, afraid of missing any crucial point.
Thus, the Seven Gods repeated that simple action again and again, and Rayder observed meticulously again and again.
Finally, after watching more than a dozen times, Rayder suddenly noticed something.
He realized that the so-called black gas was not actually gas, but a transformed state of the Seven Gods' own mental will.
When the Seven Gods concentrated his mental power in his palm, this mental power would manifest as black gas and undergo various changes within the palm.
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