"Yes, the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth is indeed a deity. More precisely, He should be an existence greater than deities. You should know about the seven gods worshipped by the people of this world."
"Mm, I know."
After integrating the memories in his mind, Klein had some understanding of these so-called seven gods.
In the Northern Continent where the Kingdom of Loen was located, there were seven orthodox gods: the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, the Goddess of the Night, the Earth Mother, the God of Combat, and the God of Steam and Machinery.
The churches of these deities wielded enormous power in the secular world, influencing politics and military affairs.
The original owner of the body he had transmigrated into, along with his sister and brother, worshipped the Goddess of the Night.
After integrating these memories, he initially thought this was some kind of governance policy - a union of political and divine authority. But from what he could see now, that wasn't the case.
Those deities were very likely real! This so-called Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth was an example!
Thinking of this made his head ache. He looked at Hermes tentatively and asked:
"Are all seven deities real?"
Hearing Klein's inquiry, Hermes nodded and responded:
"Yes, They are all real. In the Fourth Epoch and earlier eras, these deities walked upon the earth.
My master, you'd best not pray to any deity."
"Why?"
"Because if They discover you are the inheritor of the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth, you will be in danger."
"I knew it would be like this."
Klein sighed, then asked:
"What are the extraordinary characteristics you mentioned earlier? Are they related to deities?"
"Mm, that's correct."
Hermes nodded, then continued:
"Extraordinary characteristics are the foundation of the supernatural. Any being that accommodates them can gain all sorts of incredible abilities.
In our world, these extraordinary characteristics follow mysticism's connections and together form twenty-two pathways. Among these pathways, some are adjacent to each other, while others are singular. But their common feature is that these extraordinary characteristics are divided into levels from Sequence 9 to Sequence 0, from low to high.
Once you choose a pathway, except for switching to adjacent pathways at high sequences, no other changes can be made.
In the sequence pathways, Sequences 9-8 are low sequences, Sequences 7-5 are mid sequences, and Sequence 4 and above are high sequences.
Among these, Sequences 4-3 are honored as Saints, Sequences 2-1 are honored as Angels, and Saints promoted from humans are also honored as demigods.
Sequence 0 is the rank where deities reside."
"Were you once human?"
Looking at the other party's appearance, which aside from the eight pairs of wings behind him wasn't much different from an ordinary person, Klein was somewhat curious.
"No, I was never human. More precisely, I'm not truly alive, but rather formed from the activation of extraordinary characteristics. The body you see before you is merely my temporary vessel."
"You say you're a living extraordinary characteristic?"
Klein was somewhat shocked by Hermes's words. What was this? Had the guy in front of him become a spirit from an object?
Ignoring Klein's somewhat shocked expression, Hermes added:
"If master wishes to accommodate extraordinary characteristics, you need to concoct them into potions. Otherwise, with your current body, you simply cannot withstand them and would risk losing control."
"Losing control? Potions?"
Hearing these terms from Hermes, Klein curiously followed up.
"Yes, losing control. Everything in this world comes from the original Creator. Extraordinary characteristics are the same - they all contain more or less spiritual remnants from the Creator.
This is a form of pollution. If you cannot resist it or find a certain balance, Beyonders who accommodate extraordinary characteristics will be consumed and polluted by the remaining spirituality, losing control and becoming monsters."
At this point, Hermes glanced at Klein and continued:
"Potions are a method that can effectively reduce the risk of Beyonders losing control when accommodating characteristics. They first appeared in the Third Epoch and are currently the most stable advancement method for Beyonders to improve their sequences."
Just as Klein was about to ask more questions after hearing Hermes's explanation, the throbbing pain in his head from earlier surged again, making his facial expression suddenly contort.
Enduring the head pain, Klein looked at Hermes and said:
"Let's stop here for today. Let me leave this place."
"As you wish, my master. You need only have the thought of leaving in your heart to depart from here.
This place is actually a illusory world created based on your dreams. You are the ruler here.
I am merely here as a guest to converse with you."
Hearing Klein's desire to leave, Hermes didn't try to detain him. With a smile, he explained the nature of this world and the method of departure.
"How should I contact you in the future?"
"It's simple. You can summon me in the space above the gray fog - that's a legacy the Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth left you.
The method to enter is also simple - it's the ritual you performed."
"Good."
Rubbing his aching head, Klein responded, then disappeared from this gray fog-shrouded world.
In an independent space within the spirit world, Nimrod's lips curved into a smile as he slowly opened his eyes.
As he had expected, the Night wasn't constantly watching the nesting doll. His earlier guidance to Klein as Hermes hadn't raised any suspicions.
He did this for three reasons: first, for the fun of it; second, to whitewash his identity - transforming from an Outer God's spawn into an evil god's favored; and third, to cozy up to a future powerful ally.
"Tomorrow will be more interesting..."