Deep within the ruins beneath King’s Campus, Royal Crown University.
At the staircase leading from the fifth level to the sixth level of the ruins, Claudius stood with his mouth closed, having finished exhaling the poisonous mist. He silently gazed down at the swirling purple-red fog that now filled the lower corridor.
“At this level, no one could survive…”
Claudius muttered to himself, his hands clasped behind his back as he observed the dense, toxic mist below.
As Thorn Velvet’s superior, Claudius was well aware of the structure of the underground ruins. He knew the ruins only had six levels, and the sixth level was small—just a long corridor leading to a sealed room with no other exits. That room was the very end of the ruins.
Therefore, Claudius was certain that when the intruders were trapped on the other side of the collapsed rubble, they had nowhere to escape. He could have simply left them to die of thirst or starvation, but to ensure their deaths and prevent any chance of survival, Claudius chose to release the poison gas.
Now, Claudius was confident that the poison gas he had expended a significant amount of spirituality to create had filled the entire sixth level. At this concentration, there was no way the intruders could survive.
“Hmph… I’d love to see it… the final moments of that Beyonder who could use violent sounds. Slowly dying in despair within a sealed space—that final expression must have been quite something. What a pity…”
Claudius sneered, then turned around. His body was enveloped in a shadowy aura, transforming into a swarm of bats that flew off into the distance.
The intruders had been dealt with. Now, he needed to return and oversee the reconstruction of the base. The Eight-Spired Nest was not yet ready to abandon this place.…
In the dark corridor, deep within the ruins.
Dorothy, illuminated by the lamp carried by her corpse marionette, slowly moved forward. After passing through the strange wall, she entered a new hidden space within the ruins.
Discovering a secret passage at the last moment might seem like sheer luck, but Dorothy wasn’t particularly surprised. She had anticipated such a possibility.
According to Beverly, the ruins of the Star Numerology Scriptorium had been looted by multiple factions, and logically, there should be nothing left.
Beverly knew the state of the ruins, and so did Aldrich. Yet, Aldrich had still recommended Dorothy come here. This meant that, in the eyes of a seasoned Beyonder like Aldrich, Dorothy could still find something of value in these seemingly empty ruins.
What could allow Dorothy to find something in ruins that had been thoroughly looted? Naturally, it would be something only a Revelation Beyonder being could access.
Aldrich had also visited these ruins. As a Beyonder with an auxiliary focus on Revelation, he must have sensed something hidden but been unable to access it. That’s why he suggested Dorothy, a primary Revelation Beyonder, come and try her luck.
This was why Dorothy had chosen to explore the ruins in person rather than remotely controlling her corpse marionettes. She needed to be physically present to uncover the secrets that only a Revelation Beyonder could find.
Therefore, Dorothy wasn’t surprised by the secret passage. If anything, she was a bit annoyed that it had taken her so long to find it.
“Well… at least I’ve finally reached the right place. Hopefully, there’s a way out here…”
Muttering to herself, Dorothy continued forward. After a while, she finally reached the end of the corridor and entered a room.
Dorothy had her marionette raise the lamp to illuminate the surroundings. The scene before her gradually came into view, and she frowned slightly.
What appeared before Dorothy was a chaotic, circular room. Broken and collapsed pillars, shattered statues, and corroded metal objects littered the floor. At the center of the room was a complex magic circle, with the symbol of Revelation at its core. Surrounding the Revelation symbol were smaller symbols representing the other five spiritualities.
Around the magic circle were scattered piles of rubble, among which lay human bones—many of them. Some bones showed severe fractures, some of which were clearly fatal, while others were completely shattered, indicating a gruesome death. Some of the bones didn’t even appear human, resembling those of beasts.
Clearly, this place had been the site of a brutal and bloody battle, and the result was the scene before Dorothy.
If the outer ruins gave Dorothy the impression of being ransacked by thieves countless times, leaving nothing behind, this inner chamber felt like the aftermath of a violent home invasion, where everyone had been slaughtered.
“What the hell happened here? There are bones everywhere… Please tell me there’s still something valuable left…”
Seeing the scene, Dorothy’s heart tightened. She was worried that the hard-found secret room might also be empty. She began carefully searching the area, activating her spiritual vision to see if there was anything of value.
After searching for a while, Dorothy found almost nothing. The room seemed to have been thoroughly looted, with anything useful taken away. However, at the last moment, she noticed a faint glimmer of spiritual light in a crevice among the rubble. It was a purple light, belonging to the Revelation spirituality.
Dorothy moved the rocks aside and pulled out a dusty quill pen. The spiritual trace was emanating from it.
“This is… a mystical item! And it’s a Revelation item… Thank goodness, at least something is left.”
Dorothy thought with relief. She quickly dusted off the quill and spent 1 point of Lantern to appraise it.
[Universal Knowledge Quill]
This quill can assist those who do not know the Universal Language in writing it. By infusing a small amount of Revelation, anything written with this quill will become Universal Knowledge. Anyone who sees the Universal Knowledge will understand its meaning, regardless of whether they share a common language with the writer.
To the viewer, the Universal Knowledge will subconsciously translate into the language they are most familiar with.
When writing Universal Knowledge, it can be encrypted with specific conditions, allowing only those who meet the criteria to see it. Those who do not meet the conditions will not be able to see it.
…
“Universal Knowledge… a type of mystical writing that anyone can understand… Could those strange marks on the wall that appeared and disappeared earlier have been Universal Knowledge? At the time, they transformed into Pritt Common, the language I’m most familiar with. The Universal Knowledge on the wall was likely encrypted so that only Revelation Beyonders could see it.”
After understanding the quill’s function, Dorothy continued to ponder, growing more convinced of her theory.
“It seems the Star Numerology Scriptorium used Universal Knowledge to record information. That means I can look for more places with those strange marks.”
Thinking this, Dorothy stored the quill and continued searching the room. Before long, she found a stone slab hanging on the wall, covered in chaotic marks similar to the ones she had seen at the entrance to the secret room. These marks seemed to be Universal Knowledge.
Seeing these marks, Dorothy focused intently, staring at the slab. The marks suddenly began to move, twisting like snakes and rearranging themselves into a form Dorothy could understand—Pritt Common.
The words read: “Hall of Ascension.”
“Hall of Ascension? Is that the name of this room? Judging by the name… it seems like this was where the Star Numerology Scriptorium members conducted their advancement rituals. It looks like the divination was correct—there really is a method here for me to advance.”
Dorothy thought this, feeling a surge of excitement. She continued searching the room for more Universal Knowledge.
Finally, in front of the magic circle at the center of the room, Dorothy found a stone stele covered in a multitude of chaotic marks, resembling Universal Knowledge.
Approaching the stele, Dorothy bent down and carefully examined it. The marks on the stele shifted in her vision, transforming into a full block of Pritt Common text.
…
“Seek Truth, Gaze at the Stars.”
“The time for ascension has come, apprentice. Choose your path carefully.”
“With the Chalice bearing Revelation, the path of Spiritual Threads—Marionettist.”
“With the Stone bearing Revelation, the path of Roaring Thunder—Brontomancer.”
“With the Shadow bearing Revelation, the path of Mind’s Labyrinth—Dream Interpreter.”
“With the Light bearing Revelation, the path of Foresight—Diviner.”
“With the Body bearing Revelation, the path of Pure Reason—Scholar.”