Beneath King’s Campus, deep within the underground ruins.
After believing he had dealt with the intruders, Claudius left the depths of the ruins. The swarm of bats he had transformed into flew through the corridors and staircases of the fifth level, eventually reaching the second level—the floor where the spider altar was located.
On the second level, the black bats quickly coalesced, reforming into Claudius’s figure within the shadows. Thorn Velvet, who had been waiting for some time, immediately approached.
“Sir, how are things below? What happened to the intruders?”
Facing Claudius, Thorn Velvet asked respectfully. Claudius, with his hands behind his back, replied slowly.
“Those intruders have been dealt with on the sixth level. They had some skills, but they were no match for me.”
“They’ve all been dealt with? As expected of you, sir… Were they from the Black Dogs?”
“I trapped them in the deepest part and poisoned them with gas… I couldn’t inspect them closely… It’s unclear if they were Black Dogs, but it’s more likely they weren’t. Their abilities and methods were quite different from the Black Dogs.”
Claudius spoke calmly. He had dealt with the Black Dogs of Tivian many times and was familiar with their methods. They didn’t have Beyonders specializing in flesh puppets. After successfully raiding a base, they would immediately begin collecting samples and interrogating prisoners on-site, rather than venturing deep into the ruins without leaving any guards above.
Moreover, logically, the Serenity Bureau knew about the existence of the ruins beneath the school and understood that it was an almost worthless, empty ruin. The fact that the intruders had ventured so deep suggested they were unaware of the ruins’ true nature—likely treasure hunters.“Not Black Dogs? Then those Black Dogs who ambushed us earlier might have just been used by them. So who exactly are they…” Thorn Velvet pondered, suddenly recalling the name “Rose Cross Order.” He had initially thought it was just a cover used by the Black Dogs, but now it seemed more complicated.
“Who they are isn’t important right now. The priority is to rebuild the base. I’ll contact the other bases under my jurisdiction and have them send personnel. The base on North Gilded Street is close by, and their people can get here quickly…” Claudius said in a deep voice.
Hearing this, Thorn Velvet spoke with concern.
“Sir, we just clashed with the Black Dogs at North Pine Forest, and now a large number of prisoners have been released. The risk of exposure is already very high. If we continue like this, won’t we…”
“No matter how high the risk of exposure is, we can’t abandon this place yet. The ‘ritual’ is only one step away from completion. We must finish it before we leave. Otherwise, we’ll need to find another Mirror Moon statue elsewhere, which would delay the society’s overall progress significantly.”
“I’ll handle the Black Dogs. The immediate priority is to restore the base. Once the final ritual is complete, we’ll abandon this place immediately.”
Claudius laid out his plan. Hearing this, Thorn Velvet nodded, but then he suddenly remembered something.
“By the way… our failed operation was based on the false intelligence I gathered earlier. The conversation between those two men who claimed to be members of the Rose Cross Order—it seems they knew I was eavesdropping. Their conversation was deliberately leaked to me, so they could lure us into the Black Dogs’ ambush while they raided our base.”
“If that’s the case, then everything they said was a lie, including their initial conversation about that woman…”
Thorn Velvet thought to himself. He remembered that a few days ago, his subordinates had reported seeing a woman with dark skin and a good figure entering No. 23 in Green Shade Town. During his first reconnaissance of the two Rose Cross Order members, they had also mentioned this woman, claiming that her dark skin and figure were disguises.
At the time, Thorn Velvet had believed this intelligence and hadn’t pursued the lead further. But now, if all the intelligence he had received was false, it meant the original information about the woman might have been true!
Suddenly realizing this, Thorn Velvet paused, then immediately spoke to Claudius.
“Sir, about those intruders… there’s actually another crucial piece of intelligence.”
…
Deep within the underground ruins beneath King’s Campus.
In the Hall of Ascension within the ruins of the Star Numerology Scriptorium, Dorothy looked at the text-filled stele before her. It detailed the various Black Earth Rank paths and advancement methods for Revelation Beyonders, filling her with joy.
“I’ve found it! As expected, this place has the methods for advancing to the Black Earth Rank! And there are five paths!”
Dorothy thought excitedly. Her exploration had finally borne fruit. Her primary goal in coming to this school had been achieved.
With a mix of excitement and anticipation, Dorothy carefully examined the stele. It not only listed the names of the five Revelation paths but also detailed the requirements and methods for each advancement ritual. She could memorize all of it, return home, choose a path, prepare, and then advance.
The names of the various paths on the stele also piqued Dorothy’s curiosity.
“If I choose Chalice as the auxiliary spirituality, I can advance to become a Marionettist? Is that still about controlling corpse marionettes? I’m quite skilled at that now, so it’s worth considering.”
“If I choose Stone as the auxiliary spirituality, I can become a Brontomancer among the Elementalists. So, the elemental expression of Revelation is Thunder? That’s quite surprising. Revelation seems so scholarly, yet its elemental expression is so violent…”
“Choosing Shadow leads to becoming a Dream Interpreter, meaning I’d gain abilities related to the Dreamscape. I wonder what exactly that entails?”
“Choosing Lantern allows me to become a Diviner, which is somewhat expected. I wonder if becoming a professional diviner would enhance my divination abilities?”
“And finally, there’s the Scholar. It doesn’t require any auxiliary spirituality, meaning it’s a pure Revelation path? So, there’s a path that focuses solely on one spirituality? That’s interesting. I wonder what abilities a pure Revelation path would grant.”
Looking at the various paths recorded on the stele, Dorothy analyzed them in her mind. She was already considering which path to choose.
“My current abilities revolve around controlling corpse marionettes, so the Marionettist path seems like a good fit. If I choose Marionettist, my ability to control corpse marionettes might improve, and my Chalice spirituality could regenerate on its own, reducing the pressure on my spiritual reserves.”
“The Brontomancer seems to be the path with the most direct offensive power among these options. Having Stone as an auxiliary spirituality would also enhance my combat capabilities, making up for my current lack of direct offensive strength.”
“The Dream Interpreter’s abilities are too vague to judge based on the name alone…”
“The Diviner is also a good option. I wonder if becoming a professional diviner would enhance my divination abilities? Though just having Lantern regenerate on its own is already quite appealing.”
“And finally, the Scholar… I’m not sure how a pure Revelation path would fare in combat…”
Dorothy weighed her options. Among these paths, she was particularly interested in the Marionettist, Brontomancer, and Diviner paths, but she couldn’t decide immediately.
The main issue was that the stele only listed the names, requirements, and methods for the five paths. It didn’t detail the specific abilities each path would grant after advancement. This made Dorothy feel like her advancement would be a gamble, with no guarantee of what she’d get.
“Sigh… now’s not the time to choose a path. I need to get out of here first and return to safety.”
Dorothy muttered to herself. After memorizing the contents of the stele, she stepped away and began searching for a way out.
Knowing about the existence of Universal Knowledge, Dorothy only needed to find the chaotic marks on the walls. After staring at them for a few seconds, they would transform into hidden text. Using this method, Dorothy quickly found a way out.
It was another set of marks on the wall. After Dorothy stared at them for a while, they transformed into Pritt Common, which she could understand.
“Corridor of the Ascended. Those who have successfully ascended to the Black Earth Rank may proceed to the Clear Creek Bank to receive their rites.”
Looking at the characters on the wall, Dorothy stood still for a moment, then couldn’t help but complain.
“Damn… this thing requires the Black Earth Rank to open?”
Seeing the words on the wall, Dorothy’s heart sank. Clearly, this room was specifically designed for the Star Numerology Scriptorium members to advance. The entrance required a Revelation Apprentice, while the exit required successful advancement to the Black-rank.
According to the text, this seemed to be a ritual of the Star Numerology Scriptorium. Those who successfully advanced would use this exclusive passage to reach the Clear Creek Bank and receive some kind of ceremony, while those who failed would have to return the way they came.
But Dorothy didn’t have the option to return. The path back was blocked by poison gas and rubble.
In other words, if Dorothy couldn’t advance on the spot, she might be trapped in this room forever.
“Unlucky…”
Covering her forehead, Dorothy sighed helplessly. Now, with no other choice, Dorothy began reviewing the contents of the stele in her mind to see if she could meet the conditions for any of the paths and advance immediately.
But as she looked, her heart sank.
Dorothy realized that while she had accumulated enough spirituality for many of the paths and could pray to herself as a guide, advancing to the Black-rank required more than just spirituality. The rituals also had additional requirements.
In fact, the Black-rank advancement rituals weren’t overly complex. For example, the ritual to become a Diviner required six high-quality crystal balls to assist in peering into the sea of knowledge. The Brontomancer ritual needed to be performed during a thunderstorm, with a specific Revelation mystical item as a medium to attract a natural lightning strike…
In short, these advancement rituals either required additional items or specific environmental conditions. Some, like the Brontomancer ritual, which needed to be performed outdoors during specific weather, were impossible in this sealed room.
Dorothy carefully examined the advancement rituals for each path. After looking through them, she realized she couldn’t meet the requirements for any of them. Just as she was beginning to despair, she turned her attention to the final path and her eyes lit up.
This path was the Scholar.
Dorothy had initially thought the Scholar was a pure Revelation path that didn’t require auxiliary spirituality. But after carefully reviewing the Scholar’s advancement ritual, she was surprised.
The Scholar’s advancement ritual didn’t require any additional environmental or item support. To become a Scholar, an Apprentice Cognizer needed to study one book from each of the other spiritualities. Additionally, the primary Revelation spirituality needed to be fully accumulated—20 points. For the other spiritualities, including the opposing Silence, one-quarter of each was required—5 points.
In other words, to become a Scholar, Dorothy needed to have read at least one book from each spirituality and accumulate 20 points of Revelation and 5 points of each of the other five spiritualities, including Silence.
“The Scholar… it seems like a path purely focused on Revelation, but it actually requires using all types of spirituality? Does that mean one must be knowledgeable in all spiritualities to be considered a true scholar?”
“Regardless, the Scholar is the easiest path for me to advance to right now. I just need to have studied different types of mystical texts and accumulated different spiritualities. Let me check my current spirituality reserves…”
With that, Dorothy began checking her current spirituality reserves:
- Chalice: 9
- Stone: 10
- Shadow: 6
- Lantern: 4
- Silence: 3
- Revelation: 16
When Dorothy first arrived in Tivian, her Chalice was at 11 points. After overloading the Corpse Marionette Ring a few times, it had dropped to 9. Her Shadow was originally at 3 points, and her Revelation was at 15. However, after reading the inscription with cognitive poison on the second level’s altar, she had gained 3 points of Shadow and 1 point of Revelation.
Based on her current situation, Dorothy’s Lantern and Silence were below 5 points, and her Revelation was below 20 points—none of which met the requirements. However, the advancement methods recorded on the stele were essentially mystical texts themselves, containing cognitive poison. Dorothy could extract spirituality from them.
The result of the extraction was that the stele, which recorded all the Black Earth Rank advancement methods for Revelation, was worth 6 points of Revelation! Additionally, it provided 2 points each for Chalice, Stone, Shadow, and Lantern, but none for Silence.
After this extraction, Dorothy’s Revelation overflowed by 2 points, which were wasted. Her final spirituality reserves were as follows:
- Chalice: 11
- Stone: 12
- Shadow: 8
- Lantern: 6
- Silence: 3
- Revelation: 20
In one go, Dorothy had almost completely met all the advancement requirements—except for Silence.
“Silence… this is a problem… Among the mystical texts I’ve encountered, those involving Silence are the rarest. I’ve never even read a single text focused on Silence. Now, not only do I lack the spirituality, but I also don’t meet the mystical text requirement.”
Dorothy thought with frustration. Advancing to Scholar required having read at least one mystical text from each of the six spiritualities, and Dorothy had never read a Silence-themed text.
“Sigh… it looks like I’ll need to seek some outside help…” Dorothy muttered to herself, deep in thought.