“The betrayer of humanity…” After Eugene sent Annan away, Nolan sat alone in the basement seat, poured himself a glass of wine, and murmured while staring at it.
His expression was complicated.
No wonder he didn’t get information about Nicholas.
Unlike the carefree attitude he had shown, Nolan was suspicious of Nicholas long before Annan mentioned it — even before Don Juan went to the Freezing Water Port.
Nicholas’s background was a blank slate.
Nolan confirmed it through various means.
The Old Crow didn’t know why Nicholas didn’t die, didn’t know why he came here and didn’t know how he crossed the border. He didn’t even know what he possessed and was his strength stronger or weaker than before.
But the Old Crow was sure about one thing.
This man was indeed Nicholas, who “died” more than a hundred years ago.
After comparing with the information Annan provided, he had resolved many of the previous confusions:
Nicholas was a Gold Rank wizard, notably a wizard who specialized in the Alteration School. Why were there no clues on his previous inventions, research results, and alteration products?
Even the Silver Rank Alteration Wizard would leave behind great inventions that would pass down for decades, not to mention Nicholas was at Gold Rank.
Moreover, those without a “strong desire” that was determined and firm would not be able to “dye” their soul.
Embarking on the path of transcendence required almost nothing. All that was needed was good wit and adaptability, to successfully clear at least one nightmare and to have a guide willing to be a secret keeper.
As for the advancement into the Silver Rank, the challenger had to accumulate enough power. For the final step of advancement, if the soul erosion by the curse was overboard, the part of “coughing out impurities” might even be fatal.
The benchmark that determined life and death was 65% soul purity.
If more than ? of the soul were already corrupted by the curse, the remaining power would no longer be enough to support the soul.
Thus, the soul would collapse directly and couldn’t even support the independent nightmare running. It would only merge into the nightmare that the challenger had recently purified.
As long as the erosion rate was higher than 25%, there would be a period of vulnerability and weakness after the rank advancement. Then, it would take a few days for the recovery period to officially obtain the “pure power” of the Silver Rank — the so-called “third developmental period”.
In this world, the transcendent scholars considered the process from the birth of babies to when they grow up to four or five years old, being able to run, eat, drink, and learn to speak, as the “first developmental period”. They called it “the blossoming of the mind”.
The period from twelve to seventeen was considered the “second developmental period”, termed as “the blossoming of the physique”.
The third developmental stage was “the blossoming of the soul”.
Just like the mental development of an infant to a young child and the physical maturity of a child to a young teen — after advancing into the Silver Rank, the soul had just matured. Everything involving the soul’s Transcended power began at this stage.
If the soul was not pure enough, it was impossible to pass this advancement stage safely.
For the advancement into the Gold Rank, the soul rank of “dyeing”, the mortality rate of advancement ritual was as high as 15%.
Although it was less than 20%, it was actually a high mortality rate. As a matter of fact, the advancement ritual could only be done once, which the challenger could not afford to fail. Thus, they would be well-prepared with confidence before committing to it.
What stood in the way of this benchmark was “desire”, or rather “obsession”.
The source of the “hue” of the Dyed Rank was the challenger’s desire. The direction of advancement must be the same as the desire. If the desire were to obtain a perfect body, the challenger would not smoothly advance into the Gold Rank in the path of Alteration Wizard; if he desired true wisdom, he could not utilize the Berserker profession to attain the advancement.
That was the true essence behind the “profession”.
The desire itself was ambiguous. Even a true warrior, who desired to die in battle and desired battle and glory, had moments of romance entangled in his mind.
The purpose of “profession” was to have an “adobe” with a rough idea.
Transcended had to translate the right desire into it, temper it, and refine it.
In the process of advancement, the burning fuel was one’s obsession.
This was the literal process of “forging”.
It was impossible to smelt iron in an ordinary oven. To burn the soul and extract the element, it was necessary to forge a more advanced forge.
As the Cup-holding Lady said, “Human desire is the foundation that never changes.” From ancient times to the present, from the fall of the deities to the fights in the streets, there must be the shadow of “desire” in any event.
Only the furnace of desire could purify one’s soul through burning.
If the obsession were exhausted before the advancement was completed, the challenger would become an empty shell that loses its sentience.
Such an empty shell was a precious and rare Transcended material.
It was often termed as the “Pupa of Death”, or the “Pupa of Human Face” — like a butterfly that didn’t break out of its cocoon in the end.
The insect that lost its body and identity could not be called a butterfly. It was in an intermediate state between a pupa and a complete metamorphosis.
The death pupa could replace any living being as a sacrifice in any ritual because of its chaotic nature. It was a good substitute even for the ritual that needed the sacrifice of a Gold Rank Transcended; even a ritual that required a specific name or a specific person could utilize the pupa as a substitute.
Each “pupa” could replace a person.
Therefore, it was also the best material for offsetting the curse.
It looked like a vegetative person, but neither the soul nor the flesh was damaged. It even had some power belonging to the Gold Rank, which allowed it to survive without food and water.
But that was merely basic survival.
Those who failed to advance into the Gold Rank would not have any desire as if they were alienated from this world.
They would take no further action, including listening, speaking, sitting, walking, eating and drinking, sleeping and entertainment, and even the instinctive drive of self-protection was gone. Even when someone poked the person’s pupil with a needle, the victim would not give any reaction.
Although the body and soul still existed objectively in a healthy state, it was no different from being dead.
Nolan knew from the very beginning that Nicholas definitely had a strong “desire”.
The Gold Rank Transcended would not simply act at will. Instead, their every move was related to their obsession.
Nicholas was the only “Great Sage” in the world. He who had inherited all the pursuits of ancient alchemists would only aim for the Sage’s Stone.
He had even completed the Sage’s Stone.
So what more could he desire?
“I should have thought of it earlier.” Nolan sighed.
What would an alchemist who mastered the Sage’s Stone want?
There was only one answer.
He wanted to be the Omniscience Creator.
For a creator, the “old world” was no longer needed.
He had enough power to create a world from scratch… a world that only belonged to him.
All he needed was time and resources.
It turned out that was why Nicholas’ information was utterly wiped out.
“That’s the so-called ‘more perfect form of human beings.” A sharp, hoarse voice sounded in the basement.
Nolan’s shadow suddenly turned into substantial black mud, surging up beside him.
A hand that formed via the black mud maliciously lifted Old Nolan’s wine glass and poured it into the shadows.
Then, the head of a young man with a similar appearance to Nolan, but only in his twenties, emerged from Old Nolan’s ear.
The wild and malicious smile on His face was unabashed, “What do you think, Nolan?”
“Faceless Poet.” Nolan didn’t get up. He still sat on the sofa, lowered his head, and greeted respectfully, “I knew you didn’t leave.”
Of course, he just lied.
Or rather, it was his act of keeping secrets.
After all, he was not the cardinal of Faceless Poet, but the pope of Faceless Poet.
“I think he’s pitiful.” Old Nolan sighed, looked at the wine, and said calmly.
“What kind of experience made him decide to create a so-called ‘advanced species’ that ‘will not betray or be betrayed’ and ‘there is no misunderstanding’? What kind of tangled and complicated thoughts will make them ‘engage in reproductive isolation [1]‘?
“The demi-deity who can realize the creation of life. How can everything be decided by throwing dice?”