"The betrayer of humanity..."

After Eugene sent Annan away, Nolan sat alone on the seat in the basement, poured himself a glass of green wine, looked at the wine and murmured in a low voice.

His expression was very complicated.

No wonder I didn't get any information about Nicholas.

It was different from the nonchalant way he acted.

Nolan Sr. had begun to doubt Nicholas long before Annan mentioned it—even before Don Juan went to the frozen water port.

Because Nicholas's information is really too clean.

He confirmed it by various means.

I don’t know why he didn’t die, and I don’t know why he came to Nolan. I don’t know how he crossed the border... I don’t even know how many things he brought with him, or whether his power is stronger or weaker than before.

But only one thing is certain.

This man is indeed Nicholas who "died" more than a hundred years ago.

After corresponding with the intelligence from Annan, many of the previous confusions were finally released:

For a gold-level wizard—even a wizard who specializes in the transformation school, why can’t even his past inventions, research results, and transformation products be found?

Even a silver-level transformation wizard can leave behind great inventions that have been passed down for decades. This is even more true for gold-level transformation wizards...

If you don't have a strong enough "heterogeneous desire" for power, you won't be able to dye your soul smoothly.

To embark on the path to transcendence, almost nothing is needed. All you need is enough wit and adaptability, the ability to successfully clear at least one nightmare, and a guide who is willing to be a secret keeper.

To advance to silver, you need to accumulate enough strength - in the last step of advancing to silver, if the soul is too severely eroded by the curse, the "coughing out impurities" step may even be fatal.

The dividing line that determines life and death is about 65%.

If more than two-thirds of it is eroded by the curse, the remaining power will no longer be enough to support the existence of the soul.

A soul that has collapsed directly cannot even sustain an independent nightmare... it will only merge into the nightmare that it has just purified.

As long as the erosion rate is higher than 25%, there will be a period of weakness after the advancement. It will take a few days of recovery before you can officially obtain the "pure power" of the Silver level - the so-called "third level".

puberty".

In this world, extraordinary scholars regard the process from the time babies are born until they grow to four or five years old and are able to run on the ground, eat, drink, and learn to speak as the "first developmental period," which is also the "fullness of the mind."

”.

The period between the ages of 12 or 13 and 16 or 17 is considered to be the "second development period", which is also the "fullness of the body".

The third stage of development is the "fullness of the soul."

Just like the mental awakening from a baby to a young child, the physical maturity from a child to a teenager - after advancing to silver, the soul has just condensed and matured. All extraordinary powers involving the soul only begin at this stage.

If the soul is not pure enough, it will never be able to survive this advancement safely.

And the advancement of gold level...

In other words, the "dyed" position.

The mortality rate of advanced rituals is as high as 15%.

Although it is less than 20%, this is actually a very high mortality rate - you know, everyone knows that the advancement ceremony is only once and cannot fail, and they are all prepared and believe that they can advance successfully.

Under certain circumstances, you will choose the advanced one.

What blocks this threshold is "desire".

In other words, "obsession".

The source of the "hue" of the dyeing stage is desire itself. And the direction of advancement must be the same as the direction of desire - if the desire itself is to obtain a perfect body, then it cannot smoothly advance to gold in the direction of transforming wizards

; If he longs for true wisdom, he cannot use the berserker profession to complete the advancement.

This is what "career" means.

Desire itself is vague. Even a true warrior who desires to die in battle, who desires battle and glory, must have moments when his will is entangled in the love between a man and a woman.

The existence purpose of a "career" is an "adobe" with a general shape.

Introduce the appropriate desire into it, calcine it into shape...and then polish it carefully.

In the process of advancement, one's own obsession will continue to burn.

This is the ritual of the "forge".

It is impossible to burn iron into iron juice in an iron pot. If you want to burn the soul and extract the elements, you must build a more advanced forge.

As the girl holding the cup said, "Human desire is the eternal foundation." From ancient times to the present, from the fall of gods to street fights, the shadow of "desire" must be present in any event.

Only the furnace forged by desire can calcine one's own soul.

And if the obsession is exhausted before the advancement is completed, it will become an empty shell that has lost its mind.

And such an empty shell is a very precious and rare extraordinary material.

It's called "The Chrysalis of Death", or it can also be called "The Chrysalis of Human Face".

Like a butterfly that never breaks out of its cocoon.

It has lost the body and identity of an insect, but it cannot be called a butterfly. It is just an intermediate state between the two.

It is precisely because of this definition of chaos that the Chrysalis of Death can replace any living person as a sacrifice in any ritual... Even if a certain ritual requires the self-sacrifice of a gold-level transcendent, it can be used instead; even if it is named

It can also be used instead of a ritual that must be performed by someone.

——Each "chrysalis" can replace a person.

Therefore, it is also the best material for deflecting curses.

It looks like a vegetative state, but neither the soul nor the body has any damage... It has even gained some gold-level power, and can survive continuously without eating or drinking.

But that's just survival.

The losers who advance to gold no longer have any desire, as if they were separated from this world.

They will no longer take any action. Including listening, speaking, sitting, walking, including eating, drinking, sleeping, and entertainment. Even the instinct of self-protection will be eliminated - even if you stick a needle in the other person's pupil, you will not get any results.

any reaction.

Although the body and soul objectively still exist and are very healthy, there is no difference between them and death.

So Nolan knew from the very beginning... Nicholas definitely had an extraordinary "desire."

Every gold-level transcendent cannot act at will. Every move they make is related to their own obsessions.

And Nicholas is the only "Great Sage" in the world. He has inherited all the pursuits of the ancient alchemists... and his goal can only be the Philosopher's Stone.

But he has even completed the Philosopher's Stone.

So what else could he desire?

"I should have thought of it earlier..."

Nolan sighed.

An alchemist has mastered the Philosopher's Stone...what else would he want to do?

I'm afraid there is only one answer.

-He wants to be the Creator.

And for a Creator, the "old world" is not needed.

He has enough ability to create a world from scratch...a world that is uniquely his.

And all he needs is time and resources.

It turns out that this is why the news about Nicholas was completely erased...

"That is 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 and surged up from around him.

A hand formed like black mud maliciously lifted old Nolan's wine glass and poured it into the shadow.

Then, the head of a young man with a similar appearance to Nolan, but who was 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?"

"The Faceless Poet."

Nolan did not get up, but still sat on the sofa, lowered his head, and saluted: "I knew you didn't leave."

Of course he just lied.

Or, it can also be said to be a journey of keeping secrets.

Because he is not the Cardinal of the Faceless Poets...but the Pope of the Faceless Poets.

"I think he is very 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 neither betray nor be betrayed' and 'has no misunderstandings'? And what kind of tangled and complicated thoughts... made them

'Reproductive isolation from self'?
Chapter completed!