When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 740: Chapter 125: Please Choose Your Dream Mentor Chapter 740: Chapter 125: Please Choose Your Dream Mentor [Grey Eternity is currently imparting “Advanced Divine Art (11/11)” to you.

Would you like to pay 644 public experience points to master this mystical skill?]

——Confirm payment.

Aiwass silently recited in his heart.

With that phrase, Aiwass’s experience once again dropped to a pitiable double-digit figure.

That was close, thankfully I had enough.

Aiwass almost broke into a cold sweat.

If not for having just killed Cardinal Loki once, his experience would have indeed been insufficient—The Pure White Saintess’s mastery over these eleven volumes of Advanced Divine Art was truly uneven.

The least demanding volume required barely over a hundred experience points, while the most demanding took a staggering twelve hundred.

Considering that this particular volume was titled “Advanced Divine Art: Annotations on the Path of Love—Love, Friendship, Desire, and Other Dark Thoughts,” Aiwass felt this was somewhat acceptable.

——Considering Master Yanis’s issue, the Pure White Saintess may not have studied this volume properly in her time.

It could be that she simply couldn’t settle down and focus, or that she was absent-minded, or maybe she was too embarrassed to discuss such overly intimate knowledge with Aiwass.

After all, conservatives still make up the majority among elves.

The eleven volumes of Advanced Divine Art, the first volume spoke of history and principles, the second volume discussed methods and means.

The remaining nine volumes were all about communication with the Pillar Gods, Celestial Marshals, Angel Envoys, and Phantom Demons of the nine great Paths, as well as understanding of the respective Paths and self-control.

Therefore, strictly speaking, it was possible to learn Advanced Divine Art by studying just three volumes.

Advanced Divine Art required one to delve into the inner soul, allowing oneself to serve as a vessel to bear the descent of a great will.

This necessitated the suppression of one’s own ego to “make space.”

It was analogous to performing surgery, drafting, or engaging in other precise tasks, where one would ask a passing expert to take over.

One would at least need to stand back and quietly observe without interfering with the expert’s work—angering the expert could result in them simply walking away, which was a minor issue, but struggling over control of the body could actually lead to complications.

Thus, it was necessary to lock one’s own body, restricting it to limited actions when will descends.

——It’s like in other games where during automatic battle, it’s wise not to include self-destructive skills in the skill bar; the AI might use them impulsively.

And to achieve this, one must be aware of all great beings’ personal preferences and taboos…

One of the reasons it is called Advanced Divine Art.

Because it is very much akin to the underlying logic of Divine Arts.

If “Rite of Fire” and “Illumination” were the prerequisite skills for a “Torchbearer;” then “Prayer” and “Blessings” were indeed prerequisites for Advanced Divine Art!

Divine Arts sought the descent of power through prayers and blessings, like submitting one’s requests in the proper format and waiting for the procedure to progress; whereas Advanced Divine Art was akin to calling the expert directly, letting them handle the matters automatically.

If one was a stranger to the expert, a sufficiently good relationship had to be maintained on the periphery.

The difference was that Divine Arts involved inquiring about the expert’s preferences when something came up, while Advanced Divine Art was akin to having “favors” stored in advance.

From this perspective, Aiwass finally understood why the Holy Nation was a society built on personal relationships.

——Because the Divine Arts developed by the founder of the Holy Nation, the First Pope Candle Celestial Marshal, were fundamentally “relationship-based Divine Arts”!

Just the knowledge of the ensuing nine books of Advanced Divine Art was a secret not even a typical bishop could master, passed down through generations.

Even in the Prayer Arts textbooks the church taught to bishops, preferences and dislikes of these experts wouldn’t be detailed.

It was akin to a little booklet filled with all kinds of contacts, addresses, weaknesses, leverage, preferences, history, and personal connections of the experts…

Widely spreading such information could indeed provoke these beings of the Dream Realm.

Conversely, if one read these books, even ordinary prayers and blessings performed later would be more effective, for they had access to intelligence of greater significance.

In this world, knowledge is power.

Naturally, this is even truer for information concerning beings of the Pillar God level.

Thus, even though Aiwass had acquired Advanced Divine Art through the system, he still needed to read these subsequent books.

This was all tangible, valuable knowledge.

It’s no wonder the elves sealed them in such secure cases, only allowing access after the first two volumes had been read.

They feared the loss of knowledge contained within.

And as experience continued to dissipate, Aiwass felt a surging power within himself.

Under the Pure White’s gaze, Aiwass’s pupils once again became lifeless.

——And it was at that moment, Aiwass’s pupils turned completely crimson.

It was a divine flame akin to The Sun.

Immediately after, golden patterns emerged at the center of that crimson—coalescing into a fire-like, bewitching vertical pupil.

Then an intangible surge of energy began to spread outwards from Aiwass.

Aiwass felt warmth, followed by a scorching heat.

The sensation was akin to wearing thick clothes, walking from an air-conditioned room into the sunlight.

In an instant, he was drenched in sweat.

Under intense dizziness, the world before Aiwass’s eyes gradually began to blur.

He felt his fluid soul being twisted by some force—as if it were glassblowing, where bubbles gurgled to the surface one by one.

“To think it’s the Soul of Dissolution…”

Just then, Aiwass suddenly heard a voice from behind him.

Turning around abruptly, he found himself in a pure white space.

In his daze, the pure white of the space slowly took on color…

as if a game’s textures hadn’t loaded properly, the world gradually gained contours.

It was a springtime mountain scene.

A clear stream, vibrant green leaves, radiant sunlight, birds chirping crisply in the blue sky.

“…Reincarnation Celestial Marshal?”

That doubtful voice rang out once more.@@novelbin@@

Aiwass turned his head again and found that a man had appeared by his side at some unknown point.

He had an unusually handsome face that exuded a soft appeal, with light golden hair that fell to his waist and no decorations whatsoever on his face or head.

He was wearing a solid white robe…

but he was only human from the waist up.

Below his waist was the robust body of a white stag.

Atop his head, he bore a pair of massive white antlers, similar to those of the Candle Master.

The antlers were exceptionally clean, with the luster of bone china and golden patterns.

They were so white it seemed they were emitting light—flames of silvery-white burned at the tips of each branch, and the radiance of the flames cast light upon the other antlers, making his entire majestic rack seem aglow.

The half-man, half-stag was looking down at Aiwass intently.

It was then that Aiwass realized he was not human…

nor was he the fox from before, but had become a young, antler-less deer.

He stepped nervously on his hooves, unsure of his own appearance.

Seeing this, the man chuckled heartily.

“It seems I was mistaken,” he said.

He ruffled Aiwass’s head and said in a gentle voice, “If you can’t find a god to make a contract with in the end, come to me.

“Remember my name, young Priest, I am the Candle Celestial Marshal…

the First Pope.

“My true name is…

Ann Eternity.”

In the next moment, the illusion dissipated.

Aiwass then realized he had somehow fallen seated on the ground.

Pure White was beside him, holding him.

She was radiating light all over her body, continuously using the Illumination Art on Aiwass.

Aiwass’s body was as hot as a mining graphics card—he was so hot that one could see his skin turning red to the naked eye, along with rings of purplish-red, rope-like indentations.

The marks emerged and then faded under the healing of the Illumination Art.

Aiwass’s body looked like a watermelon that had been recklessly dug into, with pits overlapping one another.

Eventually, it settled in a position identical to that of Cardinal Matilda—at the very center of Aiwass’s chest.

The rope-like mark surfaced and deepened; finally, it ripped open and bled.

The wound then healed again, revealing a black brand—

It was a snake biting its own tail to form a ring.

It looked like a black Sun during an eclipse.

“…Congratulations.

You are the first being in nearly four hundred years, other than the Elves, to learn the Advanced Divine Art; also the first of the Short-Lived Species in the world to master it,” said Pure White in a complex tone.

Having witnessed the long-awaited miracle, she continued, “Should I start calling you Cardinal Moriarty now?

Or do you think Cardinal Aiwass has a nicer ring to it?”

“…Don’t I need to fully master the Advanced Divine Art?”

Aiwass asked softly.

Even he was startled by his own voice—it was as hoarse and weak as Yulia’s when she had a high fever.

In that moment, he suddenly understood what Yulia felt.

Right now, his soul was completely open…

although it was empty inside, it was in fact a “dwelling.”

A “flesh and blood abode” that a Phantom Demon could enter!

“Have you already decided with whom you will sign the contract?”

Pure White asked, a frown creasing her brow, “Won’t you reconsider?

Let me emphasize once more…

every time a Rite of Fire is performed, it’s like digging a hole in your soul.

If you dig continuously, there’s a risk of soul damage, it’s better to undergo a promotion ritual in between to recast the soul, to cool it down before the second round of ceremonies.

“Which means, before your next promotion ritual, you can probably only sign a contract with one being—have you decided who it will be?”

“…I’ve pretty much made up my mind.”

Aiwass replied.

Due to the Nurturing Secret Sequel, he had to strike a balance between Transcendence and Dedication.

Therefore, he could not choose either Path, unless he was able to sign with both at the same time.

Besides, he had no particular relationship with Eternal Self, the Hourglass, the Great Sage, or Amber.

He was not confident they would accept his resume outright…

if he had to wait for his resume to be returned and resubmit it elsewhere, that would be too much of a waste of time.

As for the Celestial Marshals and Angel Envoys other than the Pillar God, Aiwass did not even consider them.

So, for Aiwass, the first targets he had set for signing were not many.

They were a choice between the Crown Lord, the Gemini Mirror, and the Lord of Scalefeather.

Therefore…

“—I will choose the Lord of Scalefeather.”

Aiwass gave the name that had first come to mind without hesitation.

For some reason, he always felt an inexplicable closeness to the entity.