Chapter 52
The Ouroboros Ring
In a sense, the Royal Law University was precisely why Eivass had to keep Avalon safe for at least two years.
It was a massive experience hub where Eivass in the game had grown into a reliable helper in just six months.
Even a country girl like Haina, who had never encountered the extraordinary before, only began to learn about it from scratch in her second semester of freshman year. While maintaining her top grades in cultural subjects and studying numerous miscellaneous subjects simultaneously, she reached level twenty-five or twenty-six before her fourth year.
Even with relatively fast leveling in the early stages, this was still a very impressive stat.
He was not a transmigator who gained language proficiency upon arriving, but rather from the past life memories Eivass recalled—or rather, he had transmigrated when Eivass was a child, or even just born. He knew nothing that Eivass didn’t know.
The settings and plot points Eivass knew were also fragmented. He would not feel arrogant or complacent due to his foresight. What he was familiar with was what an ordinary player would often encounter—such as Path Traits, professional skills, operational techniques, and dungeon flows.
Moreover, Eivass profoundly understood a principle: incorrect information was worse than no information.
Therefore, he needed the knowledge system of this world’s system. For instance, common knowledge known by ordinary people, such as the Nine Pillar Gods and the Church—geographical knowledge and modern history of various regions.
And most crucially, language—especially written language, was the most important skill in this world.
Haina had to learn Iris, Star Antimony, and Elven languages in university. Eivass, as a priest, had to meticulously study the Elven language… because high-level Path of Devotion books were mostly written in Elven.
There was no such thing as “Human Common Speech” in this world. Not only did human languages vary, but there were also alien languages—Elven, Dwarf, Centaur… and even Draconic.
In this world, the most important and stable way to improve extraordinary abilities was through learning.
But without a sufficiently good mentor for direct, spoon-fed guidance, one could only learn by oneself.
For example, the book “Alchemical Cipher” was written in Star Antimony.
Occult Classics from various countries, and grimoires translated into local languages, were all in different scripts. Those on the Path of Wisdom in various countries were basically support roles, their main income coming from translating and decoding original texts that others couldn’t understand into grimoires, which they then sold on the black market. This also meant that many grimoires in local languages circulated on the black market in each country.
Influenced by Yulia, Eivass could understand Star Antimony. Yulia was not yet an Extraordinary, but her Adaptability was of the Path of Balance—she had great talent in Alchemy, much like Eivass’s talent in Ritual Studies.
He also understood Chinese, something one could barely learn in Avalon… even classical Chinese, he could read and understand normally. This was also one of Eivass’s advantages.
Eivass also knew some Elven. But he could only understand a little of Iris, and nothing of Dwarf. He also had to learn some Ancient Anxi Language to understand the skill books related to Curse skills that originated from the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi.
Otherwise, as a Demon Scholar, not knowing how to learn curses felt like something was missing.
Aside from linguistics, as Avalon’s highest-tier extraordinary academy, the Royal Law University had a vast collection of books. Although much of it was inaccessible to students, by building good relationships with the professors, he could also get a slight glimpse into their private collections.
Through learning, Eivass could rapidly improve his Path level.
Although defeating and killing an Extraordinary of a higher level than oneself could also grant experience, it was too inefficient and dangerous. Furthermore, Mystic Arts improved through this method would have levels but lack true knowledge.
Yes, knowledge.
In the Seminary of the Royal Law University, there were three elective courses that were extremely important to Eivass: “Curse and Disease,” “Weaknesses and Countermeasures of Demons,” and “Ordinary Ritual Studies.”
Although the core arcane knowledge of Transcendent Paths was carefully excluded from the course content, even the superficial knowledge was meaningful.
Moreover, when writing papers, he could borrow some books with high academic value.
By decoding and understanding this knowledge, it could also enhance Eivass’s Transcendent Path Mystic Arts. This was much more effective than buying various Demonology books of mixed veracity.
—Perhaps in Avalon, books on Demonology and Ritual Studies that could be purchased were always of mixed veracity, but knowledge regarding combating demons and rituals were definitely practical.
The reason Eivass was so eager to improve himself was not entirely to stop the Star Antimony Kingdom’s conspiracy, nor entirely due to the influence of the Transcendent Path.
Because he had limited development time left.
The true world-ending crisis that would destroy everything was not the Star Antimony Kingdom, but the Heavenly Envoy. All current crises were merely rehearsals.
The first Heavenly Envoy to descend was the Fallen Heavenly Envoy from the Star Antimony Kingdom in Version 0.
The name “Fallen Heavenly Envoy” was not only because it held concepts related to sin and corruption… but also because in that era when Heavenly Envoys could not descend to the mortal world, it was the first Heavenly Envoy to “fall to the mortal world.”
Before the Heavenly Envoys descended, this world was generally dominated by conflicts among mortals.
The specific time of Version 0’s arrival was June, a year and a half later.
The “Rose Cross” society succeeded in restoring the ancient ritual, the Ouroboros Ring.
This ritual required the sacrifice of an Extraordinary who had reached the limit of their corresponding Path—that is, a max-level Extraordinary, using their body as a sacrifice to guide the Heavenly Envoy. By bestowing the Heavenly Envoy with a physical body and mortal desires, the Heavenly Envoy in the Dream Realm could truly descend.
Descending in physical form, rather than merely being projected into the Material Realm as a Heavenly Envoy.
But that method was less like “inviting down” and more like “pulling down” the Heavenly Envoy.
“Heavenly Envoys” were superior beings to “Apostles” and also a type of Phantom Demon. Heavenly Envoys did not directly obey the Nine Pillar Gods, but served as candidates for the Pillar Gods of various Paths.
When they were forcibly descended through the Ouroboros Ring ritual, they would be constrained by the laws of the Material Realm due to obtaining a physical body, their level reduced to the highest level allowed by the Path of the Material Realm… thus making defeat possible.
The reason for the Heavenly Envoys’ descent was that these Heavenly Envoys guarded key nodes of Paths, siphoning off a portion of the Path’s power.
—That is, the “level cap.”
Mortals were always greedy. They wished to obtain power superior to others, power to change the world.
And once Extraordinary beings embarked on this path, they could not tolerate stagnation.
Although Phantom Demons could not die, once a descended Heavenly Envoy was defeated and revived, they would lose their Heavenly Envoy position and become a pure Phantom Demon. The Path power they occupied would be liberated, and Extraordinary beings of that Path could ascend to higher positions, leading to more advancement possibilities for “professions.”
And those who defeated the Heavenly Envoy could obtain the most Heavenly Envoy essence. Thus gaining more power in the Ouroboros Ring ritual.
But the “Rose Cross” society still underestimated the power of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy—even though its energy level was balanced to the material world’s limit, the luxurious lineup composed of four “Demon Avatars” at level fifty still failed to defeat the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. Instead, they were all killed by it.
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy that descended to the world had its personality forged by the fusion of the sacrificial spiritual foundation and the Fallen Heavenly Envoy itself. The latter held absolute dominance, but the former provided the foundation.
Before Demon Scholars understood the taboo of “Heavenly Calamity,” they could only advance to Demon Avatar at level 40.
Having become demons, their personalities were tyrannical and cruel, uncontrollable even by themselves.
Everyone knew that no one on the Transcendent Path would willingly sacrifice themselves as a victim in an experiment—this sacrifice was a colleague betrayed in their internal strife.
The one who merged with the Fallen Heavenly Envoy slaughtered the entire Rose Cross society and then massacred the entire Star Antimony royal family. He usurped the throne through pure violence and wreaked havoc at will within the Star Antimony Kingdom. Influenced by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, who hated the Material Realm for being unable to end the ritual and return to the Dream Realm, he initiated a war of mutual destruction for no reason.
—A war aimed at the entire world.
Until the Fallen Heavenly Envoy was vanquished by a small team led by “Players,” the level cap of the Transcendent Path was opened for the first time.
And Pandora’s Box was opened along with it. From that moment on, the world was uncontrollably plunged into chaos.
This was the end of the main storyline of Version 0.
But Eivass had not forgotten… that this world had no “Players.”
If he did nothing, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy would simply raze this world. This meant that before then, he had to re-class as a Sin Scholar, reach level 50, and complete the fifth advancement ritual for the Transcendent Path.
Without reaching the Sixth Tier, even if Eivass mastered the advancement of the Heroic Profession, Sin Scholar, beforehand, he would not be able to defeat the Fallen Heavenly Envoy.
In other words, he only had one and a half to two years.
If it were like the original plot, after Avalon fell, he would wander among various countries. By the time the Fallen Heavenly Envoy descended, he would still be a novice Demon Scholar barely at level thirty.
At that point, who could Eivass rely on?
Keep in mind that Eivass was already over level twenty half a year later when he fled Avalon with the Players. When he was saved by the Players, he was only level three.
The time between Eivass attending school with the Players and Avalon’s incident was only eight months!
In eight months, he completed two advancements… and in the following ten months, he only gained five levels, barely completing one advancement. This was the difference made by resource abundance.
…However, there was only one problem.
That was Professor Moriarty, his foster father, being at the university.
And he was the teacher for Advanced Mathematics—a compulsory course.
This made Eivass feel rather conflicted.
Although he knew that Professor Moriarty would become a world-class BOSS in the future, the feelings accumulated from years of upbringing were also real. Even with his past life memories awakened, he could not ignore the influence of his current life’s memories.
But only half a day later, Eivass received a piece of news that greatly lifted his spirits from Oswald, who had returned home after lunch:
“Father went to the Church?”
Although it only delayed things and didn’t solve the problem… it was always good to have a slight reprieve, to not immediately face this troublesome issue.
This also gave Eivass a chance to catch his breath.
“Yes,” the old butler replied. “He might be gone for a long time. Starting tonight, Young Master Edward will be staying here. If you need anything, you can find him.
“Additionally, the Silver and Tin Hall has invited you as a guest tonight for a private banquet. I don’t recommend you refuse. However, for certain reasons, it’s not suitable for me to accompany you. Do you have a designated recipient?”
The Royal Family is looking for me?
Eivass paused for a moment.
His first thought was, wouldn’t Her Highness, the Princess, expose him immediately?
But he quickly realized—it was likely due to the matter of him being in the newspaper earlier. He then breathed a sigh of relief.
“Then… can Brother come?”
“Young Master Edward probably doesn’t have time,”
Oswald replied, “He went out with Mr. Sherlock for something and might not be back in time for the banquet. But if he’s back, I’ll ask him to pick you up. After all, it’s not very safe at night recently.”
Eivass casually remarked, “Then Lily. Going to the Silver and Tin Hall as a guest, there’s no need to worry about safety.”
Another six thousand-plus characters today!
Tomorrow is the meet-up!
By the way, this book was fortunate enough to be selected as an internal test book for the illustration function. I’ve put an illustration in Chapter Thirty-Two, “Advancement Ritual.” If you have the latest version of Qidian updated, you can take a look!
