Chapter 1215
Calamity Red: Grand Opening Sale!
Two days have passed since Calamity Red ascended to the position of Pillar God.
The first to be affected was Avalon, where a majority of its government institutions were comprised of Authority Path Extraordinary beings.
Just as the Throne of Supreme Heaven collapsed in the past, the power of professions like “Berserker,” “Warrior,” “Challenger,” and “Fighter” also vanished, like new snow under the sun.
In a single night, they had plummeted from Extraordinary beings to mortals.
Law Masters lost the Law Spells they were accustomed to – the ability to reprimand, arrest, and execute others according to legal statutes, bringing future judgment and execution to the “present” in an “instant,” had completely failed.
As for the Gryphon Knights… their martial skills and physical conditioning remained, and their physical conditioning had even been somewhat enhanced. However, they had temporarily lost their Mana Pool and their connection to their gryphons.
Or rather, their “contract” with their gryphons had been severed.
Without the means of telepathic communication with their beloved companions, the gryphons’ pupils had all turned scarlet, and their temperaments had clearly become more irritable. However, even though their relationship had been completely terminated, the gryphons still cherished their past affection, and not a single one left the knights who had raised them.
From another perspective, Avalon’s aerial cavalry and gryphons had finally become a new, genuine, pure friendship—
Not bound by any contract, nor driven by the utilitarian mindset of “if you level up, I can level up.” Nor by the demands of a Pillar God, or the influence of a Path…
Butsimply… a pure friendship uncorrupted by any Path Power.
The professional advancement routes from Supervisor to Arbitrator might have suffered the least from the Pillar God’s succession—or rather, they were the first to achieve “localization.”
They first lost the supernatural ability, similar to Law Masters, to control others. However, their physical attributes were strengthened, including the execution of various martial skills and swordsmanship, which were now more powerful than before.
They had only lost their Mana… or rather, they could no longer activate their Mana Pools.
But fortunately, this situation was not unsolvable.
After all, while the power of Extraordinary beings came from the resonance of their Path, it was not “borrowed.”
The Path Power truly acted upon their own bodies, and the Path Power they had already obtained was still stored within them.
It was like the Prince of Giants who had been imprisoned by Avalon… he had been held captive for so long, yet the power of Supreme Heaven still lingered within him.
This feeling was more akin to a “system update” that had completely upgraded to a new version, rendering programs that had not been updated for compatibility unable to run, much like porting a console game to a PC.
It required re-decoding this power into the current, correct Path interpretation and achieving compatibility and porting before it could be used normally.
And in this process, functional losses were unavoidable—for example, functions that worked fine in the old version might not work in the new.
For instance, features like gyroscope controls or aim assist, which might exist on a console, might not be achievable on a PC.
Simultaneously, some things that cannot be done on a console could be done on a PC… such as, “once you’re on a PC, you can’t control what clothes you wear.”
This was the manifestation of gaining new professional abilities after transferring to a new Path.
And the transition from the Authority Path to the War Path had less compatibility conflict than the transition to Authority…
Or rather… Calamity Red did not wish to completely sever the part of Silver Crown Dragon from itself.
Just as he had spared the Knights of the Round Table who did not submit to him—by consuming the existence of Silver Crown Dragon, he had also integrated Silver Crown Dragon’s memories and emotions.
But compared to Calamity Demon Dragon, who had remained in the Dream Realm without going anywhere before defeating Supreme Heaven, and who was then frozen in the mountains by Silver Crown Dragon after Supreme Heaven’s defeat… Silver Crown Dragon was the one who had adventured with people, forged friendships, and left traces in this world.
—His life was far richer than Calamity Demon Dragon’s!
Now that Calamity Demon Dragon had consumed Silver Crown Dragon, it was like pouring a strong liquor into a bowl of fruit juice. It was hard to say whether it was strong liquor or fruit juice now, but it was clearly no longer pure fruit juice.
This was precisely why Silver Crown Dragon had not devoured Calamity Demon Dragon.
If Silver Crown Dragon had eaten Calamity Demon Dragon, his Path would have undoubtedly become skewed!
Compared to Calamity Demon Dragon, who leaned towards the Path of Love, Silver Crown Dragon was clearly much more intelligent—or rather, those on the Path of Love were generally not very intelligent.
Arthur had once been a Warrior of the Seventh Origin River, and later became an Ascencist of the Eighth Origin River.
It was precisely to defeat Supreme Heaven that he had severed the purest “Seventh Origin River” part of himself in the past… and to devour it again would undoubtedly mean he had once again gained the essence of creation from the Seventh Origin River.
He would smoothly veer towards the Eighth Origin River… because “a clone replacing its creator” itself fit the principles of Transcendence.
And now, Calamity Demon Dragon had consumed Silver Crown Dragon… this was essentially the same.
If they were to fuse again, it would mean that the Pillar God of the Seventh Origin River had undergone a Path skew—compared to the order-bringing Authority, the chaos brought by War leaned more towards the easier Origin River of the Transcendent Path.
War itself meant a change in power, and chaos was a ladder to power.
From another perspective, this also foreshadowed the “barbarian conquering civilization” of the Material Realm.
When the battle-hardened barbarians invaded and conquered civilization, they were then eroded by the latter’s cultural traditions and ultimately became carriers of that culture themselves.
Just as the powerful Calamity Demon Dragon had defeated the weak and helpless Silver Crown Dragon, and then accepted the allegiance of the Knights of the Round Table, and did not intend to punish the professionals left behind by Silver Crown Dragon, but rather wanted to absorb them all under his command.
In fact, apart from the fervent followers of the “Authority” Path, for others… life had not changed in any fundamental way.
Just as Authority included power, War also included Authority—without sufficient power and prestige, one could not launch or command a war. Therefore, the power to make others obey was also necessary, but all those overly weak and procrastinating abilities needed to be revised—
Arthur disliked the term “Mage,” or more accurately—he disliked Merlin.
Therefore, the profession of Law Master was changed by him to “Commander.”
The abilities to control others through law were returned, but now they could control others at will, without needing to refer to laws.
Calamity Red additionally granted Commanders the power to provide group buffs and to command others through mental communication. This profession’s advancement was completed at the Third Tier, and by cultivating the ability to multitasking, one could advance to “Chief Commander” to gain the ability to directly control others’ bodies.
Allies at a lower Tier than Commander could choose to hand over their command rights to the Commander, allowing the Commander to perfectly control multiple individuals, turning a group into a perfectly functioning “living monster.”
Once command was relinquished, the body’s owner could not return. This meant that Commanders could order them to perform dangerous tactical maneuvers without worrying about resistance—this was undoubtedly a remnant of “Authority” power.
The professions of “Light Cavalry” and “Aerial Cavalry” were largely unchanged. The designated mount of “Gryphon” was simply liberated, allowing for the free selection of any other Phantom Demon or Monster as a mount.
The current professions were renamed “Knight” and “Grand Knight”—this advanced profession could also be translated as “Great Knight” or “Crowned Knight” in languages other than that of Avalon.
The Supervisors were the last batch of Extraordinary beings to complete their modification. But to say it was the last day, it was actually the third day… one day later than other Extraordinary beings.
—Given the Pillar God’s work efficiency, this was quite astonishing.
Perhaps only a god like Calamity Red, who had been impatient and actively seized power, would so diligently prepare his profession and handle the mess left by his predecessor.
Supervisors were transformed into “Gendarmes” by Calamity Red, while their corresponding advanced profession, Arbitrators, became “Imperial Guards.”
“Gendarmes” possessed abilities similar to Supervisors—strong bodies, resilient spirits, resistance to control abilities, and the ability to cast spells while swinging a sword.
However, they did not use the buff-oriented system of Commanders, but rather “Command Spells,” which were very close to the Law Spell system. They gained an advantage in combat by issuing strong mental interference through speech, forcing the target to execute their commands.
And Imperial Guards, on top of this, gained stronger bodies and swordsmanship, resistance to spells, and quite practical direct damage spells.
He then extracted another portion of his power to create the most common “Soldier” profession. And its Third Tier, Fourth Tier, and Fifth Tier advancement professions were defined as “Officer,” “Colonel,” and “General,” respectively.
This was essentially a Warrior adapted to the Path, or rather, this was the “Warrior” profession he had originally intended to create.
However, Lord of Scales and Feathers had already seized the origin of the Warrior from Supreme Heaven, and the transfer of this Origin River power had been approved by the then-Pillar God, Silver Crown Dragon, so Calamity Red could no longer construct the concept of “Warrior.”
So he skirted the issue—using Lord of Scales and Feathers’ Warrior as a template, he copied a de-powered version of “Soldier.” This profession had no special differences… it had no unique spells, nor any traits that fit an Origin River. Its only advantage was the talent to learn all “weapons.” And its threshold was low enough… as long as one was in “War,” one could take up this profession.
—To put it more simply, it was a profession that allowed one to transfer by killing people in war to gain “Military Merit”… and promoted by accumulating “Military Merit.” Like “Warrior,” it required no special talent to transfer.
In a sense, this was also a system that allowed for stable advancement by “gaining experience”!
Truth be told, Calamity Red’s brain was not very good.
The “Professional” system was a valuable system created by the Great Philosopher. Professionals and Inheritors were different—if an Inheritor’s mental aptitude changed, not only could they not continue, but they might even lose the power they had already acquired.
Professionals were the opposite—their own minds and personalities would, in turn, be influenced and shaped by their profession and influenced by Path Power.
Gods used the professional system to subtly “educate” a group of people who fit the concept of their Origin River, guiding their development in a direction closer to their own. In most cases, this was achievable—acquired education and guidance could indeed determine a person’s personality to a large extent.
For example… although all were Transcendent Paths, Father Snake, Ring Heavenly Envoy, and Fallen Heavenly Envoy were clearly three completely different directions.
The most widespread profession was Fallen Heavenly Envoy, which meant that all Extraordinary beings tending towards the Transcendent Path were “educated” into a fallen state. Therefore, the more they emphasized education, the more power they would grant to their professions… thereby competing with other Heavenly Envoys of the same Path for “sources of life,” slowly increasing their own Apostles and preventing competitors from becoming stronger.
Those who completely ignored their own professions were probably Father Snake and Amber.
Amber was still half-asleep, and Father Snake simply didn’t care—if not for Hourglass’s request, he might not have even left behind his profession.
For Father Snake, whether one had the aptitude to become a Transcendent was a “natural selection.” He did not believe that those who achieved nothing on the Transcendent Path could go far, nor did he believe that those who were easily deceived could go far. The saying “a forced melon is not sweet,” power gained by controlling the weak was meaningless to him.
He did not actively preach like Fallen Heavenly Envoy, but advocated for a “believe if you want, leave if you don’t,” teaching only those with great determination, great wisdom, and great perseverance the art of defying heaven.
Even though Lord of Scales and Feathers had once stolen the “Eight Trigrams of the I Ching” from Father Snake, he had never been angry with him. Father Snake’s indifferent personality made him unconcerned with anything other than himself.
It was precisely through this purity that he became stronger and stronger… and it was this indoctrination of thought that led to the evolution and upgrading of civilizations after Father Snake became a Pillar God. Before Father Snake, the Scaled and the Winged maintained a long tribal civilization. Everyone lived in a daze, with no thought of “getting better” or “becoming better.” Surviving until tomorrow was victory.
The inheritance of “art of defying heaven” given by Father Snake was the prototype of the rituals used by great shamans today.
Calamity Red, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Father Snake—
He was perhaps the Pillar God most eager to gain the recognition of the people.
Because the Authority Path had been completely hollowed out—the authority of “Rain of Predation” from the Path of Eating was obtained by Father Snake, and later stolen by Lord of Scales and Feathers; as King of Earth, the “anti-civilization” savagery of the desolate lands was perhaps taken by Rock Heavenly Envoy; and Supreme Heaven, who had eaten the corpse of the Giant of Eating and donned a bear skin, its authority of sacrifice was then given to Father Snake by Hourglass; the essence of “fighting for survival” of the Warrior was also taken by Lord of Scales and Feathers…
—The War Path was in an unprecedented state of weakness.
But because of this, he could not expose his weakness.
As the weakest Pillar God… Calamity Red, who had just taken the throne, mortgaged more than half of his strength to the professional system, granted a large number of professions at once, gave them sufficiently powerful strength, and was even magnanimous enough to allow the original Authority Path Extraordinary beings to transfer to the War Path—the “price difference” in between was personally covered by Calamity Red.
At the same time, all professions of the War Path were more than a little stronger than those of the Authority Path.
Calamity Red hoped to use this method to conceal the state of “unprecedented weakness in the War Path,” to make people willing to embark on this path with peace of mind… to believe that he had obtained the position of Pillar God by defeating Silver Crown Dragon head-on, and that the War Path was far more powerful and correct than the Authority Path!
It was like an “opening sale” with super discount membership cards, where future income was completely mortgaged to provide excessive benefits to build an initial capital pool.
But clearly, he could not even deceive Eivass.
Eivass did not even need to inquire with Lord of Scales and Feathers to know what Calamity Red was thinking.
—As for what to do after overdrawing so much?
What happens after can be dealt with later~
