Chapter 125: Old Ones
Li Wen searched everywhere but couldn’t find Moria. After asking several members of the Sorcery Anomalies Hand, she learned that the person had already left.
There was still quite a lot of time before the ship arrived at Black Raven Port. Did Moria act so early?
Li Wen found it hard to understand for a moment.
She wasn’t in a hurry at all. According to the original timeline, this treasure hunt event would last for several days. Even with the various influences from her appearance, it wouldn’t end immediately, especially since it involved such a large number of Transcendent individuals.
With nothing else to do, Li Wen asked Selwin and obtained the opportunity to read in the Sorcery Anomalies Hand’s library. This was quite rare, as magic societies rarely opened their libraries to outsiders. This was because most of the contents were magic knowledge they had collected or organized, which was considered internal secrets.
Selwin’s generosity was likely due to Marymana.
Li Wen primarily browsed through books and records related to the history of Leicester City. She discovered that before the Monastery His Holiness, there was indeed an ancient abbey on its original site. However, after reviewing all possibly relevant materials, Li Wen could not find any detailed information about that abbey, not even its name.
This was thought-provoking. That abbey must have been Moen Abbey, but it was difficult to imagine what Saint Floranne had done to suffer such a fate that not only she, but even the abbey she founded, were not allowed to have any records.
Only the Secret Church could erase all traces of a Saint and their legacy.
The Old Priest of Moen Abbey had said that Saint Floranne ultimately abandoned the abbey and went to Canaan. This seemed to imply that if Li Wen wanted to find answers, including the answers about Saint Floranne and the Path of Light Chasing, she would have to go to Canaan.
That was something for later.
Li Wen then found “Records of the Ancient Sun Era” in the library, which piqued her interest.
This was a book about the ancient Sun God Cult. The author was a follower of Glor from the Norradon Empire. In the book, he briefly described the reverence for the sun by the Golden Elves, as well as the establishment and decline of the ancient Sun God Cult.
As is well known, Glor’s faith originated from ancient sun worship, and the former indirectly or directly influenced almost all current faiths and divinity worship. In other words, ancient sun worship and the ancient Sun God Cult could be considered the source of most current sects and even Extraordinary Power.
The deity worshipped by the ancient Sun God Cult is now called “the Old Ones.” Most current scholars believe that “the Old Ones” are a form of “Glor,” just like the current Sun Crown or the Sun-Revealing White Wheel.
During a certain period in the Golden Age, the Old Ones underwent three “births,” giving birth to “Dawn and Twilight,” “Tranquil Sun,” and “Fervent Sun.” The Birth Rite of Dawn and Twilight, which Li Wen used to ascend to Witch Disciple, originated from this.
Dawn and Twilight symbolized the sun’s rising and setting. Tranquil Sun was the gentle or merciful aspect of the sun, while Fervent Sun was its cold and merciless aspect.
The three together constituted the external image of the Old Ones. When the Old Ones, through “three births,” split off these three aspects, it became… Glor.
Glor has no rising or setting, no mercy, and no coldness. It is justice, guidance, dedication, burning, and everything.
Li Wen became interested in these matters because she recalled the advice left by Saint Floranne in the abbey. Admonitions are advice and suggestions given by a subordinate to a superior. Putting aside who could be the recipient of the advice from Saint Floranne, a Saint of all religions, the content itself was very interesting—”We should revere the entirety of light, not just linger on the surface.”
What is the entirety of light? What is the surface?
If one were to cling to the various scriptures and doctrines of Glor, this would be an unsolvable question… But if the light mentioned in Saint Floranne’s admonition did not refer to “Glor” itself, then the question would be obvious.
The surface of light is Glor, worshipped by all religions; the entirety is the complete Old Ones, which is the Old Ones before the completion of “three births,” with its rising and setting, with mercy, and also without mercy.
In other words, Saint Floranne was actually a successive believer of the Ancient Sun?
This seemed plausible, but there was still one point that couldn’t be explained: why did the Secret Church want to erase all traces of Saint Floranne? Simply because of her identity as a follower of the Ancient Sun, it didn’t seem like it would warrant such measures.
Li Wen currently had no other ideas. This was the only answer that could be deduced from the information she could access.
More importantly, based on this answer, Li Wen had a direction for her promotion to Stage Two of the Path of Light Chasing.
*
Li Wen left the library of the Sorcery Anomalies Hand, still contemplating the promotion of the Path of Light Chasing.
Currently, apart from the promotion rituals and materials, she was still quite far from the promotable level.
She had over 2,500 experience points remaining. To raise the Supplicant class to level ten, she needed 4,000 experience points, meaning she was still short by a full 1,500 points.
If she hadn’t learned the abilities left by Saint Floranne at Moen Abbey, she might have had enough experience. But that was obviously impossible. “Dedication to Light and Fire” was a very powerful ability, and there was no reason to give it up.
Over a thousand experience points, which was the experience gained from over a dozen Stage One Transcendent individuals, or several Stage Two Transcendent individuals. As long as Li Wen killed a few more local Transcendent individuals she disliked during this treasure hunt, she would have enough experience to reach level ten.
This was not difficult, at least for her.
By this time, there was not much time left until the beginning of the entire event, the arrival of the ship.
At least Marymana had already gone to Black Raven Port, and Selwin himself had taken a group of society members not long ago, presumably also heading for the Sage Ovum Sheath.
Li Wen considered whether to stay at the Sorcery Anomalies Hand and wait for the Transcendent individuals participating in the treasure hunt to fight amongst themselves before picking up the spoils, or to observe from a closer distance.
Just then, Moria, who had already left, returned to the Sorcery Anomalies Hand through the society’s magic channel. His expression was calm, without any sign of fatigue or other expressions.
“Something happened.”
As soon as he saw Li Wen, he said this.
“Oh?” Li Wen raised an eyebrow. “Specifically?”
“A strange Grey Fog began to spread outwards from the Old Town. It is likely that those Transcendent individuals who came for the Sage Ovum Sheath have begun their actions,” Moria said, looking at Li Wen seriously and asking, “I’m going to deal with this. Do you want to stay in the society or go with me?”
“Then let’s go together.”
Li Wen shrugged, a hint of interest flashing in her eyes beneath her cloak.
She had long wanted to see what these Players, who had gained a huge advantage early in the game, were really made of.
