Chapter 142: I Will Pledge My Loyalty to You (Two-in-one)
“And you, you have questions too, right?”
Seemingly deriving immense pleasure from Sylvia and Aerora’s mortification.
The Knowledge Chalice leaned back even further in a tactical manner and swayed for a while before stopping. It then resumed displaying text on its surface towards Shaya.
“I don’t know how you found me, or even how you knew my incantation.”
“However.”
The handle of the Holy Grail flickered with a faint luminescence, like a pair of eyes scrutinizing Shaya.
“A Sixth Ring at just eighteen years old. Your talent as a Beast Tamer and your spiritual power are quite outstanding.”
“In your era, you should be considered a peerless genius rarely seen in a hundred years… But in the ancient epoch when Mythical Creatures roamed the world, you would be considered quite ordinary.”
“Just a mortal born in an era without me!”
“Compared to that Throne, or the contractors of the Anchor of Storms, you’re still lacking.”
The ancient script on the cup’s body became listless.
As if stimulated by the previous two embarrassing experiences, it was no longer interested in causing ordinary people to feel embarrassed.
“Ask your questions quickly and then we’re done.”
Shaya was not angered by the Knowledge Chalice’s lazy and perfunctory demeanor. He merely chuckled and caressed the upper part of the small “prison cup.”
“I do have questions, but I need to confirm if the forbidden knowledge I possess can be traded first.”
“You?”
The Knowledge Chalice hopped, and text appeared on its rim: “With your age and rank, what hidden knowledge could you possibly possess? Haven’t you seen that even the Throne failed? I suggest you don’t humiliate yourself.”
“That’s not necessarily true. After all, anything is possible.”
Shaya continued to stroke the body of the Holy Grail calmly.
His expression was kind, with a faint, spring-breeze-like smile that made people feel at ease.
If an outsider who knew nothing saw this, they would likely believe that the handsome youth before them was a kind-hearted and gentle gentleman.
However, for Aerora, it made her cover her eyes.
The blonde maiden rarely saw Shaya exhibit such a kind smile, but whenever he did, she knew that something was about to go wrong.
“Tell me, what if I told you the laws governing the operation of the Blazing Sun and its life cycle?”
“The laws governing the operation of the Blazing Sun?”
The Knowledge Chalice was stunned for a moment, and even the appearance of its text slowed down.
“Even the Star Titans and the Star Forge Dragon Clan can only devour ordinary celestial bodies. They only have a superficial understanding of the Blazing Sun.”
“Even the deity named after the Blazing Sun can only wield one-millionth of the power from its source.”
“With you…”
The text on the Holy Grail’s surface abruptly stopped.
At that very moment, a faint spiritual power, laden with a complex stream of information, was directly injected into the Knowledge Chalice by Shaya’s caressing fingers.
The wobbling of the Knowledge Chalice ceased instantly, freezing in place.
Boom—
In an instant, within the core consciousness of the Knowledge Chalice.
Against a backdrop of void and darkness, the light of myriad Blazing Suns erupted simultaneously.
It saw elemental particles aggregate under immense gravitational forces, then decompose.
Then, with the overflow of mass, endless light and heat were released as mass dissipated.
The magnificent Blazing Suns flickered, rising and falling, each flicker creating a colossal coronal tide.
After an unknown period, the incandescent celestial body suddenly expanded, transforming into a fiery red star far larger than before, emitting even more immense light and heat.
Then, the massive red supergiant began to slowly contract.
It dimmed, cooled down bit by bit.
Finally, it transformed into a desolate, icy dead star, like a tomb.
…
The Knowledge Chalice fell into a long silence, as if it had entered a state of system crash.
Unable to comprehend, unable to analyze.
Everything that had happened was a secret never before interpreted on the Western Continent.
Even merely reading the knowledge had caused its process to stagnate.
“What’s going on, little prison cup?”
Shaya unceremoniously lifted the Knowledge Chalice.
He was quite vengeful.
Although it was indeed enjoyable to see Sylvia and Aerora mortified, and it aligned with his preferences, otherwise, he wouldn’t have let the Holy Grail ask those soul-searching questions.
However, it was also a fact that this cup had thoroughly tricked his main wife and concubine.
This was a treasure he had exchanged with Sands of Time. If he let it continue to be so arrogant, what would happen?
He spent money to exchange for it to serve as an encyclopedia, not to invite a master into his home to worship.
Shaya’s Vault of Kings did not permit such an arrogant Holy Relic to exist.
“If you act so conceited in front of me again, I’ll make you crash again.”
Shaya grabbed one of the cup’s handles with one hand.
“Since I could bring you out of lost history, I have the ability to send you back in exactly the same way.”
The Knowledge Chalice seemed to have finally recovered from its crashed state. Hearing Shaya’s threat, it immediately began to tremble.
“Young man, you’re threatening me?”
“Do you know what you have offended?”
The light around the Holy Grail intensified.
“Are you threatening the ‘Gate of Arcane, Observer of the Astral and Spirit Realms, Holy Spirit pursuing knowledge, Holy Grail peering into destiny’?”
“I’ll f*cking chop down a Holy Grail.”
Shaya slapped the Knowledge Chalice again.
The cup rolled off the table and fell to the ground. Before it could even react in its bewildered state, Shaya stepped on its head with a boot.
“Listen up, prison cup.”
“The strong must humiliate the weak mercilessly.”
Boom—
The Knowledge Chalice’s surrounding light flared, and it leaped up, causing the surrounding mysteries to churn along with it.
Even the normally white cup wall turned crimson.
The crimson cup wall shone brightly, as if it were about to blare “Warning, warning.”
“You’re playing with fire!”
The Holy Grail, now red-hot, even had its displayed text turn a vibrant red, as if dripping blood.
“I will request revelation from the Spirit Realm and broadcast the most hidden and forbidden secret in your heart to the entire Astral Realm!”
Shaya’s expression remained unchanged.
He had already confirmed one thing earlier: the Knowledge Chalice knew nothing about his system or being a transmigrator. Otherwise, this cup wouldn’t have been so clueless about how he was discovered.
Since that was the case, he had nothing to fear.
There’s a saying, isn’t there? Someone who is utterly shameless is invincible.
The most embarrassing, the most forbidden secret in his heart.
It was probably that he occasionally played the role of a Master-Disciple Reversal in his dreams.
Let it be broadcast.
After all, his Golden Elf teacher only had him as her sole disciple. Could she possibly kill him to silence him?
“I swear by the Oracle Cup, I will…”
Mysteries churned, and the Knowledge Chalice projected an illusory spiritual ocean around itself, about to unleash its authority, directly observing Shaya’s spiritual origin through the infinite and ethereal Spirit Realm.
But then, it suddenly froze.
This world had the concept of mystery.
The more people knew about a certain matter, knowledge, or technology, the weaker its mystery became.
And mystery would yield to higher mystery.
This was why there was the saying that the older something was, the more powerful it was. This was because older things often had less decipherable information, and thus higher mystery.
This was true for the Holy Spear and the Holy Sword.
The Knowledge Chalice’s authority relied on its own extremely high mystery to pry into the spiritual origins of lower mystery holders in the Spirit Realm.
For ordinary people, the mystery around them appeared to the Knowledge Chalice like wisps of faint clouds.
For entities like the Throne, such as Sylvia, or the existence protected by the Holy Spear, like Aerora, their mystery was like dense dark clouds.
However, the mystery of Shaya’s spiritual origin was the complete opposite of everyone he had encountered before.
It was an extreme darkness, with no trace of any other existence.
Like a black hole that devoured light.
“I will…”
The blood-red, ferocious font paused, instantly retracted, and returned to docile white text.
Without Shaya needing to exert force, it pounced onto the ground beneath Shaya’s boots with a thud, its cup body hitting the floor with a crisp sound.
“Then, there is only one answer.”
“I will pledge my loyalty to you!”
The small cup humbly tucked itself under Shaya’s long boot, even rubbing against the sole of his shoe.
The Knowledge Chalice’s fawning behavior, like a puppy, sent a chill down Shaya’s spine.
However, even he hadn’t expected this cup to be so spineless.
He had prepared to spend several days properly training this arrogant cup, but unexpectedly, it had already given in.
“Why are you pledging loyalty to me? Just because you saw my spiritual origin?”
“Not only that… I also detected a vaguely familiar scent from your spiritual origin, which involuntarily made me want to submit.”
The Knowledge Chalice continued to lie beneath Shaya’s boot in a subservient manner, showing no signs of wanting to get up.
It was Shaya who finally couldn’t stand having something under his feet and kicked it away.
“The knowledge I can gather relies on my own mystery. I have no way of knowing any information before my birth, boss.”
Shaya tapped the table with his finger.
This cup that had suddenly turned into a sycophant made him think: “Can you see anything special about me?”
“I can’t see anything. I only feel that being kicked by you feels very comfortable, master.”
Shaya’s forehead creased. “Change your address.”
The Knowledge Chalice rolled around after being kicked by Shaya, stopping only when it hit the wall. “As you wish, Master.”
Shaya simply couldn’t stand this cup rolling around on the floor, getting covered in dust, and not showing any signs of disgust. “Can you change your appearance?”
“Of course, Master.”
The cup’s surrounding light dimmed slightly, and its form gradually became illusory.
Finally, its form completely dissolved into nothingness, leaving only a hazy mystery.
“Master, this is my source of mystery.”
“However, I cannot maintain this state in the material world for long. I can only go to the Astral Realm or the Spirit Realm. But if I do that, I won’t be able to hear your teachings in real-time, feel your warmth, or touch the dust on your shoes…”
Tap, tap—
Shaya tapped the wooden table with his slender fingers, interrupting the cup’s display of text. “Can a Beast Tamer’s Soul Pact Space accommodate a Holy Relic like you?”
“Me… me?”
The Knowledge Chalice trembled violently on the floor, a blue halo appearing as if it were about to shed tears.
“Can a lowly being like me also have the opportunity to connect with my Master’s soul?”
“If you can’t speak properly, say less. It’s just a temporary stay. I don’t want my sixth Soul Pact to be a glib cup.”
“No… no matter.” The Knowledge Chalice trembled with excitement. “Even if it’s just a temporary substitute, a stand-in as lowly as grass, it is still a great honor for me.”
“If you need anything from me, please command me at any time…”
Before it could finish speaking, Shaya, with a black line across his forehead, picked it up.
He first completely sealed off his sixth Soul Pact Space, creating an independent prison completely isolated from his Spiritual Ocean and other Soul Pact Spaces, only then did he throw the illusory cup inside.
On one hand, he was still wary and cautious of this cryptic Knowledge Chalice. On the other hand, Shaya worried that this glib thing would corrupt his pure pets.
After doing all this, Shaya finally noticed.
Since a moment ago, a cold gaze had been locked onto him from behind.
“Classmate Shaya, so you actually had a way to deal with this thing all along?”
A clear and cold voice echoed in the silent room.
Even Aerora, who had watched Shaya interact with the Knowledge Chalice for so long, finally understood the entire process.
“Even so, you still watched as I and Tower Master Sylvia were questioned?”
How could she have forgotten this?
Shaya helplessly touched his forehead.
Although he was indeed curious and driven by the common gossip-mongering desire to see what little secrets his main wife and concubine were hiding,
These words naturally couldn’t be spoken directly. He coughed lightly and slowly began, “Little Ai, let me explain. Actually, I wasn’t sure if this damned cup…”
However, Shaya’s words were interrupted by Aerora.
She lowered her voice, speaking very, very softly.
“Never mind. We’ll talk about it when we go to sleep.”
