Chapter 720
Spell Card: Star Ice
After everything returned to peace, a long time passed.
Only then did some passengers dare to peek their heads out from the cabins to look outside… but they could see nothing, only a quietude amidst the commotion.
The deck, almost reduced to ruins, was brightly lit. The dishevelled captain was directing the largely injured but not severely so sailors in tidying up. The sounds of packing and cleaning, accompanied by the occasional groan of pain, made the place surprisingly noisy.
However, upon the sea, it was a scene of tranquility. There was no lingering smoke of battle, no scattered remains of limbs, nor any visible Path Power left behind.
The sea, appearing even darker in the lamplight, now looked like an abyss that swallowed life.
—It seemed as though a monumental battle had taken place here, yet surprisingly, the ship’s backbone remained unharmed.
“Everyone go back!”
The captain, seeing the peering passengers, gruffly urged them, “The problem is solved, the enemy is eliminated—we’re safe!”
“Was it a sea monster?”
Someone asked.
“It was a ‘Sea Bride’!”
The captain did not evade the question, but instead answered directly, “But the problem is solved—the sea monster has been killed!”
“Sea Bride!”
“That’s… a Sea God!”
Some passengers, living in fishing regions, were well-informed about sea monsters. They reacted with unease, fear, or relief.
With their explanations, people finally came to understand: they had indeed encountered a sea monster.
In some more primitive coastal regions, people were helpless against sea monsters. For these ancient creatures, older than many Pillar Gods and requiring a Fifth Tier Extraordinary to defeat solo, most races’ only recourse was to appease them with blood sacrifices.
Based on a primitive, almost religious belief, those villages often referred to sea monsters as “Sea Gods.” Even powerful, inhuman Extraordinaries often met a gruesome end when confronting them, making the title of “god” hardly an exaggeration.
They would “appease” these Sea Gods through periodic sacrifices of young children. Strangely, after consuming these sacrifices, these “Sea Gods” would indeed become docile for a period—as they were primarily there to consume souls, not to sustain themselves on flesh and blood, their true needs were minimal.
And in the simple minds of these “Sea Gods,” as long as food appeared regularly in a location, they would consider it their feeding ground.
Not only would they not attack such a place, but they would even protect “their feeding grounds” from the encroachment of monsters and tides, thus forming a form of “shelter” in a physical sense.
Their attacks on villages that ceased their offerings were often not out of “anger,” but rather out of “confusion”—is something wrong here? Let’s investigate.
Oh, why did it explode?
Those brave villages that “continually confronted the evil Sea God and emerged victorious” did not do so because the sea monster feared them, but because they discovered over a long period that food no longer appeared there, and they could not fix it themselves, so they simply gave up.
“Who exactly saved us?”
Someone asked urgently, “Was it that Preserver?”
Many of them did not recognize Professor Rasimi, but those who could travel to the Church often had a sufficient understanding of Extraordinaries, even if they were not Extraordinaries themselves.
The dim yellow radiance that had permeated the entire cabin, protecting them, was precisely the unique “Preservation Technique” of Twilight Path Extraordinaries.
In Star Antinomy, a place relatively lacking in Priests but with a significant number of lawful Necromancers, people held a respectful and awe-filled attitude towards Preservers.
—Because they could be their doctors, and also their forensic pathologists.
“It wasn’t him!”
Other passengers denied, “We heard it—it was Miss Crowley! That Preserver was completely powerless against the sea monster; he asked someone to call for ‘Miss Crowley’ to save us!”
Other passengers chimed in, confirming the incident.
Since several pieces of the deck had been shattered at the time, there were quite a few passengers who had heard about it.
“Alright, hurry back! That lady doesn’t want to be disturbed; she needs to rest!”
As people were about to continue their exchange, the captain, a burly man with an ugly and fierce appearance, sternly threatened them, “We still need to clean up the deck! Get down!”
Following this, the sailors promptly ushered the passengers away.
Someone suddenly asked, “Excuse me, who exactly is the Miss Crowley who saved us?”
Upon hearing this, the captain also fell into thought.
After pondering for a moment, he gave a definitive yet somewhat vague answer, “She was a dark-haired lady of exquisite beauty and noble temperament. She was human.”
“She was beautiful?”
Someone caught the crucial detail.
“Extremely beautiful.”
The captain nodded without hesitation.
This statement sparked the passengers’ imaginations. Their savior in their moment of desperation, the “god-slayer” who defeated the Sea God, who saved everyone yet did not come out to receive their gratitude.
Such an identity, coupled with “extremely beautiful” looks… undoubtedly, this would become a fantastic news hook!
“Miss Crowley… who exactly is she?”
The passengers indulged in their own fantasies about the chaotic unknown.
Meanwhile, Alistair was in her room, leisurely playing with the newly sealed Illusion Card. She meticulously studied the card’s face, filled with various allusions, as mysterious knowledge continuously seeped from it, greedily absorbed by Alistair, who possessed a pure, transcendent heart.
This card was originally “Temperance,” and now it was called “Art,” or alternatively, “Alchemy.”
In the very center of the Tarot Card was a two-headed humanoid figure—this being possessed both male and female characteristics, with two heads, one male and one female, positioned identically on either side of the image, like a mirror.
They were pouring water and fire into a crucible. On either side of the crucible stood a white male lion and a red female vulture; their positions were similar to “The Lovers” card, but their colors were reversed. In “The Lovers,” the lion is red and the vulture is white, and their expressions and physiques are exactly the opposite.
At this moment, the white male lion placed its claw on the crucible, allowing red blood to drip; while the fiery scarlet female vulture spat white saliva—some viewpoints suggest these creatures flying high in the sky do not have saliva, or rather, they must hold their own saliva when flying, and if attacked and spat out, they would fall.
Thus, they could symbolize Earth and Wind respectively.
And at this moment, water burning with fire overflowed from the crucible. They stood upon this icy flame, yet their expressions showed no pain. Within that crucible, something resplendent seemed on the verge of birth—the hermaphroditic two-headed figure’s heart blazed with a radiance as brilliant as the sun.
“Temperance” could be understood as “restraint” or rational “discipline.” But its correct interpretation should be “using something non-real to control something real,” which would lead to a result—equilibrium.
This card spoke of the process of “purification and refinement of things” under the influence of the power of balance. And this, precisely, was the origin of alchemy.
In this Tarot Card, the figure’s head bears the moon, and its chest bears the sun. The mirrored surface reflecting the male and female aspects connected the sun and moon, which also seemed to symbolize the subtle relationship between the Twin Mirrors, the Eternal Self, Xi Tian Si, and… as the progenitor of alchemy, the “predecessor of the Ring Heavenly Envoy.”
In a sense, this card was extremely closely related to Eivass.
Eivass and Alistair represented a state of hermaphroditism. And he also happened to be the one who “connected the sun and moon using the power of mirrors and balance.” Furthermore, the recreation of the elements of wind, earth, water, and fire within the crucible seemed to be linked to Eivass’s act of creating Phantom Cards.
“So that’s how it is…”
Alistair murmured.
She suddenly received an intimation from this card—or rather, the revelation of a truth that had long existed but had been ignored by everyone.
As is well known, alchemy is intrinsically linked to metaphors.
Just as the alchemists of the Star Antinomy school did not believe in the existence of the Philosopher’s Stone but aspired to the refinement of “Star Antimony”—Valentin I’s “The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony” spoke of a path of transcendence that elevates animal nature into divinity.
Star Antimony’s Red Phase was a good friend of Valentin I.
He recognized this book as a method for verifying the “Perfect Being,” believing that the seven-stage ascension path of “elevating animal nature into divinity” was equivalent to the process of purifying the Child of the Moon’s beastiality.
Although Alistair felt that Valentin I probably didn’t mean that… the bizarre thing was, Red Phase, based on this book that wasn’t actually about that, painstakingly developed a demonic technique. From the final result, he actually succeeded!
One could only call it an Ouyuan Red Phase.
But in reality, “Star Antimony” is a metaphor, and the Philosopher’s Stone can also be a metaphor—if one places their soul in the crucible of the body, pours in dreams, fears, hopes, desires, refines the elements of earth, fire, water, and wind, and purifies everything within oneself… then a truly perfect item can be born.
That is the “Philosopher’s Stone”—the greatest alchemy that can turn stone into gold. This also implies that it can make incompetent individuals, like “stubborn stones,” shine brightly… transforming those dark things into brilliant light.
And this…
“…is also what I am doing.”
Alistair murmured.
She had found her entry point.
Did the alchemists of the Star Antinomy school not realize that the theory of the Philosopher’s Stone was flawed?
It was likely not the case.
Rather, they could no longer turn back—choosing to be wrong together.
With this thought, Alistair crushed the projected card into a wisp of smoke.
Its attributes flashed through her mind:
[Spell Card: Star Ice (Art)]
[Requirements: Water 4]
[Action, Summon, Non-contact]
[Effect: Summons colorful Star Ice, passively shaping its form and remaining for a period. Anyone who looks directly at the Star Ice and attempts to destroy or understand it will fall into increasingly profound illusions; those who fall into illusions due to this effect will be frozen; those completely frozen by this effect cannot actively escape the illusion, even if the Star Ice no longer exists.]
