**Chapter 788**
**The Mark of Sloth and Matthias**
“The existence of Amber is related to ‘Taboos’. You can understand that spine as the ‘bones of the snake’.”
The black-haired girl said with a smile, “And its relationship with Amber… do you really want to know?
“Many of the concepts in the Twilight Path today, from the very beginning, did not belong to Amber at all, but were considered by Amber to belong to Amber. The higher one climbs in the Twilight Path, the harder it becomes partly for this reason… because the higher you go, the further you deviate from Amber’s Path and the closer you get to the Amber Heavenly Envoy.”
This situation actually exists in other Paths as well… In fact, it’s a major reason why many can’t ascend to the Sixth Tier.
The Father of Snakes doesn’t concern himself much with these matters, so the Fallen Heavenly Envoys, who diligently dig people out by hand every day, have become the absolute mainstream of the Transcendent Path.
The Transcendent Path as understood by those Demon Scholars was, in reality, the “Path of Fallenness and Transcendence” from the outset. Their paths were narrowing because they had to conform to existing Paths while also leaning towards the “true Path” as they perceived it.
Of course, if the Fallen Heavenly Envoys were to succeed in ascending, those Demon Avatars stuck at the Fifth Tier would collectively advance. But clearly, they wouldn’t have that opportunity.
High-Tier Divine Arts are full of such “dark histories.” Casual dissemination could easily offend the gods. The more Alistair read, the less awe he felt towards the gods… One could say that distance truly does make the heart grow fonder.
However, even if Alistair didn’t say it directly, Black Face would have guessed most of it.
The Twilight Path lacks the ability to pray and cannot communicate with the great beings of the Dream Realm, making its intelligence considerably outdated. Moreover, the Twilight Path is notoriously secretive; if you don’t ask, they won’t tell, and even if you do ask, they likely won’t. The result is that they can only make judgments based on guesswork.
After all, the Necromancer and the Preserver professions are essentially two branches of the same inheritance. They both belong to the Amber Heavenly Envoy, with no connection to Amber whatsoever.
Seeing Adolf’s brows furrowed in deep thought, Alistair was quite satisfied. So, in a moment of great mercy, she stopped being cryptic and directly revealed the answer:
“The Sea Monster’s remains that Amber left behind in the Material Realm were the ‘Taboo’ powers that It had completely severed. As the taboo shell gradually shed under the eroding force of time, which represented the power of balance, the bones soaked in Twilight power were left behind. By ascending in a more intellectual form, It made its appearance consistent with emerging races like elves and giants… This was actually a form of severance from its true self. You yourselves don’t even know that Amber is actually a human-faced giant serpent, so how could others?”
“—This is a form of necromancy, isn’t it? Using modified corpses to achieve one’s goals… Modifying one’s own soul certainly counts.”
“That is indeed the case,” Black Face nodded, his voice carrying an authoritative tone. “That is necromancy. Preservation Technique and necromancy are two sides of the same coin. Preservers in the Twilight Path can learn necromancy, and Necromancers can learn Preservation Technique. Although the gap between Demon Scholars and Ritual Mages isn’t particularly vast, and Botanists and Alchemists share similar abilities, at least their textbooks are entirely different. For Preservers and Necromancers, the choice of which path to lean towards is entirely a matter of personal will. They can even transition to each other’s advanced professions… Just as a Necromancer at the Fourth Tier can also become an Amber Artisan. In other Paths, advanced professions are intimately related to initial professions… for instance, Fiends cannot advance into Demon Avatars.”
“The essence of so-called necromancy is actually ‘treasure hunting.’ We call it necromancy simply because the materials we most commonly use are the remains of deceased animals. Just as in a heavy snowfall, an experienced hunter can always find the nuts hidden by squirrels… necromancy is similar. It is the other side of Preservation Technique, and therefore, if learned separately, extraordinary individuals cannot reach higher positions. If the essence of Preservation Technique is to ‘extend the death of all things,’ then necromancy is to ‘utilize the deceased.’ Skills such as medicine in the Path of Adaptation, cooking in the Path of Love, and tailoring in the Path of Beauty are all essentially extensions of ‘treasure hunting.'”
This was Black Face’s understanding of necromancy. To put it more bluntly, necromancy is the “art of waste utilization.” —Never mind how it became waste, just focus on whether it’s utilized in the end.
“Actually, it’s more or less the same,” the fourteen or fifteen-year-old little girl nodded, her tone mature like an adult’s. “Amber borrowed Amber’s power through some means to seal the ‘Taboo,’ wrapping it in a layer of Amber’s shell… This is why ‘Amber’ and ‘Amber’ sound and behave so similarly. From this perspective, Amber is a creation of Amber. And the Preservation Technique and necromancy are both skills passed down by Amber. If necromancy was invented by Amber, then the power of the Preservation Technique was obtained by Amber from Amber. From this relationship, although Amber is a Heavenly Envoy, It is effectively an Apostle of Amber. It’s just that since Amber doesn’t accept any Apostles, Amber ended up jumping ship to become a Heavenly Envoy before returning as a Heavenly Envoy to perform the duties of an Apostle. Amber directly distributing the Preserver profession, which belongs to Amber, to mortals is like the Hourglass directly distributing Amber’s power to the God of Death—the Gods of the Dream Realm seem accustomed to not asking Amber for her opinion.”
No wonder people would misunderstand or mistake them. Because “mistaking them” was Amber’s objective. When Amber deliberately misrepresented itself and Amber remained silent, it was natural for people to confuse these two great deities. It actively—as active as one could be in the Twilight Path—crowned itself the “Spokesperson of Amber.” “By doing many things for Amber without Amber saying or doing anything at all. This includes promoting the ‘Preservation Technique,’ a profession that sounds inherently like Amber… It’s only natural that people feel a connection between them.”
“—After all, Pillar Gods can genuinely give birth to offspring.”
Alistair, who had “just given birth to offspring,” said with a subtle tone. The Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy is the Child of the Candlemaster, the Xi Tian Si, as a Sun God, is the Child of Hengwo, as the Moon God. The Ring Heavenly Envoy, as the Ouroboros, is the son of the ‘Father of Snakes’… Their abilities share similarities, and their holy names have exhibited this connection. Thus, people naturally infer: could the Amber Heavenly Envoy also be related to Amber?
“…We actually do think so,” Adolf’s expression was somewhat subtle. “Even the Principal has always believed that the Amber Heavenly Envoy is Amber’s related god.”
“To actively seek subservience like that is truly something. Alistair, when studying High-Tier Divine Arts back then, even scoffed at Amber as some kind of sycophant… and after Alistair saw Amber’s true form, he felt that the Amber Heavenly Envoy was probably a pervert. Not to mention directly stealing Amber’s power and distributing it under its own name as a favor… this is simply the act of a wicked servant. Divine Severance, publicity stunts, profession plagiarism, eternal sycophancy, causing Amber condensation, actively seeking subservience… Once Alistair knew everything the Amber Heavenly Envoy had done, it would be difficult to respectfully refer to It as ‘Amber Heavenly Envoy.'”
This is what is called “poisonous knowledge.” Once a certain matter is known, one’s perspective is irrevocably changed.
“No wonder It was dragged down by Ah Huan…” Alistair mused internally. This was different from Alistair’s situation. As a Transcendent being, Alistair, after witnessing the fall and absurdity of the Star Antinomy, actually understood the Ring Heavenly Envoy’s line of thought. Sometimes, you just have to kill. It’s unavoidable not to kill! The Great Western King has offered guiding advice, so to speak.
The Fallen Heavenly Envoy, the Shadow Heavenly Envoy, the Amber Heavenly Envoy, the Abyss Heavenly Envoy… These veteran Heavenly Envoys, who were proactively dismissed by this ‘HR manager’ of the Dream Realm, were indeed somewhat unworthy of their positions. Rather than letting them occupy the positions of Heavenly Envoy, it would be better to pull them down and distribute their power to all beings!
With this thought, Alistair increasingly approved of the Ouroboros Ring ritual. —Without the Ouroboros Ring ritual, in a Dream Realm without a Heavenly Envoy elimination mechanism, how long would it take to gradually replace them? While their descent might bring disaster, do they not have other negative impacts within the Dream Realm? The Fallen Heavenly Envoy has been stealing souls for years to create demons. Which has caused more deaths: the evil deeds committed by the Fallen Heavenly Envoy and its demons, or the disaster triggered by its descent upon the Star Antinomy? Could the disaster itself be the “sum of the pre-emptively erupted negative impacts”?
It’s important to remember that in another timeline, the Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy, who actively descended to the mortal world through the Ouroboros Ring ritual, caused no destruction to the Church. This indicates that the Ouroboros Ring ritual is not directly related to disaster. The Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy’s dungeon occurred because It saw that the Transcendent Path had advanced, and if the Path of Devotion had not, it would not be able to suppress others… so It descended voluntarily. Its initial purpose upon arrival was to protect the Church from other Heavenly Envoys, and its subsequent purpose was to seek death. That battle itself was more like encouragement, training, and a test. The failure condition in the battles of other Heavenly Envoys was “all players die,” whereas in the Heavenly Candlemaster Envoy’s dungeon, it was “all players are eliminated.”
There’s only one difference… According to the usual narrative, the person specifically in charge of “human resource optimization,” after dismissing all those who needed to be dismissed… shouldn’t they themselves also be optimized?
May 5th, Ouroboros Ring… It’s only about a month and a half away.
For a moment, Alistair’s mind flashed with her foster father’s theories of “premature death” and “controlled fire”… She couldn’t help but secretly anticipate the arrival of the Ouroboros Ring ritual. A short pain is better than a long one—
“…No, that’s not right.” Realizing the distractions in her heart, Alistair’s heart suddenly tightened, and she temporarily suppressed all her thoughts. But now she was somewhat confused… were these random thoughts belonging to the Path of Love, or righteous thoughts of the Transcendent Path? Or did they belong to nothing, merely a wavering of her own will? Alistair was, after all, incomplete. Without the aloof divinity of the Path of Devotion to help her maintain herself… she eventually became lost.
—Could my thoughts be naive notions born from a lack of experience? Are my foster father’s and Loki’s theories correct? Will the theories I now detest be the ones I uphold in the future?
Unconsciously, she stopped chatting with Black Face and fell into a state of loss and confusion. An inexplicable fatigue and sloth enveloped Alistair’s spirit. She began to think, to fear, to doubt herself, to stagnate…
—When Alistair entered the Spirit Tower, the Mark of Sloth was silently imprinted upon her heart.
“Do you need help, child?” Just then, a voice, as if echoing in the void, suddenly resonated within Alistair’s mind.
Alistair was startled, then abruptly came to her senses. With a sense of gratitude, she politely asked, “Are you…?” Although she had already guessed the other party’s identity, necessary etiquette was still important. To be able to infiltrate Alistair’s mind so silently, even to the point where Alistair hadn’t sensed their presence until they spoke… such a powerful expert could only be one of two people in the Star Antinomy.
“I am Matthias Grunewald. You can call me Matthias directly, or as others do, call me ‘Principal.'”
The first Black Face, Matthias, spoke with a hollow yet gentle voice. “Seeing me… don’t be too afraid.”
Leviathan suddenly arched its body as if reacting defensively, letting out a roar. Its scales suddenly bristled, like a startled cat. Just as Alistair was about to comfort it, she suddenly felt an intense fear emanating from the depths of her heart. That extreme fear, which felt like a vise tightening around her heart, instantly cleared her previous distractions. What surprised Alistair the most was that even the little crow in her arms seemed to sense that fear, letting out hoarse caws and flapping its wings wildly, its shadow-energy feathers scattering.
“—Fear Aura!” Alistair blurted out. And being able to elicit a reaction from a Night Demon meant… this was a Fear Aura potent enough to penetrate Sixth Tier spell resistance!
The next moment, the figure of the first Black Face silently appeared before Alistair. It wasn’t a de-cloaking, nor instantaneous teleportation. Rather, it was a gradual “seeping” into this reality from another plane that overlapped with reality. —Alistair immediately thought of Alistair at this moment.
And what appeared before Alistair was a gaunt, skeletal humanoid figure. He looked ordinary, devoid of any aura of authority, even appearing rather plain and impoverished. There was not a shred of muscle or fat on him; his pure white bones were clad in a ragged black robe, and a stable, dim yellow flame flickered within his deep, empty eye sockets. He carried no staff and wore no rings. The only item that could be considered equipment was a chain—a chain made of dark green jade, casually fastened to his ribs and clavicle, looking like a lock for a bicycle. Three jade locks, made of white, green, and yellow, appeared like some sort of ornament, hung near his right clavicle, at the sternal angle, and within his left chest cavity.
“I hope I haven’t scared you, child,” the black-robed Matthias said gently.
(End of Chapter)
