World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 102 The Illusion of the Mind

"Ping ping ping!"

Efron Ruben raised his hand, and in his field of vision, Lin An's appearance transformed into an animal once again.

The angels indeed found a new target, and they fired according to Efron's wishes.

That strange feeling just now was probably just my imagination...

But the moment the smoke cleared, Efron was shocked to see new human silhouettes appear in his eyes, as if they could emerge from the cycle of death infinitely. A chill ran down his spine, and his breathing became slightly disordered.

Why can't it be killed?

Even if blasted into pieces by intense energy, leaving only a pile of bloody and mangled remains, can it still be resurrected?

Yeah!
Perhaps my firepower is insufficient!

What Efron didn't realize was that his own mind had become the center of this intense killing obsession, and the light of his thoughts had completely dimmed. As one triangular symbol after another floated into his consciousness, the moment of supreme ecstasy arrived.

Every nerve in his body was taut in an overwhelming spasm, and a fantasy overflowed with ecstatic joy in the predetermined direction.

Efron looked up again and saw the young man emerge from the smoke once more.

"Hehehe...hahahaha..."

With a fit of maniacal laughter, the young man gripped the scriptures tightly in his hand. The archangels turned their guns around, and the gunshots echoed through the empty convocation hall, lingering for a long time.

【戯字】：鱻嫬之埘蚮碎魸

【瘎绾】：Divine Illness, Grade C

[Radiation]: 25.2%
[Thin dyeing degree]: 0%
【粙璐】：Seeker

Dodging the bullets that veered off course, Lin An hid in a corner, checking the garbled panel displayed by the system while channeling energy, aiming the tip of his wand at Efron.

The soft, earthy-brown gemstone shone brightly, stirring the imagination within. Orderly and intentional images surrounded Efron, transforming into an inexhaustible daydream.

It is composed of random thoughts and desires, profoundly influencing the combination of the two most powerful mental forces in humankind—imagination and will.

The illusions of the mind begin with the internal senses and then alter the external senses.

To put it another way, it is the smog that distorts human intelligence.

To quote Augustine, "Vision is a light that first rises from the fire of the heart and travels upward to the brain. It flows through certain channels to the pupil of the eye, from where it leaps out swiftly like moonlight, reaching out to grasp the colored forms of visible things."

This is the traditional visual model, also known as the cone theory, which holds that visual contact begins at the base of a transparent cone, with the apex located at the pupil in the center of the eye.

A straight line of light emanates from the pupil, originating from the innate spirit of the brain, the light and life of the soul. It is transmitted to the eye through the hollow optic nerve, meets external light, enables us to make visual contact with objects, and is then reflected back to the eye, providing information.

This gem, however, will distort the original firelight, causing what Efron sees, perceives, and recognizes at this moment to be permanently deviated from the real world.

In his book *The Mystery*, Janblicus writes:

Imagination creates forms of thought on the astral plane or higher levels, which are as objective and real to beings on these levels as the environment of Titan is to humans.

The illusions of the mind are more direct and more inescapable for Efron, a man whose heart is filled with murderous intent, than for anyone else.

"Ping ping ping—ping ping ping—!"

Another round of shooting ended, and Efron, panting heavily, scratched one of his eyes, which was starting to blur due to excessive tension, until blood seeped from his skin, while nervously muttering to himself.

"Unkillable... Why can't you be killed... You're always resurrected from death, who are you! Are you... Are you the Messiah?!"

Hearing his bittersweet feelings, Lin An felt he couldn't let Efron continue to enjoy himself.

[Stars to Me] By dying, the lock of Efron's arcane magic was released, and I can finally be selected by the system.

The moment he made his move, Lin An had a bad feeling.

Considering that the auspicious day was still in effect, he moved to the doorway and continued the conversation from the previous meeting room session.

"System, search for a way to kill Efron Ruff."

"Based on the entry 'The Encyclopedia of Magic I: Necromancy, Fertility, and the Dark Earth - Hittite Worship Ritual,' one matching condition was found—"

As the system was interrupted by a series of errors again, even in a state of cognitive confusion, Efron turned around and used his "killing intent" to locate Lin An.

"Where is he? No, he's right here! What's going on? What's wrong with me?!"

Lin An immediately turned and ran, but a series of gunshots rang out behind him, and smoke billowed everywhere. Efron, on the throne, came running after him through the curtain.

However, the wider world outside caused Efron a more severe and hazy mental confusion.

His past memories were mixed with endless fantasies. He saw groups of people with black hair and half-masks appearing, and he couldn't help but reveal a ferocious smile.

"You guys are hiding here! Come on, line up and go to hell!"

Although the system was interrupted by a momentary counterattack, Efron lost his normal cognition, and the angels in the area fired aimlessly at the wilderness.

Dust flew everywhere, and thick smoke billowed.

Nothing was harmed except for the cactus.

"Why can't I be killed—no, don't come near me! What do you want to do! Die, die!"

The system's display panel showed that his contamination level was increasing, but the increase was quite slow due to his rating of B.

Truly tenacious...

However, Lin Anben had no intention of killing him; he was merely testing whether the other party had truly sensed the killing intent or merely detected the Heti ritual.

After all, Barry had witnessed Efron leaving with him, and the mysterious death of a mythical figure right beside him was hard to explain. Lin An walked around to Efron's back, listening to his inner thoughts go from ease to terror, and finally to a desperate breakdown, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Speaking of which, when I faced another Mishna holder, Guy, on Mount Meru, he always seemed to "detect" the aura of the Hetium ritual in advance and would retreat to the helicopter before I could.

Since he knows "Mr. Wood", it means that "Misina" may be a mystery provided by the family behind Doris.

After all, the medium of "Mother of Desire" seems to have the ability to manipulate others to awaken mysticism.

Canaan, Hittites...

When two mysteries of the same origin come close together, they will resonate to some extent, especially the descendants of the Canaanites, who were clearly the ultimate victors in the ancient wars, yet they developed a deep-seated fear of the Hittites.

Just like the "uncanny valley effect" in humans.

In any case, without the aid of my wand, I would have very few ways to deal with a high-radiation, high-rated mystic...

Lin An thought silently.

I need to find a way to improve my [Mysterious Encyclopedia].

He subconsciously touched the fragments of notes in his pocket. Having experienced the entire scheme, Lin An found it hard to fully believe the authenticity of the information given by Madam Ava.

The only certainty is that the 19th-century notebook was indeed written by someone familiar with "Commes".

The notes primarily focus on the medium of the "prophet," but they likely also mention other mediums, and may contain clues about the "seekers of knowledge."

It's time to go back to the Shafi City Foundation's facilities.

Lin An grabbed a cherub that flew past him, stepped on it with the posture of a horse galloping over a swallow, and used its wings to rise into the air to scout the surrounding situation.

Angel's feet feel really nice.

Ever since he met Simon, Lin An had wanted to get an angel as a sword for flying.

He shaded his eyes with his hand, facing the dry, sandy winds of the west, and looked around. The roar of bullets and the increasingly distorted laughter of their owners were still bombarding him, but now they became harmless background music.

Having obtained a rough map, Lin An turned on the communication device in his ear, took a deep breath, and spoke in a flustered tone.

"Captain! Help! I'm being chased!"

"Same for us."

Before Lin An could fabricate a few details, the captain replied with this statement, which surprised Lin An. He was stunned for a moment, and then Simon continued.

"It's good that you're alive. No need for further explanation. I know your location. Go there immediately! Hold on, Lin! You must survive!"

"This may be our last communication..."

"Don't say discouraging words."

Perhaps fearing he might distract Lin An, Simon didn't say much, maintaining the communication connection. The sound of wind came from the other end of the device, which soon turned into the "clattering" of a helicopter.

The captain was also being hunted down?
Could it be the mysterious entity controlling the new Melbourne facility?
The Minister of Civil Service's initial claim that the foundation had only experienced three out-of-control incidents in the past year was a complete joke.

Fortunately, it sounds like Simon has already solved the problem.

Lin An glanced at the time on his phone.

Based on the distance estimate, it would take the helicopter about 10 minutes to fly over from the facility.

Although Lin An really wanted to continue standing on the soft, fluffy cherub, it would be too conspicuous to stand in mid-air like that, so he waited until the cherub flew to a position closer to the ground before jumping off it.

After walking a few steps, Lin An arrived at an abandoned shack in the wasteland.

Using it as a basic shelter, he kicked off the old wooden stick supporting it, and crawled under the shack made of hay and wire, quietly waiting for the foundation to come and clean up the mess.

With nothing to do, he gazed at the slightly warm wand, two slender snakes intertwined on its dark gold shaft, an air of mystery lingering around it.

A brown gemstone is set in the center, its energy flowing like the Euphrates River, its end washing over the maddening Efron.

After acquiring more fragments of the Philosopher's Stone, three of the five gems have undergone a mysterious change inside.

The other two are still ordinary energy crystals with relatively simple and basic functions.

A bright red gemstone represents "heavy blows," while a golden gemstone represents "the spirit of metal."

Once they evolve, the two most important properties of the Philosopher's Stone will be perfected—the legendary abilities of "death" and "creation" will be at Lin An's disposal.

However, he was at a loss as to how to strengthen both.

Because most alchemists didn't even get to the point of "mental illusion" before tragically entering eternal sleep.

There are only a few vague clues about their alchemical materials on Titan.

We can only keep an eye out for it while we're on the road.

After pretending to be dead for a while, Lin An heard the sound of a helicopter "rat-a-tat-tat" coming from afar. Looking up through the gap in the straw mat of the collapsed shanty, he saw Simon and several unfamiliar faces landing.

Several of them were wearing relatively uniform uniforms, but they were not the styles of the four departments of the St. Anilov Foundation, and the seal on their chests was not the Tree of Life that Lin An looked at every day.

Instead, it's some strange pyramid symbol.

It looks a bit like... the markings on the back of a one-yuan banknote?

Thank you to Arklord, Ayanokouji Rise, and True or Illusion or Grasp the Fleeting Dream for your monthly tickets, and thank you to everyone for your recommendations and subscriptions.

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(End of this chapter)