World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 208 The Wanderer Asks the Heavens and Earth

After seeing everyone off, Lin An sat in the abandoned captain's cabin, the Philosopher's Stone on his chest turning, revealing the small world inside.

The young version of the miniature figure in the bottle has filled every nook and cranny of the gourd cup. With flowing white hair and exquisite features, it is almost indistinguishable from a human.

The panel appeared, displaying the status in green.

[Name]: Holmonks

[Rating]: Mythical C-level

Radiation level: 29.8%
[Pollution Level]: 0%
[Medium]: The seeker of knowledge

The kicha wine that the hummingbird gave to Lin An actually contained nearly 13% energy, making it easier to handle than before.

If there was previously a delay of a fraction of a second and some subtle deviations, the little man is now completely synchronized with Lin An, just like another part of his body.

but……

He raised his wrist, and Lei Zi said that the "mark" of the smoke glasses had no side effects, it just left a remote line of sight on Lin An, just like it did.

Unfortunately, my media collection in Dietrich was nearing completion. Lin An thought to himself that Hummingbird's investment this time was indeed a bit too late.

Recalling the thrilling and exciting events of the past two hours, he processed the information he had received.

The true name of the Golden Kingdom's aristocratic family is [Thirteen Heavens], which seems to be named after the ability of that statue-level mysterious figure. Its members are divided into twelve ranks, and in addition to rating and combat power, the most important factor is the "Holy Spirit's" preference.

If He approves of someone, He will "bless" him and elevate his status.

The Thirteen Heavens include the four native gods of the Upper East, the remaining gods of Inca mythology, the Guarani gods, deities suspected to be Mayan, and mysterious beings suspected to be from the Aztec pantheon.

Their power and talent pool were the greatest Lin An had ever seen.

This kind of heritage can be glimpsed simply from the Rainforest Carnival, which is enough to make it a "family tradition".

Compared to the Thirteen Heavens, the St. Nilov Foundation was like a bunch of children playing house. After all, Lin An alone was enough to scare the Dieter City branch into staying indoors, and the branches in the two neighboring states didn't even dare to easily set foot in Michigan.

The official organization is so trashy...

To be honest, Lin An was worried about the future of the United States.

According to the local Four Gods, when "Comers" arrived, the Eagle Kingdom should have had a statuary-level mystic to oversee the event—the Holy Spirit named "Wakataka".

If the official team were led by a mysterious figure of iconographic stature, not only Lin An, but many events probably wouldn't have happened at all.

The colonists went on a killing spree, reducing the total population of the natives by 97% in just a few hundred years. They also promoted "plastic shamanism" to pollute the minds of the next generation, and eventually even destroyed the four native gods that had already awakened.

The root cause is a struggle between secular interests and ideologies, a question that Lin An still ponders.

According to Jericho's notes, as early as two hundred years ago, [Xion] had taken root in the Upper East Continent, becoming a veritable local tyrant by relying on currency trading and usury.

So, did these shrewd businessmen secretly orchestrate some historical events?

Were other prominent families in the Western Continent involved...?

What benefit would it bring to the organization hiding behind the scenes to leave the Eagle Nation defenseless when "Commerx" arrives and turn this place into a "lawless land" for the mysterious?
Why is it the Eagle Country, and not the more remote Kangaroo Country or Kiwi Country in the Southern Hemisphere?
Although the Rainbow Serpent belief and Maori mythology have almost disappeared.

Lin An had never heard of any trace of aristocratic families or mysterious organizations operating in those countries and surrounding areas; they seemed to be largely left to their own devices.

"I hope it's just my imagination," Lin An thought to himself. "The truth of history is nothing more than the burning, killing, and looting of a group of imperial colonists, and has nothing to do with 'Comers'."

A cool breeze brushed against his cheek. Lin An exhaled, finished writing the intelligence report for the Thirteen Heavens, and rested for a moment, leaning on his elbow.

When he woke up, there was a blanket over his shoulders, which Anna must have put on him.

After thanking the shy little girl, Lin An saw that the witch was still fast asleep on the ground due to exhaustion, so he turned around and went back to the captain's cabin, sitting back down in his chair.

He opened a thick, ancient book and continued to decipher the Romance script of Carolingian calligraphy until he had read the last word of the ancient text.

The system notification tone sounded simultaneously.

"The entry 'The Encyclopedia of Magic V: Halfway to Divinity - Wanderers Ask Heaven and Earth' has been included. You have obtained the media 'Seeker' x5, 'God of Truth' x4, 'Prophet' x3, 'Lord of Dreams' x1, 'God of Agriculture' x1, and 'Dreamer' x1."

Divination, along with alchemy and supernatural powers, is considered one of the three major Hermetic philosophies, and virtually all known cultures have occult records related to divination.

Frequently asked questions include doubts about the future, unexplained reasons from the past, action guidelines in emergency situations, treatment of diseases, religious worship, selection of people, timing, weather, and so on.

People use a variety of methods for divination, including gazing at crystals, drawing lots, fortune telling, taking hallucinogenic drugs, dreaming, as well as contemplation, meditation, tarot cards and thangkas. Animals, weather, and stars are also key subjects of study and interpretation in divination.

For example, Druids deduced future omens by observing animal tracks and bird migration routes, while Hittites observed the weather after rituals to infer the will of the gods.

In other ancient civilizations, divination was a sacred function, often used to guide state affairs and wars, as well as to predict natural disasters.

The priests of the Chaldeans and Babylonians possessed complex divination systems, claiming they deliberately saw omens in the movements of the surrounding natural world; Egyptian priests slept in temples and received omens from the gods in their dreams.

Plato described two Greek divination techniques: intuitive or natural divination, and inductive or artificial divination.

He concluded that "madness is nobler than reason, both in name and in fact, because the first comes from God and the other from man."

An example of the former is that early Greek prophets would first put themselves into a hypnotic state and receive oracles by communicating with the gods; the most famous oracle was located at Delphi near the foot of Mount Parnassus. Artificial divination refers to Greek astrology, which was later inherited and further developed by Rome.

In China, divination is also known as metaphysics, and it has two schools of thought.

One is the "I Ching," which uses the Eight Trigrams as its basic symbols and originated from divination using tortoise shells and animal bones in ancient times; the other is "divination arts," which uses the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches as its basic symbols and originated from ancient astronomy.

The I Ching uses the eight trigrams as its unit of calculation. According to the Zhou Li, there are three types: Zhou Yi, Lian Shan, and Gui Zang. Unfortunately, the latter two have been lost. The representative types are Xiang Shu Yi and Mei Hua Yi Shu.

Numerology uses the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches as its units of calculation. It originated from ancient astronomy and intentionally or unintentionally imitated the ideas of the I Ching. Numerology includes many literary works such as Da Liu Ren, Four Pillars of Destiny, Tie Ban Shen Shu, Qi Zheng Si Yu, Yan Qin, and Ze Ri.

Many other "divination techniques" span these two schools, such as Liu Yao, Taiyi, Qimen Dunjia, Feng Shui, etc.

According to Plato, the metaphysics of the Dragon Kingdom is entirely "manual divination," without any divine intervention.

In the South, however, divination is based entirely on Plato's first concept.

The people of the Southern Continent believe that so-called prophecies are gifts from the gods that humans receive through dreams, the subconscious, or certain omens.

As early as the end of the second millennium BC, there were some hieroglyphs used for divination in the Southern Continent.

To this day, people in Uganda and Zaire firmly believe that the greatest prophecies came from the inspiration of God Adro and had nothing to do with human calculations.

Philosophy and divination are two fruits from the same tree. By understanding the mysticism of the world, Lin An can also discover the differences between various ethnic groups and cultures.

Unfortunately, the "Complete Book of Magic" did not include the mysteries of the Dragon Kingdom, and the fifth volume was rated as a disaster (B-level). It was full of divination methods using tarot cards, playing cards, pendulum crystals, etc., most of which came from the Gypsies.

No wonder they're called wanderers...

"By the way, system, could you trace the entries 'Six Lines VI: The Secret Manual of Tuting' and 'The Complete Book of Magic V'?"

"The tracing of the source is complete. With your witness, the rating of the entry 'The Encyclopedia of Magic V: Halfway to Divinity - Wanderers Ask Heaven and Earth' has been upgraded."

Looking at the pile of "Prophet" mystical spells that had been upgraded to legendary level, Lin An licked his lips.

Finally, we have a way to counter those late-night cravings.

Having memorized the list of entries from "The Complete Book of Magic V", he brought up his own panel.

[Name]: The Encyclopedia of Mystery
[Rating]: Source Grade B

Radiation level: 12%
[Pollution Level]: 26%
[Medium]: The seeker of knowledge

[Inventory]: Seeker of Knowledge x10, God of Truth x6, Dreamer x3, Prophet x7, Chief Judge x8, Nature Priest x5, Mother of Desire x4, Emperor of War x4, Lord of the Earth x16, God of Agriculture x15, Lord of Dreams x5
Following the exploration during the Ghost Period, Lin An's data showed a significant increase, and its media inventory was also greatly expanded.

Unfortunately, among the wild mystics, the "Lord of the Earth" and the "God of Agriculture" make up the vast majority.

When any entry is included, these two media often fall out randomly, attracted by the behavior of the mysterious person himself.

Even though Lin An never actively collected them, their numbers were overwhelmingly superior.

The number of "knowledge seekers" is also scarce. Lin An basically relies on experimenting with new entries to attract this medium, but when using entries, he has to use other mediums to some extent, which leads to some mediums not making ends meet.

Having barely managed to maintain a balance between income and expenditure, the current panel represents the best result Lin An had calculated.

"System, the contamination level has exceeded one-quarter. Can you still hold on?"

"Time, change, everything in its original form."

"Brother Tongzi?!" Lin An exclaimed in surprise.

"Just changing my signature, don't worry, I'm perfectly fine," the system said humorously. "But add a little more..."

"how?"

"It will explode."

"..."

Lin An clenched his fists.

Damn it, I shouldn't have talked to it. Talking to yourself is a sign of going crazy!
How can the mere embodiment of "Commons" be more effective at making memes than I am?

"Alright, keep quiet." Lin An waved his hand. "Act on my orders."

"I'm happy to serve you anytime."

After confirming the rather abstract state of the system, Lin An narrowed his eyes.

Before heading to Doris's "lair," he had to conduct an experiment, since the witch hadn't woken up yet.

Lin An bent down and opened a drawer in the captain's cabin, taking out a smooth, seemingly ordinary box, which was none other than the catastrophic mysterious item, the [Ghost-Enchanted Box].

He stroked the box, and the phantom images of tarot cards appeared, creating a strange atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)