World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 79 Thunderbird's Gaze

"Based on the entry 'Encyclopedia of Magic II: Alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone - The Metal That Creates Life,' a solution that meets the criteria has been found: [The Art of Transcendence]."

"Do you wish to consume 1 x 'God of Truth', 1 x 'Seeker of Knowledge', and 1 x 'Lord of Agriculture' to use this?"

The term "transcendence" refers to the process of extracting the essence from matter, and also carries the philosophical meaning of giving ordinary objects a "symbolic" quality.

"use."

As the thought flashed through his mind, dark energy flew out from the plant gold, enveloping Lin An's body and being drawn to his wand. The metal wand instantly rose with a dull black shell.

This is the corruption stage that alchemical items must go through, representing the death and destruction of the old, making way for the growth of the new spirit.

Immediately afterwards, the phantom of a messenger from heaven and earth rose from the top of the caduceus, and a black raven flapped its wings and flew into a gem.

The raven in alchemy represents the darkened nigredo, signifying a hidden prophet or unconscious source of truth, the initial blackening and decay that initiates the great work process.

With the fusion of the raven, the staff regained its golden luster.

An alchemical symbol appears in the gem, with two three-sided rectangles overlapping in a 3D rendering, but not connected to each other.

The front rectangle extends outward at a right angle from the middle left side, while the rear rectangle crosses a line at its top left side.

The spirit of air?

This is one of the five elements known as the Philosopher's Stone. The spirit of air usually brings people and their spirits into harmony, enabling them to give true answers and concoct medicines with magical effects.

Permanent coloring and hue, fixed in the midst of change.

The system announced the success of the mystical spell.

"By using mystical arts, the radiation value of the [Mystic Encyclopedia] has increased by 0.2%."

"Through alchemy, you have refined the essence of [Philosopher's Stone Fragment III - Plant Gold] and incorporated it into [Philosopher's Stone Fragment I - Paracelsus's Five Matrixes]. The Pokédex has been updated."

[Name]: Fragment of the Philosopher's Stone
[Rating]: Legendary C-grade

Radiation level: 18.4%
[Pollution Level]: 0%
[Medium]: The seeker of knowledge

The radiation level has increased.

Five pieces of the legendary D-grade plant gold were converted into approximately 7% of the legendary C-grade radiation value.
Waste should also be excluded, since the system announced that "the essence has been extracted".

Lin An glanced at the magic wand at his waist. At first glance, it seemed no different from anything else. He then activated its energy, and five gems surrounded the wand.

The other four remained the same, but the blue gemstone became even deeper, more intense, and more refined, as if it had transcended dimensions and was as transparent and light as air.

His sixth sense told him that as long as the blue gem was activated, the airflow it generated would not only be more intense, but also more easily controlled, as if it were one with Lin Ansheng, inseparable from him.

Maybe we can try using its airflow to fly into the sky.

Looking away, Lin An walked straight out of the exchange warehouse, not forgetting to give the two their final orders.

— Died during a field mission, in a place where he would not be easily discovered.

After Lin An's figure disappeared, the two stood there blankly for a long time. With their legs almost frozen, they stepped into the elevator. Just as they raised their hands to press the button in the lobby, a strange call came, and their fingers involuntarily chose the direction of the fifth basement level.

Following the sound, they entered the primary control room.

"drop."

The black card opened the door, and the simple god of creation stood quietly in the glass vessel, his body tightly bound by straps, revealing only a little bit of the original wood color covered with colored paint.

The symptoms of hypothermia were severe, and the body was on the verge of collapse.

The two embraced, and for some reason, they vaguely sensed that the simple, primitive yet sublime local deity was watching them.

It lacked the indifference of the Western Continent gods, the pity of the Central Continent gods, the malice of the Eastern Continent gods, and the cunning of the Southern Continent gods.

Thunderbird's gaze was calm and selfless.

It was as if they had witnessed their deaths countless times before.

…………

When the system notification sounded in Lin An's mind, he put on his newly bought swimsuit and enjoyed chilled cocktails and guacamole with tortilla chips in the hot springs of the New York facility.

Oh, those two alchemists are gone.

Lin An sipped his tropical-style coconut-scented drink with a blank expression, listening to the system's cold recitation of menu items.

"The entry 'Those Who Advance to Mastery Through Learning II - Magic Expert' has been included. You have obtained the media 'Judge' x4 and 'Lord of Dreams' x2."

"The entry 'Those Who Advance to Mastery Through Learning II - Mysterious Sisters' has been added. You have obtained the mediums 'God of Agriculture' x3, 'Mother of Desire' x1, and 'God of Truth' x2."

What a bumper harvest of growing media!

Setting that aside for the moment, Lin An picked up a corn chip, dipped it in the smooth and delicious guacamole, and continued reading the research data on the Thunderbird.

The Michigan state bomb, codenamed Alpha-001, was discovered near Niagara Falls. Its radiation levels were so high that they were incalculable, and its pollution level was approximately 80%.

This individual is a "Nature Sacrifice," with a predicted rating of B. The energy it radiates outwards is suspected to have a fatal attraction to the same medium, and has even induced the awakening of an ordinary person. Therefore, mystical individuals of the same medium are prohibited from approaching this individual.

The following is a more detailed report of the test results.

Material testing... Impact resistance... Reaction rate... An hour later, Lin An put away his phone and prepared to return to his dormitory to rest, only to bump into Simon, who had a serious expression.

"I just received word that you need to come with me to the direct department, Lin."

"What's wrong?" Lin An asked in surprise. "I thought there were no plans for today."

"The bodies were found in the isolation room of the Thunderbird. You know them too, they are the siblings Correa and Leicia. The cause of their death is unknown, but they are suspected to have been attacked by a mystical spell of mythical rank or higher."

"Really?" Lin An was so shocked he almost dropped his phone. "Besides [Thunderbird] and you, Captain, is there a third person here with such a high rating?"

How did he die in the facility... and get discovered so quickly?

What happened to the promised "field work"?

"It's just a preliminary guess. Captain Selena, as a legendary 'Seeker of Knowledge,' couldn't find any clues about the murderer from the corpse, hence the suspicion," Simon reassured her. "Anyway, thank you for coming all this way."

Unlike during the day, this time they entered through a door on the first floor, where they could only look up at the Thunderbird statue, the ancient and primitive tribal god standing majestically.

The female team leader with a buzz cut and her employees surrounded the body, constantly communicating with the clerical staff via remote equipment.

Lin An originally wanted the two to leave the foundation facility and drive to a place outside Long Island. Since it wasn't their first time acting alone, by the time the body was found, it would be at least a day later, and Lin An would have already left New York.

The accuracy of the Druid priest's "cloud control" is too low.

I think I'll have to be more careful next time.

Hearing the voice, the female captain looked up and said, "Lin, you've come. I have something I want to ask you."

It's time to put your acting skills to the test.

Dear professors of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ann Arbor, I'm counting on you.

"You're not doubting me, are you?" Lin An took a deep breath and pointed to himself in surprise.

"Not really. As the last person they saw before they died, I'm curious about what they said to you."

Lin An recounted the conversation in detail, and the female captain confirmed it with the civilian staff on the other end of the communication device, then scratched her head rather embarrassedly.

"You actually used this method to vent your dissatisfaction with the foundation. I will include it in my report afterward, and headquarters will give you some points as compensation soon."

"When did they die?" Simon asked casually. "Lin was in the lounge on the fourth floor not long ago."

"It's uncertain. The residual energy from killing them hindered the autopsies. At least half an hour ago, the surveillance footage showed them entering the isolation room. The civilian staff thought they were there for a routine check on the Thunderbird's condition until they stood against the wall for too long and realized something was wrong."

"Ah, it hasn't been long since we parted..." Lin An said, "Although I curse them to die in my heart, I can't actually kill them! I'm not a word spirit!"

"Don't get agitated, Lin. We're both legendary-level beings. If it really was you, my mystical magic would have already locked onto you. It's just a bit strange, though, why did they die in the isolation room?"

“They were killed by the mysterious medium of ‘Nature Ritual’,” Simon said.

"Captain Simon, what have you discovered?"

“These are also mysterious items made from natural materials.” Simon gestured for her to look at the remaining plant gold residue in the box, which emitted an unbearable stench. “They were extracted through alchemy and transformed from metal into another form.”

"The corpse was holding plant gold..."

“I read in the report that the Thunderbirds seem to have a particular fondness for ‘nature ritual’ mediums, whether they are mystics or mystical items,” Lin An interjected.

"You mean, they extracted too much [Plant Gold] at once, causing the Thunderbirds to be inexplicably attracted to them, unconsciously walking into the isolation chamber and being killed by bizarre means?" a New York Direct member said.

“We can’t rule out that possibility.” The female captain frowned. “Besides Thunderbird, this organization doesn’t have a third person with a rating higher than Legendary, and the medium is still the Mystic of ‘Nature Ritual’.”

"It seems that Thunderbird was responsible," Lin An mused.

“Just when we thought we had obtained enough information from the Thunderbird, it always proved us wrong with its actual power—gods are not beings that can be analyzed in a few words,” another person said with lingering fear.

"Wow, those Source-level beings are terrifying." Lin An rubbed his hands together. "They managed to kill two mysterious figures without us even realizing it!"

The female captain sighed: "As expected of the highest rating on Titan, there are no records of sightings of the 'statues' above that anywhere in the world."

"This is going to be hard to explain to headquarters..."

“By the way, don’t you guys think Thunderbird—” one of the Direct Team members pointed at the statue, “is a bit too short?”

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, the employees looked in the direction the finger was pointing, but they didn't see anything unusual with the naked eye.

Lin Anru was the only one struck dumb, his pupils shrinking sharply.

System data shows that in just a few hours, the pollution level of Thunderbird decreased by 3%, while the radiation level increased by 0.5%.

Does the level of pollution translate into radiation levels?
I go……

Just now, taking advantage of the fact that the other party was mute, he frantically shifted the blame to other parties, and Lin An suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Did the Thunderbird come back to life out of anger?

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(End of this chapter)