I, the leader of the esoteric sect, am doing great things in the infinite world!

"After all, there are always some people blocking other people's way, and what I have to do is clean my shoes."

The exile picked up the black box he had lost and found, placed it on the table, and pressed the brass lock. The crisp sound was like water droplets splashing on ice.

The box, which had been expanded by some unseen technique, had an interior space that was frighteningly large. The exile almost stretched half of her body inside, and then, as if she had grabbed something, her expression lit up with joy.

"found it."

The exile placed several strange items on the table one after another, and no one knew how she "paid" for these things.

The first strange object looked like a faded dried flower, its pale rose surface shimmering with transparent dew. But when Li Lin focused his attention on the dew, it vanished without a trace, leaving behind a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance in the air.

Faded Roses

[A first-order mental artifact.]

[Description: Did you nourish it, or did it protect you? The once vibrant crimson has faded, leaving only pallor.]

"This is a first-class artifact of the psychic arts, named [The Faded Rose]. It was taken from the ribs and skin of a psychic mystic, and its effect is to heal the wearer's injuries at a certain speed."

Li Lin's focus was on something else: "Is it okay to wear it anywhere?"

"Yes, the price is that it will gradually dehydrate the wearer. In a maximum of six hours, it can completely dehydrate a first-mark superhuman."

The exile described the rare artifact with its exceptional healing properties: "A thousand pounds, or at least five Spentrian bronze coins, or... something that can help me in Vienna."

She looked directly into Li Lin's eyes and smiled slyly.

Her intention was quite clear: as a transcendent being of the Enlightened Realm, the Key Hunter must first open wounds in himself when practicing and releasing the Invisible Arts, and in order to fulfill the laws of the Enlightened Realm Masters, these wounds cannot be treated by ordinary means.

Pain is proof, wounds are doors, and the more pain the extraordinary beings who have awakened their powers suffer, the stronger their power becomes.

This may seem similar to the extraordinary beings of the Blade and Cup phases, but their suffering is fundamentally different.

The pain in the Code of Blades originates from a siren, the Wolf of Splits, who craves the destruction of all things, and destruction is the foundation of pain.

The three characteristics of the Path of the Blade are cunning, strength, and pain, which correspond to the three Blade Masters—the Colonel, the Lion Craftsman, and the Wolf of Divide.

As for the pain of the Cup sign, it originates from the Red Cup, the cusp of the Dipper. Many students believe that His domain is temptation, but this is not the case. The Red Cup holds twenty-six powers of temptation, while the power of pain is seven. The power of pain is His essence.

The first power of pain associated with the Red Cup is [fertility], and the seventh power of pain is [thirst].

Compared to the "authority" of the Blade and Cup phases, the suffering of the Enlightenment phase is merely the "proof" paid for in order to gain power.

This is why capable psychic mystics and extraordinary individuals would purchase a psychic artifact to reasonably avoid suffering—why not?

However, no one knew that the Key Hunter had changed its core, which could be considered a form of disguise.

Driven by greed, Li Lin grabbed the rose, pretending to stuff it into his pocket but actually placing it on the table. He patted his chest and assured everyone, "With my help, we will surely defeat Defoe!"

"That would be wonderful." Seeing that Li Lin had been bribed, the exile's expression became even more delighted. She was just about to put away the remaining few rare items when Master Li stopped her.

He remembered that the exiles were going to sell these artifacts anyway; selling them to the authorities was the same as selling them to the Reconstruction Hand... so by acting as a middleman, wouldn't he be able to make a fortune by profiting from both sides?

Li Lin told the exiles about the existence of the Hand of Reconstruction and Walden Pond, focusing on how he ruthlessly subdued Forget-Me-Not and became the tyrant of Walden Pond. He didn't mention a word about how he was caught being lured into a trap for £10,000 and coerced by Forget-Me-Not into becoming a member of the criminal gang.

This is called appropriate detail and brevity.

Mr. Li, who was acting as the intermediary, was in a good mood. He swaggered over to the black box, pretending to look around indifferently, but actually curiously peering inside.

Li Lin has always been very skilled at self-deception.

The exile briefly introduced the remaining strange items, then noticed Li Lin, who was trying every means to peek inside.

"Ah, I forgot." She opened the box generously, put several strange items inside, and then took out a huge orange.

The golden oranges exude a unique, rich, and fragrant aroma.

“These are oranges someone picked when they left Sicily. Every time I go to a city, I peel one… Here.” She ran her fingernail across the orange's peel, revealing plump flesh inside. “Would you like to try some?”

Li Lin ate quickly while looking suspicious: "Don't you have a grandfather who sells oranges?"

This was the first time the exile had fallen into Li Lin's logical trap. He didn't realize for a moment what the connection was between his grandfather and the oranges, and Li Lin ate all the oranges in his hand.

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The exile was slightly annoyed that Li Lin had eaten all the oranges she had brought from the Sicilian citrus orchard, especially since she hadn't even had a chance to eat a single one.

Li Lin, who was like a starving ghost reincarnated, naturally had no shame whatsoever: "You're still in my house, what's wrong with me eating your orange?"

"I ate at Reconstruction Hands and they didn't even pay me," Li Lin said confidently, gesturing wildly.

"The Hand of Reshaping..." The exile felt inexplicably unlucky about this mysterious organization.

Li Lin, his neck stiff, shouted, "I see pity in your eyes!"

The exile felt both annoyed and amused: "So, you've joined the secret order of the Reshaping Hand now... That's not bad, at least they can get rid of these troublesome things quickly and get some experience in the process—"

The training she mentioned was not the usual kind of exercise like warm-up and running, but rather tempering one's body with secret teachings and intangible techniques, while also learning from combat.

This is the fastest way for Blade Aspect Transcendents and Mystics to advance: a death match, a competition with a huge disparity in strength, a battle between humans and non-humans. As long as they don't die, what they learn from it can be applied to the next time.

Nothing can advance faster than a transcendent who follows the principles of the Blade Form.

Li Lin chuckled: "That's what the Sea King thinks too. He's currently fighting skeletons in another world."

"Who is the King of the Sea?" The exile returned to the kitchen, brought out two plates of cold dishes, placed them on the table, and casually asked Li Lin.

“A man who always thought he didn’t care about anything was later hacked to death.” Li Lin scoffed. “His intestines were spilling all over the ground… Speaking of intestines, I want to eat fatty intestines.”

In just a few minutes, Li Lin went from talking about pig intestines to proctology, and then to hemorrhoids, the conversation sliding into the realm of heavy-handed topics.

Perhaps because Westerners never eat intestines, which look like a strange food, and because Li Lin's description was too detailed, the exiles immediately lost their appetite.

By the time Chef Li, who had a good appetite, finished the two dishes, the exile was already standing at the door, urging him to hurry up and go out.

......

In the temporarily closed Walden Pond bar, Forget-Me-Not came up to the second floor.

A gray curtain hung down in front of them, blocking any possible prying eyes.

This is the premise of the divination ritual, which requires symbolically isolating all external factors in order to glimpse the "baraka"—that is, the glow—falling from a higher dimension.

As a mystic who follows the principles of the lamplight, Forget-Me-Not has a deeper understanding of dreams and the wanderings beyond the mortal realm than other extraordinary beings.

As a knowledgeable individual marked by a certain immortal, he knew as many secret arts and rituals as the sands of the sea.

A gray curtain obscured the sky above. He sat at a small table, running his hand over the crystal ball and gazing at the stars reflected within it.

As an enlightened being, he knew that the starry sky of the waking world was an illusion.

Each star represents a vast dream, a distant frontier, a severed piece of history, or simply a flaw in history.

"The stars are like needle pricks, and the sun and moon are like brilliant streams of blood."

Since the abolition of the Julian calendar and the application of the Gregorian calendar, the astronomy and astrology of the old era no longer had a basis for practice. Ultimately, the "knowledge" they represented became a falsehood.

The secret teachings and rituals associated with the Diviners will lose their effectiveness upon their death, and the collapse of the old universe led to the abandonment of these intangible arts that relied on the old world.

Therefore, do not forget that the divination method I am using now is a combination of crystal divination and astrology. Its essence is not to calculate based on the position of stars in the sky, but to interpret it by using the distant glow reflected in the crystal.

Since the stars roam freely above the world of wakefulness, in a sense, the starlight pouring down through the scars of the sky is part of the radiance.

The mysteries of all things flow from the radiance. The essence of seeking divine guidance is to cut out a part of one's own spirituality and throw it into the radiance, hoping to find the desired truth before being completely burned away.

"Saturn's brilliance enters the first house."

With Saturn, the planet of misfortune, entering the first house, it signifies that everything will go wrong, and whatever decisions the Reinventing Hand makes next will inevitably be less effective.

A chilling atmosphere emanated from the crystal ball, pressing heavily on the surroundings. Forget-me-not realized that her divination results had triggered certain influences.

As the effects of winter descended upon the world of awakening, some gloomy and dark negative emotions began to rise from the depths of Forget-Me-Not's heart. He quickly got up, picked up the silver dagger that had been soaked in essential oils and balm, and used this temporarily sanctified dagger to draw a few lines in the air.

It was a huge eye, like a rising sun, and its shimmering pupil was somewhat similar to a lamplight.

"I hereby beseech the god of light and to dispel darkness..."

This is one of the honorific names of the Night's Watchman, the Eye of the Door. He is always the first person all apprentices of the invisible arts seek out, whether they believe or not, He is always radiant.

The essential oils and balms placed in the silver dish burned quickly to ashes, and a certain refined atmosphere replaced the gloomy and somber mood, symbolizing the end of this divination.

Forget-me-not reached out and lifted the curtain, gesturing for the inhuman disciples and believers to come up and clean up the mess.

My divination was undoubtedly successful, but the result was quite unsatisfactory.

Just then, he noticed someone push open the door to the Walden Pond pub.

......

"It seems the owner of this underground bar isn't so welcoming to us?" The exile pointed a finger at the brick wall behind the door.

There was no road in front of them, but a slightly yellow brick wall, each brick fitting together perfectly without any gaps.

This was very strange no matter how you looked at it, especially for Li Lin, who was completely baffled.

“This is a dead end, a dark river, a precipice,” the exile murmured to himself.

"Aren't cliffs counted by the piece? Not by the strip, you illiterate." Li Lin mocked the exile's grammatical error, raising his fist, which glowed with a ghastly green and deep purple hues.

The secret techniques of Avada Kedavra and Arahu Cavern flashed alternately on his fist.

"I raise my fist in an attack stance!"

Li Lin strode forward and slammed his fist into the wall in front of him. Before the exiles could grab him, the brick wall collapsed under Li Lin's fist.

A dimly lit alleyway appeared before them, with rusty, dusty machinery and special materials haphazardly piled on the open ground.