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

"You will pay the price."

The figures faded away with the candlelight, leaving behind a mottled brick wall.

The hallucinations induced by the mysterious atmosphere became increasingly severe.

274 Common Hands

[Current season: A season of frequent hallucinations.]

What a spectacle!

This is not just a symbolic hint; it is a genuine message to everyone that behind the waking world, there are seasons that are higher than the actual seasons. These seasons are usually formed by the aftershocks of the passion and will of the Divine Star. The higher the rank of the being, the more acutely it can perceive these seasonal changes and the stronger its ability to resist them.

But that doesn’t mean they are completely exempt from this cost—even the immortals need to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, and excessive illusions can even cause the immortals of the lamp, that is, the ones of light, to dissolve themselves.

Just as the crown's offspring led to the arrival of the season of disease, the soaring spider caused the season of burgeoning ambition, and the setting sun dominated the appearance of the waning season... the main reason for the season of frequent illusions is actually the increased power of the radiance in the slumber, which, under the will of the Night Watcher, Pupil Door, pours into the waking world.

Any light source, even a smooth object that reflects light, can become a wedge that triggers illusions.

Note that the light sources and smooth objects here are not things containing mystical elements, but simply ordinary creations of the waking world.

Mystic Aura is an "atmosphere" that exists between the mysterious world and the waking world. It is mysterious and elusive, making people subconsciously ignore things they should pay attention to, yet it easily attracts the attention of other beings. With continuous use and consumption, the mysterious influence begins to linger around Virtin.

The inhuman disciples of the Reconstruction Hand stare mercilessly at every passerby. Simply "passively ignoring" them is no longer enough to escape their gaze; only by actively provoking them can one disappear from their surveillance.

One illusion after another began to appear, and before the first one could disappear, the second one would appear.

Wilting stood calmly in the secluded shadows of the trees, watching familiar figures appear and disappear one after another, seeing their faces change from joy to twisted resentment, and hearing their words turn from happiness to hateful curses.

"Si Chen."

"Si Chen..."

"Si Chen!"

It was as if those people who had once inspired her to seek the truth about the waves had never existed.

She stood there until all the illusions vanished.

Something was stirring in the shadows in the distance—the inhuman disciples of the Hand of Rebirth. Some of them were once human, some were creatures that existed in the wilderness, and some were alien species that lived in the wilderness and beyond the reach of knowledge.

Until the tide arrives, they are either captivated by distorted social laws, forced to submit to the veil of reshaping before the storm falls, or bound by rituals and intangible arts, forced or willingly donning the mask of reshaping.

Initially, these masks were merely symbols of identity, allowing them to maintain their individuality in the world before the storm. However, as they gradually embraced the concept of the Reincarnated Hand, their original appearance disappeared, transforming them into something else entirely.

Their original lives ended there, and the non-human disciples, reborn through the transformation of faith, were reborn.

This identification led to the transformation, which the foundation's mentors referred to as a "meme."

If there are at least ten containment items at the Foundation's base that can withstand the effects of this season, she can apply for one of them to remove these adverse effects when she maintains contact with the Foundation.

She raised her wrist to look at it; the glow tube clock used to detect wave phenomena showed no sign of turning.

Now, Veltin is caught in a dilemma. The use of the Mystic Aura has reached its limit, and as time goes by, the non-human disciples have noticed a lingering sense of strangeness permeating the air.

Wilting stood still, waiting for her chance. Her fingers were already on her shoulder, ready to extinguish the second-to-last candle.

The non-human disciples from afar moved silently toward this place in the shadows.

Until the pedestrians on the road seemed to realize something and, contrary to their usual behavior, quickly moved away into the distance, as if something was driving them away from behind.

This action brought all the disciples to a halt. Veltin placed his fingers on his shoulder, ready to activate his secret aura and depart should the situation change.

A light drizzle fell from the sky, and a middle-aged man in a black robe suddenly appeared on the long street. He had greasy hair and a furrowed brow on his face.

Without hesitation, Virtin reached out and extinguished the candlelight on his body. In an instant, the rich, mysterious aura intensified once more. This time, the sound of winged creatures flapping their wings could be heard in the air, along with a faint white reflection in his vision.

She turned and left.

The hallucinations will soon reappear, but luckily she still has her suitcase with her. If she can find a safe place...

A hand rested on Virtin's shoulder.

In the dark, damp alley, a greasy, middle-aged man with a stern face appeared behind Virtin at some point.

"Potter... oh no, sorry, I misremembered the word, let's start over."

Lee Lin's Snape, with a sour face, slowly began, "Miss Wilting—"

Dizzy from the endless hallucinations, Virtue instinctively felt that something was wrong, but she could hardly tell the difference anymore.

The ground, the walls, the sky—everything was melting and dissolving into endless light.

The shadows were rapidly shrinking and disappearing; the shadows of everything were withering and shrunken. Finally, the bright light swallowed everything, leaving only a metaphysical white.

It was like a beam of light that shone down from above the vast sky.

But Virtue knew it was impossible; how could the radiance possibly arrive here?

That was an illusion—an illusion far more powerful than the one before!

Veltin couldn't feel her own body. Although she had tried her best to draw her gun and fire desperately in what was probably the direction in front of her, in Li Lin's eyes, Veltin was just standing there blankly with her lips twitching.

There was no gun, nor any muzzle flash.

At that moment, her consciousness was completely enveloped by light that encompassed all colors.

“Soul leaving the body.” Li Lin’s eyes met Virtine’s, and for a moment both of their pupils turned deathly white, but Virtine’s whiteness was rapidly fading away.

Li Lin's forehead snapped back as if struck by a heavy blow, and now it was his turn to enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by the radiance.

"Hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss."

The non-human disciples peeked out from the alleyway and quickly found Li Lin and Wilting. The disciples, having completed their task, seemed very happy.

Li Lin didn't know what they were happy about, so he turned around and looked at them in confusion.

In an instant, all the non-human disciples jumped up in fear, and then turned into wisps of green smoke in the illusion formed by the radiance, ascending to the sky on the spot.

Their bodies, composed of devotion, desire, and a distorted will, could not withstand this insane power.

The non-human disciples sent by the Hand of Reconstruction were simply wiped out. If we were to use Go as an analogy, Forget-Me-Not's move was a classic example of a mediocre move.

But here's the problem: the hallucinations induced by fascination vary from person to person. Virtue's hallucinations only left her half-dead, while the aftershocks of Li Lin's hallucinations could send all her non-human disciples to meet the Night's Watch.

So just how powerful is the illusion that is troubling Li Lin right now?

275 The Divine Move

Li Lin enjoyed this feeling.

He usually oscillates between occasional lucidity and near-madness, and now he is clearly aware that he is "mad," but he has no energy to pull himself out of it.

That's right. It's like stepping into a latrine and not knowing whether to pull it out or not. Now that you're completely submerged in it, aren't you just like a happy little goldfish?

“Is it Mr. Abraham?” asked Wilting, now back to normal.

Who else but Li Lin could possess such a strange ability? If it were someone from the Reconstruction Hand, they should have subdued him immediately.

Li Lin didn't even look at her, and turned to leave.

Virtue didn't go up to stop him, or rather, she didn't dare—Li Lin's current state was very strange.

For example, he should be walking in a straight line, but he bumped headfirst into the wall. The wall did not stop Li Lin's steps. He slowly walked through the two-story building, and everything in his path turned into a molten mass... Is his body temperature that high?

Veltin took a few quick breaths, and as if realizing something, she raised her hand to look at her wrist.

The glow tube clock had become completely blurred, its numbers jumping and changing erratically—the seeds of a wave phenomenon had already been sown, like the Sword of Damocles hanging over the sky.

......

“One entire group of disciples was wiped out.” Forget-Me-Not’s voice turned icy. “Where are they?”

He was surrounded by inhuman disciples in black, who told him about the exiles and "Li Lin's" movements—they were very close to Wilting's location, but before they arrived, the dozens of inhuman disciples were swept away by some force.

How can this be?

Even the Enlightened One, being a Knower, could not completely erase their existence. The Blazing One was merely walking in a form he created, unable to do so silently.

Moreover, the power of the Blazing Ones is not about being silent or stealthy.

The thought had barely formed when a streak of fire shot into the sky from afar, moving slowly toward them, cleaving everything in its path, from walls to ancient buildings, in two.

This is the kind of activity a Face Forger would make... wait, where did a Face Forger come from in Rostoklee?

Forget-me-not subconsciously took off the citrine pendulum from his wrist, but before he could input the necessary conditions, the pendulum shattered.

......

"Stop." Nian, who had transformed into Li Lin, suddenly stopped, signaling the exiles not to be reckless and continue forward.

"how......"

Before the exile could finish speaking, a walking figure suddenly cleaved the long street in two not far away.

She narrowed her eyes.

The intense flames were so strong that the exiles could not look directly at them, and the figure's face suddenly blurred, yet it gave the exiles a sense of familiarity.

"Abraham?"

......

Li Lin stopped and looked at the medical staff who had appeared beside him at some point.