A barren and uninhabited island in the raging sea.
This place is not far from the southern continent, but it does not belong there geographically. The reason why Klein chose this island as the place to be promoted to "Ancient Scholar" is, firstly, to avoid Amon and Zaratul as much as possible and not enter the area where the "Mother Tree of Desire" has a wide influence. Secondly, because the Violent Sea is shrouded in the power left by the "God of Death", which is equivalent to the kingdom of the "Goddess of Night". If the ceremony really makes a big noise, it can effectively cover it up.
Moreover, this place is very desolate and there are few living creatures, so there is no need to worry about accidents affecting innocent people... Klein looked around and began to arrange the ritual, bringing the corresponding materials back to the real world from the gray fog.
Then, he flipped through the thick ancient historical materials and pulled out some records that he was not sure about and could not judge the authenticity of by "divination".
Bang!
He shook his hand casually, and a red flame rose up, engulfing the stack of papers.
The auxiliary materials required for the "Ancient Scholar" potion are a large number of real ancient historical records, so Klein did not want to take the risk of using those that he could not confirm, and would rather use a smaller quantity.
After making the selection, he first poured the blood of the Hound of Fulgrim into the cauldron, and then put in a few pre-weighed white frost crystals.
As soon as the two auxiliary materials came into contact, a thin mist rose up immediately, wrapping the vessel, half a person's height and an arm's width.
Klein took a look and, following his spiritual intuition, temporarily gave up on adding the last auxiliary material. He first asked the secret puppet Enuni to grab the floc-like heart of the Mist Wolf and throw the white mist-like condensate into the cauldron.
As white frost formed on Enuni's arms, the mist that filled the vessel became extremely dense, and began to contract and expand, as if it had a life of its own, with a slowly beating heart.
Without hesitation, Klein manipulated the secret puppet Enuni to pick up the pair of eyeballs of the Hound of Fulgrim and stuffed the two dark red flame-like objects into the thick fog that seemed to be real.
The color of the fog quickly darkened, and Klein could no longer see the cauldron at the core.
He did not panic, but calmly asked another puppet to throw the real ancient historical materials page by page to the dark fog.
The thick fog gradually collapsed inward, and after "digesting" those historical records, it finally fell back into the cauldron like water vapor, turning into a ball of liquid or gas, dark red in color, almost the size of a baby's head.
Seeing this scene, Klein took out the pendulum from his left wrist cuff and used the method of "divination" to confirm whether the potion was successfully prepared.
This time, he got the revelation that the thing was quite dangerous, but barely bearable.
And this means that the potion was prepared successfully.
Even if it is prepared strictly according to the formula, a Sequence 3 potion is equivalent to poison. If you can survive it, you will be promoted. If you can't survive it, you will go crazy, lose control, or even die suddenly... Klein stared at the yellow crystal pendant that was spinning rapidly counterclockwise for a few seconds, pulled up the silver chain, and wrapped it around his left wrist again.
His eyes immediately turned to the potion floating in the cauldron, and thoughts flashed through his mind:
"In addition to keywords such as 'thriller', 'horror', 'director', and 'incomprehensible abilities', the role of a 'weird wizard' should also include elements such as mystery, unknown, complexity, and unpredictable fate. Only when these two aspects are combined together can a 'weird wizard' be complete... One is the behavioral style, and the other is the attribute itself...
"As for me, my origin is so mysterious that I haven't figured out the truth yet. My experience is so complicated that I have prevented the true God from coming and scared the King of Angels. My fate is so unpredictable that even the 'Mercury Snake' can't quite figure it out. So, I have already acted in advance and naturally digested that part of the potion. There is no need to summarize the rules...
"This is the true meaning of the word 'weird'...
"Well, the ritual of the 'Ancient Scholar' requires one to be completely detached from reality for at least 300 years. One must take the potion after one has become history and no longer belongs to the current era. I am sealed in a cocoon and my life suspended above the gray fog is satisfying and more than enough. But after becoming Klein, I have experienced too many things in the past year or so, which have left a mark on the present. Will it affect the effect of the ritual?
"It should be... Fortunately, it's been less than two years, so the mark won't be too deep and it's barely acceptable. After all, I can't hang myself up for another 300 years before taking the potion... There's still a dozen years until the end of the world!
"Moreover, my knowledge of ancient history is definitely far better than any other 'trickster'. I have done a very effective role-playing in advance, and I am sure I can avoid a lot of danger..."
As his thoughts raced, Klein took a deep breath and stopped thinking about it.
Wearing a silk top hat and a double-breasted woolen coat, his skin suddenly became transparent, and worms containing three-dimensional layered symbols crawled out of it one after another.
The transparent worms were moving, as if they were about to crawl into the concentrated mist in the cauldron, leaving only the empty clothes and hat in their place.
Barely controlling this state, Klein calmly stretched out his right hand and picked up the potion wrapped in mist.
The potion seemed to be weightless and floated lightly in front of his face.
Klein opened his mouth and took a deep breath.
The ball of magic potion suddenly changed shape, stretched out and fell into Klein's mouth, making him feel like he was swallowing a dark red glow.
Those transparent worms swarmed back into the body, tearing off some of the potion and swallowing it into their stomachs.
Due to the special form of his mythical creature, which is both a whole and divided into many small parts, Klein can only take the potion in this way.
Of course, it would be much easier if he could control the incomplete mythical creature.
Silently, Klein felt a cold sensation spreading through every "Spirit Worm", accompanied by a slight burning pain.
A familiar gray-white mist with no end in sight immediately appeared before his eyes. It enveloped the entire world, and some of Klein's past experiences were displayed below.
This includes his creation of horror legends, dialogue with the evil spirit of the "Red Angel", seeking Miss "Justice" to treat the signs of the demigod Luca's loss of control, hunting Hvin Rambis, dealing with Amon's clone, revenge on Ince Zangwill, exploring Calderon City, sneaking into the Church of Saint Samuel, roaming the sea, preventing the "True Creator from coming", saving Tingen and other things as well as various details of his daily life.
They were entangled with different people and objects, and were extremely complex, forming an ocean. Klein was "flying" above them, unable to find a sufficiently accurate or clear self-positioning. He felt like he was about to get lost in this area, and the cold meaning and burning pain drove him to keep moving forward, in order to vent the influence, making it difficult for him to return to the real world.
Klein barely managed to control this feeling. As his consciousness gradually became blurred and his body slowly fell, he tried his best to find something to identify himself.
Finally, he saw a broken spot of light in the depths of the gray fog, at the end of the sea. With an idea in his mind, he followed his intuition and flew over there as if he was traveling through the starry sky.
In that spot of light was a figure suspended on the fuzzy light gate. He was placed in a transparent "cocoon" and swaying gently. He looked exactly like the original Zhou Mingrui. He had no connection with the surroundings and was all alone, so he could be easily grasped.
I couldn't see it before when I used the "Yesterday Reappearance" spell, but now I can... In other words, during the promotion process, I can indirectly affect the "Source Castle" above the gray fog? Wait, my thinking ability has been restored... Klein's consciousness became much clearer, and he finally understood the essence of the ritual.
Eliminate distractions from details, provide yourself with a clear and accurate positioning as an "ancient scholar", and prevent yourself from getting lost!
Following similar spots of light, Klein began to "fly" deeper into the gray fog, to a place where he could not see the end. On the way, he discovered that the surrounding fog was scattered with various fragments of light. Some of them were from the colonial stage, some from Roselle's reign, some from the War of Oath Breaking, the White Rose War, and the Twenty Years' War... These were all the Fifth Epoch history that Klein knew.
As Klein passed through them, his consciousness naturally differentiated, completing the invisible connection and positioning himself more clearly.
The Pale Age, the War of the Four Emperors, the Trunsoste Empire, the Tudor Dynasty, the United Empire, the First and Second Solomon Empires, the Fall of the Red Angel, the "Blood Emperor" becoming a god, the "Black Emperor" returning, and other historical fragments emerged one after another in different places in the endless gray fog as Klein continued to trace back. They were like stars in the black night sky, illuminating the traveler's way home.
During this journey, Klein felt himself becoming more and more awake, and the coldness and burning sensation of each "Spirit Worm" became less and less severe.
He could have turned around and returned to the real world long ago, but he didn't stop and continued flying forward happily.
The fatal attack of the "Redemption Rose", the three archangels of Pure White, Storm, and Wisdom sharing the ancient sun god, the conspiracy of the "Giant King's Court", the hiding of the night, the earth, and the Church of the God of War as a secret organization, and other patches of light flashed in the gray mist. The further Klein went back, the more comfortable he felt. He felt like he was about to fly.
A group of terrifying dog-like creatures with dark red flames burning in their eye sockets and short black hair covering their bodies appeared beside him at some point. They ran wildly in the bottomless gray fog and followed Klein on both sides, as if to accompany him or to protect him.
Among them, two have one eye.
Klein glanced around, smiled, and continued to travel deeper into the gray fog without stopping.
Part of the history of the Second Era's "Twin Age" and "First Age of Fire" swept past him, pointing the way forward for him. Finally, Klein stopped in front of a solitary fragment of light, which contained a withered and decaying forest and a normal-sized tomb.
He looked forward again. The gray fog was quietly gathering, and he didn't know where the fragments of light were floating.
Feeling his spiritual exhaustion, Klein did not search for anything. His consciousness connected with the location of his starting point and he fell suddenly downwards.
As the gray fog quickly faded, Klein felt his body and saw the cauldron in front of him.
He didn't have time to appreciate his current situation, and subconsciously raised his head and looked into the air.
He saw the gray fog directly, and the ancient and majestic palace above the gray fog.
That mysterious space was trembling slightly.
…………
Backlund, a postman on a bicycle, stopped, tilted his head slightly, and pressed the monocle on his right eye.
He immediately whispered to himself:
"Source Castle...
After being stunned for a few seconds, the thin-faced young man curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled, his expression full of anticipation.
In the east district of the same city, in a rented house, figures suspended in the air swayed gently, and at the same time, a sound was made:
“Source Castle…”
Under the Saint Samuel Cathedral, Leonard Mitchell, who was assigning tasks to his team members, suddenly heard a slightly old voice in his mind:
“Source Castle…”
PS: There is an additional update today.