Chapter 720 Spell Card: Star Ice
It took a long time for everything to return to calm again.
Only then did some passengers bravely stick their heads out of the cabin to look outside...but they could see nothing, only the silence amidst the noise.
The deck, nearly reduced to ruins, was brightly lit. The bewildered captain directed the crew, most of whom were injured but not seriously, to sort things out. The sounds of packing and cleaning, accompanied by the occasional painful groans, made the place unexpectedly noisy.
Yet, above the sea, there was tranquility. No smoke, no wreckage, and no lingering traces of Dao power visible to the naked eye.
The sea, which seemed even darker under the light, now looked like an abyss that swallowed up all life.
——It looked like a huge battle had taken place here, but surprisingly, the backbone of the ship was not damaged.
"Let's all go back!"
The captain looked at the passengers who had emerged and said in a gruff voice, "The problem has been solved. The enemy has been eliminated—we are safe!"
"Is it a sea monster?"
Someone asked.
"It's a 'Sea Bride'!"
The captain didn't shy away from the question and said directly, "But the problem has been solved—the sea monster has been killed!"
"Sea Bride!"
"That's... Poseidon!"
Some passengers lived in fishing areas and were well aware of sea monsters. They all felt uneasy, frightened, or relieved.
After their explanation, people were able to truly confirm that they had indeed encountered a sea monster.
In some relatively backward coastal areas, people have no way to deal with sea monsters - for these ancient creatures that are older than many pillar gods and require a fifth-level extraordinary person to kill alone, the only way for most races is to feed them with blood.
Based on a primitive religious belief, those villages often referred to sea monsters as "sea gods." Because even superhuman beings with inhuman strength would often die miserably if they fought against them, calling them gods was no exaggeration.
They would regularly sacrifice young children as blood to "appease" these sea gods. Miraculously, these "sea gods" could actually remain calm for a while after eating - because they were originally there to feed on souls, not flesh and blood, and their real needs were not very much.
In the simple brains of the "sea gods", as long as food appears regularly in this place, they will think that this is their food refresh point.
Then not only will they not attack this place, they will even protect "their own food refresh point" from the invasion of monsters and tides, forming a kind of "shelter" in a physical sense.
When they attack villages that have stopped offering sacrifices, it's often not out of anger but out of suspicion—is there something wrong here? They want to knock and see.
Hey, why did it explode?
Those brave villages that "continued to fight against the evil sea god and won" did not do so because the sea monsters were afraid of them, but because they found that food was no longer refreshed here and they could not repair it themselves, so they gave up.
“Who saved us?”
Someone asked eagerly, "Is that the preserver?"
Many of them did not know Professor Laxmi, but those who could go to the Theocracy, even if they were not extraordinary, often had sufficient understanding of extraordinary people.
The dim yellow light that had previously spread throughout the cabin and protected them came from the "preservation technique" unique to the extraordinary people of the Dusk Path.
On a planet with a relative lack of priests and a large number of legal necromancers, people have always held a respectful and awe-inspiring attitude towards preservers.
——Because they can be their own doctors and their own forensic doctors.
“It’s not him!”
Other passengers denied it, saying, "We heard it—it was Miss Crawley! The conservator was completely powerless to fight the sea monster, so he asked someone to call 'Miss Crawley' for help!"
Other passengers also came out to say that this was indeed the case.
Because several pieces of the deck were shattered, many passengers heard about it.
"Alright, let's go back! That lady doesn't want to be disturbed, she needs to rest!"
Before anyone could continue their conversation, the ugly and ferocious captain, with a stern face, threatened everyone, "We still have to clean up the deck! Everyone, get off!"
Then the sailors drove all the passengers off the ship.
Someone suddenly asked, "Excuse me, who is Miss Crawley who saved us?"
Hearing this, the captain also fell into deep thought.
He thought for a moment and gave a definitive yet somewhat vague answer: "She is a beautiful, elegant, black-haired lady. She is a human."
"Is she beautiful?"
Someone caught the key detail.
“Very beautiful.”
The captain nodded without hesitation.
This sentence sparked people's imagination. The benefactor who saved them from despair, defeated the "God Slayer" of the Sea God, and saved everyone did not even come out to accept gratitude.
With such an identity and a "very beautiful" appearance... then there is no doubt that this will become a very good news gimmick!
"Who is Miss Crawley...?"
The passengers also had different fantasies about the chaotic unknown.
Meanwhile, Aleister was in his room, leisurely toying with a newly sealed Phantom Card. He carefully studied the card's surface, filled with hints. Mystical knowledge continued to seep out from it, and Aleister, possessing a pure and transcendent heart, greedily absorbed it.
This card was originally "Temperance", but now it is called "Art" or "Alchemy".
In the middle of the Tarot card there is a strange man with two heads - this man has both male and female characteristics, and the two heads, one male and one female, are placed on the left and right sides of the picture like mirrors.
He is pouring water and fire into a cauldron. On either side of the cauldron stand a white lion and a red vulture—their positions are similar to those in the Lovers card, but their colors are reversed. The Lovers card features a red lion and a white vulture, with opposite expressions and figures.
At this moment, the white lion placed his paws on the crucible, dripping red blood; and the fiery red female vulture spat out white saliva - some people believe that these creatures flying high in the sky have no saliva, or that they hold their saliva in their mouths when they fly, and if they are attacked and spit it out, they will die.
Therefore, they can also symbolize the earth and wind respectively.
At this moment, flaming water overflowed from the crucible. They stepped upon the cold, blazing fire, yet showed no signs of pain. Within that crucible, something magnificent seemed about to be born—the androgynous, two-headed monster, its heart ablaze with the brilliance of the sun.
"Moderation" can be understood as "restraint" or rational "constraint." However, its correct interpretation should be "using something unreal to control something real," which leads to a certain result: balance.
This card describes the process of "purification and cleansing of things" under the influence of the power of balance, which is exactly the origin of alchemy.
In this tarot card, the strange figure has the moon on his head and the sun on his chest. The mirror reflecting the male and female sides connects the sun and moon, seemingly symbolizing the delicate relationship between the Twin Mirrors, Hengwo, Xitiansi, and... the founder of alchemy, the "predecessor of Huantiansi."
In a sense, this card is closely related to Aiwass.
Aiwass and Aleister are precisely this androgynous state. He also happens to "connect the sun and moon with the power of mirrors and balance." Furthermore, the re-creation of wind, earth, water, and fire within the crucible seems to be connected to Aiwass's ability to create phantom cards.
"So that's how it is..."
Aleister murmured.
She suddenly got a hint from this card - or a revelation of a truth that had already existed but no one cared about.
As we all know, alchemy is closely related to metaphor.
Just like the alchemists of the Star Antimony school, who did not believe in the existence of the Philosopher's Stone but yearned for the refining of "Star Antimony" - the "Triumphal Chariot of Antimony" written by Valentine I tells the story of sublimating animal nature into the transcendent way of God.
The Red Prime Minister of the Stars was a good friend of Valentine I.
He regarded this book as a method to verify the "perfect man", and felt that the seven-fold ascension path of "sublimating animal nature into God" was equivalent to the process of cleansing the Son of the Moon's animal nature.
Although Aleister felt that Valentine I probably didn't mean that...but what was outrageous was that the Red Prime Minister was forcibly developing magic skills based on a book that actually didn't talk about this matter at all. Judging from the final result, he actually succeeded!
I can only say that this is a kind of Ouyang Hong appearance.
But in fact, while "Star Antimony" is a metaphor, the Philosopher's Stone can also be a metaphor - if you put your soul into the crucible of your body, put in dreams, fears, hopes, and desires, re-refine the earth, fire, water, and wind, and purify everything about yourself... then a truly perfect thing can be born.
It is the "Philosopher's Stone"—the greatest alchemy that can turn stone into gold. It also means making incompetent, "stone-like" people shine... transforming darkness into brilliant light.
And this...
“…which is exactly what I’m doing.”
Aleister murmured.
She found the entry point.
Didn't the alchemists of the Star Antimony School realize that there was actually nothing wrong with the Philosopher's Stone theory?
I'm afraid that's not the case.
But they can no longer turn back - they would rather stick to their mistakes.
Thinking of this, Aleister shattered the projected card into nothingness.
Its attributes flashed through her mind:
[Spell Card: Star Ice (Art)]
[Required: Water 4]
【Action, Summon, Non-Contact】
[Effect: Summons a colorful star ice, briefly shaping it and leaving it there for a while. Anyone who looks directly at the star ice and attempts to destroy it or understand it will fall into an increasingly deep hallucination; those caught in the hallucination by this effect will be frozen; those completely frozen by this effect cannot voluntarily escape the hallucination, even if the star ice no longer exists.]
Update completed! Only one update, so I took half a day off——
I was in meetings all day today and I'm exhausted.
I didn’t even go to the night tour to Huashan to collect folk songs. I only had time to write one chapter.
We'll be at Xingti tomorrow (clench fist)
(End of this chapter)
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