On the other side, players on the forum were in an uproar:
"——I just knew Annan’s identity was not simple!"
"——Don’t act like you knew all along, no one guessed that Annan was a descendant of a True God..."
"——Stop kidding, the fact that Annan is ’Annan’ and not ’Tan Juan’ was only made public last night. Where did you go guessing..."
"——Wuwuwu I want to pinch Annan’s face too..."
"——Wait, did the Skeleton King mention Dragon Blood? Is Annan a dragonkin? Will he turn into a dragon later?"
"——Then I’m going to change my job to Dragon Knight!"
"——Cut it out, can Annan really defeat the Decayed Husband?"
"——Definitely, because Annan is the protagonist. It will surely end with a plot twist..."
"——No no no, I’m more worried about Sister Polearm and the rest. If they really start fighting, they’ll just keep getting one-shotted, how are we supposed to watch the live broadcast then?"
"——Let Sister Polearm run away! Hide in the house, it’s safe there!"
"——R——u——n——fast——ah——"
"——R——u——n——fast——ah——"
How the hell am I supposed to run?
Lin Yiyi couldn’t help but want to curse when she saw the flurry of posts on the forum urging her to run for it.
If I ran now, wouldn’t Annan’s favorability drop like crazy?
Even if I die over and over here, and even if I respawn an entire street, I absolutely won’t run——
"Senpai, Old Goose, Yi Yi, go hide in the house."
Annan saw the forum posts and thought they made a lot of sense.
If he let these two players keep dying, the footage would definitely be very shaky.
He still wanted to edit the live broadcast they were recording into a promotional video...
So, as Annan injected the Philosopher’s Stone into his deltoid muscle, he gently warned Yi Yi and the others, "This is not a battle you can take part in... Take care of yourselves and protect Master Michelangelo too."
Lin Yiyi immediately responded.
If you’re the one asking me to run, then I’ll just run, right?
Without any hesitation, she and Delicious Wind Goose dragged Salvatore with them and retreated into the residence at number 44 Clearwater Street.
Salvatore still hesitated a little.
He wanted to help Annan.
He was surprised that Annan could be recognized by the Silver Baron, astonished by the arrival of the Skeleton King and the Decayed Husband, and even more so by the prospect of witnessing a god-making ritual.
But Salvatore did not forget that Annan was only a Bronze-rank Transcendent.
Even if he used the Philosopher’s Stone... it only gave him Gold-rank power temporarily.
That did not mean he could truly master all the abilities of a Gold-rank.
Having just used the Philosopher’s Stone, Salvatore was acutely aware of this reality.
Salvatore, dragged into the room, stared at Annan.
He bit his lip, regret in his eyes.
In Salvatore’s view, Annan stepping up at this time was entirely because of him——
He had once told Annan that he hoped masters like Michelangelo could survive; and now, the source of Annan’s confidence, the unfinished Philosopher’s Stone, was also made by Salvatore and given to him.
If something really happened to Annan...
——Then without a doubt, it would be his own responsibility.
Salvatore stood still like a wooden stake, silent for a moment.
Suddenly, he spoke in a low voice:
"Teacher... are you here?"
Benjamin’s somewhat aged but steady voice replied: "You guessed right."
Only then did the players realize that an old Wizard was sitting by the table in the living room.
Salvatore looked at Benjamin with a complex expression.
"...So you really knew Gerald?"
Benjamin nodded calmly: "When he enrolled at Black Tower, I was the one taking care of his daily needs. We had a pretty good relationship."
"So, the story that Gerald was expelled from Black Tower for stealing cursed items and killing a student, that’s false?"
"Half true, half false."
Benjamin looked at the slightly trembling Salvatore, his expression one of faint satisfaction.
"It was merely a trade."
He calmly uttered the somewhat cruel words, "I allowed him to kill my student in exchange—I would help him steal the boneblood trigger of the Bone Lord."
These words struck Salvatore like thunder.
He looked at Benjamin incredulously and asked, "Why?"
"For the ingredients, of course."
Benjamin sighed. "You didn’t think that such a powerful Philosopher’s Stone... it wouldn’t require any expensive or troublesome ingredients, did you?"
Hearing this, Salvatore shuddered.
"One of the main ingredients of the Philosopher’s Stone is a purification of a wizard’s bone marrow."
Benjamin spread his hands. "But in this time of peace, where am I to find a wizard’s bone marrow? Can a person live after being drained of their marrow?"
"Gerald looked directly at the Bone Lord during the ceremony and became too corrupted to be saved. He wanted to take that cursed object and study it, to see if there was any chance of survival... Of course, I would help him. But he could no longer stay in the Black Tower, and as for my students... Heh. They’re different from you. They’re just a group of talentless fools, trying to learn transformation spells and profit from them."
The old wizard said indifferently, "When they came to me giggling, asking ’Teacher, is there a formula that costs less and makes more money,’ I already harbored a killing intent towards them.
"The path of transmutation—is not for these idiots to make money!"
His voice was not loud but merely a low rumble.
But the players and Salvatore felt as if they had been brushed by an invisible hurricane, nearly losing their balance and falling to the ground.
Salvatore let out a deep sigh.
He temporarily put aside the messy thoughts about the Philosopher’s Stone, his brothers and sisters in study, and the other things in Heath Tower of Black, simply continuing with his original line of thought and slowly asked, "After Gerald was wanted... was it because you wanted to preside over this ritual?"
"Yes. I did, and so did he."
Benjamin smiled slightly, "I dispatched three waves of assassins, and he tried to murder me four times using various methods. But we both failed.
"As for our desires, they were quite simple..."
He said, his expression becoming grave, "When one’s soul ascends, they receive new Curse Bindings.
"Naturally, a secret keeper is needed to guard the secrets of the Curse Bindings, to bind the curse with the power of vows...
"The Curse Bindings a person receives after ascending to a god—naturally, also need a secret keeper. And usually, this secret keeper is the god’s ’Pope’."
Benjamin said slowly.
Meanwhile, Annan outside the room also felt that strange, searing heat as all his blood seemed to boil.
Like Salvatore, his Curse Bindings were spreading and creeping all over his body. But they were not black. Instead, they were gold runes, shining with a dazzling light.
It seemed to be the effect of the Book of the Celestial Chariot...
[Leveling Up, Currently Level 19]
[Leveling Up, Currently Level 26]
[Leveling Up, Currently Level 31]
The subtitles streamed by at a very high speed, finally slowly coming to a halt:
[Leveling Up, Currently Level 41]
[Element Extraction in progress—]
[Bloodline Element: Frost (100%)]
[Soul Element: Glory (63%), Wisdom (45%), Honor (10%), Beauty (3%), Stringency (1%)]
[Element Manifestation: Frost, Glory]
[Revelation of Truth in progress—]
[Book of the Celestial Chariot 2/6]
[Accessible Truths: The Undying, The Path of Ascension and Transformation]
After that, a strange sensation of coolness suddenly assaulted him.
All the clothes on Annan’s body were completely torn apart by the surging power—
An intense coldness oozed from him, the ground itself freezing. Annan’s skin became paler and almost transparent.
Behind him, a pair of wings emerged at each shoulder and waist.
One pair reached high into the sky.
One pair hung down to cover his body.
—Concealing the glowing runes all over his body.
After the wings covered all of Annan’s runes,
They suddenly all turned into tiny cracks.
Golden orbs, gleaming with light, quietly shone within those cracks.
—There were a total of forty.