Annan furrowed his brows slightly, his expression turning solemn.
He did not ask Xitan Pulan pointless questions like "Did you really hear that name?" or "Are you sure?" — If there really was an elderly Ritualist there, the fact that Xitan Pulan had come back alive was already no small feat.
The path of rituals... this was another way to obtain transcendent powers in the world.
Undoubtedly, they were far more dangerous than Transcendents.
The end of the path to transcendence always leads to one place — to grasp the truth and ascend to become an Immortal.
But in this world, there are always people who are attached to the mortal world, indulging in the lavish lifestyle and the tangible benefits, without longing for the distant eternity, truth, and authority.
For them, transcendent power is merely a useful tool to gain glory and wealth.
Since it is a tool... cost-effectiveness naturally needs to be considered.
The iron rule of this world is, to obtain power, one must endure a corresponding curse.
But if it’s just a short-term lease, one can pay much less.
Ritualists do not, like Transcendents, choose to elevate their souls, raising their level of life. They do not even step onto the path of transcendence... thus, the Mist cannot stop their actions.
They simply use secret knowledge to satisfy their endless desires.
They "rent" transcendent powers through rituals, with unspeakable secrets about the True Names of gods, the rituals, and the secret relationships between them.
In the whole process, the curse does not enter their bodies; instead, the effects produced by the rituals can be used as materials for other rituals.
Therefore, they do not become short-lived or long-lived; they do not fall into nightmares, nor do they develop aberrant desires. They even understand how to use the influence of gods to cleanse the contamination of their own souls... and how to pollute the minds of others, driving people insane without them noticing.
They are merely mortals, yet they hold tremendous power in their hands — a power completely beyond control.
Transcendents are well aware of the price that must be paid to gain power and know that those who lack ability are not permitted to touch the taboo of stronger curses.
And after their souls are elevated, Transcendents often have room for failure in rituals... but Ritualists do not.
The power they wield far exceeds their own level.
This makes them fearless.
For them, the difference between failures of rituals of different levels is just like the difference between "an explosive that can destroy a building at arm’s reach" and "an explosive that can destroy a city at arm’s reach."
If things go out of control, death is inevitable, with no difference.
The only distinction is the magnitude of trouble the residual waves of the ritual will cause others after their own death.
And those who embark on this path are originally incapable of caring about such things.
Because to become a Ritualist, one must first have the resolve to pay any price, to use anyone — and often even risk offending a True God.
Ritualists have no reverence for power at all.
Therefore, all Ritualists are natural fugitives.
Even if they have committed no crimes, they need to be constantly under surveillance, apprehended, or even subtly assassinated. Because everyone knows that once a ritual goes out of control, the Ritualists simply do not have the ability to dissipate or suppress the ritual.
Unlike the Transcendents with clear ranks.
No one knows how much secret knowledge a Ritualist has stored in their mind — because there is no way to know when they became a Ritualist, when they began collecting such secret knowledge.
Perhaps it was in his early childhood that he read a forbidden book collected by his parents; perhaps it was in his youth, that he acquired a secret tome detailing certain rituals from the belongings of a deceased Ritualist; or maybe it was not until middle age, or even his senior years, that he fortuitously came into contact with this world.
In contrast to the official stance... the Pseudo-god Church, which was already homeless and nomadic, had no fear of the dangers posed by Ritualists.
They often hired Ritualists to help them conduct rituals.
Different from the path of Transcendents and rituals... the path of faith is the most equitable path.
It doesn’t emphasize innate talent, skill, or morality, nor does it come with many inherent or external dangers. As long as you give, there will be gains; as long as you work, there will be rewards.
But its price is—loyalty.
It’s not the loyalty one owes to a mortal monarch, the promise of just three sentences, common to all deities.
For instance, the clergy of the Silver Baron would swear the following at the time of their initiation:
"I swear to do my utmost to perpetuate the symbol of the Silver Baron—silver coins;"
"I swear to follow the path of trade faithfully and walk the roads once traveled by the Silver Baron;"
"I swear never to betray, never to be close to another Eternal One."
—That’s all there is to it.
The first two are only "to the best of one’s ability," but the third is mandatory: you may use your own original rituals, the rituals of the deity or demi-god you believe in (if it’s a True God), but you must not use the rituals left by other deities.
The reason for this, Annan was not yet aware.
After all, this was not too harsh... and it was not a requirement for the "believers" but for the "Priests."
It’s almost like a non-compete agreement.
If there really was a Ritualist in Roth Fort, Annan would have to overturn all his previous plans.
Because that would mean there might be no followers of the Rotten inside Roth Fort... The previous "Ritual: Untouched Heart Sings" and those summons might even have been summoned by the same person.
And he was merely employed by the Rotten.
As such, the influence of the Rotten inside Roth Fort might not be as extensive as Annan had imagined—indeed, they might have completely withdrawn.
"Things are starting to get complicated..."
This was no longer just about the online players and Xitan Pulan’s newbie trials.
It was now connected to the safety of Roth Fort, the survival of the Geraint family in the Royal Capital, and even the royal succession of the Kingdom of Noah—
"Please run another errand... go and call Jiu’er back first. Then notify the Four Dark Seasons that they can set up their traps. Once the traps are set, they should retreat immediately and use the traps to delay their departure."
Annan narrowed his eyes slightly, "I’ll go back to fetch some things, and you guys wait here for me... I’ll try to return within forty minutes. If they leave, you and the Four Dark Seasons should at least tail the Ritualist—the others are not important.
"Your trial will come to an end for now, and I will make another assessment afterward. To allow you to follow them boldly and effectively, I’ll grant you the ability to communicate with each other and to resurrect."
As Annan spoke, two notifications floated before Xitan Pulan: The resurrection and forum functionalities were unlocked.
Annan planned to take action himself—he intended to capture a living subject.
Of course, gathering the online players to issue a temporary main quest and grant a temporary unlimited resurrection privilege... was naturally essential.
Not to mention, at the very least, it would help to take some of the heat off Annan.
And these two new players, who possessed stealth assassination abilities... might just be an unexpected boon for Annan.