"...Master Bernardino."
Dragon Well Tea had struggled for a long time to suppress the rising nausea in his stomach before respectfully greeting the elderly man.
It should be clarified that he personally had no objections to Bernardino Treshaw.
It wasn’t that Bernardino’s words had provoked him.
It was merely an extremely intense feeling of fear.
Those were not human eyes—
Below the face wrapped in withered yellow bandages, black runes flowed like living things. They crawled like tiny cockroaches on the ground, emitting an almost inaudible rustling whisper.
—And in the gaps of the bandages, two rare gemstones were revealed.
Not like Annan, whose pupils were as beautiful as gemstones... nor like Kafney’s, which gave the impression of doll-like eyes.
But actual, genuine gemstones.
One was a sapphire the size of a quail’s egg, with many facets. From any angle, one could see the lone, pure white rune suspended right in the center of the gemstone.
And Bernardino’s left eye was a high-quality chrysoberyl cat’s eye as large as an eyeball. The bright gold line in the center was vertical and even, seeming to emit a steady glow outward.
Through the bandages, Dragon Well Tea could vaguely see that Bernardino’s eye sockets had turned into gold gemstone mounts.
He was covered in bandages, as if he had survived a fire scene. Naturally, he had no place for rings, necklaces, or bracelets.
Perhaps this inset... or the gold gemstone frames fixed into his own eye sockets by some other means were his Curse Binding artifact.
If the old man sat there silently, no one would think he was alive.
Just being gazed at by the old man’s gemstone eyes made Dragon Well Tea tremble uncontrollably.
The sensation was like wearing a sweater and walking against a strong wind in winter.
From his chest to his back, he was invaded by a bone-chilling cold.
—That was perhaps not an illusion.
"Do not bully my student."
Suddenly, Clarence spoke in a low voice.
He raised his right hand and vaguely pointed towards Dragon Well Tea.
At that instant—Dragon Well Tea sharply felt that the icy sensation in front of his chest suddenly vanished.
Dragon Well Tea could vaguely see the ghostly blue radiance flickering at the tips of Clarence’s long and sharp fingernails.
"It seems you’re quite pleased with him."
Bernardino chuckled in a low, hoarse voice.
His laughter was dry and raspy, unpleasant to the ear, like the fake laugh of a bad actor.
"That’s a Spiritual Body cultivated by Master Bernardino, it just grabbed hold of your heart."
As if understanding Dragon Well Tea’s confusion, Clarence briefly explained to him, "Your soul rank is too low right now, you can’t see them yet.
"The Soul Snatching School is not only adept at controlling emotions, memory, perception... but also excels at controlling the ’soul’ itself. And Master Bernardino is a ’Soul Shepherd’ who specializes in controlling Spiritual Bodies."
Clarence stated calmly, "Of the Master’s two eyes, one can destroy, absorb, and bind others’ souls, while the other enslaves hundreds of souls.
"If your rank were higher... you would see the ghost pushing the wheelchair behind the Master."
...So, is this why he can control the wheelchair even with his hands wrapped in bandages?
Dragon Well Tea suddenly realized.
"Heh... you can already see Lallus... that’s impressive talent."
But the old man just issued a chuckling laugh again, saying in an extremely slow voice, "’Other Soul Shepherds’... can I take that as... the answer you offer me?"
Clarence answered calmly and seriously, "You know I have no interest in that. I have my own path."
"As he spoke, he raised his right index finger, the joint slightly bent," I won’t tell anyone that you have been here. But if you don’t leave now, I will have to report to the Tower Master."
It was as if he was writing in the air, his beloved long fingernail glowing with fluorescence as it moved swiftly through the air, leaving behind trails of deep blue ghostly light. These light trails faintly persisted in Dragonwell’s field of vision, forming a somewhat complex rune.
"Heh, heh, heh... There’s no need for that, Clarence. This isn’t coercion... It’s an invitation."
Bernardino remained curled up in his wheelchair, emitting his signature dry laugh, and spoke extremely slowly, "If you don’t agree... just pretend I never came today."
As he said this, his wheelchair suddenly began to turn on its own.
Dragonwell suddenly felt a familiar chill on his body—an unaggressive yet powerful force was pushing him backward. The door opened automatically, and all the obstacles between the old man and the door were pushed aside to either side.
Even the immensely heavy bookshelves, fixed to the ground by Heath Tower of Black, moved aside before the old man.
As Bernardino passed by Dragonwell, his wheelchair abruptly halted.
The old man slightly turned to the side and asked in a low voice, "The Book of the Celestial Chariot?"
Dragonwell was momentarily startled.
"Oh, you don’t know..."
Bernardino sighed with a hint of regret and shook his head, "It’s a pity..."
Afterwards, the old man did not stop again.
But the instant he passed through the doorway, the wheelchair completely vanished.
As Dragonwell stood there in a daze, Clarence gently patted his shoulder.
"Don’t be nervous. He came here because I’m about to advance. The Master was here to ask me if I want to advance as a Spirit Monk.
"It has nothing to do with Gerald, and it has nothing to do with Jude."
Dragonwell was suddenly startled.
I haven’t asked anything yet, how do you know everything?
But he almost immediately calmed down.
Clarence spread his hands, "Do you see? This is rank suppression. This is a demonstration.
"Spiritual hierarchy does not fully represent combat strength, but it does determine the difficulty of resisting transcendent abilities."
Clarence smiled helplessly, "If you want to keep secrets, you’d better step onto the transcendent path soon.
"A soul that has not yet been corrupted by a curse... almost everything you think of is projected into my mind."
"...So, Master Bernardino knows everything too?"
"Not necessarily. The transition from silver to gold does not bring an overall enhancement of one’s abilities as it does from bronze to silver."
Clarence gave a negative answer, "Advancing to gold rank changes the entire race... Any abilities possessed before will undergo huge changes.
"After advancing to a Spirit Monk, one no longer possesses the abilities to read minds and alter emotions at will.
"To gain something, one must pay a price. The leap from silver to gold cannot be bridged with just a Curse Binding.
"I know who killed the teacher, and I’m aware of Jude’s current situation. But I won’t avenge the teacher. Because his death was inevitable... even without your master, he would have died there anyway.
"Because he was on the wrong path, and it’s none of my business. And that is his destiny.
"As for Jude... his death had its own reasons, but it was also due to my command, so I will avenge him. But I will only kill your friend once, and that will be the destiny equivalent to his deeds."
Clarence looked at Dragonwell with a gentle voice, "Do you feel reassured now?"
Dragonwell swallowed, managing a somewhat forced smile, "I thought you were from the School of Prophets... With talk of destiny and such..."
"Prophets would never share the futures they see with others."
Clarence answered calmly, "They are nothing more than a group of timid ’horsemen’."
He raised his right hand, showing off his dagger-like sharp long fingernails.
——Those were tools made from the corpses of ’horsemen’, capable of tearing apart "destiny."