Circle of Inevitability

Madam Magician meant: the girl in the coffin underwent a transformation the instant she simultaneously received the powers of a Demoness of Catastrophe and an Undying through a strange ritual. This corpse, now possessing Angel-level power, was a monster from the moment it came into being.

Lumian, in his Demoness state, frowned and said, "Aren't boons supposed to not affect the spirit, only gradually causing mental and physical alterations?

Surely it shouldn't directly create a monster?

Moreover, from what he could see, the powers of the Demoness and Death pathways weren't so contradictory and could be integrated to some degree.

"What I explained before was only about boons under normal circumstances," Madam Magician said after some consideration. "The essence of boons is actually closer to controlled, retrievable corruption. Higher beings who grant boons generally try to suppress the spiritual, conscious, and emotional aspects of their power that belong to themselves, to prevent the recipient from being overwhelmed immediately and developing problems, as that would go against the original intention of the boon and fail to achieve the expected purpose."

Mr. Hanged Man added, "In the cases of evil god boons that we know of, if there weren't enough sacrifices, especially human sacrifices, even if a channel was opened through ritual, some of the recipients at the scene would be unable to bear the power, their bodies collapsing on the spot-either dying or becoming monsters."

Jenna confirmed with newfound understanding, "When the higher being that the Blood Emperor's strange ritual was directed at granted the boon, they didn't control or suppress the spiritual, conscious, and emotional aspects within the power, letting them exist as usual, so this girl as the recipient naturally couldn't bear it and became a monster?"

Mr. Hanged Man nodded slightly and said meaningfully, "It might not have been a boon, but rather theft."

"Did Amon play a role in this ritual?" Lumian's own boon power came from theft.

Mr. Hanged Man smiled, "Theft in another sense. Let me give an example-we can utilize the power of many Sealed Artifacts to some degree, but we must be careful to avoid the corresponding dangers and find the most suitable method, because they lack intelligence. You can't negotiate with them or make them obey to prevent them from harming you.

"In such cases, suitable methods of utilization are equivalent to relatively safe means of theft."

Lumian recalled his experience after lighting the corpse wax candle and nodded thoughtfully.

If he hadn't possessed both male and female forms in the dream city at that time, his physical body might have collapsed and become a monster.

"The Blood Emperor was indeed bloodthirsty and mad..." Jenna couldn't help but sigh.

The girl in the coffin most likely didn't voluntarily participate in such a special ritual.

"Not necessarily," Franca said quietly.

Seeing everyone look at her, she cleared her throat and said, "Based on my pre-transmigration experience, if this is related to the Western Continent, the whole ritual might not be what you imagine.

"They might have pre-selected a girl born on a specific year, month, day and time, killed her in a specific way at a specific moment, performed special treatment, then placed her in this pre-made coffin, made other arrangements, and finally conducted the ritual to let her gain power and open her eyes in an Undying state."

"Why do it this way?" Jenna asked puzzledly.

Franca smiled and said, "It's just my guess, but maybe this was the only way to please the corresponding higher being, or maybe this was the only way to avoid the influence of the spiritual and conscious aspects within the boon power. But for some reason, perhaps because the Blood Emperor and others made mistakes in interpreting the secret deed they obtained, missing some key points, the ritual seems to have failed in the end.

"Uh, maybe, it wasn't even a ritual seeking boons, but rather a method of corpse refinement..."

Jenna was silent for two seconds. "Then you still say the Blood Emperor wasn't necessarily bloodthirsty and mad."

This was more cruel than their previous speculation!

Franca explained, "I'm not saying the Blood Emperor wasn't necessarily bloodthirsty and mad, but rather that it might not have been ordinary bloodiness and madness-it was probably 'extremely' so."

Madam Magician turned to look at the female corpse wearing the phoenix crown and rosy clouds cape, and said, "She has no Beyonder characteristics. Let's go to the next room."

"Alright." Lumian had no objections.

After Madam Magician made the coffin lid fly up and cover it again, they returned to that deep and spacious corridor.

Lumian raised his right palm, looked at the dimmed dark red spots, dark "pinhole" and pale skin, then put his hand into his Traveler's Bag.

Maintaining this posture, Lumian started walking forward again.

He felt that encountering that female corpse was likely due to the effect of his right palm, so now he needed to try to eliminate its influence.

After about ten seconds, Lumian opened another door condensed from starlight.

At the same time, he saw a spring-its bubbling source.

The spring water had a sacred feeling, emitting an alluring aura-clear and pure-making Franca and the others, whose mouths had dried from the female corpse's influence, suddenly feel thirsty.

Voices then echoed in their minds:

"Drink, drink and regain your youth..."

"Drink, drink and gain tremendous power..."

"Drink, drink and extend your life by thousands of years..."

"Drink, drink and become irresistibly charming…"

"Drink, drink and achieve immortality…"

Lumian, who was also tempted and hearing the - whispers, smiled, "Don't worry, I will drink, I came here to drink you..."

Before he could emphasize that he was a person who valued ceremony, Madam Magician had already acted.

Layer upon layer of void peeled away, the clear and pure spring water suddenly receded, revealing what was inside the spring source.

There was a highly decomposed but not yet skeletal female corpse, with pale yellow-greenish pus constantly seeping from its disgusting flesh, combining with the air to become sacred, alluring, and pure.

This was the source of the spring water.

Madam Magician immediately raised both hands.

Glass-like fragments and blood tinged with pale yellow immediately flew out from the female corpse, falling into two containers that had been floating in mid-air at some unknown time.

After doing this, Madam Magician made the two containers fly toward Lumian. "They can replace the Mirror God fragments and Medusa blood as supplementary ingredients, enough for four advancements."

After Lumian put away the containers, the points of starlight condensed from the void suddenly pressed down, completely crushing the highly decomposed female corpse, making the charming, sacred grayish- white light quickly separate out and condense into a fist-sized, spring-like crystal.

Illusory water constantly flowed out from the crystal's surface, then fell back in.

With a push of Madam Magician's right hand, this Demoness of Unaging Beyonder characteristic quickly came before Lumian, already preliminarily sealed.

The light emanating from the female corpse hadn't completely dispersed-the remaining portion recombined to form a transparent eye brimming with tears.

"Your Demoness of Despair Beyonder characteristic," Madam Magician gave that beautiful but sorrowful eye to Jenna. "As for supplementary ingredients, The Chariot and Two of Cups should still have some left."

"Thank you." Jenna quietly let out a breath and quickly put the sealed Beyonder characteristic into her Traveler's Bag.

Madam Magician nodded slightly and walked out of the current room.

"Let's go find the next ingredient. This time, Two of Cups, you're in charge of opening doors."

Just as Franca was eagerly about to step forward, she suddenly saw Lumian hand over a piece of parchment.

On the parchment were words in rust-colored ancient Feysac:

"Potion Name: War Bishop;

"Sequence: 3;

"Main ingredients: Heart of a Bipolar Centaur, Core of a War Comet;

"Supplementary ingredients: 100ml of Bipolar Centaur blood, War Comet fragments, one Blood Tudor Iris, 8g of Flame Giant Tree bark;

"Advancement ritual: Lead your own team to defeat a powerful enemy force in a war.

"Note 1: The imminent atmosphere of war will attract comets symbolizing war through the spirit world. They will streak across the night sky bringing revelations, but among such comets, those with corporeal substance that can enter the real world are limited in number.

"Note 2: In the advancement ritual, the stronger the enemy force, the better the ritual effect."

Seeing this parchment, Franca was stunned and said, "Where did this come from?"

"The advancement was promised by the Major Arcana. and Mr. Fool gave me an extra reward." Lumian smiled and said, "I asked for the War Bishop potion formula."

Before Franca could respond, Lumian smiled and added, "I wanted you to have the right to choose."

Franca opened her mouth, then closed it, her emotions seeming somewhat turbulent.

After a moment, she glanced to the side and said quietly, "I didn't say I want to become a War Bishop, I still have my mission..."

Lumian didn't try to persuade her and put the parchment back into his Traveler's Bag.

Jenna's expression was slightly complex as she secretly sighed in relief. Things are good as they are now, things are good as they are now...

She didn't want change; she feared change.

Because Madam Magician and Mr. Hanged Man were present, Franca didn't dare tell Lumian "you usually just make people's grit their teeth, I didn't expect you to be so considerate sometimes" to ease her emotions. She could only quickly walk forward and casually push open a door condensed from starlight.

As soon as the door opened, an exquisite, beautiful human skin suddenly fell from above.

This human skin violently enveloped toward Franca.

Franca's body surface subsequently emanated a grayish-white color, her whole person seeming to turn into a stone statue, unable to dodge in time.

At this moment, the surrounding darkness instantly bent and folded, quickly sealing that fair and elastic human skin within.

Immediately after, Madam Magician's hand clenched.

That dark sphere suddenly collapsed, the corresponding void completely disintegrated, and the human skin inside was quickly torn into pieces by the space-time storm.

"This is also a Demoness of Unaging Beyonder characteristic. The Blood Emperor and Primordial Demoness's secret cooperation was indeed tight back then," Madam Magician smiled at Franca, Lumian, and Jenna while crushing the characteristic.

Franca was stunned for a moment, then revealed a brilliant smile.

Heh, I sure have good luck today! I succeeded in one try!

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