Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 1019 [A Ray of Dead Light]

At the Far East City's Horizon Base, candlelight flickered between the stone walls. The air still carried the scent of paper, ink, and parchment scrolls.

Xia Xiu gently set down the revised copy of the Universal Bible, turned his gaze to Monford, and spoke in a low voice, yet with an undeniable authority:
"Next, you will take two Saint-forged warriors from the Wolf Pack and take full control of Far East City."

He paused for a moment, then helped the other person clarify their thoughts.

“Now the high-level combat power of Far East City has disappeared. The Wind King has collapsed, the Crown Domain has been torn apart by me, and the so-called authority and guards in the city have lost their backbone. You only need to bring your identities—one fully-formed Saint-forged warrior, two Saint-forged warriors in progress, plus the prestige I left behind, and that will be enough to control the situation.”

"The transfer of power has never been a question of whether anyone is willing or not, but rather a question of who is capable of doing it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Montfort looked up abruptly, his eyes blazing with intense light.

He knew that this was the first time Horizon had truly stepped into the limelight.

Xia Xiu's gaze then turned to Lupercal beside him.

The boy had found a sheath, inserted the "Wind King's Blade" into it, and carried it on his back.

“Luppercar,” Xia Xiu’s voice was gentle, yet it seemed to strike the boy’s heart like a drum, “You will come along too, and take this sword with you.”

The boy was taken aback, his eyes flickered for a moment, and his voice betrayed his apprehension: "Father...can I do it?"

At that moment, his fingers gripping the Wind King's Blade trembled slightly. The weight from the hilt felt like a responsibility far beyond his years.

Xia Xiu gazed at him, a hint of tenderness flashing in his eyes, yet still maintaining his authority: "You'll have to deal with these things sooner or later. Take this opportunity to go now."

In the candlelight, Lupercal's face was slightly pale, but his instinctive pride and the wolfish nature in his blood made him nod.

"……Yes!"

Unlike the hesitation of the first son, Monford's heart was surging with passion. He glanced at the boy, then at Xia Xiu, and felt his chest ignite.

Far East City will no longer be the territory of a corrupt monarchy, but their testing ground.

For the first time, the horizon will bare its fangs across all the heavens and realms.

Soon, Monford bowed and withdrew to begin preparations for taking over the Far East City government.

Lupercal remained standing, his hand lightly gripping the [Wind King's Blade]. The hilt, once the symbolic weapon of the Wind Queen, now lay quietly behind him, like a slumbering beast, ready to awaken at any moment.

The son of the first returnee, holding a sharp weapon, was also preparing to leave with Monford.

But Xia Xiu suddenly called out to the other person again, a rare hesitation on his face. He looked at Lupercal’s face, which still retained its youthful innocence and stubbornness, and ultimately did not choose to completely let go.

Even though the child wields a symbolic weapon powerful enough to shake the regime, Xia Xiu knows full well that the [Wind King's Blade] is not so easy to wield—at least for Lupercal at this stage, it's like a child driving a big car.

The son of the First Prince, Lupercal... is still too young.

After a moment's thought, he took out a ring from the inner sleeve of his black outer robe.

It was a complex, azure-blue ring of unknown material, with a surface that flowed like liquid metal. The band was covered with extremely fine geometric patterns, as if some kind of adaptive circuit system was embedded in it.

Xia Xiu knelt down and placed the ring in Lupercal's palm.

"...Father, what is this?"

The boy subconsciously tightened his fingers, gently grasping the cold ring, his voice tinged with confusion and doubt.

Xia Xiu smiled slightly and said softly:
"This ring is an external magical system."

Its name is—Gorgon.

Before Lupercal could ask any more questions, the ring in his palm suddenly began to vibrate violently.

"Click——"

With a barely audible mechanical sound, the azure light on the surface of the ring was instantly activated. Then, the entire ring seemed to be disintegrated, instantly breaking into countless tiny cube modules, each only the size of a grain of rice, floating and rotating in his palm.

These cubes, like some kind of high-order configuration programming, rapidly reassembled, spliced, and locked around the boy's right index finger, finally snapping together to form a new ring that perfectly fit his finger.

The blue light flashed and disappeared in an instant; the system binding was complete.

Lupercal's eyes widened slightly, still in shock at the ring's adaptive structure.

Xia Xiu stood up, his tone no longer gentle, but beginning to explain concisely and clearly like a drill instructor:

"It has now completed the first stage of binding, and the information will be directly synchronized to the magical perception layer in your brain, but let me briefly tell you the key points."

The first template is called Sissina – a destructive template.

Its primary function is to unleash a wide-range, distorting magical impact with extremely high destructive power.

"The second template, Euryale - the rapid-fire template."

This thing is short-frequency and fast, capable of quickly releasing magical energy beams/balls.

"If you need to deal with harassment warfare and pursuit warfare, this is the right tool."

"The third template, and the most special one, is Medusa—the control template. It can release a polluting effect, which we call petrification."

"Note that this is not petrification in a physical sense; it is cognitive fraud pollution."

"The person hit will think they have been petrified, and their perception and actions will be limited. The specific duration depends on their own 'cognitive resistance value'. The higher the value, the faster they will recover; the lower the value, the more likely they are to be petrified on the spot."

"When used, it transforms into a magical pistol."

Lupercal, like a child who has received a new toy, was fascinated by and adjusted the [Gorgon].

"Its combat form is a deployable magical weapon, with the firing unit, charging module, and particle release trajectory all folded inside the ring. When needed, you just need to raise your hand to activate it, and it will automatically switch."

As Xia Xiu spoke, he lightly pointed his finger, and the ring, sensing the gaze of the master authority user, vibrated slightly and emitted a barely audible pulse feedback.

"This system helped me get through my early career as a sorcerer in Terra."

That was the past, before Xia Xiu became the Crowned One, or even the "Fourth Swordholder".

Well... although this early career as a sorcerer only lasted a few years, the time span is actually not that long.

However, there was nothing he could do. Lao Xia leveled up too quickly, and he also killed more and more people. His early god-tier equipment [Gorgon] was outdated and had been gathering dust in his inventory, becoming a relic of the past.

However, this is a good time to give the first son a transition period in the early stages, which can also be considered as a way of passing on the legacy.

If Lupercar becomes more capable and values ​​the ring more than Xia Xiu, he might try to upgrade it.

Xia Xiu softened his tone, looked into his eyes, and said meaningfully:
"Make good use of it; it can help you quickly get through the initial stage of magical arts."

After hearing these words, Lupercal remained silent for a long time.

He lowered his head, reached out his other hand, and gently stroked the ring, as if touching some kind of sacred object that could not be easily desecrated.

The next second, he raised his head, his eyes clear yet incredibly firm.

"...I will not let you down, Father."

The boy's voice wasn't loud, but every word was firm and resonant.

Xia Xiu smiled and scratched his head. "Go ahead."

Lupercart nodded, then quickly caught up with Monfort.

……

……

After everyone had left, Xia Xiu turned his gaze to the side.

The next second, the space suddenly stopped.

A slight energy fluctuation emanated from the Heavenly Genealogy Network, and an unreal magical connection was swiftly established. A subtle blue crack slowly opened behind him, as if some kind of encryption layer had been unlocked, revealing numerous fragmented lines of data.

Immediately afterwards, a figure slowly emerged within it.

Xia Xiu looked at him, and without exchanging pleasantries, went straight to the point:

"Armond, let's continue with the topic we weren't finished discussing earlier."

He paused for a moment, then continued to ask:
"What exactly is this 'dead light' you mentioned before?"

Amund did not respond immediately. He lowered his head and remained silent for a while, thinking about how to describe that abstract thing next.

“You know, the entries for the Fifth Church are usually written in a rather stream-of-consciousness style.”

"In terms of obscurity, they are almost comparable to the Dream God Group next door."

Upon hearing about the Dream God Group, Xia Xiu recalled the Dream God individual he encountered when he was pursuing the [Indulgence Tickets] in the early days. The witch Volianova, who belonged to the Dream God Clan and was affiliated with Far East Heavy Industries, was captured by him and imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison. She also provided him with the [Folfol] from the Solomon Key, which possessed the power to control the weather.

Later, Xia Xiu curiously followed this line of inquiry to investigate the forces behind the so-called Dream God Clan.

The Dream Gods are individuals who are all dreamers, embodiments of themselves, and non-material consciousness.

In his own words, these people are: [Terra Online players—immortal, with built-in resurrection.]

The group behind it is the Dream God Group, which remains a mystery to many. The group is believed to be primarily composed of native Terran flora and fauna.

Hmm... Xia Xiu doesn't understand why plants can dream too.

Based on the intelligence gathered so far, most of those who wanted to join the group, this abstract entity, either disappeared without a trace or returned as a collection of beings that were vastly different from their original forms.

Current intelligence indicates that other relevant organizations have documented this group to a degree generally consistent with Heaven's own; clearly, in some people's eyes, they possess a certain potential similar to Heaven's. The Dream God Group apparently has the ability to contact some extremely isolated entities (such as the Supreme Deity).

Their goal, if it exists, remains unknown at present.

While investigating his so-called past life, Xia Xiu unconsciously focused his attention on the Dream God Group.

Because they are so similar, there's some kind of internal operating mechanism between them...

As Xia Xiu pondered, the voice of the old demon king, Amond, rang out again.

"To understand that dead light, we cannot rely on explanation; it cannot be 'understood'."

“We need a reference point, some kind of actual point of comparison, to capture the offset it leaves behind.”

His phantom stood by the table, its semi-transparent body reaching out towards an inconspicuous green apple. Through Xia Xiu's power of the Heavenly Lineage, it touched reality and picked up the green apple.

“I can feel it… that thing is nearby.”

Armand's eyes darkened.

"The reason we are trapped in the Peaceful Kingdom instead of other controlled jump zones is all because of the malfunctioning reality anchor. The reality anchor is supposed to be a device used to anchor reality and keep it stable. But this reality anchor is broken—it doesn't know which reality to anchor to, causing the surrounding reality to become distorted and unstable."

"Time dilation is one manifestation of this phenomenon."

He pointed to the sky and said in a deep voice:

"The dead light is not elsewhere, but right here in this segment of reality beneath our feet."

As he spoke, he picked up the apple and casually fiddled with it a few times, like an engineer studying a fracture structure.

"Um... wait a minute."

Amund lowered his head, and with his other hand pulled out a gray computation panel from the Ophiuchus Protocol. Dozens of lines of unnamed protocol code floated in the air, rapidly executing, rewriting, and redeploying.

He narrowed his eyes and murmured:
"I'm now focusing the protocol on that point of induction deviation, trying to see if I can pinpoint some of its 'boundary effect'..."

As Xia Xiu watched Amond's actions, he suddenly felt that amber-like light, which he had previously observed while chasing the day and night spheres, appear on the green apple once again.

A few seconds later, Armand suddenly flung the green apple in his hand.

"Shh-"

The green apple traced a clean arc, flew five meters away, and landed by the broken wall, lying there quietly and motionless.

Amund clapped his hands and turned to Xia Xiu, saying:

"Alright, Abraham. Now look at it."

"Don't use the Crown System to observe, don't use ether floating-point, don't call any module for calculation, just look at it with your naked eyes."

Xia Xiu did not respond immediately.

He simply followed the curve of the water, his golden eyes sweeping over the dust, the play of light and shadow, and the folds of the wind, before settling on the apple.

But a few seconds later, he frowned slightly.

It's not because there's anything wrong with Apple.

But...

He couldn't even tell its shape. The apple lay there quietly, but its edges seemed to be constantly being reshaped.

Sometimes it looks like an ellipse, sometimes it seems to become a hexagon, and sometimes it looks like scattered and reassembled light and shadow spots.

He tried to outline its shape with the naked eye, but the focus always seemed to slip away as if something was interfering.

It was as if his eyeballs themselves were being guided into a state of "refusal to confirm" perception.

There was no distortion, no pollution, and no illusion—it was simply incomprehensible.

Xia Xiu frowned and took a few steps closer.

On the ground, the apple that Armand had casually tossed five meters away lay quietly among the broken walls and dust. But its shape had been completely transformed into a perfect cube.

It is square and has sharp edges, with no signs of impact, falling, or twisting on the edges, just like an "apple cube" that has been precisely cut by hand.

Xia Xiu bent down and picked it up without hesitation.

The green color on the peel is still bright, but the internal structure cannot be identified as an "apple" from its appearance. It is more like some kind of unnamed biological tissue—something that has been solidified, simplified, and defined as "looking like an apple".

With a casual wave of his hand, a water ball appeared out of thin air in his palm.

The water ball penetrated and cleaned, carrying away the dust and revealing a smooth, strange, and incongruous fruit peel surface.

He raised his hand and, without using any supernatural abilities, took a bite.

"Crack."

The apple flesh wasn't hard; it even made a slight crunch when you bit into it. But the moment his teeth touched the flesh, Xia Xiu's brows furrowed completely.

A strong durian smell.

That was not a hallucination, not a memory association, and not a taste deviation.

It is a clear, complete, and highly impactful real taste response.

His tongue accurately detected the pungent ester volatiles and the slippery feeling brought by the fibrous tissue.

This is undoubtedly a durian, but the problem is—this thing was clearly a green apple before.

Xia Xiu slowly swallowed the durian-flavored pulp and fell silent.

The old man was right; the things of the Fifth Church are very abstract—literally abstract.

The next moment, Armand's figure reappeared.

This time, he seemed to have waited for quite a while, then leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Doesn't it taste... kind of weird?"

He chuckled, then his tone suddenly turned calm, as if he had instantly switched from a joking, playful person to a logic expert standing at a podium, his voice becoming serious:
"Normally speaking, the existence and development of the material world are essentially independent of human subjective consciousness."

"The influence of human thought, cognition, and even magical arts on 'reality' can be achieved under extreme conditions, but this requires the help of structural media, such as EVE particles, magical matrices, energy level transition models, and so on."

"In other words, we can disturb reality, but we cannot rewrite its basic logic."

He pointed to the "durian apple" in Xia Xiu's hand.

"But this thing... it goes against this system."

“You did not actively distort reality, did not trigger any contamination effects, and did not invoke [Crown] level permissions to intervene.”

"But once you come into contact with it, your perception of it is 'rewritten' by its own state of being."

"If you think it's an apple, then it becomes an apple."

"If you feel it has sharp edges when you get close, then it becomes a cube."

"...You need to make some preparations now."

“In peaceful countries, some ‘weird reality distorters’ may begin to appear.”

Amund glanced down at the ground, seemingly considering whether he should continue. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke, his tone becoming serious:
“I’ve been in contact with that dead light before.”

"It was just a brief encounter... but that experience left a deep impression on me."

Upon contact with the material world, it will create some 'byproducts'.

"We generally call them abnormal fruits."

Xia Xiu tilted his head slightly: "Fruit?"

Armand nodded, his eyes wary.
"That's right, like the thing in your hand, but it's not a stale apple in the ordinary sense."

"They are structural byproducts formed from the interference of dead light with reality... essentially a kind of highly abstract concrete representation of reality."

"You can understand it as a kind of media that solidifies non-logical phenomena into an ingestible form."

"These fruits look all sorts of strange things. Some look like hearts, some like stones, and some even like some kind of insect eggs, but they are all essentially the same thing: they are fragments of permissions that are detached from the conventional laws of reality, and they are empowered by taking in these fragments."

Amund's tone softened:
"Anyone who eats these fruits will gain an ability that cannot be explained by magical theories."

"It is not a logical model, not a primitive system, and not a particle derivation technique."

"It is a kind of concrete solidification at the abstract level."

"For example... I once saw a person who ate a red fruit, and from then on, he became a fire person who could control flames."

"And these are only a part of the power of the dead light. Its most troublesome aspect is its inherent uncertainty; because you don't know what it will do in the next second. You see an apple, it is an apple; a while later it may no longer be an apple; worse, you may not be able to see the boundary between yourself and your surroundings. This uncertainty itself is terrifying."

Xia Xiu nodded.

Got it, this thing is just a random version update, the physical parameters are randomly adjusted, and special items are generated haphazardly...

I expect there will be some more abstract content later on. If a peaceful country encounters this thing, it's going to be a nightmare.