Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 990: The Leading Party

With a half-smile on his lips, Boyar welcomed this "stinky outsider who can't make water" into the house.

In places like Far East City, locals have always held themselves in high regard. In their eyes, outsiders are either homeless people with nowhere to go or opportunists trying to take advantage of the situation—in any case, they are not respectable figures, but rather smelly outsiders, bumpkins, and country bumpkins who come to beg for food.

Boyar's gaze was like that of someone eyeing an old item that had been misplaced, carrying a natural sense of rejection and impatience.

Xia Xiu, however, seemed completely unaffected by the atmosphere. He stepped into the house at a leisurely pace, as if utterly unconcerned about the host's scrutiny. His gaze swept lightly over the surroundings, finally settling on one direction.

There, Monford was sitting in a dimly lit corner.

Xia Xiu smiled slightly, giving him a friendly smile, as if he had already noticed the tense atmosphere in the room but didn't intend to expose it. Then, he found a seat not far from Montfort, his demeanor composed yet wary.

"Bang—" The door was slammed shut by Boyar, shutting out the cold wind. The bookseller turned around, his gaze first falling on Xia Xiu, then shifting to Monford; he could see both of them clearly.

“I’ll say it again,” he said slowly, but with an undeniable certainty, “no matter what your purpose is, or what information you want to find out, you must read this book.”

Xia Xiu glanced at the book, but his fingers tapped the table casually as if in rhythm, then he raised his right hand, as if a student were asking a question in class:
"What is this thing? It doesn't look like a holy book, nor does it look like an ancient book from your Far East City. It looks more like... an advertisement brochure for selling medicine."

He spoke with utmost sincerity, yet every word carried a subtle hint of sarcasm, making it difficult to discern whether he was genuinely curious or trying to undermine him.

Boyar's expression darkened noticeably, and his half-closed eyes narrowed sharply as he scrutinized the blond outsider, as if he were looking at a stray cat that had wandered into a teahouse—with an air of impatience.

He cursed inwardly:
"This kid is such a troublemaker. People from out of town really don't know much."

"Enough with the nonsense." The bookseller's voice was as cold as well water on a winter night. He pointed at a book, "Just read it."

The book lay quietly on the table, its cover unremarkable, lacking the shimmering magical luster and the black flame runes commonly found in heretical scrolls; it looked more like an ordinary, mass-produced book.

But Xia Xiu only glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and already caught the anomaly hidden within—not magic, but another kind of more subtle and sinister power, like a spider web wrapped around consciousness with fine threads.

The taste of Mimu... but it's not very high-grade.

Monford watched silently from the side. He could tell that Xia Xiu was deliberately testing him, but he couldn't tell whether the test was directed at the book or at Boyar.

The book cover gleamed faintly in the light of the oil lamp, the font was rounded and elegant, but the title was quite sophisticated, written in the universal script of all realms—"The Secret of the Stars".

“This is no ordinary book.” Boyar’s voice was low and had a hoarse, seductive quality, like an old storyteller telling a strange tale that would keep people up at night.

"This is a guide—teaching you how to use the 'Five-Step Perseverance Signal Method' to achieve your deepest dreams and ambitions. Anything you want—whether it's gold, power, women, or immortality—if you are devout enough, this book can make it fall into your hands."

He ran his fingertips along the cover, his eyes shining:
"It won't make you bleed, nor will it require you to sacrifice anything."

It offers something simpler—look at the stars every day in its way, tell them your wishes, and imagine that they will respond to you.

Then you'll find that in the second week, you'll have a bag of gold coins in your pocket and a fine horse that you've never owned before parked at your door.

You don't have to do anything to get it. Even if you do nothing but follow the instructions in the book, there's an 80% chance that what you want will appear on its own.

His voice carried a dangerous tenderness:
"But if you are lazy and don't do what it says, then it will not give you anything... and will even slowly take away what you already have."

Boyar's voice still echoed in the room, as if he were telling a gospel that could change one's destiny.

Xia Xiu, who was listening, simply rested his chin on his hand, his smile as gentle as melting snow in spring, yet carrying a sinister and unsettling quality.

"Why do I feel like your story... sounds a lot like some of the pyramid schemes I've seen? You claim to fulfill dreams, but actually you're just luring people into your little circle, using all sorts of linguistic tricks to deceive us. And also..."

Xia Xiu pointed to the book in his hand, his smile deepening, "Free things are often the most expensive—I wouldn't feel at ease using it if it didn't charge something in return."

"Multi-level marketing?" Boyar was stunned for a moment, clearly not understanding this foreign term, but that did not stop his anger from rising. He already didn't have a good impression of this blond-haired outsider, and since he entered the door, the other party had been constantly taunting him, and now he was directly undermining him.

His face darkened instantly, and he slammed his hand heavily on the table as if to shatter the annoying aura emanating from him: "You stinking outsider, I've put up with you for too long! Take it or leave it! If you don't want to watch—" He pointed towards the door, his voice rising, "There are plenty of people outside begging to watch!"

Xia Xiu merely glanced at him, blinked, and said innocently:

"Look, he's getting anxious again."

"I didn't say I wouldn't watch it."

Boyar was choked by Xia Xiu's words, "Look, you're getting anxious again," and his face turned ashen, as if someone had used a knife to pry off his mask, and he couldn't even maintain a forced smile.

He took a deep breath, as if trying to swallow his anger, and pushed the book towards Xia Xiu.

"Stop talking nonsense and read your book. If you keep talking, I'll kick you out!"

If this stinky outsider in front of him keeps babbling on and on, he'll use his iron fist to give that guy's smiling, stinky face a good whack.

Xia Xiu took the book, revealing an almost harmless smile, but his tone carried an undisguised mockery:

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll take a look. You've been so hospitable, so I'll take a look... so as not to disappoint your hospitality."

Boyar's eyelids twitched. He swore that the blond guy in front of him was the most annoying, smelly outsider he had ever met.

Seeing this, Monford felt a tightness in his chest and instinctively wanted to speak up to stop him—he had seen too many examples of curiosity killing people, not to mention that this book looked suspicious.

Before he could even speak, the blond youth turned around, his eyes as calm as a fireplace on a winter night, as if silently saying—it's alright, don't worry.

In that instant, Monford inexplicably stopped moving, as if some invisible force had restrained his hands and feet.

Xia Xiu lowered his head and turned the pages with genuine curiosity—he wasn't just there to join in the fun; he had been tracking the Fifth Church's every move to see what was hidden in these propaganda materials that they regarded as "the Bible."

The ink spread across the paper like fine snake scales as he casually flipped through the book.

-

Chapter Two, Section Three: "The Holes That Exist Around You"

Do you feel empty in your life? Everyone feels that way, it's just that some people don't realize it.

think about it.

You can feel a deep emptiness within you. Just as particles are a fixed part of quantum entanglement, emptiness is a normal reaction to your existence. Remember what we talked about quantum entanglement? Nod and say "I remember."

Yes, you remember.

Yes, you feel empty.

That's good. It's a chasm, a chasm waiting for you to fill with the deepest desires of your soul, until it's about to burst. You will eventually burst because of your desires.

Until he erupts, this chasm is a space for your will to ferment and sublimate, just like a cathedral used to play organ music.

Listen to the pipe music now. This isn't a metaphor. If your will is strong enough, you can hear the music. Remember—there isn't a single metaphor in this book.

-

This thing... looks exactly like a pyramid scheme brainwashing book.

Xia Xiu casually continued flipping through the book "The Secret of the Stars," and several chapters caught his eye.

-

Chapter Six, "The Fifth World," Section Two: "The Fifth Cause"

In the society you live in now, you are encouraged to "be yourself," as if it were the key to achieving your goals. What does this mean? Nothing.

You cannot be anyone other than yourself. Even if you have been someone else, you will only ever be "you," and "you" could be yet another person in another world. There is nothing else beneath existence.

Because you cannot be someone else, it means that if you want to change your reality, the whole world has to change for you. You must embed your phenomenon where your goals can be achieved.

Now imagine if the place where your wish comes true had a name—it would be called the Fifth World.

The Fifth World is a universe that surrounds you and will slowly become the world you desire. It wasn't always like this, but you can make it be.

If your current world is a tight-fitting, collared garment, then the Fifth World is a loose robe that allows you to stretch freely.

Before you enter the Fifth World, you have never truly moved. You will find yourself merely a square on a piece of paper, only able to inch between two lines.

-

As Xia Xiu read this far, he sensed something was amiss. He continued reading, but his heart felt as if it were being subtly pulled by an invisible thread. The pull wasn't strong, it was even as gentle as the wind, but it was definitely there.

He sensed that a trace amount of Mimu was influencing his external information. Instead of directly activating his own Crown Element to eliminate these viruses, he allowed them to multiply.

Following in his mother's footsteps, he read the subsequent chapters;
-

Chapter Nine, “Don’t Take Your Eyes Off the Book,” Section Three, “Here, Now.”

These helpful tips can save you in the coming week:
Mirrors are for others.

Sit alone in a dark room for at least an hour each day. Move around the neighborhood as much as you can.

If you feel a soul growing inside you, go outside immediately and follow the direction of the smoke until you encounter them.

I kept listening to the prayer sung by the Son of Trol.

Fall in love with the leader. If you hate them, they'll know.

-

My attention was drawn forward by the phrases "look at the stars" and "don't take your eyes off the book." The sounds of the oil lamp and the rustling of paper in the room grew fainter, and the edges of my field of vision narrowed.

Without making a sound, he tapped the cane three times with his fingertip, as if driving a rhythm nail into his consciousness.

The traction was slightly reduced.

He pulled his gaze half an inch away from the text, then looked back down, repeating the process once more.

The traction quietly returned.

There was definitely a problem.

Across the table, Boyar's gaze was fixed on Xia Xiu's face, like a hunter waiting for his prey to show the slightest hesitation or greed. That expectant gaze almost seemed to pierce through the pupils and crawl directly into the person's mind.

Monford, however, was extremely uneasy, his fists clenched so tightly on his knees that the veins bulged, as if he were afraid that the blond stranger in front of him might be dragged into the abyss by something if he wasn't careful.

Xia Xiu did not give them the response they wanted.

He merely raised his eyes, a faint smile playing on his lips, and casually pushed the pages of a book back an inch—just the right amount, as if he were leisurely passing the time, as if flipping through a life guide issued by the town government.

But in his heart, he had already made a judgment about the book—it was an unusual item.

It disguises itself as a sheep in the guise of "spiritual growth" and "spiritual healing," slowly herding unsuspecting ordinary people into its pen.

Once you read enough and practice enough, certain chapters will release a toxic fog of cognitive harm.

What's even more ingenious is that these books don't directly attack one's thinking, but rather subtly change one's stance, making one feel that the Fifth Church is the only answer.

The known danger of the current first stage is the curiosity period.

The words subtly fascinate the reader with the "stars" and the "call of the universe," planting a seed of desire in the heart that will sprout on its own. This is followed by a gradual alienation: friends, family, and even one's original beliefs become indifferent, replaced by a dependence on new words and symbols.

However, the flavor is not authentic.

Xia Xiu knew very well that this framework was not written by the true Fifth Church central leadership.

The true Fifth Church—that terrifying entity hidden deep within the information layer—would not use such low-level methods. Their information weapons do not need to pander to people's desires; instead, they directly rewrite people's cognition.

The writing style of this book is more like...

Three words silently surfaced in Xia Xiu's mind—traitor.