Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 1242 Ancient Magic Card
"Tarot cards..."

Prodino carefully took the ancient card.

As a Horus, he is naturally quite familiar with this divination tool.

Although he is not an astrologer or a prophet who is adapted to the Tao, he can directly speak of the relevant knowledge of Tarot cards without even calling up the database in his mind.

"The Sun Card... Is this the Shepherd's prophecy about himself?"

Prodino thought: "If it is upright, it means a successful and bright future. Just like the rising sun, it is joyful, blazing, bright and uplifting. It emits light that is enough to dispel darkness, and it will get better as time goes by. It means hope, ideals, and optimism. It is a very good card.

"…But if it is in reverse position, it indicates the setting sun that is going downhill. Tired, exhausted, declining, depressed, the glory has become the past, and the future is not far away. There is visible darkness. It is like an aging lion, which is about to be replaced by a younger lion. I don’t know whether it is upright or reversed…"

The upright and reversed positions of Tarot cards usually mean the difference between "up" and "down", "forward" and "backward", "inside" and "outside" of this thing in this concept.

It does not necessarily indicate good or bad - just like the reversed Sun and Chariot is bad, while the reversed Death and Devil is good. This is because the concept of the Sun and Chariot is good, while the Devil and Death are bad.

At the same time, there is also the situation of "Tower", which is bad whether it is in the upright or reversed position... Because the Tower foreshadows the collapse and destruction of the Tower of Babel, the upright position means "will be destroyed in the future", and the reversed position means "has been or is being destroyed, but at least it is about to end."

"There is indeed information about the Shepherd in the Akashic Records."

Prodino thought about it seriously, and then answered: "His name has been completely erased by the White Punishment, but some things that were not directly touched have been barely preserved. It is also because of this that we can understand this person from the side. However, someone did leave behind a book called "Shepherd's Secret Sutra", which is said to be left by someone who was contemporary with the Shepherd.

"This is indeed an extremely rare antique. It is probably the only personal belonging and the only relic of a person who was executed by the white punishment in history... The face that has been erased on it should be the trace of the white punishment. But... what is the use of this card?"

Prodino was somewhat helpless: "It doesn't seem to be of much help to my situation."

"There is a special power hidden in this card."

Ibn shook his head and denied it. “You can activate it by injecting light-attributed magic into it. It once resisted the curse cast by Aymar Nur himself and the pursuit of forbidden spells. My mother used it to successfully escape from the city.

"The name 'Aimaar Nur' has existed before the birth of mankind and has been passed down to this day. As the most powerful benefactor, there was a generation of 'Aimaar Nur' who was once called the Witch King. He should have a divine weapon similar to the Eternal Pope that can amplify the power of a specific path... and he even successfully resisted the Witch King's curse. I think it may be of some use to the Incarnation of the Heavenly Official."

Obviously, Iben didn't quite understand the specific usage of this card.

But Aiwass who was standing by saw it clearly——

There is no doubt that this Tarot card is the Phantom Card.

"Can you show it to me?"

Aiwass asked Prodino.

Prodino, who was uploading relevant data, handed it to Aiwass without hesitation after hearing this: "I remember... you seem to have used a similar ability?"

He didn't remember it clearly, but he remembered that Aiwass did use the card to summon a powerful phantom demon.

Aiwas nodded and admitted very frankly: "The first tantric book I ever read was the Shepherd Tantra."

Upon hearing this, almost everyone present was stunned.

Zhu Tang and Hai Na were fine, they had never heard of the shepherd's name and did not know his value. But both Prodino, nicknamed "Encyclopedia", and Ibn, a Parthian, knew of his existence.

“Shepherd…?!”

exclaimed Old Eben.

Prodino was also surprised: "So the Shepherd's Tantra really exists?"

He quickly asked, "Then...where is the book? Where is it?"

"...What I saw was the Avalonian version," Aiwass said, a little embarrassed. "It has been destroyed by me. But the Avalonian version cannot be the original, so there must be another original version."

As he said this, he quickly took the card of the deadly sin.

Sure enough - when he passed it over, no system panel popped up in front of him.

He now understood the existence of the system more and more... It was the sacred essence condensed from the knowledge and memories of the past snake tails. The system did not recognize anything that he had not seen in the past eight reincarnations. If this was not his last reincarnation, then the information he had come into contact with would become new entries in the next reincarnation.

——Just like the input ability mastered by the naturalist, the dream monk and the dream walker apprentice!
However, as a top-level scholar of great sin, Aiwas has already mastered this power thoroughly.

Without the system, he can read and analyze its essence with his own strength!
Aiwass stared at the tarot card.

The picture of the sun shows a child sitting on a white horse with his arms outstretched, praising the sun.

The child held a battle flag in his hand and wore a wreath on his head. But the sunflowers did not look at the sun, but looked at the child instead - as if he was a brighter light than the sun.

The sun in the sky has a solemn and beautiful face, and it emits twenty-one rays of light, eleven of which are straight and infinite, and ten are twisted and short.

"…The Holy Eleven is hope, and the Holy Ten is nothingness."

Aiwass murmured softly and closed his eyes.

As he gradually immersed his consciousness and magic power into the card, it suddenly began to glow.

The "antique" that was originally as old as an old photo now emitted a uniform light like a hot iron ball. The golden glow filled every inch of the card, and the system panel suddenly popped up in front of Aiwas.

It was as if an invisible pen of light was writing - one word after another gradually emerged in the order of strokes, accompanied by splashing sparks.

[Enchantment: Crown of Thorns (Sun)]

[Discarded: Light 11 or Dark 10]

Action, Self

[Effect: Reduces the user's maximum health by 21%. If the health is still at full value, the user gains the "Crown of Thorns" effect, which lasts for 12 minutes; if the "Throne of Thorns" count reaches 3, the user dies immediately]

Very simple and unpretentious effect.

When it was condensed, it was so simple that even Aiwas was stunned for a moment - he hadn't seen the effect of the phantom card other than the essay for a long time.

However, the opposite is the effect of the "crown of thorns".

[Crown of Thorns: This state is considered a negative state and a curse. It cannot be dispelled or removed. This state is considered a serious injury. Life and mana cannot be restored or reduced. You cannot accept any special state, move, use spells, flash or teleport, and cannot cause damage.]

[When the effect ends, "Throne of Thorns" count +1]

"This is……"

Aiwass took a breath.

This Phantom Card... is indeed somewhat useful, but it is also very troublesome.

He certainly couldn't use this card himself... not to mention that it overlapped with Little Butterfly, and the price was too high. But he could use it to save Encyclopedia's life... It was not like Aiwass's Phantom Card and the extraordinary equipment of this era, which showed [Necessary: ​​Light 11], but [Discarded: Light 11] - this was usually a special entry that only appeared on some artifacts or cursed equipment.

In simple terms, it does not deduct mana, but the maximum value of one's own mana. To permanently discard 11 points of light attribute mana, or 10 points of dark attribute mana...

And what it needs is not to burn off one-fifth of the HP - but to deduct one-fifth of the HP limit. And it cannot be used when the HP is low, it must be used when the HP is full to be effective.

At the same time, if this card is used for the third time, it will cause sudden death.

In other words, this card can only be used safely twice by one person. And when it is used for the second time, the person is basically useless... With such a weak vitality, it would be difficult for him to fight or even advance.

Such harsh conditions and such a terrible price to pay naturally have extremely powerful effects.

That’s 12 minutes of invincibility!
Not only does it lock HP, it also locks mana——

Although this invincible state is quite disabled...

Mana cannot be reduced, but spells cannot be cast; health cannot be reduced, but harm cannot be caused to others, and one cannot move, teleport, or be teleported.

Although this looks a bit like the "refrigerator" of the mage in the old MMO games, the kind of spell that can control oneself and make oneself invincible for a short time...but its huge cost obviously means it is not used to block damage.

Which good guy's life-saving prop comes up and first cuts himself into serious injuries and then fixes himself into a stake!

As for its use...

"Could it be... a sacrifice?"

Aiwass's heart moved.

He suddenly realized that this was the Priest's Phantom Card. And the Priest actually didn't master the profession of Priest at that time... In other words, he didn't have the Fire Sacrifice that could heal himself unconditionally.

Although the fire worship technique is very popular, it is actually a spell with extremely powerful effects. Just by praying and consuming mana, you can directly heal yourself to the most perfect state, and even its effect is close to rejuvenation and eternal youth. Whether it is a disability or a curse, as long as enough mana is injected, you can heal yourself...

This spell is actually a "welfare subsidy" given by the Candle Master to the priests.

In order to appreciate and support the priests' dedication, Candle Deer personally gave up many benefits to heal his followers. If the priest was seriously injured, he would see the illusion of Candle Master licking him when he was offering fire.

Maybe it wasn't an illusion.

But the shepherd obviously did not have this skill - Aiwass still remembered the shepherd he saw in the vision when he was reading the Shepherd Tantra.

He didn't remember whether he saw the other person's face clearly, but he remembered that he was a skinny man wearing a black robe. His black robe was covered with scars and his body was severely malnourished... all of which were evidence that he had fed himself to the phantom demons.

He was already very weak. Although he didn't look very old, he had the skinny body of an old man.

His arms were as thin as sticks and looked like a skeleton, as if he would fall down if touched. His thighs were not even as thick as those of young people, and his skin had lost its elasticity, as if he had suffered a serious illness.

Aiwass looked at the Phantom Card carefully again and confirmed a detail.

——After activating the "Crown of Thorns" state, it is not that you cannot be harmed, but that your health and mana will not decrease.

what does this mean?
It is suitable for use when starting the art of pastoral care!

After activating this card, you can use the shepherding technique to injure yourself fatally, and then you can feed the opponent with endless vitality and mana.

Who is most suitable for this phantom card that can only be used twice?
——Of course it’s the Fallen Angels!

By that time, the Shepherd was already able to control a sea of ​​higher-level demons at will, and remained unharmed even when surrounded by the entire Parthian Army - judging from the extent of the disaster, it is even possible that Horus, the Theocracy, Herasil, and Taichu were involved.

When the Fallen Angels came to the world, they simply allowed the demon army to burn, kill and loot everywhere.

And the shepherd...

Aiwas himself knew how powerful the art of raising livestock was. To the phantom demons, the art of raising livestock was like giving a hearty meal to a hungry person who had never eaten meat before - it was a delicacy that was enough to cause sudden death.

And the reason why the art of shepherding is so powerful, and has the ability to charm people... is because the essence of this mysterious skill is also a tail-cutting technique.

He actually cut out a part of his essence and fed it to the other party. Once he was shepherded, he was assimilated by the shepherd. For the phantom demons like Little Crow and Little Butterfly who were deeply shepherded, even if they did not sign a fate contract with Aiwass and become Aiwass's sinful beasts, he could directly read their inner thoughts.

From this perspective, the existence of the shepherd can even be considered a disaster for the phantom demon.

If there is an extremely fanatical demon army, and the phantoms among them are far more than just demons, but phantoms of other paths including apostles... and the pastor can directly ignore the path level and grant mortal followers power far beyond their own path...

It was normal that he was feared and wanted by all nations when he was alive, and his records were completely erased after his death.

Such a powerful shepherd should be at least at the fifth level.

...But here comes the problem.

If this card is used to shepherd the Fallen Angels, why does it appear here?
If the Shepherd can really shepherd the Fallen Angels with infinite life, mana, and pain, wouldn't that be equivalent to directly covering up the Fallen Angels with his own existence?
——If that happens, will the Fallen Angels still lose control?

But it appears here intact, instead of being collected or sealed by a monarch.

Then there is only one result.

"...Betrayal?"

Aiwass murmured softly and opened his eyes: "Or..."

Although I don't know what happened at that time... but it is obvious that the Shepherd did not use this card when he summoned the Fallen Angel. It can appear here because the leader of the "Sandthroat Sect" was once one of the Shepherd's followers.

It is unknown what means he used to steal this card from the Shepherd, which resulted in the Shepherd's failure in the most critical summoning and caused the Fallen Angel to lose control.

Or maybe it was just as Aiwass had speculated before... The Shepherd gave up on shepherding before summoning the Fallen Angels, and then chose to sacrifice himself to the Fallen Angels, thereby destroying the plan of the Ring of Angels and preventing himself from being swallowed by the Ring of Angels.

In that case, this card is a gift from him to his followers.

The reason why he can be here and get this card is because of Aiwass.

He once again disrupted the trajectory of fate.

But when Aiwas looked at the cards in his hand again, he was stunned.

Because that card is no longer what it used to be—

It became the Sun card of the Thoth Tarot.

Just like all the phantom cards that Aiwass had processed before.

When the shepherd makes the phantom card, doesn't he need to change it to Thoth Tarot?

…So, this isn’t a normal situation? ?
(End of this chapter)