Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 1324 A Gentle Resolve

The intelligence provided by Morgan and Galatea was particularly crucial.

Aiwas was very glad that he valued the "encyclopedia" enough, and made a special trip to the Dream World.

The ring-shaped ritual of the Path of Beauty must pull down the Butterfly Celestial Division; at the same time, the promotion ritual may be corrupted, so choosing the New Moon ritual without teammates might be safer...

Wake up from dream.

When Isabel opened her eyes, she saw Aiwass deep in thought under the covers.

"—Do you need my help, Aiwass?"

But Isabel suddenly spoke up.

Aywaston was startled and turned around: "What do you want to do?"

"What you're worried about is the issue of the Butterfly Celestial Division, isn't it?"

Isabel spoke softly, her gentle yet firm gaze fixed on Aiwas: "I remember you said that Shang Tiansi rose to the position of Tiansi through a transaction—he was originally unqualified to become Tiansi, but now he can die as Tiansi. Once he is reborn, he will have the possibility of becoming Tiansi through this great achievement."

"In other words, apart from the Path of Beauty, all the Celestial Masters have now taken their positions... Once the 15th of this month passes and the Full Moon Ceremony ends, many sixth-level transcendents will appear. Even without your help, they will have the potential to defeat the Celestial Masters and seize the Celestial Master fragments."

"I think... what you're worried about is the possibility that the Celestial Chief they brought down isn't the Butterfly Celestial Chief."

"Don't do anything foolish, Isabel."

Aiwass's expression turned serious, and he reached out to press Isabel, who was trying to sit up, back down. "Leaving that aside, I have a backup plan—you're pregnant now. I know you already have the Celestial Fragment, so you're not afraid of death. But do you want little Aleister to die with you?"

"Of course I have feelings for her..."

Isabel murmured softly, "After all, I spent three times more time with her than with you during the ascension ceremony. But that was an apocalyptic disaster, and it concerns your safety. If..."

"—There is no such 'if'."

Aiwass interrupted Isabel again, looking at her with utmost seriousness: "I will think of a way to save the world. You won't need to sacrifice yourself for it. There is no reason in this world to sacrifice a child to save the world, even if the child has not yet gained her own soul, she already lives in your memory."

Isabel stared at Aiwass for a long time, then suddenly laughed.

Her smile was so beautiful, so captivating. The beauty she radiated possessed a vitality and energy.

Seeing her laugh out loud, Aiwass finally calmed down.

He realized his heart was pounding—even confronting the Great Abyss directly hadn't made him this nervous.

"...Were you joking just now?"

"Not."

Isabel smiled gently, like a saint, and gazed calmly at Aiwas: "Of course I love that child so deeply, more than my own life; I cherish life so much, and now that all the sorrow and obstacles have been resolved, I truly want to live in this beautiful world... I also truly want her to exist in reality, not just appear in the ascension ceremony, or be remembered only by me..."

"—But for you, I am willing to give up all of this. Everything I have is because of you, you saved me from the clutches of fate... I can also return it to fate by my own will."

Hearing Isabel's gentle, breeze-like murmur, Aiwass felt a moment of breathlessness.

It was a love that was so intense and devoted, even to the point of being somewhat twisted.

...Yes.

Isabel possessed an exceptionally strong affinity for the path of love, so much so that by sacrificing it, she could gain power sufficient to defeat the Avatar. However, under Aiwass's protection, this world did not undertake such a feat.

“You have indeed become stronger, Isabel…”

Aiwas let out a soft breath, his mood calming down somewhat.

He smiled wryly and said, "But I do wish you could be a little more gentle."

“Eivas,” Isabel didn’t answer Eivas’s question, but instead asked, “If the world had to sacrifice someone, who would you choose?”

"I'll do it myself."

Without hesitation, Aiwass replied, "I cannot make decisions for others, nor can I sacrifice others. Premature death is wrong, and there is no necessary evil in the world... or rather, the only sacrifice a person can make is for himself."

“Yes,” Isabel said lightly, “that’s what I think too—that’s how you taught me.” “…”

Seeing Aiwass speechless for a moment, Isabel laughed, pulled him down onto the bed, and rubbed his forehead: "Don't worry, darling. If everything goes well, I won't do these things. Who would choose to die if they could live a good life?"

...Is this also a "fuse"?

Upon hearing Isabel's words, Aiwass finally understood why Isabel had suddenly become so tough.

It was Morgan's words that touched her.

“I shouldn’t have taken you to see Morgan.”

Aiwas tackled her to the ground and said viciously, "That witch corrupted you!"

"To strengthen your resolve, Aiwass. And also to put pressure on you."

Isabel touched Aiwass's cheek, as if wiping away tears that were either nonexistent or perhaps present, and murmured, "I know... you're the type who performs better under pressure, right?"

“I am different from Ai Shiping.”

Aiwass replied without hesitation, "He would sacrifice Amber, but I will not sacrifice you."

"So, do you have any ideas?"

Isabel countered, “Determination alone isn’t enough. If you have ideas, I can help you carry them out. If you think I’m in your way, then bring others—time is running out; we only have twenty days left. You could even say we only have five days. After the ascension ceremony on the 15th, the final ring of the Path of Beauty might fall. That means other Celestials might be summoned down.”

Yes, they are not actually worried at all about the problem of Tian Si not being able to pull down the path of beauty.

When people are not strong enough, the arrival of the celestial beings is a calamity; but when people become strong enough, the arrival of the celestial beings becomes a piece of meat that everyone wants to take a bite of.

It's like getting a power-up in the game Pac-Man that allows you to turn around and bite the boss.

Aiwass wasn't worried at all about not being able to obtain the Celestial Chieftain's fragments—he was now a legitimate Celestial Chieftain on Earth, undoubtedly the strongest in the world. Without this confidence, how could he dare to confront an enemy even the Pillar Gods feared?

Even if Aiwas knew who was summoning the Celestial of the Path of Beauty, he had a way to modify the summoning ritual and make it point to the Celestial of the Butterfly... just like what Vivian had done before.

His only concern was that some unknown person had secretly preemptively performed the summoning ritual and directed the Ouroboros ritual towards the wrong Celestial Division. This was also what Isabel meant by the "necessary sacrifice."

Aiwas thought about it for a long time, but couldn't come up with a good solution.

But fortunately, Aiwass thought of something else.

He has relied on his own will for so long that he has even become a god himself. He has solved too many problems through his own power...

At some point, Aiwass had forgotten that he was still a priest.

Perhaps it's because he's naturally a person who doesn't like to rely on others. So, if he can solve a problem himself, he subconsciously doesn't want to seek help from others.

When faced with a problem that is truly beyond one's understanding and must be solved within a limited time... it's better not to blindly try to be strong.

Aiwas immediately summoned his most trusted Lord of Scales and Feathers—after creating his new body, the Dao Crystal on his chest was gone, thus invalidating the contract he had made with the Lord of Scales and Feathers. As a result, Aiwas could not use advanced divine magic to directly descend, but had to use conventional divine magic to contact the Lord of Scales and Feathers.

Help me, boss!

Although it has been a long time since the Lord of Scales and Feathers was summoned, the boss is still as reliable as ever.

Or rather, He seemed to have been watching Aiwas closely and was getting increasingly anxious. Therefore, as soon as the "phone" connected, before Aiwas could even ask a question, the Lord of Scales and Feathers raised a possibility: "Is it possible that you didn't actually need to summon the Butterfly Celestials at all?"

"……what?"

Aiwas paused for a moment, then suddenly realized something.

"The reason why the Butterfly of Rebellion could not resonate with the fragments of the Heavenly Bureau and advance is indeed because the laws of the Dao are not compatible... but there is actually another possibility."

"—That is, she had actually already advanced halfway. It's precisely because she had already 'used' the Celestial Fragment that she couldn't resonate with other Celestial Fragments. After all, you already know that the Butterfly Celestial was born from Mitra's corpse, and Mitra was formed from one of Weizhe's eyes. How could she not be able to use Weizhe's fragment?"
"Unless, she has already been locked onto by the fragments of the Butterfly Celestials."

“You don’t need to summon the Celestial Butterfly—you just need to complete the remaining half for her.”

(End of this chapter)