Soul Trigger

Chapter 617 Praise of Odin
Ji Li turned his palm over and saw that the shocking wounds on it were rapidly healing under the effect of his unity of body and soul. He moved his five fingers slightly:
This thing actually injured his own body.

But what surprised him even more, and made his heart pound, was not this.

At that moment, he was staring blankly at the pendant on Jason's chest.

The intricate tree root patterns twisted and turned, transforming into densely writhing spiritual circuits like ants, yet fixed in a peculiar shape.

The shape is simple and flat, a logo, full of the rhombus aesthetic of technology and industrial sentiment:

World Tree Group...

This is definitely something I left behind.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Jason and reached for the pendant, his soul trigger suddenly throbbing.

The pendant burst forth with a stunning blue light, and its strange spiritual energy resisted Ji Li's approach with even greater intensity.

But after the accident just now, Ji Li was prepared to suppress it with all his might, and the desperate spiritual energy of the Death Knight was about to erupt.

In that instant, Ji Li suddenly realized something and quickly stopped his surging thoughts—

The World Tree logo made him impulsive; rashly unleashing his spiritual energy in front of a spirit he didn't trust would become very troublesome.

At this moment, the logical framework of Ji Li's thought process suddenly froze:

[Loop Algorithm: See everything that will happen in the next three seconds and destroy that outcome]

He instantly initiated the loop calculation, and three seconds into the future appeared before his eyes:

As Ji Li's desperate spiritual energy erupted, the entire archive room instantly exploded, sending papers flying everywhere.

Visible cracks appeared in the air in front of him, and the pendant simultaneously began to decompose and become disordered.

Can't take it anymore?
No, it's not. It's self-destructing.

Ji Li realized that this thing was trying to self-destruct in the face of the high pressure and forced takeover he brought.

Is it a mechanism determined by the spiritual energy circuit?

Three seconds had passed when Ji Li's gaze returned to what was in front of him.

In a flash, he quickly stepped back, a question arising in his mind, not because he was puzzled by the pendant's mechanism, but because of Jensen.

Just a second before the cyclical calculation, his spiritual energy had destroyed the entire archives, even affecting Jason himself.

Even so, Jensen did not react at all, as if his gaze was completely drawn to the pendant.

Suddenly, large chunks of the wall collapsed, revealing the pipes inside.

That was a chain reaction triggered by the pendant's initial burst of power; large plumes of scorching steam erupted at the doorway.

Anya, who was closest, screamed and raised her hand to dodge, but was immediately caught by Ji Li, who was pulling back, and was pulled behind the steam.

He initiated the cyclic calculation again:

"Clementine".

During the calculations, he called upon Clementine.

The ghost nun burst out of the inverted cross and rushed towards the still bewildered Jensen, heading straight for the pendant. But just as she got close, she was struck by a force and sent flying backward, crashing back into Ji Li's other arm.

The impact of Clementine's head seemed to jolt Jason out of his daze, but he still ignored everything in front of him, trembling as he picked up the pendant in his hand and finished the calculation.

The calculation results gave Ji Li two pieces of information:
1. Clementine was also unable to touch the pendant.

2. Jason's reaction was a bit strange. He didn't seem to be "tempted" by the pendant, but rather seemed to know some information about it.

The third calculation began, and Ji Li instructed Anya to touch Jason's pendant.

Jason remained standing there, stunned. When he realized Anya was getting closer, he excitedly grabbed Anya's hand, startling her and causing her to hurriedly dodge away.

Jason opened his mouth excitedly to say something, but the third calculation ended—

Therefore, it is indeed due to the spiritual quality that the spirit of an ordinary person can touch the pendant.

This pendant resists being touched by something that possesses spiritual energy.

In other words, he has no way to deal with this thing?
No, if this thing was left behind by the forerunner, by his past self, by "Odin".

So no matter who holds it now, or what kind of being it is, it cannot be denied that its true owner is "Odin".

In other words, all you need to do is show Odin's posture.

His eyes flickered, and the three cycles of calculations caused Ji Li's physical and spiritual state to tremble slightly.

However, the power of dual-dimensional distortion and attribute conversion was derived from the aftereffects of cyclic calculations, and he could still tolerate this anomaly.

At this moment, only two seconds had passed in reality since Ji Li retreated after his second attempt to touch the pendant, and he initiated the fourth cycle calculation:

Ji Li took out a bracelet from the Dragon Ring, which was the "Moon Devouring" bracelet, a level-one spiritual artifact given to him by the Mad Woman before her departure.

The activated Moon Devouring technique would completely obscure Ji Li's aura for three minutes, causing him to immediately activate Dual-Dimensional Distortion. At the cost of infinitely increasing his "Affinity," he frantically boosted his "Willpower" attribute until Odin's true form was revealed—

The pendant's resistance vanished completely, and it snapped the leather cord around Jann's neck, flying into his hand on its own.

With a rapid fluctuation of spiritual energy, like dense mechanical deformation, it transformed in Ji Li's hand into a technologically advanced badge, the surface of the World Tree logo displaying a perfectly smooth, technologically advanced finish.

As expected, but...

and then?
Then the loop calculation ends.

Activate Moon Devouring, increase numerical debt, transform into Odin, receive the pendant... Three seconds is still too short.

Just as Ji Li was about to optimize the process and start the fifth loop calculation to see what would happen next, an excited male voice rang out:

"By the Father of Gods..."

The two looked up and saw it was Jason.

He slowly stood up, took off the necklace from his chest, held it high, and then suddenly knelt down on the ground:
"Praise be to you, Odin, the great Allfather!!"

Ji Li's mind suddenly went blank: What are you talking about?
Jensen placed the badge in front of him and bowed deeply.

He began muttering things like "King of Heroes," "Eternal Wisdom," "Undying Will," "The Azure Twilight that Envelops the World," and thanked him for the power he had bestowed upon him.

Ji Li suppressed his discomfort and exchanged a glance with Anya.

The latter was also somewhat taken aback, but she clearly knew the reason behind Jason Green's behavior:

“The Grimm family are believers in Odin, and old Mr. Grimm is a fanatical Odin follower. Jansen is his grandson, so…”

So you believed me after all. That's alright then. Ji Li's lips twitched.

If before it was a highly probable and bold guess, Ji Li can now be completely certain that "Odin" is the pioneer, or rather, he is.

At least when Jason is talking about Odin, who is holding the World Tree logo psychic artifact, he is definitely referring to himself.

Then what should I say? I am Odin, my dear believer. I have heard your call. The time has come to prove your unwavering faith. Give me back the pendant…

At this moment, Jason had finished bowing, and suddenly looked up, staring directly at Anya:

“Anya, did you see that? That’s His power… He manifested!”

Anya forced a smile, glanced at Ji Li, and then hid behind him.
"Ha...haha, really?"

From Anya's perspective, it appeared that Ji Li and the pendant suddenly clashed, and then Jason was sent flying backward.

Ji Li tried to touch the pendant again, but steam suddenly burst out beside her.

Considering her safety, Ji Li decisively gave up touching the pendant, instead shielding her from the high-temperature steam and pulling her back.

So in her eyes, Ji Li, who knocked Jason away, seemed to be more like Odin?

As for Jason... his current fanatical state is somewhat abnormal.

Considering the information Ji Li had given her about mortises and spiritual substances, could this guy's mind have been corrupted?

Thinking of this, she gripped Ji Li's clothes even tighter and shrank back.

Jason saw this and frowned, looking directly at Ji Li: "Pulitzer... I don't know why Anya would be interested in someone like you."

This guy seems to have suddenly become confident… Ji Li glanced at the mess around him out of the corner of his eye—

Does this kid think that he, Jason, caused this whole situation?

Jensen continued:

“But Anya and I grew up together, you don’t know her at all.”

"It's only because you were the one who carried her out of the bear's den, and there was a small misunderstanding between us, that you were able to take advantage of the situation!"

After being bombarded with words by his fanatical followers, Ji Li felt absurd and spread his hands, looking at Anya:

"Then you'll go over there?"

Anya shook her head repeatedly, her radiant blonde hair dancing beautifully.

But Jason showed no further impatience. Instead, he sneered, stretched his muscular body (which could fit a refrigerator door open), and grabbed the pendant on his chest:

“You don’t understand, Anya. The legend is true, the great Father exists. He is not the gospel, He is not a story, He is the guardian deity of Red Maple Town, and His power resides within…”

Ji Li captured the details:

"legend?"

"Enough, mortal! You have no right to speak here. Anya and I swore an oath before the altar to enter Valhalla together. Let her go!"

Jason Green charged straight at Ji Li with overwhelming force, smashing through the mess of tables and chairs in his path.

"Get out of my way, Anya! You have no idea what kind of world is about to unfold before us. This isn't something a nerdy guy with a bit of strength can bring you... Holy crap!"

Jason Green was thrown into the air and slammed to the ground by Ji Li's over-the-shoulder throw. The hard floor made his head spin, and he saw double images of Ji Li and Anya's faces as they bent over.

"Um... Jason, are you alright?"

"Don't worry, it's just a simple over-the-shoulder throw. The young man is as strong as an ox, he'll definitely be fine..."

Ji Li staggered slightly, his body and spirit trembling, and he had a terrible headache. Anya immediately supported him.
"Are you OK?"

"It's okay, just take a rest."

This time, the pendant around Jason's neck didn't work. In other words, it didn't actually grant the wearer any power; it merely passively defended against the spiritual energy directed at the pendant itself...

Looking at the two people in front of him, Jason, whose vision was filled with double images, was also bewildered.

Who am I? Where am I? What happened?

Wait a minute, didn't the Holy Father appear? Why... why didn't it work?
His gaze fell on the pendant below Anya's collarbone, and his head suddenly twitched:
Is it because of Anya...?
Just then, a cry of surprise came from outside the door:

"Jansen?! What's wrong with you?!"

A flurry of footsteps sounded as a large group of people gathered at the entrance.

A teacher quickly entered and helped Jason up from the ground.

"Bring another one, this big guy is too heavy! Jason, how are you feeling? My God, what a mess this place is in!"

Everyone was shocked to see the mess in the archives room, with its pipes bursting open.

Jason released his teacher's shoulder and declined a blonde girl who came to help him.

As he turned to look at Anya, a newfound confidence returned to his face.

“Anya, I know what you’re thinking. To Odin’s followers, bears are nothing special.”

He pushed aside the students and teachers, squeezing through the crowd:

"I promise you, I will prove it to you! Wait for me!!!"

As Jensen disappeared from sight, the students and teachers left behind were completely bewildered.
"What is he talking about...?"

Ji Li and Anya shook their heads in unison:
"do not know."

But as Ji Li slightly moved his fingers, a large amount of despairing spiritual energy was secretly injected into the inverted cross.

Then Clementine floated out from among them, passing through the crowd to chase after Jason.

At this moment, the students and teachers who had rushed over entered the room one after another, some of them carrying fire extinguishers.

Upon seeing the chaotic state of the archives, everyone gasped in shock.

"Pulitzer, Anya, what exactly happened here?"

Ji Li raised his hand and pointed to the side:
"The pipes exploded."

The two leading teachers looked at each other in bewilderment:

"Kids, who wants to turn off the valve?"

Amidst the bustling crowd, Ji Li and Anya were summoned to the principal's office for questioning.

He barely needed to say a word; Anya, whose father was the mayor, continued to evade the principal by citing the pipe explosion as the reason.

Although Anya received a scolding, the principal and the mayor were old friends, so after a lecture, they let it go.

So the matter didn't escalate, and it was stated that funds would soon be allocated from a fund jointly established by the mayor and the school to renovate and reorganize the archives.

After leaving the principal's office, Ji Li also met her half-sister, Ai Guier.

After discovering that Ji Li had barely lost any skin after the pipe explosion, they left immediately, basically as if to say, "It's good that he's not dead."

As for what's being spread among the students, that's rather bizarre.

It's said that Pulitzer and Jensen were so jealous of Anya that they smashed the pipes in the archives wall.

At this moment, Ji Li was sitting in Anya's sports car, sharing Clementine's perspective:
The ghost nun's furthest distance is six blocks, neither too far nor too near. After Ji Li feeds her enough Despair Essence, she can go even further.

As long as Jensen doesn't wander off, he can still provide sufficient surveillance.

What happened to Jason gave Ji Li further clues, confirming the connection between the tree root pendant and the Pioneers.

This thing is very likely to point directly to the spiritual realm, and may even be the key to unlocking it. It is indeed worth seizing and studying.

But taking the pendant means that Ji Li has to enter Odin mode, use the "Moon Devourer" skill with its long cooldown in order to solve a clue, and then be paralyzed for a week after Odin mode ends. It's too risky.

And do the three founding board members only have one pendant?

Since that's the case, we might as well continue with the same tactics we used against the gravedigger.

Jansen has already discovered the pendant's magic, and being from the Grimm family, he seems to know something as well. He will inevitably investigate from the perspective of Odin's followers and the descendants of the school board.

With the gravedigger and Jason working together, they can also investigate spiritual sites from other angles, which is the most efficient way to do so.

Feeling a slight headache, Ji Li closed his eyes, enjoying the wind blowing through the convertible to lessen the discomfort from the shock to his body and soul.

What do you think that badge might be?

Anya, who was driving, finally couldn't contain her curiosity and asked:
"I was stunned when it exploded... I never expected that Jason would have something like that on him! Was that a sedative?"

"I don't know, but it's not a mortuary object; it's a man-made prop."

"Like an item with magical powers?"

"Hmm. Compared to that kid's side, I now suspect that there's more than one pendant; the other two board members probably possess it as well."

Anya pondered carefully and said:
"One of the school board members is from the Ludwig family, and there's another one whose name I don't even know... Do I need to collect all three badges for the place I'm looking for to appear?"

"Who knows? But I'm curious, since your family isn't backed by the school board, where did the stigma around your neck come from?"

Ji Li remembered Jansen's eyes; his expression was somewhat strange when he had just gotten up from the ground.

This kid seems to think there's some kind of connection between Anya's pendant and the tree root pendant?

Anya stepped on the gas in response:
“These are my grandmother’s things. My father must know something about them. Isn’t he on his way to my house?”
-
P.S.: I've solved the dysentery, but I probably used ice cubes my dad froze last summer when I was drinking soda, and I went to the bathroom eight times in three hours...

(End of this chapter)