Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery.

Chapter 368: Mural of Sharing the Ancient Sun God
The transaction session at the Tarot Club.

For Odysseus, he already has a lot of experience in making magical items. When using the "Alchemy Glasses" to make a Sequence 5 level seal, in order to ensure that the negative effects are not too great, he can only prioritize two of the extraordinary abilities.

Klein the Fool thought for a moment and manipulated the World, saying, "Lightning Strike and Wind Blade."

In fact, the most distinctive ability of the "Ocean Singer" is to use its singing to influence its targets.

But in his previous operation with the "Hanged Man", he had witnessed the power of "singing" and felt that such singing should be ignored.

So he chose these two abilities. The former not only has strong attack power, but also has a "paralysis" effect.

The latter can use "Wind Blade" and "Wind Control Technique" at the same time, and can fly in the future.

After using the "Flying Scroll" provided by the "Hermit," Klein realized that as long as he could fly, his combat radius seemed to increase significantly.

Odysseus said, "Okay."

He paused and continued, "As for the reward, 600 pounds."

Because he wanted those extraordinary characteristics, he didn't feel comfortable asking for too much.

Klein sighed in his heart: What a bargain!
He hadn't expected that asking a demigod for help would only cost this much.

The other members also felt that this offer was completely beyond their expectations. If it was a promise to create a Sequence 5 level magical item with not too great a negative effect, then a quote of two to three thousand pounds did not seem too much.

After the deal was concluded, "The World" immediately said, "I also have a copy of the Beyonder characteristic of the Black Emperor Path Sequence 5, Chaos Mentor. Anyone interested?"

Audrey Justice was slightly taken aback. "Another one? Another Sequence 5? Did Mr. World and Mr. Hanged Man obtain such a rich loot from their exploration last week?"

Magician Fors and Moon Emlyn both sighed in their hearts: I wonder which Sequence 5 has been killed again.

Odysseus asked, "How many pounds do you want to sell it for?"

Although First Mate Balzer already has the promotion characteristics, since Odysseus plans to cultivate his own extraordinary forces, he will need many extraordinary characteristics in the future.

Moreover, Cruz Island currently has a stable income. Although the State of Wotai is still spending money, Odysseus can now use tens of thousands of pounds of funds at any time.

Therefore, whenever he came across something with extraordinary characteristics, as long as the price was not too outrageous, he would buy it.

Klein had already thought of a price. He manipulated the World and said, "8000 pounds."

Odysseus immediately said, "I want it."

The other members were stunned for a moment. The transaction was completed so cleanly and neatly.

Magician Fors thought to himself: I haven't even had time to find out the name of the potion that corresponds to this characteristic.

"Justice" Audrey also sighed: I originally wanted to ask what the specific ability of this feature is, to see whether I should buy it and then entrust the "Hermit" to make it into a magical item.

At this moment, all members heard World Gehrman Sparrow say, "There's another Sequence 5 trait for the Cultivator pathway."

For a moment, the entire giant palace fell utterly silent. Even Audrey doubted her own assumptions: Could it be that these Beyonder traits didn't originate from the island's exploration, but rather from three Beyonders who had proactively challenged the "world"? Or perhaps the "world" had discovered some kind of Beyonder treasure?
Fors had already imagined a series of stories in his mind.

After two or three seconds, the "priestess" Cattleya finally spoke: "Name your price."

The reason why Cattleya didn't speak immediately was because she felt a little conflicted. She bought this Beyonder simply to help his first mate, Frank Lee, get promoted.

But as the captain of the "Future", Cattleya knows better than anyone the danger posed to Frank.

But she also thought that most of the characteristics of the "Tiller" path were in the hands of the Church of Mother Earth. Frank had been with her for so many years, and he had never seen Sequence 5 level characteristics on the market.

If you miss this opportunity, you don’t know when you will have another chance.

After thinking about it for a while, she thought that she could buy this characteristic first, and then let Frank be promoted after she became a demigod.

This way, even if the first mate had any strange ideas, she could stop him in time, so Cattleya asked for the price.

"Also 8000 pounds," Klein replied, manipulating the "world." "If you use a large amount of gold coins instead, you can get a discount."

He knew that the "Admiral of the Stars" had some gold coins, so he specifically proposed a discount.

Although he had already paid off the debt to the messenger lady, Klein still felt that he should take the opportunity to accumulate some gold coins, which might be useful in the future.

Cattleya said, "Hmm," and said, "Deal. Give me a week to raise the funds."

She bought too many things at the pirate convention and hadn't had time to sell them, so she didn't have much cash on hand.

After completing the transaction, Klein couldn't help but sigh: This trip to the pristine island would have been a perfect score if it hadn't caught the attention of the being deep within the church. In less than half a night, he'd harvested a "Blasphemy Card" that couldn't be measured in gold pounds, a Sequence 5 magical item, and a potential 16000 pounds, and there was no tax to pay. It was faster than even robbing a bank.

It’s a pity that the original island is gone, otherwise I could go there and visit it when I’m short of money.

At this time, Audrey, "Justice," asked The Hanged Man in a somewhat uncertain tone, "Do you have the 'Fruit of the Psychedelic Windbell Tree'?"

She originally thought that if The World and The Hanged Man explored a mysterious island together, the extraordinary materials she needed should have been obtained by The Hanged Man.

But then, the "World" released three Sequence 5 Beyonder Characteristics in succession, making her a little unsure whether they had explored together last week.

Alger, the Hanged Man, chuckled and said, "I was just about to tell you that I've already got the fruit."

Audrey couldn't help but smile. The "Psychiatrist" potion had been completely digested. After gathering all the ingredients, she could try to advance.

She asked, "What do you want in exchange for it?"

When Alger was promoted to Sequence 5, his finances had been in a state of overdraft. What he lacked most now was gold pounds: "2200 pounds."

"Deal!" Faced with the offer with a slight premium, Audrey immediately agreed.

As the two concluded their transaction, the venue fell into a brief silence. Klein manipulated the World to first look at the Priestess, then at the Hermit, before saying, "I want to meet the Mysterious Queen."

Cattleya was slightly stunned and was about to ask what the "Queen" wanted.

The Hermit had already asked, "What do you want from her?"

Audrey sat up suddenly. She noticed that "Hermit" used "she" instead of "Queen".

Then she thought of some speculations about the identity of "Admiral Mystery" that she had read in the "Rorsted Daily". One of the reports said: There is a rumor circulating among pirates that the "Mysterious Queen" once helped "Admiral Mystery". There are even rumors that the relationship between the two is very ambiguous.

At the time, Audrey didn't take it too seriously. After all, the "Pirate General" was a bit like Backlund's socialite and great artist, so it was normal for him to have scandals.

But at this moment, Audrey suddenly realized that those rumors might not be groundless.

Her expression was normal, but she felt a little uncomfortable inside.

The other members did not have the keen observation skills of the "audience" and did not think there was anything wrong with the "hermit" asking this question.

Alger had heard long ago that the "Admiral of Mystery" seemed to be a subordinate of the "Queen of Mystery." The other members of the Tarot Club had also heard about this matter during their discussions, so they didn't think there was anything wrong with the "Hermit's" answer.

After hearing the Hermit's question, Klein manipulated the World to answer, "Don't worry, it's simple. I just need her help."

Odysseus thought for a moment: Klein was preparing to enter the "Misty Town"... no, to enter Saint Samuel's Church. He said, "I will report this matter and give you a reply in a few days."

Before leaving Wotai State, he had agreed with Bernadette that he would go to Backlund first, and then Bernadette would go to the capital of the Loen Kingdom and stay there for two days.

But Bernadette was still needed to help look after Wotai State, so after staying in Backlund for two days, she returned to Wotai State.

Klein then asked, "What kind of compensation do you need?"

Odysseus thought for a moment before saying, "Let's see her first... well, let's see if the 'Queen' agrees to a meeting."

Klein also noticed at this time that although the "Hermit" changed his words, he had used "she" to refer to the "Mysterious Queen" twice in a row.

He suddenly recalled the scene when he was exploring the "Ruins of the Gods' War" on the ship of the "Admiral of the Stars": At that time, I realized that there was something wrong with the way the "Hermit" and the "Mysterious Queen" got along.

Then he laughed in his heart and said: Your Majesty, it seems that the good cabbages in your house have really been eaten by pigs!

The "magician" Fors, who hadn't noticed anything amiss, said after the two men finished their conversation, "I need a cursed object from an ancient vengeful spirit, as well as its remaining spiritual energy."

She was also preparing to reach Sequence 6. As for the main materials for Sequence 6, her teacher Dorian could provide one, and she needed to collect the other one herself.

After all the members promised to help Miss Magician keep an eye out, Moon Emlyn cleared his throat and said to Hermit, "Mr. Hermit, after careful consideration, I intend to purchase the item with the characteristics matching those of a Blood Viscount."

The two people's transaction intention had been several Tarot meetings ago. After more than a month of fundraising, he finally raised the money.

Moreover, the top vampires have already agreed to help him prepare the ceremony and auxiliary materials.

Odysseus nodded. "No problem. I quoted you the price before: 7500 pounds."

Emlyn raised his chin: "Deal."

This is also a big deal, so of course he should be proud of it.

At this time, Alger realized that the transaction volume of this Tarot Club was already very large. Just four Sequence 5 Beyonder characteristics were traded!

He suddenly recalled the time when he first joined the Tarot Club. The first gathering was just to exchange some basic knowledge of mysticism and the formula of Sequence 9 potion.

As the team progressed step by step, most members were striving to become Sequence 5 and Sequence 6. He had even been promoted from Sequence 8 to Sequence 5, gaining a wealth of information about the ancient world of the Extraordinary Realm.

Who could have imagined that the whole process hadn’t even taken a year.

Alger was dazed for a moment before realizing there were no new deals. This brought him back to his senses. He cleared his throat and looked at Gehrman Sparrow, the "World." "Can you share that mural with everyone?"

When he saw the mural, he was greatly shocked and made some bold guesses.

It was only after the exploration process was over that he thought that he could share it with other members at the Tarot Club.

In fact, it was mainly to show it to the "hermit" and ask him to interpret the content of the mural.

Klein had similar considerations, so he had "The World" respond: "I have no objection."

After obtaining Mr. Fool's consent, Alger, the Hanged Man, materialized the mural depicting the Angel King devouring the figure suspected to be the Creator of the City of Silver.

The mural was painted in dark tones, with blurry figures in the background and a long table as the main subject.

Lying on the long table was a figure carrying a glorious cross, surrounded by three people casting a shadow.

One of them is handsome and energetic, one is majestic and heroic, and one has a white beard and looks very wise.

But those three pairs of eyes all revealed an indescribable sense of evil, because their actions were: one tore off the figure's arm, one held up the head, and one dug out the still-beating heart.

A long and wide gash appeared between the figure's chest and abdomen, and a sinister and dark-skinned baby was sitting cross-legged inside.

The bloody, evil, horrifying and dark scene left all the Tarot Club members stunned.

It seemed like they regained their composure after a moment, recognizing from the shining cross that the victim lying on the table might, possibly, be the creator of the City of Silver, the "Ancient Sun God" in mythology and legend.

Most members felt greatly shocked mentally, and instinctively suspected that someone was distorting and slandering the image of the righteous God.

When everyone came back to their senses, Cattleya asked, "Angel Kings?"

She recalled the six statues of gods she had seen in previous exchanges, and seemed to see corresponding images in the three relatively normal figures.

"Yes, at least the three around them are," Alger answered affirmatively, but he himself wasn't sure who the dark-skinned baby sitting between the chest and abdomen of the Silver City Creator represented. As he spoke, Alger glanced sideways at the Sun and found the young man's eyes dull, his mind unsettled.

At this moment, the mind of "Sun" Derrick was filled with pain and despair.

He recognized that the one being eaten was the Creator that Silver City believed in, and he also recognized the three people around him as "Eternal Blazing Sun", "Lord of Storms" and "God of Knowledge and Wisdom"!
Although the "Hermit" had reminded him before that the "Omniscient and Almighty Lord" was suspected to have fallen, falling and being eaten were two completely different things.

Then, Derrick began to doubt the claim that "God has abandoned the earth."

Various texts in the City of Silver emphasized that God had abandoned this land for certain reasons, leaving the people of the City of Silver in darkness. Therefore, as long as everyone sincerely repented and prayed for forgiveness, God would one day truly return and let the sun shine upon the entire world.

He despaired in his heart: No matter how much I repent, no matter how much I pray for forgiveness, Silver City will never be redeemed...

"Because God died and was eaten, he can never come back...

At this moment, he seemed to see generations of Silver City residents struggling in the darkness, praying sincerely for the sun to come again on the barren land.

Suddenly, an unprecedented sadness filled Derrick's heart, making him feel suffocated.

Seeing that the Sun was completely stunned and unable to provide any useful information, Alger, the Hanged Man, asked the Hermit, "Mr. Hermit, who does the baby sitting in the middle represent?"

Odysseus didn't answer immediately. Instead, he paused and stared at the mural for a second or two before saying, "Let's trade for the remaining half of the information about the Third Age. The reward is 1 pounds!"

The other members were stunned at first, then immediately became excited and began to discuss how to distribute the rewards.

Looking back at the first half of the information they had traded, it was truly shocking. They had long been waiting for the "Hermit" to trade the second half of the information.

Because they knew very well that the second half of the intelligence included the reasons for the fall of the ancient sun god and the process of the "Great Cataclysm".

Even if the reward is 1 pounds, they think it is worth it.

When Sun Derrick calmed down a bit, Justice had already decided to invest 4000 pounds, and Priestess 2000 pounds.

The remaining five members only received a share of 800 pounds.

When Derrick had basically calmed down, the transaction began.

Odysseus said, "The information we are going to trade today is very shocking. After we complete the transaction, we will need Miss Justice to hypnotize everyone. When you are in the outside world, don't think about that information."

Everyone's expression became more serious, and at the same time, their hearts were filled with anticipation, because they knew that they were about to hear one of the most secret pieces of information in this extraordinary world.

"First, I need to roughly explain what 'above the gods' means," Odysseus said. "I can't explain the specific concept clearly, but based on my observations, those who have reached 'above the gods' all possess multiple paths."

Klein, hidden in the gray fog, took a deep breath. "Sure enough! There's another level above the 'True God'."

Alger sat up straight instantly. "This is information worth 1 pounds! Such important information released right at the start. "Above the gods"! Haha, initially, I set my sights on demigods. After hearing the Hermit talk so much about the gods, I decided to aim for angels... I never thought there was a level "above the gods."

Cattleya frowned and thought to herself: This must be information learned from the "Lord of Mysteries".

She knew very well that the "Mysterious Queen" could not possibly know such advanced information.

The other members also remained silent. Although they had briefly discussed information about "Above the Gods" before, everyone was still a little surprised after learning the general concept.

Fors thought to herself: Multiple 'Divine Paths', how powerful would that be?
Then she sighed inwardly: I'm just a mid-sequence Beyonder working hard to advance to Sequence 6, why do I have to know such advanced things?
Emlyn the Moon lowered his head slightly, because he felt that the ancestor of the blood clan did not seem to be at the level "above the gods".

Odysseus gave everyone a few seconds before continuing, "According to the information I have obtained so far, there are very few beings that have reached the level of 'above the gods'.

"The 'Underworld Emperor' of the Fourth Epoch was one of them. After becoming the 'God of Death', he used some special methods to forcibly accommodate the uniqueness of the 'Hunter' path.

“Though these two pathways are close, they are not adjacent pathways, so the ‘Underworld Emperor’ is in very poor condition.

"In the Third Age, or rather at the end of the Second Age, two beings of a level 'above the gods' appeared.

"One of them is the Creator worshipped by Silver City, the 'Ancient Sun God'."

To be precise, these two are "quasi-old days" rather than "old days".

However, whether it is the "quasi-old days" or the "old days" or the "pillars", they can all be called "above the gods". This is a "general term" without a specific concept, and it is not an accurate title.

Cattleya thought to herself: This is indeed the information I learned from the Lord of Mysteries.

Then she became puzzled again: Why would the "Lord of Mysteries" reveal such advanced information to his subordinates?

Alger also thought: Such advanced and secret information can only be known by gods.

Klein suddenly thought: "Does the Lord of Mysteries also have authority over secrets?" Otherwise, how could he know so much about ancient secret history?

Just as Odysseus was about to continue his description, Justice Audrey asked, "Mr. Hermit, why do you say the Path of Death and the Path of Hunter are similar? Is there a special concept involved?"

"These two pathways are quite special." Odysseus further explained, "To be precise, among the 22 pathways, five are quite special.

“We all know that so-called ‘adjacent paths’ can generally be interchanged after becoming a demigod.

"For example, there are the Hunter and Witch paths, as well as the Sleepless, Corpse Collector, and Warrior paths.

"But I also learned something peculiar: these five pathways, in a certain sequence, are interchangeable!"

Everyone was stunned. At the head of the long bronze table, Klein, who was behind the gray fog, first thought: Could the poet classmate actually switch to the "Witch" path?

Audrey further asked, "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know either." Odysseus spread his hands and smiled, "I just know that this happened."

He was clear about the general answer to this question. Odysseus believed that it should be related to the "fourth pillar", but such a question was not suitable for discussion now.

Then Cattleya asked, "Two 'Spiritual Superiors' appeared at the end of the Second Age. Who was the other one?"

Odysseus said, "It's 'Sage'."

Sage?
Most members were stunned. They had heard of this deity at a previous Tarot meeting, but they didn't expect His level to be so high.

Odysseus did not give a detailed explanation, but continued: "'Ancient Sun God' corresponds to 'Mystic Prayer', 'Audience', 'Sailor', 'Singer', 'Reader', 'Above the Gods' of the five paths.

"It is said that He once mastered the uniqueness of the 'Thief' path."

Six ways!

The other members were stunned again, as if they suddenly felt the power of the "Ancient Sun God".

Klein was about to manipulate the World to inquire why the uniqueness of the Thief's path was abandoned, but Odysseus continued, "So many advanced characteristics and uniqueness are concentrated in one person... a deity. The pressure on Him is also very great.

"In order to maintain his condition, the 'Ancient Sun God' gave birth to two children with an archangel, Adam and Amon.

"When they were born, they possessed the uniqueness of the 'spectator' path and the 'thief' path respectively."

Derrick, the "Sun," who had basically recovered from his grief, nodded slowly: "It turns out that Adam and Amon were born because the "Lord" wanted to maintain his condition."

Klein thought to himself: Why do I feel like this is a free gift for topping up my phone bill?

At this time, Fors asked curiously, "Mr. Hermit, who is the archangel who is the mother of Adam and Amon?"

The other members were also very interested in this question. They had heard a lot of information about Adam and Amon. For some reason, everyone felt strange when they heard that these two "Angel Kings" had mothers.

Odysseus pondered for a moment before answering, "Her name is Elbella Stiano."

Stiano?

Isn’t this the surname of the family of “God of Steam and Machinery”?

Cattleya, who had once explored the secrets of the Stiano family with Odysseus, had already asked, "Could it be the sister of... the 'God of Steam and Machinery'?"

Odysseus nodded and said, "Yes."

Cattleya remembered that the sister of the "God of Steam and Machinery" was the messenger of the "Hermit"!

At this moment, she suddenly didn't know what expression to use to express her inner emotions.

To be honest, Cattleya had already guessed that the messenger's identity was not simple, so she was not that shocked when she heard the news.

It's not that she was envious. Cattleya knew very well that even if a messenger like this was given to her, she would not dare to accept it because her level was too low. Such a messenger was more like a time bomb that could kill her at any time.

She believed that the "Hermit" must have had the help of the "Lord of Mysteries" to be able to successfully sign a contract with such a messenger and not be afraid of the messenger's backlash.

No one noticed the complicated expression on the "priestess"'s face at this moment, because they were all quite surprised.

Klein was even wondering: Could it be that the Stiano family rose to prominence because they served the "Ancient Sun God"?
Odysseus did not offer further explanation, but continued, "According to the information I learned from the great Lord of Mysteries, even though the Ancient Sun God eliminated two unique identities, by the end of the Third Age, His condition was still gradually deteriorating, and so..."

At this point, Derrick the Sun couldn't help but interrupt, "Mr. Hermit, why is the Master's condition getting worse?"

The other members, including The Fool behind the gray fog, stared at The Hermit, awaiting his answer.

Odysseus pondered this for a moment, then picked out some of the information he could share: "It's said to be due to 'mental residue.'"

When the "world" was looking for a way to eliminate the mental residue of the Beyonder characteristics, the other members probably understood the meaning of mental residue.

But besides Odysseus, only Klein, Alger, and Cattleya could understand the specific concept of spiritual remnant.

Klein was stunned at first. "Is this a coincidence?" In the diary he obtained today, Russell was discussing the issue of "mental remnants."

But then he thought of another question: Where did the spiritual remnants of the "ancient sun god" come from?

Klein pondered this for a moment before raising his own question: "Did the spiritual remnant within the 'Ancient Sun God' come from the 'Elf King' and the 'Imagination Dragon'?"

The reason why he asked this was that he further thought about the advanced characteristics and uniqueness in the body of the "Ancient Sun God", two of which were obtained after defeating the ancient god.

And today he just happened to learn from Russell's diary! Once he becomes a god, his spirit is immortal.

When the "Ancient Sun God" had the uniqueness of six paths in his body, at least two ancient gods had already "lived" in his spiritual world.

"That's probably a factor," Odysseus replied, "I can't give you an accurate answer at this point.

"Well, I'll tell you my guess later."

Klein immediately understood what the Hermit meant: there was something else going on here, but the Hermit hadn't yet received accurate intelligence, so he said that.

Then he thought of a question: If it wasn’t the spiritual remains of the ancient gods, whose spiritual remains could it be?

Cattleya and Alger successively understood what Odysseus meant and fell into deep thought.

Emlyn the Moon asked, "Mr. Hermit, what exactly do you mean by mental residue? Is it difficult to remove?"

"You've probably heard that some mid-sequence magical items have negative effects that can affect the owner's emotions or give them strange habits," Odysseus explained. "This is a manifestation of mental remnant."

"When reaching the Demigod level, if the Beyonder characteristics used for advancement are not processed in a certain way, the spirit of the original owner will remain, and the person being promoted may even become more and more like the previous owner of the Beyonder characteristics.

"At the level of the gods, spiritual residue cannot be removed because the spirit of the gods is eternal."

Just as Emlyn the Moon and the other members were surprised, Odysseus continued, "In order to solve the dilemma he encountered, the 'Ancient Sun God' came up with a solution: kill himself!"

(End of this chapter)