Fanatics of the Magic Academy

Luo Sai absorbed every word Gu Long said into his heart, chewing it over and over again.

Those questions that had once troubled him, such as why his divine prayers did not rely on any deity,

Why is it that every time I initiate prayer, I feel a surge of my own power rather than a gift from external forces?

Why does he show no reverence for so-called gods?

The answers to all of these questions have now been found.

According to the path of Gu Long's followers, gods are never beings that should be worshipped.

On the contrary, the "god" that was born from human thought and enjoys human worship and blood sacrifice is itself proof of human humiliation.

Even if His existence did indeed offer humanity a sliver of protection during that dark age when monsters roamed freely,

Even if He is merely a product of a near-natural phenomenon emerging from the collective consciousness of humanity, He should still be killed.

But as soon as this thought settled, another question surfaced in Rose's mind.

So, what exactly is this being called "Ancient Dragon"?

He is not the god born from the ancient dragon believer ideology. That god was killed by the first ancient dragon believer himself, and according to the description, that god should have looked like an ancient dragon.

He is not like a living ancient dragon, because he has no physical form; he is simply a god.

But He truly possesses consciousness, memory, and a vision far beyond that of humans.

He patiently answered his own questions, like a senior imparting experience to a junior, speaking gently and without selfishness.

But it was precisely because of this that Rose began to be wary and started breathing on her skin.

His time in the slums had instilled in him a deep-seated fear of kindness; he would breathe on anything that showed him kindness.

Because the last person who treated him well and seemed to care about him was Hope, the kind-faced, performative soup kitchen manager who almost turned him into a plaything to be manipulated at will.

Gu Long saw the sudden tension on Rose's face.

He wasn't angry; instead, he smiled, his tone carrying an almost forgiving understanding:

"Young man, you don't need to be so wary of me."

He raised his head, his golden vertical pupils, identical to Rose's, gazing at the pure white space above, where there was no sky, only endless lightning flashing in the void.

"As for what kind of being I am," His voice was calm and resolute.

You'll find out soon enough.

He withdrew his gaze and looked back at Rosset, as if judging whether he was ready to continue listening.

Then, He took the story back to that point more than 32,000 years ago.

"Thus, under the protection of that boy, the followers of Gulong finally had a relatively stable environment where they could calm down and develop the power of their faith itself."

"But everyone knows one thing: the young will eventually grow old and die."

And the ancient dragon blood he collected will one day be exhausted.

Before these two deadlines arrive, it is almost impossible for humanity to develop a completely new path of faith to a level comparable to that of the ancient dragons using only that little bit of blood.

Therefore, under the boy's guidance, the ancient dragon cultists' exploration was never about "how to better utilize ancient dragon blood," but rather "how to break free from their dependence on it."

"They began to study the power that faith itself bestowed, the absolute control over the body, the almost intuitive sense of combat."

They used this mastery to observe and imitate those who had consumed the blood of the ancient dragon.

"They used their faith to feel the trajectory of the ancient dragon's blood surging through the human body, how the lightning flowed along the blood vessels, how it leaped between the muscles, and how it roared deep within the bones."

They used their faith to depict the form in which that power flowed within their bodies, and then transplanted that form into their own faith.

"They imitated Gu Long's gesture of throwing lightning."

Imitating the surge of electric currents around an ancient dragon as it flaps its wings.

It mimics the primal and violent rhythm of ancient dragon blood circulating within the human body.

"They 'become' the ancient dragons through faith, rather than praying to them."

"And this is the origin of those divine spells and prayers you possess—[Ancient Dragon Meditation], [Vitality Flow], [Lightning Gun]...

All of this, Gu Long's followers, through their own faith,

The techniques were meticulously drawn, refined, and passed down from the blood and thunder of the ancient dragons.

It is a road forged by humankind itself.

In an instant, Rose realized a problem.

That is, the divine arts and prayers of the ancient dragon believers were all developed and researched, so in theory, these skills should require a learning cost.

Just like magic, it requires learning the basics of runes, rune linking, and spending a certain amount of time practicing.

However, as long as Rose accepts the inheritance of the Ancient Dragon faith, he can use it without any practice cost.

Initially, based on the books of this world and his own speculations, Rose believed that his power might come from the gods.

Although he sensed that his use of divine magic and prayers was to gather great power into himself, he simply regarded it as a special method of the gods.

However, Gu Long's words now overturned Rose's conjecture.

Since these are skills developed by humans, not bestowed by gods, and as [Ancient Dragon] just said, the skills of [Ancient Dragon Followers] are also the result of generations of inheritance and development.

This raises a question: why did Rossai use the "Ancient Dragon Believer's Prayer" without needing to learn anything, and could simply open the lid and consume it?

Therefore, Rose raised the following question:

"Since the skills of the Ancient Dragon Followers are the result of development by generations of people, why didn't I learn this process when I used the Ancient Dragon Followers prayer?"

Gu Long replied:

"That's right, you can also feel the power that faith brings, a kind of physical control and intuition."

Therefore, besides studying, Gu Long followers also have a faster way of learning: directly integrating the legacy into their bodies.

This way, a lot of learning costs can be saved.

And that's exactly what I did. Every time your faith can inspire the prayers of the corresponding Ancient Dragon believers...

I will directly integrate the corresponding inheritance into your body, allowing your body to learn first. Then, utilizing the believer's inherent high level of control over the body, I will unleash the power within it.

Rose understood.

For some reason, Rossai felt that Gu Long's behavior was somewhat similar to the system novels that were very popular in his previous life, where fulfilling requirements would result in corresponding rewards from the system, such as learning a certain skill.

Regarding the hand-operated system...

Gu Long continued:

"Of course, this kind of treatment isn't common even among the [Ancient Dragon Followers]. Only those exceptionally talented young people are qualified to use it."

And you, as the last remaining follower of the Ancient Dragon, are the only one I can use.

Gu Long shrugged and said:

"Moreover, this is only one of the reasons why you were able to master this so quickly. Another reason is that you really saw an ancient dragon in your past life, and the ancient dragon's electric current seeped into your soul."

As I mentioned before, the origin of the ancient dragon believers' divine prayers stems from the study of ancient dragons, and the ancient dragon current in your soul will naturally allow you to quickly master the divine prayers of the ancient dragon believers.

"It was because I sensed your unique soul, your wondrous qualities, and the ancient dragon current that permeated your very being that I led you onto the path of the ancient dragon cultist."

Rose had completely understood, and as for the other party knowing that he had seen the ancient dragon in his previous life, Rose was not surprised at all.

Because when I first escaped from the Self-Nature All-Spirit Cult, I fell into a deep sleep due to exhaustion of my concentration.

In the dream, the other person had visited my dream and interacted with me.

However, one question that Rose couldn't ignore was why the creatures of this world appeared in the first place.

How did I come into this world?

Rose looked at [Gu Long] with a puzzled expression.