A rapid descent.
At the moment the weightlessness reached its peak, Elias felt his mind suddenly lighten!
That drunken haze was forcibly dispelled from his mind by some invisible force.
His vision became sharp and clear once more.
With a splash, he landed steadily on the surface of the water.
Panting from the shock, Elias stood up in the shallow water that barely reached his ankles.
He quickly surveyed his surroundings.
There were no tentacled horrors or indescribable Cronenberg monsters.
The sudden moon door... for now, let’s call it a moon door.
It clearly hadn't brought him to the certain-death scenarios he had imagined.
He was familiar with this place.
The sky and the water’s surface were like two giant mirrors perfectly joined together.
The sky was reflected in the clear water, and the intricate circuits emitting silver light beneath the surface seemed to reflect directly onto the heavens above.
The sea of rationality!
This was the place where he had lit his Rational Circuit for the first time and officially stepped through the door of the supernatural!
Elias looked up.
Above him, the transparent ring that had dropped him, radiating a cold glimmer, was slowly closing before finally vanishing into the void.
Why does this look like a hole opened by some Sorcerer Supreme?
As the ring closed, Elias felt a surge of incredibly abundant spirituality rushing wildly through his limbs and bones!
“Is it... over?”
Elias stood on the water, his expression somewhat dazed.
He felt that the Audience he had just experienced was surreal to the extreme.
He had seen animals representing the Moon Lord.
Just like last time, there were owls watching coldly from the branches with glowing eyes, and fireflies gathering in swarms to guide his way.
But where was the key information?!
According to Old Ed, the core purpose of a divine audience for a transcendent was to receive the gaze of the deity!
Whether it was some obscure metaphor or direct information, it was supposed to be something.
But what the hell was this?
Three lonely doors standing on a lake?
Corresponding to the three avatars of the Moon Lord—the waxing gibbous moon, the full moon, and the waning moon?
Oh, right, and that rich fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose—laurel and absinthe.
What did it all mean?
Is the deity giving him riddles?!
...
Elias rubbed his aching temples, feeling more clueless than Louis XVI on the guillotine.
And then there was that lethal forced eviction at the end!
Could such a violent way of kicking someone out really not affect his Scale Two promotion process?
Recalling the last time, he had also been tossed out of the Audience space by that mysterious little girl with such a foul attitude.
Elias's mouth twitched.
“Am I going to be violently thrown out by these deities every time I promote and have an Audience?!”
What kind of godforsaken special treatment was this?
Did other transcendents look this pathetic when they promoted?
“Also...”
The hair-raising scene from earlier resurfaced in Elias’s mind.
Behind the door carved with the “full moon,” that hand had stretched the door panel so severely!
What kind of monster was that?!
What was that being behind the door trying to do, fighting so hard to break out?
And being forced away at the last second...
That was clearly the work of the third door!
Could it be...
Elias rubbed his eyes hard as a blasphemous guess popped into his head.
The three avatars of the Moon Lord... were actually not on good terms?!
Elias sucked in a cold breath.
This damn supernatural world was too deep; things were complicated to the extreme!
“Forget it, forget it. Stop thinking about it.”
Elias shook his head vigorously, forcibly cutting off his suicidal train of thought.
So far, if he tried to get to the bottom of every illogical and absurd thing he encountered, he would probably be brain dead by now, just like Martin or John.
“Staying alive is what matters most,” Elias comforted himself.
No matter how abstract or incomprehensible the process was, at least the result was good—his act of not offering any offerings had still been recognized by the Moon Lord!
Before Elias could fully recover from these messy thoughts...
Boom!
The spirituality inside him was like boiling lava that could no longer be suppressed.
Just like during his Scale One promotion, this massive spirituality couldn't wait to escape from his body!
In an instant, countless transparent spiritual tentacles, twice as thick as last time, danced wildly behind him!
Elias could clearly feel it himself.
The scale and momentum of this promotion were far greater than the last!
Look.
Even Old Ed, back in the real world, felt this heart-stopping spiritual fluctuation.
The old man’s voice came through the canopy of the sea of rationality, muffled but carrying unmistakable shock:
“Hell!”
“The spirituality... is this strong?!”
“This ridiculous display is almost as loud as a Scale Three promotion!”
Edmond, watching Elias’s body continuously emit a terrifying spiritual pressure from across the spirit world, couldn't help but swear.
“This damn little monster!”
Edmond had a faint, ominous feeling in his heart.
Once this kid finished his promotion, he might find his own composure shattered by him again...
Splash!
Within the sea of rationality, Elias’s Rational Circuit was lit once more, even brighter than before!
He felt his consciousness soar infinitely, instantly connecting to the invisible Origin Web that covered the entire world.
It was as if, in this moment, he was a part of the Origin Web itself.
Then, that familiar force-fed empowerment descended once again!
New spells followed the newly lit Rational Circuits, being forced into Elias’s brain one by one!
His head felt like it was splitting open, but Elias gritted his teeth and endured.
After an unknown amount of time, the spiritual tentacles dancing wildly in the air finally began to retract, shrinking back into his body.
The light of the intricate circuits in the water beneath his feet gradually dimmed and faded.
Elias’s consciousness began to rapidly withdraw from this sacred sea of rationality.
“Phew... it’s finally over...”
He breathed a sigh of relief.
However, the moment his consciousness fully returned to reality and he woke up in the room...
“Ah—!”
Elias suddenly arched his body and let out a distorted scream!
This time, things weren't fine just because his consciousness had returned!
Though his mind was clear, every limb, every inch of muscle, and every bone in his body suddenly erupted with a sensation of extreme, throbbing pain!
Pain!
Agony!
He rolled off the sofa and onto the carpet, writhing in pain.
“What... what the hell is happening to me?!”
Elias’s voice trembled with pain as he shouted in his mind.
“Heh heh!”
In the depths of his mind, Old Ed’s sly laughter immediately rang out.
“Deep breaths!”
“The pain is normal.”
“Like hell it is!” Elias cursed through the pain.
“Did you do something to me while I was in the dream?!”
“I didn't do a damn thing!” Old Ed shot back righteously.
“Is your brain short-circuited?”
“Did you forget what that horse told you in the dream?”
“That Scale Two potion we got from Mester’s safe is a ‘new formula’!”
“This is the price you pay for drinking a new formula!”
The old man huffed twice.
“Otherwise, why do you think Mester locked it in a safe like a treasure?”
“Scale Two itself provides a physical enhancement to your body.”
“Whether it hurts and how much it hurts depends on the quality of the potion.”
“Holy crap!”
Elias gasped for air while desperately accusing him, “Why didn't you say so earlier?!”
“What would have been the point of telling you earlier?!” Old Ed retorted.
“You should be happy you successfully promoted to Scale Two!”
“You’re so broke your pockets are cleaner than your face. You really think you’re getting a stable, painless, high-quality potion?”
Rate on N.U.
