Super Righteous Player
Chapter 995 - 53: A New Path

Chapter 995: Chapter 53: A New Path

Because of Julius’ burning jealousy, Bernadino’s memories, along with his now unshackled spiritual body, were sealed together.

Having paid the price of offering his own eyes, he finally remembered everything—

From the age of thirteen to forty-two.

Wandering for ten years, torment for twenty years, hardship for thirty years, and an ordinary life for forty years.

In experiments with a high possibility of leading to death... on the brink of death, Bernadino dreamed of a nightmare that belonged to "himself."

—His memories had indeed been wiped clean.

Unless it was a Transcendent who was the most skilled at memory manipulation and who also belonged to the Gold Rank, it would be possible to restore the memories that had been erased from the minutiae. It was akin to the skill of extracting information from a hard drive that had been physically destroyed after the files were shattered.

But even if his own memories were erased, the records in the Realm of Dreams would remain undamaged.

When these experiences formed into a nightmare... all hidden truths would be restored to their original state.

It was incredibly difficult for Bernadino to even become a Transcendent.

Because he hadn’t mastered even a single spell... in the words of a player, he hadn’t even gotten the prerequisite profession of a Wizard’s apprentice.

Naturally, he couldn’t possibly have his own nightmare.

But in this ceremony... using blood as the medium and pain as the catalyst, the souls of those on the brink of death were merged with the souls of sea beasts. Then, through the ceremony, the sea beast’s spiritual body was sacrificed alone, which is the so-called "Spirit Resonance Ceremony."

If the ceremony could be successful, the soul of the sea beast would remain in the body of the dying person while also erasing the sea beast’s consciousness. If its success rate could surpass eighty percent, it could exist as a technique for mass-producing Transcendents.

Decades later, the principle behind this ceremony has been deciphered.

The harm it causes to people cannot be completely eliminated, and the step of "torturing the subject to near death" is a fundamental component of the ceremony and difficult to remove. Therefore, this ceremony is now prohibited from being used on ordinary people—it is usually employed as a method of capital punishment while incidentally creating some rare cursed materials.

Bernadino certainly wouldn’t be the last test subject.

Especially after he reached the Gold Rank, more would try to replicate his path to success.

But they soon realized... Bernadino’s achievements had nothing to do with the "Spirit Resonance Crucible."

The significance of the Spirit Resonance Crucible was merely as a key to unlock the sturdy shackles that bound Bernadino.

With Bernadino’s qualifications... he could have even ascended to deity.

And that was without having to embark on the path of the Transcendent!

The answer was to replicate the "Miracle of the Paper Princess."

Father Ludwig himself was a disciple of Yawen, and of course, he knew how the Paper Princess came into being.

The Paper Princess itself was "created through the self-sacrifice of the artist," giving "the work a special meaning." Even without the Book of Truth, Father Ludwig could replicate this arte through the ritual of the art world by means of "homage."

From this, one could borrow more power through the law of similarity.

—This ceremony was not concluded upon Father Ludwig’s death; it was an ongoing imitation ceremony. As Bernadino’s talent became more outstanding, reaching and surpassing the verge of the mortal world... and like the Paper Princess, he wholeheartedly assisted those who came after him, he would gradually possess divinity akin to that of the Paper Princess.

In the end, he could transform into Yawen’s Angel Envoy, by virtue of this divinity.

Just as Elle had become an Angel Envoy of the Skeleton Lord.

She acquired a Gold Soul.

But she didn’t need to tread the path of ascension.

Anyone wishing to reach the station of divinity through the path of ascension must first allow their soul to become riddled with corruption, turning into a constitution that absorbs curses; and after curses have accumulated to a certain degree, they must purify it anew, transform their soul into a pure liquid with the power of these curses.

After that, they must use their intense desire to bake this liquid dry, solidify it... forming it into a gem-like radiant solid. Only then can they gather the ascension rituals and step into the Light Realm through a legitimate path from the Chariot of Heaven.

Even the ritualistic path simply replaces the final "ascension ritual" with one’s own unique ritual. The steps up to the Gold Rank are the same.

Father Ludwig, as a bishop, certainly understood ritual studies.

He therefore invented another way.

—His inspiration was drawn from the path of corruption.

The path of corruption requires one to start at the Bronze Rank, readily accepting curses rather than purifying them. It’s not the soul that is reformed by desire but rather the body... until one completely corrupts into a demon equivalent to the Gold Rank.

Demons don’t possess Elemental Power, but they have a variety of special abilities. And they can use these powers at will without any need for "resources", similar to how eyes can see and ears can hear... In other words, demonic powers have only cooldowns, no mana costs.

However, because their souls remain in the "smoky state" of the Bronze Rank, they have no way to ascend to the Light Realm.

Nonetheless, they are powerful and loyal.

Because compared to these corrupt beings who have no path ahead, the closer ascendants get to the Truth Rank, the less they respect the divine... even daring to challenge some of the weaker False Gods.

Each of them harbors an "aspiration for ascension".

Every Transcendent who manages to advance to the Gold Rank is surely striving towards divinity. This also means they can no longer regard the False Gods as supreme "deities".

Even if they worship a certain deity, it’s mostly just like "joining a company to gather industry intelligence, learn technology, nurture connections, and prepare to start one’s own company".

But demons are different.

After all, a deity only recruits them as enforcers. They can have pure souls, and directly step into the realm of eternity, making deities have forever non-resigning workers... This too is a win-win.

As Father Ludwig’s understanding of mystical knowledge deepened, he sharply realized... that the entire purpose of the first half of the path of corruption, aside from increasing combat capability, was merely to boost one’s competitiveness.

In other words, it ultimately depends on whether the deity plans to recruit the corrupt as Angel Envoys.

So, does that mean... if for some reason a deity wishes to grant a mortal the position of Angel Envoy, thereby sharing a portion of their power and essence with the other party—could the first half of the path of corruption be bypassed, and just directly make him a very weak Angel Envoy?

While still extremely weak in combat, like Elle who lacks any other professions and therefore has no means of fighting, once one becomes an Angel Envoy, they can become a god upon obtaining the Book of Truth.

This is where Annan stands a level above Julius.

Julius had judged Bernardino as high as he could.

But he still underestimated Father Ludwig’s ambition...

He didn’t simply hope for Bernardino to carry on his legacy, nor did he intend for Bernardino to just copy the Paper Princess’s deification ritual to become a god...

—His hope was to create a completely new pathway to ascension!