Plan

"Compared to Backlund, Klein really was much more inexperienced now." Returning to reality, Sno immediately canceled the Concept Swap linked to Origin Castle, then closed his eyes and began to pray silently:

"Fool who does not belong to this era, you are the mysterious ruler Above the Gray Fog, you are the King of Yellow and Black who wields good fortune. I pray for your help, I pray for your favor, I pray that you will allow me to smoothly digest the potion..."

This prayer was utterly standard, but if anyone else had been present, all they would have seen was Sno repeatedly drawing an Inverse Cross, longer on top and shorter below, over his chest while chanting, "The Lord that Created Everything, the Lord who Reigns Behind the Curtain of Shadows; The Degenerate Nature of all Living Things."

The reason for this was that the passive clauses Sno had inscribed into White Horse is Not a Horse included, beyond the one used to shield against knowledge contamination and the gaze of Gods, another one—

"True Creator is a hidden existence, and the object of my prayers is also a hidden existence. Therefore, when others see me praying to a hidden existence, they will perceive the target as True Creator."

He had inscribed such a clause mainly to conceal his own "impiety." After all, living in a cult where one had to pray to the "Lord" whenever they met someone in the morning, noon, or evening, refusing to pray was equivalent to loudly declaring oneself a Heretic. But praying would irreversibly send him sliding toward the Abyss. Thus, Sno gave himself this disguise. As long as he prayed to himself whenever prayer was required, the Aurora Society members would naturally see his "devout" side.

He had actually wanted to achieve the effect of "anyone who sees him praying will believe he is praying to the God they themselves believe in," but he discovered that his spirituality was insufficient to pay the activation cost of that ability.

Activating White Horse is Not a Horse was somewhat like using an electrical appliance. When activating an ability, he first had to supply a burst of high voltage to complete the activation, after which it would steadily output low voltage to maintain the effect. If he could not even gather the minimum voltage needed to start it, then even with A Foot of Rod, the Perpetual Motion Machine, he could not add clauses. This also meant that, while Sno could theoretically borrow every ability of this pathway through Origin Quality, the abilities he could truly activate were only those below Sequence Six—though another major reason was that, at Sequence Nine, he could only learn information on abilities below Sequence Six at most.

Incidentally, the "high voltage" needed to activate a clause was not tied to the difficulty of the clause, but to the level of the ability itself. Concept Swap alone was merely a Sequence Six ability. Even though he had used it to directly block Starry Sky contamination and the gaze of true Gods, its activation cost had not exceeded the upper limit of a Sequence Nine's spirituality.

Of course, without A Foot of Rod, even keeping it active for just five seconds would consume enough spirituality to drain a Sequence Seven dry.

Based on this clue, Sno judged that the clause "make observers believe he is praying to the God the observer believes in" should involve not only Concept Swap, but also some High Sequence Beyonder Abilities of this pathway. Although Sno's current authority did not allow him to know which Sequence's ability it was, he knew that at the Low Sequence stage, he absolutely could not afford the cost.

Sno's prayers continued all the way until evening. Throughout the process, he could clearly feel that with every line of prayer in Hermes, another crack appeared in the potion's sturdy "shell."

"Praying to Mr. Fool really works well!" Sno suppressed his excitement. Looking at the darkening sky, he shook the bell by the door and ordered dinner.

If he could maintain this pace, digesting the Secret Speaker Potion within a month should no longer be impossible.

After resolving the most pressing crisis at hand, Sno finally let out a breath of relief and began to consider a question—

Why was it that, although he also possessed Origin Quality and even had an additional Uniqueness, praying to himself produced almost no response, while praying to Klein produced feedback no less than that of True Creator?

Was it because of his mentality?

Probably not.

If knowing that he was not some big shot meant he could not receive feedback, then Klein, who was likewise only Sequence Nine now, should not have been able to provide feedback either.

After pondering for a long time, even finishing dinner without noticing, Sno finally arrived at a seemingly reasonable guess—

When praying to the Fool, the target was not merely Klein. It also included the imprint of Fu Sheng Xuan Huang Celestial Venerable hidden within Origin Castle, hidden within Klein's body. It was precisely this imprint that gave the Secret Speaker Potion sufficient feedback.

Then conversely, did that mean there was no remnant of a hidden existence within White Horse is Not a Horse?

If this guess was true, it would undoubtedly be tremendous news. Ever since transmigrating into this world and realizing that his Golden Finger was a portion of Origin Quality, Sno had always suspected that he might be a backup plan for the resurrection of some great existence. But now...

"No, I can't be certain yet. Perhaps this is only a scheme deliberately laid out by that one. I must be cautious. I must preserve my humanity. I must remember that I'm only acting!"

Sno forcefully slapped his face, handsome enough to make the Aurora Society recruit him on their own initiative, using the sting to drag himself free from the faint trace of relief that had just emerged.

He was currently in a world only nineteen years away from the Apocalypse. Every day that passed meant the Apocalypse drew one step closer. If he did not want to be powerless when it descended, then even if he could not become a true God in three years and a Great Old One in five like K, he at least had to climb to Sequence IV within nineteen years. Only by becoming a demigod would he have any chance of protecting himself during the Apocalypse.

Although the Tarot Club members were all Sequence IV by the end, with the occasional Sequence Three among them, that was absolutely no reason for Sno to relax.

Relying on the protection of White Horse is Not a Horse, he reviewed the original story's plot once more in his mind before beginning to formulate his next course of action...

"Give me a list of the Extraordinary Materials you have here." In a concealed room of Dragon Bar's underground market, a beautiful young woman with a round face spoke to an old man wearing a black soft cap. Though a veil covered most of her face, it could not conceal her beauty, and her sweet, soul-stirring voice made the old man's heart tremble.

Although this woman was alluring and spoke like an experienced hand, the old man did not break the rules because of it. The burly man reached beneath the counter, pulled out a notebook, flipped to the latest pages, gave them only a symbolic glance, and said:

"Water Ghost brain tissue, between 3 and 15 pounds depending on its completeness. Star Crystal, 150 pounds per 50 grams. Queen Bee Grass, 200 pounds per plant. Adult..."

"I'll take the Queen Bee Grass." The young woman casually named the material she wanted, without showing the slightest intention of bargaining.

The old man was not surprised by her generosity. Taking the scattered banknotes she handed over, he quickly counted them, confirmed that the amount was correct, then shook a bell and had someone retrieve the material from the safe.

The young woman took the tin box containing the material. After confirming that everything inside was in order, she immediately turned and left the bar—

"No Abyssal Demon Fish eyeballs. I'll check another gathering. If they don't have any either, I can only go find those people..."