One Piece of Good News and One Piece of Bad News / An Unfamiliar Yet Familiar Ceiling

"If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to wake up Velvie soon."

Although regaining her Remembrance and ultimately being fully resurrected will take some time, with her intelligence, she should be able to offer some advice even without a physical body.

While plotting how to exploit the still-unresurrected Velvie, Gwen was already comfortably lying in bed, waiting for midnight to arrive—

It's almost the end of the month again, and the system shop will be refreshed soon.

With a large amount of points in hand, Gwen that if the shop dared to refresh the list of gold items, he would definitely get them.

They revived Elysia and Eden, reversed the events of Changkong City that marked the beginning of Honkai Impact 3rd, killed Cocolia ahead of schedule, reached a cooperation agreement with Otto, suspended the Sirin Project and other secret plans, and stole Misterine from World Serpent...

Even if some of these changes are only temporary and have not yet formed a fixed outcome throughout history, there is a possibility of recurrence.

But now, all these things added up to a full five million points for Gwen—

To borrow a phrase from a kind older brother next door, Gwen can now eat one bowl and throw it away.

Not long after midnight, Gwen refreshed the shop page right on time.

Just then, a familiar sensation washed over him, causing Gwen to raise an eyebrow—

"Someone else has opened the Invitation Letter?"

This is the fifth one, right?

"The probability is almost 50/50. Although it's taken a bit long, it seems like the success rate of the Invitation Letter I sent out initially was quite high?"

Muttering to himself, Gwen didn't rush to check the newcomer's information, but instead continued to examine the new products for the month—

With five million dollars in hand, Gwen now has a strong urge to shop.

The Gengnu Vajra, which can enhance one's willpower and modify genes, can be carried with you.

Purchase!

Old Man Garen's Bronze Skin Summoner?

Purchase!

Unfortunately, when the ambitious Gwen looked at the shop after filtering through the options, he only saw one purple and two blue items.

That's it?

In an instant, Gwen's interest was greatly diminished.

However, despite his disappointment, Gwen suppressed his displeasure and clicked on the description of the purple item.

When Gwen saw the contents, he instantly perked up, even sitting up straight instinctively, his excitement overflowing.

337

Chapter 337: Good News and Bad News.

"The notebook that is about to be burned - After the Holy War, the current Cancer Saint Sage succeeded to the position of Pope. With the help of his predecessor Cresto and his younger brother Altar Saint Hakurei, he reorganized the Sanctuary and prepared for the next Holy War."

Never forgetting his blood feud with the Twin Gods, Sage constantly studied ancient texts in order to increase the chances of victory in the next Holy War, and eventually succeeded.

However, Sage's pursuit of knowledge led him to touch upon an invisible taboo.

In his dream, Sage received Divine Oracle from the Goddess. After waking up, he copied down the useful parts of the notes and prepared to burn them in accordance with the divine Divine Oracle.

Price: 500,000 points.

"..."

Looking at this long description, Gwen swallowed hard, feeling a little ashamed.

The contents touched on forbidden territory, even prompting Athena to personally order her Pope to destroy the notebook. Gwen dared not even imagine what was recorded in it.

Trying to calm himself down, Gwen glanced at his points balance, which was a full digit more than the price, and without further hesitation, clicked "Buy."

The mere fact that it "touched a taboo of the gods" was enough to motivate Gwen to make the purchase.

Even if the so-called "taboos" are actually just information that people in the world shouldn't know, but that Gwen, who once saw the work from God's perspective, considered common knowledge, there are still parts that Sage copied and preserved, aren't there?

Even if that section only records a few Gold Saint Techniques, or even just a portion of Sage's own insights, it would be invaluable to Gwen.

Sage is the Gold Saint of Cancer, and Cancer's specialty is manipulating souls.

If Gwen could learn a couple of tricks from this notebook, his most powerful yet underutilized mental energy might finally unleash its full potential.

After purchasing Pope Sage's Notebook, Gwen glanced at the two blue items again, but finding them unattractive, he closed the system page, leaving a thick notebook in his hand.

Gwen gently traced the powerful strokes on the cover, he could almost feel the hatred and burning desire for revenge that the owner of the notebook had harbored when writing those words.

From the item description, Gwen can confirm that the original owner of this notebook, Pope Sage, was likely the same Pope from the anime series Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas who famously proclaimed, "He who precedes the gods is the Pope!"

When the other was young, Sage's master, the then Pope Ithya, was bewitched by the Twin Gods and led several Gold Saints in a rebellion, forcing the young Sage to face the tragedy of fratricide. As the Holy War was about to end, the remaining Taze brothers were also betrayed by the Twin Gods, and in the end, only he and his younger brother Bai Li remained of their generation.

The hatred between Sage and the Twin Gods can be described as an irreconcilable feud.

Driven by this hatred, Sage must have been preparing for the Holy War with all his might, thus venturing into forbidden territory.

Gwen was eager to see what kind of knowledge Sage had recorded in this notebook that allowed this purple item to sell for a price higher than that of a gold item.

When Gwen opened the notebook, he was greeted by lines of seemingly plausible but ultimately ambiguous text—

It was text similar to, yet different from, the writing in the journal of a healer in the Sanctuary that Gwen once obtained... probably Italian from the corresponding period.

With a combination of guesswork and deduction, Gwen was able to roughly understand the contents of the record.

However, after watching for a while, Gwen couldn't help but frown—

It's not that the notes contain useless information; on the contrary, the opening section contains exactly what Gwen needed: records and insights about the Cancer Gold Arts.

The combat techniques and insights left behind by a Cancer Gold Saint fought the entire Holy War are undoubtedly a rare treasure for Gwen.

However, upon reading the records, Gwen couldn't help but make a fatal mistake—

Gwen, who managed to decipher the text through a combination of guesswork and deduction, discovered that the records were far too brief—

It's like using a single formula to do what would normally require a dozen sheets of scratch paper.

Although concise and correct, the problem is that Gwen is a complete novice who hasn't even learned how the formula was derived and needs the contents of that stack of draft papers.

"Perhaps it's because Sage himself is a Cancer, and he keeps all these things in his mind, so he didn't write them down here?"

With a heavy heart Gwen could only console himself with this thought as he flipped through his notebook, hoping to find more detailed records later on.

However, as Gwen flipped through the notes in his hand, his heart sank deeper and deeper—

This notebook meticulously records the gold techniques of the twelve Gold Saint and the techniques of numerous Silver and Bronze Saints, including even Gwen's well-known Pegasus Meteor Fist.

However, whether it's these combat techniques, the various formations prepared by Sage, or even the methods of cultivating the Cosmo recorded within them, they are all as simple as the original Cancer combat techniques, consisting of only a single formula.

"..."

Suppressing the urge to smash the notebook in his hand, Gwen two deep breaths, trying to calm himself and consider the possibilities that had led to this situation—

"Is it because Sage wrote down here was just a table of contents, while the actual content was listed in other corresponding notes or memorized by Sage?"

... It shouldn't be, because if this is just a catalog, then there's no need to destroy it, and there shouldn't be any behavior like 'copying the useful parts of the notes'.

So, is this like in fantasy novels, where words are merely an external form of expression, and the true content is inscribed within it in a special way, such as through spiritual power?

Without hesitation, Gwen turned to the page in his notebook that recorded the methods of cultivating the Cosmo, and his spiritual power spread out from between his eyebrows, slowly touching the words in the notebook.

Then--

"Hiss..."

Gwen as he felt a sudden darkness engulf him, his extended mental energy violently severed. The sensation, like having his carefully extended finger chopped off out of thin air, was unbearable even for Gwen.

Gwen pinched the space between his eyebrows to rouse himself and tried again.

After several setbacks, Gwen received both good news and bad news—

Good news, this notebook, worth 500,000 points, is indeed worth the price; it should contain valuable information of that value.

Bad news: Gwen cannot read the information that Sage likely recorded using his Cosmo.

338

Chapter 338 The ceiling, both strange and familiar.

After several setbacks, Gwen realized one fact clearly—

My mental strength is probably considered powerful in this Honkai world, even surpassing that of the Herrscher.

However, Gwen's mental strength was completely insufficient in the face of Sage, a veteran Gold Saint who fought the entire Holy War.

Without a corresponding method of interpretation, Gwen had absolutely no ability to brute-force read the information recorded within.

This feeling of facing a treasure trove but having no way to access it, and having to return empty-handed, made Gwen extremely uncomfortable.

However, Gwen didn't worry for long before he suddenly remembered that he seemed to have a special shop—

According to the response from the mall system at the time, the items inside were all created by merging with an unknown entity... It should be the result of merging with another system outside of its original system. After the merging was completed, the items would be added to the item pool and refreshed randomly, but Gwen, as the host, could directly open the special shop to purchase them.

Without hesitation, Gwen purchased a purple Impartation Card that would allow him to directly access the contents of his notes. He selected the notes in his possession as the recipient and then clicked to use them.

The next moment, Gwen, whose soul was still aching from the loss of mental energy due to the continuous violent destruction, widened his eyes—

A vast ocean of knowledge surged into Gwen's mind like the Yangtze River flowing eastward to the sea, giving him a long-lost feeling of splitting Gwen.

Fortunately, when Gwen contorted with rage due to mental anguish, the Spirit Awakening Scripture within him started operating on its own. This caused the Five Elements Qi and the Tai Xu Sword Qi, which Gwen had been trying to make operate on their own, to also start operating, making Gwen's horrific expression slightly better.

After an unknown amount of time, Gwen's consciousness slowly rose from what seemed like an endless ocean of pain and regained its senses.

"Hiss..."

Still suffering from a splitting headache Gwen dared not touch the vast ocean of knowledge that had suddenly appeared in his mind. He simply pulled the blanket over his head and went to sleep.

Having obtained the item, Gwen, who had been tormented to the point of near ecstasy, now only wanted to rest.

"Gwen?

Gwen, are you alright?

Wake up!

Gwen, who had been sleeping for an unknown amount of time and still felt extremely exhausted, vaguely felt someone calling him and his body being shaken.

Barely realizing that someone was calling him, Gwen struggled to open his sleepy eyes and saw a long strand of black hair and a pretty face full of anxiety.

"I'm fine..."

A dazed Gwen waved his hand weakly and mumbled something.

"But you don't look like you're alright at all. Could it be that you didn't cover yourself properly when you slept last night and caught a cold?"

Li Sushang breathed a long sigh of relief when she finally heard Gwen speak, but then complained to Gwen with some dissatisfaction, and pressed her forehead against Gwen's forehead to feel his body temperature, which was not abnormal.

"Renovation, my pastor, the Knowledge Desk is broken, I want to sleep..."

Sensing Li Sushang's actions, Gwen wanted to explain, but the feeling of his soul being completely filled and the unparalleled exhaustion made Gwen almost unable to speak, and he quickly fell into a deep sleep again.

"Su Shang, what are you doing?"

Just as Gwen fell into a deep sleep again, another person jumped in through the window and saw Li Sushang pressing her face against Gwen's. She couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"This is a method my master taught me when I was sick as a child, used to check a patient's body temperature."

Li Sushang raised her head and explained to Kiana, who had jumped in.

"But even so, you can't Gwen..."

Kiana, whose eyes appeared to be drawn to Li Sushang Gwen due to the angle, asked without hesitation.

Upon hearing Kiana's words, You Lan Dai Er and Rita, who had followed her in, as well as Mei Bronya, Anna was about to enter, all paused for a moment, and looked at Li Sushang.

"I was just testing Gwen's temperature by touching his forehead to see if it was normal. There was no other contact... so please don't make things up, Kiana."

Li Sushang, who was accused by Kiana of Gwen, blushed slightly, but still explained seriously.

However, looking at her flushed face, it was questionable how much of what people believed.

Is Gwen ill?

With light, graceful steps, Rita passed Li Sushang and came to the bedside. Looking at Gwen, who had fallen into a deep sleep again, a sense of worry rose in her heart, and she began to examine Gwen.

Seeing Rita's rather professional actions, the others remained silent, waiting quietly for Rita answer, though their faces showed worry.

Without keeping everyone waiting long, Rita quickly stopped, but the expression on her pretty face was extremely solemn.