Eerie Gods Card Master: Starting with Myriad Ghosts Night Parade

Let's use Wu Song as an example.

Wu Song recognized that Amber's wine was suspicious, and the "Exclusive Event" was likely related to seeing through the poisoned drink.

This was exactly like how he saw through the drugged wine at Cross Slope; Wu Song had done something similar in his past life.

Could these so-called "Exclusive Events" be about recreating the Card Spirit's heroic deeds, famous historical moments?

The more Lin Chen thought about it, the more it made sense!

An old saying from his past life stated: "Circumstances create heroes."

Circumstances could be understood as "Exclusive Events":

Including significant events, pivotal moments, opportunities, and tribulations that shaped a hero's personality and achievements.

Cultivating a Card Spirit started from scratch;

Therefore, these highlight moments would definitely need to be relived to nurture the Card Spirit to its final form!

In short: Retrace the hero's epic journey to awaken unparalleled heroic skills!

Take the [Qinghe County Exile Fighter - Wu Song] for example. This card recreates Wu Song during his exile at Chai Jin's manor, not yet Wu Song's complete form.

Later, there's the stage of fighting the tiger at Jingyang Ridge and killing Ximen Qing—the spirited "Captain Version Wu Song";

The stage of causing chaos at the Happy Forest and bloodshed at the Mandarin Duck Tower—the vengeful "Felon Version Wu Song";

And the stage of traveling through Centipede Ridge at night and joining the outlaws at Erlong Mountain—the perfected "Ascetic Version Wu Song."

For Wu Song to advance to later versions, he could be cultivated by combining materials, a feeding-style progression;

Or, he could retrace the "long march" of his heroic growth, allowing him to awaken and advance through tempering.

This made perfect sense!

Other Card Masters, due to historical discontinuities, didn't know about the Card Spirits' past glorious events, and some couldn't even summon Card Spirits with historical depth.

This made it difficult for them to awaken the Card Spirits' latent traits, leaving them to rely on luck.

But Lin Chen arrived with the answers, knowing his own Card Spirit's origins inside and out!

This greatly satisfied Lin Chen's nurturing tendencies. Who wouldn't want to watch their own treasure... Card Spirit evolve and grow?

So, the next step would be to arrange a tiger for Wu Song to fight, right?

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This also satisfies readers' nurturing tendencies. Who wouldn't want to watch the book they invested in evolve and grow?

So, the next step would be to arrange a monthly ticket for the author, right?

Chapter 26: God of Revelry, Cult of the God of Wine!

Lost in fantasies of Wu Song's advancement, Lin Chen almost forgot about the problem with the wine.

Moreover, Chen Xiao Diao had also taken a bottle!

He had to quickly ask her what was going on on her end.

Lin Chen dialed Chen Xiao Diao's communication bracelet. As soon as it connected, he asked:

"How's that bottle of wine you have?"

"I drank it."

"You drank it?! So quickly! Are you okay!?" Lin Chen anxiously pressed.

"What could happen to me? I didn't drink it; Master Lu did."

Chen Xiao Diao replied, not understanding his concern.

Lin Chen was speechless, having worried for her for nothing.

"So, what happened after Lu Zhishen drank the wine?"

"He got drunk again, but thankfully, he didn't go berserk this time."

Lin Chen asked doubtfully, "He didn't fall unconscious? Or have any negative reactions?"

Chen Xiao Diao: "No, he just wanted more after drinking one bottle and asked me to get him more of that wine!

But he's become picky now; he won't even look at the regular wine I buy him from the supermarket anymore."

Lin Chen frowned. 'Am I being too suspicious?'

But for safety's sake, Lin Chen still told Chen Xiao Diao that the wine was problematic and asked her to come to his place.

He wanted her to take the unfinished bottle he had to the Anomalous Monitoring Department of the Card Association Security Bureau for ingredient testing.

Chen Xiao Diao trusted Lin Chen completely now and immediately took the wine for testing.

However, the test results wouldn't be available until tomorrow.

No matter how anxious Lin Chen was, he could only wait.

He performed his daily offerings to the Door Gods as usual and went to sleep with unease.

The next day, Lin Chen slept in. There was no "alarm clock" of Chen Xiao Diao knocking on his door.

He opened the message and saw the test report Chen Xiao Diao had sent:

"This wine does indeed have hallucinogenic and addictive properties, but its harm level is low, within the safe range;

The wine also contains strong vitality, with a slight healing ability for the body, classifying it as a healthy nutritional beverage."

Safe and no problem? Or a nutritional beverage?

Lin Chen refused to believe it and pressed further, "Are there any other strange substances in the wine?"

Chen Xiao Diao replied that there were indeed!

Besides grape pulp, this wine contained another component of flesh and blood.

Lin Chen felt his suspicions were confirmed. There must be something fishy going on!

He didn't shy away from assuming the worst:

"The other flesh and blood... it's not human meat, is it!?"

Chen Xiao Diao chuckled, "Brother Chen, what are you thinking! The test shows it's the meat of an even-toed ungulate, highly similar to a sheep. It should be lamb from a creature with high spirituality."

Lin Chen was momentarily speechless and said, "Alright, it seems I was being overly suspicious."

Chen Xiao Diao: "Then I won't chat anymore! There's another eerie phenomenon happening in the Binjiang waters, and our Patrol Team is swamped!"

After ending the communication, Lin Chen fell into self-doubt:

"Was I really overthinking it? Is Amber completely fine?

But something still feels off!"

Lin Chen's obsessive-compulsive nature kicked in, and he had to retrace and review everything he saw at the bar yesterday—

"Tender lamb," "wine," "oil painting of a lustful banquet";

"Grapevine crowns," "amphorae," "mysterious second floor," "women's unrestrained laughter";

"Joy," "indulgence," "seize the day, drink to be reborn"...

As he pieced all the elements together, Lin Chen's thoughts became clearer;

He suddenly stood up and slammed the table: It was [God of Wine] Dionysus!

All these elements were highly related to the [God of Wine] from Greek mythology!

[God of Wine] Dionysus, the patron god of viticulture and winemaking, god of revelry, and god of fertility;

He symbolized abundant harvest and prosperity, primal wild vitality, and unrestrained lust.

Legend had it that the winemaking process was invented by the God of Wine;

Amphorae and clay wine vessels were characteristic products of ancient Greece;

Grapevine crowns were classic adornments in depictions of the God of Wine;

Sheep were representative animals in Dionysian culture;

Revelry, heavy drinking, and nude gatherings were classic acts in Dionysian sacrifices.

Everything fit!

"These elements were so obvious! How did I not see it then?"

As a scholar of folklore and mythology, Lin Chen should have been very sensitive to these elements.

"It's the bar's fault!

The strong smell of wine, the ambiguous atmosphere, the oil painting heavy with lust, even Amber's enchantingly beautiful face were all subtly influencing the customers' minds!

No wonder I didn't react at the time and was easily tempted to go upstairs."

Because the entire bar was a field that induced intoxication and lowered one's intellect!

Therefore, Amber was a follower, or even a priest, of the Cult of the God of Wine.

In this world, there was a Dionysian culture highly similar to Lin Chen's previous life!

This suggested that the mythological and cultural systems of this world were likely parallel and shared with his previous life;

No wonder Card Spirits like Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, and Wu Song could be successfully summoned through Lin Chen's visualization.

Because in the history of this world, these figures had also been worshipped and celebrated!

The Anomalous Invasion a hundred years ago caused a break in historical mythology, marking a divergence from Lin Chen's previous life's history.

Before that hundred-year mark, everything should have been consistent.

The truth was gradually revealed, and his previous conjectures were all confirmed.

But there were still more significant questions:

How was history corrupted?

Would many other divine beliefs, like the Cult of the God of Wine, secretly still exist!

These could only be explored slowly in the future.