Caravan Meets Caravan-That's Pretty Reasonable, Right?

The first person to appear beside Iver was a complete stranger he had never seen before.

Although her face was not clearly visible, judging from her figure, she should be a young woman.

She wore a white, knee-length robe and white boots. She also wore white silk gloves.

Her all-white attire seemed to radiate a hazy glow in the pitch-black space.

Iver estimated that she was probably only a little taller Yulia, but not as tall as Isabel —that is, about 1.6 meters tall.

She let out a soft "hmm" after appearing, as if puzzled by her location.

"Hello, beautiful lady."

Iver placed his right hand on his chest, raised his voice, and spoke in a slightly exaggerated, somewhat flamboyant tone. "You can call me ' Fox.' I am a pastor from the Dedication Path."

Now that Iver is becoming increasingly famous, he must distinguish the identity of "Fox" from Iver.

Those who need to know that "the Fox is Iver" already do. As for others, it's best not to open the box if possible.

It wasn't that he was worried about doing something unethical during the advancement ceremony and being easily killed offline—killing Iver in a one-on-one fight wasn't that easy these days. Not only was Iver's own strength gradually increasing, but the people around him were also gradually becoming stronger.

Moreover, if anyone dares to confront Iver, the most likely outcome is that they will be assimilated into his ranks. Iver won't easily let go of such proactive individuals.

What do ordinary people need? Wealth? Status? Power? Respect? Friendship? Care?

Aside from love, Iver might not be able to provide, he can basically give you everything else. Whatever you want, I can give you—even if you're a bad guy, there's Miss Aleister, that wicked woman, who can step in and win you over.

What he was really worried about was the damage to his image.

If too many people know that "The Fox" is Iver, then Iver's actions in the Dream Realm will be restricted. Because he represents not only himself, but also Avalon and Moriarty.

Just like public figures always have to be careful with their words and actions on public platforms.

While some people don't care about this, like Meg — Iver still cares a lot about his image. So he tries to distinguish the Fox from his own... even if it might not work, he still has to maintain the proper attitude.

"... Ah, hello."

Contrary to her petite appearance, the other person spoke in a gentle and mature voice, like that of a loving mother. "Mr. Fox. You may call me 'Pure White.' This time, I am representing the Path of Authority in the competition."

"Indeed, you are exactly the same as your first impression."

The "Fox" spoke in a high-pitched voice, like a nobleman, but with a slightly greasy tone. "In this pitch-black night, it shines like a glimmer of light."

Don't you recognize me?

"Pure white" was somewhat surprising.

"...?"

Upon hearing this, Iver paused for a moment, because he could tell that the other person was indeed somewhat surprised.

Upon hearing this, he even tried to recall. It turned out that he had indeed never heard of the name "Pure White".

"...Um," he couldn't quite maintain his affected tone any longer and became much more serious in an instant, "No, not really. To be honest, I've only recently embarked on the path of the extraordinary. There may be some things I don't understand, so please forgive me."

"They've only been on the path to the extraordinary for a short time, and they're already ranked number one..."

Although he couldn't see her expression, Iver could sense the mocking look on Chunbai's face.

At that moment, three more appeared in quick succession.

To Iver's surprise, none of the three were familiar faces—and all three were quite tall. If nothing unexpected happened, there should be at least two elves among them.

... What happened? Did I get the order wrong this time? That shouldn't be the case; we're all queuing in the same place, we should be together...

Iver was a little confused for a moment.

They were all momentarily surprised to see Iver in the first place. But they quickly introduced themselves... and judging from their tone, they all seemed to be among the rare few normal people.

The youngest and tallest-looking man was codenamed "Topaz." Iver knew it was the name of a gemstone, usually referring to gem-quality topaz, which was very expensive.

He was at least 2.3 meters tall and had a robust physique. He wore exquisite elven silver armor, sat upright, and gave off an impression of being an honest but somewhat naive man. If the "knight" had grown up a bit more, perhaps he would have become like this... But what surprised Iver the most was that the other person was actually on the Path of Love.

If he follows Path of Authority, then that's perfectly normal...

There was also a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties, codenamed "Jacaranda".

The other person's height didn't seem like that of an elf, and her tone was very gentle... It felt like visiting a classmate's house and having a kind-hearted classmate's mother bring fruit. She was a transcendent being who Equilibrium Path.

The other was an elderly elf, codenamed "Living Silver." Iver knew this was a term from alchemy or Ritual Studies, meaning mercury. Clearly, his first path should be transcendence or equilibrium.

Elves are not bound by professions, so they may have multiple different paths of cultivation. However, even so, each path of cultivation of an elf requires a separate advancement ceremony to be performed.

It's not Iver that Living Silver is participating in the ceremony as a transcendent being of the Path of Twilight.

It's perfectly normal for the elderly to embark on their Path of Twilight. As people get older and have more health problems, they generally don't want to die.

Few people can face the end of their lifespan with ease... let alone elves who have long lifespans.

The longer one's lifespan, the longer the aging period. This also means a longer time being tormented by aging. One may have initially scorned the twilight years, but after enduring the torment for so long, one naturally resigns oneself to it.

But when everyone had introduced themselves and started chatting, Iver started to get a little nervous.

—Because there was almost no conversation or interaction between the four of them, nor any scheming or probing among them. Or rather, all four of them were curious and took turns trying to chat with "the Fox."

Iver immediately realized that he was probably facing off against another team this time.

Iver, Isabel, and Sherlock were all placed in the same spot for the second-to-third elimination round. According to the rules of the advancement ceremony, the ranking is based on strength and relative distance, so they would most likely be placed in the same round, and it should be their home turf.

That is, the three of them went in first, and then they filled in from other places when everyone was almost there.

Including myself, five people have made it in a row, but Isabel and Sherlock haven't... which can only mean that this time it's not their home turf.

Because a stronger team had taken the lead – Iver and his team only had three people, while the opposing team had four. And at least two of them were elves.

—Could I have ended up in the Theocracy?

Where are Sherlock and Isabel? Hopefully they can get in.

Iver was somewhat worried.

It's one thing if Sherlock is alone... but what if Isabel is alone? What will she do?

Fortunately, the Theocracy did not send any more people.

They talked for about an hour, and the four of them had completely different topics—and it was also not very related to their respective paths of practice.

Pure White was chatting with Iver about theological topics, while the old man kept subtly inquiring about Iver's education and background. Jacaranda, on the other hand, remained relatively silent, simply watching them talk with a smile.

The only normal one is Topaz, a righteous young man who gives off a chivalrous vibe—he perfectly embodies his identity as Path of Love and constantly and politely seeks advice on matters of the heart from Iver seems to understand emotions very well.

Although Iver has never been in a romantic relationship, he is very happy to share his experiences.

In the end, it was basically a conversation between Iver and Topaz from a distance— Topaz seemed to desperately want to sit next to Iver. Meanwhile, "Pure White," who was next to Iver, had shrunk into the huge chair and looked like she was about to slide off.

It's a real shame that the Path of Love was banned this time.

Otherwise, Iver would have gained a teammate.

It's rare to encounter someone with such a normal and extraordinary Path of Love —perhaps it's precisely because they have no profession that they are not bound by constraints.

Just as Topaz was enthusiastically consulting Iver about his "friend's" emotional problems, a flash of blue light appeared, and Sherlock descended into the next seat.

He was dressed in his signature detective attire, making no attempt to conceal himself. But he was clearly confused and disoriented about his location—he looked around before finally finding Iver's spot.

Sherlock was taken aback when he saw Iver sitting in the first seat.

But he wisely refrained from asking Iver any questions, not even giving him a glance. Instead, he calmly and collectedly began, "Good evening, everyone. I am 'Detective.' This ritual appears to be on the Path of Wisdom... I will share my wisdom with you all."

"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, is that right?"

Jacaranda suddenly spoke up.

"It's me."

Sherlock said in a deep voice.

He was clearly used to being exposed at the start; in fact, it would be more accurate to say that Sherlock never hid anything at all—the identity of "Detective Sherlock" made his words more persuasive.

Anyway, he wouldn't resort to any underhanded tricks; he's always acted honestly and uprightly, with no need to hide anything. He wouldn't lie and deceive others like some Fox Spirit. Sherlock thought to himself.

Immediately afterwards, Isabel appeared in the next position.

She was clearly unprepared for this situation. Isabel looked around in a bit of panic, and only felt slightly relieved when she met the eyes of the "Fox" who was just one seat away to her right.

"I am... Lu Lu."

Her voice trembled slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. "I am from the Path of Beauty..."

[I hope I'm not late, Children]

An aged voice came from the central statue, interrupting Isabel's self-introduction.

You're late my ass.

Iver's brow twitched as he thought to himself.

I, Merlin, the apostle of Weizhe, will preside over this ceremony.

[Due to certain special reasons, this ceremony is Vacancy Ritual. Everyone rejected the Path of Adaptation during this Full Moon Ritual, so there are no adaptors participating in this Full Moon Ritual —in other words, everyone is present.]

"... Huh? Wait, I still..."

Isabel said softly, sounding both surprised and a little aggrieved.

Because she had only given her code name, she hadn't heard anyone else introduce themselves—in other words, she didn't know anyone at all.

But her voice was very soft— Merlin was, in a sense, an ancestor of Avalon. Isabel was very polite, so she didn't dare to speak loudly and interrupt Merlin, and could only let Merlin's booming voice easily drown out her own.

The next moment, the pitch-black world suddenly became bright.

However, at that moment, "the Fox" suddenly spoke up, "Wait a moment, Lord Merlin."

"Detective and Miss Lu Lu haven't heard anyone else introduce themselves yet—I don't think this ceremony is fair, is it?"

In an instant, the bright world went dark again. It was as if someone had just thrown a flash of light at us.

"... Ah, I'm getting old. My memory isn't what it used to be..."

Despite being interrupted by the "Fox," Merlin showed no anger.

The aged yet friendly voice came from the statue of the old wizard. "Then you continue, and let me hear it too... how about it?"

Iver narrowed his eyes slightly and clicked his tongue rather rudely.

Merlin did that on purpose? What's that old guy up to? Update complete, meow~ My rhinitis is getting worse... I sneezed over a dozen times when I woke up today, even Fluticasone didn't help much, I used over forty tissues this morning, and I've started coughing constantly, even coughing up something that looks like stomach acid occasionally... Did I eat too much?

Ugh, this feels so bad... (rolls around)