The First Brand

Celestials are illusory demons who live in the Dream Realm; they can directly enter dreams, just as birds can fly and fish can swim.

Even ordinary phantom demons generally possess this ability, as long as they can reach the Material Realm through their own means.

As long as one can enter a dream, one can easily destroy mortals from within the dream.

Curses, hallucinations, implanted suggestions, memory alteration, or even the direct destruction of the soul.

Humans are ultimately beings living in the Material Realm; only in dreams do the remnants of their thoughts project into the Dream Realm.

Apart from professions like the Dream Wandering Monk who possess the characteristics of a "Dream Walker," ordinary people have no resistance in the Dream Realm and don't even have a clear sense of self.

This is also the essence of certain "divine revelations," "precognitive dreams," or "demonic possession."

Of course, even a conscious Dream Wandering Monk has no ability to resist.

If you are attacked by a phantom demon in the Dream Realm, you will only die more consciously. In fact, you will be more vulnerable to attack because you are conscious... just like the superhumans in the Promotion Ritual.

When extraordinary individuals enter a dream with a conscious mind, their souls directly enter the Dream Realm.

Before the "host" system became widespread, the first thing the dreamers had to do in the Dream Realm was survive the attacks of those soul-devouring phantoms—but outside of the Promotion Ritual, Dream Wandering Monk had no "host" to protect them.

Those beings who have lucid dreams and unconsciously wander into the Dream Realm are more likely to come into contact with the illusions and demons of the Dream Realm.

It could be a good thing, bringing some extraordinary encounters, such as meeting a knight, sage, or angel, and learning swordsmanship, magic, or divine arts in a dream; it could also be encountering fairies, the Grim Reaper, or heroic spirits from the Shadow Land, and being led into the Fairy Kingdom, the underworld, or the Shadow Land, where unpredictable things happen; it could also be directly encountering Lingbo and having one's soul frozen, or encountering a demon and being possessed.

Playing with pigeons at the risk of one's life is an example of this.

The Curse Master who transcend the path of love also lack the ability to walk consciously in the Dream Realm, but they can still attack others from within the Dream Realm through a medium. Similarly, the writers of the Path of Beauty possess the ability to weave and modify dreams.

However, this kind of dream entry is obviously limited.

They are ineffective for the devout followers of the Pillar God or for the object to whom the blessing is directly bestowed.

The protection from a higher being can safeguard the souls of mortals. Like a firewall, it prevents these fragments of thought from forming too deep a connection with the true self, thus intercepting their influence.

The blessing of the Pillar God can protect against attacks from the celestial beings and apostles, while the protection of the celestial beings and apostles can also protect against attacks from the Curse Master.

The meager blessing obtained through routine prayer can significantly increase the difficulty of being cursed—complete immunity is impossible, just as Iver will be forcibly marked at this moment.

But at least this way you don't have to worry about Bear Angel coming to beat you up directly through the internet.

However, Iver was slightly confused.

He wasn't entirely sure whether he was being protected by the Silver Crowned Dragon or by the Candle Master...

... Or perhaps the Serpent Father, the Twin Mirrors? Or even the Ring Angel? In any case, the protection is quite effective.

"Bear Angel has murderous intent towards me," Iver said, looking at the confused Lily. "It must be because of the Giant King."

"Leaving aside whether Bear Angel wanted him to be promoted to apostle... but He had clearly set his sights on me because of this matter. Or perhaps He had already set his sights on me before that, when I was being watched by the Silver Crowned Dragon."

Or perhaps it's because of a "Sacred Entity," Iver added to himself.

"But even Bear Angel, who clearly intends to kill me, cannot directly enter my dream."

Iver chuckled, "He has found me, but cannot discern the shape of my dream. This actually exposes His weakness even more."

Even though he was being hunted down by the Celestials, Iver remained completely unconcerned.

Because Iver knew that Bear Angel only had two options if he wanted to kill him.

Either destroy Iver from the Material Realm, or try various methods to leave more and more marks on him, constantly strengthening the connection between Him and Iver's true form—after collecting seven marks, Bear Angel can bypass the protection of the Pillar God, fall directly into Iver's dream in the Dream Realm, and attack and kill Iver.

If any other celestial officials wanted to kill him, they would definitely choose the latter.

But given Bear Angel's personality, he would definitely choose the former. At least in the first few rounds, he would definitely go all out.

Although He is a wicked god, He truly disdains intrigue and scheming.

The Material Realm... that is a realm restricted by the balance Pillar God "Hourglass".

No matter how powerful a Celestial or Apostle is, once they enter the Material Realm, they must obediently undergo "balance".

All enemies in the Material Realm are potentially defeatable.

Those invincible enemies, once they fall into the Material Realm, will be "equilibrated" to a level that is theoretically defeatable.

In other words, even if Bear Angel wanted to send his apostles to hunt down Iver, he had to abide by the "fair" rules of the Hourglass and defeat Iver's Night Demon in the Material Realm first.

You have to understand, just a month ago, when Iver and Night Demon easily defeated the Succubus, it was as easy as Zhao Yun charging in and out of Changban Slope seven times— Iver even a step ahead of Night Demon the whole time!... You can only say that A Dou is very strong, he didn't cry.

There's nothing that can be done about it; that's how summoners are. Even though Iver later advanced to become Great Sin Scholar, he was still ultimately a "scholar," and he still suppressed those Great Sin Beast with the power of the Celestials and Pillar God.

Only when Iver truly becomes the Beast Lord of the Great Sin Beast Great Sin Beast can merge with it at any time will his survival ability undergo a fundamental leap... transforming him from a summoner class into a shapeshifter class.

—Great Beast Master, Beast Lord the Great Sinful Beasts, Beast Lord ... you can call him whatever you like. In essence, he is the sovereign of the Great Sin Beast.

That was a brand new profession developed by "Iver," and the one who named it was the original Iver Moriarty.

That is to transform oneself into the seventh deadly sin—to imprint the mark of "pride" on one's own body. To truly command the beasts of the six deadly sins with one's own power and one's own body.

... Just like the Clow Cards were rewritten as the Sakura Cards.

Before Iver reaches that position in this world, there can never be a second "Beast Lord." Just like the profession of "Great Sin Scholar" was also named by Iver.

If one wants to confront the Ring Angel directly, to defy one's own destiny... and even to reach the position of Pillar God, one must at least reach that level.

Demon Scholar advance to Great Sin Scholar at the Fourth Level, and then advance to the second energy level at the Seventh Level.

To become the Great Beast Master, Iver needs to collect all six Great Sin Beast of the six attributes and upgrade them all to the Seventh Level. He also needs to prepare Angel Shard of the six attributes, as well as Divine Weapon or extraordinary materials of the same level to "coronate" them.

Bear Angel is a Tiansi with the Earth Attribute. He can be used as either Fire Attribute or Earth Attribute.

Moreover, Iver also remembered... that there were many Flame Butterflies in Bear Angel's Dense Forest.

Based on the occult knowledge that Iver obtained from the school library, that Dense Forest should be the area that Bear Angel defined in the Dream Realm, "Eternal Burning Valley".

The Silver Crowned Dragon kept a constant watch over and protected the Eternal Burning Valley, preventing Bear Angel from leaving for other areas of the Dream Realm.

Bear Angel will ignite the souls of cowards, lazy people, and escapists, transforming them into flame butterflies, letting them burn and dedicate all their power. That power will become flames, forging the weak and healing the strong.

After the Silver Crowned Dragon has chosen its own soul, it will be Bear Angel's turn to choose, as he is ranked first on the Path of Authority.

He will choose the souls of cowards and the strong first—the former will be transformed into fragile butterflies, burning themselves out until they turn to ashes.

The latter will transform into beasts and Hunter, endlessly battling each other in the burning forest valleys.

Hunter hunt beasts, and beasts devour Hunter.

Once Hunter and a beast complete a hunt, the Hunter becomes a beast, and the beast becomes Hunter.

This cycle repeats itself, and the dead are repeatedly reborn, but become weaker and weaker.

Once courage is completely exhausted, it will lose its beastly form and transform into a mindless, unfeeling flame butterfly.

This is the way of power—the strong will constantly take everything from the weak.

There is absolutely no fairness in the path of "power".

Its greatest injustice lies in the fact that every new soul, before it has even fully developed, will challenge the strongest being who has lived here for hundreds of years—that is, Bear Angel himself—and ultimately become His nourishment.

Only a few of His apostles would roam the Eternal Burning Valley, hunting down newly ascended souls... and a very few would be able to defeat the apostles with the weaker strength, and they would be mercifully promoted to new apostles by the Bear Angel.

He gave his apostles the power to challenge him, and would also attack and kill his apostles when he was bored.

That's the way of power; there's no logic to it. As long as you win, everything is right.

The strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker.

Iver slightly raised his hand, and a butterfly landed on Iver fingertips.

"... But no matter how you look at it, bears and butterflies don't seem to go well together."

He stared intently at his Flame Butterfly and said in a low voice.

Iver's lips curled up slightly as he lightly touched the flames on the Flame Butterfly's back with his fingertips, whispering as if coaxing a child, "I'll go get it for you, okay?"

The scar on his chest was indeed the mark of Bear Angel's hunt for Iver—

But isn't this also a mark of Iver hunting down Bear Angel?

Just like the endless hunting cycle in Eternal Burning Valley — the Hunter can be the prey, and the prey can be the Hunter.

"You'd better be a little stupid, otherwise..."

"Iver murmured."

—He can now Ouroboros Ring Ritual.

If possible, he would naturally prefer to follow the normal developmental sequence, wait for the Star Antimony side to complete the Ouroboros Ring, pull down the Fallen Angel, and then go over to take Him down.

But if Bear Angel realizes that His apostles pose no threat to Iver and begins to understand Iver's soul... then Iver will have to begin the Ouroboros Ring Ritual.

It can be said that the more of these marks are superimposed, the closer the day of the duel between Iver and Bear Angel will be.

But it would be bad if Bear Angel were to be pulled down first, causing the Fallen Angel.

However, it seems that there shouldn't be any major problems at present.

Because the situation on Xingti's side is even worse.

Immediately after Avalon declared war on Star Antimony, the Great Mage of the Narcissus Principality arrested Duke Cavendish and declared the Narcissus Principality independent.

Even if Xingti ignores Avalon, he must prioritize dealing with the independence of the Narcissus Principality.

Otherwise, if they don't react at all, even the Black Eagle Principality, which is still relatively loyal, might start to have ulterior motives.

However, the independence of the Narcissus Principality was carried out with the support, or rather, the suggestion, of Avalon.

Under the continuous and intense harassment from the Griffin Legion, supplies from the rear could not reach the front lines at all—these Griffins were stationed within the territory of Iris, and Star Antimony could not directly cross the sea to attack Avalon's headquarters, nor did it want to open a third front to attack Iris.

Therefore, all they could do was strongly condemn the Iris; there was nothing else they could do.

Iver felt...

If nothing unexpected happens, the Ouroboros Ring Ritual, which was originally scheduled for Version 3.0... that is, June 1900, will most likely be brought forward.

The war has now been going on for a month. It is early February, and spring is in full bloom.

As for Xingti, it's clear to the naked eye that it won't last until next summer.

Regardless of the fact that the Iris is still eyeing us covetously, even the Black Eagle Principality is now starting to have objections.

When they saw that the independence of the Narcissus Principality was almost unstoppable, they became dissatisfied with their fate as cannon fodder.

In Star Antimony, alchemists, necromancers, Demon Scholar, and witches all have one thing in common... they are all fragile mages, and they hold a high status.

If you want a physical damage dealer with high durability, you'll have to look for one in the Black Eagle Principality.

They either had to use the expensive Golem or the still-developing Armored Gargoyle... so in the end, they still had to rely on the Hunter from Black Hawk. Armed with Star Antimony's advanced automated weapons, they became Star Antimony's largest army.

Moreover, the territory of the former Black Eagle Principality is right next to the Narcissus Principality. With Star Antimony's supplies and reinforcements constantly being harassed by griffins, they can only continuously recruit soldiers from the Black Eagle Territory and send them north to fight against those mages.

—They are both principalities ruled by Star Antimony, and they are trying to declare independence. Why should we send troops to fight them?

Now, even the Black Hawk Army personnel are beginning to voice their discontent.

Meanwhile, the goblin merchants took the opportunity to bleed money away, raising the prices of war supplies several times over.

So Iver knew... the Ouroboros Ring would probably happen this year. He couldn't postpone his studies in the Theocracy any longer.

Because the Stibnite Person cannot accept defeat.

You could even say... there are only three months left at most.

—At most three months, Xingti will be defeated.

The cat's back! Dear readers, I've missed you all so much! (Feng Gong's voice)