Cooperation

"Dragon Pathway Sequence Two, 'Discerner.'" Sasrir tossed the eyeball directly to Truman.

Truman caught it and examined it closely. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Isn't this the Psychic Dragon Medici and I hunted down back then?"

The mental imprint within the Beyonder Characteristic felt familiar.

Back then, he had even taken two drops of dragon's blood to study the Psychic Dragon's various abilities. He couldn't mistake that feeling.

"Medici already gave you your spoils. This is what he handed in to me." Sasrir's expression remained flat.

Medici really was loyal. It was truly... remarkable for a born Mythical Creature to be so peculiar.

"Fine!" Truman didn't quibble. A faint light shimmered from the Robe of the Sage, and he crafted the Beyonder Characteristic by hand!

The Robe of the Sage had now incorporated the "Master" Characteristic. "Master" was Sequence Two of the Artisan Pathway, after all!

And with Truman's deeper development of the Book of Dreams and his stronger control over Dream Phosphor, he could handle this Beyonder Characteristic with ease.

Before long, the Beyonder Characteristic in Truman's hand vanished, leaving behind a dragon mask with a somewhat exaggerated design.

"Here!" Truman tossed the Dragon Mask to Hermes. "Put it on, and you'll gain the abilities of a 'Discerner.' The side effect is that using it will create a cold, mad alternate personality with a strong tendency toward self-destruction."

For other Pathways, an alternate personality with such a strong self-destructive tendency would be enough to put people off. But for the Dragon Pathway, whose members could control alternate personalities and use Pacification, the side effect was almost negligible.

The alternate personality could even be put to good use.

"Thank you, Angel! Thank you, Dark Angel." Hermes expressed his gratitude.

The Dragon Race was now at its height, just like the Giant Race. Obtaining a Psychic Dragon's Characteristic was incredibly difficult.

"Mm." Sasrir nodded and left. He still had to deal with the boundless affairs of Heaven.

Truman led Hermes out of the church and traveled directly to the Dream Church in the largest city-state.

"Let me know when Omebella and the others arrive." Truman walked deeper into the church and merged with the statue.

His several statues had now been turned into private residences, and he could merge with them directly.

"Still missing a little..." Truman took out the Book of Dreams and turned to the fourth page.

The first three pages were Dream Heaven, "Causality," and "Illusionary Dream." They represented Truman's analysis of the Book of Dreams' strongest authority: "Dream."

After all, the authority of "Dream" was a little too complicated for him at present.

Compared with the authority of Omniscience and Omnipotence, it encompassed almost every aspect. Unless God Almighty was resurrected, no one could wield it directly.

Even the Ancient Sun God, who had been destined for the role, still had to start with the five Paths of the Divine, gradually approaching control of the Chaos Sea and mastery of the authority of Omniscience and Omnipotence.

Truman's analysis of the Book of Dreams was like a True God looking down from above and dismantling his own authority, breaking it down into Sequences One through Nine.

For example, Mr. Fool's authority of "Fooling" had been broken down from the Seer Sequence into abilities related to "Grafting," "Wish," "History," and other aspects.

That was what Truman was doing now.

The authority of "Dream" seemed especially complex. During the two times he had touched it before, he had broken down its two most obvious and straightforward aspects.

But after hundreds of years, Truman's analysis of the authority of "Dream" had still only reached its third ability.

Still, this third ability would mark an important transformation in his understanding of the authority of "Dream"!

"I keep feeling like the Book of Dreams could be broken down into several Pathways!" Truman felt a headache coming on.

Among the Sefirot, only the "Key of Light" contained just one Pathway.

Without the authority of Omniscience and Omnipotence, this work of almost creating Pathways in reverse was mind-numbingly tedious.

But this time, his analysis of the Book of Dreams didn't last long. The Giant had come to find him.

"Angel, the Goddess of Harvest and the God of Dawn have arrived." Hermes's report reached Truman inside the statue. He leaped out of it.

"Long time no see." Truman studied the two Giants closely. They had both changed considerably since he'd last seen them.

The madness about them had diminished, and their mental states were much better than before.

That was probably due to the Acting Method.

The Potion Formulae had been given out. Sooner or later, someone would be able to summarize the Acting Method.

And as these Ancient God races spread the Acting Method, their tendency to lose control had greatly diminished. As a result, these Subordinate Gods would also become more powerful.

"Long time no see." Omebella showed no surprise. She gazed at Truman with a gentle expression.

"Hmph!" Badheil hadn't improved at all. That was great.

"The Giant Race wants to cooperate with humanity's hidden sects?" Truman had no interest in making small talk with the Giants, so he asked directly.

"Humanity's hidden sects? I think you mean your Dream Cult!" Badheil rumbled.

"Oh? So you have improved, after all. At least you've started using your brain." Truman folded his arms and glanced sideways at him, his eyes full of encouragement, as though waiting for him to pick a fight.

"..." Dawn flashed in Badheil's single eye, but he forcibly suppressed it.

That surprised Truman.

"We hope to cooperate with you," Omebella said softly. And by "you," she meant more than just the human sects and Truman.

"Why? Give me a reason to provoke an Ancient God." Truman's expression showed no surprise. He had anticipated this.

"We want the Phoenix. You want the Elves and Dragons." Omebella's words were earth-shattering.

Truman narrowed his eyes. This was his divine palace, so no information could leak out. But what gave the Giant King the nerve to say something like that?

Was it merely the similar-Sequence knowledge pieced together from guesses and conjecture?

Sequences had been made public for hundreds of years. Many races now had Demi-gods and Saints, so they had naturally gained some understanding of similar-Sequence knowledge.

That could answer many of the Ancient Gods' questions.

But under Sasrir's deliberate arrangements, much of that knowledge was incomplete. They could barely make sense of even the basics of similar Sequences.

Of course, Ancient Gods were mental patchwork monsters. Maybe their "appetite" had simply gotten the better of them.

"We'll deal with the Goddess of Misfortune ourselves. You're getting the better end of this bargain." Badheil suddenly spoke.

You probably don't know I'm the Pontiff of Night... Truman's mouth twitched.

No! Last time, I directly manifested the Goddess's projection in the Illusionary Dream to strike at him...

Did he not realize my relationship with the Goddess, or... was he doing it on purpose?

This time, Truman gave Badheil a truly thoughtful look.

Maybe... he really has started using his brain!