Adam's Invitation

The priest with golden hair and white robes nodded gently toward Cyril with a mild smile:

"Good morning, Mr. Cyril."

"Congratulations on becoming a Beyonder and snatching a portion of the symbolism and authority from that one in the stars."

Cyril glanced at Owen, who was sitting blankly in place as if he had been hit with a pause button, then looked back at Adam and asked calmly:

"Was this all your arrangement?"

To his surprise, Adam shook his head, denying the question: "No."

"I was merely observing from the sidelines; I have never interfered with your fate."

"You really didn't do anything at all?" Cyril asked, somewhat skeptical.

Adam shook his head again: "The only thing I did was imagine a bit of charm belonging to a Marauder for you."

"But that only ensures you don't encounter too much trouble in daily social interactions; it doesn't produce any special effects."

"Even without this charm, you would still be able to ask for leave, persuade the descendant of the Abraham family to trade potion formulas with you, and be able to buy the ingredients for the Apprentice potion."

You say it's buying, but I got it for free.

It's a pity; if not for Amon, I think the Error pathway would have been a decent choice.

As these thoughts drifted, Adam's voice echoed leisurely:

"You can still choose the Error pathway now. Given Amon's personality, He should be very happy to do you that favor."

"Uh..." Cyril froze for a moment. Seeing the serious look in Adam's eyes, he twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, then righteously refused:

"Forget it, I don't want to drink a potion and instantly ascend to King of Angels."

"Parasitism cannot take effect on an existence of a higher sequence than oneself. Even Amon cannot fully parasitize you; He could only perform a shallow parasitism, becoming an 'old grandfather' figure like the one on that Nighthawk."

Adam maintained the same tone, but Cyril inexplicably felt that the other party was in a very good mood at the moment.

Cyril looked up slightly with an expressionless face. He felt that Adam had probably seen all of his memories, but he had no way to protect his right to privacy.

He just didn't know what kind of changes Adam would bring to this world after being spoiled by his memories.

"There won't be too many changes. What is in your memories is already a relatively good ending. I will only do my best to push it forward while ensuring the outcome doesn't turn for the worse, allowing the future to develop in a better direction."

"Of course, all of this will be after I become a Visionary."

After a brief pause, Adam moved past the topic and said instead: "As payment for peeking into your memories, I would like to invite you to join an organization—a Beyonder organization founded by me."

"I shouldn't need to introduce the details of this organization to you; you already know almost everything."

"As it happens, the gathering is tonight. Remember to fall asleep before eight o'clock."

"Alright." Cyril accepted readily. This was the most prestigious secret organization currently in existence, and he was being invited by the leader himself.

He paused, then asked curiously: "If I hadn't become a Beyonder today, would you still have invited me?"

Adam nodded slightly: "Based on my observations, yes."

"If you hadn't met the descendant of the Abraham family today, I would have let you view the second Blasphemy Slate. Of course, that would require an equivalent exchange—completing some tasks to obtain equal rewards."

Cyril sighed softly: "It seems my luck is not bad."

Adam spoke with the tone of a researcher: "Although you are an outsider, you still follow the Law of Beyonder Characteristics. Your status as a Great Old One makes you possess an extraordinary attraction to certain pathways, even if you are not yet a Beyonder."

"In a sense, meeting the descendant of the Abraham family was inevitable. Moreover, you didn't just meet him today; you also encountered a clone of Amon and a Traveler envoy of the Aurora Order."

"Ah, this..." Cyril stood there, stunned. He never expected that his simple trip to school to ask for leave would be so eventful—so eventful that he was almost afraid to go out casually again.

Noticing his expression, Adam smiled gently: "The envoy of the Aurora Order did not notice you; he just happened to appear on the same street as you by chance."

"Amon saw you when the descendant of the Abraham family used the Paralysis Charm, but He also saw me. Out of the tacit understanding between us, although He was curious, He chose to ignore you."

Cyril now had only one thought in his mind: This world is truly damn dangerous.

And this was still on Earth, with the attraction between adjacent pathways hidden. If he were in the cosmos, he suspected he might step on an angel under the High-Dimensional Overseer just by walking, or bump into the High-Dimensional Overseer himself just by jumping.

As his thoughts wandered, he saw Adam reach out and pull a brand-new deck of Tarot Cards from the void.

"I originally wanted to give you a cross, but you seem to prefer Tarot Cards."

"Carry it; it can weaken this attraction of fate to a certain extent, but it cannot block it completely. Your status is too high."

After hesitating for a moment, he reached out and took the deck of Tarot Cards: "What price do I need to pay for this?"

Adam said calmly: "At the appropriate time, chant the honorific name of The Fool again, obtain His permission, and join the Tarot Club He founded."

"Why?"

Cyril was very confused. Although he did have thoughts in that direction, he didn't think Adam would have such thoughts as well. Compared to His Twilight Hermit Order, the current Tarot Club was so small it could be ignored.

Moreover, in the struggle for the Lord of the Mysteries, He supported Amon. Surely He wouldn't want him to be a double agent?

Adam's golden eyes looked at him calmly. The expression on Cyril's face stiffened for a moment before returning to normal. Since he couldn't stop the other party from reading his mind anyway, he might as well just give up.

Adam smiled leisurely: "If not for my relationship with Amon, in the struggle for the position of Lord of the Mysteries, I would be more willing to support that 'Fool'."

"Even now, I will still give Amon a chance, regardless of success or failure."

He paused, and the smile on His face suddenly became much brighter: "Compared to His success, what I am more willing to see is His growth—truly becoming the light when the Doomsday arrives."

Cyril stood frozen in place. At this moment, Adam felt completely different to him; the divine incarnation of the Ancient Sun God seemed to possess a touch of humanity, the kind of affection a father holds for his child.

Why did he suddenly feel a bit envious of Amon?

"Cyril, Cyril, what are you spacing out for?"

"How do you feel? Did you succeed?"

Owen's call brought Cyril back to his senses. He looked around in a daze; Adam's figure had long since vanished, and he was still standing before the table, holding the glass that had contained the potion, as if the conversation with Adam had been nothing more than a hallucination.

He subconsciously reached into his pocket and touched the Tarot Cards that hadn't been there before.

He really does come and go without a trace.

Perhaps the Adam I saw was just His virtual persona. I seemed to have been in the room the whole time, but in reality, I must have been pulled into the spirit world before I even saw Him.

But if it were the spirit world, how could the Tarot Cards appear directly on me? Did He just conjure them out of thin air?

Collecting his thoughts, he looked at the worried-looking Owen and nodded with a faint smile:

"I am now a true Apprentice. I was just adapting to the changes brought about by the potion."

Owen nodded, not suspecting a thing: "Is that so? I saw you staring blankly after drinking the potion, with no changes or reactions at all. I almost thought you had failed."

"Right, hurry and let me see what kind of Beyonder ability you've gained."

Cyril nodded gently, walked over to the wall between the living room and the dining room, and pressed his hand against it.

The next second, a dim blue, intangible, and blurry door suddenly appeared.

It was embedded in the wall, yet the texture of the bricks beneath it remained visible, making it look both illusory and real.

After the blue "door" appeared, Cyril stepped forward. His body passed through the blue door as easily as if moving through a curtain of water, and then the "door" vanished, as if it had never existed at all.

A few seconds later, Cyril turned the doorknob and walked out from the dining room door.

"The Apprentice has only one extraordinary ability, and it is called Door Opening; by utilizing the special nature of the Spirit World to pass through barriers, neither walls nor gates can hinder my passage."

"Beyond that, I can also open any lock that does not contain mystical power, as well as a small portion of locks imbued with extraordinary effects."