Exchanging Formulas

Cyril wore an expression that said, "I didn't say anything, you guessed it all yourself," which only made Owen more confident in his own judgment.

He stood up in excitement, looking at Cyril with surprise and a sense of thrill at finally finding a kindred spirit. Although they were not descendants of the same ancient family, they were very similar, weren't they?

Seeing the other's mood, Cyril continued:

"The fall of the Kingdom of Night stemmed from the suppression by the Church of the Goddess of Night. As far as I know, the decline of the Abraham family originated from the disappearance of your ancestor, and the reason they disappeared was because they were exiled from this world by the joint efforts of the Goddess of Night and the Lord of Storms."

"In a way, we are companions in misfortune."

"Is that so?"

Owen widened his eyes. This was a secret even he didn't know, but he didn't doubt it; the information left behind by his father, who only wanted to be an ordinary person, was very limited.

Cyril nodded gently: "If the family records I've read haven't been fabricated."

"So, shall we re-establish the World Truth Society? A true mystical organization with the philosophy of helping, learning from, and supporting each other, seeking partners to explore the mysterious world together."

"Of course!" Owen agreed without a second thought:

"That sounds cool! We should build it into an organization that can rival the glory of the ancient families!"

Cyril smiled and raised his hand, and the two completed a high-five in mid-air.

Slap!

A massive organization that would eventually span the universe was established just like that.

Middle-school-aged boys are so easy to fool—oh, I mean, persuade!

Collecting his thoughts, Cyril looked at Owen, who was still barely managing to imagine the future, and smiled:

"Back to the previous topic, have you ever thought about changing your pathway, or choosing a different time to consume your potion?"

"Why?" Owen asked very seriously this time, assuming a listening posture.

If there were a favorability system, I should have gone from acquaintance to trust by now.

After letting his thoughts wander for a moment, he explained earnestly: "If I remember correctly, the decline of your Abraham family stems from a bloodline curse."

"And this bloodline curse shouldn't have disappeared yet, otherwise you would have already restored your past glory."

Owen nodded gently: "That's right, but because I haven't become a Beyonder yet, this curse hasn't manifested in me."

"But I believe that one day I will be able to break this bloodline curse and lead the Abraham family back to its former glory!"

Ignoring the other's dramatic declaration, Cyril pressed on: "Have you ever thought about the principle behind the bloodline curse?"

"The principle? Isn't it just rooted in the bloodline?"

Owen looked confused, and in reality, he was quite bewildered.

Cyril shook his head gently: "The bloodline is one part, but another part should stem from the Beyonder pathway."

"The Beyonder pathway?"

"A bloodline curse is top-down. If it can affect the entire Abraham family, it must have come from the ancestor who achieved the highest rank."

"A single Beyonder pathway itself has top-down influences. If you choose the same Beyonder pathway as that ancestor, the two will inevitably compound, and you will be affected to a greater degree."

"Additionally, spirituality grows strongest during the Full Moon, which is also when Beyonder effects are most powerful—naturally, this includes the curse."

"Therefore, your best choice is to avoid the Full Moon and avoid the Apprentice pathway."

Owen nodded, half-understanding. He felt what Cyril said made a lot of sense, but: "If avoiding the Apprentice pathway could avoid the bloodline curse, why hasn't any family member succeeded in breaking it for over a thousand years?"

Having already prepared his reasoning, Cyril immediately said: "Obviously, avoiding the Apprentice pathway can only weaken the curse, not eliminate it."

"Moreover, with various factions already established, the world situation solidified, and enemies lurking all around, the difficulty of mastering a complete pathway from scratch is imaginable."

"Or rather, just being able to preserve existing characteristics and formulas is already quite difficult."

Owen nodded seriously. He had accepted Cyril's words, though he was still a bit hesitant:

"Changing the time for advancement is fine, but if I change the pathway, I don't have any potion formulas other than the Apprentice pathway."

Seeing his goal achieved, Cyril snapped his fingers with his only functional hand and said in a relaxed tone:

"But I do. And it's a complete pathway—the Seer pathway once mastered by the Antigonus family."

"More importantly, the Apprentice pathway and the Seer pathway can be swapped after reaching high sequences. While better concealing your identity, it also ensures that later advancements won't encounter problems."

"So, you intend to give me the Seer pathway you possess?"

Owen stared at him blankly, biting his lip repeatedly, tears of emotion almost welling up in his eyes, but Cyril suddenly shook his head:

"Of course not, it's an exchange. The Seer pathway doesn't suit me, so I also need another complete Beyonder pathway."

Owen didn't doubt him. The Abraham family had a bloodline curse, and as another fallen noble family from the Fourth Epoch, the Antigonus family likely suffered from some constraints as well. However, he was troubled by another issue:

"But I only have the potion formulas for Sequence 9 to Sequence 7 of the Apprentice pathway."

Cyril didn't mind; in fact, he was quite excited, as he was a fan of getting things for free.

"That's not a problem. It will take quite some time to go from Sequence 9 to Sequence 7, which is enough time for us to obtain the subsequent potion formulas."

"And this is mutual help between members of our World Truth Society, isn't it?"

"By the way, do you have paper and a pen?"

"Huh? Yes!" The topic had jumped too quickly, and Owen hadn't quite reacted, but his body had already moved on its own, running upstairs to fetch paper and a pen.

After receiving the notebook and fountain pen Owen handed over, Cyril generously wrote down the potion formulas for Sequence 9 through Sequence 5 of the Seer pathway.

He certainly knew that Owen didn't have enough Apprentice pathway potion formulas to trade; that was exactly the effect he wanted. Only by making the other party owe him a favor could he legitimately—or even have the other party proactively offer—a prepared set of Apprentice potion ingredients for free.

In any case, the Seer pathway potion formulas he possessed were all things he had memorized while reading books. Selling one earned him once, and selling two earned him twice.

But then again, this part of his memory seemed exceptionally clear, just like knowledge learned from textbooks for over a decade that he couldn't forget even if he wanted to. Did this also belong to the special traits brought about by a high-level soul?

As these thoughts drifted through his mind, Owen opened another notebook he had brought down and handed it over, which recorded the Apprentice pathway potion formulas from Sequence 9 to Sequence 7 that he had transcribed previously.

Sequence 9: Apprentice

Main ingredients: 1 Gem-eating Insect, 1 Illusion Crystal.

Supplementary ingredients: 10 drops of Goat-beard Grass hydrosol, 90 milliliters of water from an ancient well, any flower grown from a corpse, 5 grams of soil contaminated by a Spirit World creature.

This is the beginning of a mage school, following the footprints of freedom. Remember, do not force yourself, do not be arrogant, and understand the insignificance of your own power.

Sequence 8: Trickmaster

Sequence 7: Astrologer

Seeing Cyril close the notebook in his hand, Owen took the opportunity to speak:

"Once I advance to Sequence 7, I can contact the Council of Elders according to the special communication method my father left behind, and then I'll be able to obtain the subsequent potion formulas."

"Also, the sentence after each potion formula is a warning and revelation left by our family ancestors. Only by following those words can one better master the power of the potion."

"Acting principles, huh..." Cyril murmured, though he wasn't too surprised.

Owen's father had only told him the family secrets when he was on his deathbed. That amount of time certainly wasn't enough to explain everything, so he could only record parts of the content in the notebook in advance, waiting for him to discover them himself.

As for why he didn't explain it earlier, Cyril guessed that this father didn't want his child to embark on the path of a Beyonder.