Including Friday, Richard spent a full three days deciphering the remaining two pages of code in Appendix C.
Friday night went the most smoothly; the glossary still covered enough vocabulary.
He only needed to apply the replacement rules, then make slight adjustments to the word order according to context, and most sentences surfaced.
By Saturday afternoon, after returning from the antique shop, it started becoming difficult.
The further Appendix C went, the deeper the layers of code nesting became.
Some words had been replaced twice: common words were first substituted with archaic Latin terms, then those archaic Latin terms were replaced with religious terminology.
The glossary Mr. Hutton had given him only solved the first layer. For the second, he had to look through the etymology of religious texts himself.
Fortunately, boosted by [Scholarship], he could break down word roots far faster than an ordinary person.
He spread the Church Latin Etymology Manual he had borrowed from the library across the table, held Appendix C down with his left hand, flipped through etymologies with his right, and pursued several threads of thought at once.
Sunday was even harder. The encryption method for the final half-page of code had changed.
The encryptor had broken whole sentences into fragments, then scattered them throughout other sentences according to a pattern.
It took him nearly two hours to discover the rule: take one word out of every seven, string them together, and they formed the original sentence.
Seven was a key number in many Occultism contexts.
Perhaps the person who had written this code wanted to hint at something to the reader.
When the last line had been copied onto a blank sheet of paper, Richard set down his pen, his fingers slightly numb.
He arranged his drafts in order and read through the restored text from beginning to end.
The contents of Appendix C were divided into three parts.
The first stated a fact in an extremely restrained academic tone.
Beyond the known material world, there existed a world behind The Veil.
If the visible world was compared to a house, then the world behind The Veil was the network of pipes within its walls.
The people in the house walked on its floors and lived in its rooms.
They could occasionally hear sounds from the water pipes, but most people would not investigate their source.
All phenomena the world called "supernatural" were, in essence, seepage from The Veil.
The voices sensed by mediums, the planchettes moving across God-Descending Disks, the filth expelled during exorcism rituals—all pointed to the same thing:
Something had leaked through from the other side of The Veil, or someone on this side had reached through and touched it.
At the end of this section, the text was especially cautious in its wording:
"The realm behind The Veil is not homogeneous. The closer one is to the surface, the gentler the power that seeps through, and the easier it is for humans to understand and use.
"But The Veil also has depth. The deeper one goes, the further its rules depart from common sense."
"Among existing documents, records left by practitioners who explored the deeper levels are exceedingly rare, and their wording is mostly vague, contradictory, and filled with fear."
"The only consensus is this: something is waiting in the depths."
"They may have been waiting all along."
The title of the second part was: On the Three Types of Breath Cultivation.
The text first clarified a concept: among all known starting points for supernatural cultivation, breathing was the oldest and most fundamental.
The reason was not complicated.
Breathing was a natural passage connecting the physical body to what lay behind The Veil.
Each time air entered the lungs, an infinitesimal amount of Aether flowed with it.
Pneuma, Aether—some texts also translated it as Spirit Breath.
The text described it as a seepage from the other side of The Veil, diffused through the air.
It was colorless and odorless, and no instrument could detect it.
Mr. Hutton's words in class—"Instruments do not lie"—took on another meaning here.
An instrument's inability to detect something did not mean it did not exist.
Ordinary people could not perceive it throughout their lives. It entered their bodies with each breath and left with each breath, traceless in its coming and going.
But trained people could retain Aether during breathing, guide it, and store it within their bodies.
That was the essence of a Supernatural Breathing Technique.
The text listed three known major categories of Breathing Techniques, providing a classification framework and basic information, but it did not teach specific cultivation methods.
The first type: the Golden Path.
This category of Breathing Techniques pursued order and balance.
The origins of the Golden Path could be traced back to the Temple of Asclepius.
It was an ancient Temple of the Healing God, as well as the earliest medical academy.
Because it originated from medicine, the Golden Path was characterized by safety and stability.
Most legitimate supernatural organizations regarded the Golden Path as the preferred choice for Initiates.
The second type: the Blood-Burning Path.
Long before the Empire was founded, groups known as Witchers had been active in the forests and marshlands of the northern Western Continent.
The text recorded that Witcher training began at the age of twelve.
During winter, apprentices had to repeatedly alternate between holding their breath in icy water and explosive breathing until their bodies learned to automatically force Aether into their blood vessels at the edge of suffocation.
Many apprentices did not survive their first winter.
By the age of the Empire, old Witcher traditions had been incorporated into the official system, but their essence had not changed.
The text commented: "Practitioners of the Blood-Burning Path often blaze brilliantly in their prime, yet few enter old age in peace."
For the third type, the Abyssal Path, the text became extremely cautious in its wording.
Whether gentle or violent, the first two Breathing Techniques essentially operated on "this side" of The Veil.
A person stood on the shore and reached into the water to draw water; it was merely a matter of taking more or less.
The Abyssal Path, however, required practitioners to actively submerge themselves behind The Veil, plunging their entire bodies into the water to breathe.
The text used a grim analogy:
Someone who lit a lamp in the darkness could see everything illuminated by its light;
But at the same time, every eye in the darkness could see that lamp.
The deeper one went, the brighter the lamp became, and the more eyes saw it.
When Richard reached this point, he realized he had not turned the page in a long while.
His heartbeat had quickened considerably, and the blood vessels at his temples throbbed.
The information about Breathing Techniques had brought him more than the broad description of The Veil in the first part.
The condition for Breathing advancement on the panel—"Learn a Supernatural Breathing Technique"—was no longer an abstract concept hanging in the air.
It now had concrete categories, traceable historical origins, and a clear cultivation logic.
The Golden Path, the Blood-Burning Path, the Abyssal Path—three roads lay before him, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Although Appendix C did not teach specific cultivation methods, it at least proved one thing: Supernatural Breathing Techniques were documented and could be traced.
As long as he followed this lead, sooner or later he would find a specific Breathing Technique.
He turned the paper to the final page.
The third part had no title, only a passage whose tone had become somewhat personal:
"If you have read this far and decided to continue, then remember one thing."
"On this road, the most dangerous enemy is not the Evil Beings behind The Veil, but your own desire."
"Everyone who steps behind The Veil faces the same temptation—deeper, farther, more.
"Aether is more addictive than marijuana, and the knowledge behind The Veil will consume you.
"And growing power will give you the illusion that you can keep going forever, that taking one more step deeper will do no harm."
"Those who can stop in the face of temptation will ultimately survive."
"Those who cannot will become new Wandering Souls."
Before you continue