Church of Dusk

Zhou Kai's major was ancient Western scripts and classics.

It was basically impossible to bypass the Church of Dusk.

Therefore, he was not entirely ignorant of this religious group that claimed to be the "Light."

Take, for example, the author of the Morning Star Notes, Morning Star.

Within the cultural circles of the Church of Dusk, this name carried significant weight; legend held that he was the archangel who waved the banner and ushered in the dawn.

And now, the information sent by Flash Dirham was dismantling this understanding, reassembling it, and adding new bricks and mortar.

Flash Dirham: "The Church of Dusk worships Light itself, but the Limpidi Sect is different."

"They worship the Child of Light, the Child of Dusk... the Savior Saint."

Flash Dirham's message paused for a moment, and when it reappeared, it was a long block of text that nearly filled the screen.

"The Church of Dusk likely originated from a doomsday panic in ancient times; people believed that before the 'Long White Day' of life's growth ended, a light of dusk would arrive to save all living things."

"The Limpidi Sect holds a different view; they believe that what will save the world is not the Light, but the proxy of the Light of the End."

"The so-called 'Incarnation,' 'Sage of the Final Light,' 'Sin-Bearing Saintly Body'... legend says that every generation of the Sage is accompanied by strange phenomena upon their birth. The existence of these phenomena led Limpidi Sect churches to cultivate plants corresponding to the Sage's omen."

"There is the 'Gastrodia' representing Arcana II, and the 'Dwarf Cyathea' and 'Butterfly Moon Orchid' of two other sages who vanished into history, leaving no verifiable records."

Zhou Kai stared at the reply on the screen, which was comparable to a short essay. His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a long time before he typed out a few words: "Butterfly Moon Orchid? Are there any other translations? For example..."

Before he could click send, the other party popped up an addendum.

"All three plants are scientific names; they had other names in the past."

"For instance, the Dwarf Cyathea was called the Pippin Tree, and the Butterfly Moon Orchid was once called the Moonlight Orchid... By the way, the Butterfly Moon Orchid is already extinct."

Zhou Kai's eyes flickered. He deleted the words in the input box and replied briefly with two words: "Thanks."

He leaned back in his chair and smiled thoughtfully.

Extinct?

I still have over a dozen live seedlings in my possession, and dozens of seeds to boot.

The clues were finally lining up.

If he hadn't guessed wrong, planting Gastrodia and Dwarf Cyathea in the Nursery shouldn't require consuming experience points to gain yields.

It seemed he would have to put some effort into finding these two plants in the future.

Zhou Kai still had questions, and the person on the other end was clearly not finished chatting either.

He continued to type.

Zhou Kai threw out another key question: "So, does this Limpidi Sect still exist? Where are they?"

Flash Dirham: "There used to be quite a few of them; they should have spread to your Red Star as well. But now... they have likely disappeared."

Zhou Kai: "Disappeared?"

Flash Dirham: "The last of the Three Saintly Flowers is the Butterfly Moon Orchid. She represents moonlight, the only light in the night after dusk... For the Limpidi Sect, the world has already ended. Their salvation failed, and they lost the reason to continue existing."

"As for the final outcome... it's possible they were reabsorbed by the Church of Dusk, or perhaps they suddenly vanished for some reason, or maybe both? It's hard to say."

Zhou Kai: "One last question, you seem to know even more than I imagined..."

Zhou Kai pondered, could this forum big-shot be some kind of professional scholar?

But the other party's answer was not what Zhou Kai had expected.

Flash Dirham: "There is nothing to be surprised about. I said what I wanted to say; I just didn't want some meaningful history to continue gathering dust."

Zhou Kai lay on his bed, staring at the pitch-black ceiling, his mind racing.

The new knowledge acted like lubricant, causing gears in his mind that had been stuck to start turning again.

"Is it possible..."

"That the Soraka town in that short film was truly rebuilt on the original site."

"And the original town, its residents, and that Limpidi Sect church... were all dragged into the Nightmare for some reason?"

Zhou Kai's brows knitted into a knot. As his thoughts progressed, goosebumps broke out all over his body.

Sure enough, while gazing into the abyss, the abyss was also gazing back at you.

"The Long White Day is coming to an end—does that refer to the arrival of the Nightmare? Could it be that the Church of Dusk discovered Nightmare Syndrome thousands of years ago?"

As soon as this thought emerged, a chill crept from the soles of his feet up his body.

If the Nightmare had been brewing and eroding this world for thousands of years...

Then what about now?

How far had the Nightmare invasion progressed?

Is it the deep night with moonlight, or the endless, pitch-black...

Nightmare Desolation?

In short, all of this was far more complex than he had imagined.

"This world is also much more complex than I previously understood."

Soraka Town originated from reality, which meant that extraordinary power already existed within the real world itself.

"It seems that apart from Nightmares, one can also seize the Scars of others in reality to improve oneself..."

There was no trace of the Church of Dusk in Xishan City, and Zhou Kai could not go around picking fights with total strangers just to upgrade his Scar.

Thinking of this, only one thought remained in his mind.

"I just hope no one comes looking for me to improve their own Scar."

"If the Western Hemisphere has an extraordinary system centered around 'Scars,' then what about Red Star?"

"Ancient Martial Arts..."

"They are likely far stronger than I imagined."

Zhou Kai had a strong premonition that the slight peculiarities displayed by Chen Ping might only be the most insignificant corner of Red Star Ancient Martial Arts.

After finishing his thoughts, Zhou Kai rested for a while.

The alarm on his phone had not yet rung, but his biological clock had already roused him from his light sleep.

It was time to go to the gym to meet Chen Ping.

The sky was already slightly bright, and Zhou Kai glanced at his panel before heading out.

[Character: Zhou Kai]
[Status: Erosion, Clear-Headed]
[Scar: Chariot (0/100)]
[Skills: Comprehensive Combat lv3 (1/50), Light Footwork lv3 (13/50), Soraka Swordsmanship lv2 (12/25), Occultism lv2 (0/25), Falcon Strike Technique Lv1 (10/15)]
[Items: Residence Permit, Blood-Stained Axe, Morning Star Notes (Part 3, Part 2), Moonlight Orchid Seed (Plump), Exquisite Moonlight Orchid Amulet, Sturdy Two-Handed Sword]
[General Experience Points: 14]

Under the state of double Clear-Headed, he hadn't been idle during those few hours he held his ground in the Sanctuary.

The experience points for several main skills had increased slightly.

"Falcon Strike Technique is about to level up... I can't waste experience points; I'll break through via practice first."

He kept the remaining fourteen experience points in reserve, just in case.

The city had already begun to wake up.

The lights were already on at the Liu couple's breakfast shop downstairs, and the white steam from the steamers, mixed with the scent of flour, swirled in the cold wind of the early morning.

In an era rampant with pre-made meals, this persistence seemed somewhat clumsy, yet it had earned them a group of loyal, long-time customers.

Sanitation workers, earning less than half of Xishan City's minimum wage, had also begun their day's work.

There were also elderly people with nothing to do after retirement who had already gone out to exercise; the sounds of them patting their bodies and the blaring of their phones seemed to urge the passing young people not to be late, as the good days were still ahead.

Regardless of age, gender, height, or weight, for most people, an ordinary day had begun.

However, just as Zhou Kai walked out of the residential complex gate, his footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

That monotonous ordinariness seemed to be becoming rare.

"Sirens? And the sound of an ambulance?"

Following the sounds, Zhou Kai walked toward the street corner on his right.