"Dad said every Magician possessed a Beyonder Characteristic. It was an important primary ingredient for a Potion."
The savage Out-of-Control was now a lamb awaiting slaughter. Joey was pondering how to extract its Beyonder Characteristic.
"I wonder which of the Paths of the Divine this fellow belonged to as a Transcendent."
In Senegal, the Sun God pathway was the dominant sequence, but it was controlled entirely by the Imperial Knights. The magical sequences practiced by ordinary people came in all varieties.
"He turned into a beast after losing control. Maybe he belonged to one of the sequences in the giant pathway."
Transcendents of the giant pathway mostly had abilities that strengthened their bodies. In Cretaceous, for example, one Transcendent had evolved into an Ancient Dragon, capable of annihilating countless living beings with a single breath.
Before Joey could act, footsteps sounded behind him. He turned to see Udil Beckett rushing over with several people, excitement written all over his face.
As though admiring a perfect work of art, Udil circled the monster, completely ignoring Joey, who stood stunned beside it.
"You can leave now!"
Udir's voice was icy, as though he were shooing away a fly. He brazenly claimed the fruits of Joey's labor.
Joey did not argue. He dared not resist, or even say a word. With his head lowered, he silently left.
Only he knew how fiercely the anger was seething inside him.
He had risked his life and fought for hours, only for someone else to snatch his reward. Anyone would have found that intolerable.
Of course, if he had possessed the strength, he would have slapped Udir across that loathsome face without hesitation. But reality was cruel. He simply lacked that power.
Had he dared say one word more just now, he might not even have gotten away safely.
Rather than hurry home, Joey returned to the crash site, hoping to salvage something useful to make up for his losses.
Fortunately, the Goddess of Luck still favored Joey. Although the aircraft had been burned to a shell, he managed to find a few useful things.
There was an enormous Foundation Stone, more than twice the size of the one destroyed earlier, along with some well-preserved seeds. The seeds were stored in an exquisite, luxurious box and had suffered no damage.
He erased the traces he had left behind, picked up the box, and quickly left the scene.
He found a secluded cave where he usually rested during hunting trips. He had kept the interior spotlessly clean.
Looking at the Foundation Stone's pale blue glow, Joey suppressed his excitement, set it securely in place, and arranged the offerings.
He had wondered before whether the Foundation Stone was the reason he could not make an offering. Unfortunately, the only one he had access to was Old Tony's tiny stone. Now he finally had a chance to test his theory.
"You are the omniscient and omnipotent Sun. You are the beginning of all things in the universe. Your subject sincerely presents these offerings and beseeches your response."
He recited the prayer for a long time, but the Foundation Stone showed no reaction.
That couldn't be right, could it?
Joey tilted his head, looking troubled.
Should I try another deity?
"Origin of all things, end of the night, Mother Earth, I call upon your honorific name, Crimson."
Still, there was no response!
He called upon the honorific names of several deities in succession, but the Foundation Stone did not react to any of them.
Finally, Joey steeled himself and recited an evil god's honorific name.
"Corruption, chaos, madness. Chained God, I beseech your response."
As he spoke the evil god's honorific name, Joey was deeply uneasy. He feared receiving no response, yet feared receiving one as well.
"Could it be because I don't belong to this world? Because its deities won't acknowledge me?"
The thought surfaced abruptly in his mind.
"Should I try Huaxia?"
At that thought, Joey pressed his palms together, knelt earnestly, and bowed until his forehead struck the ground before the Foundation Stone.
"Fragrant Flower and Fruit, Water-Curtain Cave, Heaven-Settling Staff, Equal to Heaven, Victorious Fighting Buddha, Sun Wu..."
Bang!
Before he could finish, the entire Foundation Stone shattered with a crash.
Joey froze where he knelt, utterly dumbfounded.
What did that mean? Had a deity from Huaxia answered me?
His heart pounded relentlessly. For the first time, he had received a response. Surely that meant his chances of becoming a Transcendent had improved.
It was a shame to lose such a fine Foundation Stone, but it had confirmed Joey's suspicions. At least it had not perished in vain.
"I never imagined I could receive a response from a deity of Huaxia in this world. It's incredible."
Joey made up his mind. He would find a Foundation Stone of the highest grade and recite the deity's honorific name. Perhaps he could return to his original world.
After all, life in a world without Wi-Fi was far too miserable.
When he returned to the cottage, Old Tony was distressed to see Joey covered in wounds. Alisa wanted to ask what had happened, but she could only wait until his injuries had been bandaged.
"Alisa, I'm sorry. I got there too late. Your friend had already lost control and turned into a supernatural creature. He gave me every one of these wounds."
Alisa sighed softly and shook her head.
"I'd already guessed it would turn out that way."
Joey hesitated, but ultimately took out the little box.
Alisa was instantly overjoyed. "It survived!"
If possible, he would have preferred to keep the box a secret. But he had no choice: Joey had discovered that he could not identify a single seed inside.
Specialized work required a specialist. Sitting on a treasure trove he could not use was painfully frustrating.
Alisa cradled the box in her hands. At that moment, even her friend's death seemed to pale into insignificance.
Together, they placed the seeds in the culture dishes in the basement.
"What are these?" Joey asked.
Alisa pressed her palms together, her face full of devotion. "These are sparks of hope, a fruit that can yield a plentiful harvest on Black Soil. They are a gift from the Goddess of Harvest."
Joey looked stunned.
On Black Soil, where there was no sunlight, no edible crop could grow. Without purification magic, more than half of Senegal's population might already have starved to death.
If these fruits could truly yield a harvest, it would be an enormous blessing for all of Senegal.
Then they would no longer have to toil away digging up Mutant Potatoes.
"Has the inner city already developed something like this?"
A new species could not simply appear out of nowhere. It must have undergone countless experiments, yet he had heard nothing about it.
Alisa shook her head, gazing at the seeds in the culture dishes as though they were her own children.
"These seeds are still classified. My assignment this time was to cultivate them in the outer city. I just never expected something to go wrong along the way." As she spoke, Alisa lowered her eyes, her grief plain to see.
"All right, we can talk about that later. Isn't it time you kept your promise?"
They had agreed on the terms beforehand. Regardless of how things turned out, he would be paid.
In the dim basement, the fluorescent light lent Alisa's face a gentle, modest charm.
"The Potion formula I'm giving you is for Sequence 9, Fortune Teller."