In the capital of Yinsai, the God-Servant City, the heavy iron gates adorned with intricate carvings slowly opened within the city wall’s archway. Anhofus passed through the center of the sword-wielding guards, ascended the stairs, and was led by an attendant to the garden’s exterior.

The garden was entirely constructed of glass, standing over four meters tall in the shape of a birdcage. It was beautiful, exquisite, and could be described as nothing short of extravagant. Direct sunlight would slow the growth of the Sun Cup flowers, causing them to wither and even die, but this glass solved that problem. The royal garden was the first to use this method to cultivate Sun Cups.

However, the Sky Temple still maintained its centuries-old traditional flower garden.

Anhofus approached the glass and stood behind the crowned figure, saying, “Your Majesty!”

The King turned and scrutinized Anhofus closely. “You’ve come, my God-servant priest.”

The King stepped forward, patting Anhofus on the shoulder, appearing friendly and familiar. “I hear you’re preparing to take that step?”

Anhofus inquired, “Which step is Your Majesty referring to?”

The King spoke plainly, “I know a few things. You obtained the ‘Art of God’s Grace’ from the Temple of Truth, so you must be preparing to break through to the fourth rank and become a God’s Grace Priest.”

Anhofus didn’t try to hide it: “Some preparations are still needed.”

The King laughed heartily, “It seems we’ll soon have another powerful fourth-rank ability user.”

Currently, whether in the Yinsai civilization or the Abyss Kingdom civilization, there were only two fourth-rank God’s Grace Priests. They were Lan, the Sage of Truth, and Elena, the Abyss Knight. However, although Lan was a Trilobite Man, he was clearly an independent force outside of Yinsai.

The mighty Yinsai actually lacked its own God’s Grace Priest.

After discussing this topic, the King immediately brought up another matter.

“I remember that you, my God-servant priest, are still single. Well… how about this!”

“I can give you my daughter Yeya in marriage. This way, we’ll be family.”

“What do you think about that?”

The King of Yinsai had dozens of children, of whom Anhofus only knew a few.

“Princess Yeya?” Anhofus questioned. “I’ve never met this princess.”

The King clapped his hands, and a figure emerged from the glass garden.

Anhofus turned to look and realized that the King’s daughter was the female high priestess responsible for singing the covenant hymns daily in the Sky Temple. These priestesses spent their days in the great hall of the Sky Temple, appearing to Anhofus like a group of puppets.

She was also that ordinary priestess who couldn’t even answer whether she thought God was watching them.

He had previously thought the King had merely sent her to monitor him, not realizing there was another intention behind it.

He barely glanced at the princess before firmly refusing.

“Your Majesty,” he said, “I don’t need this.”

The princess was stunned by Anhofus’s response, then turned and ran away, clearly heartbroken and furious.

Anhofus didn’t seem to care much.

The King hadn’t expected Anhofus to refuse. In his view, this was absolutely something no one would resist, a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Anhofus would become part of the royal family, and Yinsai would gain a powerful fourth-rank ability user.

At the same time, this was an honor bestowed upon Anhofus by the royal family.

The King felt somewhat embarrassed and angry.

“Anhofus!” he exclaimed. “Are you rejecting the royal family? Or are you insulting my daughter?”

The two men stared at each other. This time, the King was very stern, clearly brooking no refusal.

Finally, after much deliberation and a long silence, Anhofus agreed. He still needed the King’s power and assistance; he couldn’t afford to antagonize him.

As he left the palace and walked back towards the Sky Temple, there was a disturbance in his sleeve.

He took out Haru’s magic bottle and placed it on the stair railing. The small bone man inside the bottle looked at Anhofus.

“You’ve changed a lot,” the bone man remarked.

Anhofus asked, “How have I changed?”

The bone man replied, “You used to be an evil sorcerer hiding in a castle, ignoring the so-called rights and prestige of the world.”

“You never compromised, but now you’re different.”

Anhofus questioned, “Now?”

The bone man nodded, “You’re like a nobleman now.”

Anhofus disagreed, “I haven’t changed, but sometimes compromise is necessary.”

“This compromise isn’t submission to authority, but for the better development of our plans.”

Though he said this, the bone man’s words made him feel a sense of urgency.

He did indeed feel that he was being assimilated. His exploration of the secret of immortality had recently stalled. After gaining the grace of the God-servant priest of the Sky Temple and enormous support, he had been drawn into the vortex of power struggles.

He was pleased to control vast resources but also loathed the intrigues among these people.

In his view, these people were like insects bred in a jar, constantly fighting among themselves for that tiny bit of space, never knowing to look at the world outside the jar.

Once upon a time, he had viewed them from a lofty and disdainful perspective.

Now, he too had been pulled into the jar by these insects.

He had to accelerate his plans. He was a noble person pursuing the secret of immortality, not an ordinary member of the masses.

However, before that, he still had to go to one place.

Anhofus left the Sacred Mountain with his entourage, heading towards the Dark River region.

According to custom, the God-servant priest of the Sky Temple was not allowed to leave the temple.

But this custom clearly had no effect on Anhofus.

“Clatter, clatter, clatter~”

The sound of the small stone monster’s rolling lower body was quite loud as it ran along the main road, pulling a carriage compartment.

Some bandits in the wilderness saw the ornate carriage compartment with its gold trim and glass decorations but fled from afar.

They knew that anyone who could use monsters to pull carriages was someone they couldn’t afford to provoke.

Further ahead, past the border of the Yinsai Kingdom, there was no more road.

The small stone monster ran wildly until it stopped before a bottomless great chasm.

“A suspension bridge made by the bone ritual.”

“Such a long one, it really looks impressive.”

Anhofus opened the carriage door and stepped down, glancing at the bone bridge before setting foot on it.

“Whoosh, whoosh.”

The howling wind swayed the suspension bridge like a swing, making walking on it truly heart-pounding.

But Anhofus walked steadily, slowly making his way to the other side.

At the other end of the suspension bridge, mist appeared. Anhofus was familiar with this; there was something similar surrounding the Temple of Truth.

Although the two mists were different, with distinct functions and deployment methods, they were essentially the same thing.

“The Xilong family’s illusion barrier, I didn’t expect to see it here as well.”

This illusion, which affected low-ranking priests and ordinary people, naturally had no effect on Anhofus. He walked straight in.

But when he saw the massive city wall and the skull on the city gate, it was a completely different matter.

The bone skull seemed afraid when it saw Anhofus, its eyes expressing a fearful expression, as if it truly possessed intelligence.

“What is this?” he wondered.

His eyes showed interest and anticipation: “The House of the Witch Doctors indeed has something. Perhaps they really do have secrets about life and immortality.”

Anhofus officially confirmed that this trip would not be in vain.

Sometimes rumors do contain some reliable information.

The door opened automatically, welcoming Anhofus inside.

The mist dispersed.

Seven figures stood in front of the House of the Witch Doctors. One was clearly an ordinary person, while the other six must be the legendary witch doctors.

“Powerful Trilobite priest, you shouldn’t be here,” they said.

“Because you have nothing to ask of us.”

Anhofus looked at the witch doctors. These witch doctors gave him a strange feeling, but he couldn’t tell that they weren’t Trilobite Men.

After all, if bone demons could be so easily identified, how could they hide in cities?

Moreover, the bone demons didn’t conceal the powerful aura emanating from them. It was clearly a fourth-rank power, carrying a divine grace field after mental power transformation.

He had seen this feeling on the Sage of Truth, Lan.

Anhofus’s expression changed instantly, and he even involuntarily took a few steps back.

One fourth-rank God’s Grace Priest was enough to terrify people, let alone six fourth-rank ability users standing before him.

“Fourth rank?” he exclaimed.

“How is this possible? Where did so many fourth-rank ability users come from?”

This made Anhofus speculate about the origins of these witch doctors. Their sudden appearance, without any warning. Their powerful abilities, pursuing the ultimate mysteries of life.

It all seemed so unusual.

“Who created you?” he asked.

He stared intently at these witch doctors, as if seeing something that absolutely shouldn’t exist in the mortal world.

“Was it God? Or God’s messenger?”

“Where did you come from? From the realm of the divine?”

Anhofus didn’t believe they were natural creations. He was more willing to believe that these witch doctors were beings who had escaped from the divine realm.

Only this explanation could justify why they could appear out of thin air.

As his gaze searched, he suddenly saw a huge statue of the Mother of Life, Shelly, on the cliff by the sea in the depths of the mist.

The statue was hazy in the mist, but the Mother Conch of All Things, like a horn, was extremely eye-catching.

She was the being these witch doctors worshipped.

In an instant, Anhofus felt he had found the answer.

Anhofus’s expression showed sudden realization as he spoke to the witch doctors.

“Pursuing the mysteries of life, the power to save lives and heal.”

“Was it the Mother of Life, the wielder of the Mother Conch of All Things, the supreme King of Beasts, who created you?”

In the eyes of ordinary people, Yinsai God was the supreme creator.

Then, the Mother of Life, Shelly, who could create all life and exist eternally, could just as well be another deity.

Even in the eyes of today’s Trilobite Men, the first king Redlichia was also an ancient god, only decaying and dying because he shared the bloodline of wisdom with all Trilobite Men.

With this speculation, Anhofus’s gaze at these witch doctors changed completely.

It became fervent.

Filled with a desire to pursue truth and secrets.

He had never been to the divine realm, nor had he seen the Mother of Life, Shelly.

But these six witch doctors must have a connection to the divine realm and the Mother of Life, Shelly.

They must possess a secret, a great secret, a secret belonging to the divine realm.

The witch doctors looked at each other, then shook their heads: “We don’t know.”

Anhofus didn’t understand: “Don’t know?”

The witch doctors looked at Anhofus: “The reason deities are called deities is that they cannot be directly gazed upon.”

“Mortals don’t even have the qualifications to remember their appearance. Even if you’ve seen God, you’ll forget everything afterward.”

“Unless.”

“God doesn’t want you to forget their existence, or you’re powerful enough to withstand that memory, like God’s messenger and the Mother of Life.”

Anhofus suddenly recalled something that happened when he first came to the capital. He seemed to have seen someone by the Sacred Lake, and they might have said something.

But after just a glance, he couldn’t remember anything.

He couldn’t remember who he’d seen or what had been said.

Yet that bone-chilling feeling deep in his heart, that blank space where memory had automatically disappeared, was profoundly etched in his mind.

“Was that God?”

“Or was it just a delusion?”

If it was God, it was truly terrifying.

God was such a frightening existence that even a single glance from a mortal could make one lose oneself.

The witch doctors watched Anhofus sink into deep thought, then asked,

“Visitor.”

“Please state the purpose of your visit.”

Anhofus finally broke free from his increasingly chilling and terrifying thoughts, raising his head to look at the witch doctors.

“I am Anhofus, and I want to make a deal with you.”

He firmly believed that in this world, as long as people had desires and goals, deals could be made, just like between him and the King of Yinsai.

The six witch doctors spoke simultaneously, their voices overlapping as if a single person was speaking.

“What kind of deal?”

Anhofus: “First, I want to ask you a question.”

“What is the ultimate mystery of life?”

“Is it immortality?”

The six witch doctors answered without hesitation: “Immortality is merely a byproduct of life’s power, like how humans can speak and think.”

“The ultimate mystery of life we seek is not immortality.”

“It’s that missing part in all living creatures, in the life of all things.”

Anhofus was stunned.

So everything he had been desperately pursuing wasn’t some divine secret.

Even for the Mother of Life, Shelly, it was just an ability like speaking?

“Then do you know the secret of immortality?” he asked.

The witch doctors: “We are immortal.”

Anhofus instantly became excited. He stepped forward, as if wanting to get closer to these immortal beings, to see what kind of power it truly was.

But the witch doctors continued: “We are immortal, but we don’t know the secret of immortality.”

Anhofus stopped in his tracks: “Why is that?”

The witch doctors’ voices synchronized: “Because what gave us immortality wasn’t ourselves.”

“It was the grace of a supreme being.”

Whether this supreme being was the Yinsai God or the Mother of Life, Shelly, they didn’t know.

Anhofus could no longer contain the excitement and desire in his heart. He looked up at the six fourth-rank ability users in front of the House of the Witch Doctors, beings who had inherited the power of life and immortality.

“Witch doctors!”

“Can I see that immortal power?”

“Just one glance, one glance would be enough.”

The witch doctors didn’t answer, just staring directly at Anhofus.

Anhofus knew that even though the witch doctors’ thoughts seemed mechanical, as if they had no emotions and only moved forward to explore the ultimate mystery of life.

If you asked them questions, they would tell you the truth directly, unlike the Trilobite Men who harbored various thoughts.

This didn’t mean they could be easily fooled.

He couldn’t just glimpse the form of immortality from the witch doctors like this; he needed to pay a price.

And it had to be a price the witch doctors needed.

Anhofus took out a scroll from his priestly robe.

“As payment, I can offer you the methods for creating stone monsters, fire monsters, and bone monsters. This includes my comprehensive ideas on monster creation, as well as notes from my teacher, the fire demon Haru.”

“Don’t you want to create life, to seek secrets from life?”

“The methods for creating monsters will surely provide you with references and guidance.”

The witch doctors exchanged glances, and it was clear they were somewhat tempted.

The methods for creating monsters could indeed help the witch doctors. They could better understand various life forms and search for that missing part of life’s power.

But compared to the secret of immortality, this seemed far too insignificant.

“This exchange is not equivalent.”

Anhofus pondered for a moment, then asked,

“Do you have the fourth-rank God’s Grace Technique and the power to create mythical organs?”

Although the witch doctors were fourth-rank ability users, they didn’t become fourth-rank on their own; they were created. This meant they had fourth-rank power but didn’t even know how to become fourth-rank.

Anhofus knew he had guessed correctly. These beings, created by the “Mother of Life” and escaped from the divine realm, were lacking in these aspects.

Anhofus then took out the “Art of God’s Grace” and placed it on top of the previous scroll.

It was as if he was adding another weight to the other side of the scale.

“This is the Art of God’s Grace written by Lan, the second-generation sage of the Temple of Truth. It contains the complete method for creating God’s Grace Stones and the power to fuse mythical organs.”

“Is this enough?”

“I just need one glance at the form of immortality.”

The witch doctors looked at each other again. Though they didn’t speak, they were clearly communicating.

Finally, all the witch doctors turned their gaze back to Anhofus.

“Agreed.”

The lead witch doctor removed his mask, revealing a head completely different from that of a Trilobite Man.

Short black hair, dark eyes, an ancient face.

Another Trilobite Man revealed his right arm, which flew out.

God-Created Man (Head)

God-Created Man (Torso)

God-Created Man (Left Arm)

God-Created Man (Right Arm)

God-Created Man (Left Leg)

God-Created Man (Right Leg)

The six parts combined to form a sacred, glowing human body, just like the imprint behind them, in the form of a human.

This was the complete life tool – God-Created Man, Sequence Number 1.

Powerful energy radiated from this human body. All life around it instantly felt their blood boiling, as if just looking at this body made them involuntarily begin to evolve, progressing towards this perfect form.

Their bloodlines yearned to become part of this human body.

Seeing the six limbs form the complete God-Created Man, Anhofus immediately had a different thought, associating it with the pattern on the witch doctors’ backs.

“Six parts? Is this some kind of ritual?”

But as soon as this thought arose, he was captivated by that perfect immortal body.

Anhofus stared blankly, murmuring,

“Is this the form of God?”

He finally saw the form of immortality.

It was an eternal treasure, emanating an aura of immortality.

His mental power immediately began to map and explore the secrets within this human body. He saw the internal structure of these organs, the flow of blood, the composition of skin and hair.

Each part was incredibly intricate, so similar to a Trilobite Man yet utterly different.

He believed that hidden within this form was the secret of immortal existence.

After a long while, the witch doctors finally withdrew the life tool – God-Created Man.

Anhofus still couldn’t break free from that shock.

“Ah!”

“What a perfect body. Is this the form of the divine race?”

But the witch doctors told him: “No.”

“This is human.”

Anhofus was bewildered. In his understanding, they themselves were human. How could this strange form before them be considered human?

“No, we are human.”

“This is the divine race.”

“This is the form possessed by God’s messenger, the Mother of Life Shelly, the most perfect form in the world.”

But the witch doctors said: “You are Trilobite Men. This is the true human.”

Anhofus was instantly stunned. After a long moment, he asked tremblingly,

“So Trilobite Men are just substitutes for humans?”

“So Trilobite Men inherited wisdom but can’t possess eternal life?”

The witch doctors didn’t speak, but Anhofus believed he had found the answer.

He was greatly shocked and turned to leave.

They had prided themselves as the lords of the earth, the first intelligent life to be born between heaven and earth, God’s beloved children.

Now, however, someone was telling them that they weren’t human at all, but mere copies of humans.

A substitute for humans, manufactured by God.

No Trilobite Man would find this acceptable.

The young doctor watched Anhofus’s retreating figure and finally spoke: “Who was that?”

The witch doctors had also heard of Anhofus: “The evil sorcerer Anhofus, student of the fire demon Haru.”

“A person pursuing the secret of immortality.”

Following the witch doctors’ orders, the young doctor went down the hillside to retrieve the two scrolls.

“So what should we do?”

The witch doctors looked at the obtained scrolls: “Perhaps we should try some new methods.”

Another witch doctor spoke: “We’re one step closer to the ultimate mystery of life.”

In the secret hall of the Sky Temple, rows of gas lamps on the walls illuminated the darkness.

On the table, Haru’s magic bottle emitted a faint glow, illuminating the words on the open scroll.

The beginning of the scroll read: “Immortal Form and Artificial Humans.”

Having witnessed the immortal form with his own eyes, Anhofus seemed to have found a goal.

He believed he had found the right path, the direction towards immortality.

He worked day and night on his research, writing everything he had recorded in his mind onto this scroll.

The scroll was filled with dense text, but its most crucial element was a mysterious diagram.

It was the pattern on the witch doctors’ backs.

A circular base with a human form spreading its arms.

But while the witch doctors’ backs only had a blank imprint, this scroll depicted the human body in vivid detail.

Even the internal organs, blood vessels, skin, and hair were drawn.

It was lifelike, a perfect anatomical diagram.

The small bone man in the bottle asked Anhofus: “How can you create such a complete life body? This isn’t a monster; monsters are supernatural life forms constructed entirely by mythical blood.”

“Monsters can’t be considered typical life forms. Mythical blood carries everything about monsters, and the divine technique imprint is their core.”

“For them, the body is just an external manifestation.”

The small bone man pondered, then said, “To create perfect life, you’d need to get your hands on the legendary Divine Artifact, the Mother Conch of All Things.”

But Anhofus had a different idea: “This isn’t just a life form, it’s also a ritual.”

“A ritual of immortality.”

Anhofus looked at the diagram he had drawn, his eyes filled with fascination.

“Look at this pattern, how mysterious it is.”

“Look at this human body, how much it resembles a perfect ritual array.”

“The bodies obtained by the witch doctors were also divided into six parts. When combined, it became the power of immortality.”

“This is absolutely a ritual. Ordinary rituals create mundane objects, but what this ritual ultimately creates…”

He said with absolute certainty: “Is an immortal body.”