Morning light filled the underwater world.

Sunlight filtered through the ice overhead, casting rippling patterns that danced upon the ancient cold stones below. As the sun climbed higher, its rays slanted through the stained glass windows along the temple’s sides, illuminating the stone floor and casting a gentle radiance upon Xiuborn’s head.

A profound silence pervaded this sacred place.

From within the city, atop Sacred Mountain, and beyond the temple walls, one could hear ethereal sounds from an unknown source. The melody blended flowing water with distant singing, creating an otherworldly harmony.

“Splash splash!”

“La la~”

The sound echoed like spirit songs, pure and ethereal. Yet in this quiet underwater world, it carried undertones of loneliness and depth.

Those with stronger spiritual perception who ventured closer to the sacred murals and divine statues could hear the endless repetition of ancient prayers.

“God said, the King wears the crown.”

“The King of Wisdom said, God does not care, but I do.”

“God said, I am alone and so are you. The human race has not yet been born into this world, and you are the only Trilobite Person.”

“Because of loneliness, God created Redlichia, the King of Wisdom, and because of Redlichia’s loneliness, God created the Trilobite People.”

“Thus began the race, and so was established the kingdom.”

“…”

“God said, I am the God who created you, and you alone are their king.”

“God spoke to the King of Wisdom, saying the chasm of desire will never be filled no matter how much you give, and the mountain of hatred will never vanish no matter how much grace you bestow.”

“God said…”

“God said…”

“God said…”

It began with one voice.

Then several voices, then hundreds.

And finally, thousands upon thousands.

The prayers of countless millions crashed like great waves from the temple heights, engulfing the mortals prostrated below. All the faith of the Trilobite People converged within this hall, within this temple.

Xiuborn lifted his face, mouth agape as he stared at the statue of the Creator. His emotions had transformed from shock to denial to chaos and collapse. After an entire night, he finally accepted everything—accepted these ancient truths and facts.

“Our God is not the Creator, nor the supreme and only deity, but rather an ancient God created by the true Creator.”

“Our bloodline and power come from another deity, from the Crown of Wisdom. Everything we are is merely a continuation of the previous era, a shadow of the world that came before.”

“We were never God’s beloved children, never bore any divine mission or trial. We are merely humble mortal creations.”

Xiuborn rose to his feet and began walking through the temple, just as the priests who had made pilgrimages here millions of years ago had done.

He stopped before the first mural, which depicted an abstract pattern telling the story of how all power began.

“When heaven and earth first opened, all things began.”

“God descended into this world.”

The image showed an eternal star, beneath which were three symbols: a crown, a conch horn, and a divine cup.

According to Trilobite mythology, the Creator’s power had been divided into three parts.

Redlichia, the King of Wisdom, inherited God’s Spirit, wielding the Crown of Wisdom to command the Power of Wisdom, controlling the world through consciousness and thought.

He was God’s firstborn, destined from birth to rule over sky, earth, and sea.

The benevolent King of Wisdom Redlichia, wishing to spread wisdom’s light throughout the mortal realm, distributed his power among his descendants, keeping only the eternal Crown of Wisdom.

Shelly, the Mother of Life, inherited God’s Form. She and her servants possessed immortality and the power to create and transform life.

The power of the Dream Ability followed a more complex path. The Dream Sovereign Polo was born within God’s dreams, possessing the power of God’s Domain.

Polo merged his power with the Creator’s Sun Cup Flower Sea, giving rise to the spirit race.

Though born a divine child, a being of innocence and beautiful dreams, he fell to earth willingly, choosing to end with the Star Queen in the realm of dreams.

Finally, Polo’s descendant, the Divine Messenger Hila, inherited the Dream Sovereign’s power, becoming the presence at the right hand of the Creator’s throne.

Spirits made no distinction between elders and descendants, their birth and reproduction entirely different from the Trilobite People.

But from the Trilobite perspective, all spirits born from the Sun Cup Flower Sea could be considered Polo’s descendants.

They were of the divine lineage, natural Divine Messengers from birth.

Mural after mural flowed past, telling stories from the beginning of heaven and earth, the most ancient mythology.

The temple that had traversed countless ages stood before him, while eternal divine beings gazed down upon the mortal realm from beyond the world.

He viewed all the murals, ascending and descending the temple stairs again and again.

Finally, he stood before Redlichia, the King of Wisdom.

Once more, he gazed upon that crown.

Only now did he understand why seeing it had stirred such powerful emotions within him.

Because the bloodline embedded within him had stirred in response.

Because He was the beginning of wisdom in this world, the origin of all wisdom-bearing kinds.

At this moment, countless ghosts emerged from Xiuborn’s Book of the Witch Spirit, all prostrating themselves before the King of Wisdom.

Xiuborn seemed to hear another version of himself speaking in his mind.

“Do not fear, for you were meant to believe in the power of wisdom.”

“Xiuborn.”

“You should prostrate yourself beneath the Crown of Wisdom.”

“He is the beginning of everything. You are an inheritor of the wisdom lineage. Your faith belongs to supreme wisdom.”

The voice drew closer still, as if whispering directly into his ear.

“The Ruler of Life will never answer you. She is a solitary deity.”

“She will not show even the slightest mercy to creations She considers mere jokes.”

“Only the wisdom lineage.”

“Only the God of Knowledge and Truth can grant you salvation.”

“Only He can bestow upon you the power to save your people and nation.”

Xiuborn again recalled the words Ghost Polik had spoken to him.

“All wisdom kinds.”

“Are descendants of Redlichia.”

Xiuborn gazed at King Redlichia and the Crown of Wisdom, a smile suddenly appearing on his face.

“Yes!”

“We are all descendants of wisdom.”

Xiuborn suddenly felt he had found his true purpose, had received salvation.

He could embrace the power of wisdom and faith in the God of Wisdom with peace of mind.

“I will use the power of the God of Knowledge and Truth to rescue our people.”

“To restore our kingdom.”

In this moment, Xiuborn suddenly felt the power within him shift.

His connection to the Witch Spirit power grew stronger. Without any effort, he could sense the Door of Truth in the distance, could feel the God of Knowledge and Truth beyond it, could perceive the mythology of the wisdom lineage.

No longer lost, Xiuborn had chosen his path.

He prostrated himself in the temple center, kowtowing before the statue of the King of Wisdom.

Then he turned and departed.

Before the temple, hundreds of ghosts swirled around him, propelling him upward.

Sacred Mountain, the God-Servant City, and the Sky Temple grew distant below while Heaven’s Mirror’s surface drew closer above.

He had timed it perfectly—outside, the moon once again hung directly overhead.

He flew higher and higher.

Just as he could touch the ice layer, the frozen surface above began to melt into water.

Moonlight penetrated the surface, creating subtle ripples.

Only at this moment could one sense that Heaven’s Mirror’s waters were in motion.

“Splash!”

Xiuborn pushed upward against gravity, entering the water from below.

It was an extraordinary sight, an unprecedented experience.

But as he passed through the water’s surface.

He suddenly felt the entire lake and mountain trembling.

He turned to look and saw something awakening in the darkness of the deep below.

His eyes widened in stunned amazement as colossal monsters, each over a hundred meters in size, awakened one after another from the darkness below and began floating upward.

These behemoths resembled enormous squid or octopi, their heads encased in fearsome shells, radiating an aura of nightmares. Their massive tentacles, each several meters thick, stretched hundreds of meters through the dark waters.

The massive tentacles reached toward the sky, instilling an apocalyptic despair in any who beheld them.

Though Xiuborn commanded power that would seem formidable to mortals, before these monstrosities he was less than insignificant. He knew with bone-chilling certainty that these beings could unmake him in an instant, erasing every trace of his existence.

Primal fear gripped his heart as he propelled himself toward the lake’s surface with desperate speed.

“What are these creatures?”

His earlier success had made him complacent, believing this place held no dangers. Now he finally realized he had entered a forbidden zone of death.

Those who entered this place never returned.

Yet as understanding dawned, he realized the truth of it.

Within these depths lay the secrets of ages past, sacred knowledge of the Creator and the divine pantheon. This was no mere place of power but the wellspring of all things, hallowed ground of the firstborn race who carried divine blood in their veins.

How could mortals hope to tread here lightly?

He tried to escape, but these beings quickly caught up to him.

As they drew near, the enormity of these titans became even more incomprehensible. He could see only countless massive tentacles emerging from the darkness, reaching to entangle him and drag him into the abyss below.

Such was the fate of all who dared venture into forbidden grounds, the punishment for mortals who presumed to glimpse divine secrets.

Despair crossed Xiuborn’s face, but he still had one final lifeline.

His body suddenly became transparent as the Divine Artifact, Polik’s Right Hand, began radiating light within him.

“Rumble!”

The Door of Truth at the boundary between reality and illusion suddenly stirred. A beam of light descended from the heavens, enveloping Xiuborn and pulling him back from death’s edge.

Xiuborn swiftly flew skyward, transforming into a streak of light.

He crossed through the void, leaving the mortal realm for the edge of the Dream Realm.

Yet in the instant the Door of Truth opened, something even more terrifying stirred in the depths below.

Xiuborn was about to leave reality behind when he couldn’t resist looking back one final time.

That single glance revealed true despair and horror.

Through the darkness, he beheld something impossible: a colossal eye set within the earth itself.

As this ancient eye slowly opened, its gaze turning toward the heavens above, reality itself seemed to shudder.

The world transformed in an instant, everything bathed in crimson light.

Storm clouds gathered overhead as torrential rain began to fall.

The enormous beings that had just been hunting Xiuborn appeared as insignificant as insects before this entity, mere fleas clinging to its form.

Xiuborn could not comprehend its true form. What he saw was merely the tip of the iceberg.

For that single eye alone was already far beyond the limits of his imagination.

His mind could not process a living being of such scale. How could anything so vast exist?

He realized with growing horror that Heaven’s Mirror lake, the mountain that contained it, perhaps even the entire frozen plateau itself might rest upon some incomprehensibly enormous entity.

“Ah!”

The moment he saw it, he could not help but scream.

It was an expression of fear that penetrated to the very depths of his blood and soul.

His mind went blank as he fled, never daring to look back again.

Or rather, never daring to return to this place again.

At that moment, an immense force from the outside world struck the Door of Truth.

“Boom!”

The impact nearly shattered the already broken door completely.

In the City of Avel.

A young temple attendant held a Book of the Witch Spirit entirely different from Xiuborn’s as he released his Divine Technique.

“True Illusion Realm.”

The great hall instantly underwent a dramatic transformation, becoming magnificent and resplendent.

Lamps lit one after another as people appeared throughout the chamber.

These figures played music and danced.

But the young attendant’s power could not sustain this for long.

As the Divine Technique dispersed, everything returned to its original state.

The magnificent hall became ruined once more, the lamps extinguished, and the people faded to transparency amid their music.

Xiuborn emerged from the shadows, his voice carrying both approval and gravity as he addressed the temple apprentice.

“You show remarkable skill.”

“Your mastery of this Divine Technique reveals a deep affinity for the power granted by the God of Knowledge and Truth.”

The temple apprentice responded excitedly: “Through sacrifice, we receive divine grace.”

“The God of Knowledge and Truth possesses all knowledge in this world. He knows every secret that exists.”

“He is truly magnificent and generous.”

Xiuborn simply replied: “Because God needs us, and we need God.”

The temple apprentice did not understand his meaning, but he felt blessed to have a deity like the God of Knowledge and Truth who would answer their prayers.

Together they entered the main hall, where the golden statue of their deity that the people of Avel had poured all their resources into creating was long gone.

In its place on the divine pedestal stood a stone statue that had been moved from a side hall.

Xiuborn gazed at this stone statue, his expression incredibly complex.

After a long while, he spoke to the temple apprentice.

“Go ahead and take Her down.”

“Be careful.”

The temple apprentice could barely contain his eagerness to install the statue of the God of Knowledge and Truth.

Looking at his former object of worship, Xiuborn’s voice carried profound emotion and melancholy.

“Perhaps She never needed our worship at all.”

He lowered his head and whispered so softly none could hear.

“Just as the Creator told the ancient ones.”

“Your faith is your own affair.”

“It means nothing to me.”

The temple apprentice became the second Witch Spirit.

After abandoning his faith in the Mother of Life, he became even more zealous than Xiuborn.

He personally removed the Mother of Life’s statue from the divine pedestal, having others place the already-prepared statue of the God of Knowledge and Truth in its place.

This deity held a book and wore white divine robes.

The craftsmen’s skill was exceptional, capturing the lightness, delicacy, and pristine nature of the divine garments.

The statue radiated both holiness and an ineffable mystery.

In mortal imagination, this was how gods should appear.

Holy and benevolent, yet mysterious and unapproachable.

Like the ocean itself.

Capable of nurturing all things, yet also capable of consuming them.

New murals were painted on the temple’s dome, and new patterns adorned its walls.

The dome now bore the Crown of Wisdom.

This represented their primary deity, the supreme power of the wisdom lineage.

As evening fell, over ten thousand people of Avel gathered before the temple.

Men and women, young and old, nearly everyone who could come had arrived.

The temple apprentice stepped before the crowd, demonstrating the power of the Witch Spirit and expounding upon the greatness of the God of Knowledge and Truth.

“The Snake Mother no longer wishes to protect us, and the Ruler of Life has long abandoned Her faithful.”

“When the people of Avel faced tribulation, we received no guidance or response.”

“We were forsaken.”

“We must seek guidance from a new deity. We need new salvation.”

“We are of the wisdom bloodline. We must find our more ancient destiny.”

The temple apprentice called out passionately from the temple.

“Before, we made sacrifices to the Ruler of Life, who watched in silence as our nation was destroyed, as our families were torn apart.”

“But now, a great deity has extended His hand toward us.”

“If we believe in Him, we can rebuild our nation.”

“If we believe in Him, we can receive salvation.”

“If we believe in Him, we can gain true divine protection.”

He raised his hands high, appearing almost delirious with fervor.

“Let us offer our faith to the eternal God of Knowledge and Truth.”

“Make your sacrifices to God.”

“We can obtain everything we desire, gain the knowledge we seek, receive the power we crave.”

Cheers rose from the crowd, but more people hesitated, and many faces showed terror.

The thought that the temple attendants of the Temple of Life would actually change their faith seemed unimaginable.

But then the sacrificial ceremony began.

In the square, a group of pre-arranged believers began praying to their deity.

Their prayers echoed through the crowd as bonfires danced and young maidens performed the sacred sacrifice dance with ethereal grace.

“Whoosh!”

Wild winds arose, stirring the bonfires.

Light descended from the temple above, falling upon the square below.

A fortunate soul was chosen, instantly transforming from mortal to Witch Spirit.

The Power of Ability surged through their body as streams of light converged into a Book of the Witch Spirit, materializing in their hands.

The temple apprentice immediately called out: “Servant of God, come into the temple!”

“Come serve and worship your deity.”

The chosen one could barely contain their excitement, their previously hesitant gaze instantly transformed into fervent devotion.

“I am chosen by God.”

“Our new deity is one of boundless generosity.”

The crowd watched as those who made sacrifices to the God of Knowledge and Truth received divine grace, instantly gaining power beyond mortal bounds to become Ability bearers.

A wave of fervent devotion swept through the gathered masses as they witnessed this display of divine power, their expressions transformed by religious awe.

This was a divine miracle.

True divine grace.

“God has truly answered us,” someone broke from the crowd, prostrating themselves at the temple steps, yearning for God’s gaze.

“This is a true deity, a real God!” More voices joined the chorus as they witnessed the temple apprentice’s continued displays of power, the feeling entirely different now.

“Will we now have divine protection?” Those who had lost loved ones in the war wept with joy.

The God of Knowledge and Truth desired offerings of new knowledge. Mortals could sacrifice their memories and knowledge to receive different knowledge in return.

Before the temple, Xiuborn led the prayers as high priest.

Lights of memory and knowledge rose from the crowd, streaming skyward.

The seafaring techniques of Avel’s people, Divine Techniques developed in this era, the written language and speech of Avel, all of it rose up.

Beyond memories and knowledge, mountains of books, wooden tablets, and scrolls in the temple center transformed into spheres of light.

All were sacrificed to the God of Knowledge and Truth.

The light surged toward the edge of the Dream Realm, merging at last with the Door of Truth.

Through the sacred bond of sacrifice, the gathered masses beheld that great door standing in darkness.

They felt the majesty of mythological power, sensed the weight of two hundred million years.

They experienced the immortal eternity of divinity.

“I see it.” One by one, the prostrated Snake People lifted their heads, gazing skyward.

“God, truly God.” Some trembled uncontrollably. Though their people had worshipped for generations, this was their first glimpse of something truly divine.

Even if this deity was no longer the one they had once believed in.

“The great God of Knowledge and Truth watches over us.” People in the square continued kowtowing, some unaware their foreheads bled from their fervor.

“Behold such majestic power!” Some wept without knowing why, feeling as though they had glimpsed endless star oceans and the cosmos in that single moment of seeing the door, understanding mortal insignificance.

Before the gathered masses, a pillar of light from heaven enveloped Xiuborn.

His Book of the Witch Spirit revealed a mark representing truth.

Light of divine law flowed through his form.

Pages of Divine Techniques recorded in Xiuborn’s Book of the Witch Spirit flew forth as hundreds of ghosts rose from his book, merging with the azure mark.

The charred ship moored at the dock dissolved in the light, vanishing into the air.

Finally, everything coalesced into a single blue-glowing page that fell from the sky.

It merged with Xiuborn’s Book of the Witch Spirit.

The Page of Truth.

Xiuborn had attained third-rank power, becoming a third-rank Ability bearer.

A higher Witch Spirit.

The difference between third-rank and second-rank Ability bearers lay in their activated spiritual power and acquisition of seal power.

These combined to form the Seal Spirit.

Snake People Ability bearers summoned stone golems, while Alchemists called forth Lamp Spirits from their Lamps of Covenant, each possessing various miraculous uses.

Higher Witch Spirits summoned the Page of Truth.

This third-rank Divine Technique merged all Divine Techniques learned, all contracted ghosts, and all knowledge into one.

Each person’s Page of Truth differed based on their power, knowledge, and contracted ghosts.

Xiuborn’s Page of Truth manifested as a great ship. When he opened his Book of the Witch Spirit, the vessel immediately emerged.

Hundreds of ghosts stood aboard, gazing upon the city.

Blue sails unfurled as waves formed beneath.

It rode these waves through the city, beyond the walls, and finally into the distant sea.

As they watched the great ship leave the harbor for the ocean depths.

Throughout the City of Avel, everyone cried out with all their strength.

“God of Knowledge and Truth!”

“God of Knowledge and Truth!”

“…”

Within the Temple of Knowledge.

Now a third-rank Ability bearer, Xiuborn felt triumphant. Finally he possessed the power to accomplish his goals, the strength to restore everything.

Xiuborn sat alone by the window, writing with a brush pen.

Terror filled his gaze as his hand trembled constantly while writing. He wasn’t even certain he should create this book.

Nevertheless, an inexorable force compelled him to record everything he had learned.

The book contained all he knew, the divine secrets he had discovered in the Sky Temple.

The ancient Creator Yinsai, the threefold division of creative authority into Wisdom, Life, and Dreams.

The truth behind this world and everything in it.

Those shocking, unbelievable facts.

“God created the world.”

“Wisdom, Life, and Dreams form a trinity. We are born of Wisdom, we are of the wisdom lineage.”

“Creator Yinsai…”

As he wrote these words, his hand suddenly trembled, leaving ink blots on the page.

His mind again saw that star standing beyond heaven, that power transcending universe and time pressing down upon him as if to devour and dissolve his very being.

The mere mention of Yinsai’s name brought this vision rushing back.

“No.”

“I must not look.”

“I cannot look.”

He cried out in anguish, nearly mad with terror.

Xiuborn suddenly understood.

Beings such as himself were never meant to glimpse God’s true form, even if only through the images in the temple.

Even speaking God’s name exceeded his capacity to bear.

He hurriedly struck out Yinsai’s name, replacing it with “the true Creator.”

As Xiuborn wrote on, his mind grew increasingly unstable.

For he was telling a story neither he nor the Snake People could truly comprehend.

As he wrote, he constantly recalled that place called the Sky Temple, remembered the scenes within.

He felt unable to breathe.

Finally, he wrote the last word.

By now his Witch Spirit form had become nearly transparent.

He quickly bound the pages together, creating a leather cover.

Xiuborn collapsed into his chair, as if a great burden had lifted.

As he closed the book, whispers suddenly filled his ears.

Like the prayers of countless millions he had heard in the Sky Temple, but now thousands upon thousands spoke words of venom.

As if endless voices cursed him, cursed this book.

Xiuborn didn’t know if this was real or if his fragile consciousness approached collapse from repeatedly glimpsing divine secrets.

He raised his head, looking out the window.

Storm clouds gathered outside as lightning flashed.

Through the dark clouds and lightning, he glimpsed an eye watching him.

That eye.

Almost identical to what he had seen on the frozen plateau.

“Impossible.”

But when he stood, the eye vanished.

He slumped against the wall, staring at the window in horror.

The book fell from the table with a dull thud.

The Book of Xiuborn.

This became its later name, a text said to record the truth of this world, the secrets of divine beings, containing the names of gods.

Some said it was a book that blasphemed against divinity.

A book cursed by the gods, dooming all who opened it to divine punishment.