The next day,
The sky was blue with white clouds, the temperature was 9-18 degrees Celsius, with a moderate easterly breeze at force three.
"I am willing to become the light of hope, the fire of faith, for this world, for humanity, to resist the eternal darkness, day and night, until death do us part."
Shan Xiong, Bai Shuang, and four other first-tier awakened individuals officially joined the Spark of Hope.
They had already learned about all the matters at hand throughout the previous day and had undergone adaptive training. Now, they understood it was time for their second-tier awakening.
All six were a little nervous.
Awakening was inherently a matter of life and death, requiring a desperate struggle. Even though… the mentors would bestow blessings upon them, greatly reducing the risks of awakening.
They were still tense.
The strong men trembled, the maidens shivered.
Until,
They were all ushered into the training grounds to begin their awakenings.
Fang You hadn't paid much attention to these secondary apostles. It was only after he finished his own affairs that Xiao Huan reported to him, "Out of the six people, four succeeded. The failures were the two codenamed 'Bao Li Shi' and 'Bai Shuang', but their Mystical Value is still sufficient for one more awakening."
This success rate was not bad.
After all, their foundations were not high.
The apostles had all written down their awakening experiences. Fang You then had Xiao Huan collect big data information from elite investigators and terrifying hunters, from which he had already summarized some conclusions.
First, physique and spirit, the higher these two dimensions, the easier it was to overcome the tribulation of awakening.
Second, basic skills. Swordsmanship, sabersmanship, spearmanship, and the like. When advancing from the first to the second awakening, if one possessed a "Proficient" level basic skill and had practiced it a few times before awakening, the success rate could be slightly increased.
Practicing basic skills could calm the mind, while learning and training could temper the will.
Third, purification.
Using purification-type skills or abilities to cleanse the residual traces of powerful horrors on one's body could increase the success rate by 3% to 8%, and the decrease in Mystical Value would not be significant.
However, this required very precise purification, not only a high level of proficiency in purification abilities and horror-tracking skills, but also the use of a Faceless Statue… The statue had the ability to attract horrors and absorb Mystical Value.
Fourth, of course, was the state during the awakening.
One needed to be full of energy and have a stable state of mind. This time, they had even tried the new calming potion produced by Yin Ling, and it indeed worked, increasing the awakening success rate by 0.9% to 1.2%!
This was already a considerable amount, and the value of the calming potion had greatly increased!
He said, "You also need to start researching the advanced model of the calming potion."
Yin Ling: "..."
Not only do you want me to refine potions, but you also want me to research new drugs, and then go interrogate cultists... Mentor, you must have drunk too little potion!
Hehehehehe—
"Strange, why does it feel a bit cold?"
Fang You glanced back at the medicine preparation room, which had already closed its door. "It must be that this place is too desolate and terrifying."
...
In the Realm of Horrors,
About a thousand meters away from the Black Stone Tower, An Jianyou slowly appeared. Beside her were several horrors, one of which was particularly special.
Special in its physique!
Normally, the stronger a horror, the larger its body. However, this one horror was only about the size of a one-star horror, and its appearance was humanoid.
Its height was also about the same as an ordinary person.
A puppet, a tattered puppet, it also inherited the usual characteristics of a horror. It appeared creepy and terrifying, with a strange, chilling smile on its rotten wooden face.
—Horror: Creepy Smiling Wooden Puppet!
Its physique was not large, nor did it exude a terrifying influence on sanity. However, this was a four-star, Cataclysmic-tier horror!
An Jianyou's first, and only, Cataclysmic-tier horror!
After she broke through to the third awakening, she had also spent a long time searching for and, with the help of her mentor, capturing this horror.
It had not been easy.
She possessed the innate talent of the Eye of Etherealness, so finding a Cataclysmic-tier horror was not difficult; she could find one with a casual search within her "Ethereal" vision.
However, four-star horrors were typically enormous. The Black Flame Giant Centipede, when standing upright, was like a tall building—in fact, the Flesh Giant was already very large, which was why An Jianyou was so displeased with the latter—it had nothing to do with being scared and traumatized when she was weak in the past.
Large meant powerful destructive force, but it was not practical.
In reality, once a Cataclysmic-tier horror appeared, weaker awakened individuals in the surrounding area would find it unbearable, let alone ordinary people.
It was basically unusable.
And what about in the Realm of Horrors? Four-star horrors were huge; a casual move would place them outside the mist-dispelling range of the Bright Flame Torch.
It was also not very practical.
But if she didn't capture a stronger horror, her strength would not increase much after awakening.
After much thought, An Jianyou thought of "invisible horrors." These types were often small, stealthy, and had very little influence on the sanity of those around them.
Their destructive power was inferior to normal horrors, but their danger to awakened individuals and powerful beings was greater.
They were the "rare monsters" among the horror population.
She wanted to capture one like this.
But this was, after all, an SR-class horror. An Jianyou went out shopping every day, using her Eye of Etherealness to scan everywhere, yet it still took her several days to find a Cataclysmic-tier rare horror.
And then she disabled it, branded it, and controlled it.
With just one of them, she was already struggling and even had to dismiss some of her smaller subordinates.
At present, her team consisted of:
One four-star, three three-star, and two two-star horrors.
However, the four-star "Creepy Smiling Wooden Puppet" gave her a great sense of security!
"Jie jie jie jie jie—"
The tattered puppet let out a creepy laugh and appeared before the horrors as if teleporting, leaving behind afterimages as its blade danced and reaped!
In the blink of an eye, it returned to An Jianyou's side.
The next moment, the horrors within a range of a few to dozens of meters exploded into nothingness.
Fang You watched the entire process.
It had taken a lot of effort and nearly resulted in a mistake to capture this "Creepy Smiling Wooden Puppet" back then—this thing was harder to capture than conventional horrors, and in a sense, even stronger.
"With this Creepy Smiling Wooden Puppet, An Jianyou can now directly confront Cataclysmic-tier horrors."
"No, An Jianyou also has an amplification ability that she rarely uses. She might even be able to defeat, or even kill, Cataclysmic-tier horrors."
In her current state, this girl, An Jianyou, had seemingly ascended to the top position in the Spark of Hope again.
Even in a one-on-one fight, Brother Hei Dao might not be able to defeat her... although this girl had no awareness of being a powerhouse.
Seeing him arrive now, she patted her chest and let out a long sigh of relief.
As they walked towards the Black Stone Tower, it was similar to last time; there were no signs of horrors around the tower.
Only the silver-haired woman, Yi Yue Luxi, remained.
"You finally..."
"Cough, humans from a world not yet devoured, have you made up your minds?"
She crossed her arms, her silver hair flowing.
Fang You countered, "Is your project list ready?"
Uh,
The silver-haired woman seemed to falter. She paused and said, "Why don't we move inside the tower to discuss it in detail?"
The appearance of such a Black Stone Tower in the shallow parts of the Realm of Horrors was quite strange. Their first rule when exploring the Realm of Horrors was to never easily enter peculiar places.
And this group of "newbies," judging by their previous actions, were quite cautious and wouldn't venture into danger lightly.
Yi Yue Luxi didn't believe they would enter the tower; she just wanted to change the subject and regain control.
However,
The young man, shrouded in a faint golden light, spoke, "Wait for me here for a moment. Mentor, I'll be back after I close a deal."
With that, he walked straight over.
He even glanced at her, "Aren't you going in?"
Yi Yue Luxi: "..."
Who is the owner of this tower!
...
The furnishings inside the Black Stone Tower were very simple, or rather, crude; it was not a place for habitation.
The silver-haired woman in front of him, who appeared to have a graceful figure and flawless, exquisite features, had been staying here, which could only mean two things.
She was not human!
This was not her true form.
Fang You looked, his eyes narrowing, and imperceptible wisps of light flashed.
「Yi Yue Luxi」
「Level: ???」
「Description: ???」
He couldn't see any information; there were no levels or dimensions.
Time was limited, so he asked directly,
"Let's begin, where is the project list?"
Yi Yue Luxi crossed her long legs and leaned back slightly, "Just ask whatever you want to ask. There's nothing this guide doesn't know."
"Anything that doesn't state a price upfront, I will default to it being a scam."
"...Of course there are pricing standards!"
After a price negotiation battle, he began to ask.
First, he inquired about the detailed changes at each level.
Yi Yue Luxi said,
"The path of embracing the mystical awakening, the greatest changes occur in the stages of the first, fourth, and seventh awakenings."
"The first stage is awakening abilities from nothing. The second and third stages are processes of increasing the upper limit of abilities; the changes are not very significant. However, by the fourth stage, it's different. The abilities in the fourth stage undergo a leap, and one can briefly enter a 'complete burst state,' causing one's abilities to fully erupt. However, the awakened characteristics in the complete state are usually very exaggerated, making one no longer resemble a human. Therefore, the fourth stage is also called the 'non-human awakened'."
"The fifth stage is the Commander tier."
"The sixth stage is the Throne tier, meaning the king of the mortal realm, the limit of living beings!"
"The transition from the sixth to the seventh stage is the process of a mortal being transforming into a divine being. Therefore, beings in the seventh stage are also called—Mythical tier!"
"What level of existence are these evil gods?"
Fang You asked.
Yi Yue Luxi showed a look as if he were joking.
"What level are evil gods? Are we... are we supposed to know that?"
"Alright, let's change the question. What are the specific steps for the Realm of Horrors to devour worlds?"
"This question..."
She pondered, and after a long silence, she said, "The first stage is the appearance of secret realms and gates to the Realm of Horrors, marking the official connection between the world and horrors."
"Of course, before this stage, there will be sporadic appearances of minor horrors, which are not worth mentioning."
"Then, when the world's rift becomes slightly larger, sacrifices from evil gods will descend. They are the vanguards of the evil gods, and often sacrifices from different evil gods will descend, vying for the same world."
"And the methods of these sacrifices are usually to establish cults, tear open rifts, so that their true bodies, or even projections of their servants, can descend."
"Servants?"
"Sacrifices are relatively important believers, but they are still just believers. Those who can truly be called servants of evil gods are, at the very least, mythical beings, possessing a bit of divinity, and capable of projecting across worlds."
"After that, it enters the third stage, which we call the Tide of Gray Fog."
"In this stage, a faint gray fog will appear throughout the world, manifesting mysteries. It is also the stage where awakened individuals erupt, but more horrors will infiltrate the world, and disasters will only become more fierce."
"The fourth stage is the Devouring Stage."
"The world will be devoured piece by piece, becoming fragmented, until it is finally swallowed whole. Moreover, in all four stages, the processes in between are irreversible. The world can only head towards destruction, with devouring as the only outcome."
"There's no other way? What if the encroachment of the Realm of Horrors could be contained indefinitely?"
He asked.
Yi Yue Luxi shook her head. "That is impossible. As long as horrors exist, there will be encroachment. And there are countless horrors in the world that are constantly breeding, how can they all be eliminated?"
"There was once a super oasis force that wanted to control a real-world. To achieve this, they entered that not-yet-devoured world through special means and made arrangements from multiple aspects, but they could only delay the encroachment of the Realm of Horrors."
"In the end, it even attracted the descent of servants of evil gods, causing heavy losses to that super oasis force."
"No force dares to try this anymore."
"It's impossible, give up."