Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Candle...Candle Dragon!?
Divine Management Bureau Building, upper floor hospital.
Fang Qingyu returned to the bed he previously occupied.
However, this time it wasn’t due to injuries.
It was purely because he had activated Blood Burst twice in succession, and the aftereffects were more severe than expected.
Overwhelming weakness, necessitating observation in the ward.
"Ah, a beautiful view!!"
"That’s the Pantheon, your luck is unmatched."
Wu Yan and Qin Qi, having finished their ranking battle, rushed to see him as soon as they heard the news.
After listening to a brief account of the events.
Everyone was momentarily stunned.
"The Pantheon, it’s terrifying?"
Fang Qingyu frowned slightly.
"It’s not about terror; the people targeted by the Pantheon rarely meet a good end. It’s a stroke of luck you survived."
Wu Yan feigned seriousness.
"Do you know who their leader is?"
"Who?"
Fang Qingyu asked curiously.
"The Emperor’s Follower."
Qin Qi chimed in eagerly from the side.
But seeing Fang Qingyu’s bewildered expression, Wu Yan explained with a slight sense of exasperation: "Di Jun, one of the ancient Five Emperors, a preeminent existence among the true gods."
Upon hearing their explanation.
Fang Qingyu realized he had misunderstood something.
Strictly speaking, the Pantheon isn’t exactly an organization of Alien God believers.
It’s more like a group of fanatical zealots trying to bring the gods back.
It includes not just Alien God believers.
True God believers are also quite common within it.
For example, their leader was once a defector Divine Cultist.
At the same time.
This also explained why Fang Qingyu encountered the Pantheon members right after winning first place in the morning.
There are big issues within the Divine Management Bureau...
But these things are not for Fang Qingyu to worry about.
He only needs to wait for news from Captain Lin.
"Alright, you take a good rest then, we’ll go now. Contact us anytime if you need anything."
After explaining the Pantheon, everyone didn’t linger.
Most wouldn’t have come if it weren’t for Fang Qingyu’s performance in the morning.
"Alright."
Fang Qingyu maintained a standard smile, seeing off the fellow apprentices.
Though, unexpectedly, someone was still standing in the back.
"Rest well..."
Tong Ran, wearing a neck brace, seemed to have arrived unnoticed and hesitated for a while before speaking.
"Okay."
Fang Qingyu paused for a moment, then responded lightly.
In the Extraordinary Circle, he is bound to shine someday.
Whether sooner or later.
If the Pantheon specifically targets these geniuses, he can’t avoid it.
So he didn’t feel like he was shielding Tong Ran from disaster.
No way to leave first place because of the Pantheon.
Seeing everyone off.
Fang Qingyu waited quietly for a while before climbing out of bed.
He dressed and headed straight for the 33rd floor.
Now he urgently needed to understand his situation.
Coexistence of Martial Artists and Divine Cultists, Fang Qingyu asked Captain Lin and everyone just now, there was never a precedent for coexistence.
Even Zhao Feng only relied on physical strength to learn Baji Fist.
Without practicing the Observation Method or Qi Blood Transport Technique.
Upon finding information on Divine Cultists.
Fang Qingyu began reading.
He quickly found the cultivation system of the believers.
It’s similar to Martial Artists.
They also need to cultivate two kinds of techniques.
One is the Refining God Technique, like building a ship on the sea.
Cultivating spiritual power as the vessel to bear the power of the gods, determining the cultivation limit.
The other is the Inner Scene Method, like steering a helm.
Condensing the Dharma Aspect as a medium for invoking divine authority, determining the direction of divine powers.
Neither can be lacking; having spiritual power without a divine anchor leads to delusion, having a Dharma Aspect but weak spirit results in being a puppet.
This wasn’t quite what Fang Qingyu imagined of Divine Cultists.
He thought it was about devout faith.
But it did match the information in his mind.
Besides the instinctive reaction of a new skill, Night Consultation, there was also a technique and a diagram similar to the Nine Heavens Visualization Method.
A human face with a snake body, direct vision, entirely red.
Quite different from the dream image.
Fang Qingyu picked up the book and continued reading.
"The dual Dharma Gates for Divine Cultists are inherited across generations, without distinctions of minor achievement or transformation realm. Their power depends mainly on the strength of the god they serve; if they serve a true god, they naturally gain the power to move mountains and fill seas. If they serve a weak god, even a century of diligent cultivation is nothing but an illusion."
Upon reading this, Fang Qingyu suddenly understood.
No wonder those two Dharma Gates in his mind didn’t appear on the diagram.
Turns out, unlike Martial Artists, there are no level distinctions.
However, in this light.
Tong Ran indeed seems quite formidable...
Considering historical records, Gonggong was at least a T1 to T0 level god.
And what about him?
Fang Qingyu set aside the Cultist information, picking up the previously flipped-through Divine Chronicles.
Few gods have a human face and snake body...
Fang Qingyu quickly narrowed down a few options.
Nuwa, Fu Xi, Gonggong, Xiangliu, Houtu, Zhu Long.
But with just a glance.
Fang Qingyu eliminated the other five choices.
Focusing his gaze on the last one.
Zhu Long... Zhu Jiuyin.
Simply opening the eyes for day and closing them for night is a feature identical to that in the dream.
Moreover, the profession name also contains the word Candle.
So it’s easily confirmed.
Then, he began searching the records about Zhu Long.
Half an hour later.
Fang Qingyu calmly walked out of the library.
Returning to the hospital room.
He closed the door.
Staring at the ceiling.
Recalling the information just read, his expression was uncertain.
Good news.
Zhu Long isn’t necessarily an Alien God.
Bad news.
He isn’t necessarily a True God either.
There’s no record of Zhu Long believers in the Divine Chronicles, no reference available.
Ancients could only guess based on the deity’s actions.
But there are cases of both eating people and saving people.
It’s hard to determine whether such a powerful being is righteous or malevolent.
He could only see how his future cultivation goes.
Fang Qingyu sat up straight, looking at the diagram.
Opening to the latest page.
Besides the new profession Candlebearer and new skill Night Consultation.
There were a few more lines.
[Advanced Skills: Eternal Night Curtain (Not unlocked 0/300)]
[Core Skill: Embrace of the Nether Candle: Eternal Night Radiant Armor (Not unlocked 0/500)]
Unlike Martial Artists.
The Martial Artist’s Path is like a pure blank piece of paper, where people create their journey from start to finish.
Whereas Divine Cultists have a predetermined path, skipping the initial grind of a Martial Artist.
One only needs to upgrade to gain new abilities.
Similarly.
The diagram also omitted the activation process.
Using Skill Points, these two skills can be unlocked.
Fortunately, Fang Qingyu currently doesn’t lack sources of Skill Points, only needing to participate in a few outdoor training sessions to gather enough.
Let’s first try out the effect of Night Consultation.
Turning off the lights, the room immediately plunged into darkness.
Fang Qingyu’s heart moved.
Activating Night Consultation.
Blackness, for the first time, materialized in the darkness before his eyes.
The feeling was quite peculiar.
Even though Fang Qingyu couldn’t see beyond ten meters, he could distinctly sense what was at that distance.
Even with his back turned.
The outlines of a television, dust on the socket...
Still clearly reflected in his mind through the darkness.