The Temptation of Power

The Sage of Truth sat alone amidst a sea of bone scrolls and silk manuscripts. Around him were piles of bone book replicas and stone tablet rubbings from unknown eras.

He muttered incessantly, as if entranced or completely immersed in the ocean of books.

Sandean had combed through every book on the Wisdom Ability. These books were authored by powerful ability users throughout history, Sky Temple priests, and the precious collections of two generations of saints.

But none had delved deep enough into the study of the Wisdom Ability to provide him with inspiration. At this moment, Sandean suddenly felt his own wisdom was insufficient.

The most perplexing situation is not when the path is blocked.

It's when you stand at a crossroads, looking up in bewilderment, unsure where the path lies.

"What exactly is the fourth-level power like?"

King Henir's death had made Sandean feel tense and rushed. He had originally felt time was abundant, that he could accomplish anything he set his mind to.

But now, he suddenly felt that time was fleeting.

It might not even be enough for him to accomplish one more thing.

Sitting amidst mountains of silk manuscripts, a breeze swept through, bringing a slight chill.

This sensation reminded him of that mysterious figure he'd encountered that night, and the words spoken to him.

"All power originates from bloodlines."

Sandean suddenly stood up, searching anew for the secret illusion techniques of the Tito and Xilong families, as well as the forbidden techniques of Schlode, the first High Priest of the Sky Temple.

It wasn't that no one had studied the mythical blood before, but this power was inherently difficult to research.

The mythical blood was hidden within the body, normally imperceptible. What allowed priests to sense its existence were the first-level mind power and second-level spirit power, both derivatives of it.

For Trilobite Men, one could sense the mythical blood through the divinely bestowed techniques, and through various techniques derived from these divine gifts, even forcibly seize mythical blood or seal another's bloodline ability.

Even for a powerful priest like Sandean, who could separate the mythical blood, all he could see was silver divine blood.

It was immortal and indestructible, impossible to wear down or observe internally.

Apart from depleting the spirit power stored within it, one had no idea where the power of this ability truly came from.

How could it be perfected?

No one knew.

In the collections of the Temple of Truth were the most detailed records of ability power.

But most were about the application of spirit power and the use of mind power.

Even his Seal Spirit technique was an advanced technique based on the activation and transformation of spirit power, not directly using mythical blood.

The only recorded instance was in the forbidden technique of Schlode, the first High Priest of the Sky Temple.

"The Sun Cup Flower from the realm of God perfected the bloodline of the Wisdom Ability."

Just this one sentence.

"The perfection of mythical blood?"

Sandean held this stone tablet rubbing from King Yesael's era, suddenly making a connection.

"The power of first-level Mind Priests is the basic ability of the Wisdom mythical blood, that is, the power to communicate between mind and wisdom."

"The power of second-level Spirit Realm Priests is the manifestation of consciousness and thought into spirit power after the Wisdom mythical blood is perfected."

"The power of third-level Seal Priests is a new power gained after spirit power is activated and transformed."

Sandean pondered: "Could the fourth level be a further refinement and transformation of the mythical blood?"

"How to refine it? Is it like the second level, seeking external objects to compensate for deficiencies?"

"Or is it fusing divine technique imprints into the mythical blood, or causing some qualitative change in the mythical blood like the activation of spirit power?"

In an instant, Sandean had many ideas.

Paths began to unfold before his eyes. Although he couldn't yet prove which one was correct, at least there were paths to explore.

"Perhaps."

"When the mythical blood transforms once again, that will be the power to break the shackles of life."

Just as darkness fell, Haru, the Fire Element Seal Priest, hurriedly arrived outside his teacher's residence, the Sage of Truth Sandean.

He looked distracted, pushing the door open and walking straight in.

"Teacher!"

"Teacher~"

Sandean was waving his hand, returning volumes of silk manuscripts to the cells on the wall and boxes in the corner.

The originally scattered piles of items were cleaned up in the blink of an eye.

"So flustered, don't you know how to knock?"

Although Sandean said this, there was no reproach in his tone.

He truly regarded Haru as his own child.

Haru pulled his teacher to sit at the table, then stood before it, mysteriously producing a set of bone books and placing them before his teacher.

He seemed excited, as if showcasing a treasure.

"Teacher, look what I've obtained."

Sandean looked at Haru skeptically, then opened the bone book to take a look.

At first, he didn't look at the name on the cover, but directly flipped through the contents. After a few pages, Sandean immediately sensed something was amiss.

It described how to fuse the trinity of mythical blood, conscious thought, and spirit power to create the so-called immortal spirit.

"Due to the conflict of thoughts, the reincarnation of the immortal spirit will suffer from conflicting memories and consciousness. Only the body of a beast can carry the immortal spirit..."

Sandean knew without thinking who had written this sentence.

It was written by the last king of the Samo family, that blasphemous madman.

He quickly flipped the bone book over.

Sure enough, at the beginning of the first page of the bone book was clearly written — "The Secret Art of Immortality."

Sandean looked at Haru, sternly questioning him.

"Where did you get this, and what do you intend to do?"

Before Haru could respond, he said decisively.

"I know what you want to do, but it's not allowed."

"Not allowed!"

"Absolutely not allowed."

Sandean said "not allowed" three times in succession, showing how agitated he was.

Because his teacher had died from forbidden secret techniques, and the reason Saint Stan used forbidden techniques was due to the disaster brought about by the Samo family's exploration of divine immortality.

These two powers, without exception, were forces that touched upon the forbidden.

Haru, who usually obeyed Sandean like a child, this time showed his own persistence and stubbornness.

Haru leaned close to his teacher, saying with lack of understanding.

"Why not?"

"Teacher!"

"Didn't you tell us that truth should be uncovered and discovered by oneself?"

"How can we determine this power is evil based solely on rumors and legends?"

Sandean became angry, even turning to walk out.

He wanted to destroy this bone book and throw its evil ashes into the sea.

"This is no legend, I've seen it with my own eyes."

"I've walked with you through the path of beast rampage, haven't you seen the graves of Anho City and those cities?"

"Those who died because of the Mad King, countless people who were harmed by him, how can this be called mere rumor?"

Haru chased after him, anxiously saying behind Sandean.

"Power itself has no justice or evil, you said this yourself, Teacher."

"You also said that the power of the Ruhe beast was given by God for Trilobite Men to establish their homes, but it became a force of destruction due to mortal greed."

"The power of rituals can also bring destruction, but as long as we pass down the will and ideals of the saints, we can correctly guide people to use this power."

"Power itself has no justice or evil, what matters is how we use it."

Seeing his teacher's resolute attitude, Haru shouted loudly.

"Teacher!"

"It's useless to destroy it, the Samo family's legacy still exists, those evil priests are still around."

"It's not the only copy, there are many more in various corners of Yinsai."

Seeing Sandean's steps slow down, Haru sensed his hesitation.

He immediately seized the opportunity to persuade his teacher.

"If this power is evil, we should keep it in our hands, so we can understand why this power leads to disaster."

"If someone uses this evil power in the future, we can better stop it."

"Just like..."

"How the saint stopped the beast disaster back then."

Sandean fell silent. He picked up this evil secret technique that had indirectly killed his teacher.

This might be the book that delved deepest into the secrets of mythical blood in the world, even utilizing the idea of using mythical blood for reincarnation.

And most terrifyingly, although the Mad King had failed, the consciousness transfer had succeeded.

"Perhaps!"

"If we can unravel the secrets contained within, we might open the path to the fourth level!"

This thought suddenly resonated in Sandean's heart.