“Could they be eliminated in the same way?”
Siles said, “Teacher, in my concept, the situation is divided into two types. The first is protecting the soul before it is corrupted. For this, any ritual used to enhance willpower would work.”
Grenfield nodded in agreement.
“However, after being corrupted, the situation becomes much more complicated. There is no unified standard or ritual that can encompass all the Revelators.”
Grenfield thought for a moment and said, “I understand. I think you have a point. However, I still believe that a certain degree of ritual unification is possible.”
Siles paused for a moment, then asked earnestly, “What do you mean?”
“We can artificially create an opportunity to allow the Revelators to obtain a ritual uniformly,” Grenfield said. “For example, in the introductory course for the Revelators, we could create an anchor point for them altogether.
“We provide them with some small item, like a fountain pen, and then ask them to write intently. This acts as a layer of insurance. In the future, when they might suffer from corruption, they only need to take out the pen themselves and write earnestly to slowly expel the presence of the corruption.”
Siles suddenly understood and immediately said, “You’re right, this is feasible. I was being negligent.”
He had focused too much on those Revelators who were already corrupted and forgotten about those who were uncorrupted or just starting out.
“No, Siles,” Grenfield said. “You are a genius.”
Siles shook his head. In his heart, he thought he was merely standing on the shoulders of giants. His past experiences on Earth had given him plenty of inspiration.
Grenfield instructed, “Next, you need to proceed to the next stage of experiments regarding those already corrupted Revelators. Once the feasibility of this method is confirmed, I will push for the improvement of the introductory courses as quickly as possible.”
“I will,” Siles said seriously.
Afterward, he bid Grenfield farewell. Before leaving, Grenfield called out loudly, “Don’t forget Ms. Carmin’s signature!”
Siles was momentarily stunned, then replied, “Alright, don’t worry, Teacher.”
Only then was Grenfield satisfied.
Leaving Room 177, Siles went to the Research Department, found Director Bellow, and informed him of his idea—using his past self as an anchor point.
Director Bellow looked at him in astonishment, his cloudy eyes revealing unprecedented surprise and shock.
After a moment, he said, “Professor Noel, you truly are a genius. I think all the Revelators will go crazy over this idea.”
Siles smiled a bit sheepishly.
He said, “I need a group of Revelators to participate in an experiment this Saturday…”
“I understand,” Director Bellow offered proactively. “Many are eager to try.”
Siles thought for a moment, then added, “Please ask them to bring an item they always carry with them.”
Director Bellow nodded: “I will make this requirement clear.” He couldn’t help but add, “If this method can really be verified… then, I’m afraid everything will change.”
Siles considered this and couldn’t help but say, “Director, to me, this method is merely a remedial measure after being infected. The truly important and fundamental method is still like Ms. Aston’s project—improving one’s soul strength.”
It was exactly Director Bellow who had suggested Siles participate in Ms. Aston’s project. Therefore, Director Bellow was well aware of soul strength.
Siles’s novel seemed to become popular overnight.
On the first day it was put on shelves, the initial batch of one hundred copies sold out. Over the following week, a total of nearly ten thousand copies were sold—an unbelievable number.
Benton specially invited Siles to dine at the most luxurious and expensive restaurant in Atherton Square. He said excitedly, “You really are a genius novelist! Professor Noel, I’m not just making this up! The market has proven your value!”
Siles nodded politely without showing exaggerated excitement or thrill. He even felt a subtle… surreal sensation.
Had his novel, for which he held no expectations, actually become popular in Lamifa City?
In the past few days, he could even see some students holding his novel and reading it at Lamifa University, or overhear them discussing certain plots. Moreover, during his classes, he received long-lost gazes of reverence.
…You have to understand, these students, who were nearly crushed by his strict attitude and heavy assignments, had never looked at him like that before!
Siles found it incredible. But to say he was unhappy would be impossible. At the very least, the dividend payments hitting his account were very real.
The Rose’s Revenge was priced at 5 Marquis coins per volume, a moderate price. Of course, when horizontally compared to Earth’s prices, it was quite expensive.
But in the Fisher World, physical books were still an expensive commodity, with a single copy costing about 4 Marquis coins to produce.
Earning 1 Marquis coin per book, they had already sold nearly ten thousand copies, resulting in a net profit of one thousand Duke coins. Within a few weeks, Siles had earned five hundred-coin banknotes, and that wasn’t the end of it.
…This speed of sudden wealth really made Siles feel somewhat doubtful.
“You are a red-hot novelist in the city right now,” Benton said, having drunk a little wine, his gaze and expression even more excited. “May I ask when you plan to publish your next novel?”
Siles thought for a second and said, “It’s already in preparation. Perhaps the manuscript will be finished by the end of the year.”
“That’s wonderful!” Benton immediately replied.
Though the restaurant was expensive, it was indeed worth the money. Benton paid the bill directly and said sincerely, “Professor Noel, you are arguably my cash cow. Of course, there’s also the upcoming publication of that travelogue… Oh, it’s just too blissful.”
Benton’s straightforward words made Siles feel a little uncomfortable.
Benton thought for a moment, pulled a business card from his pocket, and handed it to Siles.
“What is this?” Siles asked, looking at the few words on the card.
“A gathering of some of the city’s prominent novelists,” Benton said. “Only novelists who have sold at least ten thousand copies can get this card—like Ms. Antonia Carmin, for example. Your novel is bound to meet this standard in the next couple of days, so I am giving this card to you.
“If you’re interested, you can go check it out on a weekend afternoon.”
Siles thought to himself that he probably only had time on Sunday afternoons.
He thanked Benton and then took a rental carriage back to Lamifa University.
It was September 21st, a Tuesday.
Exactly two weeks had passed since he discussed the publication with Lanmir and Benton.
He had lunch with Benton and returned to the university. After finishing his evening public elective course, Siles’s attention immediately focused on a very important matter.
—The Deep Sea Dreamscape.
The last time he went to that place was on August 29th and 30th. Calculating based on the 21-day interval, he could explore the Deep Sea Dreamscape tonight and tomorrow night.
Siles had already figured out exactly what he wanted to do during the next two explorations.
During this time, Akamara’s power had consistently protected him. Siles had always enjoyed good sleep quality, though occasional insomnia or dreaming was only human nature.
However, ever since he visited the Deep Sea Dreamscape and scooped up those dream bubbles from the seawater, sleep had been an absolute luxury for him. He could fall asleep the moment he laid in bed and would automatically wake up early in the morning.
No matter the time, he could enjoy a sufficiently comfortable sleep.
Siles—at least for a moment—could understand Akamara’s fanatical believers who researched how to sleep and dream better.
Rumors said that Akamara would grant any believer He favored, as well as all good people, a beautiful and magnificent dream.
Unfortunately, Siles had never had any beautiful dreams. It seemed the effect of Akamara’s power on him was simply allowing him to have a comfortable and quiet sleep.
He didn’t know if this was because Akamara had already fallen or because he hadn’t met the criteria from the rumors.
Regardless, this power had indeed provided him with some help. Of course, his research into the Deep Sea Dreamscape continued.
As night fell, Siles laid in bed with complex and expectant feelings. It was already late September, and the weather was getting colder. Siles had to spread heavy cotton quilts and furs over his bed just to survive a winter in a world without heating or air conditioning.
He finally understood why Eric had emphasized during the Ernestine Trade Fair that the people in the West City would buy cheap furs for the winter around that time.
Because the winters in Lamifa were just too bitterly cold.
He fell asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow. In his sleep, he once again appeared in that world of deep sea and dense fog.
The sea, the isolated island, the mist, the puppet, the starry sky. His leather shoes once again stepped onto the soft red mud.
He still walked inwards, circling the isolated island. His gaze occasionally noticed the giant puppet. He noticed invisible threads winding around the puppet—yes, invisible.
He couldn’t help but wonder: if they were invisible threads, how did he know they were there?
If it was shrouded in fog, why could he see all this?
The next second, he thought, yes, this is my dream. His dream had connected to this place. A paradise of the gods? Could this be a god’s paradise?
But if it was a paradise, why was it so withered, lonely, and silent? It was as if the time of paradise had faded into long, dead silence.
He walked step by step, steadily and firmly, toward the center of the isolated island. The soft red mud sank beneath him, leaving clear footprints. But after a moment, the footprints slowly disappeared.
It was as if something was erasing these footprints, or as if they were wounds in the island’s red mud that were now slowly healing.
Finally, he stopped at the center of the island. Once again, at this moment, he found the willpower to control his body.
Before coming here, he had already decided exactly what he wanted to do.
During his previous two visits, he had seen the bubbles in the deep sea and had even scooped them out of the water himself. These two discoveries had awakened him.
Therefore, he couldn’t waste this opportunity. Any new discovery could potentially allow him to leave this place.
First, he went to different corners of the island, scooped up various bubbles, and observed them carefully.
The seawater was indeed seawater, and the dreams were indeed dreams. It was hard to describe the feeling. It was like looking into a mirror, but instead of reflecting your face, the mirror reflected other things.
When he concentrated and observed closely, he could clearly see some scenes within the dreams. When his attention faltered or when he was more casual, he could only see a chaotic jumble of mixed-up images.
Because there were too many of those scenes and those dream bubbles, the mixed images collectively formed this deep, boundless ocean.
He stood up, staring silently into the distance. The mist didn’t block his line of sight, yet he could feel the distant… distant, endless faraway places and ocean.
It seemed the only landmass was this isolated island he was currently standing on.
So what exactly was the island? What exactly was the red mud?
He had some guesses but couldn’t reach a conclusion. Therefore, he didn’t focus too much on it. He lowered his eyes, just about to study those dream bubbles more deeply, when suddenly, he stopped.
A question occurred to him: the sea surface was boundless, front, back, left, and right.
But what about below? What was at the bottom of the sea?
He hesitated.
Because practically speaking, his two visits to the dreamscape were to verify the relevant functions of these dream bubbles. For example, could he really use Akamara’s power? Could he manipulate the contents of the dreams? Could he enter other people’s dreams?
These questions required a sufficient number of dream visits to accumulate answers.
Yet, this quiet sea, this silent island, this standing puppet, this empty starry sky… everything made him feel an indescribable, heavy sensation, as if something substantive was covering his surroundings, and he was weaving through this solidified world.
He urgently wanted to know the nature of this place—the essence of the Deep Sea Dreamscape, not its function.
So, in the end, he decided to satisfy his curiosity. He lowered his eyes, his gaze piercing through the deep sea’s dream bubbles, and the dream-like scenes began to recede from him.
The closer he got to the depths of the ocean, the more he felt the surrounding darkness and oppression. It was as if a sufficiently solemn and deep atmosphere was enveloping his heart, a feeling that even made him lose focus.
For a moment, he felt as if he were in a graveyard, surrounded by corpses.
…Corpses.
He saw it!
He saw… the deep sea. The seabed. The rugged ocean floor, the darkness where no light could penetrate. It was as if everything melted at this moment, congealed in this place. But he saw it.
The ruins of cities and civilizations… in the depths of the ocean.
…Siles woke up abruptly.
It was 4:00 AM. He lay flat on his back, eyes wide open, feeling a wave of confusion and heavy unease.
He had seen the ruins of buildings in the depths of the dream ocean. Or rather, the entire seabed was covered by such ruins. Countless collapsed structures, abandoned lands, and shattered landscapes.
He didn’t know how to describe his mood upon hastily glimpsing that scene. It was a shock and emotional stirring that overwhelmed all negative emotions.
It was as if he had witnessed an apocalypse. As if he had seen the corpse of a civilization.
…Siles thought in disbelief, but why would that appear in the Deep Sea Dreamscape? Why was it eternally preserved by Akamara’s power? Or… is that the underlying tone of this world and all human dreams?
What kind of secrets was this world, which had once been completely shrouded in mist, hiding?
Siles couldn’t wrap his head around it, and after waking up, he pondered alone until dawn. It wasn’t until the rising, hazy sunlight that he snapped out of it.
As October approached, the weather grew colder, and the early morning air turned chilly. Even the sunlight seemed weak, trembling as it illuminated a corner of Siles’s room.
He got up, washed up, and then left his room. First, he went to the cafeteria for breakfast, then took a public carriage, arriving at the Historical Society around 8:00 AM.
It was Wednesday morning, and he came to meet Grenfield.
In the space behind the door of the Historical Society, some Revelators noticed Siles’s arrival and cast flattering glances at him.
Over the past two weeks, Siles had conducted several more experiments. He would converse with the Revelators, trying his best to unravel the dilemmas and self-confusion they faced.
Among the Revelators who participated in the experiment, some could trigger the dice’s roll, and some could not. Even for the latter, their mental states looked much better after talking with Siles.
As for the Revelators who did trigger the dice roll, there were three in total; two of them received successful results, while the other… failed. Because after triggering the roll, the only option Siles could choose was a failure value.
That particular Revelator looked determined, his expression cold, and his willpower was as high as 70 points, the highest among the three who triggered a roll. However, Siles could only give him a failed result.
This meant that, with Siles’s current capabilities, it was impossible for him to resolve the Old God corruption that these Revelators had suffered from—it was indeed corruption from an Old God, not from a past Patron.
If it were Patron corruption, it would have been much easier to solve.
Such a Revelator, under current conditions, was destined to fail with no possibility of escape. This deeply saddened Siles.
Ironically, the man thanked Siles. Because he felt that he had improved significantly. The pain and madness torturing his soul had lessened considerably.
Such remarks only made Siles feel even more regret for him because Siles didn’t know whether the man could still attain true liberation and relief.
…Regardless, although these experiments made Siles realize he was not omnipotent, the various results had already caused an uproar within the Historical Society. It was far more massive and eye-catching than the controversy when he first proposed the Three Elements.
Because none of the Revelators who participated in Siles’s experiments experienced a deterioration in their condition, and most improved considerably. A few even almost completely rid themselves of the corruption, with subsequent tests showing only a tiny fraction of corruption left!
This nearly drove the Revelators suffering from corruption into a frenzy.
When Siles first proposed his theory and project, people might have watched with cold indifference, perhaps thinking he was fishing for fame or grandstanding. But now, facts spoke louder than words.
However, Siles didn’t intend to continue such experiments. His goal in proposing this project was to deduce a feasible, universally applicable method—a ritual. He had no intention of becoming a “full-time doctor.”
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. The Revelators he cured might be affected by other forms of corruption in the future. When that time came, would they still be lucky enough to wait for Siles’s dice roll?
These Revelators had to learn how to rid themselves of corruption on their own, rather than Siles artificially rushing their growth.
After several experiments, Siles clearly recognized the role of human willpower in resisting corruption. At the same time, he also noticed the problem with the numbers.
A Revelator with higher willpower might carry much more severe corruption, and conversely, they needed an even higher willpower attribute to possibly rid themselves of it.
And the higher the willpower, the less room the Revelators had to improve and advance. Upgrading willpower would likely become increasingly difficult, making it harder to escape that severe corruption.
So far, they hadn’t found a suitable method to enhance a Revelator’s willpower—a permanent enhancement, rather than a temporary one like [The Silent Heart].
However, Siles still had some thoughts on how to resolve mental corruption. It was related to a project he was participating in at the Historical Society and might very well be a roundabout way to save the situation.
Because of his expansion and in-depth research on the project, Siles had recently been spending more time at the Historical Society. Aside from a full day on Saturdays, he would now also spend all of Wednesday there.
There was no way around it, and Siles knew it.
In Room 177, Grenfield was already waiting for him.
“Good morning, Teacher,” Siles greeted him.
“Good morning, Siles,” Grenfield raised the book in his hand. “Honestly, have you not considered changing the ending? Although Miss Gwen and Ludwig fell in love, why haven’t their enemies been completely resolved?”
Siles blinked, then said, “Don’t you think this makes it easier for readers to keep anticipating a sequel?”
“…So you plan to write a sequel?”
“No,” Siles replied frankly.
Grenfield: “…”
His student was great in every way, but on this writing path… he seemed to have gone astray.
Grenfield felt a deep sense of regret.
Siles sat opposite Grenfield and said, “Teacher, I received a business card for a novelists’ gathering—I heard Ms. Carmin will also be attending.”
Grenfield, who was initially distracted, immediately perked up at the sound of Ms. Carmin’s name. Rummaging through his drawers, he pulled out one of Ms. Carmin’s works, handed it to Siles, and said earnestly, “Siles, I’m counting on you for Ms. Carmin’s signature!”
Siles took it and couldn’t help but say, “Teacher, didn’t you go to Ms. Carmin’s book signing before?”
He remembered the incident vividly.
Grenfield looked embarrassed and could only say, “I didn’t make it through the line.”
Siles chuckled inwardly but nodded on the surface, saying, “I’ll try my best to get Ms. Carmin’s signature for you.”
Grenfield looked very pleased. Then, he said, “I hear you aren’t planning to continue the experiments next week?”
“I don’t plan to,” Siles shook his head.
“That’s a good choice,” Grenfield said. “I didn’t expect your experiment’s effects to be so obvious; it has made you the center of attention in the Historical Society recently. I suspect even some other Revelator organizations have heard of your reputation.
“You’ll probably have to pay more attention to your safety. Of course, I believe the vast majority of Revelators want you alive and well, hoping you’ll eventually produce concrete results. It’s just… some people never think that way.”
Siles said seriously, “I will, Teacher.”
“It’s good that you have this safety awareness,” Grenfield said. “If anything really happens, either come to the Historical Society in the East City or the Church of Bygone Days, or go to the West City, to my antique bookstore. Just the building itself can protect you.”
Siles nodded.
Grenfield shifted the topic: “So, let’s talk about your project. How is the recent progress?”
“I’ve joined another project in the Research Department, and I think it will help me. If you remember, Teacher, we discussed this topic a long time ago.”
“What?” Grenfield paused for a moment.
“The tiers of the Revelators.”
Grenfield suddenly understood. He said with interest, “That project studying the souls of the Revelators?”
“Yes. I believe that the higher the tier of an Revelators and the stronger their soul, the better they can resist corruption,” Siles said. “Of course, correspondingly, when they do get corrupted, it’s that much more severe.”
Grenfield nodded: “This idea makes sense. The project itself has garnered a lot of attention within the Historical Society, though it’s not asking for trouble the way you did—you really shouldn’t have brought up human will and the will of the gods, if you ask me.
“But how does this relate to your project?”
Siles said, “Last week, I had a conversation with the researcher of that project, Ms. Bernita Aston. She hopes to find some way to detect a Revelator’s soul strength and attributes.
“And if that can really be achieved, it could help the Revelators determine their capacity to withstand corruption.”
Grenfield nodded thoughtfully.
Siles explained Ms. Aston’s theory to Grenfield.
Ms. Aston’s research was ultimately divided into two parts: first, soul strength; second, soul attributes. Theoretically, the existence of both was beyond doubt.
Soul strength affected the magnitude of ritual power; soul attributes affected the bias of ritual power, meaning which types of rituals Revelators could pick up more easily.
The latter was very easy to verify; by picking a few representative rituals and having a Revelator use them one by one, a conclusion could be reached.
However, soul strength was much more complicated.
This was a term coined by Ms. Aston. More accurately, soul strength was determined by both spirituality and willpower, and was sometimes affected by physical condition, making it a fluctuating value.
In Ms. Aston’s research and measurements, the same Revelators could display entirely different levels of soul strength at different points in time—specifically, when using the exact same ritual, they could showcase completely different levels of power.
Ritual power was the external manifestation of soul strength. But what could measure a Revelator’s soul strength?
Grenfield said, “I can understand her idea. Our progress on the path of the Revelators is always like groping our way through the dark, without signposts, unable to turn back.
“Therefore, she hopes to artificially draw boundaries and stages so the Revelators understand what stage they have reached. But measuring soul strength… can that really be done so easily?”
Siles weighed his words and then said, “This is something I’m skeptical about as well. However, broad categorizations are indeed achievable.
“For example: only able to borrow an ordinary person’s power without getting corrupted, able to borrow a common Patron’s power without getting corrupted, able to borrow a powerful Patron’s power without getting corrupted…”
“Without getting corrupted?” Grenfield acutely caught the key point. “Meaning…”
“We can indirectly determine a Revelator’s soul strength through the ritual [Shadow of the Old Gods]. At what stage they get corrupted, and at what stage they don’t—the latter represents their tier.”
Grenfield pondered this.
Siles added, “Of course, the prerequisite is… there must be a ritual capable of removing the corruption to ensure the safety of the measurement process.”
Grenfield frowned. “You’re making everything very complicated.” He paused, then said, “Let me organize your thoughts and see if I understand correctly.
“If a Revelator wants to test their soul strength, they need to try using rituals from different stages.
“Ordinary people, Patrons… The different paths of Patrons do indeed have clear tier divisions, which is a good thing. We can also measure based on the tier divisions of Patrons.
“…I am glad you haven’t involved gods yet.
“Then, using [Shadow of the Old Gods], confirm the extent of their soul corruption after using different rituals, and thereby confirm their soul strength.
“Before using a ritual, we can’t know whether the Revelators will be corrupted after using it, so they must first have a corruption-clearing ritual to protect their soul.
“…Then everything loops back to your project.”
Siles nodded and said, “Indeed. Soul strength and soul corruption are interrelated.”
“At the end of the day, you need a sufficiently powerful, universally applicable ritual to protect the soul.” Grenfield’s expression was somewhat stern. “And this is precisely where we’ve constantly failed to make a breakthrough.”
Soul corruption—whether from Old Gods or past Patrons. These corruptions made the Revelators overly cautious, like a curse of time.
Siles said, “This is exactly what I’ve been pondering over the past few weeks. I realized that we seem to have fallen into a misconception.”
“A misconception?”
“You just said, a universally applicable ritual,” Siles countered. “Do you really think there is a ritual that can apply to everyone?
“In my experiments over the past few weeks, I found that the causes of corruption differ for everyone. Some might be due to a ritual, some because of a time track, and some might even just be from reading certain texts in ancient books.
“Everyone’s situation is different.”
Grenfield fell deep into thought.
“When measuring soul strength, we can use the tiers of past Patrons as reference points.” Siles paused. “But when clearing soul corruption, what can serve as a reference point for every individual?”
As he spoke with Grenfield, he was also trying to clear up his own train of thought. He had indeed been inspired by the experiments of the past few weeks and Ms. Aston’s project.
At the very least, he had found a direction.
In this conversation with Grenfield, he hoped to have Grenfield evaluate whether his idea was feasible.
“A reference point?” Grenfield was slightly taken aback. “Wait, since you put it that way, you mean you’ve already found one, haven’t you? Don’t leave me hanging, Siles, I’m not one of your readers!”
Siles gave a small smile and said, “I can’t say I’ve already found it. I came today precisely for this matter.” He paused, then changed track. “Teacher, I said before that one could prepare for their future self in advance… Have you done any related research on that?”
Grenfield looked at him suspiciously, then said, “I’m looking into it. First of all, arranging it with others in advance and borrowing their power—that is doable. But this brings up a problem.
“How do you know what ritual your future self will actually need? In the end, one still has to conduct rituals based on actual needs; past preparations might not actually be useful.
“In other words, it seems redundant. Of course, sometimes it can be useful in specific situations. But—like I just said, you can’t possibly know what the future holds.
“Secondly, if it’s borrowing the power of your past self… it is indeed possible, but your past self is not necessarily stronger than your present self. Besides, there is the power of countless mighty figures from the past, so why borrow your own?
“Preparing in advance. It works. But we can’t predict the future.”
Grenfield sighed.
Siles did not look discouraged. He said, “What if we know for sure what needs to be done at a certain moment in the future? When eliminating soul corruption, one’s past self is a reference point.”
Perhaps this method couldn’t be used in actual combat, but in Siles’s project, it proved to be crucial.
Hearing Siles’s words, Grenfield fell into a long silence. Finally, he slowly frowned and asked, “So… you mean, a reversal similar to [Box of Knowledge]?
“Reproducing one’s past self… reproducing an uncorrupted self?”
Siles nodded.
[Box of Knowledge] was the very first ritual he had actually encountered, having witnessed Carol using it with his own eyes the first time he visited the Historical Society.
The Box of Knowledge contained all the Historical Society’s research on the Revelators, various rituals, and historical records since its inception. It was an extremely heavy tome.
It held exceptionally precious records, which at least the current Siles was not yet qualified to access. Of course, if he could truly find a suitable ritual to clear corruption, that would be a different story.
And the reason the past Carol could carry this book around was because Carol possessed fragments of the paper from the earliest printings of the Box of Knowledge, allowing the Box to revert to its original form—pieces of paper.
This was the effect of time power acting on inanimate objects.
This kind of reversal power was rarely seen in the rituals Siles had actually encountered, primarily because using power this way was mostly pointless, and one had to possess the time track from when the item was first created.
Unless it was to preserve something like the Box of Knowledge, which was bulky and hard to carry.
However, after Siles fell into a cognitive dilemma and had to carefully recall all the rituals he had encountered in the past, he suddenly realized that the [Box of Knowledge] ritual was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Past, present, future. These could be considered the three segments of time.
Usually, when they utilized the power of time, they were reproducing a power from the past in the present moment. Or rather, the “past” appeared in the “present.”
But the [Box of Knowledge] sent the “present” reversing back to the “past.” These were two entirely opposite processes.
The reason this method of using power was rare was essentially that people didn’t need to revert the present back to the past. They merely needed to borrow the power of the past.
But in the matter of soul corruption, the situation had changed.
Grenfield said, “Are you hoping to…” He spoke with a slight tone of skepticism, “…allow a corrupted soul to revert into an uncorrupted soul? Can that really be done?”
Siles paused—he genuinely hadn’t thought of it that way. After all, objects could certainly be reverted, but a soul, a living thing, how could that be reverted? What if it reverted incorrectly?
But Grenfield’s imaginative thinking also made Siles marvel.
He said, “Teacher, I just feel that one’s past self can serve as a reference point. Many corrupted Revelators say they can personally feel the presence of the entity they are borrowing power from.
“Since that’s the case, when borrowing the power of one’s past self, couldn’t one also feel their state of being at that time?
“The reason many Revelators cannot break free from deep corruption is that they are entirely unaware of where their problem lies, or what exactly changed in their concepts and thoughts after being corrupted. They are mad, yet unaware of it.
“They need a comparison, an opportunity to examine themselves.
“And if, through an object—a time track belonging to their past selves—they could anchor themselves to a certain past moment when their soul was still healthy and uncorrupted, that would become a reference point.
“An anchor… that allows them to maintain their sanity even if they’ve gone mad.”
Grenfield understood: “A ritual.” He stayed silent for a moment. “A ritual that reproduces one’s past self?”
Siles nodded, adding, “Everyone’s ritual is different. For example, for me, it would be the ritual belonging to ‘Siles Noel’.”
Grenfield said, “Therefore, you say there cannot possibly be a universally applicable ritual?”
Siles nodded.
On one hand, every Revelator suffered from corruption under different circumstances and for different reasons, and their soul strengths were different. On the other hand, this also involved the essence of the Revelators’ power.
Potion, Time Track, Ritual. Purity, Completeness, Compatibility. These were the Three Elements and Three Dimensions of the Revelators. But the problem was that there were no similarities in the powers between any two Revelators.
They might borrow power from different moments in the past, they might borrow the power of Patrons from different paths, they might hold completely different ideas and ways of manifesting power towards different paths and gods.
Overall, the power of the Revelators was fragmented and chaotic. They didn’t have a systemic, generalized rule that could encompass all of them.
True, they all possessed the Three Elements and Three Dimensions, but those were manifestations of power, not the essence.
The essence was that they were all borrowing the power of time. Why did they become corrupted? Because time didn’t just bring power; it also brought the will of the past.
In this regard, every Revelator was the same. Forcing their powers into different tiers was simply measuring the magnitude of power they could leverage.
In Ms. Aston’s project, she believed that the factors deciding the magnitude of power leveraged were soul strength and soul attributes.
And the outcomes of these two points also varied from person to person, without an entirely unified standard.
Someone might be able to reproduce absolutely tremendous power on the path of the Apostle of Sin, while simultaneously only being able to reproduce very weak power on the path of the Ascetic Monk.
But they would indeed be touching upon two different power systems.
This was the problem brought about by the chaotic system of the Revelators. They borrowed power from different power systems, which in turn made their own power systems messy, lacking a proper dimension.
Suppose one person was corrupted by a Glutton of Lust, while another was corrupted by an Ascetic Monk… these two entirely different concepts of corruption were not unfamiliar.
He said, “Naturally, naturally. It’s just that, for the time being, we have no method to permanently enhance soul strength.”
Siles understood this as well.
A ritual like [The Silent Heart] that temporarily enhanced willpower was already extremely rare, let alone a permanent enhancement.
After coming to this world, Siles’s permanent enhancements to his willpower were inseparable from his identity as an otherworldly visitor. Even he couldn’t quite articulate exactly why he was able to improve his willpower.
Thinking of this, Siles couldn’t help but sigh.
He bid farewell to Director Bellow, returned to his office to organize some of his thoughts, and couldn’t help but think of the investigation results regarding the “stolen manuscript” that Director Bellow had informed him about not long ago.
