Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 1234: Chapter 943: Ideals and Reality

”Although there are some subtle mistakes in your understanding, it’s understandable that you don’t know. After all, aside from the Heavenly Inquiry Route she built herself, Tong Ji doesn’t actually care much about the others.”

After listening to Huai Shi’s answer, Luo Su shook his head. ”Besides, after the Heavenly Kingdom fell, Utopia split apart, and the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy was dragged down with it. Now people even call it the Abyss Genealogy. No one knows how much data and records were lost in the middle. And before those Second fifth bastards of Golden Dawn betrayed us, they even used their permissions in Nowhere to wipe a ton of records from the Sea of ​​Silver.”

In the elevator, he pinched his chin and pondered for a moment, then suddenly nodded. ”Then before we get to business, let’s have a basic knowledge class first.”

Only now did Huai Shi realize that he’d let his guard down for a moment and somehow got tricked onto the pirate ship again!

But the elevator was already descending; even if he wanted to run, there was nowhere to run!

Luo Su stretched out his hand and started writing in midair, his strokes smooth and fluent.

”All right, let’s start from the beginning. Setting aside all the branches widely known nowadays, in the very beginning, the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy actually had nine Roads of Sublimation. Or rather, that was the plan...”

”Dusk, Eternity, Heavenly Inquiry, God Marrow, Maintain, Transformation, Primitive, Paradise, and one hidden path that no one knows about except the President and the official Fate Secretary...”

”Unfortunately, by the End of Utopia Country, the last Path of Paradise still hadn’t been fully developed. There was only a prototype, so it lacked universality and couldn’t be promoted. You could only say it was half-complete.

In the end, only eight and a half were completed.”

”Wait, fine, the numbers don’t match, whatever—but did you just eat the script again?!”

Huai Shi sharply caught the setting conflict. ”That half-path is the Path of Paradise? Not Heavenly Inquiry?”

The elevator suddenly went still.

Luo Su stared at him in astonishment, utterly baffled.

”Don’t be ridiculous, Huai Shi,” he said. ”The Heavenly Inquiry Route was personally overseen and managed by Tong Ji. It was one of the earliest completed paths in the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy. How could it be incomplete? Oh, she must have lied to you again, huh? Then it’s fine...”

Huai Shi’s face flushed bright red.

He almost spat up a mouthful of old blood.

Although Tong Ji lies all the time, he didn’t think she lied about this one.

Because a far worse guess had appeared in his mind—could it be that the half-path he was practicing now was something Tong Ji cobbled back together after she woke up?

That black-hearted woman kept using the ”Deluxe Edition” to fob him off, but what he was actually practicing was ”Heavenly Inquiry Road Gold Collection Reproduction Full DLC Revised Version V2.0”?

This was freaking ridiculous!

”Ahem, anyway, let’s put these irrelevant things aside and not mention them.”

Luo Su coughed twice and pretended nothing had happened, then continued, ”Setting aside the one secret path that can’t be publicized and the Path of Paradise prototype that can’t be promoted or spread and can only be locked in a safe, what remains are the seven Roads of Sublimation from the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy at its peak.”

His fingertips skimmed through the air, and with his words, flowing notes appeared before Huai Shi’s eyes.

Heavenly Inquiry, Eternity, Dusk, God Marrow, Maintain, Cycle, Transformation, Primitive... Then, each Road of Sublimation sprouted rapidly, growing like a book, branching into symbol after symbol representing Stigma.

”Starting with you: the Heavenly Inquiry Route from the Dongxia Genealogy, bearing Eastern Monarch and Changyi—the Sun God and Moon God. Its core is ’adaptation and balance’, focused on modifying and controlling the environment of Hell.

Next is the Road of Eternity from the Egypt Genealogy: the dead Osiris and Horus, Lord of the Sky Dome. Compared to their original Genealogy, what they emphasize now is the Domain of destruction, combined with the research results of many Scholars and Alchemists. Whether it’s the Osiris Judgment Armor or the Heavenly Prison Fortress Horus, both are armed forces capable of settling a war in the Abyss with one decisive blow.

Then we have the Path of Dusk from Nordic myth, whose core is actually ’strategy and control’—how to command, employ, and expand your Legion.

The Road of God Marrow from Greece is the direct result of research on the Central Pillar of God Marrow, and among the seven Roads of Sublimation, it’s the one most imbued with Divine Nature, most similar to the Gods of old.

Precisely because of that, it’s pretty much the Road least compatible with Isaac...”

At this point, Luo Su couldn’t help shrugging and muttered complaints under his breath. ”He’s absolutely the type whose teacher held him back.”

As if it were an illusion, Huai Shi heard a faint snort from the void, but when he listened closely, it vanished without a trace.

”Next, the four remaining Roads are even less known, and they were also the four that suffered the worst losses when Utopia split...”

Luo Su sighed, then counted on his fingers. ”The Maintain Road from the India Genealogy now only has Krishna, that lone commander, holding it up.

What’s even more frustrating is that the core of this Road is the esoteric. No matter how many successors you have, without the corresponding Talent, it’s almost impossible to progress, and they’re basically useless.

But compared to the Transformation Road, the Maintain Road is still doing much better.”

He said, ”The Transformation Road is a path completely opposed to the Road of God Marrow. Its core is human nature and good and evil. Because it posed the greatest threat to those Golden Dawn guys, when Utopia split, it was the first to bear the brunt and was almost completely wiped out... Kaja has been trying to bring it back all these years, but as you’ve seen, the results have been meager at best. And her beloved daughter just got beaten up by you and sent straight to the ICU.”

The chill in the air grew ever deeper, making Huai Shi shiver. ”I didn’t do it on purpose, don’t talk like that!”

”Relax, no one’s blaming you.”

Luo Su shot him a glance and shook his head. ”If her kid gets beaten outside, she’ll just sign her up for some combat training course and have her find a chance to hit back. She’s not about to stoop to making a move on you herself and lose face. What are you afraid of?”

”This is called reverence and respect for my Predecessor, what do you know!”

Huai Shi straightened his back, trying hard to look like a model Five Good Youth, just hoping that the current big shot from the Russian Federation Genealogy wouldn’t set her sights on him.

After coughing twice, he dragged the topic back again.

”What about the Path of the Primitive?” Huai Shi asked. ”It sounds so badass and domineering, it must be really powerful, so how come I’ve never come into contact with it?”

”You want to come into contact with it?”

Luo Su glanced at him with a half-smile. ”Once you join Golden Dawn, you’ll be able to get in touch with it...

The Path of the Primitive originates from the Sumerian Genealogy; among the Heavenly Kingdom Genealogy it’s the road closest in essence to Hell. At its summit lies the oldest source of the Sumerian gods—the primordial Abyss Abzu. What it represents is ’Chaos’. Aside from that guy Peron, who switched paths midway, the rest are now following Golden Dawn, branching out and flourishing in Hell, doing really well!”

He suggested excitedly, ”How about this, I set you up with an undercover mission, you go as our representative and check things out? It’d count as racking up an achievement for you...”

”No, no, no!”

Huai Shi shook his head frantically, terrified Luo Su would suddenly toss some assignment at him and leave him no choice but to stab this Old Turtle in the back. Teacher and student turning on each other—how awful would that be.

Luo Su did not continue on this topic. Instead, after a long silence, he said calmly, ”Lastly, there’s the Road of Cycle, originating from the Celtic Genealogy.

There isn’t much to say about this one. Long before the fall of the Heavenly Kingdom, they voluntarily relinquished their Stigmata, laying the foundation for the Sea of ​​Silver, merging into the boundless knowledge and wisdom of mankind... The last Sublimator on the Road of Cycle was the previous generation’s Astronomical Society President, who also disappeared not long after the Heavenly Kingdom fell.

The final afterglow of Utopia left and never returned. From then on, Utopia’s Astronomical Society was officially disbanded from the roster.”

Huai Shi fell silent.

For a long time, he didn’t know whether he should be moved by the sacrifices of his predecessors, or grieve because the radiance of Utopia had dimmed.

When the once-glorious ideal collapses, what remains is only fragmented reality.

”Then what is that hidden route?” Huai Shi asked.

Luo Su did not answer; his smile only grew stranger. ”You already know it’s hidden, so how could I tell you? This is for your own good, Huai Shi.”

”Like hell I believe you!”

Huai Shi rolled his eyes, too lazy to ask further.

And the elevator kept sinking.

The speed was actually still increasing.

The two of them had been talking for so long it was almost ten minutes, yet there was still no sign of the elevator stopping, as if it intended to carry them endlessly downward.

Judging by this speed, Huai Shi figured they had probably already gone dozens of kilometers underground; the surroundings should have been unbearably hot by now, yet inside the elevator it was still pleasantly cool.

”We should be there in about two more minutes.”

Luo Su lowered his head to glance at his watch. ”The underground works beneath the Blood Drop Cathedral are shelters built by the Russian Federation, and at the same time, if I’m not mistaken, it should also be where a Holy Coffin is buried, right?”

He reminded him with a smile, ”A Saint who inherited the Authority of the God of Nothingness is interred here. In a moment, remember not to touch or grope things randomly. Who knows how many Bishops are watching us right now.”

Huai Shi only felt the back of his head growing cold again.

How had he somehow ended up in the core secret heartland of someone else’s territory!

If he took a wrong step or misjudged something and his hands got itchy and he touched the wrong thing, wouldn’t those Bishops up above tear him apart on the spot? His reputation in the Russian Federation would probably get perma-locked at maximum aggro!

Could it be that this Old Turtle Luo Su still hadn’t given up his thieving habits and wanted to hit their treasury and run?

He quietly felt for his phone.

Ready to report him at any time.

”Relax, the body of a Saint is nothingness. You couldn’t touch it even if you wanted to. You wouldn’t even be able to see it if it were placed right in front of you. It only appears when a new Saint comes to receive the inheritance—so stop daydreaming about that kind of Spring and Autumn fantasy.”

Luo Su shook his head. ”The reason we came here is because the thing we’re looking for can only be suppressed by the Holy Coffin, otherwise the entire Ural Region might turn into a malignant sprouting Hell on Earth.”

”That sinister?”

”Huai Shi, what you’re about to see next is an Authority Relic from the Road of Transformation, the Philosopher’s Stone formed by the last two Sublimators who inherited the White God Belo-Bog and Black God Chernabog.”

According to the intel Yekaterina had provided.

After the split of Utopia, after being assaulted and slaughtered by the hands of their former comrades, those two Sublimators who were ultimately buried left behind nothing but indescribable madness and resentment.

What was ultimately formed was this Authority Relic filled with grief and rage.

—The Mirror of Day and Night!

Even under layer upon layer of lockdown and suppression, it possesses an irresistible Soul-corroding power, indiscriminately interfering with and twisting any Soul that tries to approach. Even a Fifth Stage, if they stay near it too long, might end up with a split Soul.

If anyone dares to look at it directly, they will fall into unavoidable madness; their humanity will become distorted, their mind shattered, torn apart by the opposing good and evil within their Soul.

At the same time, however, it is also the only remaining legacy of the Road of Transformation.