Chapter 1010: Interpreting Symbols

Circle of Inevitability

Lumian organized his thoughts and explained about the manifestations possibly being an identity, "Zhou Mingrui's" identity lacking corresponding interpersonal relationships, Peng Deng and Zhang Yujia's existence seeming more special, and Peng Deng's roommate Grisha appearing in the emergency center of Mushu Hospital.

"From a transmigrator's perspective, there are indeed problems with the corresponding details. Zhou Mingrui seems to be just a name, while the person who shares an apartment with Siatas and others, works at the Intis Group, and has a brother named Benson and a sister named Sasa is more like Klein Moretti." Madam Justice nodded slowly. "Except for the dream city itself and Peng Deng and Zhang Yujia, no other important figures originate from the First Epoch or before."

She temporarily treated the super-ancient era mentioned by Two of Cups as history from the First Epoch or before.

So far, the Tarot Club had almost no understanding of events before the Second Epoch.

As she spoke, Madam Justice fell silent, seeming lost in thought.

Madam Magician glanced at her and said to Lumian, "Since Peng Deng and Grisha may involve the Ancient Sun God, let me first tell you the relevant information we know, of course, limited to the part you can access."

At this moment, Jenna sensed the activity in the living room and came down from the second floor.

She looked around, quietly found a place to sit down, and joined Lumian in listening to Madam Magician talk about matters related to the Ancient Sun God.

Madam Magician considered for a moment and said, "I've told you before that the source of all supernatural powers can be traced back to the original Creator."

Madam Magician continued, "The original Creator created this world, and at some point disintegrated Himself, splitting into the Beyonder characteristics of different pathways. Well, it may have been the terrifying impact of His self-disintegration that completely destroyed the super-ancient civilization where Mr. Fool and Two of Cups lived, with only some humans surviving, ushering in the First Epoch, what we call the Chaos Epoch."

"Was the Celestial Worthy born at that time? Mr. Fool and Franca should have been suspended above that light door before the collapse of the super-ancient civilization," Lumian said words that Jenna currently couldn't understand the specific meaning of.

Madam Magician pondered for a few seconds and said, "Based on the knowledge we currently possess, the final Creator simultaneously had tendencies towards separation and convergence. Before He completely disintegrated, there should have already been a split in His personality, or rather, His divine nature. The Celestial Worthy may belong to one of the divine natures that split off, so the Celestial Worthy's spiritual imprint, like that of the original Creator, cannot be erased and will always exist within the corresponding Beyonder characteristics."

Jenna understood this part and blurted out, "Then doesn't that mean Mr. Fool can never truly defeat the Celestial Worthy?"

"He can only both merge and oppose, gaining some advantage over the long course of time," Madam Magician said with a bitter smile. "There's a saying in the dream city that makes a lot of sense: In the long run, we all die."

Lumian, Jenna, and the others fell silent.

Madam Magician composed herself and said, "Other divine natures also split off at that time, one of which you can call God Almighty.

"The history of the First Epoch might be the history of God Almighty opposing the Celestial Worthy. This is our only understanding of that period of history, and we can't guarantee its accuracy. Anyway, at the end of the First Epoch, something unknown happened, and both fell simultaneously. The Beyonder characteristics split more thoroughly, and the first Blasphemy Slate was left behind in some secret place."

The first Blasphemy Slate that recorded the twenty-two paths of the divine.

"Did God Almighty occupy the pathways of Spectator and Secrets Suppliant?" Lumian roughly understood what Madam Magician wanted to say.

Madam Magician nodded and said, "The five pathways of Spectator, Secrets Suppliant, Reader, Sailor, and Bard, symbolizing omniscience and omnipotence."

"Five pathways…" It wasn't Lumian or Jenna who marveled, but Madam Justice.

Of course, Lumian and Jenna were also shocked—the Celestial Worthy and Mr. Fool only occupied three pathways!

"The number of pathways isn't the key to how powerful these great existences are," Madam Magician briefly explained without going into detail. "The Ancient Sun God became a deity based on the Bard pathway, collecting the Uniqueness and the minimum required Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristics of the corresponding pathways. Later, He was betrayed and fell, splitting apart. But various signs indicate that before His fall, He had actually encountered what Mr. Fool experienced—God Almighty had revived within Him.

"After the Ancient Sun God fell, His legacy was divided into five parts. One part He had pre-divided to the Angel of Imagination, another part nurtured the True Creator and the second Blasphemy Slate on His remains, and the remaining three parts were divided among the three Kings of Angels at the time."

Madam Magician didn't say what happened to those three Kings of Angels later, but Lumian and Jenna vaguely guessed something.

"A few years ago, that Angel of Imagination became a god and obtained, well, I don't know if it was the second or first Blasphemy Slate. Anyway, He used it to go to the Forsaken Land of the Gods and merge with the True Creator.

"That's roughly how things are. I can't guarantee the accuracy of the specific details," Madam Magician finally said.

As soon as she finished speaking, Madam Justice emerged from her contemplation and looked at Lumian and Jenna, saying, "I have a guess about the identities and symbolism of Peng Deng, Grisha, and Zhang Yujia."

…

In the dream city, inside a coffee shop.

After handing Ludwig over to Franca, Anthony used the pretext of continuing their previous consultation to arrange a meeting with Peng Deng.

He was prepared to rent an unfurnished apartment and pay a renovation deposit. After all, Zhou Shasha would arrive in Yang City the day after tomorrow, and they might not even have a chance to spend the remaining money they had!

Seeing Peng Deng put down his black laptop backpack and sit across from him, Anthony smiled and greeted him, "I have a friend who knows Zhou Mingrui. I heard you're Zhou Mingrui's childhood friend?"

Anthony wasn't worried that this statement would trigger too obvious a change, as it was a common negotiation tactic—drawing closer to get a better price.

After placing his phone to his right, Peng Deng raised his head.

A smile appeared on his unremarkable face. "Yes, I'm not only Zhou Mingrui's childhood friend, I'm also other people's childhood friend."

Childhood friend of others… Why specifically emphasize this? Whose childhood friend is he besides? Anthony's mind suddenly tensed.

…

Trier, inside a luxurious villa.

Madam Justice stood up and used her right hand to draw a semi-transparent, dreamlike wooden board.

"Peng Deng once made Four of Swords have hallucinations due to his own fear, causing him to actively leave the dream," Madam Justice said while making Peng Deng's photo and this sentence materialize virtually and stick to the wooden board.

Next, she outlined Grisha's portrait.

"This is Peng Deng's roommate, who appeared in the emergency center of Mushu Hospital last night.

"This is Nie Zhen, Peng Deng's girlfriend."

After adding Nie Zhen's illusory photo, Madam Justice paused and said, "This is the boss of Aurora Company, and Aurora Company corresponds to the Aurora Order in reality. Their boss most likely symbolizes that True Creator, closely related to the Ancient Sun God."

As she spoke, Madam Justice also pasted the photo of the half-naked body of Aurora Company's boss onto the dreamlike wooden board.

After two seconds, Madam Justice continued in a slow voice, "Zhang Yujia once sent Zhou Mingrui a postcard with an image of Sedlec Ossuary.

"For a long time, the Sedlec Ossuary was the iconic possession of the Angel of Imagination."

After Zhang Yujia's file photo was also pasted onto the illusory wooden board, Madam Justice smiled and said, "When the Spectator pathway reaches the sequence of Dreamweaver, one can split off past identities or personalities, turning them into seemingly real people who can sleep normally, eat normally, socialize normally, and work normally.

"Now, there are a total of five people listed on the blackboard, and there are five pathways related to omniscience and omnipotence…"

Before Madam Justice could state her conclusion, Anthony suddenly came down from upstairs.

Seeing Madam Magician, Lumian, and the others, he explained, "After interacting with Peng Deng today, I was kicked out of the dream. This time it wasn't because of fear.

"However, I gleaned some information from Peng Deng's hints."

Seeing everyone's eyes turn to him, Anthony paused, then said solemnly, "Peng Deng is not only Zhou Mingrui's childhood friend, he's likely also the Celestial Worthy's childhood friend!"

Hearing this, Madam Justice's lips curved slightly, revealing a smile.

She pointed at the illusory photos on the semi-transparent blackboard and said, "It's the same for Peng Deng, and the same for Zhang Yujia.

"Peng Deng's girlfriend Nie Zhen and his roommate Grisha, as well as the boss of Aurora Company whose origin is easiest to discern, all point to the same symbolism."

"The Celestial Worthy's childhood friend is God Almighty?" Lumian roughly understood what Peng Deng specifically symbolized.

And this symbolism, influenced by the characteristics of the Spectator pathway, had undergone a split, not just in Peng Deng, but in the other four people as well.

"One of the people who least wants the Celestial Worthy to resurrect might be that God Almighty, which is why He specifically arranged to guide you to discover the corresponding psychological trauma in the underground area of Mushu Hospital," Madam Magician said in a tone of sudden realization.

Madam Justice thought for a moment and said in a lowered voice, "If the one currently worshiped by the Aurora Order enters the dream, He should be able to choose one of these five forms as His body. It could be Peng Deng, it could be Nie Zhen, it could be Grisha, it could be Zhang Yujia, or it could be the boss of Aurora Company."

Madam Magician suddenly had a new idea.

"Peng Deng and Grisha are roommates, and Nie Zhen is about to move in with them. Does this symbolize that the trinity is merging?

"Does moving out represent separation and opposition?"