Chapter 276

Chapter 261: Analysis

At night, Dorothy sat in front of her desk, staring at the world map hanging on the wall. This map vividly illustrated the entirety of this world.

The world mainly consists of three continents. In the center of the map is the Main Continent, also known as the Continent of Light, where most of the modernized nations exist: Farano, Oliz, Quidostas… and the nearby Prit. These are all nations of the Main Continent, where the Industrial Revolution began and the most advanced civilization is found.

In mythology, the place where the Savior of Radiance descended is the Sacred Summit, located at the center of the Main Continent. This is also the main battlefield where the Savior fought against the evil gods to save the world, hence the name Continent of Light. The Sacred Summit is now also the hub of the Church. The whole continent is crisscrossed with mountains and rivers, vast plains, and most areas have a hospitable climate, with only certain eastern parts lacking precipitation, consisting of grasslands and deserts.

To the south of the Main Continent lies the Ufeiga Continent, also known as the Southern Continent or the Hot Sand Continent. The northern part of Ufeiga is a desert, where it is said that a once-thriving civilization fell, burying many ruins beneath the yellow sands. The southern part consists of dense rainforests, home to various primitive nations and tribes.

Historically, there has always been communication between the Ufeiga Continent and the Main Continent. They are connected by a narrow, winding isthmus, with the Conquer Sea not being too large, so there has been a degree of exchange between the two continents since ancient times.

In contrast, to the west of the Main Continent, there is a New World that has only recently been discovered in the past few decades, also known as the Western Continent or the Starfall Continent. It is separated from the Main Continent by a much wider ocean than the Conquer Sea.

Like the Ufeiga Continent, the New World is currently being colonized and plundered by colonizers from various nations of the Main Continent, with the secular powers there unable to withstand the advance of the industrialized nations.

Additionally, to the north of the Main Continent, there is a Northern Continent, but this continent is situated at the polar region, covered year-round by thick ice, and is called the Icebound Continent. Few people venture there; not to mention humans, there are hardly any living creatures, so it is generally not considered when discussing the conditions of the various continents.

Dorothy gazed at the map before her, her eyes fixed on the vast Main Continent. If her previous conjectures were correct, then the empire once created by the King of Light was enormous, a single nation ruling over the largest continent in the world. How powerful it must have been! Even the languages currently used by the nations of the Main Continent have evolved from the Imperial Language, the ancestor of the writings in the various nations, diversified due to regional differences.

Dorothy had read some history books about Prit and other nations on the Main Continent in the library, and she found that the further back one went, the more muddled and vague the records became. Ultimately, everything traced back to the Savior’s myth in the Radiant Church, meaning all secular histories on the Main Continent begin with the myth of the Savior. The histories of various nations start from this myth and gradually move from vague to clear.

As for the history before the Savior myth, it was not recorded in any secular history books, only alluded to in secret transmissions. The once vast empire that ruled the entire continent left no trace in the histories of the nations.

For example, Dorothy uncovered the existence of the King of Light in secret transmissions, which described how he expelled the evil gods and demons, ultimately founding the empire.

The history in the secret transmissions shows a clear difference from the mythology of the Radiant Church, but there are certain overlaps in the images of the King of Light and the Savior of Radiance.

According to Radiant Church mythology, the Savior is a god who descended from the heavens out of compassion for humanity. In the history from the secret transmissions, the King of Light is a sovereign who obtained god-like power, a man who became a god.

“It seems the Radiant Church has hidden many histories…”

Looking at the pile of books on her desk, Dorothy murmured to herself. It was clear that the current secular world’s history is dominated by the Radiant Church, while the real history has likely been obscured.

“Based on the information at hand, it is already certain that a vast empire once existed on the Main Continent. The myth of the Savior of Radiance may have some connection to the empire’s founder, the King of Light, and the Radiant Church may have originated during the time of the empire.

“And the inscription beside the Mirror Moon Statue found in the ruins beneath the school uses the Imperial Language, indicating that this Mirror Moon Statue may also have been built by the Radiant Church during the empire. The goddess symbolized by the Mirror Moon may very well have been a heretical figure in the Radiant Church of the empire… or perhaps she was the orthodoxy at the time, only to be abolished for some unknown reason, and the activity and demise of the Star Number Repair Association could also be related to the empire’s period.”

Dorothy pondered these thoughts, attempting to piece together all the information she had gathered to reconstruct the real history of this world, but for now, she could only go this far.

Having finished her contemplation of the true history of this world, Dorothy turned her attention back to the secret transmissions before her. This transmission, obtained from Kock, was written in the transitional script between Prit Writing and the Imperial Language. Dorothy did not understand the Imperial Language too well, making reading it quite laborious.

Now, Dorothy could only vaguely discern that the transmission was a record of the early worship rituals of the Holy Mother. Although many parts were still incomprehensible, the sections she did understand left her astonished.

In this transmission detailing the ancient rituals of the Radiant Church’s Holy Mother, there were prayers and processes described, and it frequently mentioned bl**d sacrifices. While she could barely identify the sacrificial offerings mainly as livestock, particularly sheep and cattle, there were no mentions of humans. Nevertheless, this was still surprising since the current Radiant Church does not even conduct bl**d sacrifices of livestock.

Moreover, after painstakingly deciphering some words, Dorothy discovered that the transmission directly referred to the Holy Mother as “Mother,” something that wouldn’t occur in contemporary times. Dorothy, who had believed in the Holy Mother since childhood, knew the various titles to observe when praying to her.

“It seems the old Radiant Church was quite different from the present one…”

As she stared at the transmission before her, Dorothy murmured. Due to the language barrier, she could interpret only a small part of it; fully understanding would require her to master the Imperial Language.

“However, I promised Vania that I would return this after reading it, and it seems I won’t finish it all at once. I’ll have to memorize everything in one go and decode it slowly after I learn the Imperial Language.”

Dorothy thought to herself. Since Vania didn’t want the Church’s property to be damaged, Dorothy had promised to return the secret transmission after reading it. Fortunately, Dorothy’s knowledge allowed her to forcibly memorize every image from the transmission’s pages, so returning it wouldn’t be an issue.

“Tomorrow, I’ll ask Beverly to send this secret transmission back to the Church. After I learn the Imperial Language, I’ll decode it completely. For now, I can also extract some spirituality from here.”

With that thought, Dorothy extracted the spirituality from the parts she had interpreted from the transmission, resulting in 2 points of “Cup,” 2 points of “Lamp,” and 1 point of “Enlightenment,” which was more spirituality than she had anticipated.

“This secret transmission on the Holy Mother’s ritual has substantial spirituality. 2 Cups, 2 Lamps, and 1 Enlightenment… Other transmissions costing three or four hundred pounds yield about this much spirituality for the entire book, while I’ve accumulated this much only from a portion. If I extract everything later, it will definitely yield even more. This transmission overall has significant spirituality.

“Moreover, it’s worth noting that among the Three Saints, the ties between the Holy Mother and ‘Cup’… According to this transmission, there seems to have been bl**d and flesh sacrifices in early Holy Mother worship, and the Holy Mother has a strong connection to motherhood. bl**d, flesh, and motherhood… Such a combination inevitably makes one think of the Cup Mother. Is this characteristic unavoidable whenever ‘Cup’ spirituality is involved?”

Dorothy thought this but ultimately didn’t dwell on it too deeply. She glanced outside at the increasingly deepening night and sighed.

“Hah… Never mind, there’s too little information now. There’s no point in overthinking it. Time to wash up and sleep.”

Murmuring to herself, Dorothy tidied up the items on her desk, stretched lazily, and prepared to take a bath and sleep.

After enjoying a comfortable bath and changing into her white pajamas, she lay on her bed and began to ponder again.

“Well then… Should I go to the Dream Realm tonight? Every time I go, I never achieve anything at all. Maybe I shouldn’t go…”

Lying on her big bed, Dorothy thought. When she fell asleep at night, she often used her mimetic abilities to enter the Dream Realm, wandering aimlessly in hopes of finding something. Unfortunately, she returned empty-handed each time.

“Strangely, the forest is always so empty at night. Every time my time is up, I come back without any results. What a waste…”

Dorothy complained to herself. She had read in “The Dream Explorer’s Record” that the Dream Realm should be bustling with Dream Beings, who might carry ancient memories and provide secret information. Yet, since entering the Dream Realm, not a single being had appeared before her, leaving her quite frustrated and reluctant to visit lately.

“Fine, I’ll give it a few more days of luck. If it really doesn’t work out, then I’ll just try every few days. It’s better to get some good sleep.”

With this thought, Dorothy closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

……

In the Dream Realm, somewhere in the forest.

A stout, towering tree trunk stood in space, its dense crown covering the sky, with numerous pristine dream cocoons hanging from the sprawling branches, carrying dreamlike bubbles of memory that floated gently among the trees.

Beneath the massive tree was a vibrantly colored meadow, where a hunt was taking place at that moment.

The hunters were four black hunting dogs, strong and robust, standing apart and forming a circle to trap their prey in the center.

Their target was a wild boar with tusks, its body a deep brown with faint silver patterns shimmering on its skin. Although surrounded as prey, it showed no sign of fear or surrender. Instead, it scanned its surroundings with a serious expression, locking eyes with the hunters that encircled it.

Suddenly, the wild boar charged at one of the black hunting dogs after emitting a grunt, aiming to knock it aside. The targeted black dog nimbly dodged the boar’s charge, counterattacking and leaping onto its back, biting down tightly. The wild boar let out a pained grunt, twisting to ram itself against the roots of a nearby tree, hitting its head and seeing stars.

Seeing this, the remaining three hunting dogs sprang into action, pouncing on various parts of the wild boar, biting and holding on without letting go.

Grunting, the wild boar struggled with the four hunting dogs clamped onto it, thrashing about for a long time before it finally collapsed.

Once the wild boar was down, the four hunting dogs released it and watched as its body quickly disintegrated into countless points of light, a small portion of which was purple while the majority were black. The purple lights disappeared shortly after their appearance, leaving only some black points hanging in the air.

Looking at these black points of light, the largest of the four black dogs opened its mouth.

“Alright, Gregor, it’s time to absorb.”

“Yes, Mr. James!”

Another black hunting dog replied, stepping into the midst of the light points. After closing its eyes to feel the energy, the black points gradually gathered towards it and ultimately merged into its being.

“How much spirituality does this Dream Being’s essence contain, Gregor?” another black dog asked, her voice feminine.

“A lot, Elena! This Dream Being is quite large. Its spirituality greatly exceeds that of the rabbits we’ve caught before. I feel like we’ve taken a significant step closer to filling our spirituality, amounting to about a ten percent increase, thanks to everyone’s help.”

The dog named Gregor expressed gratitude, and the last black dog burst out laughing.

“Ha! If you want to thank us, you better show some sincerity. Tomorrow, you’re treating us to dinner, but I won’t settle for cheap places.”

“Haha, of course, Turner.”

Gregor, the black hunting dog, laughed in response. These four black hunting dogs are the dream manifestations of real extraordinary beings, all belonging to the An Yin Bureau of Igewent.

James, Gregor, Elena, Turner… these are all members of the An Yin Bureau of Igewent. Tonight, they gather in the Dream Realm to help Gregor hunt Dream Beings and accumulate spirituality in order to reach his promotion.

By manifesting in the Dream Realm to hunt Dream Beings and absorbing the scattered essence of “Shadow,” this constitutes the Dream Hunting Method, a technique employed by the extraordinary beings of “Shadow” within the Bureau to accumulate spirituality.

To meet the promotion requirements before heading to Tivyán, Gregor needs to fill his spirituality, so his colleagues in the Igewent An Yin Bureau are currently aiding him in the dream hunt.