Chapter 52

### Chapter 52: Divination

In the night of Igewent, within a dimly lit secret room.

This was a small secret room thick with the scent of bl**d, and in the center stood a small altar constructed from the bones of bl**d humans, atop which a skull was writhing with a mass of flesh, various strange organs growing upon it.

Beneath the altar, a dark red carpet was laid out, and surrounding the altar were bookshelves, desks, and various display stands, including a large basin filled with bl**d, in which human limbs were soaking.

In front of the desk, two figures were standing. One was a thin, gloomy middle-aged man with a small mustache—Buck, a member of the Crimson Eucharist. The other was a slightly hunched elderly man—Colif, also from the Holy Communion.

Buck and Colif, both core members of the Crimson Eucharist, stood together, their expressions serious, with Colif appearing somewhat impatient.

“Buck, hurry up, it’s almost time…” Colif said urgently to Buck, but Buck did not respond. Instead, he silently approached a portrait on the wall.

After staring at the portrait for two seconds, Buck reached out and opened it, revealing a safe behind it. He then set the safe’s combination and opened it, retrieving its contents.

Buck walked back to the desk and placed two items on it: one was a bracelet adorned with orange gemstones, and the other was a small, flat stone engraved with dense, orderly unknown writing.

Upon seeing what Buck placed on the desk, Colif’s eyes immediately lit up.

“Is this… the divination tool left by the mentor?” Colif murmured in wide-eyed amazement, to which Buck nodded in response.

“Yes, a divination tool, a precious divination tool… With this, we can transcend the constraints of time and space, obtaining information from the dimensions of the inner world.” Buck said solemnly, while Colif continued to speak in disbelief.

“Transcending the constraints of time and space to obtain information, what in the world are these two things? How can they achieve such incredible feats?”

“Ha… Actually, they are merely spiritual storage items…” Buck smiled slightly and gazed at the two items on the desk before continuing.

“According to the mentor, what is required for divination is not these two items, but the spirituality contained within them. Generally speaking, regardless of the form of divination, to complete a divination, two types of necessary spirituality must be provided.”

“What are the two types of spirituality required for divination?” Colif asked eagerly, and Buck straightforwardly replied.

“They are ‘Lamp’ and ‘Enlightenment’…”

“The necessary spiritualities for divination… are actually ‘Lamp’ and ‘Enlightenment’?”

“Yes… According to the mentor, ‘Lamp’ signifies insight, while ‘Enlightenment’ implies information. Using ‘Lamp’ to gain insight into ‘Enlightenment’ allows one to transcend time and space to obtain the desired information immediately.”

Buck spoke slowly, and upon hearing his words, Colif nodded in understanding.

“To use ‘Lamp’ to gain insight into ‘Enlightenment,’ thus acquiring information that transcends time and space? Is this the essence of divination? One signifies insight, the other means information, how different it is from the ‘Cup’ we revere.”

Looking at the items on the desk, Colif continued to ponder and spoke up.

“I’ve been an extraordinary being for so long, and yet this is my first time understanding the principle of divination. So, does that mean if I can obtain the spirituality of ‘Lamp’ and ‘Enlightenment’ in the future, I can also perform divination?”

“That’s indeed the case. As long as one grasps the method and consumes the spirituality, one can perform divination. The method is generally quite simple; the key is still the spirituality, which is the hardest part to obtain…” While speaking, Buck’s gaze landed on the bracelet studded with orange gemstones on the table.

“Among them, the spirituality of ‘Lamp’ is relatively easier to find. Many can be found among items flowing out from the Radiant Church. The Radiant Church is vast, and many things flow out. Sometimes, secret societies existing in religious forms also generate some ‘Lamp’ during their daily activities, and numerous extraordinary beings of ‘Lamp’ have defected from the Radiant Church. These guys often collaborate with some craftspeople of ‘Stone’ to produce extraordinary items of ‘Lamp’ for trading… Therefore, it’s not particularly troublesome to find items that contain ‘Lamp’…”

As he spoke, Buck glanced at the other piece on the desk—the fragment of stone inscribed with dense characters.

“However… ‘Enlightenment’ is much harder to obtain. According to the mentor, due to the aspect of poison recognition, there are pitifully few extraordinary beings connected to ‘Enlightenment’ throughout the Secret World. There are even fewer who can directly embark on the path of ‘Enlightenment’ from the very beginning. Moreover, ‘Enlightenment’ happens to be the hardest spirituality to integrate into physical objects. Currently, it can only be excavated from ancient ruins, in stone tablet murals inscribed with ancient knowledge that contain a small amount of ‘Enlightenment.’

“For example, this fragment here… This was excavated from a certain ruin, a piece of inscribed stone tablet, and the ‘Enlightenment’ it contains is an important item left by the mentor…” Buck pointed to the fragment on the desk, and Colif sighed in awe.

“This thing contains precious ‘Enlightenment’ spirituality…”

“Yes, the mentor went through quite a bit of trouble to acquire it. I originally didn’t want to use such a precious item, but at this point, we have no choice. We must find the trace of that group of people.”

With that, Buck formally began preparing for the divination.

“Phosphor lime powder… silver powder… bl**d of red-winged birds… ancient bronze ink…”

Buck swiftly began his work, first using various materials laid out on the table to mix and process, ultimately producing a bottle of greyish-yellow ink that shimmered with speckles of fluorescence. He then drew a prototype magical array on the table, with the upper part dominated by the symbol of ‘Lamp’ and the lower part by the symbol of ‘Enlightenment.’

He then placed the bracelet, which contained ‘Lamp,’ and the stone fragment, which contained ‘Enlightenment,’ on their respective symbols. Finally, he retrieved a large sheet of paper from the bookshelf and laid it flat in the center of the magical array, precisely between the symbols of ‘Lamp’ and ‘Enlightenment.’ Upon closer inspection, it was unmistakably a city map, with the word Igewent inscribed at the top.

It was a city map of Igewent.

“I will use the pendulum divination method to ensure those guys have nowhere to hide!”

As he spoke, Buck took out a single-chain crystal pendant from a small box on the desk. He held the pendant in one hand and positioned its crystal over the center of the magical array, right above the Igewent map.

“I summon the all-seeing light to illuminate the sea of knowledge…”

While murmuring, Buck began to swing the crystal pendant in his hand. The pure white crystal started to sway back and forth across the map of Igewent, and at the symbol for ‘Lamp,’ the orange gemstone in the bracelet began to shatter. At the symbol for ‘Enlightenment,’ cracks appeared in the fragment inscribed with ancient writing.

The formless spirituality was released from the confined objects, swirling around the ritual site.