Fifth Hundred and Ninetieth Smelting
Prit East Coast, Tivyán.
During the day in Tivyán, on a bustling street, a black carriage was making its way through the road. Dorothy sat inside the carriage driven by her zombie driver. Just moments ago, she had helped Misha deal with the summoning by the An Yin Bureau. Now, she retrieved the reward given to her by Misha from the magic box – three secret transmissions taken out from the bureau. She began reading them one by one.
Since these secret transmissions were specifically used to supplement her own spiritual deficiencies, she sought out transmissions that would fill the two most urgent types of spirituality she currently needed, which mainly pertained to the “Stone” type.
The first transmission was titled “Essential Secrets of Ores,” a text explaining the mystical meanings of various ores. The author discussed how different types of ores held distinct roles and connotations within mysticism, detailing their applications in specific rituals and their functions during the creation of extraordinary items. It also briefly touched upon some techniques for creating storage items.
The book mentioned that while minerals and metals inherently belonged to the “Stone” category, they exhibited varying degrees of compatibility with other forms of spirituality. The study of the compatibility between gold and silver with other spiritualities was essential for any craftsman specializing in “Stone.” This knowledge was foundational for many extraordinary items, and it was quite profound. However, this particular transmission did not delve deeply into these subjects; it merely provided a brief overview and listed a few examples.
For instance, gold had high adaptability with the “Lamp” spirit, while silver harmonized well with the “Shadow” spirit. Iron had good compatibility with the “Silence” spirit, except for human bones. The “Cup” spirit, due to its inherent aversion to “Stone,” showed poor compatibility with metallic materials. Copper had slightly better compatibility than others, but wooden materials were preferred among non-metallic ones. For many “Cup” societies today, the best materials were flesh and bl**d, rendering other materials less desirable. Although “Stone” itself did not discriminate, craftsmen out of respect for the “Stone” spirit often chose to use rocks directly.
“In this transmission, it mainly discusses the spiritual inclinations of different materials. It’s somewhat similar to the situation with storage items. ‘Lamps’ usually store gold, ‘Shadows’ store silver, ‘Silences’ store iron coins except for bone fragments, and ‘Cups’ use meat as a unique storage item, which can also be eaten. This is indeed quite special.”
“Among the examples given, five types of material compatibility with spirits were introduced, but there was no mention of the ‘Enlightenment’ spirit. This might be because, for the ‘Enlightenment’ spirit, even the storage items are relatively precious and rare, so they don’t have enough spiritual support for experiments, leading to no results. This is similar to what I saw in the previous transmission about elementalizing spirits.”
Sitting in the carriage, Dorothy thought after finishing the examples in the first transmission. Then, she focused on extracting the spiritual essence contained in the transmission, gaining 4 points of “Stone.”
After finishing the first transmission, Dorothy didn’t pause. She put the transmission back and immediately picked up the second one to read. This transmission also pertained to the “Stone” category, titled “Divine Smelting of Rocks.” It contained part of an excavation diary written by a notable archaeologist named Zakariah. His research focused on a non-human civilization known as dwarves, which existed in ancient times.
The author of this transmission had accidentally discovered a dwarf ruins deep in a mountain. He spent years deciphering the damaged records within the ruins and reconstructed them based on his own imagination. The portion of the diary in Dorothy’s hands recorded the mythological stories of the ancient dwarf civilization.
The story took place in the distant past when the first glimmers of wisdom were emerging. A group of beings known as dwarves, a humanoid civilization, thrived on Earth. They were short in stature, living deep within mountains, mining precious rocks, and crafting exquisite tools. They were the earliest miners and stoneworkers, worshiping everything related to rock and stone. They revered the Earth and Mountains as deities.
The dwarves worshipped the mountains and earth, deifying them as “Tango,” meaning the great founder. However, the rock deity was not suitable for worship. The rock deity’s nature was inert, tending towards permanence and stability. The deity did not approve of change, or if it did, the process was exceedingly slow, far beyond the lifespan of intelligent beings.
Thus, many dwarves viewed their deity as dull, even foolish. A prayer from the entire tribe could take centuries to receive a vague response. Some dwarves realized that worshipping the rock deity did not benefit their race, as the deity was unsuitable for a civilization’s main deity. So, the dwarves sought change, seeking to transform their deity.
They appealed to other gods of the world at that time. Two prominent deities responded to their plea: one was the Sun God, who ruled the sky, illuminating the earth with fire and teaching control over it. In the dwarf language, he was called “Kago,” meaning the great luminary. The other was the Thunder God, who conveyed wisdom through thunderous words, symbolizing enlightenment. In the dwarf language, he was called “Fago,” meaning the great enlightener.
The Enlightenment God and the Sun God responded to the dwarves’ request and communicated with the Rock God. Even though they couldn’t alter the Rock God’s inert nature, they came up with a plan. If they couldn’t change the Rock God, they could create a new god from it.
Thus, after communicating with the Rock God, the Enlightenment God designed and the Sun God crafted a part of the Rock God, refining and tempering it. The new god, known as the Smith God, Queen of the Forge, was called “Tango Mo” by the dwarves.
The Smith God originated from the Rock God, both as a daughter and an embodiment. As a god, the Smith God was more dynamic, actively participating in worldly affairs and more suitable for worship. Most dwarves adopted the Smith God as their primary deity, replacing the inert Rock God as their main deity. The Rock God accepted this, although a small minority continued to worship the Rock God, forming sects distinct from mainstream beliefs.
“The content of this transmission is quite extensive and pertains to ancient times. Dwarves, rock gods, and smith gods… If these myths are true, they are quite intriguing.”
Dorothy pondered the new content in the transmission, then continued her analysis.
“The transmission mentions dwarves, a non-human civilization. Clearly, this is a myth from the Second Era, possibly early in the Second Era. Could the rock god be the Stone Prince? And the smith god the Construct Core? Or perhaps they are predecessors of the Stone Prince and Construct Core?
“While the Construct Core may or may not be the same as the Smith God, based on previous descriptions of the Stone Prince, which emphasized inertia, primitiveness, and constancy, the rock god seems a good match. If the Smith God is indeed the Construct Core, their relationship is akin to that of a main entity and its manifestation… However, from this transmission alone, it’s uncertain whether the Construct Core and Smith God can be directly equated.
“According to the transmission, the Smith God is the god of the dwarves. Since the era of the dwarven civilization no longer exists, it’s possible the Smith God perished along with it. The Construct Core might be a successor to the Smith God…
“As I read the transmission, Dorothy mused to herself. Then she shifted her focus to other aspects of the myth.”
“Another point worth noting is that the dwarf myth mentions the sun god and enlightenment god. The sun god sounds like the main deity of the ‘Lamp’ spirit, likely the predecessor of the King of Light from the Second Era. It’s unclear whether the followers of the sun god are non-human races.
“There is also the enlightenment god. This name isn’t new to me; it appeared in the Second Era, referring to a single deity, the chief deity of the ancient Northern Ufeiga civilization, the Judge of Heaven. If the enlightenment god in the dwarf myth is the same as the one in the ancient Northern Ufeiga myth… things get interesting. In the dwarf language, the pure color deities Stone Prince and Sun God are called ‘Tango’ and ‘Kago,’ respectively, while the Smith God is called ‘Tango Mo.’
“This naming convention suggests that in dwarf culture, the names of pure color deities and mixed color deities follow distinct rules. Pure color deities end with the syllable ‘-go,’ without suffixes, whereas the Smith God has the suffix ‘Mo,’ indicating it emerged from the Rock God under the influence of the Sun God. This implies that in dwarf language, naming conventions for pure color and mixed color deities are distinct, with mixed color deities adding their own suffixes.
“However, the enlightenment god in the dwarf language is called ‘Fago,’ following the same naming format as the Stone Prince and Sun God, without the suffix found in the Smith God. Does this mean that in the eyes of the dwarves, the enlightenment god is on par with the rock god and sun god? Previously, I assumed the Judge of Heaven was a mixed color subordinate deity, primarily associated with ‘Enlightenment’ and assisting ‘Stone.’ But if the information in this transmission is correct, the Judge of Heaven should be the main deity of ‘Enlightenment’!
“Analyzing the transmission, Dorothy was surprised. Previously, all descriptions of the Judge of Heaven involved lightning, and many texts referred to it as the Thunder God. Thus, she initially believed the Judge of Heaven was simply an elemental deity. If the information in this transmission is accurate, however, Dorothy’s earlier guess might be wrong. The Judge of Heaven could be the pure color deity of ‘Enlightenment,’ with lightning being the most prominent feature, leading people to consider it a thunder god.
“As a pure ‘Enlightenment’ extraordinary being, I can actually control the paths and branches of ‘Enlightenment’ at the Golden Rank. If the Judge of Heaven is the main deity of ‘Enlightenment,’ then controlling lightning would naturally be within its domain. Given the prominence of lightning, the Judge of Heaven could indeed be seen as a thunder god, and perhaps as the chief deity of ‘Enlightenment.’ Moreover, as the main priest god of a super-large ancient civilization like the First Dynasty, the Judge of Heaven being merely a subordinate deity would be undignified.”
Dorothy pondered this in her heart, though she did not draw any definitive conclusions. The transmission was written by a remarkable archaeological scholar based on incomplete records and personal speculations, and Dorothy could not confirm its accuracy. Despite having many thoughts, she refrained from making assumptions and instead extracted the spiritual essence from the transmission, gaining 6 points of “Stone” and 2 points of “Lamp.”
Next, Dorothy set aside the archaeological diary and started reading the final transmission, titled “Secrets of Revering Fire.” It was a translation of fragmented documents from the Third Era, detailing a secretive organization active during that time.
This secretive organization was called the “Burning Fire Cult,” a cult centered around the worship of fire, dedicated to the underground church of the World-Burning Giant. Active during the imperial period of the Third Era, the Burning Fire Cult worshipped a combative and warlike evil deity who once tried to burn the world to ashes. Therefore, the cult’s actions were often extreme, gathering apocalyptic believers intent on reviving the World-Burning Giant, who had been slain by the King of Light in the Third Era. Both their doctrine and actions were unacceptable to the dominant imperial religion of the time, leading to the cult being declared illegal and thoroughly eradicated.
The transmission contained parts of the Burning Fire Cult’s rituals, mainly involving various methods of burning sacrifices, often including the cult members themselves or entire settlements. Even by today’s standards, this would be considered an evil organization by most official extraordinary organizations.
“This is a record of an evil cult from the Third Era… Indeed, such organizations never seem to be absent throughout history. I wonder if the empire completely eradicated this cult during the Third Era. It would be best if they had no remnants continuing into the Fourth Era. There are already enough troublemakers here.
“Also, the book mentions something about the imperial state religion. Does this state religion worship the King of Light?”
As she looked at the last transmission, Dorothy pondered in her heart. Then she began extracting spiritual essence, gaining 3 points of “Lamp” and 2 points of “Stone.”
In total, Dorothy’s current spiritual essence is:
28 Cups, 28 Stones, 50 Shadows, 27 Lamps, 31 Silences, 50 Enlightenments.
“Hmm… Finally, I’ve gathered all the spiritual essence…”
After reviewing her spiritual status, Dorothy sighed in relief. Now, her spiritual essence was fully sufficient for her advancement, lacking only the final ritual. Her current goal was to make up for this deficiency.
After finishing all the transmissions, Dorothy tidied up and controlled the carriage to continue moving forward. It stopped by the roadside, and she instructed her zombie servant to open the door. Then, a figure in a long robe got on the carriage and sat opposite Dorothy. She removed her veil, revealing a beautiful face with dark skin.
“Miss Dorothy…”
“Uh-huh.”
After responding to Neve, Dorothy instructed the zombie servant to close the door. Then, she directed the zombie driver to start the carriage again. After navigating through the city for a while to adjust direction, Dorothy’s black carriage quickly headed north. Even after reaching the outskirts, it continued northward, away from the noisy city center toward Tivyán’s outskirts, where Dorothy and Neve’s alma mater, the Royal Sacred Crown University, was located.
…
Hmm… I just realized I made a mistake calculating Dorothy’s spiritual essence earlier. When tallying the spiritual essence in chapter 584, I didn’t include the force from chapter 582, causing Dorothy to lose a significant amount of spiritual essence. Fortunately, a meticulous reader noticed and alerted me, otherwise, Dorothy would have lost spiritual essence in vain. This was my oversight, probably due to writing fatigue.
Now, the spiritual essence has been recalculated, and chapter 584 will be corrected soon. However, updates may be delayed, so please bear with me.
