Returning to the Malibu Villa, Lin Huai immediately locked himself in the silent room.
He sat cross-legged on a futon, quietly looking at the two sealed containers in his hands. One contained the [True Root of the Mist Treant] gifted by the Ancient One, and the other was a tube of [Total Spinal Fluid of the Evil-Patterned Panther] emitting a faint purple glow.
The 'Mysterious' aura spreading from his body had contaminated innocent creatures, twisting their lives, and even forcing a prince to personally end his former companion.
This was a path stained with sin.
But... can I stop?
Lin Huai gave a miserable smile.
If I stop, I lose the strength for self-preservation and become a piece of duckweed in this World where gods and demons dance. If I stop, the 'Erosion' I've caused becomes an unpayable debt I must carry forever until I'm swallowed by a greater disaster. Stopping is equivalent to putting a complete period on the exploration of my identity, past, and future.
The so-called Beyonders are themselves a group of Lunatics performing on a tightrope.
The only way out is to keep climbing, to become stronger—strong enough to see the truth behind all this, strong enough to have the ability to make amends for the mistakes I've committed!!
Having thought this through, the confusion and pain in Lin Huai's eyes slowly faded, replaced by a resolve to burn his bridges.
He no longer hesitated, arranging the two main ingredients in order, and then began to whisper the advancement prayer in Ancient Hermes Language.
"The Fool that does not belong to this era;"
"The mysterious ruler Above the Gray Fog;"
"The king of yellow and black who wields good luck."
He began to pray, and from the depths of that ancient palace Above the Gray Fog, an invisible force descended. All the materials on the altar began to decompose and fuse, finally turning into a bottle of potion that constantly emitted and dissipated red, orange, yellow, and green light, like a continuous firework display.
Lin Huai picked up the cup, filled it with the potion, and drank it in one gulp.
An indescribable coldness suddenly exploded from his esophagus, rushing into his four limbs and hundred bones. His body began to twitch uncontrollably, and his bones made crisp 'crackling' sounds, as if being forcibly twisted and reshaped by a pair of invisible giant hands. Chaotic knowledge rushed into his brain like a waterfall—techniques for Flame Leap, the method for condensing Air Bullets, and the spiritual outlining of Paper Clone Substitutes... This torrent fused into his spirit body as smoothly as the previous two times, and simultaneously, a larger and heavier torrent of memories poured back from the depths of his soul!
The scenes before his eyes shifted rapidly. He saw Johnny Blaze's painful roar during his first transformation into the Ghost Rider in the Texas desert, while he himself merely watched coldly, treating it as a means to deal with the Black Heart Demon. He saw the life-and-death struggle between Tony and Ivan Vanko on the ruins of the Stark Expo, but he had been like an outsider who failed to make arrangements in advance, resulting in massive civilian casualties.
Finally, the image settled on Wakanda, on T'Challa holding the cold corpse of the Black Panther, those eyes filled with sorrow and resolve!
He had always thought he was the director of the stage, the player of the chess game.
But until now, at this critical point of advancement, looking back at this journey, he realized he was just a Joker—a self-righteous Joker who thought he was in control of everything, only to have been under someone else's control all along. Even the plans he thought were foolproof were just bait for someone else to hunt down that Angel.
This realization, clear to the point of cruelty, was like a poisoned dagger stabbing deep into the core of his soul! Endless pain, heavy guilt, and a sense of sin that could almost crush him exploded within his spirit body, condensing and sublimating... and just a second before this torrent of emotions, which could be called a 'heart demon,' was about to tear his spirit body apart—
The great figure Above the Gray Fog seemed to let out a silent sigh. A familiar and gentle suction arrived, precisely copying and drawing away a portion of this newly formed, life-threateningly heavy realization.
The long-accumulated spiritual torrent and the power of the potion fused completely! Lin Huai suddenly felt his whole body lighten; the pain of his soul nearly being torn apart vanished, replaced by a new, transparent feeling of total control.
He slowly stood up, feeling the surging Beyonder power within him, stronger than the Joker stage. He snapped his fingers, and as flames enveloped him, another cluster of fire rose, and he swapped positions between the flames.
Sequence 7, [Magician].
Advancement successful.
However, the sense of power brought by this advancement didn't make him the least bit happy. Because he knew better than anyone that his advancement meant the 'Erosion' of this World had deepened by another degree.
"The next 'Erosion'... what kind of story will it be?"
Almost instinctively, he immediately took out that set of tarot cards drawn with silver patterns.
He whispered divination phrases, skillfully shuffling and cutting the cards. He paused at the moment of drawing, thinking for a long time, realizing he seemed to have no choice. He then drew the top card.
On the card, a young king wearing a crown of stars and clad in armor was driving a chariot pulled by two sphinxes, one black and one white. He held no reins, relying only on powerful willpower to make these two forces representing conflict and contradiction charge forward in the same direction.
The Major Arcana card, [VII. The Chariot]!
Victory, will, progress, direction, and conflict... countless keywords flooded Lin Huai's mind.
The moment he saw the card face, a strong surge of inspiration rushed into his brain, and a series of brand-new and incredibly clear images unfolded before his eyes.
He saw a majestic rainbow bridge spanning across an endless sea of stars; he saw at the end of the bridge, that brilliant divine kingdom cast in gold standing atop the World Tree—Asgard.
He saw a blond youth wearing a red cloak and holding a war hammer, driving a glorious chariot toward a massive palace. But no matter how he accelerated, the distance would not shorten. Finally, a disappointed and sorrowful sigh came from the palace, The Chariot wheels broke instantly, and the youth fell from the Bifrost Bridge.
The scene shifted, and a sighing one-eyed old man sat on a throne in deep thought, when suddenly His movements came to a sharp halt.
At that moment, Lin Huai felt the entire 'image' of the divination freeze. The God-King before his eyes actually seemed to sense something and slowly, slowly turned His head!
His remaining eye crossed the dimensions of time and space, breaking through the barrier of the divination revelation, and directly, without any hindrance, locked eyes with Lin Huai in the silent room of the Malibu Villa!
Lin Huai's mind went blank; he felt that under this gaze, all his secrets and disguises were completely exposed!
But then, the scrutiny and vigilance in that gaze slowly faded. That aged eye actually revealed an extremely complex expression—there was realization, inquiry, but more so a kind of equal gaze that was almost 'knowing'.
Finally, a smile appeared on that majestic face, and He gave Lin Huai a slight nod.
The image shattered instantly. Lin Huai snapped out of the divination state, gasping for breath, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"Asgard... Thunder God Thor..." He whispered these familiar names, but his heart no longer had its previous calm. Odin's gaze weighed on his heart like a mountain.
He slowly stood up and pushed open the door of the silent room, wanting to use the sights of reality to calm the waves in his heart.
The living room was very quiet.
Pepper was holding two cups of freshly brewed black tea, smiling as she placed them on the coffee table in front of Banner. Banner closed the book in his hand and thanked her gently.
Meanwhile, Tony was lying bored on the sofa, tracing a semi-transparent armor model in the air with his finger. But he seemed to sense Lin Huai's appearance, stopped his movements, and looked up.
"Hey, Lin," Tony looked at his somewhat pale face and, for once, didn't open his mouth to mock him, just asking lazily, "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Just as he finished speaking, a dry thunderclap outside the Villa gave Stark a fright.
Lin Huai's gaze passed over him, looking out the window at the Pacific Ocean dyed golden-red by the setting sun. He remained silent for a moment before forcing a somewhat strained smile.
"No, I saw an old man who hopes his son can shoulder heavy responsibilities."