Chapter 304: Inmorales. Plunder!

Chapter 304 Immortals. Plunder!

Old Man Delon reached out to brush the tea froth from his beard, coughed twice, and spoke, "So, you've studied illusions?"

"Yes, I had a senior who possessed deep attainments in this field. I studied under him for a period and benefited greatly."

The previous scene had been Karen's misstep; now, he could only do his best to make amends.

Fortunately, the instinctive counterattack had only unleashed the chains of order. If something from the Light faction had emerged, the current situation would be highly embarrassing, or even downright dangerous.

Old Man Delon nodded and said, "You have a chance to challenge for that twelve-person roster."

At this moment, Richard leisurely woke up, turned his head to see Karen kneeling beside him, and asked in confusion, "Was I really not dreaming just now? Or am I still asleep?"

Why was it that today he kept seeing Karen in this dazed, half-asleep state?

"Richard."

"Grandpa."

"Go on upstairs."

"Is it over for today?"

"Mm."

Richard stood up excitedly, and Karen stood up as well. Just as the two were about to turn and go upstairs, Old Man Delon's voice came from behind them:

"Richard, you go up by yourself first. Karen, stay."

"Huh?" Richard froze for a moment, looking at his grandfather, then at Karen.

"You are just as you are. Getting into the five-person roster for the York City district will require luck. I originally thought this result was quite good, not losing face for our Guman family.

But Karen has the ability to challenge for that final twelve-person roster."

Hearing this, Richard immediately said, "I told you so, Karen has the ability. You didn't believe me before."

With that, Richard smiled at Karen. "You stay. Grandpa is giving you one-on-one tutoring. Heheh, a great opportunity. You must seize it. Keep it up!"

When dealing with Karen, Richard never harbored selfishness. His grandfather's differing evaluations of himself and Karen did not provoke jealousy or grievance; instead, he felt happy that his friend was truly appreciated by his grandfather.

But... Karen could not bring himself to be happy.

He had only been forced down by Madam Tangli to pass the time during Richard's class, treating it as a way to satisfy the old lady's affection and go through the motions.

Yet, the casual observer was suddenly about to become the subject of one-on-one tutoring.

He did not like Old Man Delon, because he knew clearly that Old Man Delon was loyal to the God of Order and the Church of Order.

A maternal grandfather and a paternal grandfather were different. The difference lay not in the ethical titles, but in the fact that before Diss, he could tolerate and protect everything you had from a grandfather's perspective. Here with Delon, he was a kind grandfather, yes, but his tolerance was not without boundaries.

What if Richard suddenly brandished a flame of light in front of him one day?

"Mr. Delon, how could I accept this?" Karen wanted to refuse.

"No need to be polite. I know well that Richard has little chance, but your chances are great. You have shown kindness to our Guman family, so this is what I should do. This twelve-person roster is not just qualification to enter the Gate of Reincarnation. Considering the age limit of this batch, it is actually equivalent to a key cultivation roster for the younger generation.

This will be of immense help to your future development. If you were still far from it, then forget it; I'd patch up whatever I could. But now I feel you are very close, and have a great chance to squeeze your way in."

Old Man Delon spoke very sincerely, so sincerely that Karen knew if he refused again, it would instead arouse suspicion.

"Mr. Delon, thank you for your help."

"It is what I should do, and what the Guman family should do. Richard."

"Grandpa?"

"Bring a chair over for Karen."

"It's fine, I can just kneel."

"It's fine for Richard to kneel, but there is no need for you to do so. It is inappropriate."

Richard: "..."

Richard brought a chair over for Karen, letting him sit down facing his grandfather. Afterward, Richard flicked his bangs, deliberately closed the basement door, and walked up.

"Is it over?" Madam Tangli asked. "Why so fast today?"

Kaixi asked, "Why did you come up alone? Where is Karen?"

Richard did not hide anything and said directly, "Grandpa said I need to strike extraordinary luck to have a chance at the top five in the district. Karen can make it into the twelve-person roster with some effort, so he kept Karen down there to train him alone."

Hearing this, Kaixi frowned. This was out of a mother's instinct.

A mother's other instinct was that she would not prioritize considering whether it was her own lack of ability that caused the child she gave birth to to be inadequate; instead, she would subconsciously believe her child wasn't working hard enough.

Furthermore, Karen had saved her before. By all accounts of reason and emotion, she would avoid extending her dissatisfaction toward Karen. Therefore, Richard invisibly bore the transfer of all instinctive dissatisfaction from his mother.

Kaixi walked toward the study on the first floor where her husband was, and knocked on the door.

"Thud... Thud..."

"What is it?"

"Eisner, come out for a moment."

The study door opened, and Eisner stood before Kaixi.

"What's wrong?"

"The old man thinks Richard doesn't have much hope, but Karen has a great chance. Now he wants to tutor Karen alone, so he sent your son out."

Eisner blinked and said, "Isn't that normal?"

How could his own son compare to Karen!

On this point, Eisner saw very clearly.

If it weren't for the fact that they both looked young, Eisner even felt that Karen and Richard were simply not of the same generation. Oh, it seemed even he and Karen were not of the same generation.

Seeing her husband's attitude, the anger in Kaixi's heart grew even greater. But she could not lose her temper with her husband, whose illness had just taken a turn for the better, especially since he had brought her a strawberry-flavored ice cream cone yesterday.

In this household, the old man was highly respected, her mother-in-law was gentle on the surface but possessed enough strength to string her up, and she couldn't vent her anger on her husband. In the end, the only target left to vent on seemed to be that single one.

And that one was still chattering away to his grandmother about how excellent Karen was, and how farsighted he had been to see it so early on.

"Call your son into your study."

Eisner froze for a moment, looking at his wife, then at his son in the distance. Ultimately, he nodded. He felt a great deal of guilt toward his wife, but none toward this son of his.

"Richard."

Richard turned his head, looked at his father standing at the study door, and suddenly, his body shuddered.

"Go on, your father is calling you."

"No, Grandma, I still want to talk to you for a bit." Richard subconsciously grabbed his grandmother's warm palm.

But very quickly, he found his grandmother's hand slipping from his palm, and she even gave him a push toward the study.

"Grandma..."

"Speak with your father first, then come back to talk to me."

"No, Grandma, I..."

"Richard." Eisner called a second time, his voice turning deep.

This meant that if a third call came, the consequences would be far more humiliating.

Richard had no choice but to walk toward the study, looking back with every step, but no matter how he looked at his grandmother and mother—the two women who usually doted on him the most—they both ignored his pleading gaze.

Finally, Richard stepped into the study, and Mr. Eisen shut the door behind him.

"Dad, my injuries haven't healed yet."

"You seem to be recovering quite fast to me."

"No, no, how could I recover fast? Look here, Dad." Richard rolled up his sleeves.

Wait, where did the bruises on his arm go?

"No, look here instead."

Wait, the bruises on his chest were gone too!

"It seems you are mostly recovered," Mr. Eisen said.

"No, it's not like that. Dad, don't come over here, don't come over!"

"Smack!"

"Ah!"

"Smack!"

"Damn it!"

"Smack smack smack smack smack!"

...

Casey walked over to Madam Tanli's side, both women ignoring the sounds of the father-son heart-to-heart echoing from the study.

Madam Tanli could not spare any concern for Richard now; it was human nature to favor the new over the old, differing only in degree.

They were both her grandsons, but while this one had grown up right before her eyes, the other had only just arrived, so she naturally doted on the newcomer.

Moreover, by comparison, it was actually her maternal grandson who suited her tastes better—not only could he cook, but he was also well-spoken and possessed exceptional talent.

From a grandmother's perspective, she truly did not feel there was any difference between a paternal and a maternal grandson; neither would inherit her family name anyway, so whether his name was Guman or Inmeles, he was still her grandson.

"Karen is a good boy," Madam Tanli said.

"Yes, he is." Casey could no longer summon any jealousy toward those words.

"Karen likes playing with him, which is a good thing."

"Yes."

"What a wonderful child." Madam Tanli turned around. "I will go check on the soup again."

As she walked into the kitchen, a smile could not help but trace Madam Tanli's lips, and she thought to herself:

"That old man is probably regretting in his heart right now that Karen isn't his own grandson."

...

"Alas, what a pity this child isn't my own grandson."

Old Man Delong had just finished the second training session with Karen. He had raised the illusion by a level, but Karen had still broken through it, opening his eyes to look at him with a gaze as clear as water.

This meant that the young man before him possessed an incredibly resilient mind.

Old Man Delong knew all too well how crucial a resilient mind was to a person's lifelong development.

Richard was actually decent enough; with proper nurturing and gradual growth, he could inherit the Guman family's position in the future.

But if the young man before him were his own grandson, he could take his old wife and ignore everything else, soaking in hot springs every day while waiting for the Guman family's standing to advance another step under his hands.

Pulling his thoughts back, Delong spoke, "We shall go up one more level."

As he spoke, Karen saw the Rubik's cube in front of him grow slightly larger, different colors appearing upon it.

Immediately following that, darkness shrouded Karen once again.

But this time, it seemed very quiet, with no specific illusions manifesting; instead, everything around him seemed to stretch and pull as much as possible, infinitely magnifying an emotion called loneliness.

It had indeed been raised by a level; it was a completely different type of illusion magic.

Truly powerful illusion magic utilized the target's own internal flaws to crush them.

Under such infinite loneliness, a person would subconsciously search for something to rely on, and once those things materialized, they would become weapons used to attack oneself within the illusion.

Karen simply stood there, resisting it.

If he gave it nothing, it could not attack him.

...

Old Man Delong's gaze darkened slightly as he looked at the Rubik's cube before him, then at Karen, who sat with closed eyes in front of him. A quarter of an hour had already passed, yet the cube seemed stuck there, entirely motionless.

This brat had blocked the illusion's offensive right at its source.

Should he raise it by another level?

Old Man Delong hesitated briefly but ultimately gave up; this was training, not a stubborn contest, and he had no intention of overwhelming Karen just to prove a point.

With a wave of his hand, Delong dismissed the cube, and Karen opened his eyes.

"Let us now discuss the countermeasures for the selection, just to familiarize yourself with the exam process in advance."

"Very well, Mr. Delong."

"During the selection, it should also take the form of a formation to test you collectively. It is impossible to dispatch individual priests skilled in mental arts to test you one-on-one. Firstly, though registration is difficult, the number of participants in a major district will not be small, and there are not that many mental-type priests of the same rank to serve as examiners; secondly, absolute fairness must be maintained.

Therefore, the test will definitely be conducted in the form of a formation.

This includes the entire final selection of the Holy Church afterward, which will be the same.

Thus, being familiar with the principles of combining formations and spells will help you choose the best response immediately. When certain spells are combined with formations, flaws will appear—and they are unavoidable flaws.

By the way, do you know anything about formations?"

Does barely learning your family's inherited spell, the Rubik's Cube, count as knowing something?

"I have a bit of understanding."

"Mm, when taking the district test, stand as close to Richard as possible. Richard can use the [Key of the Cube] in advance to conduct a preliminary analysis of the formation prepared for the test, and you can get some information from him.

Of course, you shouldn't have any problem passing the district selection, but this will make things a bit easier for you."

That works too?

Next, Old Man Delong spent more than an hour specifically explaining the relevant elements to Karen.

After finishing, Old Man Delong patted his thighs and said, "Alright, everything that needs to be said has been said. Take your time to comprehend it well on your own. Once you pass the district selection, come to see me again."

"Understood, thank you, Mr. Delong."

"Don't mention it."

Karen and Old Man Delong walked out of the basement, and dinner commenced shortly after.

Madam Tanli indeed possessed deep mastery in culinary arts; though she was replicating the dishes Karen had made last time, the replication was excellent, and the dinner was very palatable.

The only shortcoming was that Richard did not join them at the table to eat.

After taking his leave and returning to the funeral parlor, Karen walked into the study, sat down behind the desk, and opened his palm; a small Rubik's cube appeared in his hand.

"Young master, this is Mr. Hoffen's array notes that you asked me to compile."

"Mm, thank you."

Karen lifted his palm, and the cube floated upward. Immediately, he began to leaf through the array notes, while the floating cube before him began to rapidly deduce and calculate based on his own reading and comprehension.

By the time Karen had gone through over a dozen array case studies in succession, he found himself utterly astonished. It was like solving mathematical equations; the terrifying nature of the Cube's Key lay not only in helping you quickly calculate the process to save time and increase efficiency, but also in its ability to select a massive array of outcomes and work backward to deduce the initial conditions.

This was a manifestation that transcended ordinary levels of deduction.

"No wonder the Guman family holds such a high position within the Church of Order."

Having finished the notebook of array notes currently on hand, Karen rubbed his eyes, though he still possessed an abundance of mental energy.

Perhaps he could try it on other areas?

Karen invoked his Blade of the Dark Moon, utilizing the cube's deductions to help him adjust the nuances of its deployment, giving the technique a thorough refinement.

Originally, the Blade of the Dark Moon condensed in Karen's hand had resembled a whip, or perhaps a freshly glowing branding iron, but after the cube's deductions, the fine details were immensely improved. The enhancement of these numerous details led to an all-around elevation; the Blade of the Dark Moon became purer and more seamless, an expression of sharpness honed to the absolute limit.

"It really works... Its utility isn't confined to arrays alone."

Karen closed his eyes and began using the Cube's Key to deduce and improve all the spells and techniques he frequently used.

In the study, illuminated by only a single desk lamp, light and shadow shifted rapidly under the transformations of the cube. It began to gradually expand, then slowly shrink; its rotations grew faster, only to decelerate upon reaching a certain velocity, repeating the cycle in a continuous spiral of elevation.

Karen was using the cube to map out a new blueprint for all his existing systems and spells, including the storage of his internal spiritual energy. Simultaneously, by deducing his own nature, he continuously enhanced his proficiency in mastering the cube.

It was essentially using himself to grind experience.

After all, his current self was far more complex than the vast majority of arrays.

Throughout this entire process, behind the closed-eyed Karen, an ancient figure stood watching him constantly, like an old man keeping his grandson company while he did his homework.

Time slipped away rapidly without notice.

By the time the entire sequence of refinement was complete, Karen opened his eyes to find that the sky outside was already bright.

He had actually sat here for an entire night, and the cube before him had transformed into a black hue. Though not large in size, it appeared exquisitely intricate; moreover, every single square contained a miniature cube within it, and within those miniature cubes, every square surprisingly held yet another cube.

This...

Karen himself felt somewhat surprised.

Because this meant that his current level of mastery over the Cube's Key had long since surpassed Richard's.

Well, surpassing Richard was normal enough; Karen felt that during those two hours while Richard was asleep, he had already caught up to Richard's comprehension of the Cube's Key, the only difference being that he was still a bit unpracticed at the time.

His current level of mastery was basically on par with Mr. Eisen, though one tier lower than Old Man Delon.

But how old was Mr. Eisen, while he himself had only used a single night.

"Because my body carries the bloodline of the Guman family, it is equivalent to the Blade of the Dark Moon having the Eye of the Dark Moon as a vessel, or the Sea God's Armor having the Sea God's Heart as a vessel.

A vessel can break through and raise the upper limit of one's mastery over a system of magic. Because one naturally possesses this bloodline, the vessel is inherently there; thus, when learning, there temporarily... no, there simply exists no bottleneck or restriction whatsoever."

This point was highly similar to a family belief system. Just like Pu'er back then, who was young yet advanced through the levels of her family belief system incredibly fast because her surname was "Allen" to begin with; before reaching the level of the Ancestor Allen, she would not be subject to any objectively existing restrictions.

Even so, the efficiency of his own learning and mastery was truly a bit absurd, already exceeding the bounds of normal comprehension.

Karen looked at the ancient, exquisite cube before him.

He murmured:

"The characteristic of the Inmoles family belief system... learning."

A moment later,

He pursed his lips,

And corrected himself:

"Plunder."