He Ao gazed at those blurred figures. These figures resembled the crowded throngs he had seen outside earlier, yet they were not entirely the same. If the cheering crowds outside were sketched with simple strokes, then the people here clearly had many more strokes upon them. Well, not precisely many more. He Ao critically observed those few figures, and the strokes that formed their bodies had only a few more lines, yet those lines depicted an unmistakable divine charm. In this hazy interplay of light and shadow, observing them felt like looking at blurred paintings, but more like some kind of ’living beings’. He Ao vaguely began to sense what these images in this realm of light and shadow might be. They were ’memories’. The ’memories’ of the owner of this realm of light and shadow. These were images that existed in the past. Slowly moving forward, He Ao had already reached the side of the figure who drank the secret medicine, and he glanced at this figure. The figure was blurry, with no discernible features, but He Ao vaguely discerned that this figure was the same person who had approached the high platform in the previous scene. Unlike the other figures around, who were outlined with clear divine charm, this blurred figure, though vaguely human-shaped, lacked any ’human’ divine charm. It was as if, should this figure suddenly mutate into some kind of monster at any moment, it wouldn’t be surprising. Withdrawing his gaze from the blurred figure, He Ao shifted his attention to those standing around. Talent Sequences 240: King This sounded like an Angel Tier talent sequence. The blurred figure was ’ascending’ to angelhood, and these ’people’ around were likely not just there for the spectacle. Standing at such close proximity, even a C-level Transcendent would turn to dust instantly if the ascending angel went out of control. He Ao watched those figures outlined with divine charm, wondering if these ’people’ were there to ’help’? If the promoter showed signs of losing control, could they immediately react to minimize the danger? To assist in an angel’s ascension, these figures present should each be ’angels’? Or at least, ’angels’? He Ao scanned the figures before him, counting one, two, three, four, five—a total of five figures. Five higher beings at least angels, and that’s just the support for one ascension; including the one ascending, there are already six, not to mention those possibly absent. Such a relic civilization, or should we say, the Original Federation, used to be so grand. But what caused such a powerful civilization to be destroyed? He Ao turned back, looking towards the blurred figure undergoing ascension. His steps didn’t slow, but his gaze stayed firmly on the blurry figure. He wasn’t sure how much memory about the ascension remained in this memory. But observing more might yield some insights. Unlike the blurred figure, He Ao estimated that when it came his time for ascension, he likely wouldn’t find many angels to guard him. Therefore, he was unwilling to pass up any possible ’experience’ or ’observation’ opportunity. And as He Ao passed by, the blurred figure had already downed the contents of the test tube in one gulp. He Ao moved quickly, but the events unfolding during the blurred figure’s ascension were evidently faster. As he proceeded forward amidst the indistinct surroundings, He Ao faintly sensed the thoughts within the surrounding light and shadows, realizing that the substance inside the test tube wasn’t purely liquid. He could feel a scant, blurry ’slippery’ sensation emanating from the scattered light and shadows. This was the ’sensitivity’ to ’emotion’ and thought derived from Super Memory. The sensation wasn’t particularly pleasant. Evidently, the owner of this realm of light and shadow hadn’t forgotten that taste. He Ao activated Super Memory as he focused on the blurred figure. In that instant, more cluttered thoughts surged into his mind. He could feel that slippery substance as if it rushed down his throat, through his esophagus, landing in his stomach. Immediately following, a sharp pain suddenly struck. He Ao’s complexion turned somewhat pale, yet he didn’t close off Super Memory, but instead quietly watched the blurred figure. He could sense, beneath the skin of the blurred figure, as if something was bulging—a cluster of round spheres. He could feel the blurred figure’s flesh, body, and even soul fall into a severe agony seemingly capable of tearing through everything. The surrounding light and shadow trembled violently, memories left by that distorted pain. And at that instant, some twisted, intangible notion followed the trembling thoughts and flooded into He Ao’s mind. ’Tear it open’ ’Tear it open’ The blurred figure’s body surged violently as if his flesh, his skin, were to rupture his body from within, ’breaking out of the cocoon’ from his own body. Like a larva transforming into a butterfly, needing to tear apart its original bodily cocoon. A chill crawled up He Ao’s spine slowly; he wasn’t sure if this came from his own imagination or from the surrounding emotional surges. At this moment, the blurred figure’s body began to deform, his skin pushed up by spherical protrusions, splitting open into streaks of cracks. Those cracks weren’t ’illustrated’ with specific shapes. But He Ao could ’comprehend’ that those were eyes. In that instant, the surrounding trembling light and shadow halted in a way, spreading some distorted thoughts throughout all the light and shadows as if the final moment of ’relief’ or ’transformation into a butterfly’ was about to arrive. A subtle itch spread out from beneath He Ao’s skin, as if the flesh under his skin were writhing, with streaks of cracks spreading across his body. A multitude of ’eyes’ seemed ready to open on his body. He Ao took a slight breath, suppressing the restless corruption, turning his gaze towards the figures beside him. Those figures stood beside without intervening, watching the blurred figure’s mutation. It seemed as though assistance wasn’t appropriate at this moment. The twisted itch grew increasingly intense, prompting He Ao’s instinct to reach out, attempting to scratch his skin. Yet he ultimately refrained from doing so. He watched the blurred figure ahead. The ascension appeared to be failing. So was it because the ascension failed that he ended up this way? He Ao glanced over the other figures present, did these angelic beings exist not for protection, but to thoroughly control the out-of-control one once it happened? His gaze skimmed over the figures whose expressions and faces were indiscernible, finally landing on the last figure, the sixth one. It was at that moment when the figure slowly raised its head, casting its gaze towards He Ao. The sporadic light and shadow around shattered with a roar, dispersing into blurred snowflakes. The itching and writhing sensation covering He Ao’s body vanished at that moment. Yet He Ao made no movement. His thoughts lingered at the moment when the sixth figure directed its gaze at him. Strands of blurred memories emerged in his mind. At the beginning, how many vague figures called ’Angels’ were there surrounding the others? If he remembered correctly, there should be five? Then who was the sixth one? Was he always there, unnoticed by himself, or did he suddenly appear? He Ao lifted his head, gazing at the scattered snowflake-like brilliance around him. He seemed to be ’alive’? Was he an incarnation of the vague figures, or was he truly one of those who acted as ’protectors’ for the vague figures back then? He Ao vaguely remembered that the silhouette of the sixth figure had contours like the attire of relic civilization. This means the other was also from the relic? If he wasn’t a vague figure, the ’owner’ of this light and shadow, able to perceive a ’gaze’ from past memories, then what kind of existence should he be? Moreover, a more pressing issue is that since this sixth figure could react to the interaction, it meant he was likely still ’alive’. The relic civilization has already been destroyed, from He Ao’s previous encounters with the three great Angels, even Angels couldn’t escape that destruction. But, someone is still ’alive’. Does the relic truly have remnants? Did the disaster not completely obliterate the relic civilization? The more clues there were, the more they tangled together, forming a chaotic ball of yarn. Moreover, this suspicion might not be accurate. Could it be that those who survived were not the relic’s remnants, but the beings who destroyed the relic? Shaking his head, He Ao suppressed the thoughts in his mind. He turned to look at the light and shadow around him. The promotion scene seemed no longer interested in reconstructing. He Ao didn’t wait and continued to walk forward. He did not see what ultimately occurred at the ceremony’s end. From his observations, the promotion of that vague figure appeared to have failed, twisted madness seized his body. However, intuition and the actions of those few ’protector’ Angels told He Ao that things were not so simple. He Ao deactivated his Super Memory, continuing to gaze at the light and shadow with his orange-gray eyes. To verify whether it ultimately succeeded, the method is quite straightforward. If he has the opportunity to encounter subsequent memories, he will know. In this light and shadow, there are likely more than just these fragments of memory. While moving forward, He Ao also sensed Li Cheng’s condition. Li Cheng’s condition was still not good, but he seemed to have found some method to maintain the situation, preventing it from worsening further, even his state had recovered slightly. He Ao exhaled slightly in relief, continuing onward. He could feel that the environment Li Cheng was in seemed a bit different from the light and shadow he was in. He needed to quickly understand the essence of these lights and shadows, find the exit, switch scenes to locate Li Cheng, and complete this relic expedition mission. As his footsteps advanced, some vague shadows appeared again beside him. This time, it seemed to be a massive conference room. The vague figure stood on the podium, fiercely debating with others in the conference room. The noisy arguments and the gale of madness squeezed into He Ao’s ears. He Ao watched the vague figure, feeling that the lines outlining the figure carried some ’Divine Charm’. In other words, he ultimately succeeded in his promotion. Was it possible to be pulled back from such a degree of ’mutation’? Or do all Angel promotions go through such levels of mutation? What stabilizes these Angels’ promotion, leaving their ’power’ in the cocoon called a mortal, pulling out their madness? Or perhaps, because the owner of this light and shadow was inherently mad, his memories also underwent ’mutation’? Was his distortion not as severe as seen just now? What ultimately happened after that scene? The most crucial part is missing. As thoughts spun, He Ao’s steps moved forward, listening to the noisy quarrels, gently passing through the vast conference room. The speed of these people’s speech was too fast, and few used the language of the Second District, making it hard for He Ao to understand what they were arguing about. He could barely discern words like ’intelligent’ and ’prosperity’ from simple syllables. And some words seemed to be curses. Anyway, he heard voices cursing in the language of the Second District, and a clear faction division was present, with tendencies of conflict arising. People with what seemed like a First District accent were working hard to mediate, to prevent the conference from devolving into a full-scale brawl. If this were in some cities in the dungeon world, such situations would have already resulted in bloodshed, with people searching for their teeth on the ground. The Original Federation was still too civilized. Having mingled in the dungeon world’s political scene, He Ao’s gaze crossed the conference room, locking onto the vague figure on the podium. The entire debate in the conference room seemed to originate from him, with his supporters and opponents embroiled in chaos. From the situation, it was clear that he had more supporters. He Ao’s gait continued forward, traversing this scene. Immediately afterward, the surrounding scene shifted to ’outdoors’, skyscrapers and tall buildings, and vehicles weaving through appeared in He Ao’s field of view. In contrast to the first scene he had witnessed, this scene was evidently more bustling and closer to what He Ao had seen in the Relic of the Bygone Days. He Ao passed through this illusory city, during which he once again encountered that vague figure. He stood on a high platform, receiving people’s pleas to stay. From that indistinct voice, He Ao faintly heard the word ’resign’. This plea was more intense than the previous cheers. Amidst this plea, the noisy pollution seemed slightly alleviated, with a faint sense of regret and joy spreading in the surrounding lights and shadows. He Ao could vaguely comprehend this joy. It was the joy of standing at the pinnacle, achieving even more than one had anticipated. He Ao did not linger too long in this scene; this ’prosperous’ area was narrower than he had imagined. Like a brief glimmer of glory, it flashed by. At the edge of this illusion, He Ao slowed his steps for the first time. He looked up, gazing at the light and shadow ahead. Among the scattered brilliance, faint and illusory eyeballs seemed to hide within. Not far ahead, it appeared to be the core area of this region. Before reaching this core area, there seemed to be one last illusion. He Ao did not stop, gradually walking forward into this final illusion. The vague figure sat on a long bench, shoulders drooping, like a lion deprived of its spine. Behind him, were ruins upon ruins.