The Moon City residents following Nim also underwent significant changes; their bodies visibly became healthier, and they carried various mushrooms with them.
Leyton withdrew his gaze with a complex expression, sighing inwardly, "This time, Frank achieved a feat that surpassed the Church of the Earth Mother. His mushrooms have become the most important food source in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and the Southern Continent. If the war continues, even the commoners in the Northern Continent nations will come to regard these mushrooms as their staple food, which is an unimaginable future."
While Leyton was sighing, Klein approached and said calmly, "I heard some sounds, like layers of chaotic prayers, when Moon City performed the sacrifice to this gray fog earlier. I plan to make some attempts and need your help to watch over me, to prevent any accidents."
"Alright," Leyton nodded slightly, very interested in the attempt Klein was about to make.
Receiving Leyton's response, Klein directly reached into the historical void and pulled out his Historical Projection. Then, his main body disappeared, and his consciousness awakened within the projection.
Following that, Klein's Historical Projection, under Leyton's gaze, walked to the solidified grayish-white fog and pressed his right hand against it.
After gazing for two seconds, he opened his mouth, lowered his voice, and chanted in Chinese:
"Immortal Lord of Heaven and Earth for Blessings;
"Sky Lord of Heaven and Earth for Blessings;
"Exalted Thearch of Heaven and Earth for Blessings;
"Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings."
As the last word fell, the barrier composed of endless gray fog visibly shook. This movement was different from the commotion Leyton had created earlier by attacking; it was like a lake into which a giant stone had been thrown.
The ripples spread rapidly, swaying and overlapping, vaguely seeming to outline the shape of a Door.
Behind Klein, Leyton's eyes narrowed slightly, and an uncontrollable excitement welled up in his heart. He seemed to have already heard the call from his main body on the other side of the gray fog.
At that moment, a silver-white lightning bolt happened to flash across the sky, illuminating the surroundings.
Under Leyton's gaze, this door ultimately failed to form. It seemed to lack some necessary conditions and had not yet pieced together a complete key.
After a moment of thought, Leyton suggested, "Why don't you use some Worms of Time, Worms of Star, and Worms of Spirit as aids, mix their auras, and try again?"
"I can only maintain three historical projections simultaneously right now," Klein slowly shook his head.
After a moment of silence, Klein dismissed his Historical Projection, and his main body reappeared from where it had vanished, looking at Leyton and saying, "I'll summon your Historical Projection again in a moment."
As his words fell, he directly ceased maintaining that Historical Projection.
Returning to the barrier solidified from gray fog, Klein reached into the void and pulled out a small worm with twelve transparent segments. After a pause, he continued to reach out, taking out a Worm of Spirit and a Worm of Star separately.
Holding the three translucent worms from history in his palm, he took a deep breath, then pressed his hand against the gray fog barrier. While surging his spirituality, he softly chanted, "Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings..."
This time, the gray fog shook even more violently. As layers of ripples swayed, a grand, ancient, and mysterious door, seemingly large enough for a giant to pass through, slowly emerged.
It only materialized for an instant, unable to open, before this door vanished, as if the aura supporting its appearance had been exhausted.
Klein retracted his right hand from the gray fog barrier and opened his palm. The three worms he had taken from the historical void had disappeared, not because their duration was up, but because they had been consumed.
Gazing at the spot where the door had just appeared for a few seconds, Klein let out a long breath and murmured to himself, "It really does require some specific quality produced by the overlap of these three adjacent Pathways to open the barrier."
"I have a premonition that relying solely on historical projections won't truly deceive this barrier. The real key might require the appearance of a True God who has mastered these three Pathways."
"Currently, the closest Sequence 0s are Amon and Mr. Door. One always wants to catch me, and the other is still lost in endless darkness and storms."
While murmuring, he had already re-summoned Leyton's Historical Projection and described the changes that had just occurred in detail. Finally, he added, "Do you have any thoughts? Or anything you'd like to say?"
Leyton looked at Klein with some surprise and chuckled, "Me? Subjectively, of course, I hope you can unseal it as soon as possible so I can become whole again."
"But purely from my personal perspective, from Leyton's perspective, I hope this process can be delayed a little."
"Just as the True Creator and Adam both wish to re-merge with their own will as the dominant force and return to their complete selves, I also have that thought."
"This is the selfishness born of life's continuation."
Klein was silent for two seconds, then suddenly laughed, "You guys have made yourselves into such fragmented and opposing states, do you really not develop mental problems?"
Leyton shrugged. He didn't grasp Klein's humor and said in a calm tone, "At the Angel rank, regardless of their state, good or bad, everyone has more or less some mental issues. The higher one goes, the more severe it becomes."
Klein didn't reply, silently pulling a gold-cased pocket watch from his pocket, a pocket watch taken from the historical void through his clothes.
He looked down at the time, then said, "It's time to preach to the Moon City residents. Do you want to leave first?"
Leyton chuckled, "Of course I want to watch something this interesting."
The two walked side by side and soon arrived at the gathering place of the Moon City residents. They were sitting around a giant stone, encircling a bonfire.
Around the bonfire lay the corpses of monsters, one after another. These corpses were covered in various mushrooms, big and small, some pure white, some dark, and some dark red.
The air was filled with the aroma of roasting fat and the smell of cooked milk.
Leyton, quite at home, sat down cross-legged next to Nim, the Moon City High Priest. He reached for a sizzling, blood-veined mushroom that had been roasted, tore it into small strips, and put it in his mouth.
Klein was surprised by his practiced movements and asked with some curiosity, "You like these mushrooms very much?"
Leyton's action of tearing the mushroom paused. He pulled out a smile that held no humor and said, "You'll know if you go to the Southern Continent. The war is escalating, and all safe shipping lanes are cut off. Now, the food shortage in the Southern Continent is entirely filled by these mushrooms."
"Oh, and thanks to Frank's efforts, the mushrooms outside have been updated. If you peel back the mushroom cap, you can find champagne, shredded pork floss, and even cream."
Klein was momentarily speechless. A scene of a group of dark-skinned Southern Continent people celebrating with champagne from mushrooms instinctively appeared in his mind.
He quickly shook his head, clearing the image from his mind, while sighing inwardly, 'Frank, this world has finally become what you imagined.'
After a moment of silence, Klein opened his mouth, "Are there mushrooms that can survive in the darkness?"
Leyton raised an eyebrow, suppressing a smile, and said, "I can have Frank make some. He's idle anyway right now."
Klein nodded slightly, no longer continuing the topic. He turned and walked to the giant stone surrounded by the Moon City residents, sat down cross-legged, and began his sermon for the day.
In Hittron, the capital of the Northern State in the Southern Continent, within a manor filled with various herbs and strange plants.
Emlyn walked through a corridor formed by clusters of red flowers and arrived at a private garden at the back of the manor.
The vibrant red flowers bloomed in different arcs, like crimson Moons at different times, and the deep green branches resembled the night sky.
In the center of the garden was a round table carved from marble, surrounded by several stone chairs. Mistral sat leisurely on a stone chair, admiring the surrounding flowers, his crimson eyes seemingly flowing with blood.
Noticing Emlyn's approach, he slightly turned his gaze and asked in a calm tone, "What do you want from me?"
Emlyn stopped his approach, bowed slightly, and said, "Count Mistral, I want to know if our Sanguine still have any extra Beyonder characteristics of a Count. If so, how many merits do I need to exchange for one?"
"A foolish question," Mistral shook his head disdainfully. Meeting Emlyn's gaze, he sneered, "As Sanguine with long lifespans, every Beyonder characteristic will be used as much as possible to cultivate new blood, not left in a warehouse as an ornament."
"Our battles with the Primordial Moon believers are relatively restrained. Casualties are mainly concentrated in the middle and low Sequences. No Count has died in the war yet. Even if one had, it wouldn't be your turn to inherit the legacy."
Emlyn's expression wasn't very good after being told off. After two seconds of silence, he seemed to suddenly think of something and raised his chin, saying, "It's alright, I'm still young, and I have a long time to wait. Even if it's difficult, it's still easier than waiting for a Marquis's Beyonder characteristic."
Mistral snorted and didn't reply.
Emlyn calmed his emotions, then asked thoughtfully, "If I can find a Beyonder characteristic corresponding to a Count myself, will the clan help me prepare the ritual?"
"Of course, we are happy to see the growth of every young Sanguine," Mistral nodded without hesitation.
Having received the answer he wanted, Emlyn didn't linger and turned to leave the garden, returning to the interior of the manor.
Back in his own room, Emlyn leaned by the window, gazing at the Crimson Moon hanging in the sky, pondering where he could obtain a Beyonder characteristic corresponding to a Sanguine Count.
I remember Chariot said that Cosma, the 'Dark Saint' of the New Church, grazed a Shaman King. If I could hunt him down like I hunted the Saint of Secrets last time... This is almost impossible. After the last incident, their precautions in this regard will definitely be strengthened, and besides, I can't invite an Angel like Mr. Death.