Chapter 1168
[The 6th Perfect Embryo: Magus]
Chapter 1168 [The Sixth Perfect Embryo: Magus]
“Magnus…”
Xia Xiu murmured the name. He did not make a judgment immediately, but lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment before looking up at Fenrir on the other side of the light screen.
"You shall continue to lie in wait in the Garden of Joseph."
"Maintain the existing arrangements, do not actively contact the high-ranking deities of the Golden Palace, and do not expand the scope of activities."
“Remember, you only need to maintain a minimal psychic connection with him to confirm his status and location. The rest—leave it to me.”
Fenrir nodded, his expression solemn.
"Understood, Father."
The screen flickered slightly, and then the communication was cut off.
The bridge was restored to its original low-key lighting and engine sounds.
Xia Xiu stood still for a moment, then raised his hand and issued an access control command on the main control panel.
"Eden, adjust the flight path."
"Target - the Garden of Joseph, the seventeenth outer plane."
After a brief pause, the system response appeared on the light screen in the center of the bridge.
[Route restructuring in progress...]
[Target plane coordinates locked: Joseph's Garden, top-floor core area.]
[The etheric portal has been activated, and the Sword-class Garden Frigate has entered a high-priority warp sequence.]
[Estimated arrival time: Within three dimensional beats.]
The ship trembled slightly, and then all sounds were stretched, compressed, and folded, as if an invisible hand had lifted a corner of reality.
The starry sky outside the window quickly faded, transforming into flowing bands of light and overlapping geometric lines. The ships rewrote their course in the ether and sped toward a new battlefield.
The old father has once again embarked on a journey to find the Calabash Brothers, but he is quite curious about what abilities the Calabash Brothers will have this time.
……
……
The Garden of Joseph, the seventeenth outer plane.
Ida Plain.
At the heart of the top level of the Garden of Joseph, also known as the Sky Garden, beyond the free city of Shimmenberg, stretches a vast wilderness. That wilderness, known as the Plain of Ida, is dusty and flag-waving during the day, almost never truly quiet.
There is no true peace here.
Courage and combat skills were considered the highest values, and victory and glory were more important than food and shelter.
Day after day, celebrations and battles alternated, sworn enemies clashed fiercely, spears and battle axes crossed in the sunlight, blood splattered on the grass and soil, only to be drowned out by cheers and horns.
As night fell, the traces of the battlefield had not yet completely disappeared, but the victors and vanquished had already flocked into the tavern in Ximingborg, laughing and talking loudly amidst the lights and wine glasses, as if the daytime battle was nothing more than a grand game.
The fighters on the Plain of Ida are mostly mercenary groups that travel throughout the Garden of Joseph.
Because this place is protected by the dimensional rules of the [Golden Palace Miracle: Complete Resurrection (also known as: Odin's Heroes)], death is not the end here.
Those who fall can be reborn the next morning, so the battle becomes a trial with almost no risk.
Almost risk-free—but not without cost.
The victors often plunder their opponents' equipment and possessions after they fall. If the losers do not die on the spot, they may be turned into stone statues, imprisoned in the gods' collection rooms, or directly banished from the plane, thus losing the right to be resurrected.
Between large-scale battles that took place every three days, the plains were filled with various combat skills competitions.
Fencing duels, spear duels on unusual mounts, wrestling matches, archery competitions, and even tug-of-war and strength contests, all with generous prizes and huge crowds.
Tourists from other dimensions also gather here, lingering among the vendors and performances.
The Golden Palace hangs high above the sea of clouds, where gods lean between the halls where radiance and power intertwine, overlooking the battles and celebrations on the Ida Plain.
When spears break, they smile; when swords clash, they nod; when warriors exchange glory for blood and wine, they admire their skill and courage.
However, in the intervals between those cheers, the plundered armor, the imprisoned souls, and the fates of mortals banished from the plane were merely details casually erased, like shadows at the edge of a stage, never truly entering the sight of the gods.
Beneath this plain, shrouded in layers of glory and revelry, the life and death of mortals are merely the backdrop adorning the grand celebration.
On an inconspicuous hill at the edge of the battlefield, the red-haired, one-eyed Magus stood quietly, coldly observing everything.
Magus despised these self-important, aloof gods.
As the sixth perfect embryo, Magus is different from his other brothers. He grows up alone on the edge of the storm, learning to breathe and remain silent in the rift where reality and ether overlap.
Yes, Magus is a person.
He was born with knowledge.
He did not study languages, yet languages spontaneously arranged themselves into a clear structure in his mind; he did not practice etheric rituals, yet ether spontaneously gathered into flowing circuits around him.
To him, the Ether Ocean was not a chaotic storm, but an unfolded map, with clear textures and distinct layers, like a marked star map.
He could see the fluid structure of ether, the convergence of faith into nodes in the hearts of all beings, and the anchor points and hidden lines left by deities on the planes. Those divine qualities that were untouchable in the eyes of mortals were, to him, nothing more than a kind of analyzable configuration.
Legend has it that Odin, the ruler of the Golden Palace, once traded one of his eyes for insight into the Well of Wisdom.
Magus followed a similar path, sacrificing his right eye to the ether.
Amidst the intertwining of blood and light in the storm, he cast that eye into the depths of the ether, exchanging it for his own supreme incarnation—[Enki].
Since then, he has lost sight in his right eye.
However, on very rare occasions, the blind eye would glow faintly in the darkness.
That's not visual.
That is the ability to see through the logic of the ether.
When the etheric tide rises to its highest point, and the storm lifts the surface of reality, he can see the structural layers above the planes, and how those things that mortals call fate are woven and manipulated.
He saw the hidden nodes that the courtyard had laid out across the myriad realms, echoing each other like stars; he saw the intertwined chains of authority between pantheons of faith, restraining and trading with one another; he saw the silent agreements reached by the gods behind the altars and in the midst of war.
Even at a deeper level, Magus vaguely touches upon a source of some higher dimension, a fundamental thread that transcends a single pantheon.
He saw four vast and boundless beings.
The first one, composed entirely of burning crimson flames and a torrent of steel, stands atop countless battlefields, blades and banners swirling at his feet. Blood gathers behind him, but it is no longer merely a symbol of slaughter; it is proof of courage.
His will roared like thunder, coalescing into a noble yet cruel virtue amidst the cries of millions of warriors.
That was not mere destruction; it was the god of courage and war.
The second one unfolds simultaneously like an endless, bountiful garden and a decaying cycle.
Life and death cycle within Him, withering and rebirth are interdependent.
His laughter is gentle and soothing; all suffering is merely the price of growth. He is not the source of decay, but the guardian of renewal.
That is—the Lord of Reincarnation.
The third is like an ocean woven from the dazzling aurora borealis and countless desires.
Senses, art, ecstasy, and indulgence are transformed into an extreme and exquisite experience in His breath.
He does not represent depravity, but rather the pursuit of the ultimate, an amplification and embellishment of existence itself.
That was—a king of bliss and aesthetics.
The fourth one... His form is the most difficult to define.
Countless rays of light and symbols constantly recombine around Him, time bends between His fingers, and the future and the past overlap to form a multi-layered narrative structure.
His smile was not mockery, but an appreciation of possibility.
His existence is like the compiler of the Etheric Ocean itself, forever rewriting, reconstructing, and generating new paths.
He is the symbol of endless wisdom.
When Magus sacrificed his right eye, he had a brief encounter with this god of wisdom, who told him that His name was—[Sinliezhi].
He still remembered their first encounter, when the deity said to him, “You see too far, son of the red hair.”
Young Magus did not bow his head, nor did he show any awe towards the ether. For him, who was born with knowledge, the ether was a treasure trove filled with knowledge, and knowledge does not require fear, but only exploration.
“I’m just following the structure,” Magus said.
"structure?"
Xin Liezhi's smile spread through time and space, full of joy and interest.
"Structure is merely the path that has already occurred; what's truly interesting is what hasn't happened yet."
Magus paused for a moment, then replied, "Is the essence of ether chaos?"
“The essence of ether is possibility,” [Xin Liezhi] replied. “Chaos is simply unexplained order.”
Magus: "And what about order?"
Xin Liezhi:
"Order is a fixed possibility, so it needs chaos to assist it; and you, son of the red hair, are the son of order."
A brief silence.
Magus continued to ask:
"How can I locate another being of the same origin as me within the ether?"
Xin Liezhi did not answer immediately.
Around Him, countless branches of the future bloom and wither like flowers.
“You perfect embryos always like to seek each other out, or rather, the children of order will instinctively gravitate towards the source of order.”
He spoke gently, even with a hint of appreciation, “Bloodline is not the key; resonance is.”
Magus asked in confusion, "Resonance?"
Xin Liezhi replied, "
“In the ocean of ether, there is no real distance, only frequency. What you need to do is not search, but tune.”
【Xin Liezhi】extends a "hand" made of light and symbols, projecting a complex structural model into Magus's consciousness.
"Let your consciousness be a resonator, don't send out signals—let the signals echo within your body."
"When another being of the same origin as you hears that echo, he will mistake it for his own voice."
Magus understood.
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked.
Xin Liezhi's voice became low and slow.
"Because change requires variables, and you—are an interesting variable."
The voice vibrated slightly within the etheric structure, then added a sentence, its tone revealing undisguised interest.
"You were actually able to block the Black Mark's senses, which was unexpected... It seems you inherited your father's wicked ability to play hide-and-seek."
"However, I believe you will soon be reunited with your father."
Magus showed no emotion when asked about the word "father".
He wasn't surprised.
He sacrificed his right eye in order to find the source and to confirm where he came from.
If a lineage exists, it must have a starting point.
If a bloodline exists, then there must be a core.
He had already deduced the end of that path.
Xin Liezhi's voice rang out again, this time with a more meaningful tone.
"However, there's one thing you need to be aware of—"
"The way your father sees us is not the same as the way you see us."
Magus remained silent for a moment.
His right eye was empty and lifeless, while his left eye was as calm as a mirror.
Are you my father's enemies?
[Xin Liezhi] did not give a direct answer; he simply asked in a soft voice:
"What difference does it make whether it is or isn't?"
The ocean of ether rippled slightly at that moment.
Magus's voice was calm.
“If you are, then you are my enemies as well.”
Xin Liezhi did not refute.
There was no explanation.
He simply let out a low chuckle, almost one of appreciation.
"Keep your ever-curious mind."
"In the future war of the Apocalypse, your father will need an assistant like you."
This was the first and only direct conversation between Magus and Xin Liezhi.
Subsequently, using that method of tuning structure, he generated an invisible resonance in the ether and eventually made contact with Fenrir.
At that moment, his right eye began to burn again.
He knew that the Source had descended and his father had come to the Garden of Joseph.
……
……
The Sword-class Garden Destroyer silently passed through the crystal wall of Joseph's Garden.
The crystal wall, like a semi-transparent starlight barrier, rippled slightly in front of the bow before being silently sliced open by the hull.
The etheric flow flickered in the outer layer, precisely avoiding the dimensional structures without triggering any large-scale fluctuations.
This was Xia Xiu's second time entering the Garden of Joseph.
Last time, he was a selfless person.
And now, he is a [venerable one].
As the ship steadily entered the inner structure of the plane, Xia Xiu raised his hand.
【Black Seal - Activation】
The perception of the [Black Seal] spread in all directions, penetrating faith nodes, bypassing the high-level protection of the Golden Palace, and establishing a dual positioning between the etheric layer and the reality layer.
The first resonance naturally came from the second brother, Fenrir.
The second resonance was not as sharp and outward as Fenrir's, but rather like a quiet anchor buried at the bottom of a storm. The surrounding ether exhibited an unusually orderly flow, and the ether of the entire area was rearranging itself around that being.
Just as the [Black Seal] locked onto the coordinates, Xia Xiu's great spirituality captured an extremely subtle "signature".
“Xin Liezhi…”
The old father sensed the most annoying troublemaker's presence on his own Calabash Brothers.
Just as Xia Xiu sensed Magus, the other party actually climbed back up along the scanning trajectory of the [Black Mark], as if tracing back to the source along a newly illuminated vein.
To use a mundane analogy, it's like making a phone call in the ocean of ether.
“This child’s talent in the ether is even more astonishing than Lupercal’s… because he has been in contact with the Four Princes…” he thought to himself.
At the same time, he began to use his great spirituality to help the other person complete the final harmonization.
Then, a slightly restrained yet undeniably fluctuating signal of consciousness rang out.
"Father……"