Turn Around

Chen Miemie couldn't find his teacher, Dawn, in the usual spots outside the entrance to the Recursive Corridor.

He searched all around the area, even almost walking into the Recursive Corridor, but still couldn't find her.

He sent messages to Dawn, but no one replied.

Finally, he contacted his teacher's wife, Cassan, and learned that Dawn was severely injured and recuperating at home in the city.

He immediately rushed to Dawn's house.

The Silver Moon Court was highly efficient; the pass for the sedan chair had already been issued, so he could now enter and exit directly through the city gates.

Half an hour later.

Standing at the door of Dawn's house, Chen Miemie took out an onion and rubbed it near his eyes. Instantly, the sting made the corners of his eyes turn red and moist.

Then he tossed the onion aside and started knocking on the door.

Cassan opened the door. Before even stepping inside, Chen Miemie slipped into the persona of an award-winning actor, crying out loudly,

"Oh, Teacher! My dear Teacher, what happened to you? Hearing that you were injured breaks my heart so much I can't breathe!"

Inside the bedroom.

Dawn was half-lying on the bed, her body wrapped in bandages that faintly seeped the color of blood.

"What are you yelling about? I'm not dead yet."

Chen Miemie walked up to the bed and dropped his exaggerated facial expression.

Dawn's eyes were currently completely bandaged up, unable to see outside. Chen Miemie realized the performance in his eyes had been a waste of effort.

"What happened?"

Cassan followed him in and explained the cause and effect of the situation on Dawn's behalf.

"Her? Yesterday during the Day Without Sun she was still wandering around the wilderness. Well, look at her now, she met a tough opponent. She's lucky to have escaped with her life this time."

The cowlick on top of Chen Miemie's head perked up, forming the shape of a question mark.

"Teacher is that fierce? Spending the Day Without Sun outside?"

"Pretty much. Relying on her ability to fly, the vast majority of Aberrations can't touch her, so she has always done whatever she wants.

But if you walk by the river often enough, your shoes will eventually get wet. Yesterday, she encountered an Aberration that also wielded the power of wind."

"Wielding the power of wind? Hmm, did Teacher think that Aberration might drop a specific breakthrough material and just charge right at it?"

"Heh." Cassan sneered. "She certainly has the guts for that, but going one-on-one without any intel on the opponent is just a death wish. No, she tried to run but couldn't get away. She was chased around the entirety of Sixiang City three times."

"Enough, Cassan," Dawn interrupted Cassan's resentful complaints.

"Encountering an Aberration that can also fly and excels at speed is an extremely low-probability event. However, since I didn't die this time, I managed to gather some information about it. I'll get my revenge later. But what about you, Chen Miemie? How is the development of your abilities coming along?"

"I've gained some insights. But Teacher, since you can't see right now, you should focus on recovering first. I'll give you a detailed report later."

"Mm, that works."

"Teacher, what did the Aberration that hurt you look like? If I run into it, I'll avenge you."

Cassan rolled her charming fox-like eyes at Chen Miemie. "What, your teacher couldn't even beat it, and you want to go throw your life away?"

Chen Miemie immediately put his newly acquired insights to use.

"Why not? Abilities are all about mutual counters. Maybe I perfectly counter it."

"Alright, tell me what ability you have that counters Aberrations."

"Aberrations can't kill me, so I'll just slowly wear it down. Eventually, I'll find a chance to kill it!"

Only then did Cassan remember that the guy in front of her was an absolute beast. Leaving aside the fact that he was still a novice in Mystery, his Immortality was simply heaven-defying. He was an existence that couldn't be killed even if all known methods were used on him.

"Forget it, I'll tell you so you know to run away quickly if you encounter it. It's a red goat that seems to tread on pockets of wind under its four hooves. It has no eyeballs and no vision."

"How did it find Teacher if it doesn't have vision?"

"It can manipulate the wind within a certain range and has excellent hearing. It probably captures information from the outside world by sensing fluctuations in the wind."

"Oh, I see. How long will it take for Teacher's injuries to heal?"

"Sigh, the physical wounds on her body are easy to deal with, but Dawn was hit by that goat's ability. Her eyes are gone."

"What!" Chen Miemie exclaimed. "It's that serious?"

"Yes. That goat doesn't have eyes itself, and it can also cause anyone who sees it to lose their eyes."

"Is there any way to fix it? Like looking for healing-type Mysteries?"

"We've looked, but it's useless. This is a disappearance directly caused by an Aberration's power. Strictly speaking, it's not even an injury; rather, she was inflicted with an Eyeless status."

"Is there absolutely no way at all?"

"I don't know if that goat itself can dispel this status. Other than that, there is a universal method for removing negative statuses."

Have that goat dispel the status? Chen Miemie immediately ruled out that possibility.

Having lived day and night with five Aberrations at home, he could be considered an expert on Aberrations.

Even if negative statuses caused by Aberrations could be reversed, there was a time limit.

For example, when Qinghua turned living creatures into porcelain, she could undo it, but if the porcelainification lasted for more than 15 minutes, it became irreversible and could never be restored.

"What universal method?"

"Mystery advancement. When breaking through to a new stage of Mystery, it can wipe away the vast majority of negative statuses."

"Teacher is already at Mystery 5. Wouldn't advancing again mean reaching Mystery 6?"

"Sigh, yes. Currently, in the entirety of Sixiang City, among all known people, there hasn't been a single successful example of a breakthrough."

"What's the difficulty? The compatibility of the breakthrough materials?"

"Material compatibility is definitely part of it, but that only accounts for half. The other half of the difficulty in going from Mystery 5 to 6 lies in the fact that you need to receive a Blessing during the breakthrough."

Great, more new knowledge.

Chen Miemie revealed a look of eager curiosity in his eyes.

"The Golden Sun's favor towards humanity is a type of collective Blessing. In this world, there are only five entities qualified to bestow a Blessing: the Twin Suns and the Three Moons."

"Huh?! The suns and moons can give Blessings! Are there conscious entities behind the two suns?" Chen Miemie almost jumped up.

"What conscious entities? You mean deities, right?

We don't know that. No one can say for sure whether the deities of the Twin Suns and Three Moons truly exist.

Currently, most people actually believe that the suns and moons lack consciousness, and that it might just be our anthropomorphization of great existences."

Obviously, the hidden secrets within this were beyond what Cassan could understand. Chen Miemie steered the topic back.

"Then what's the deal with Blessings?"

"Actually, starting from Mystery 5, a person is no longer purely human and begins to undergo all sorts of mutations. Advancing to Mystery 6 means an even greater degree of mutation. Simply put, it means completely ceasing to be human.

Of the people who fail to advance to Mystery 6, more than half commit suicide the moment they realize they've failed, while they still hold onto their original sanity.

Those who don't commit suicide make up a portion of the mist Aberrations today."

"So you're saying that some humanoid Aberrations are the products of high-level Mystery users failing their advancement?"

"Yes. The five supreme beings can bestow a [Blessing] when a [Mystery] ascension threatens to mutate a person. This ensures that while acquiring power, their mind remains untainted by the mutation, allowing them to master the [Mystery] instead of being consumed by it.

The problem is, there is no pattern to these [Blessings]. Whether one is granted depends entirely on... luck."

"Purely on luck?"

"They say faith provides a bonus. For example, our society worships the Frost Moon. In our society's history, whenever a [Mystery] Rank 6 emerged, the [Blessing] that appeared during their breakthrough always belonged to the Frost Moon."

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chen Miemie decided to ask about everything he could.

"Is there a difference between ascenders who receive a [Blessing] from the Twin Suns versus the Three Moons?"

"Your question touches upon matters of a higher circle. I can't say for sure, but I've heard rumors that there is. Some people have even received multiple [Blessings] at the same time."

"If they receive multiple, can they still only choose one?"

"Right, they can only choose one."

Chen Miemie walked out of Dawn's house.

His heart was far from calm.

The high-tier [Mystery] ascenders of this world were like contestants who had trained bitterly offstage for ten years. After surviving countless rounds of selection and making flawless preparations, they finally stepped onto the stage to showcase their talents.

Meanwhile, at the judges' table, five judges sat with their backs turned to them.

If a contestant wanted to reach the pinnacle of glory, there was only one possibility—

To seize that fleeting moment on stage and give it everything they had.

To make at least one of those judges willing to turn around for them.