Chapter 121: The Manuscript of a Saint-Level Powerhouse

"Lord Zoll will examine the two of you, and later there will be a truth interrogation. Both of you must cooperate fully and offer no resistance."

Batal said sternly.

These two young transcendents had sensed something amiss as soon as they landed.

They recognized Zoll Elament, who had brought them in.

The other five transcendent masters standing around in various states of alert were strangers to them, but the atmosphere was oppressively tense, and they could feel it.

When they saw the pile of rubble not far away and realized that the young man with short black hair was "Guné Lawrence," they had already guessed a little.

The commotion just now was likely nothing good.

"Yes!" The two could only nod in response.

Stepping forward, Zoll lightly waved his staff, and a luster emerged from its tip, enveloping the two like twilight.

After a moment, Zoll gently pulled the staff.

Instantly, a black shadow was drawn out from the female transcendent's body.

Seeing the black shadow,

Batal's face immediately darkened.

"Gwen, what is this?"

Even Gwen, who didn't fully understand the situation, realized that she was inextricably involved.

Not fully aware of the circumstances, Gwen made little excuse and immediately said, "Instructor Batal, I followed you here this time solely for the inheritance of the magic runes. I had no part in any assassination or sabotage plans. I am willing to undergo a truth check."

"I am also willing to undergo a truth check." Fabien, knowing he couldn't escape the examination, spoke up bluntly.

Seeing this, Batal turned to Zoll and said, "Lord Zoll, please lead the three of us to the Gate of Truth for examination."

Zoll's gaze swept over the three, and he nodded. "I naturally trust Lord Batal, but since such an incident has occurred, the proper procedures must still be followed."

"Hmm, I understand." Batal replied solemnly.

Given what had happened, it was clear that Guné deserved an explanation.

Guné stood by, quietly watching the three.

From their attitudes, Guné vaguely sensed that the three were most likely innocent.

After all, the shadow could attach itself to anyone.

Once dead, it would incur no cost.

But if these three brought the shadow in and it was exposed, they would suffer the consequences.

Most likely, the three had been tracked by the scheming experts, and the shadow had hidden itself inside the woman's body.

That was how this assassination came about.

"Bern Warwick." Guné silently savored the name.

"I'll remember you."

...

An hour later.

In a side hall of the vast and majestic palace complex, at a stone table and chairs area.

Guné, Zoll Elament, and Batal sat around the stone table.

The truth examination had concluded.

The result was clear: none of the three harbored any unusual intentions.

They had no knowledge of the shadow's existence.

Clearly, they too had been targeted and were victims.

Fortunately, this minor mishap had not caused significant damage.

"Lord Guné, I apologize for this." Batal said apologetically. "Our fault caused an interruption in your cultivation."

"It's nothing; the impact on me is minimal." Guné waved his hand dismissively.

Since the other party had no intention of harming him, Guné wouldn't deliberately make enemies.

"Even so, it was indeed our fault that disturbed Lord Guné."

Batal now maintained a low posture, treating Guné as an equal.

After all, with Guné's talent, he would at least become a transcendent master, perhaps even higher, which warranted Batal's respect.

"Lord Guné is now at the fifth tier, I presume?" Batal asked with a light smile.

"Mm." Guné nodded.

During the image playback earlier, Guné's aura had manifested as fifth-tier.

"As a token of apology, please accept this, Lord Guné."

With that, Batal placed a black stone slab about the size of a palm on the stone table before Guné.

"This is a manuscript of notes I obtained from a special void small world, containing techniques and methods for using runic essence."

"The senior who left these essence notes was a 'Saint'-level powerhouse. If I'm not mistaken, that senior has likely become a god."

"Saint ascending to godhood!"

Zoll, beside him, was visibly moved.

A divine envoy follows the path of divine power, essentially ascending through faith.

The ancient sages who established religions on the Oya Continent took this route.

This is the most common method of achieving godhood in many transcendent worlds.

But this path, while enjoying the benefits of faith, also becomes constrained by it.

Ancestral spirit ascension to godhood.

Slightly similar to the divine envoy path, it follows an internal faith development route.

It is far more difficult than the 'divine envoy path,' but once successful, it is not limited by faith power.

Rumor has it that the most difficult path, the Saint path, does not rely on faith.

How one becomes a god through this path is not recorded on the Oya Continent.

But although the Saint path starts weaker, as one cultivates further,

after advancing to demigod,

one becomes far more powerful than divine envoys and ancestral spirits, with greater potential.

Upon true godhood, a Saint can easily slay gods of the other two paths.

However, Saints ascending to godhood are extremely rare.

The manuscript left by this Saint-turned-god is of immeasurable value.

"These are his random notes, though messy and unsystematic, they offer astonishing insights into the use of essence, truly remarkable."

"Additionally, I have included many techniques I compiled myself on the basics of using runic essence. Along with the senior's notes, I present them all to you, Lord Guné."

"For now, they can help you master various dark essence techniques, even integrate dark essence into spells, making them more effective."

"In the future, if you obtain a true spell essence codex, these notes and techniques will help you grasp it more quickly."

As his gaze fell on the black stone slab, Guné remained calm on the surface but felt a surge of joy inside.

At present, Guné's depth of runic essence was certainly not lacking.

Otherwise, he could not have perfectly integrated into the Dark Descent cast by the shadow of the transcendent master.

What Guné lacked were techniques for using runic essence.

In fact, Guné had already figured out some basic techniques on his own.

For instance, using dark essence to perfectly blend into darkness.

Or using world essence to easily aim at enemies.

Or infusing world essence into puppet threads to make them tougher.

These were simple enhancement methods, nothing profound.

Now, the techniques for using runic essence in this black slab were clearly not just superficial applications.

Since they had been passed down, they must have been tested by countless people and greatly aided in the use of essence.

And the insights on runic essence from the Saint who had become a god were invaluable.

Overall, the content of this slab would be immensely helpful to Guné.

How helpful would depend on the specific content and how much Guné could comprehend.

Clearly, this powerhouse from a foreign starry sky was deliberately befriending Guné by offering such an important item.

"These runic essence techniques are indeed of great help to me. Guné thanks you, Senior Batal."

With thanks, Guné accepted the black stone slab.

Zoll Elament couldn't help but feel envious; these essence techniques and the Saint's manuscript were of great value even to transcendent masters like themselves.

Seeing this, Batal smiled lightly.

"For Lord Guné to have such a deep understanding of runic essence at the fifth tier of transcendence,"

"is quite rare even in large transcendent worlds. After all, most transcendent masters only begin to comprehend runic essence after crossing into the master level."

"If you can obtain a true spell essence codex in the future, your strength will surely skyrocket."

Guné shook his head at this.

"Such powerful codices as spell essence codices do not exist in our transcendent world."

Guné's words were indeed true.

The Oya Continent truly lacked such powerful 'essence codices.'

Even the many spells were either self-created over tens of thousands of years or introduced from outside.

Even self-created ones were mostly limited to the secret mark level.

No one in the entire history of the Oya Continent seemed to have created a powerful forbidden-level spell.

Creating a single spell was already so difficult.

A complete set of spell codices, a higher-level leap, was even more unimaginable.

"Actually..." Batal pondered for a moment and spoke softly.

"It's not impossible. Perhaps this time, Lord Guné will face a practitioner of a powerful essence codex."

These words made Guné look at Batal with caution.