When the plot-skips players into the game world-Chapter 1023 - 365 Triumphal Chariot of Antimony_2
Chapter 1023: Chapter 365 Triumphal Chariot of Antimony_2
“Of course, I gave it to him! It was just a little money, nothing as interesting as this situation!”
Pengbonazi laughed out loud without restraint. His laughter was hard to gauge—how much was genuine and how much was an exaggerated performance.
It was like a child telling a joke and then trying hard to laugh at it themselves.
In a sense… Pengbonazi, a natural-born Son of the Moon with everlasting red eyes, had never truly experienced the rites of passage into adulthood.
The transformation into adulthood for the Son of the Moon occurs when they realize they are no longer their past selves. That instant when the emotions and desires suppressed by morality suddenly burst forth… the ‘beast’ overcomes ‘love’, and the Son of the Moon is completely transformed into a bloodthirsty wild beast.
——So-called adulthood is about shedding one’s naive past self.
For Pengbonazi, he “matured” too early and “came of age” too late—since the beginning of his memory, he was doing things that only adults do; in his teenage years, he suddenly inherited part of his family’s persona and memories.
Perhaps even now, he has not truly matured.
Because he never had any naivety to shed in the first place.
Seeing that “Baroness Beyard” didn’t laugh, Pengbonazi’s laughter gradually subsided.
He fell silent for a while, and once his mood settled, he continued speaking: “I was very curious at the time what he was researching… to be working so desperately. Do you know what he said?”
“——He said, I’m studying the Son of the Moon. But I can’t find any Sons of the Moon to research, so I have to buy their ashes at a high price.”
This time, even Aleister struggled to keep a straight face.
…Is Bashir this amazing? The person in front of you is the Son of the Moon!
At this point, Pengbonazi laughed again: “Because back then, the Sons of the Moon hadn’t fully taken over the upper echelons of the empire.
“At that time, some ‘Vampire Hunters’ harbored hatred towards us. To deceive other nobles into targeting us, they joined forces with the Physician’s Association to spread a rumor—claiming that the ashes of the Son of the Moon could strengthen virility.
“…I have to say, this widely spread rumor greatly hindered our infiltration. Many nobles paid a high price to hire ‘Vampire Hunters’ to kill the Sons of the Moon. Although the black market was mixed with many fakes, occasionally genuine ones existed. At the same time, some nobles attempted to domesticate the Sons of the Moon.
“Most of the time, the Sons of the Moon are young and beautiful, immortal, and have very strong desires. Because the Sons of the Moon cannot cross freely running water, once the Son of the Moon is imprisoned underground and surrounded by subterranean rivers, it forms a one-directional existence, unable to escape its cage.
“So there were also some nobles who would pay a high price for ‘complete young female Son of Moon ashes’ and then sprinkle blood on them to resurrect; others were eager for immortality… Although people warned that the resurrection of the Son of the Moon wasn’t what they wanted, it didn’t stop some from wanting to imprison the Son of the Moon to extract the secret of transformation, or use contracts to bind them into becoming their personal enforcers—this is also why I particularly wanted to smash my family members’ ashes.”
“It is also for this reason, those Sons of the Moon who come from ‘higher births’ fare better, whereas those of lower birth are often mercilessly hunted by hunters. Even so, the price of Sons of the Moon ashes on the black market was so high… high to the extent that Bashir could not possibly afford it with his lifetime earnings.”
“So you gave him the money?”
Aleister asked.
“No,” Pengbonazi shrugged, “Although I don’t care about money, such a level of wastage is still unnecessary.”
“…Wastage?”
“Yep, I gave him all of my family’s ashes.”
Pengbonazi laughed heartily: “His ‘dispelling enchantment’ will completely dissolve any possibility of their resurrection—I wouldn’t have needed to use that method to merge if I had known this earlier.”
“Perhaps it’s because I often sighed and said ‘Why didn’t I meet you earlier,’ that child likely regarded me as a confidant or a dear friend.”
But clearly, even until that moment… Pengbonazi did not see Bashir as an equal to converse with. It was only the emotionally unintelligent Bashir who believed that “the two were already friends.”
“—Until he offered his research to me.”
Pengbonazi spoke softly: “Only then did I marvel at his talent—he managed to decipher The Law of the Perfect Being through the purification of the ashes of the Son of the Moon.”
“… ‘Triumphal Chariot of Antimony’?”
Aleister knew what the “research” he mentioned was.
The ‘Triumphal Chariot of Antimony’ written by Valentine I tells of the transcendent alchemy that elevates animalistic nature to divinity.
If this alchemy could be completely accomplished… it would mean that he had created a “capacity to stabilize into a Celestial Marshal.” In a Xianxia novel, it would be a cultivation technique usable from Qi Cultivation to ascension.
But clearly… perhaps because the materials consumed by Bashir in his research included the Son of the Moon, Pengbonazi believed that this book spoke of the path to becoming a “Perfect Being.”
“Let a ferocious grey wolf consume the body of a king, then burn it to ashes in a great fire. Do this three times, and the lion shall overcome the wolf, with nothing left inside it that could be devoured.”
“Thus the lion purifies itself with the blood of the wolf, and the color of its blood wondrously matches the color of the lion; after the lion’s hunger is appeased, its spirit becomes stronger than before, and its eyes sparkle like The Sun…”
Pengbonazi recited from ‘Triumphal Chariot of Antimony’ without hesitation: “The lion is the ‘soul of gold,’ and the color of the moon is gold. This statement ostensibly describes a method of purifying gold, but in fact, it narrates the predation and ascension of the Son of the Moon.”
“As both are transcendent beasts, the more powerful lion is the Son of the Moon. And the grey wolf is the Mortal, also symbolizing the Alchemist—the Mortal draws divine power from the Dream Realm, and burns himself to ash in the ascension ritual. After three repetitions, one ascends to the Fourth Level… and thus the body is purified.”
“Tasting the blood of gold, the lion’s hunger will be calmed. The Lifedrain of the Son of the Moon can usually only quench thirst, only the blood above the Fourth Level possesses the sacred efficacy capable of bringing complete tranquility to the Son of the Moon…”
…So that’s how it is.
Aleister finally understands why both Isabel’s and Aiwass’s blood could bring him peace, while Selene’s blood made him more excited, agitated…
For a moment, even Aleister himself had some doubts—could it be that he had misunderstood?
Did ‘Triumphal Chariot of Antimony’ truly subtly discuss The Art of the Perfect Being?
“And at the same time… he also prepared the path of ascension for himself. ‘The King journeys across the six regions of the sky, and in the seventh region, he settles his abode. There, the Royal Palace is adorned with golden tapestries. If you understand my meaning, this key will unlock the first lock and open the first bolt’… This is the first of The Twelve Keys that Bashir proposed in the book, and upon completing it, becoming an alchemist, one becomes a Stibium Alchemist.”
“‘The Aurum-Stone Knight’ will transform his spirit seven times. The first six levels already reach the limits of the world, while the seventh level undoubtedly touches the Divine Realm.”
“This book records both his ascension art and mine. In the mortal world, he was the King, I the wise advisor… and once we ascend to the Dream Realm, I will be the immortal king, and he will be my Aurum-Stone Knight.”
Pengbonazi softly said: “From that moment on, I considered him my true friend.”
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“Closer than my family… my only friend, my fellow traveler.”
