When the plot-skips players into the game world

The Silver-Crowned Dragon, although being a Pillar God of the Path of Authority, also possesses a portion of the powers and characteristics of the Path of Transcendence.

Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that in the ancient times when there were no occupational legacies, it was perfectly reasonable for any Transcendent to hold powers from multiple Paths.

The nine Paths represent nine attitudes towards life, nine worldviews, nine personalities, nine tendencies.

No single Path is absolutely correct, and it is rare for anyone to walk solely on one Path without deviation.

The profession system, which emerged less than two thousand years ago, brought Transcendents a more stable legacy and a pathway to advancement, but it also made people subconsciously follow the Paths and gradually purify their personalities.

However, advancing along one Path does not mean that one must abandon the characteristics of other Paths. Conversely, if a person does not align with other Paths, it does not mean they will necessarily make great progress on this one.

The ultimate goal of "pure thought" is actually due to a lack of talent, which is why more energy is focused on one Path to move faster and farther.

Once it became clear that this path led to quicker advancement, it forced others to also purify their Path, or else it would be difficult to go far while still young—after all, the Path level in one's youth directly determines one's profession, income, and subsequent life. Everyone wants to live better and will spare no effort to change themselves.

Following the utilitarian view of Path advancement, the average age of Transcendents at every energy level has been decreasing year by year. However, the number of those who reach beyond the fourth energy level remains about the same. The higher one goes, the greater the difficulty becomes.

In less extreme cases, every Transcendent should have a multi-Path adaptability—that is, not to adapt oneself to the Path, but to gain all the powers of the Path that suit one. Hence, they should possess low-level abilities of many Paths, but typically have few, if any, Paths advanced to a high level... That is what natural talent looks like.

Hayna, a modern Transcendent, however, couldn't grasp this ancient conception of transcendence.

Hayna was even so shocked she couldn't speak coherently, "The Silver-Crowned Dragon, the Crowned Ruler... is also a Transcender?"

"Can mortals... possibly become Pillar Gods?"

"Not a Transcender, but possessing characteristics of the Path of Transcendence," Aiwass corrected calmly, "And becoming a Pillar God really isn't an insurmountable barrier. As is widely known, mortals can become Celestial Marshals, and as long as one is a Celestial Marshal, in theory, it is possible to become a Pillar God. The reason they haven't become Pillar Gods is simply because they are not strong enough, nor have they traveled far enough on any of the nine Paths.

"We've been taught many times in school that the Nine Pillar Gods are not the controllers of the Paths, they are merely the pioneers of the Paths... but apparently, senior sister, you do not understand the true meaning of this statement. In the end, it is simply that there are nine ownerless and mighty forces in this world, and nine corresponding supreme positions... This knowledge is taught in our textbooks at Theological Seminary.

"The Nine Pillar Gods are so named because they currently have traveled the farthest on their respective Paths, and therefore the Paths are named in their direction, and everyone else must follow their principles.

"But if another Celestial Marshal surpasses a Pillar God, the Path will change hands and be renamed. No need to slay the Pillar God—I believe there have been three changes in leadership of Pillar Gods since the advent of written history, namely [Cicada Slough], [Forbidden Fruit], and [Sovereignty]. What humanity has experienced, recorded in human history, is only the third event from five hundred years ago. The first two were witnessed by dragons and elves respectively."

"...Aiwass, where did you learn all this, all these secrets?"

Hayna couldn't help trembling all over.

She clearly struggled to digest this taboo knowledge.

She suddenly said, "Grandpa Jacob used to tell us the legends of the great warriors of the ancient times... I've always wondered, why there are no warriors in modern times... "

"Although the essence of Strength and Authority is similar, their directions differ. Therefore, after the rise of the Silver-Crowned Dragon, the old professions of 'warrior,' 'berserker,' and 'fighter' declined."

Aiwass did not answer her first question but skipped it to answer the next, "The powers already held do not vanish, however, they will no longer grow stronger through the original professions. They can easily switch to the Path of Authority without losing much strength.

"Ultimately, 'berserkers' became Bound Ones, 'warriors' became Guardians, 'swordsmen' became Inspectors, 'fighters' became Apprehenders, 'challengers' became Aide-de-camps. The Legal Mage is a completely new profession, so it had no progression. From the professions of the Path of Strength five hundred years ago, only the Light Cavalry remained unchanged, but its advanced form 'knight' became 'Sky Cavalry.' And the knight became a rank within Avalon."

The roles of Guardian, Bound One, Apprehender, and Aide-de-camp are not common professions within Avalon.

Because if one studies legal knowledge while also practicing swordsmanship and riding, one must advance to become an Inspector; if not studying riding, one becomes a Legal Mage, and if not learning the law, a Light Cavalryman.

This is what Aiwass meant when he said that mystical knowledge can corrupt a person. The advancement requirements for many professions, besides holding a certain Mystical Skill, specifically require "not holding a certain skill."

Therefore, an officially originated Transcendent can only become one of these three professions.

"So, what about advanced professions?"

Although Hayna listened in fear and her whole body shuddered incessantly, her curiosity became even stronger, "How about Inspector Generals and Arbiters?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Aiwass raised an eyebrow and replied offhandedly, "If I remember correctly, the Inspector General used to be called 'Military Governor,' and the Arbiter was 'Dictator.'"

Higher professions that were closer to the Path showed a very distinct transformation, just like knights who rode horses became Sky Cavalry who rode Gryphons.

However, the powers of lost extraordinary professions like "Military Governor" and "Dictator" might still be found in the Codex Book. This is a very typical "Lost Art."

Actually, when Aiwass first played the game, he shared the same confusion as Hayna.

Although he didn't like playing as a warrior, it was generally expected that every game should have a "warrior" profession.

The Path of Devotion had Priests, Monks, and Paladins, the Path of Wisdom had Mages, the Path of Adaptation had Assassins and Hunters, the Path of Authority had Knights, the Path of Transcendence had Magicians...

——So why was there no warrior?

And, according to various historical records and ancient legends, this world clearly had warriors in the past.

Therefore, Aiwass could only assume that perhaps the times had changed.

Now, the Transcendents of the Path of Balance had developed various new-age inventions and discoveries—steam engines, diesel engines, generators, electric lights, telephones, microorganisms, the periodic table of chemical elements, film, fountain pens, trains, bicycles, toilet paper...
Your journey continues on empire

In this vibrant, prosperous era where everything seemed possible, the role of combat-savvy warriors might no longer be in fashion. The existence of Transcendents led to wars between nations of comparable strength being overly intense, while the tremendous disparity between individual Transcendents could render conflicts uncontrollable, inadvertently giving rise to an era of peace.

It wasn't until much later that Aiwass discovered that it wasn't that warriors had been eliminated, but rather the "warrior" profession had disappeared.

Both were "strength," but brute force and power were different.

——With the advent of the era of Authority, the warrior was dead.

From this perspective, Jacob was truly remarkable.

He might not have grasped the whole truth or understood the essence of Paths and Pillar Gods, but at least he had become aware of the existence of Supreme Heaven. In Avalon, any knowledge of the old Pillar Gods was undeniably taboo.

However, it wasn't until after Jacob had taken control of the Hand of the Scaleless from the Noble Red Society that he fled from the Association.

Perhaps he had obtained these secrets from Noble Red as well.

While Aiwass's words recounted the secrets of the Path of Authority, they were imbued with knowledge of the Path of Transcendence. His insights could inspire a high-ranking Transcendent of the Path of Authority to shift directly to the Path of Transcendence and might even drive them insane; they could also inspire someone without any affinity for the Path of Transcendence to embark upon it.

However, in Aiwass's view, it was better to speak of such things sooner rather than later.

Perhaps it was for this reason that Jacob used fairy tales to convey it to children with an affinity for the Path of Transcendence.

The longer and higher one walked on the Path of Authority, and the more one saw the Path of Authority as the guideline to one's life, the more certain they were of its absolute correctness, the more likely their worldview could collapse.

Who would have guessed that the Pillar God of the Path of Authority ascended using the power of the Path of Transcendence?

Treading a lone Path carries its risks. No Path is wrong, but also none is absolutely right... even the Path of Devotion has its dark spots.

The confidential knowledge and words Aiwass held were his exceedingly sharp Weapons.

In the end, Hayna was in a daze for quite a while before she recovered. She ultimately left Aiwass's dormitory with the letter he had written to Sherlock.

"...However, Hayna managed to recover so quickly."

He was somewhat surprised.

Aiwass had thought she might directly lose control and faint, or lose consciousness and stay in his dormitory for the night. He had already prepared for Lily to arrange a guest room for Hayna.

Does this suggest that her talent for the Path of Transcendence is greater than that for the Path of Authority?

At only twenty-two years old, she had already progressed more than halfway through the third energy level of the Path of Authority. This was undoubtedly the mark of a genius.

But now, her talent for the Path of Transcendence might even surpass that for the Path of Authority.

This piqued Aiwass's curiosity.

Could such a genius really perish so easily in a national catastrophe?

Or is it that she had appeared in the game before?

Only at that time she no longer went by Hayna or walked the Path of Authority, which is why Aiwass had not recognized her?