194: Chapter 194 The Prophecy of the Elf Empire! Ascending the Divine Stairs! The Scales of Blood!

Beside the well.

Aurora heard Rowan's words, and her eyes flickered slightly.

She was silent for a moment, her gaze becoming somewhat distant, and her voice was lower than before:

"My Lord, have you ever heard of a prophecy?"

"It is a prophecy from over a hundred years ago, spread from the Eternal Elf Empire of Asteria, a prophecy personally confirmed by the Great Sage of the Silver Moon..."

Upon hearing this, Rowan shook his head:

"I have not. Tell me about it?"

Aurora nodded and began to tell the tale:

"According to records, one hundred and twenty years ago, that is, around the year 1734 of the Holy Calendar, the True Original Moon experienced an almost imperceptible, tiny fluctuation."

"That ripple was initially inconspicuous, like casting a grain of sand into the vast sea of stars, and it did not attract anyone's attention."

"But later, someone discovered that the spread of this ripple might affect the rotation of the lunar phases one hundred and twenty years later."

"That is this round of Dark Moon Tide beginning at the end of 1854 of the Holy Calendar."

She paused and continued:

"According to the normal laws of the lunar calendar, this round of Dark Moon Tide should see the Silver Moon set and the yellow moon rise."

"But after this fluctuation of the True Original Moon, the situation seems to have changed."

"Consequently, all the prophets on the continent began to calculate the impact of this change."

"The stargazers of the Astrology Tower observed the stars day and night, the prophets of the Elf race meditated under the moonlight, and prophecy wizards from all over joined in..."

"In the end, the Elf Empire issued that prophecy."

Her voice became exceptionally clear at this moment, and she said word by word:

"The core content of the prophecy is: The lunar phase rotation beginning at the end of 1854 will no longer be the normal Silver Moon setting and yellow moon rising, but rather—"

"The Three Moons Shining Together!"

"Furthermore, the Red Moon, which should not have appeared, will gradually reach a peak state rarely seen in a thousand years during this lunar cycle, suppressing the Silver Moon and the yellow moon."

"And the entire northern part of the Old Continent will be the area most affected by this lunar cycle."

"The Great Sage of the Silver Moon's prophecy mentions—"

"During this Three Moons Shining Together, great chaos will descend upon the northern lands, and then, an Red Moon Proxy will be born!"

Hearing this, Rowan frowned slightly.

He pondered for a moment and asked:

"Red Moon Proxy?"

"What is that?"

"And... does it have any significance?"

Aurora's gaze deepened upon hearing this:

"The Red Moon Proxy represents a qualification for godhood, a true Long Stairway to Godhood!"

"As for the significance..."

"Take our academy, for example. Since a hundred years ago, the number of people switching to the Red Moon path has remained high. My Lord should know why that is..."

Rowan understood after listening.

His eyes narrowed slightly, realizing a key issue.

After pondering for a moment, he asked:

"Then... how does one become an Red Moon Proxy?"

Aurora fell silent upon hearing this.

She glanced at Rowan, her eyes filled with scrutiny and hesitation.

This question touched upon knowledge of a forbidden nature.

But in the end, she spoke.

Because she knew that with the resurgence of the Red Moon, given Rowan's status and strength, he would eventually encounter this information. Rather than letting him learn it from other unreliable sources, it was better for her to tell him.

"My Lord should know of the Lord of Scarlet, right?"

Rowan nodded: "I do. The former Count Farrell of Gino County was judged by the Church because he sacrificed to the evil god, the Lord of Scarlet, which allowed me to become Count Golden Flame."

Aurora smiled slightly upon hearing this.

That smile carried a hint of intrigue:

"An evil god?"

"Does my Lord believe the Lord of Scarlet is an evil god?"

Rowan frowned.

Aurora did not wait for his answer and continued on her own:

"Yes, to outsiders, performing bloody sacrifices undoubtedly makes it an evil god."

"Trading human lives for power, trading souls for benefits—no matter how you look at it, it is an evil act."

She changed the subject:

"But—"

She looked into Rowan's eyes and asked:

"Does my Lord know what the true form of the Lord of Scarlet is?"

Rowan shook his head.

Aurora took a deep breath and then spoke the name:

"The true form of the Lord of Scarlet is the Scale of Blood. All other images are merely external manifestations added by the sacrificers through rituals."

"The Scale of Blood?" Rowan repeated the name, feeling somewhat confused.

"Yes, the Scale of Blood." Aurora's voice became exceptionally solemn, "The Lord of Scarlet is not a personal god, but a god of law."

"He represents a core law of the Red Moon, the Law of Exchange!"

"Offer the soul and flesh of the exchange item, and you can obtain the corresponding target object. The entire process, excluding losses, is split fifty-fifty."

"The Lord of Scarlet worshipped by the members of the Scarlet Cult is not a worship of a god in the traditional sense."

"It is, rather, the worship of a holy object!"

Rowan's eyes narrowed upon hearing this.

He seemed to have thought of something.

At this moment, Aurora raised the blood ash bone conch in her hand and said: "My Lord, this is a small sacrificial vessel of the Scarlet Cult. Please, take a look."

She aimed the blood ash bone conch at the dry well.

The crimson mist in the well began to gather as if summoned, forming a thin stream that was sucked into the bone conch.

Those mists made a gurgling sound inside the bone conch.

A moment later.

Aurora took out a palm-sized crystal bottle and turned the bone conch upside down.

The mouth of the bottle was aligned with the port of the bone conch.

One drop, two drops, three drops...

Drop after drop of bright red liquid flowed out from the bone conch and fell into the crystal bottle.

The liquid presented a magnificent scarlet color, rippling in the transparent crystal bottle and emitting a faint, mellow fragrance similar to aged red wine.

After pouring it out, Aurora handed the crystal bottle to Rowan:

"This is the exchange item of this sacrificial vessel, the blood ash bone conch—the Scarlet Secret Brew."

"It can be used to treat any injury, with the effect depending on the quantity and quality."

"As long as the quantity is sufficient, even law-type soul injuries can be healed."

She glanced at the dry well and added:

"The blood source energy of this blood source ley line node has been mostly used up by the Evil Wizard Mingwu, but this is still enough to trade for two hundred magic crystals on the black market."

Rowan took the crystal bottle and examined it before his eyes.

The bright red liquid swayed gently in the crystal bottle, refracting an enchanting light.

He could feel a strange power contained within it.

That power was warm and active, as if it possessed its own life.

He put away the crystal bottle, his eyes flickering.

Aurora watched him put away the crystal bottle, then continued with a hint of bitterness in her voice:

"One of the ways to obtain the Red Moon Proxy... is that it can be obtained through the exchange of the Scale of Blood."

Rowan was shocked upon hearing this.

He looked sharply at Aurora, about to say something.

Just then, Garrett suddenly cried out:

"Senior Sister Aurora! Come over and look!"

His voice carried a complex emotion of panic and excitement intertwined, as if he had discovered something incredible.

Aurora heard this and walked over quickly.

She bent down and looked at the dial of the instrument in Garrett's hand—

The numbers on it were jumping wildly, and the curve on the chart showed a steep upward trend.

Her gaze swept over it.

Then, her expression changed drastically.

Rowan also walked up.

He took a look at the instrument, but the complex runes and numbers on it were like a heavenly book to him, so he asked directly: "What is it?"

Aurora raised her head, looking at Rowan with a complex expression, her voice carrying an indescribable tone:

"The detection shows that this is only a branch of the blood source ley line node."

"Beneath this land, there exists a true main node of the blood source ley line."

"It is highly likely to be somewhere in Gino County."

Rowan frowned upon hearing this: "Can you determine the location?"

Aurora shook her head: "I cannot. That main node has not yet reached the time of resurgence, so it cannot be precisely detected."

She paused for a moment, then looked deeply at Rowan: "However, my Lord must be careful."

Rowan said: "What do you mean?"

Aurora's voice became exceptionally serious:

"For some reason, the progress of the Red Moon's resurgence seems much faster than expected."

"And with the resurgence of the Red Moon, various abnormal phenomena may gradually appear on my Lord's territory, attracting all kinds of people here."

"Prophets, adventurers, ambitious people, believers of the Scarlet Cult... They will swarm here from all directions like sharks smelling blood."

Rowan frowned slightly: "Then how should I deal with them? Kill them all?"

Aurora shook her head upon hearing this: "There is no good solution for now. You cannot kill them all."

"As the Red Moon's resurgence progresses, the requirements for the rituals of the Scarlet Sacrifice to perform exchanges in the northern lands will only become lower and simpler."

"Until a normal, ordinary person can also perform the Scale of Blood exchange sacrifice."

Her voice carried worry:

"It can allow a person with a disabled body to regain health, and it can also allow a person who originally had no extraordinary talent to gain extraordinary power."

"Does my Lord know what this means?"

Rowan's expression changed upon hearing this.

Thus, he said in a deep voice:

"Can the spread of the ritual be prohibited? After all, the human soul is the forbidden domain of the gods."

Aurora shook her head, somewhat helplessly:

"With the resurgence of the Red Moon, some people will hear whispers from unknown places in their dreams or in a trance, learning the sacrificial ritual without a teacher."

"And interfering with the world's fundamental laws like the Red Moon law... even the gods cannot do it."

Rowan was silent.

A moment later, the anomaly above the well ended completely, and the dry well returned to calm.

Garrett began to pack up the instrument.

He carefully wiped the silver-white disc clean, put it into a special leather case, and returned all the scattered accessories to their places.

His movements were skilled and meticulous, clearly cherishing his precious instrument.

At this moment, Aurora handed the blood ash bone conch back to Rowan:

"My Lord, this blood source ley line node is temporarily exhausted. You had best be cautious when using this Scarlet sacrificial vessel."

Her gaze carried a hint of warning:

"Although the Scale of Blood has no self-awareness and only objectively weighs the flesh and soul of all existence, extensive research shows that its exchange rituals seem to carry a strong addictive nature."

"This is not a problem with the exchange item itself, but rather some underlying mechanism of humanity itself. For different people, the addictiveness is also different..."

"Some people will never develop a craving no matter how they use it, while some will be addicted for life, until they sacrifice everything they have to the Scale."

Rowan took the blood ash bone conch and weighed it in his hand.

The dark red horn felt warm to the touch, as if it possessed life.

He could feel the strange power contained within it, pulsing at a faint frequency, as if waiting for his next use.

He nodded, put the bone conch into his storage ring, then glanced around and said: "Let's go. It's time to return."

"Mm."

The three of them turned and walked outward along the path they had come.

The mist slowly closed behind them, swallowing the wooden house and the dry well once again.

...