"It is said that after ancient prairie barbarians captured women, they would kill their firstborn because they couldn't be sure it was their own..."
Alan Sothos walked through Black Sun Town: "However, we greensong people are at least somewhat better than those prairie barbarians, right?"
Thinking of the blood sacrifices to the [Grandmother Green Banyan], Alan couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.
However, he quickly put all that behind him.
Because before him, Shu had already kneeled at the feet of the high priest, draped in a black robe.
"Congratulations, new Unburned!"
A joyous smile spread across the high priest's face, as if black flames were about to spill out from his eyes, nose, and mouth at any moment.
"I vow to revere Black Sun as my lord and walk His path!"
Shu's cheeks looked a bit gaunt, but her eyes were full of spirit.
Alan could tell that this woman had definitely practiced the church's breathing and meditation techniques and had achieved a certain height.
"Black Flame Meditation can be categorized into four temperatures: red flame, yellow flame, blue flame, and purple flame. You have already passed the trial of the red flame..."
The high priest said happily: "You can now start the Unburned Ritual and become a true 'Unburned'."
He gestured to a black-robed believer nearby to bring forward a brazier burning with intense flames.
"As long as the 'shadow' spirituality awakens, ordinary flames won't harm you."
The high priest reached out his hand and placed it into the flames.
"I..."
Shu gritted her teeth and extended her hand into the flames.
Sizzle!
The searing pain was instantaneous, and the smell of burning flesh spread immediately.
Not far away, Ike and Lin, who were watching nearby, immediately closed their eyes, unwilling to look any longer.
However, Shu, even though her face twitched, held onto the high priest's hand within the flames.
"Very good. It's inevitable to get some minor injuries on the first attempt."
The high priest removed the brazier, revealing Shu's severely burned right hand. A faint smile appeared on his face: "Keep trying. You need to let your body fully feel the heat of the flames; this will aid in the awakening of your spirituality."
"I will heed your teachings."
A faint smile appeared on Shu's sweat-drenched face.
"Aunt Shu!"
As soon as the high priest left, Lin immediately pounced into Shu's arms, tears the size of beans rolling down her cheeks: "Your hand..."
"Don't worry, I have already begun to awaken partially. Although it looks serious, it's just a flesh wound."
Shu comforted: "To pursue our lord and power, this small price is nothing."
Alan couldn't help but nod on the side.
If her 'shadow' spirituality weren't partially awakened, Shu's hand would have been practically cooked, rather than just severely burned as it appeared now.
After returning to her room and coaxing Lin to sleep, Shu looked at Ike with a serious expression: "How are you doing?"
"I've been following and praising Black Sun every day. They don't suspect anything..."
Ike replied in a deep voice.
"Keep it up. Once I become a true Unburned, I can access the spells and take you away from here."
Shu said firmly.
She didn't like this cult but didn't reject the power it offered.
Alan watched it all in silence.
He knew the influence of Black Sun on its followers was exceptionally profound and subtle. Even though Shu planned well, the likelihood of success was very slim.
"But... why am I not affected?"
Alan pondered.
According to what he had heard, even those who hadn't practiced the shadow secrets might hear Black Sun's whispers.
And if someone believed in Black Sun, this influence would escalate!
However, Alan hadn't heard any whispers since the beginning.
Not only Black Sun but also the entities born from the moon and other terrifying existences had no effect on him after the initial encounter.
He had secretly tested several times and found that even the obsidian altar dedicated to [Black Sun] could not detect or warn of his approach, which emboldened him significantly.
"The first possibility is that my status is too high? No, that's unlikely..."
Alan thought with some amusement: "So... all these god-like existences have overlooked me?"
"In the beginning, when they were born, the signals were strongest, so I could hear them..."
"Now, they are merely naturally emanating their influence, and the signals are much weaker, so I can't hear them..."
"This seems like a reasonable explanation?"
With that hint of curiosity, Alan's consciousness returned to his physical body.
"Daili, bring me a brazier!"
He called out towards the door, and not long after, Daili brought in a brazier with tongs: "Master, although it's a bit cold, if you're going to warm up by the fire, please remember to open the windows."
"Mm, you may leave!"
After sending the maid away, Alan began trying to meditate in front of the flames.
The Black Flame Meditation required the reference of flame, imagining in one's mind different colored flames burning one's body, and then overcoming them one by one.
According to the high priest's teachings, every time before meditating, one must first invoke Black Sun, hoping to get closer to that presence during meditation.
Alan felt that he probably wouldn't be able to master this meditation technique, but he still decided to give it a shot.
One hour, two hours...
Three hours...
After changing the brazier several times, Alan opened his eyes, reached out his hand, and grabbed the burning flames in the brazier.
"Hiss..."
In the next moment, his hand retracted as if electrocuted, with burning pain coming from his fingertips.
"I can't do it at all..."
"If I continue, my hand will get roasted..."
"If someone sees me, they might think I'm crazy!"
Alan shook his head and had Daili, looking confused, take the brazier away and close the door.
In the brief moment before the door closed, he seemed to catch a glimpse of the maid's eyes—those eyes contained the kind of pity one would feel for a fool.
"She saw?"
"Oh well, it doesn't matter..."
Alan sat back at the desk, opened a locked drawer, and took out a notebook:
[Attempted Black Flame Meditation, failed!]
[Conclusion: I may not be suited to the 'shadow' path, or... is this really a non-magical world?]
[Spirituality exists in everything in that world, but not in this world... Where does spirituality come from?]
Suddenly, Alan thought of the scarlet sun in his dream world.
And what Shu had said, after the great catastrophe, everyone went mad, and the craziest ones turned into monsters.
[So... humans in that world originally had no spirituality but were granted it by the scarlet sun? And those who went mad had the most spirituality, even if they didn't follow the correct path, they could still transform into monsters?]
He suddenly felt that this was a very reasonable explanation.
[So... am I the root of everything?!]
Alan suddenly recalled the information he had received earlier.
"I am... the Dream Creator!"