Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 566 477: Three Major Goals_1

"On the Heavenly Inquiry Route, the Third Stage represents an explosion of all previous accumulations and preparations; one could say that the route only truly takes shape at this point."

"Although it is indeed a qualitative change, for you, it's just the beginning."

In the afternoon living room, basking in the rare sunlight, Huai Shi stared at the Raven in front of the small blackboard. Behind her, a piece of chalk floated in mid-air, rapidly writing down Huai Shi's main objectives.

There were three in total.

The first was a matter of urgency—Control Talent.

Disaster and miracles are two sides of the same coin.

Especially stigmata, which are derived from abyssal events.

Huai Shi must learn to control her own afterimage ability, Shadow Burial, and master all afterimages; only then can she truly advance as a Soloist. Otherwise, if she lets them be or becomes lazy, sooner or later, the Stigma will spiral out of control and split, resulting in an unbearably gruesome death.

In this regard, Huai Shi had shot herself in the foot.

The more afterimages Shadow Burial creates, the more difficult it is to control. While a common Soloist might complete this task within a week or two, for Huai Shi, with more than four times the usual amount, it would take at least three to four months.

But Huai Shi didn't mind.

She even found it quite good.

Even though these three to four months would be her weakest, this place was, after all, the Current Circumstances, and she was a loyal enforcer of the Astronomical Society. Who would be so reckless as to idly kill an Inspector? That'd be asking for death.

Moreover, it's only three to four months. Enduring it might even speed things up—at least the control that comes with the birth of life is no joke.

Consider it a vacation.

Following closely behind, the second matter—Soul integration.

After completely mastering the Soloist's Stigma, it's time to prepare for advancing to the Fourth Stage. The prerequisite for the Fourth Stage is the complete fusion of the soul and the Stigma.

One should say, it's the complete fusion of the Sublimators themselves and the Stigma.

From then on, indistinguishable from each other, they become human-shaped abyssal miracles—this process is why the Third Stage is called 'Ether'.

It was named after a void element, a legendary substance of miracles.

During this phase, Sublimators will gradually possess powers beyond common sense under deep integration with the Stigma, such as walking on water purely by instinct, flying freely without wings in defiance of physics, emitting radiation from their eyes, bones turning into metal, or even growing scales on internal organs...

Before this, Stigma enhancements to the human body must be confined within the human ecosystem and internal cycles, unable to make drastic changes, or else risk sudden death.

But as one enters the Third Stage, the beginning of deep integration, humans will gradually start evolving from their fragile human forms towards legendary creatures in a second evolution.

It can be seen as the onset of a second development period, beginning to try to break through Chalatustra's secret device's blockade, forming its own cycle—though still limited, it's nonetheless a crucial step forward.

During this process, the soul will also merge deeply with the Stigma, undergoing a metamorphosis, combining the two as one, and laying the foundation for the Fourth Stage.

During this period, there are countless cases of souls collapsing into Erosion species because the difference between the soul and Stigma types is too great.

It's known that most wild Sublimators can only rely on luck to choose Stigmas, and even without conflicts, the Soul Ability might be unable to grow under Stigma suppression, gradually becoming superfluous as one's strength increases... or not able to increase at all.

By this point, it's too late to start over. Authority Relics like the White Wolf Hook that belong to Owners of the Genealogy aren't available to just anyone.

One wrong step leads to a succession of mistakes, and if the direction is wrong from the start, one is doomed to be stuck in the Third Stage for life.

Or else... just be bullheaded and brute force it.

Gamble on the odds: either go home for dinner, or have the whole village dine. Although it's usually the latter most of the time.

This is something Huai Shi doesn't have to worry about.

That's the good thing about being support. As long as the basic type and attributes are not too contradictory, there's no need to worry about dying on the spot.

Moreover, thanks to Raven's foresight and the initial guidance, the Soloist's Stigma and Huai Shi's Hand of Confinement had no conflict at all, fitting together perfectly.

And what the Soloist itself represents is the growth of a child. This miracle, stacked with the Hand of Confinement, becomes a growth acceleration buff, completely eliminating even the possibility of 'failure to thrive'.

After fully integrating with the Stigma, the Hand of Confinement will also undergo a metamorphosis; it's just unknown what changes will occur then.

Thus, it's the least of concerns.

The only problem is that the second point is entirely dependent on everything going smoothly with the third point.

—The growth of the Soloist.

This means complying with its Sky's Command, making this miracle tend towards perfection.

This is the biggest issue Huai Shi has to face after mastering the Soloist's Stigma.

"The essence of the Soloist's miracle lies in the child's growth," said Raven calmly. "Do you have any idea how to proceed?"

"Rearing a child?" Huai Shi pondered, chin in hand. "Should I sponsor an orphanage? Or study early childhood education and become a kindergarten teacher?"

"Indeed, many Soloists do that. There was even a Dawn Children's Foundation in Utopia, where you could just sit and increase your Correction Value by working there... but after the fall of Utopia, that foundation probably went bankrupt," said the Raven, shaking its head. "While convenient, this isn't the most cost-effective choice. In fact, the growth of Soloists should have a much faster and more effective path, which also has the highest demands and rewards."

Huai Shi became instinctively cautious. "You're not suggesting I should have children myself, right? Have a hundred kids and raise them all to be Saint Seiyas?"

"AHAHA, you sure have a sense of humor," laughed Raven, before becoming serious again. "But that's actually a method... and quite suitable for you. Why not consider it?"

"No, I was just talking nonsense; I won't interrupt anymore. Please, continue," Huai Shi quickly said.

Huai Shi immediately fell silent.

"Fine, then let's talk about the fastest and most difficult method."

Raven sighed, "While Soloist's very existence is indeed a miracle, don't forget that this miracle comes from the Abyss and inherently carries the traits of Disaster... To grow, one must inevitably seek out Hell."

"Have you ever considered that the growth of a child can not only describe an individual but can also apply to a 'tribe,' Huai Shi?"

Huai Shi was stunned, thinking of something unbelievable.

"No way?"

"Yes, that's right."

Raven nodded, "The most orthodox and quickest way for a Soloist to grow is to select an Abyssal Tribe that matches one's own attributes and then personally cultivate them into a legitimate Abyss Horde.

When their growth is complete, your Soloist will also be fully grown. Not only that, you'll gain an entire legitimate Legion as your subordinates, and you'll become the Owner of the Great Mob in the process!

A win-win-win situation, why wouldn't you do it?"

Indeed it sounds great, besides being incredibly difficult and especially deadly.

And... cultivating an Abyssal Tribe, no less.

Huai Shi immediately realized, "This... isn't this stealing food from the Ranch Owner's bowl?"

"It *is* stealing food, true, but it's fine as long as you don't *consume* them!" Raven retorted loudly. "They are all your cannon fodder; if they're all consumed, who will be left to serve as your tools... No, I mean, your tool horde!"

"..."

Huai Shi fell silent, hesitating, "Can't we choose another method?"

"Of course, we can!"

Raven looked at her with surprise, "Then let's just pick something else. Do you think I'd really force you to choose that one?"

Of course, she would!!!

Hearing her say that, Huai Shi felt a sudden sinking feeling in her heart.

Alright, this path is set.

By now, how could she not know? This wicked woman was truly terrible, always laying out choices before her, but in the end, it always turned out crystal clear how she arranged things. And every time, it seemed as if Huai Shi herself had chosen...

"Alright, this time I've already asked for your opinion beforehand, right?"

Raven landed on her head, hopping around, "As a sister, I am quite democratic; at least I have to let you agree..."

Huai Shi couldn't help but roll her eyes, "If I disagree, does that make you a dictator?"

"If you disagree, we have ways of disagreeing... But don't you seem quite interested?" Raven lowered her head, appearing to hang upside down in front of Huai Shi's eyes, examining her eyes. "Could it be that you're the type who says no but means yes? That feels kind of perverted..."

Huai Shi simply didn't want to deal with her anymore.

"Okay, no joking now, back to the topic," Raven's voice became serious. "Besides being the fastest and having the largest payoff, there's another huge benefit to this method."

She said, "This is the only way that lets you transform into a 'Great Priestess' before reaching the Fourth Stage."

"What?"

Huai Shi was dumbfounded, completely baffled.

Great Priestess before the Fourth Stage?

How could that be possible?!

Big sister, you must be joking.

Even if their names differ by only one character, how can they be the same?

"Third Stage, Fourth Stage, aren't these just artificially defined?" Raven calmly retorted. "Otherwise, by conventional standards, Soloist should be of the Fourth Stage, shouldn't she?

At the end of the day, Soloist and Great Priestess are two sides of the same coin. No, it's more accurate to say that to accommodate Sublimators, a colossal miracle was forcibly split into two parts—and thus, the possibility of merging them again exists. Otherwise, you couldn't make a shortcut before the Fourth Stage."

"If you succeed, then you can advance to the status of Cloud Monarch as a Great Priestess," Raven paused for a moment and said earnestly. "By that time, the Fifth Stage you correspond to will no longer be the Eastern Monarch, but the originally hypothetical 'Taiyi'!"

"Taiyi?"

Huai Shi's eyes lit up, "Is it the one from Yingzhou who can summon the Combat Tyrannosaurus Beast?"

Raven sighed helplessly, "What time do you think it is, and you're still joking?"

"Aren't you joking too?!"

Huai Shi slammed the table.

But Raven didn't reply and just silently looked at her, her expression calm.

"..."

Huai Shi couldn't help but shiver, in disbelief, "Is it true?"

"MHM." Raven nodded.

Huai Shi was scared witless.