Secret Incarnation

Concept Incarnations were the materialization of illusory concepts... Once a Concept Incarnation died, all associated sorcery spirits would perish with it, and sorcerers would be unable to summon them until the Void Realm regenerated the concept... Was such hazardous material really something a Two-Winged Sorcerer should be able to touch?! The more Yaxiu thought about it, the more terrified he felt. In a nation dominated by sorcerers, sorcery miracles permeated every stratum of daily life. And as a sorcerer's most critical foundation, sorcery spirits were equivalent to vital energy sources like electricity and heat—they could practically be called the "blood of society." If nothing else, if a concept like the Avatar of Electromagnetism were destroyed, the Gospel Country would be instantly paralyzed. Nearly all critical nodes of Gospel's electrical grid required sorcerers of the electromagnetism faction for maintenance and operation. Once the sorcery spirits of the electromagnetism faction vanished, this precise, efficient energy system would collapse in an instant—and remain collapsed for a very long time, plunging everyone straight back into a primitive society. If such a cataclysm truly occurred, society would take decades to recover. The loss of life and economic devastation would be immeasurable, likely triggering years of widespread social upheaval. Yet Concept Incarnations—things tied to the fate of entire nations—were accessible to Two-Winged Sorcerers?! This was no longer on the level of "casually picking up a gun at a supermarket"; it was as absurd as "scoring raw uranium on Taobao." Forget a Two-Winged Gold Sorcerer—Yaxiu felt that even a Legendary Sorcerer had no business possessing a hazardous object that held the destinies of hundreds of millions of people. And yet, on the Time Continent, a Heroic Spirit had casually shoved one onto him, and then he had traded it with another Heroic Spirit?! However, once he calmed down, Yaxiu suddenly realized that absurd as it was, it wasn't necessarily unreasonable. Based on his observations, Concept Incarnations seemed to be held exclusively by Heroic Spirit commanders. A Two-Winged Sorcerer could never defeat a Heroic Spirit commander under normal circumstances. An event like Yaxiu's three-person team scraping a narrow victory against the weakest logistical commander was completely unrepeatable—something that might not happen once in tens of millions of years. What was more, the Heroic Spirit commanders possessing Concept Incarnations were most likely the trump cards of their respective factions; the chances of them being ambushed and knocked out by a sorcerer were practically negligible. In other words, the transfer of a Concept Incarnation would only ever take place between Heroic Spirit commanders, who in turn served the gods. On top of that, carrying a Concept Incarnation seemed to dramatically empower the combat strength of the corresponding troops under their command... The appearance of Concept Incarnations on the second floor of the Void Realm was probably intentional on the gods' part. Precisely because the combat power of sorcerers on the Time Continent was low enough, Concept Incarnations were safe there. If Concept Incarnations appeared on the third or fourth floor of the Void Realm, where Sanctuaries were everywhere and Legends were a dime a dozen, not only would their escort forces have to skyrocket, but the risk of loss would also be immense. After all, stowaway sorcerers like Yaxiu and the Sword Princess could master two or three factions; true Legendary Sorcerers had likely mastered and synthesized multiple factions, innovating entirely new techniques. They wouldn't even need a head-on clash; they could easily steal away a Concept Incarnation using all sorts of miracles. Yaxiu suddenly remembered the description of the Soul Summoning sorcery spirit: "'Congratulations on becoming a player in this never-ending game, even though you do not even qualify to be a pawn.'" Compared to Heroic Spirit commanders, sorcerers were indeed unqualified to serve as pawns in this game. The struggles among the factions on the Time Continent were likely an epitome of the games played by the gods. Only, compared to the ordinary gambling chips of gold, silver, lives, and resources, the stakes wagered by the gods were utterly terrifying—merely to bolster a commander's combat power, they dared to bet Concept Incarnations that governed the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of commoners and the futures of countless sorcerers! Yaxiu didn't believe for a moment that an opposing faction would keep a Concept Incarnation to use after seizing it. A Concept Incarnation likely only buffed a specific type of troop, making it useless to rivals. That left only one option—destruction. By now, the Empress's Heroic Spirit had probably already destroyed the Avatar of the Stars. While Yaxiu didn't know if there was a star sorcery faction in this world, if any star sorcerers did exist, they were out of a job starting right now. At this thought, Yaxiu realized he had yet to inspect the most profitable—and simultaneously most costly—harvest of this adventure: the Secret Incarnation. It was profitable because a Concept Incarnation was undeniably of supreme value, but it was costly because the price of acquiring it was simply too steep—from now on, they would be hunted down by Spider Tower, never knowing peace until they advanced to the Three-Winged Sanctuary realm. If he could do it over, Yaxiu would rather never have gotten a Concept Incarnation. He would gladly hand it over in exchange for peaceful days in the Void Realm. Unfortunately, the Empress's ruthless, decisive nature had cut off any retreat. The Secret Incarnation had already been absorbed by the Soul Summoning sorcery spirit. This was probably another fail-safe implemented by the gods: even if ordinary sorcerers were lucky enough to stumble upon a Concept Incarnation, without a Soul Summoning sorcery spirit, they couldn't absorb concepts. Perhaps Legendary Sorcerers could bypass the need for a Soul Summoning spirit, but how could a Legendary Sorcerer ever appear on the Time Continent? Yaxiu glanced at it and found that the Soul Summoning sorcery spirit hadn't changed much, except for an additional line of text: "Secret: You are the incarnation of Secret's will. You possess the highest authority within the intelligence system. Maidens of Secret-Peeking under your command can chant the 'Weaving' miracle on allies and enemies simultaneously (previously limited to targeting only one side), reducing chant time by 50%. Allied units affected by Weaving gain 1 layer of armor." The Secret Incarnation was indeed used to buff the Maiden of Secret-Peeking, but Yaxiu hadn't even unlocked that unit type, meaning the Secret Incarnation had no effect for him whatsoever. Now he was truly taking a beating—no benefits gained, yet paying every bit of the price! Unwilling to give up, Yaxiu opened the Book of Gospel and asked, "How do I use the Secret Incarnation?" Book of Gospel: "10,000 Gospel points." Yaxiu: "Why do Heroic Spirit commanders possess Concept Incarnations?" Book of Gospel: "8,000 Gospel points." Yaxiu: "Is there any free intel?" Book of Gospel: "Today in Fanmula, sunny turning to cloudy, temperature 28°C. Breeding success rate between elves and goblins is significantly increased, and the probability of twins is substantially elevated." What the hell is the point of telling that to a cripple like me who can only reproduce with humans... Yaxiu: "I want to improve my psychological fortitude and become a decision-maker capable of shouldering the lives of others. Do you have any suggestions?" Book of Gospel: "As expected of Your Eminence. Your Eminence's psychological fortitude is already remarkable, yet you still strive for improvement. Gospel offers a modest suggestion: Your Eminence can improve your psychological fortitude by gaining practical combat experience." Yaxiu: "That's what I was thinking too, but conditions are limited right now. I plan to jump into the virtual game Epic to act as party leader and shot-caller for high-difficulty raids. What do you think?" Book of Gospel: "A wonderful idea, entirely feasible!" Yaxiu: "But I haven't spent much money on it, and even if I did, I couldn't reach the level of top-tier players right away. High-difficulty raids have strict gear requirements. Do you have any solutions?" Book of Gospel: "5 points." Yaxiu: "You charge points even for this?" Book of Gospel: "Your Eminence, you will not be disappointed. (5 points deducted) Account: ******, Password: *******. The account owner has sworn off Epic forever due to marriage. Your Eminence may use it with complete peace of mind." Huh? Doesn't this count as account theft? Still, the Book of Gospel gave it to me, so it should be fine... With mixed skepticism and anticipation, Yaxiu headed to the gaming floor, entered a gaming pod, and logged into the game, only to be instantly dazzled by the max-level, all-achievement character before his eyes. This wasn't something money alone could buy—it took years of persistent, dedicated play to forge a gold-plated account like this! Just then, the negative effects of Concept Secret Poison triggered once more, turning the entire gaming pod into a spider's cocoon. This time, however, Yaxiu didn't find it sickening or horrifying. Instead, it felt somewhat comforting. Much as I want to severely condemn the revolting nature of Gospel miracles, it's really treated me far too well.