NOVPUB
Chapter 238: Enlightenment
Lorenzo approached the mansion without using any techniques, he simply walked toward the door. Aldrian knew that this visit must have something to do with the conversation he and Hector had that night. As Lorenzo carefully prepared to step inside the mansion, he received a voice transmission.
"Meet me in the guest room."
Lorenzo paused for a moment before walking inside, heading toward the same guest room he had last visited with the first prince. Upon entering the room, he found Aldrian already waiting for him.
"Truly, what an extraordinary person. That feeling has come again," Lorenzo thought.
He then slightly bowed his head.
"I apologize for coming here unannounced, but this will not take long, as I am only here to convey a message from His Highness, Sir Aldrian," he said.
Aldrian nodded. "Is it regarding what we talked about?"
"Yes, and because of that, His Majesty wishes to see you tonight—secretly."
Aldrian now looked confused. His Majesty, the Emperor? Why would he want to meet him—and secretly, at that? Still, this was a chance to speak with the man who stood at the pinnacle of the pyramid. There were countless possibilities that could arise from such a conversation.
"Alright, so I just have to sneak into the palace?"
"Oh no, Sir Aldrian," Lorenzo said with a slight smile. "You only need to come to the designated location. We will guide you to His Majesty. There’s no need for you to trouble yourself with such bothersome tasks."
Aldrian nodded but sensed that Lorenzo still had something on his mind. The man seemed a little reluctant to speak.
"What is it that you want to ask?" Aldrian asked.
Lorenzo sighed before finally asking, "I’m sorry, but this is a question the First Prince wanted me to ask. Did Sir Aldrian do something to the Information Guild yesterday?"
"Yes, I did," Aldrian replied calmly. "It was the best course of action I could think of at the time."
Hearing Aldrian’s blunt answer, Lorenzo was momentarily stunned, though he had expected such a response. He then said,
"Last night, the Iron Fist Order of the Rivas family raided the headquarters of the Information Guild. They dragged several individuals, including the guild master, to the Rivas family’s mansion. Although both the Information Guild and the Rivas family tried to keep the incident under wraps, our intelligence network managed to uncover their movements."
"All of this happened after His Highness’s conversation with you, Sir Aldrian. So he thought that you might have done something to prompt the Iron Fist Order’s involvement."
"I intended to mess with the Information Guild headquarters for personal reasons, but in doing so, I unintentionally uncovered that the guild master was actually in bed with the devils. I simply pulled some strings and let the Rivas family clean up their own trash." Aldrian said
"Truly amazing, Sir Aldrian. We are ashamed of our lack of ability, while you’ve already achieved results not long after our first meeting. With your help, we’ve managed to eliminate some of the devils’ eyes and ears within the empire."
"It’s nothing," Aldrian said, waving his hand dismissively. "Anyway, I have a question."
"Please, ask away, Sir Aldrian."
"Do you know anything about the devils who use Gu as their technique?" Aldrian asked.
Lorenzo thought for a moment before answering.
"There are some devils who use Gu as their technique, but if we’re talking about a famous one, there is a devil who is an expert in it. That would be one of the Seven Devils of Annihilation, Wei Zhi. He’s renowned for his mastery of poison and Gu techniques. It’s even said that his poisons rival those of the Tang family in the demon territory."
"Do you know where this Wei Zhi is located?"
"We can’t pinpoint his location because he spends most of his time inside the Devil territory. Even during the war, we never heard of his involvement, so we believe he has refrained from making any moves so far." Lorenzo paused. "I’m sorry, Sir Aldrian, may I ask why you’re inquiring about him? Do you want us to search for this man?"
"No, you don’t have to. I only wanted to know because it’s related to the Rivas family." Aldrian then explained to Lorenzo about the Gu within the Rivas family, though he didn’t reveal Cecile’s identity. Hearing Aldrian’s explanation, Lorenzo frowned as he pondered something.
"If that is a Gu, it depends on the one who possesses the mother Gu. If it’s someone like Wei Zhi, then he must have been within the Rivas Grand Duchy all this time. To control the Gu, there is a maximum distance at which the Gu in the host can sense the mother Gu. I don’t know the exact location, but it must be within a range of 15,000 kilometers. That’s quite a large area, and it would be impossible to search for him blindly."
"That is, of course, assuming he hasn’t left the Rivas Grand Duchy after the Gu within the Rivas family was destroyed. There are many possibilities for his location, but we lack the necessary information." Lorenzo shook his head.
Aldrian also pondered deeply, but he found it difficult to make progress without a specific clue. The maximum distance alone wasn’t enough; it was still far too vast for him to search each place one by one. Aldrian sighed inwardly at the problem.
"If only the entire Rivas Grand Duchy were my domain," Aldrian thought, but he quickly paused his train of thought. Even if the entire Rivas Grand Duchy were his domain, he would still need time to search for Wei Zhi. Although he could sit in his room and use his Eyes of the Heaven to overlook his entire domain, he still couldn’t process too much information at once. His mind would become overloaded, feeling as though it might explode if he tried to analyze the information of tens of millions of people simultaneously.
Time was not on his side, as he had no idea what Wei Zhi was thinking. It wasn’t like when he was in the Ivory Empire, where he killed devil infiltrators as a way to spend his free time. He would teleport to various places and review the information of a certain number of people. At this time, he could only process a million pieces of information simultaneously. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
If he wanted to be more effective and direct, he needed to grow stronger—strong enough to know every living being within his domain, to know everything that happened inside it. To know everything.
"To become Omniscient," Aldrian thought. Suddenly, the words that always lingered in his mind repeated again.
There is nothing that can escape my view
There is nothing that can escape my sense
There is nothing that can escape my will
He felt something inside him change, and he knew what it was. Closing his eyes, his heart became more resolute, and his mind much clearer. It felt as though he had reached enlightenment.
"If I think about it, my domain grants me a kind of divine ability: Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient."
"My power within the domain is multiplied many fold to the point where no one can defeat me. This power encompasses all kinds of laws, making it Omnipotent."
"I can move freely within my domain, no matter how far the distance, which is one form of Omnipresence."
"My Eyes of the Heaven within my domain can see everything, uncovering the secrets of people and all things. This is a form of Omniscience."
He knew that it sounded arrogant, but he believed that it was the truth. Even though he didn’t know if absolute Omnipotence, Omnipresence, and Omniscience were possible, his domain was a small manifestation of those three abilities. Suddenly, his mind was drawn to his own being’s essence. Having grown used to it, he looked at the lone star, and as he expected it, the distance seemed much closer.
"It seems that, in seeking the power of Omnipotence, Omnipresence, and Omniscience, I also embrace myself," he thought. He closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings to meditate. This was the best place for him to do so, where there was nothing, yet everything, at the same time.
Aldrian’s true body exuded a golden aura and energy. Lorenzo, seeing it directly, felt as though he were standing before a divine being and instinctively kowtowed to Aldrian. He didn’t know why, but his body and instincts compelled him to do so. His soul and energy automatically urged him to lower himself as much as possible before it, unwilling to even think of disrespecting it.
After four hours, the golden energy and aura finally receded as Aldrian opened his eyes. He sighed and looked around, only to be stunned by the sight of Lorenzo still kowtowing before him.
"What are you doing?"
Lorenzo, still stunned upon hearing Aldrian’s voice, slowly lifted his head. He hadn’t realized how much time had passed, his mind consumed by only one thought...
Worship
He had moved purely by instinct, his body and soul guiding him unconsciously. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he stood up. However, the way he looked at Aldrian had changed. Now, he saw Aldrian not as a mere man, but as a higher being, almost like a god. That was the conclusion he had drawn from the experience he had just undergone.
