Sorcerer’s Handbook

Everyone looked towards the Empress, with unresolved doubts burning in their hearts.

In fact, ever since ‘Gospel Ashe’ swept through and rendered most of the subsequent ranking lists irrelevant, they had vaguely anticipated the possibility of “Ashpel.”

Although they were mentally prepared for this outcome, it didn’t mean they understood it.

No matter how they thought about it, “the appearance of Ashpel” truly disrupted many rules of the Weaving Festival. The future woven this time was indeed chaotic and even contradictory. Mercury’s mere use of the word ‘fooling’ was already putting it mildly; they all felt like the Gospel was just messing around.

“Can’t you wait for the New Empress to give you the answers personally?”

The Empress seated herself back on the throne and calmly said, “However, now that the weaving has concluded, Raypel can also provide you with answers.”

“Firstly, Ashpel fully meets the requirements for being on the list,” she said. “In fact, the Gospel Ranking does not restrict by gender; it’s just that historically, there have been more girls, leading to your misconception. There were male First Gospels in the past; Ashpel is not an isolated instance.”

What about the labels “most pure, most innocent, most kind, most beautiful”? Just look at the harem the Gospel has reserved for him in advance, and his actions. Hasn’t he redefined the meaning of these adjectives?

To say nothing of purity-how could he still be pure now!?

“Because the Yisuo Princess lost her qualification,” the Empress stated calmly. “So the Gospel had to reselect the First Gospel.”

“Why choose Ashe? Does he have any special qualities?” Someone asked, pretending to be straightforward. At this moment, everyone held their breath, hoping the Empress would reveal some secrets about the Gospel.

“That is naturally because he meets the requirements of the Gospel Ranking: purity, innocence, kindness, and beauty,” the Empress replied impeccably. “Moreover, the Gospel did not directly select Ashpel; he was just a backup candidate.”

At this moment, Qenna raised her hand, “Since Ashe is the First Gospel, wouldn’t the previous nine rankings be riddled with contradictions and conflicts? Why does the top three rankings imply that future doomsday disasters are related to Ashe? And why did Ashpel nullify the rankings of the Last Six Rankings?”

“Because Ashe underwent a change significant enough to influence the Gospel’s judgment,” the Empress explained. “The Gospel can only achieve ‘limited omniscience’; as an exotic land individual, the Gospel could not fully foresee Ashpel’s future.”

“In the Art Ranking, Ashpel was indeed seen by the Gospel as the origin of the doomsday disasters, which prompted Nabistin to issue a wanted notice for him. However, between the Art Ranking and the Family Ranking, Ashpel experienced a turning point.”

“What turning point?” Yvaren asked.

The Empress did not answer directly: “If Ashpel was just a backup candidate before, starting from the Family Ranking, Ashpel became the only choice for the First Gospel. It could only be him; it had to be him.”

People couldn’t help but look at Senhaeser-in the gap between the Art Ranking and the Family Ranking, Ashe had been living with Senhaeser. Therefore, Ashe must have encountered a significant turning point there, which led to him becoming the officially designated candidate for the First Gospel.

What treasure did you Senhaeser folks hide, and why did this fortune end up in the hands of an outsider? Wait, on second thought, Ashe almost seemed to be considered part of their own field…

Nona glanced at Qenna, who frowned slightly.

She remembered that Ashe spent those days playing games and didn’t encounter any unusual events in real life. So, where exactly did he experience his turning point?

“The Family Ranking and the Ranking of Schemes were both influenced by Ashpel’s efforts to save the Gospel,” the Empress continued, “In the face of natural disasters, the living were no longer sufficient to resist, so complete necromancy was required; in the face of man-made calamities, Ashpel’s premature fall necessitated the Rust Crow’s resurrection journey.”

“By the time of the Happiness Ranking, another turning point had occurred. However, this turning point was not related to Ashpel but was triggered by the interference of the Omniscient Weaver.”

Omniscient Weaver!?

Upon hearing this supreme revelation, everyone was left in shock. They had never imagined that a mere once-in-fifty-years Weaving Festival would attract the gaze of the Divine Sovereign-this even silenced Mercury.

So what if Ashe is from an exotic land? He passed under the scrutiny of the Omniscient Weaver, certifying him like no other could.

“The reason for the interference is unknown, but the results of the interference are as you have all seen,” the Empress stated. “Starting from the Family Ranking, the subsequent ranking lists represent Ashpel’s ‘new future,’ which has nothing to do with the ‘grim future’ depicted in the Art Ranking. However, the Divine Sovereign’s interference is the greatest variable. With the Omniscient Weaver’s attention, the Gospel successfully wove a ‘perfect future’ even better than the ‘new future.’”

“In this ‘perfect future,’ the subsequent six rankings, including the Happiness Ranking, are impossible to achieve, so they must be nullified. In reality, the previous three rankings should also be nullified, but they were not retracted because they had already been announced.”

Anfel murmured, “A ‘perfect future’ better than the ‘new future’? What’s the difference?”

“The first nine rankings were all premised on the inevitability of doomsday disasters, even the ‘new future’,” the Empress explained. “But in the ‘perfect future’ watched over by the Omniscient Weaver, we will preemptively eliminate the calamities and narrowly avoid doomsday.”

“Natural disasters, necromantic families, Rust Crow schemes, and everything else that Ashpel nullified-they won’t happen.”

“The Gospel wove for us the most benevolent Ashpel, and the Omniscient Weaver pointed out the noise that brings chaos to all.”

At that moment, the previously silent Gospel Book seemed to come to life again.

The bright purple bookmark was completely different from the Weaving Festival’s update prompts, causing everyone to wonder: Was this an epilogue personally added by the Omniscient Weaver?

“It’s time.” The Empress opened to the bookmarked page and issued a command to an unknown recipient: “Bring back Ashpel and eliminate the noise.”

“Ugh!”

Ashe suddenly lunged forward, knocking over the full-length mirror. With a loud crash, the mirror shattered into countless pieces on the floor.

“Dad!?”

Lise rushed over to help Ashe, who was kneeling with his hands clutching his head amidst the shards. “Dad, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me, Dad!”

Ashe couldn’t hear Lise’s voice; his fingers were digging into his scalp like iron spikes, trying to counter the chaotic memories flooding his mind with pain! He wanted to scream, but every sound was trapped in his throat; he wanted to vent, but his body refused to obey.

In his vision, the shattered fragments of the mirror played out memories he had no recollection of: he had manipulated a young sorcerer, leading him to jump off a bridge; he had drained a Siren of water and tossed it into a fountain in the square; he had stood outside the restroom, staring at Banjeet who was washing his hands inside…

These memories were so vivid, the emotions in them so intense, yet they were entirely distinct from his original memories. Ashe not only couldn’t digest these memories, but he also felt as if his very soul might be consumed by them!

“Dad, Dad!” Seeing Ashe in such a state of torment and hysteria, Lise herself was growing frantic. She looked at her hand mirror with tear-filled eyes, then her expression rapidly steadied. Wiping away the tears and snot on her face with her sleeve, a few strands of black and red had blended into her previously pure white hair.

She removed all the broken glass around Ashe, wincing slightly as she cut her hand but not letting out a cry. She guided Ashe to lie on his side with his head on her lap, cradled him, and whispered in his ear, “Little Ashe, we will live in a place with a garden, see the sea when we step outside, and we’ll have a dog and a cat.”

“Little Ashe, we’ll go to Wonderland World again, just the two of us…”

“Ash, come on, stay strong.”

“Dad, I’ll introduce you to four beautiful elder sisters, just wake up, please?”

“Ashe.” Tears couldn’t stop flowing from ‘Lise’s’ eyes. “Don’t leave me.”

Suddenly, Ashe’s tense and convulsing body relaxed, turning into a limp heap on the floor. ‘Lise’ struggled to lift him up to a sitting position and asked anxiously, “Hey, can you hear me? Are you feeling any better?”

“A bit better, but not completely…” Ashe gritted his teeth, using the bedpost to help himself stand. “The other me sure packs a punch…”

In Ashe’s perception, his mental world now contained two versions of himself: one being his original self, formed from his past memories, and the other being the ‘Gospel Ashe,’ formed from those foreign memories.

‘Gospel Ashe’ was extremely fierce, delivering a series of powerful punches that left the original Ashe on the ground, metaphorically calling for an ambulance. If ‘Gospel Ashe’ were to win, he would gain control of the entire soul, leaving the world with only ‘Gospel Ashe’ and no trace of the original Ashe.

But just when Ashe thought he was literally about to ‘start a new life,’ his mental self suddenly emitted a purple glow and stood up to continue fighting ‘Gospel Ashe.’ Surprisingly, the fight became somewhat evenly matched, allowing Ashe to barely regain dominance over his body.

Ashe knew very well where that purple glow came from-the secrecy power of his Secret Incarnation.

Although his Secret Incarnation was typically useless, it could play an irreplaceable role when needed. The Mysterious Power allowed him to naturally blend into any environment, assuming any identity, while the secrecy power enhanced his mental resistance and adaptability to deities.

Without the Secret Incarnation, he might be lost by now.

Seeing the worried ‘Lise,’ Ashe casually cast a Joy Sword to heal the cuts on her hand, leaning against the wall, he said, “Let me sort out the current situation… The top spot on the Gospel Ranking is me, so I am the First Gospel… But why me? How could it be me? It can’t be me! I refuse to accept this!”

Ashe was just as shocked as everyone else-he remembered that the requirement for the First Gospel was to be ‘the purest, most innocent, kindest, and most beautiful girl.’ Leaving aside the gender mismatch, how could a corporate slave with several years of work experience possibly associate with those adjectives?

If you used those words to praise me, I might even think you’re mocking me!

Ashe was certain that the Gospel Ranking hadn’t selected him through normal channels; he just didn’t know what had granted him this backdoor entry.

The Four Pillars? The Blood Moon? He didn’t possess anything that would warrant such special attention from the Gospel!

Just as Ashe opened the Gospel Book to review his ranking once more, the book suddenly popped out a purple note.

It was a message from Annan.

“There is a deity in the basement, and that deity looks exactly like you.”

Those strange alien memories, the sacred version of himself within those memories…

A deity, wielding divine authority in a mortal’s form…

Secret Incarnation, secrecy power…

“Are you okay?” ‘Lise’ pulled on his sleeve.

Ashe stared blankly at ‘Lise,’ forcing a smile that looked more like he was about to cry.Nôv(el)B\\jnn