The Divine Descent Ceremony's prayer doesn't end here; it continues with symbolic descriptions corresponding to the authority of the Dream Hidden King. But Yang Qizhou found it too dull and had skipped over them entirely.
After all, writing them down serves no actual purpose.
With the complete sacred name and Divine Descent prayer now obtained, the mission is halfway done. Next step? Swapping out the 'Bloodstained Rags' on the altar. Of course, the process won't be smooth.
The game continues,
"You have obtained the complete sacred name and Divine Descent prayer of the Dream Hidden King. You feel rather pleased and prepare to head to the altar to replace the Holy Relic 'Bloodstained Rags.'
"You suddenly hear the sound of a dog barking,"
"You smell the rank stench of blood, the foul breath of a hunting dog that has spent years gnawing on flesh. Strangely enough, you see no sign of any hound."
"You say 'as expected' and calmly prepare to embrace death."
"Your heart is eaten by the dog."
"You are dead."
Death may be delayed, but it never fails to arrive.
During the early days, Yang Qizhou might have grumbled about these bizarre ways to die, but now he's utterly unfazed. In fact, if his character ever stopped bouncing between repeated deaths, he'd probably feel genuinely unsettled.
Besides, this time, death was part of Yang Qizhou's calculations.
As the narrator's sarcastic commentary unfolds, the character's soul once again returns to the River of Death. The usual options present themselves: choose normal resurrection or use the power of the Desecrating Dark Crow to return to the previous decision point.
Yang Qizhou chooses the latter,
"The Dark Crow of Profane Fortune caws again, and you return to the moment you last made a choice. This time, you had used the excuse of going to the washroom to escape from the Fire Stealing Priest."
"Now, as an adventurer who knows the Dream Hidden King's complete sacred name and Divine Descent prayer and is weaving sordid schemes,"
"Do you choose to painstakingly search the study again?"
"Or immediately head to the room where the Evil God Altar is set up and swap out the Bloodstained Rags?"
Yang Qizhou wouldn't opt for the first choice. He already has the Dream Hidden King's complete sacred name and corresponding Divine Descent prayer. Searching again would either signify sheer madness or some disturbingly deep devotion to this Evil God.
It didn't require any thought. Yang Qizhou immediately chose the second option.
"You decide to proceed to the Evil Altar."
"You stand outside the door, where the faint purple aura continues to seep through the gaps, permeated by the suffocating pressure."
"You recall being ambushed and killed countless times by the invisible hunting hound. Your calves tremble, your limbs feel cold, sweat drenches your back, and you suppress the urge to shudder. It was never a pleasant experience to come here. If not absolutely necessary, you'd never willingly return."
"You take a deep breath and push the door open."
"There is no trace of the rank stench of blood; evidently, the unseen hound is not here."
"You rush to the altar and see the 'Bloodstained Rags' stained by the sovereign's blood. You remove it and place the object housing the Dream Realm Mother Goddess Flower Seed in its place."
"You hear the dog barking again."
"You are not surprised; you even feel a strange familiarity. Your kidneys are bitten to shreds."
"You are dead."
"You return to the churning River of Death, where countless souls slumber in its depths."
"The flame of Destiny's Blessing, after rewriting two death endings, has dimmed to an extreme degree. You can resurrect only one more time."
"Because you had used the power of the Dark Crow of Profane Fortune to return to the previous decision point, this ability can no longer be used again."
"Now, will you wield the power of fate to rewrite the ending of your death?"
"Or let your soul sink into the River of Death."
Even if the Dark Crow of Profane Fortune's ability were available, Yang Qizhou wouldn't opt for it.
Returning to the previous decision point under a new narrative line would mean the character hadn't visited either the study or the Evil Altar, thus avoiding alerting anyone. The plan only required waiting for the Fire Stealing Priest to initiate the Divine Descent Ceremony while secretly chanting the Dream Hidden King's sacred name.
But this plan has its own complications.
The rollback abilities of the Dark Crow of Profane Fortune are undoubtedly a bug. They preserve benefits from the previous fate outcomes while keeping the game's narrative unaffected.
For instance, the 'Bloodstained Rags' item. In the earlier fate, the character definitively stole it, but once the rollback power of the Dark Crow of Profane Fortune was used, the Evil Altar inexplicably contained a new set of 'Bloodstained Rags,' and the prior acquisition wasn't taken away.
That doesn't mean the narrative outcome "the character has replaced the Bloodstained Rags at the Evil Altar" can be preserved. Instead, there's a high likelihood it will be overwritten, reverting the plot to "the Bloodstained Rags at the Evil Altar still belong to the Fire Stealing Priest."
Under such conditions, the theft of the Divine Descent Ceremony could be deemed a failure.
Thus, the Dark Crow of Profane Fortune's power is not applicable here.
Yang Qizhou certainly wouldn't let the character's soul sink into the River of Death.
He opts for a normal resurrection.
"You, the cunning adventurer, choose to use Destiny's Blessing's weakening flame to rewrite the ending of your death."
"You awaken once more at the dwelling arranged by Yixiu."
"..."
Done. Mission complete.
Yang Qizhou stopped refreshing the text, threw his phone onto the coffee table, and stretched hard.
Although he wanted to continue gaming, thwarting the Fire Stealing Priest's schemes and letting the Dream Hidden King experience pregnancy for a change, circumstances didn't allow it.
Up to the last rollback, he'd already used the Dark Crow of Profane Fortune's power four times today: once during the community outreach event, another to acquire the 'Bloodstained Rags,' yet another incident for Lena's death, and finally, while retrieving the Dream Hidden King's sacred name.
Even his three resurrections were all spent—once when the invisible hound killed him in the Priest's study, another when Lena burned him to death, and the last when swapping the 'Bloodstained Rags.'
According to the posts from 'Mystic Cultivator,' after using up the third resurrection, any subsequent character deaths lead to permanent soul descent into the River of Death—not just the character's erasure, but the player's real-life demise as well.
And in this 'Deceit World' game, with its primary theme of characters dying repeatedly, Yang Qizhou couldn't guarantee how much longer his character would survive.
So, to play it safe, he decided to wait until the resurrection count refreshed tomorrow before tackling the Dream Hidden King, the big boss.
"Mystic Cultivator's post includes a third rule: never speak the full sacred names of hidden entities from the game in real life. Even abbreviations are best avoided."
"Now I do have the Dream Hidden King's full sacred name."
"I just don't know what would happen if I said it out loud."
"Forget it—I, unlike the game character, don't have Destiny's Blessing to rewrite the ending of my death. Best not to tempt fate."
Yang Qizhou drifted off to sleep, his thoughts trailing into oblivion.