Deep crimson 64

  An ordinary transmigrator, how can he influence a world?

  Without transcendent wisdom, the traces of the past have been worn away by the long passage of time and changes in the environment. And yet, with no deep understanding of the new world that has arrived, can everything be rewritten based on a self-righteous fantasy grounded in one's knowledge of the old world?

  Before the mighty power that fills the world and completely different rules, it can only become an unrealistic ridiculous dream.

  So humble and courteous.

  Integrate, understand, master, until transform.

  The most solid road.

  Penny pushed open the little gate.

  The even redder glow made his figure look dim.

  The scene in the courtyard surprised him somewhat.

  It is said that when the beastmen raid human settlements, if they encounter resistance, they will kill all the resisters and people in the settlement, piling up the severed heads into a pyramid.

  In another world, this thing is called 'Kyokan'.

  In front of him was a colossal and astonishingly large skull monument, with thousands of skulls densely packed inside. What made him even more uncomfortable was that the surface of this skull monument had clearly been fixed with some sort of spell, as if it had been covered with a thin film. The expressions on those broken skulls were even more striking under the reflective and monotonous membrane-like texture, revealing an extreme cruelty and ferocity, making Panni realize at first glance that it was not a sculpture.

  A few tattered red robes hung over the landscape, he looked up and stared for a while, then a low, hoarse voice came from beside him, as if squeezed out of his throat: "How does it feel?"

  Pan Ni turned his head and saw that the speaker was standing at the door of a small room on his left side. He wore a somewhat worn but very clean red robe, with a tall and thin body, and wrinkles on his face indicated that he was not young anymore, but it was hard to tell which age group he belonged to.

  His mouth corners slightly drooped, as if born with a serious expression. When Penny's gaze shifted upwards and met that pair of eyes, she was immediately stunned.

  It was as if a bolt of lightning had pierced his body, shaking all his nerves.

  What profound eyes!

  Like a gentle stream in the deep mountains, as quiet as a dead cemetery, but with a slight movement of the eyes, it's like thunder rolling in the clouds, or an undercurrent about to crash onto the shore and become a huge wave. The enormous spiritual pressure directly presses the opponent's soul into the abyss.

  Penny suddenly stopped breathing for over ten seconds.

  After his adventures in the North, Penny was no longer a person who had not seen great scenes. In the abyss, there was a god who showed him his power, but it was nothing compared to the power revealed by this pair of eyes.

  Perhaps it is because the incarnation cannot fully embody the divine power, but what makes this tall and thin old man possess such dignity comparable to the divine power?

  Pang Ni swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva, trying to calm herself down.

  He had long known that the Red Robe Society was far more profound than he could have imagined, and also knew that the guide who brought him into the Red Robes couldn't be an ordinary person. But if a legendary master appeared before his eyes, this joke was going too far.

  "You look very tense, this is not good." The old master walked slowly to Penny's side: "Today is a good... oh no, maybe can't say it's a good day, but after all, it's a very important moment, our lives have been so heavy, you're still so tense, how can you have the strength to move forward?"

  "I... am sorry." Penny raised her hand and gave a ceremonial salute to the old master, then looked up again and saw that terrifying pair of eyes. Her mind shook slightly, and two spiritual energies, "Mind Shield" and "Spiritual Barrier", automatically popped out, but then retracted back in.

  Pan Ni looked up at those eyes again and felt that gaze wasn't so terrifying after all.

  But he was still nervous because he didn't know what his thoughts had leaked out under the pressure of that instant.

  "Oh, what do I see? A calm yet stubborn personality? Ambition that is restrained yet has infinite possibilities? A self-awareness that appears humble but is actually proud? An identity that still holds a sense of confusion? Not bad, not bad, it seems I have the good fortune to meet a special colleague. Better than being ordinary." The old master fell silent for a moment, savoring the words as he nodded: "Come over here."

  Pang Ni secretly let out a breath of relief and followed the old master to that unremarkable room, passing by a ferocious face on Jingguan Shang, she couldn't help but turn her head back for another glance.

  "This was the most tragic battle in our history." The old wizard's voice came from beside my ear: "More than 50 wizards, more than 400 Mulan warriors, and more than 1,000 civilians were surrounded by 30,000 beastmen on the mountain top. The battle lasted for five days and nights. When we recaptured the Sel Mountain Range, we found that the beastman shaman had left us a memorial with magic. Our ancestors were very excited and decided to preserve it as a sacred place for sacrifice. From then on, the wizards of Sel wore red robes - this was because the wizards who sacrificed in that battle had their clothes turn pure red."

  Panni nodded, of course he knew about the Selkie's fanatical worship of red, but when he heard the old master's next sentence, he was surprised again:

  "But remembering those histories is of no use."

  Panni looked at the old man in surprise, could a legendary wizard have such a disdainful attitude towards the history of the Wizards' Association? Or was it the arrogance born from the Red Robe Wizard's strong competitive spirit?

  "We may have once belonged to the Imaskar, and we may have betrayed them - if that claim is proven true; but undoubtedly we once belonged to Mulhorand, and we also betrayed them; we brought the beastmen from a distant world to attack Ferrin, and we fought back for over a thousand years to reclaim this land from foreign hands. But whether our past is glorious or not, whether it's worth reminiscing about, all that is in the past. Now we belong to ourselves." The old wizard opened the small door, and Penny followed him into the small room, which was sparsely decorated with only a bookshelf containing a few books, and some dim, soothing runes.

  He sat in the chair at the very center under the guidance of the elder, and his mind entered a mysteriously empty state.

  The old master's voice continued to echo in the ears: "In the past, the Red Robe Master Association was not important, because his mark has been deeply imprinted on our order, there is no need to reminisce or have a special memorial. What is important is that we still exist and will continue to exist in the future."

  "Hmm... you've mastered Change and Illusion, but what about the third type of magic that you're willing to give up?"

  Pan Ni hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind: "Prophecy, I will give up prophecy."

  "Oh? This is an unimaginable choice?" The old master's tone was somewhat astonished: "Are you sure you won't need this magic in the future? Are you willing to give up the ability of omniscience and omnipresence? Once abandoned, at least before reaching my level, it will be impossible for you to grasp it again."

  "Sir, can the future be predicted?"

  "Hmm... theoretically possible." The old master thought for a moment before saying, "Although very few people have achieved it."

  "Then let my eyes guide my way, I'm used to it." Penny said calmly.

  "......Alright." The old master seemed to be stunned for a moment, looked at Penny several more times, then turned around and took down a book from the bookshelf, flipping through it: "Oh......wait a minute, I'm temporarily taking over this job, this set of things hasn't been used for a while, in recent years tattoo technology seems to have improved again, I need some time to get familiar with it."

  "It doesn't matter." Penny forced a smile, silently complaining about the usher in her heart. What kind of urgent matter did he have to attend to? To bring a legendary wizard to test his nerves?

  "Logically, one should take an oath before joining the Association of Mages, but these oaths..." The old mage's gaze stopped on a certain page in the book he was holding, and he furrowed his brow: "How trite."

  Pan Ni was speechless, although she also agreed with exempting formalism in her heart, but saying it so directly was a bit too blunt.

  But who is this monk after all? Panni racked his brains to recall, but unfortunately, he knew very little about the top existence in the Monk Association. Moreover, through this period of time, he clearly understood that the legendary spellcaster in the Monk Association was far more than he had imagined.

  "What else can bind loyalty but profit and power? The oath is empty words. Let's skip this part, oh dear apprentice, you're lucky it's not Morovius presiding over the ritual, he'd have you read these nauseating phrases several times with utmost seriousness."

  Pan Ni didn't know how to respond and could only laugh awkwardly and nod his head.

  "But don't be too happy too early, apprentice. Why do you want to become a Red Robe Master?" the old master suddenly asked.

  "Protect..." Panni thought for a moment.

  "Protect, snatch? Is it that simple? No, no, no. The colleagues I've introduced to you can't be so shallow. You should have a deep enough foundation to match the red robe I gave you." The old master frowned and shook his head.

  "A profound seed? A stronger desire?" Penny asked tentatively.

  "Not bad, it's only with enough desire that we can drive ourselves to strive for more, right?"

  "What kind of desire is enough? To become a caster as powerful as you?" Pennie thought for a moment, legendary mage, should be pretty cool.

  "Power? This thing is just a tool, if one lives only to pursue power, they might as well be dead." The mage shook his head, seemingly unimpressed: "Everyone pursues power, but it's all just to satisfy the deeper desires in their hearts. Warriors pursue power to gain the favor of those laughable big shots, seeking empty glory and authority; beastmen pursue power to crush their enemies into pieces; mages pursue wisdom... hmm, from a certain perspective, this is also a kind of power, they delve into the world, searching for ways to grasp or transcend it... And you? What do you plan to do?"

  "Master or surpass? Is becoming a god not a great goal?" Panni furrowed her brow and asked boldly.

  "Deity?" Instead, the old master's response was a wry smile: "Those poor creatures possess great power, yet can't even control their own thoughts and lives, tightly binding themselves to the shackles of rules. Do you want to become that kind of thing? I think not."

  It means that even gods are not taken seriously.

  Panni fell silent, he understood that the old master's thoughts and powers far exceeded his own level, making this discussion utterly meaningless. The enormous gap in worldview, cognition, and breadth of thought made him feel like a naive child in front of the old master.

  Perhaps something enlightening can be gained from the discussion as well.

  But Pannie was afraid of offending this unfathomable old man, so he hesitated.

  "It seems you already have an idea, but apparently you don't want to say it. If you don't speak up, how can I agree with you?" The old master looked at Panni's expression and suddenly smiled: "Up until now, your performance has been very satisfactory to me. I like this kind of conversation, at least I'm not wasting my time talking to a pile of wood, am I?"

  "Indeed." Panni stopped hesitating, easily understanding that hiding anything from the old master was meaningless. He said respectfully: "As you said, awareness, grasp, change, transcend - I suppose that's everything for a mage."

  "Not bad, not bad, you've hit the nail on the head, very good." The old master's face cracked a smile for the first time: "So, you want to make some changes?"

  Penny nodded slightly nervously.

  "Alright, it's much better than pursuing those uninteresting things. Although now it seems like you don't want to change much, but once you change a little bit, the rules of the world will force you to change more things. I think you have great potential because I feel enough stubbornness in you, or... tenacity." The old master narrowed his eyes and looked up and down at Penny, and the boy suddenly felt that huge oppressive force descending upon him again: "I hope it can make you persist."

  Under the enormous pressure, Penny felt a scorching heat on top of his head. At the same time as this scorching sensation arose, he saw countless black lines falling down in front of his eyes.

  "Fervor, devotion, and sincerity..." The old master's palm hovered above Penny's head, his tone solemn as he chanted.

  When Pan Ni heard these three words, his face involuntarily twisted, when did the red-robed Taoist have anything to do with these words? However, he was still considering whether to ask questions when he heard the old Taoist continue to say in that tone:

  "...are all nonsense."

  Penney was momentarily speechless.

  The atmosphere was even quieter, and Penny felt that the top of her head had thoroughly cooled down. She secretly sighed in her heart, wanting to blend into a world, she must make some sacrifices.

  Then in the quiet room, only the old man's hoarse and mysterious incantation could be heard:

  "Survival is a great game, looking ahead and behind, thinking deeply and carefully, those who dare to advance occupy the initiative, and those who are wise in strategy gain victory."

  Panny's expression turned serious, feeling that the old master had sprinkled something on himself, smelling a bloody smell between his nostrils, seemingly some kind of magical beast blood. The black apprentice robe changed color quickly.

  The hoarse voice continued to linger in his ears until he left the small hut that a red-robed cultivator might only enter once in their lifetime.

  "Will dominates fate, power belongs to ambition, and the red of Mount Sel is with you."

  He touched his smooth head, a gentle breeze blew open the hem of his red robe, and a pair of eyes gazed quietly at the evening sky.

  A piece of crimson red like blood.