[CH598+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

The Saint replies while my divine perception continues to seep out and locate 16 individual gravity wells of red and orange core hunters approaching.

"A demon with a green core? No... no. The one I witnessed plant the throne was a True Core Yellow, yet his aura was overwhelming even thousands of kilometers away... It was like witnessing a being that was not meant to be on this mortal plane. You do have quite the interesting theory, though. A green core is definitely something I've considered in my studies before. I too at one time believed there was a clear-cut way to rise above the True Yellow, but over the years I've come to have my doubts."

My gaze shifts back to him with a confused look, as I assumed with all of his knowledge of the Originators, Demons, and the system itself, my question about this green core would be nothing but a common-sense assumption.

He continues and makes me think about the rarity of the purple ring on my finger further.

"Just because I do not believe a green core exists, doesn't mean there is no other way to ascend."

He pulls out another recording crystal and shows me more tablets of writing I cannot comprehend. These particular recordings look far crisper and more recent; however, the tablets of stone themselves look much older and more ancient than the first set of recordings he showed.

"This is a piece from my personal collection, a tablet I found myself long before the system arrived on this world. It roughly translates: 'Those who are common, but wish to one day walk amongst the gods must let go of the body and walk between your world and the fabric of reality.'"

He shuts off the recording, and my mind is split between a few things.

The first thing is that it seems this man and his cult-like following of studying this ancient text have found their own way of preserving the mind, energy cores, and soul while substituting Qi in place of the physical body, tethering it all together with divine energy, as his interpretation of the text.

However, I have eyewitness proof that Qi is not necessary to achieve this feat. I've seen the green serpent, cyan and dark blue knights, and even Celia herself within her construct in pure energy forms.

Though, the interpretation of walking between this world and the fabric of reality does make me wonder if this has some reason as to why there are no physical beings above this rank in this world. The Divine Construct was in fact a separate space in a pocket dimension of its own...

Lastly, the age of the stone compared to the others makes me speculate the legitimacy of the writing even further. It was made here when mana was not rich on this world.

Yes, the Saint and other order members have had access to Qi and divine energy before the system arrived; but I still wonder if the Originators themselves used divine energy in its current form to reach this feat. Or, if they had solely Qi and the Saint's interpretation is correct and all of the newfound knowledge of divine threads today is misconstrued...

With many clashing thoughts racing through my mind, I choose not to jump to conclusions.

The last time I checked on my teammates beneath the Crimson City, Ember's consciousness was stirring. Once he wakes, all of my unanswered theories will have a truly knowledgeable source to combat them.

For now, I set these theories aside and reply with the most important news.

"We're being surrounded. Eleven red cores, and five orange. Half are approaching from the west to arrive in the 8 Great Regions, while the others come from the south, soon to be intercepting your Region, Raven."

I turn to both of them, and by the shocked looks on their faces, neither of them sensed these faraway sources or expected my response to be this at all.