“Tantra,” along with “Holy Books,” “Original Manuscripts,” and “Secret Records,” all fell under the broad concept of “Chronicles.” It was simply a slight change in the concept of “books recording superhuman knowledge.” In the Divine Construct, after a person died, their soul would return to the realms of the gods, their body would rest in the earth, and all the past would fade into the wind. Superhumans were no exception.

But there were always some who reached the peak of their powers, those superhumans who were not content with a quiet death. They craved eternal life, they desired the infinite lifespan and power of the gods. They planned to defy the laws of death, using all their might, exhausting their cunning… But their efforts ultimately proved futile, because the only thing the gods gave to the world was a single equality—everyone will die.

The god of wisdom, a lover of knowledge, admired them for their boldness. They dared to defy the laws of nature. They dared to challenge the rules that the Primal God had established for the world. So, he granted these humans a different kind of immortality—the permanence of knowledge and wisdom.

One of the envoys of the Eternal Cycle, the “Dream Weaver” who oversees secrets and legacies, would preserve the knowledge of these “defiant ones” after they died, weaving their knowledge into a colorful dream. A superhuman with great talent, or a cleric of the God of Wisdom, could find fragments of these knowledge within those dreams.

The “Dream Catchers” of the Eternal Cycle Church are responsible for fishing these lost pieces of knowledge from the sea of dreams and compiling them into books. This type of book, which records secret knowledge, is collectively referred to by the Eternal Cycle Church as “Tantra.” Scholars who focus on studying these books give them names based on the content of the book.

“Transmutation is a term in alchemy. It refers to the change in matter, the change in elements. For example, copper transmuting into gold… It can also refer to mutation, transformation. The fourth-tier profession, ‘Transmutationist,’ is named after this concept. This Tantra could be related to alchemy.”

Once again, Selene, with her disguise in place, sat in the dining room and explained the superhuman knowledge of “Tantra” and “Transmutation” to her companion.

Seeing that he was still a little confused, as if he didn’t understand what “Tantra” meant, and had no idea what kind of status or weight those Chronicles held, Selene used her own experience as an example.

“You must know, when we both arrived in town last year, we were just normal people, like you. So, do you know how I became a superhuman and learned so many rituals overnight?”

The big man’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I got lucky and found a Tantra…” Selene touched her neck and said in a low voice, “It’s called the 《Ascension Tantra》 or the 《The Shedding of Skin》.”

Her voice was heavier when she said the words “Shedding of Skin.” It seemed as if she were hinting at something.

The big man was startled by these bloody words. He swallowed. He put aside his natural greed and didn’t ask about the whereabouts of the Tantra or Selene’s experience. Instead, he brought the conversation back to the point. He had worked side-by-side with Selene many times before, so he knew the purpose of her bringing these superhuman concepts up to him.

“What you mean is… Given the value of the Tantra, there’s no way that that beggar-looking commissioner is the one who actually posted the assignment. He’s just a glove, an intermediary?”

“Right.” Selene nodded, then added. “Actually, I heard from another source that someone is looking for a valuable Chronicle. But whether they are actually looking for the 《Transmutation Tantra》 or not, we need to investigate to see whether those two things are connected to the same person… You make sure the others don’t get involved in this. When you go report to Duquesne later, tell him about this. You understand?”

While they were talking, the commissioner who was eating loudly got up and walked out the door with some difficulty. It seemed as if he were about to leave.

Seeing this, Selene ended her conversation with the server and told him to let Duquesne know where she was headed. Then she naturally stood up and walked out the door, following behind the commissioner whose belly was bulging, silently and unobtrusively trailing him.

“Shedding of skin, ascension…” The big man muttered to himself, thinking about his boss’s breathtakingly inhuman beauty, and shuddered violently, not daring to think any further. He quickly went to find his friends.

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On the other side, Selene, who was following behind the commissioner, sighed.

Because of her mention of the 《Ascension Tantra》 to the big man, she couldn’t avoid remembering what had happened more than a year ago. It was a breezy afternoon with clear skies. She took an assignment to find a dog, and then chased it all the way out of town. She ran to the forest outside Schwerdt Town and, through a stroke of luck, discovered a ruin hidden underground.

She spent about three days exploring that one large room of ruins, finally finding the 《Ascension Tantra》 in the dust. From it, she learned how to become a “Ritual Magician” and three lost rituals.

They were the Ritual of the White Dew, the Ritual of the Flipping Glasses, and the Ritual of the Wound. The Ritual of the White Dew was the ritual she used to appeal to the gods for an answer. The Ritual of the Flipping Glasses and the Ritual of the Wound were rituals for appealing to the envoys of the God of Wisdom for power. The only difference was that the former appealed to the “Twin Mirrors,” and the effect of the ritual was more supportive in nature, while the latter appealed to the “Blade of the Wound” and was a purely offensive ritual. The power and the price were both great.

As for the emphasis on “Shedding of Skin,” she was just trying to scare her companion. The 《Ascension Tantra》 didn’t record such a bloody ritual. It’s just that one of its former owners compared the effects of those rituals to “being like shedding skin, like the swift and decisive contact of flesh with air.” That’s why it was named the 《The Shedding of Skin》.

—That’s what it said on the cover of the book, anyway.

She brought her scattered thoughts back together and saw the commissioner mingling in the crowd from a distance. She quickly quickened her pace and followed him a bit closer.

The crowd on Thel Street thinned out a little during the evening hours, but it was still denser than other squares. The environment was dirty and messy, and the buildings were complex, making surveillance very difficult. Selene, after all, hadn’t systematically learned tracking skills in her previous life or this life, so she was only barely able to keep up, relying on the powerful concentration and reaction times of a “Ritual Magician.”

They left Thel Street, and the commissioner, as if he had been weakened by his already insufficient physical strength and also by the excessive drinking and eating that had given him an upset stomach, slowed down after they left the crowded Thel Street, giving Selene a little relief.

A short while later, they arrived at an abandoned warehouse in the north of town.

On their way, Selene completely confirmed that he was just a “middleman,” simply posting the assignment for someone else. He didn’t have any consciousness of being followed, and just walked straight ahead the whole time. Even a normal person without any superhuman abilities could follow him without being detected.

But Selene didn’t relax her vigilance for a moment. After he reached his destination, she focused even more intently. She took a vial of “Shadow Blend” potion from her hip and drank it. Immediately, her whole body seemed to be covered in a layer of shadow, difficult to detect.

She prepared herself, then waited in a hidden spot where she could clearly see the front door of the warehouse.

The commissioner knocked several times on the front door of the warehouse. Very quickly, a man wearing a worker’s uniform came out. He didn’t let the commissioner inside, but chatted with him right at the door. Their conversation was purposely low and unclear, forcing Selene to move a little closer.

“…. How many…?”

“About twenty… No results…”

“That’s normal… Continue…”

“…. Today’s money…”

The brief exchange ended quickly. The man from the warehouse slipped a few coins into the commissioner’s hand, then chased him away.

The man, dressed in worker’s clothing, then pretended to be a worker taking a break, strolling around the warehouse area. He even acted uncivilized, taking care of his biological needs in a corner, shivering his body. All this was a disguise, hiding his observation of the surrounding area.

After confirming that there was no one around, he turned and went back to the warehouse.

A few minutes after he went into the warehouse, Selene, having confirmed that he hadn’t detected her, jumped down from the wall, furrowed her brow, and carefully avoided the foul-smelling liquid.

She stealthily got closer to the warehouse and, carefully observing its appearance, discovered a very small window high up on the side. She moved her arms and legs, then, agilely, climbed up the side of the warehouse on the jutting bricks, carefully peeking half her head out of the window to observe the situation.

All she could see were scattered wooden crates and shelves. They were covered in dust and grime, and there was nothing else. Selene was startled. She changed her angle and looked inside, but still couldn’t find anything.

There was no one inside the warehouse, not even footprints or any signs of human activity.

She jumped down from the wall and rolled away, using a move to dissipate the impact force. Then she pulled a vial of red potion from her hip and poured it into her mouth. The sharp pain from her high-intensity movements disappeared instantly. Immediately afterwards, she put her attention on the lock on the door and confirmed that there was no magic or ritual left on it. She then took out a sturdy, rectangular card, and, after flipping it a few times, she opened the lock.

The door opened silently, and Selene hid to the side. After half a minute passed without any incident, she carefully entered the warehouse.

The corner of her mouth curved upwards. She said silently in her heart.

“This is the great detective ‘Nitya’…”