CHAPTER 1499: CHAPTER 201: BIRTH OF THE CELESTIAL MARSHAL OF COMMERCE

In the dead of night, Aiwass suddenly awoke with a start in the palace.

——Just moments ago, he felt a star burst forth into the sky.

A new Celestial Marshal had been born.

As a star rose into the night sky, Aiwass opened his eyes, with dark red embers burning in their depths.

"Hmm...? What’s wrong?"

Isabel also woke up instantly, letting out a cat-like, indistinct whimper.

After occupying the palace of the Benevolent Lords in Rock Cellar City, he gradually arranged for the entourage from his caravan to stay in the palace. After all, even though the space-folding technology allowed the interior of the carriage to hold a bed, the lighting or air was not good enough, making it unsuitable for long stays.

The original personal belongings of the Benevolent Lord were all burnt by Aiwass along with his corpse.

But the bed that could hold six or seven people at once—even termed as a giant bed—had no usable bed sheets. Thus, only a small area in the middle was covered, making do for the time being.

Aiwass casually patted Isabel’s head, gave his wife a kiss, and softly reassured her, "It’s nothing, go back to sleep."

He then got out of bed, put on his robe, and headed to the drawing room alone.

The pure white wool carpet was so warm that shoes were unnecessary, its thickness exceeding five centimeters, with a texture soft like sinking into clouds.

On the table were two sets of all-gold wine tools, with a complete set of gold cutlery stored nearby. Additionally, there were about dozens of lead cutlery sets to be given to others—Parthians believed lead, rather than silver, was the sacred metal closest to gold, so the Benevolent Lords would use it extensively in daily life.

To ordinary people, such use could easily lead to lead poisoning. But the Benevolent Lords underwent high-intensity treatment and health monitoring, often holding high Path of Dusk levels themselves, so it was usually only those around them who had issues.

When others were poisoned, the Benevolent Lords remained radiant. This affirmed their sanctity, greatness, and eternity.

Aiwass casually plucked a strand of yarn from the edge of the carpet, igniting it with flames at his fingertips. In his other hand, he took out a gold cup.

He tossed the flaming yarn into the gold cup, reciting, "I beseech the Candle Master. I offer the lamb’s fire, seeking true wisdom..."

The next moment, the flame in the gold cup suddenly swelled enormously.

Though it had only a strand of wool to fuel it, the flame ballooned to the size of a basketball. It looked like a golden light bulb.

In reality, it was a hollow ring of fire. The flame was like a crystal ball, or possibly a door, drawing something out from within.

Aiwass’s abnormal eye easily sensed a holy power rushing down swiftly.

——Back when Aiwass first used this divine art, it was said he put in great efforts. It took him a long time to recite prayers, with utmost reverence, to finally summon the Candle Saint and get one answer.

But this time, Aiwass only needed two sentences... without any offerings, to directly summon the envoy’s arrival. It was just one step short of performing an advanced divine art for summoning the Candle Master.

But the envoy that emerged this time surprised Aiwass a bit——

The basketball-sized flame continued to swell, forming a large ring of fire higher than Aiwass.

The next moment, a beautiful creature with four legs like the Candle Master crawled out of the fire ring.

She, unlike Aiwass and the Candle Celestial Marshal, did not have the antlers symbolizing the Son of Si Zhu, nor did she have the black markings of the Sin Thorn, yet she maintained a half-human-half-deer form. She had creamy white fur, slim deer legs, and hooves burning with pure white fire. Her human upper body was clad in a semi-transparent gauze outfit, wrapped with white cloth twice around the chest.

She had long, straight white hair and eyes of the same pure white color—those eyes evoked a sense of oddity, yet also a sacred feeling.

That face, closer to sweet and gentle than beautiful or charming, was very familiar to Aiwass.

"...Ruo’an, Your Highness?"

Aiwass immediately recognized the person before him.

This half-human-half-deer form was unique to the Candle Saint, much like the Candle Celestial Marshal, resembling the Wings of Life Fire, and akin to the "Eternal Vanguard" Castening.

And her appearance was exactly that of the former Eternal Pope, Ruo’an Eternal, who had burned herself out and died in the battle against the Fallen Celestial Marshal!

"Long time no see, Aiwass!"

The Little Deer hopped nimbly, landing before Aiwass. She slightly lifted one hoof, her tone lively as a young girl: "Or not that long?"

"It’s been a few months, I reckon."

Aiwass felt joy in meeting his old friend: "You’ve finally awoken from the Source River."

Although theoretically, many people he knew in reality might transform into envoys and revive in the Dream Realm after death... this was the first such case he personally witnessed.

——Aiwass couldn’t help but feel like reuniting with an old friend after many years, only to find out they’ve achieved some new success.

He felt comforted by the possibility of a good future for the other, yet there was an inexplicable sense of unfamiliarity.

"I sensed that it was you summoning the envoy, so I sprinted forward instantly!"

Ruo’an smiled quietly, bouncing around in front of Aiwass, mimicking a running gesture with her hands: "At the time the Wings of Life Fire wanted to respond to the summons, I immediately tossed that little thing aside!"

Ah, no wonder.

Aiwass thought, no wonder the fireball was initially just the size of a basketball. If it were the Wings of Life Fire’s portal, that size would have been sufficient. But for Ruo’an’s passage, it had to expand a bit more.

"...Wings of Life Fire is okay, right?"

Aiwass felt a bit worried: "You won’t have a quarrel over it, will you?"

As soon as he said it, he realized the words were somewhat pointed, leading to a momentary odd expression.

But Ruo’an didn’t mind, just laughing with a hint of slyness: "It’s quite busy, won’t miss this one deal—this is my first time responding to a summoning! Returning to the Material Realm feels so good... I’ll answer your questions later, let me catch my breath first!"

She said, jumping around the room, exclaiming: "Wow, Aiwass, you... did you inherit some earl’s wealth?"

"This was the house of the former Benevolent Lord, nothing to do with me. Besides, I don’t lack money."

As Aiwass spoke, he held up the golden cup still burning like candlelight, and opened the door for Ruo’an, letting her into the courtyard.

Watching the Little Deer glowing pure white frolic around the courtyard, Aiwass suddenly thought the Dream Realm was rather beautiful.

Until now, all his knowledge of the Dream Realm was about getting eaten by Demons, chased by Ursa Major, the pitch-black Shadow Nation, barren wastelands with nothing, old schemers with their plots... and the large Dream Realm enterprises, competitors with their employees, and solo workers.

And now, Aiwass truly realized the value of the saying, "Death is not the end of life."

How wonderful.

He sighed in admiration.

When Ruo’an finally had her fill of fun, she walked reluctantly back to Aiwass: "Alright... thank you, Aiwass. I’ve more or less played enough. You probably need to sleep, right?

"I guess you want to ask about that Celestial Marshal from just now, don’t you?"

"That’s right," Aiwass nodded, "Who was that Celestial Marshal? What was its origin? I don’t know if it’s a problem with my position... I didn’t feel anything unusual, so I couldn’t tell."

"You couldn’t sense it originally. That’s a Celestial Marshal on the Path of Balance, how could there be signs?"

Ruo’an smiled: "That’s the Commerce Celestial Marshal, Celestial Marshal of Trading and Cornering, Celestial Marshal of Investment and Speculation. He was an Angel Envoy following the Hourglass a long time ago, a Primordial Being, last name Jiang."

...Last name Jiang?

Aiwass mumbled to himself.

For a moment, he couldn’t think of any particularly famous ancient merchant with the last name Jiang among the Primordial Beings.

"Could it be Jiang Ziya?"

Aiwass was a bit confused.

"Jiang Ziya was also an Angel Envoy of the Hourglass. But this time, the one ascending to the Heavenly Department Position was his descendant," Ruo’an explained, "I remember the name Lv Buwei."

"...Why him?"

"Because it’s a transaction in itself, he sacrificed himself voluntarily. But the details of the transaction are not clear."

Ruo’an’s small face became more serious, and the Little Deer’s hooves stopped tapping: "After all, someone has to take the Heavenly Department Position. Otherwise, the Ring of Ouroboros cannot be completed."

...Positioning a Celestial Marshal?

Aiwass suddenly understood.

Unlike Celestial Marshals on other Paths who ascend to divinity spontaneously... the Path of Balance may have prolonged its process due to deeper understanding of the Ring of Ouroboros from the Hourglass. Therefore, no Celestial Marshal has ascended for a long time.

But if that’s the case, the Ring of Ouroboros ceremony is destined to be missing one.

Ascending at this time almost guarantees being pulled down. So whoever ascends dies... and in this situation, the Commerce Celestial Marshal was born.

Even though it’s unclear why the Hourglass would rather sacrifice one of its own Angel Envoys or even cede a portion of its original Divine Essence to complete the Serpent Celestial Marshal’s Ring of Ouroboros ceremony...

—Are you his real father?

But one thing is certain, the birth of this New Celestial Marshal heralds imminent destruction.

He was born from a transaction, selling his past, this life’s existence, future possibilities, in exchange for a meaningless divine position.

Though it’s unknown what he sought... the grand transaction of selling a divine status itself is already enough to support his role as the Commerce Celestial Marshal.

"By the way, Aiwass... the next to ascend might be Morgan."

Ruo’an added: "Morgan of the Path of Love—but the path she’s ascending is not the Path of Love."

She glanced at Aiwass’s expression and burst into laughter: "So you knew."

"The Path of Authority, right."

Aiwass said softly.

"Exactly," Ruo’an nodded, "It should be the Clan Heavenly Department—representing the concept of family and tradition. She’s already preparing for the ascension ceremony, it should be within a few days. But the end will probably be the same. If the Path of Authority doesn’t have a second Celestial Marshal, she’ll inevitably be pulled down by the Serpent Celestial Marshal... I’m not sure if she’s aware of this, but Candle Master told me not to meddle, so I’ll obediently refrain."

"I see..."

Aiwass pondered.

He watched Ruo’an’s body gradually becoming transparent and illusory—the work of the Angel Envoy’s descent was complete, and she was about to be anti-summoned back by the Force of Equilibrium.

Just before Ruo’an disappeared, Aiwass suddenly asked, "By the way, how’s the Crown Lord doing recently?"

"Feels... not too good."

Ruo’an hesitated a bit: "Recently, it seems like He’s been acting a bit crazy... try to pray to Him less..."

Before she could finish speaking, she was engulfed by flames and summoned back to the Dream Realm.

But such an answer was already enough.