Warhammer: Should I also sit on the Golden Throne?

0031 The King of Sorcery, Faith, and Sacrifice

"...If we consider all of human civilization as a single life, then humanity at that time was in its youth, full of vigor, high spirits, robust health, and overflowing enthusiasm, naively believing that tomorrow would be better, believing that there was nothing they couldn't do, and believing that the good old days would always be better."

"Looking back now, we would say that it was a golden age."

"It was also during that era that the Otlamar sub-sector, stretching from the Great Vortex in the west to the edge of the Milky Way in the east, was born."

"With Macurag at its core and five hundred prosperous worlds, each with its own strengths, as its wings, Alteramar, which covers a vast expanse of space, was a wealthy land even in the Golden Age. Each world played to its strengths, and they were connected by trade. Material resources were abundant, and the people were rich but not indulgent, wise but not arrogant, orderly but not unrestrained."

"What a wonderful time it was, so much so that when the religion of Macuraq talks about that history, it's as if they are telling a story of a heaven."

"But at the very moment when human vitality is at its peak, cancer cells have already begun to develop silently."

"The unrestrained development of technology, the increasingly polarized society, the gradual replacement or even surpassing of human intelligence by artificial intelligence, and the abuse of biotechnology and subspace technology have ultimately led to the arrival of the Dark Age of Technology."

"As a result, internal strife replaced expansion, negativity overwhelmed positivity, madness became more alluring than reason, war became more common than peace, ambitious men climbed the tower, arrogance grew, blind worship of technological progress prevailed over everything, and increasingly complex knowledge and technology became the exclusive possession of those superhumans who had undergone genetic and brain modifications."

"But I believe that this is not the real reason why humanity has fallen into the dark age of technology... The real reason is that we have mastered the extraordinary skills to turn dreams into reality, but have forgotten that our dreams contain both the brightest and the darkest things in the world."

"In the Dark Age of technology, technology continued to advance, but fewer and fewer people mastered it. The production capacity of each planet was soaring, but the products they produced became increasingly homogeneous. Many new things were created, but even more things were destroyed, including even Terra, the mother of humankind."

"Then, the most terrifying warp storm in human history... perhaps even in the history of the galaxy, hindered warp travel, and the Old Night came."

"The old night era of Macurag has been hidden in those almost mad historical records and contradictory religious texts. All we know is that the King of Wizardry ruled Macurag in his royal court in the mountains—some believe that the King of Wizardry was an immortal wizard, while others believe that the title of King of Wizardry was actually passed down through generations, but the specifics are no longer verifiable."

"The only thing we know is that the War King of Macgrass led his army to replace the Sorcerer King's rule, burned down the royal court in the mountains, and the Sorcerer King's servants fled into the caves of Illidan and never came back."

Zhou Yun wrote the words "King of Wizardry" on the blackboard in front of him with chalk.

"At the same time, the ancient night ended, and different religions have different interpretations of it—the Broken Lighthouse claims that their god killed the King of Wizardry with an obelisk, while the Flying Spaghetti Monster claims that their god covered the warp storm with a giant cauldron."

Upon hearing this, the students in the audience burst into laughter.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is more popular among the poor, while most students in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences come from wealthy families and do not follow the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

"The Flying Spaghetti Monster is older than most religions in Mackrag today, perhaps only Catholicism is older."

Zhou Yun smiled, turned to look at his students, and said.

These past few days, Zhou Yun has been teaching at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, aiming to awaken the memories of scholars and acquire more knowledge in order to prepare for the upcoming recruitment of a tutor by Marcus Guilliman.

After all, although the predecessor won first place in the first recruitment, if Zhou Yun has nothing in his mind, he will probably have difficulty passing the subsequent recruitment.

Zhou Yun's gaze paused for a moment; he noticed that one seat in the classroom was empty today...

Zhou Yun glanced down at the roster on the table.

"Is Miss Sacco Paulus here?"

This student was in class yesterday... Zhou Yun began to recall her information.

This child is the daughter of General Paulus, who had three daughters. His eldest daughter, Dekia, now works at the Grammar School, his second daughter had entered the School of Rhetoric but passed away from illness at the end of last month, and this Saccofi is his third daughter.

"Her sister, Ms. Deja, asked for leave for her today, saying she's not feeling well and will be staying home for an extended period," Tita said to Zhou Yun, looking up from her notes, a hint of worry on her face.

Zhou Yun nodded slightly to Tita. In his memory, Tita and Miss Sakoff had a good relationship. Sakoff's sister had recently passed away due to illness, so Tita was naturally worried about Sakoff's condition.

After finishing his lecture, Zhou Yun tidied up his lesson plans on the table while sensing the spiritual power emanating from the students' admiration.

The pale golden spiritual energy slowly gathered into Zhou Yun's body, causing him to sigh inwardly once again—this broken skill really has a low requirement for faith.

He deliberately amplified his charisma using psychic powers to induce students to respect him, and he was even able to acquire psychic powers... though not much.

However, these psionic powers are somewhat different from the psionic powers that Zhou Yun himself generated.

Zhou Yun finished organizing his lesson plan, left the classroom, and headed towards Lucretius's office deep within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

These days, Zhou Yun has been helping Lucretius translate the clay tablets unearthed near Odin City.

It wasn't just about the money; he wanted to figure out some things.

He walked to the office and gently turned the doorknob.

The door is locked.

"Teacher Zhou Yun?" A somewhat delicate female voice sounded behind Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun turned her head, smiled, and nodded in greeting: "Teacher Daijia."

This Ms. Deja is the sister of Saccofi Paulus, who took sick leave today; she is a literature teacher at the grammar school.

The female teacher, who was about 1.5 meters tall and petite, wearing a white shirt, fixed her gaze on Zhou Yun's hand gripping the doorknob.

"Ah! Didn't Professor Lucretius go to Odin City? I heard he was going to receive the newly unearthed clay tablets," Dia said, blinking.

"Oh! I think that's right." Zhou Yun slapped his forehead, looking regretful. "I left something in his office..."

Zhou Yun knew, of course, that Lucretius wasn't there. He was waiting for Lucretius to be away so he could come and cause trouble for Blood Raven.

The old man is usually generous with money, but when it comes to things that are truly valuable... he guards them like the plague.

"Then we'll just have to wait for Professor Lucretius to return." Dia shook her head. "Only he has the key."

"I don't know how long it will take, it's very important." Zhou Yun scratched his head: "It's about my debts."

"Ah!" Dia exclaimed softly, "How did things go on your end? If there are still difficulties, I can ask my father to help you communicate with him; he has some friends in the temple district."

"No, no, it's okay. I've basically solved it. I just still need a document that I left inside," Zhou Yun said with a hint of helplessness, while moving his hand away from the handle.

Zhou Yun had just activated his psionic energy and unlocked the lock—just seconds after he removed his hand,

With a bang, the doorknob suddenly fell off, and the door opened gently.

Daikiya stared at the scene in utter bewilderment.

"It seems this lock is old and in disrepair." Zhou Yun scratched his head, giving an innocent look, and said, "In that case, I'll go find something first, and then apologize to Professor Lucretius."

"Ah, things take time. I believe Professor Lucretius will understand," Dia said with a smile, trying to comfort Zhou Yun.

Her gaze swept over Zhou Yun, and for some reason, she felt that Zhou Yun had recently developed a unique quality, as if he was radiating a faint glow, which made people unable to help but feel a bit of goodwill towards him.

"I have to rush home today—my younger sister isn't feeling well, so I'll have to talk to you later." With that, Daijia said goodbye to Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun watched Daijia's departing figure and clicked his tongue softly.

Since realizing that Macurag wasn't as safe as it seemed, Zhou Yun had been quietly exercising his psychic powers, maintaining a certain level of suspicion towards everyone.

He had just silently probed Dia's superficial thoughts and body.

She's lying; "My younger sister is unwell" is a lie.

Also, there are whip marks and needle marks on Daikia's body.

It seems I should tell Tita not to visit her friend.

To make someone disappear without a sound, and most likely it's the daughter of one of their own followers... What are these Slaanesh followers trying to do?

Zhou Yun frowned.

One possibility he considered was...

That is sacrifice...