Lord of Mysteries: Return of the Stars!

Since he had arrived in the mysterious world, he would inevitably have to become a Beyonder.

Fortunately, the original owner hadn't casually chosen a pathway and consumed a potion; otherwise, his new identity would have already been half-ruined.

In this world, once you choose a Beyonder pathway you want to follow, your enemies and allies are roughly determined.

If he wanted to aim for Sequence 0 in the future, he would have to avoid pathways that had already produced gods, as well as those on the verge of doing so.

The Visionary, Sun, Tyrant, White Tower and Hanged Man Pathways; 

The Fool, Error and Door Pathways;

The Darkness, Death, Twilight Giant Pathways;

—these eleven pathways were absolutely off-limits.

Other gods, including the Hidden Sage, the Primordial Demoness, Lilith, and the Chained God—their pathways were also not an option.

The Abyss pathways was far too dangerous and unsuitable for him.

He actually wanted to walk the Wheel of Fortune Pathway, but that was a pathway of luck exclusive to the truly fortunate. He simply didn't have confidence in his own luck.

If he had ever miraculously pulled something rare once while paying Gacha games, or draw double golds even once in ten tries, he might have had a little more faith in himself to walk this pathway.

As someone with notoriously poor luck, it was better to avoid this Fate related pathway—otherwise, he'd easily become a cautionary tale.

That only left the Justiciar [Arbiter], Black Emperor, and Red Priest [Hunter] pathways.

If he seriously considered godhood, the Hunter pathway was the best choice.

Because this pathway had no god and with the Beyonder formular easily accessible—he just had to wait for the best opportunity, and there was a chance to ascend to godhood in one swoop.

Unfortunately, the adjacent pathway already had a god, and with the cunning of the Red Angel, the gaze of Adam and Amon, the variables were too many and the danger too great.

The most suitable and safest Beyonder pathways were undoubtedly the Arbiter and Black Emperor order-based pathways.

These two pathways were adjacent and had yet to see the emergence of a Sequence 0 god, making them the most hopeful pathways to godhood.

Now residing in Backlund and holding the noble title of Baron, he was more suited than most to either pathway.

Judgement or Black Emperor?

Hastur thought carefully and ultimately chose the Black Emperor pathway.

Although he didn't want to face a fellow transmigrator, this was the pathway most suitable for him.

Since he had inherited this body, he had to fulfill the original owner's wish of reviving the glory of the Campbell family.

The Black Emperor pathway was tailor-made for the nobility.

Moreover, in Backlund there was still an unclaimed Black Emperor card. As long as he obtained it, the pathway would no longer hold any secrets for him, saving him a lot of trouble.

Another point—someone in the future would attempt to become a god through the Black Emperor pathway in Backlund, but ultimately fail.

If he had become strong enough at that time, after the Black Emperor's failed advancement ritual, he could seize great benefits.

Thinking of a certain possibility, Hastur smiled, his resolve to begin his Beyonder journey on the Black Emperor pathway even stronger.

With the Beyonder pathway decided, the next step was to search for the Sequence 9 Lawyer formula.

The Campbell family collection only included the Sequence 8 Barbarian and Sequence 7 Briber potion formulas from the Black Emperor pathway—oddly, it lacked the starting Sequence 9 formula.

Luckily, it was only Sequence 9 potion formula; at this level weren't too expensive. He should be able to afford it. Attending a few more occult gatherings should allow him to buy it.

Now the biggest problem had arrived.

He hadn't studied law. While he wasn't completely clueless, his knowledge was vague at best.

To play the role of a Lawyer well, one absolutely couldn't avoid the mountain of complex legal clauses that made young people go bald early.

"What a headache."

Hastur rubbed his temples. Lawyer was probably the most difficult starting Sequence 9 among the twenty-two pathways.

"Sigh, time to study—such is fate!"

Hastur sighed.

That afternoon, he planned to make a trip to Backlund University and sign up for a legal course.

Fortunately, the original owner had dabbled in Hermes, Ancient Hermes, Jotun, Elvish, and other languages to prepare for a resurrection ritual. Though not proficient, he wasn't illiterate.

Otherwise, the amount he'd need to learn would be overwhelming—probably even more than what he studied during his high school entrance exam years.

Having determined his course of action, Hastur relaxed and suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him.

"Time to catch up on some sleep first."

He tidied up the desk, covered the last piece of oat bread with a blue floral cloth—it was his only remaining food for the day.

The original owner had spent all his cash buying occult materials. Although the plantation growing cotton and grapes could provide some income, it only yielded profits twice a year.

The December income was already spent. The next payout wouldn't come until midyear—around the end of June—four months from now.

As for selling the house or land, unless it was absolutely necessary, he wouldn't do it.

As a modern person, having your own home and land were deeply embedded in his genes—they were reassuring sources of wealth.

"I really need to find a way to make money fast."

Hastur finally understood the hardship of the poverty god's life.

Exhausted, he returned to the second floor, shut the open window, set the time on the alarm clock, then flopped onto the silky, soft quilt and fell asleep.

In a half-asleep, half-awake state, Hastur felt his body grow light and float to a place where starlight converged.

The surroundings were empty and desolate, with only a dazzling starry sky overhead. Each star looked like an eye staring at him—beautiful yet hair-raising.

Especially when he remembered that each star outside earth might represent an Great Old One or Outer Deity, it became all the more terrifying.

"Where is this place? Is it just a dream?"

Hastur stared at the starry sky above, trying to make sense of it.

"It probably isn't just a dream."

After studying for a long time, Hastur came to a conclusion.

This place seemed more like a mysterious realm detached from reality, perhaps similar to the Sefirah Castle.

Could this be his golden finger?

Hastur felt a surge of excitement and, with a thought, tried to make this space undergo a transformation like the Sefirah Castle.

Immediately, the starlight flared up, and a grand, magnificent, holy, and awe-inspiring hall slowly emerged under the starry illumination.

Four massive, towering crystal pillars adorned with stars supported a domed ceiling. The center of the dome was open, allowing a clear view of the star-filled sky above.

Directly beneath the dome, where starlight converged, appeared a long table seemingly forged from black crystal, deep and dark.

Above the long table, the starlight condensed into the first chair. Then, five chairs formed on each side of the table, totaling eleven chairs.

Hastur curiously walked around and then sat on the first chair at the head of the table.

The moment he sat down, a rush of information flooded his mind.

Hall of the Stars;

Master of chaos and order;

The origin of all laws under the Stars;

The one who realigns the Stars.

Hastur furrowed his brow in deep thought for a long while, still unable to fully grasp the meaning of these terms.

He vaguely understood only that this place was related to order and law.

Here, bound by its rules, he was the ruler of the Hall of the Stars!

In other words, as long as he was in the Hall of the Stars, he should be invincible!

But why were there only eleven chairs?

Did they appear simply according to his thoughts, or was there some unknown secret behind it?

He leaned toward the latter. The twenty-two chairs of Mr. Fool's Sefirah Castle corresponded exactly to the twenty-two Beyonder pathways. The eleven chairs of the Hall of the Stars must have their own unique meaning.

It seemed this place was indeed similar to the Sefirah Castle.

It must be formed from some kind of Sefirot, related to law and order, but it didn't seem like the Nation of Disorder.

The stars were the main theme here.

Order and law were secondary to the stars.

Hastur couldn't figure it out, so he decided not to think too hard. Once he became stronger, he would naturally unravel these mysteries one by one.

Right now, he was more concerned about one thing:

Could the Hall of the Stars, like the Sefirah Castle, be used to summon people for a meeting?

Hastur looked up at the starry sky overhead. Each star emitted its own unique light.

With a thought, the distant stars suddenly zoomed in, allowing him to observe them more closely.

Hastur scanned the stars one by one until his gaze settled on the two brightest stars.

He approached the one on the right.

As if breaching a certain boundary, the starlight faded, replaced by an illusory divine lamp, which seemed to imprison a being within.

"Could that be the Son of Chaos partially turned into the Magic Wishing Lamp?"

The more he observed, the more convinced he became that it was the unlucky Son of Chaos. When a slender hand appeared above the lamp, his suspicion turned to certainty.

It was the Son of Chaos and Bernadette!

Was this prompting him to summon the Son of Chaos, an Outer Deity, to the Hall of the Stars for a meeting?

If he really could summon them, then the status of the Hall of the Stars might be even higher than he had imagined.

Naturally, Hastur didn't recklessly test it. Instead, he stopped observing and turned to look at the other bright star on the left.

What a joke—if he summoned the Son of Chaos and the Hall of the Stars couldn't suppress it, wouldn't he be like a lamb walking into a tiger's den?

But since the Hall of the Stars had granted him such power, there must be a way to suppress any Outer Deity who came to a meeting. After all, under its laws, he was the ruler here.

No rush—better to wait.

As Hastur shifted his gaze, the starlight on the second star faded, revealing a phantom star gate.

Inside the gate, two glowing orbs of different sizes clashed and tangled in a struggle.

Was that Mr. Door and the Mother Goddess of Depravity?

It should be.

After observing for a while, Hastur noticed that the light representing Mr. Door was clearly losing ground little by little against the Mother Goddess of Depravity, its glow gradually being compressed and devoured.

Sigh, the great Mr. Door, what a pity.

He had always liked Mr. Door as a character. Even after being plotted against by Amon and Adam, and faced with the chance to ascend to godhood in one step, he still chose to sacrifice himself to prevent the spread of the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption.

Unfortunately, he was powerless to help right now.

Unless he could ensure the one he summoned was the pure Mr. Door and not the Mother Goddess of Depravity, he wouldn't take that risk.

One star was connected to the Son of Chaos.

One star was connected to the Fallen Mother Goddess, a True Outer Deity.

It was clear that the Hall of the Stars truly was a place to convene a council of Great Old Ones and Outer Deities.

Right now, he wasn't even a Sequence 9 Beyonder, so it was best not to provoke them lightly.

Perhaps when he became a Sequence 9, the Hall of the Stars would undergo new changes.

Hmm, best to log off and sleep for now.