Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

On the morning of the 25th. The sun shone brightly over the mountain range where the Wittebach family resided. The birch forest rustled in the wind. Everything seemed so peaceful. Creak... A foot stepped on a branch covered in fallen leaves, producing a crisp snapping sound. Du Wei raised his head and looked forward, where a concrete-irrigated road stretched out, leading directly to the towering mountain range that rose steeply from the ground. Behind him. His father-in-law Lawrence, leaning on a cane and dressed in casual clothes, coughed and said, "The place where the stele is located is just ahead. The entire mountain has been hollowed out, and there are many researchers inside." Du Wei hummed in response without saying much. At that moment, he had already entered the Spirit Vision state. In his eyes, the entire mountain range appeared the same as it did to the naked eye; in other words, nothing unusual was happening. For some reason. He felt a bit disappointed. Recently, apart from dealing with the Evil Spirit under his command, as the church's "Incarnation of Justice," he hadn't confronted any demons for several days. After getting used to a high-intensity work pace, the sudden lull left him feeling quite unaccustomed. "Let's go..." Without further ado, Du Wei continued forward with his father-in-law. The dozens of bodyguards following behind them walked with a steady gait behind the two. That's just how ostentatious the outings of a large family clan could be. ... Before long. After passing through the cool passageway at the entrance of the mountain range. Du Wei entered the interior of the mountain range, led by Lawrence. As mentioned earlier, the entire mountain indeed had been hollowed out. Looking around, all walls had been recast with concrete, so sturdy that even bombardment wouldn't be an issue. Moreover, the facilities inside were extremely luxurious. The dominant color tones were gray and silver. There were even some isolation walls made of high-strength tempered glass. The whole setting was brimming with a high-tech feel. This gave Du Wei the illusion that the whole scene had changed. At each checkpoint, there were people specifically checking credentials, and upon arrival at the core area, one could see many scholars in white lab coats operating computers outside a square isolation wall made of transparent glass, busy with something. Upon Lawrence's arrival, those scholars quickly said, "Good afternoon, Mr. Lawrence. Do you have any instructions for us today?" Lawrence waved his hand and pointed towards Du Wei, saying, "This is my son-in-law Du Wei. He wanted to see the stele, so I brought him over." Du Wei gave the scholars a faint smile, "Hello." The scholars returned the greeting and then stepped aside. That's when the stele enclosed within the isolation wall was revealed. After looking at it, Du Wei narrowed his eyes. The entire stele was about one and a half meters tall and roughly forty centimeters wide, having a prism-like shape, resembling the form of a coffin. The surface of the stele was inscribed with dense and mysterious symbols. These symbols were different from any existing script; to be precise, they were the special characters of ancient religions and cult organizations that had disappeared in the river of history. "How far have we progressed in deciphering the information on this stele?" While observing, Du Wei inquired. A scholar immediately replied, "The information we've deciphered so far mostly points to esotericism and is related to demons, Evil Spirits, and various rituals." "However, there is an issue that has been hampering our progress." Du Wei asked curiously, "What issue?" The scholar answered, "We've found that the information on the stele is incomplete. Whenever we get to a crucial point in our research, we encounter gaps in the information. You may not be aware, but those symbols are just too disordered." "Some symbols represent the sun, but after a while, they might represent a person or an object," "To put it simply, we suspect that there are other steles out there, and the one we're currently studying is just one of them." Hearing this, Du Wei said somewhat disappointedly, "If there really are other steles, they won't be easy to find." Given the strength and influence of the Wittebach family, obtaining just this one stele suggests how difficult the remaining ones must be to locate. And that's assuming they even exist. The scholars were also quite frustrated; after all, this was their work, and a lack of progress wasn't good for them. Even if Lawrence was willing to finance their research. But at that moment. Suddenly, Du Wei frowned; the back of his right hand felt somewhat cold. He stretched out his hand and took a look. Something shocking happened. A pattern of clock hands appeared on the back of his right hand. It was completely out of his control, and he hadn't undergone an Evil Spirit Transformation. "What's happening?" Du Wei became immediately vigilant; he had always known that he was deeply influenced by the Antique Clock, from Spirit Vision to Evil Spirit Transformation, all had shadows of the Antique Clock. But he hadn't expected the automatic appearance of the pointer pattern that represented his Marking Ability. "Could it be because of this stele?" Du Wei's odd behavior was noticed by Lawrence. However, he didn't know that his son-in-law was making guesses in secret, and asked with concern, "What's wrong?" Du Wei quickly shook his head, "Nothing, just suddenly thought of something." With that, he stuffed his right hand into his pocket and re-entered the state of Spirit Vision. And this time. He saw something different. The entire stele, in his eyes, became exceedingly dim, the symbols seemed to come to life, radiating an inexplicable aura. In his ears, it seemed as if someone was whispering, speaking in tempting tones. But the voice was too faint to make out clearly. Moreover, at the very top of the stele, a pointer pattern, like a torch in the night, made it impossible for Du Wei to look away. This experience was not unfamiliar to Du Wei. The two previous encounters with Hell's Gate had been similar. But they were useless against him. Absolute rationality and calm allowed Du Wei to set aside all emotions, he looked emotionlessly at the pointer pattern on the stele. "It's exactly like the one on my hand..." He thought to himself and said to the others, "Open the glass door, I want to take a closer look." A scholar immediately objected, "Sir, that's absolutely not okay, you could be in danger." "In our research on the stele, the closer one gets to it, the more prone they are to hallucinations, and they might even experience mental disturbances." Du Wei said coldly, "It's fine. I'm an Exorcist of the Church; this thing won't affect me." His intuition told him that the pattern on the back of his hand appearing automatically was not driven by the Antique Clock, but rather by the pattern on this stele. Symbols are the oldest form of writing, holding many ancient and obscure messages. Perhaps some answers could be found within them. The scholars looked troubled. But his father-in-law Lawrence casually said, "Open the door. The son-in-law of the Wittebach family won't be affected by a mere stele." Suddenly, it became difficult for the scholars to refuse, and someone pressed the electric button to open the glass door. Seeing this, Du Wei was about to step inside. But the next second, he stopped. "No... why do I have the urge to go inside, to come into close contact with it?" "This doesn't fit my logical behavior..."