CHAPTER 387: CHAPTER 387: SHADOWS AND SECRETS

The corridor behind the secret chamber led to a larger plaza.

The overall style was black, and in the middle of the square was a group of people wearing gray robes.

They were in fierce discussion about something.

In their midst,

there lay a blurry and blood-stained corpse.

"This body is still not suitable; its inner thoughts cannot support the coming of the ’egg’."

"To summon back our deity from the aurora, we must use the most extreme methods. I think a large ritual would be best."

"Indeed, no creature’s womb can bear the ’egg’. It cannot be nurtured by any being."

"People in the Divine Country have no value for sacrifice; we need followers of other deities. Besides, we haven’t found the fragments of the egg yet."

"Recently, in the Maple Leaf County, there’s been a fluctuation of the ’Black Moon’. It was a product of the sun’s split and resonates with the ’egg’. I sensed its descending location, where a fragment was left when the egg shattered and fled into the aurora."

"If we can obtain the fragment, we could perform the ritual..."

"Then contact the demons to attack this place; those old followers in the Divine Country can still be of use."

"I heard the fluctuations were caused by a High Priest from the Abyssal Ascetic Association, which did us a big favor."

"Hmph, all Blood Origin Associations are our enemies; don’t get too friendly just because of a coincidence!"

"Prophecies never err; He will return from the virtual aurora, and we will enact the most brutal revenge on every Blood Origin Association!"

"Fight for greatness!"

This group of neurotic lunatics grew more frenzied the more they talked.

Baiyu and Shangguan Zi stood on the edge of the plaza, observing the scene through a gap in the stone doorway.

Of course,

they quickly realized these people were not real.

But rather illusions,

or more accurately, images left amidst the plaza for some reason.

Of course,

their discussions were also quite shocking.

Baiyu had experienced every aspect they discussed.

Abyssal Ascetic Association,

Black Moon,

Reversed Egg,

Demons,

The huge amount of information was overwhelming for a moment.

These completely unrelated things were like beads strung together on a thin thread.

Baiyu felt,

this matter was exceedingly deep.

"These illusions lack self-awareness, more like scenes left by predecessors here; due to the peculiar nature of this place, they pose no threat."

At this moment,

Shangguan Zi spoke.

The two planned to push open the stone door and go inside.

However,

the intense discussion in the plaza suddenly ceased.

In the deathly silence,

the group of people in gray robes suddenly turned simultaneously to look at Baiyu and Shangguan Zi through the gap.

The terror of death swept over them like a hurricane.

The bizarreness of the scene,

further stimulated their minds.

Each illusion bore an eerie smile, staring fixedly at the two.

Crack...

A slight sound came from Shangguan Zi’s body.

It was the warning of the Sealing Object Cage.

Just now, the Cage had blocked a fatal attack for her.

And after this sound,

the illusions in the plaza began to dissipate.

The two pushed open the stone door.

The entire plaza carried a solemn atmosphere.

It was covered with all kinds of strange murals, which Baiyu could hardly decipher the meanings of.

Compared to the secret chamber earlier,

the content here was even more obscure and hidden.

Unless one knew some related history or knowledge, it would be hard to extract anything useful from it.

Baiyu looked to the plaza’s center.

There remained a stone platform, marked with dried blood stains. In the illusory projections, this was where the corpse had been placed.

From what those people said,

it seemed this body was insufficient as a vessel.

"Strange, the blood scent earlier seemed real, but the blood here had dried long ago..."

Baiyu’s face turned a bit unsightly.

Being unable to distinguish between reality and illusion indicates issues with the mind or senses.

It is also a sign of distortion.

However, his Pollution Level was stable, never rising.

When those illusions cast their sideways glances, it spiked a bit and then slowly fell again.

On the side, Shangguan Zi’s state was not as good.

She felt the whispers becoming more intense,

but couldn’t make out what was being murmured.

It was a grave matter, but in this situation, she couldn’t think of a better solution.

"The Purple Cloud is almost at Linjiang City; we have no need to continue further."

Shangguan Zi saw the corridor at the end of the plaza and felt a surge of resistance.

The Cage had just resisted a fatal attack.

If attacked again, she couldn’t be sure she could withstand it.

The Cage,

wasn’t without negative effects.

As an S Level Sealing Object, its negative effect was significant.

The Cage could exist for one hour.

If within the hour, the Cage suffered a fatal attack, it would infinitely magnify one desire of the person within the Cage.

If twice, it would magnify two desires.

Continuing up to six times.

Exceeding six fatal attacks, the Cage’s effect would vanish, and the person within the Cage would die under the attack.

If not exceeding six,

each attack would infinitely magnify one desire of the person within the Cage.

This effect would immediately take hold after the Cage disappeared, lasting one hour.

Back when the Third Prince experienced a side effect of "magnified taste desire,"

she ate fifty cattle in an hour.

If not for an elixir aiding digestion, converting the excess energy into Blood Qi, she would likely have burst.

So now, she didn’t want to continue further.

The desires for sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and intent —

any primal desire magnified infinitely could lead to death, let alone the overlap of two desires.

"Are you planning to stop here?"

Baiyu asked in surprise.

Now his interest was fully piqued, as a Fanatical Scholar inherently has a frenzied desire for knowledge.

Here, "knowledge" refers to all the things Baiyu didn’t know.

Additionally,

this was clearly a constructed altar.

Deities were involved.

Who wouldn’t be curious?

"No, kill me, and I won’t proceed. Without the Cage resisting the illusions’ gaze earlier, we would have died."

Shangguan Zi said.

Baiyu nodded.

Although he was ready with a Suffering Paperman, her statement wasn’t incorrect.

"Alright, women are just troublesome. You’re planning to wait here for the Legendary Ship?"

"Yes. Wait a minute, did you just say ’women’?"

"Uh, sorry..."

Baiyu shrugged, showing no sign of genuine apology.

Shangguan Zi’s expression changed slightly, casting a cold glance at Baiyu, and remained silent.

However,

at this moment,

the parchment on Baiyu’s body grew hot once more.

The Giant had arrived!!