CHAPTER 231: SELINA

After the great battle ended, the capital remained in an uproar, and it could be expected that this excitement would continue for a very, very long time.

Carlotta, as the central figure, had already arrived at a lake at the outskirts of the capital. Amelia, like a gentle and dutiful young wife, followed closely by Carlotta’s side.

They hadn’t been there long when the High Priestess appeared before them.

The High Priestess no longer wore her tattered priestly garments. After some grooming, she now wore a black waist-cinched skirt and a lace-trimmed hat, appearing just like an elegant lady.

"You look very suited to it, Your Excellency," Carlotta smiled at the High Priestess.

The High Priestess said, "Now that you’ve become a Weaver, you should be able to use that key. Let’s go see."

The reason she stayed by Carlotta’s side was for the Lion’s Key. She suspected this item might be related to the gods.

Previously, due to insufficient rank, Carlotta couldn’t activate the Lion’s Key. Based on earlier judgment, perhaps only upon reaching the rank of Weaver could one use the Lion’s Key.

Carlotta said, "It should work now. I’ll give it a try."

She had expected that once news of her becoming a Weaver spread, the High Priestess would come immediately. This wasn’t surprising at all.

The Lion’s Key was a golden lion-head key, looking much like a crafted artwork, exuding a noble aura.

Carlotta channeled her mana into it. The key emitted a golden glow, and the previously entered key finally showed change.

Then, the Lion’s Key trembled and floated upward, pointing toward a specific direction.

"Are we supposed to go that way?"

Carlotta looked up, unsure where exactly that direction led. The Lion’s Key only provided direction, not distance.

The High Priestess was quite eager. "Let’s go see. Perhaps we can finally understand what happened in the past."

"Your memories still can’t be restored?"

Carlotta asked.

The High Priestess had clearly been a witness to events of that era, but unfortunately, the long passage of time had eroded her memories, causing her to forget many things.

At this moment, the High Priestess could only shake her head again. "I still can’t remember."

She fixed her hopeful gaze upon the Lion’s Key. Perhaps this key alone could reveal the truth to her.

She urged Carlotta again, eager to find answers as quickly as possible. That quest was nearly the meaning of her remaining life.

"Shouldn’t we at least say goodbye to the people we know first?"

Carlotta gasped. "I know you’re nervous, but don’t rush."

The High Priestess had no choice but to wait a little longer.

It was late at night, yet in the city of Kestholm, many people remained awake.

At the Fenwick family residence, Carlotta and Amelia found Leonard to bid farewell. Leonard tried to stop them, but couldn’t, he could no longer defeat his own daughter, so he had no grounds to interfere with anything Amelia chose to do.

Besides Leonard, Carlotta also visited and bid farewell to other acquaintances.

She didn’t know many people in this city. Exchanging greetings didn’t take much time, but still, she waited until dawn before leaving the city together with Amelia and the High Priestess.

Carlotta brought out the alchemical airship once more. The three of them sat inside the cabin, conversing as they moved farther away, their destination to the west.

Carlotta didn’t know much about the western regions of the Wendell Empire, because it was an area rarely mentioned.

The prosperous areas were usually in the northeast and south.

To the north lay the Velmoria Empire, to the south the Sun Moon Federation, and to the east the Starlight Sea.

But to the west lay the Central Ruins.

That vast region, serving as a testing ground for gods, was off-limits to ordinary people. Even the areas nearby had very few cities, and those rare cities poorly developed.

Carlotta piloted the alchemical airship westward, encountering several large cities and only scattered along villages the way.

In some towns, even an apprentice of slightly higher rank was already considered elite. Only a few cities could see traces of Listeners, while Resonators appeared perhaps only once in a very long time.

However, the western region belonging to the Wendell Empire was remarkably vast.

Carlotta still spent many days flying before finally leaving the borders of the Wendell Empire.

Ahead lay the Central Ruins.

Yes, the location pointed to by the Lion’s Key was within the Central Ruins!

Carlotta wasn’t just learning this now. Intelligence gathered along the journey had already mentioned this, so she had known the destination was the Central Ruins.

The intelligence also contained much information about the Central Ruins, further confirming it as the testing ground of the gods.

So, what exactly had the Eight Great gods left behind in this region?

Carlotta was quite eager to find out.

"Is this truly the gods’ testing ground?"

The High Priestess looked through the window at the outside scenery, her emotions slightly stirred.

Before their eyes stretched one mountain range after another, extending to the horizon’s edge, seemingly endless.

Within these mountains stood ancient structures, scattered irregularly across the landscape.

The structures in the outer regions appear in various styles and were relatively clear to see, since many people had already visited them. It was said that when people first discovered these ruins, nearly all of them were covered in vegetation, thick with traces of time.

Now, the outer ruins had mostly been explored, but deep within still lay many undiscovered sites.

Carlotta explained the situation to the High Priestess: "The Central Ruins appear on the surface to be just a large expanse of mountains containing ruins, but in reality, it’s not so simple. There are spatial anomalies here. Sometimes when you walk forward, you don’t know you’re moving forward. The environment you see may not be the true environment. Everything here is unpredictable."

Amelia added, "I’ve heard quite a bit about the Central Ruins. Perception here is chaotic. It’s said that long ago, someone discovered an extremely magnificent palace, possibly hiding a great secret, but no one has ever been able to approach it."

The High Priestess understood after hearing just a few words.

As someone who had once seen many gods, she understood certain matters far better than others.

She sighed somewhat wistfully. "This is a divine domain. A region where gods laid down their domains to prevent interference by unrelated parties. Although the gods have long since passed, the divine domain remains. Not even time can completely erode it."

Time passed silently. Flowers bloomed and withered, year after year. Oceans turned into mulberry fields, and all things faded away, but the Divine Realm remained, and divine traces still exist in the world.

The alchemical airship stopped outside the Central Ruins. It was clear this vessel couldn’t enter the ruins.

After stowing the airship, Carlotta and the other two stepped into the Central Ruins.

On the surface, it seemed as if they had simply entered a mountain, without any particularly unusual sensation.

Immediately upon entering, the High Priestess asked Carlotta, "Which way do we go from here?"

The closer they got to places related to gods, the calmer she became. There was no urgency on her face, only anticipation lingering in her eyes.

Carlotta took out the Lion Key and glanced at it. The key emitted a faint golden light, pointing toward a direction.

Still only direction, no distance.

"Let’s go."

Carlotta immediately moved forward.

But she had barely taken a single step when her entire figure vanished from the spot, instantly changing the expressions of both Amelia and the High Priestess.

Although they had both heard of the various peculiarities of the Central Ruins, this kind of immediate malfunction was far beyond their expectations.

Before the two could even feel alarmed, Carlotta’s figure reappeared, walking back towards them.

Seeing the two, Carlotta let out a sigh of relief. "I thought something bad had happened. It’s good I can still find you when I turn back."

Amelia froze for a moment, then decisively grabbed Carlotta’s hand.

The High Priestess also relaxed, saying, "In the Central Ruins, people from your world often explore here. At least in the outer regions, it shouldn’t be so easy for accidents to occur."

That was true. If even the outer regions were dangerous, people wouldn’t often come to explore the Central Ruins.

Of course, that also meant there wouldn’t be any significant discoveries in the outer regions.

Carlotta and Amelia, holding hands, walked forward and instantly disappeared from the High Priestess’s sight.

The High Priestess followed, and before her eyes, Carlotta and Amelia reappeared.

Soon, the group grew accustomed to this sensation. As they walked, if they didn’t maintain physical contact, they’d vanish from each other’s sight, but after a moment, they’d reappear.

"In the Divine Realm, situations change in an instant. Returning to the same spot might result in entirely different circumstances."

The High Priestess deduced this point.

The next time they came, the strange phenomenon might no longer be sudden disappearances.

They continued onward, passing one ruin after another along the way without stopping to investigate. These outer-area ruins had likely already been checked by others, so there was no need to examine them again.

This continued until they encountered other people.

As they passed the entrance of a mountain cave, three people suddenly emerged from inside, meeting them face to face.

Both groups paused. Then, a graceful and elegant woman from the other side stepped forward and introduced herself.

"My name is Selina Jeffrey. May I ask who you all are?"

The woman smiled as she inquired.

"Jeffrey? Isn’t that the surname of the First Swordsaint of the Wendell Empire? Are you related to him?"

Carlotta’s expression turned slightly complicated as she asked.

Amelia’s expression also became a bit strange.

Hearing this, Selina gave a slightly smug smile. "The First Swordsaint is indeed my father."

The three fell into stunned silence.

After a moment of quiet, Carlotta asked, "I have a question, how long have you been here? You haven’t left for quite some time, have you?"

Selina laughed. "Indeed, I haven’t gone out for a long time... Hmm, why do you ask, miss?"

"Nothing."

Carlotta didn’t feel like mentioning how, in full public view, she had defeated the woman’s father.

Then Carlotta introduced herself, giving her real name, but the other clearly hadn’t heard of her.

However, when Amelia mentioned her own surname, Selina glanced at her suddenly.

"So you’re the young lady from the Fenwick family. I heard you were kidnapped and taken away. How did you end up here?"

Selina seemed puzzled.

As for the High Priestess’s name, she hadn’t heard of it either.

At this moment, Selina looked at Amelia with extreme confusion, because in her memory, Amelia was still an apprentice. How could an apprentice appear in such a dangerous place as the Central Ruins?

Amelia, hearing Selina’s question, didn’t know what to say at first.

Selina continued, "No matter what’s happened, you can tell me freely. We’re both from the Wendell Empire, I’ll help you."

As she spoke, Selina glanced at Carlotta and the High Priestess, suspicious of whether the two might be dangerous. But seeing Carlotta and Amelia holding hands, she felt perhaps she was overthinking.

Still, she couldn’t understand how an apprentice could appear here. This was no place for apprentices.

Amelia could only say, "I’m fine now."

Seeing this, Selina didn’t press further. Then she introduced the two people accompanying her, man and woman, both her disciples, already accomplished Resonators.

After introducing her disciples, Selina asked again, "Amelia, are you really alright?"

She truly was somewhat kind-hearted. Then she asked about the person who had kidnapped Amelia back then.

"It was me. I was the one who kidnapped Amelia back then."

Carlotta admitted it openly.

Selina was stunned. Although she had heard about Amelia’s kidnapping, she didn’t remember the kidnapper’s name, so she hadn’t realized the truth when Carlotta introduced herself earlier.

Now hearing Carlotta say this, and seeing Carlotta and Amelia still holding hands, Selina felt her mind couldn’t keep up.

Amelia had to explain, "Back then, Carlotta was being persecuted. She had no choice but to flee with me. I wasn’t truly kidnapped."

Hearing this, Selina understood.

Unaware of the full details, she now looked at their clasped hands and her mind began conjuring all kinds of wild assumptions.

Finally, Selina asked the group, "What are your current strengths?"

She still couldn’t grasp how an apprentice could be here.

Amelia, unsure what to say to this kind-hearted woman, could only reply, "We can ensure our own safety. We’re capable of withstanding Weavers."

Seeing this, Selina didn’t press further. She could tell Amelia had tremendous trust in the two beside her, no, specifically, in the one whose hand she was holding.

Finally, Selina said, "If you’re going to explore the Central Ruins, you must be careful. Recently, things here have been strange. Even in the outer regions, some ruins that should only exist deep inside have appeared. It seems spatial displacement has occurred."