Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2670: Chapter 2671: Immersive Experience

The intelligence that the Black Earl can provide is very limited.

He only told Angel about a few locations he thought might be questionable, along with places where dangers exist and that could be skipped.

”I have searched extensively in many places, touching every item, yet I still cannot sense where the Wood Spirit is located. This is indeed a bit strange.”

The Black Earl’s voice carried confusion. He truly couldn’t figure out where this Wood Spirit might be hiding.

”Did the Wise Sovereign detect the Wood Spirit’s location?” The Black Earl turned the slate towards the Wise Sovereign.

The Sage had monitored him closely along the way, witnessing everything the Black Earl experienced, so if he passed by the Wood Spirit’s location, the Sage should have discovered it.

However, the Wise Sovereign showed no intention of answering the Black Earl’s question and casually said, ”This is your bonus criterion, not mine.”

Angel chimed in from the side, ”Even if we find the Wood Spirit, isn’t persuading it to leave the Hanging Jail Stairway without using violent means, but through words and reason, more difficult than finding it?”

The Wise Sovereign did not deny this: ”What you say is true, but finding the Wood Spirit itself also tests your ability to observe details. And persuading the Wood Spirit to leave the Hanging Jail Stairway tests your ability to make adaptive decisions.”

”These two abilities are ones you will definitely employ on the journey ahead.”

The Sage’s words, filled with deeper meaning, revealed that if they successfully passed through the Hall of Wisdom, they would certainly encounter some unexpected changes.

These changes might originate from Augustine’s legacy site.

Perhaps it’s a trial left by Augustine? Or maybe it’s related to the secret hand who sent the Sage to obstruct them? Or perhaps both?

Though everyone understood that what the Sage said was definitely related to their destination, they also knew that asking now would not yield any information from the Wise Sovereign, so neither Angel, Dox, nor the Black Earl reacted. They just glanced at each other and silently kept this information in mind.

”I originally thought seeking the Wood Spirit was a temporary condition proposed by the Wise Sovereign, but didn’t expect it to have such deep meaning,” Angel chuckled softly.

”Finding the Wood Spirit was indeed suggested temporarily. However, evaluating your abilities is something I must do, and it happens that you were supposed to search for the Wood Spirit anyway, just happened to coincide.”

Angel believed this was a coincidence, yet the Sage’s words about ”evaluating their abilities” made Angel feel like he was playing a breakthrough game. — If you don’t meet the criteria, you can’t proceed further. Moreover, the standards are divided into necessary conditions and bonus conditions; hidden beneath these conditions is a test of your abilities.

Is this the decision of the one behind it or the Sage’s personal decision?

Angel had no answers for these questions at the moment. Regardless of who made the decision, the suspicion surrounding the Sage couldn’t be cleared, and his stance was clearly not right.

Wanting to be both a judge and a spy.

His position seemed to cover both sides, or perhaps neither. The only position of the Sage that Angel could confirm is the one told by Cicia—to rebuild Naraku’s glory. For this, the Sage would do anything.

Would this incident coincide with the Sage’s greatest position?

While Angel was contemplating, Dox suddenly asked, ”Since the Wise Sovereign wants to test our abilities, then should the result matter?”

The Sage merely gave him a glance and replied, ”What do you think?”

”I’m a staunch supporter of the ’result useless theory,’ convinced that results are dead, the process is alive.” Dox spoke without flinching, lies flowing effortlessly.

Sage: ”In this bonus condition, I agree that the process is more important than the result. However, your teammates have only showcased the process of finding the Wood Spirit, but not the process of persuading the Wood Spirit.”

Even the Sage himself didn’t believe they could bring the Wood Spirit out, so he could disregard whether the Wood Spirit eventually came out. But finding the Wood Spirit is necessary; otherwise, how could you showcase the ability to persuade the Wood Spirit and adapt?

But what is Dox? He never follows the ordinary path, always thinking differently, and directly proposed to Angel: ”Since you’re going in, why not stand by the Door and shout to persuade the Wood Spirit, showing off your articulacy!”

”Anyway, that Wood Spirit surely can hear you. As for the capability to observe details, Black has already demonstrated that before, combine the two of you, won’t you perfectly meet the conditions?”

Dox’s words left the Wise Sovereign stunned and both Angel and the Black Earl baffled.

”Anyway, the result is not important; what’s important is the process. Once you both have demonstrated your abilities, if the Wise Sovereign is still dissatisfied, then I’ll go in, talking as I walk, showcasing both observation and adaptation abilities.”

”Even if my final score is low, the three of us complementing each other might meet the Sage’s requirements, right?”

Watching Dox’s smug face, Angel opened his mouth to say something... but ultimately, said nothing.

Such nonsensical talk, only Dox dared to say so flamboyantly, and also right in front of the Sage.

Seeing the Wise Sovereign’s face gradually darken, Angel coughed twice: ”I won’t waste time, just go in first.”

Angel spoke while patting Kaier on the shoulder, indicating him to follow. At the same time, leaving Earl Mi outside, melding with the shadow of the Manneken Pis statue.

Kaier didn’t know what was happening, but was dragged by Angel to move towards the Hanging Jail Stairway. However, he was sensible enough not to ask but simply moved forward blindly.

Seeing Angel leave in such a rush, Dox hurriedly shouted: ”Don’t forget what I said! It’s time to showcase your talent in persuasion! You protected that Crowned Parrot before, surely you’ve learned a lot from it, I believe you can certainly swindle the Wood Spirit out! If not, then bring that Crowned Parrot next time; maybe it can do it!”

Angel paused, turned to glance at Dox, only to see Dox furrowing his brows and incessantly blinking smugly.

Angel immediately understood that Dox seized the chance for revenge...

And the subject of revenge was undoubtedly the mouth-fighting battle incited by the Crowned Parrot.

Angel thought Dox had forgotten about it over time, unexpectedly, he remembered clearly. Moreover, he chose such an awkward moment to bring it up.

Angel couldn’t refute, could only smile at Dox, but the smile did not reach his eyes.

Dox didn’t care, continuing to babble: ”By the way, Angel, didn’t you have a ’live broadcast’ before? How about doing it again?”

Angel initially wanted to refuse flatly, but realized that Black Earl’s mood seemed to change after Dox spoke.

Sure enough, the Black Earl quickly spoke: ”Angel, why not give it a try.”

Angel understood clearly the Black Earl’s intent—by broadcasting, he could relay the situation inside to everyone. First, it would facilitate Dox and Vay’s exploration, giving them psychological preparation; second, having prior experience, the Black Earl could guide Angel from outside.

From the Black Earl’s perspective, broadcasting certainly outweighed the disadvantages.

While Dox’s thought was to see some profit-related things through the broadcast, preparing in advance to plunder.

Dox: ”Right, Black has spoken, so go ahead and broadcast again. Anyway, if you don’t broadcast, whatever you do inside will be brought to others’ eyes, so might as well everyone watch together.”

The ”others” that Dox mentioned naturally referred to The Sage.

His attitude was clear: since you are already being watched by The Sage, why not just broadcast it live for everyone to see?

The last time Angel did a live broadcast, he did it purely because he was too lazy to describe it in words. Had he known it would lead to this, he would not have done it.

”Live broadcast, what is a live broadcast?” The Wise Sovereign asked curiously.

Seeing the Wise Sovereign also joining the discussion, Angel sighed and reluctantly agreed.

As Dox said, since the Wise Sovereign could already see what he was doing inside, he was already being treated like a sideshow, so it didn’t matter if there were one or two more people watching. Besides, he didn’t want to create friction with the Black Earl over a trivial matter.

With this in mind, Angel quickly set up a large number of Illusion Nodes in the outer world.

Since he was already committed to it, he decided to go big.

The last broadcast was too small and flat; this time, he’d go for an immersive experience, directly transitioning from the flat plane to the holographic era.

Previously, he had only created immersive theatrical Shadow Boxes. Because the Shadow Box was prepared in advance, there was time to make adjustments, and any flaws could be fixed beforehand.

But this time, he was creating a real-time immersive illusion.

This tested not only illusion techniques but also deeper skills, like Angel’s control over illusions, the stability of energy output, and his ability to multitask.

Control and stability might sound like simple words, but the details they contain are far from simple.

For instance, how can one ensure the continuous stability of an Illusion Node?

The Illusion Nodes themselves are arranged in a relatively stable pattern, but for Angel to broadcast in real-time, he needed to constantly change the structure of the Illusion Nodes. This ”synchronous update” in rhythm would make the Illusion Nodes extremely unstable.

Other illusionist wizards would find it very difficult to achieve this. If Angel relied solely on illusion techniques, he wouldn’t be able to maintain absolute synchronization. However, he could control the Power of Nightmare Illusion, and the nodes with this power participating became extremely stable. Plus, Angel’s right hand with green patterns could continuously release the aura of the Nightmare Realm, unlike Sanders, who still needed a Mare Stone for assistance.

This was the confidence that allowed Angel to attempt this.

Just like the Moving Mirage before, this was Angel’s first attempt at an ”immersive holographic broadcast.” In terms of technical difficulty, it was much harder than the Moving Mirage. Because the Moving Mirage used Earl Mi as the core node, all Angel had to do was maintain stability. But now, he needed to handle multiple highly complex tasks simultaneously.

To be safe, Angel even activated supercomputer mode. Powerful computing power could make it easier for him to handle multiple tasks at once.

Everyone only saw Angel continuously setting up Illusion Nodes, unaware of what Angel planned to do next. Only the Black Earl and the Wise Sovereign looked at the illusion nodes around them, floating like a Star Sea, lost in thought.

”The Illusion Nodes are filled with a strange and mysterious aura, but there’s no deadly intent,” commented the Wise Sovereign quietly: ”Is this what you mean by live broadcast?”

The Black Earl and Dox did not answer because they didn’t know what Angel was up to either. Did a live broadcast require such a large amount of Illusion Nodes?

While The Sage was puzzled, Angel completed the final step of his setup.

By this time, Angel could start the broadcast at any moment, but he didn’t immediately activate the Illusion Nodes.

For such a rare new attempt, a sense of ceremony was needed.

Angel lightly snapped his fingers, and the Illusion Nodes around everyone began to light up wave after wave.

The surrounding light was gradually covered by a dark curtain.

This process was like willingly stepping into the curtain of night as dusk approached, with stars in the sky lighting up one by one, illuminating this beautifully enchanting dream.

”So beautiful...” Even Vay, who had always played the role of deadwood, couldn’t help but remark.

”Usually, beautiful things are poisonous,” Dox said beside Vay. ”Don’t be blinded by it.”

Vay was about to retort when he noticed the Wise Sovereign looking at him from afar. He quickly collected his emotions and continued to play deadwood.

Meanwhile, Angel’s voice reverberated in everyone’s ears.

”Resistance or acceptance is your choice.”

After this brief sentence, everyone felt the Illusion Nodes around them rapidly forming an unusual structure, enclosing them tightly.

The Illusion Nodes were weaving a magnificent web of illusions around them, as if to ensnare them all.

Faced with this unfamiliar energy, the wizards’ instincts were to resist.

However, hearing Angel’s whisper, they understood what was happening. Was Angel preparing to pull them into an Illusionary Realm?

If it was just a broadcast, why integrate them into an Illusionary Realm?

Though they didn’t understand Angel’s intention, they had previous experience with the Moving Mirage and trusted Angel, so they did not resist and were directly drawn into the realm.

The only one who did not enter the Illusionary Realm was The Sage outside the earth’s boundary walls.

It wasn’t that The Sage was unwilling, but rather, Angel didn’t extend the realm in his direction. After all, The Sage could see everything he was doing anyway, so there was no difference in whether he watched the broadcast or not.

However, as Angel thought about this, The Sage suddenly spoke through the Mind Ribbon: ”Is this what you mean by live broadcast?”

No one else spoke up because they didn’t know why the broadcast entered the realm.

Angel: ”It’s just a synchronous application of illusions. Does The Sage want to try?”

Angel was merely asking out of courtesy, assuming The Sage to be cautious and unlikely to enter an unknown realm created by someone else. Surprisingly, The Sage gave a straightforward nod: ”Okay.”

Angel was silent for a moment. Finally, he extended the realm beyond the earth’s boundary walls. The Sage, like the others, did not resist and was directly integrated into the realm.

However, at this time, the realm appeared exactly the same as reality, without any changes.

While everyone was puzzled, Angel’s voice echoed in their ears once more:

”The immersive live broadcast begins now...”