Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2569: Chapter 2570: Purification of the Goddess

Passing through a relatively short corridor, the view immediately opened up.

A gradually expanding space came into view right in front.

Upon entering, Angel discovered that this underground structure was actually smaller than he had imagined, at least smaller than the halls he had seen in the underground aqueducts of Nightmare Abyss City.

Although the area was small, the spatial structure was multi-layered, hollowed out, allowing one to see at least four levels from the bottom hall, each with rooms, some of which had their doors open, revealing lively interiors. Those colorful garments were definitely not from the past era and should be the living quarters of the Hero Squad.

Setting aside the homely atmosphere of the upper rooms, looking at this underground structure alone, it felt like a chapel of a small town.

The reason for thinking this was because Angel noticed rows of leftover nails on the broken marble floor. These nails were rusty on the outside but not corroded, as they were made from dense copper, an Extraordinary Material.

This kind of standardized nail was specifically used for fastening long rows of seats.

Based on the arrangement of these nails, the past hall certainly had rows of long benches.

Coupled with the obviously elevated podium at the front, just imagining it, one could envision a speaker standing there, addressing the seated audience, possibly speaking about doctrines or perhaps secretive brainwashing words.

This was almost exactly like the churches Angel had seen before.

Just much smaller in scale.

But, if this really was a church, why would it be built underground?

As Angel pondered, he voiced his assumptions and doubts aloud.

He mainly wanted to hear the Black Earl’s opinion, after all, the Black Earl had lived the longest here and must have seen countless religions, maybe he had come across a similar place.

However, the Black Earl couldn’t provide an answer either.

”It indeed looks like a gathering place for a sect, but after so many years, it’s hard to conclude. Perhaps, this place was just a venue for exchanges, like how you Alchemists hold alchemical exchange meetings in every Extraordinary City, always making them so secretive, afraid others would find out the location.” As the Earl spoke, his tone began to change, expressing a disdainful contempt for these alchemical exchange meetings. It seemed there must be an untold story there.

Angel: ”What the Lord Earl said might be possible, but if it were like an alchemical exchange meeting, the attendees should be more or less equal. But judging by the nail arrangement and the deliberately elevated podium, it doesn’t seem like a normal exchange meeting. If forced to view it as an exchange, it could only be a relationship between teacher and students.”

So, could this be an underground classroom?

This conjecture was even more preposterous than the underground chapel.

It seemed that the Black Earl also found the exchange meeting theory unreliable, but he did not change his tune, instead questioning, ”What proper church would be built underground?”

”None,” Angel replied without hesitation. ”In fact, it’s hard for sect people to gain a foothold in the Extraordinary City.”

Religion thrives in ordinary cities mostly due to the greed of royal power and the need for spiritual solace by ordinary people facing hardships. But in places where Transcendents live, let alone Extraordinary Cities, you can hardly see any religious church presence even in Wizard Markets.

Because wizards who pursue truth would only believe in themselves, in the knowledge in their brains, or even in the power in their hands, but would never believe in those illusory deities. If there were wizards who genuinely believed, they must be bewitched, and they wouldn’t believe in gods fabricated by ordinary people, but in Abyssal Demon Gods, Druna Outer Gods, Wild Gods, or Lofte the Evil God.

These so-called deities, except for the evil gods of Lofte World, all covet the Wizards’ Realm. To gain greater benefits, they often use baits to entice some weak-minded wizards, which is a common occurrence.

Yet, even for these godly followers, at most, in Extraordinary Cities, they can only engage in minor activities or create small organizations the City Lord pretends not to see. Anything bigger than that isn’t possible. As for openly leaving behind churches, such instances are few and far between.

However, the above situation only applies to the current era.

Whether exceptions occurred in the times when Naraku City still existed is uncertain.

”Secretive, underground structures, seemingly chapel-like... Did I guess right? Is this a gathering place for Demon God believers or the headquarters of the Garden Labyrinth villains?!” Kaier’s voice suddenly rang out, laced with excitement.

Angel: ”Maybe you guessed right, but to be sure, we still need evidence.”

”However, confirming the situation here is only a secondary task. Our main goal remains to find if there’s an entrance leading to the underground aqueduct.” Pausing, Angel turned to the others, ”Everyone, let’s split up and search. Mark any suspicious areas, and we’ll check them together later.”

Having said that, Angel turned to the Black Earl again, ”Lord, can you temporarily lift Vay’s seal?”

Vay, originally looking a bit dispirited, suddenly brightened his eyes upon hearing Angel’s words, casting a disbelieving glance at Angel.

This famous Transcendental Wizard actually pleaded for him?! Did Angel see the fragility in his heart in such a short journey, the restless soul unwilling to remain lonely, wanting to soothe his wounded mind?

Vay’s eyes gleamed with light, his heart fluttered, but his understanding was obviously skewed. Even as a nose, the Black Earl saw through more than he did.

The Black Earl directly asked, ”What do you need him for?”

Angel: ”To have Vay inquire with the logistics of that Hero Squad we met earlier, especially that Endless Old Man, about the original appearance of this place, what significant changes they made, and if there are any symbolic patterns or textures, and a series of such questions.”

Although confirming if this is a Demon God chapel isn’t the primary task, knowing related information could potentially help find the entrance from minor details.

The Black Earl pondered a moment, understanding Angel’s intention.

Among those present, Dox had spiritual perception, Angel understood Magical Energy Arrays, and Kaier loved exploring ruins, so it was left to the introverted Vay to inquire about these trivial questions.

”I understand,” the Black Earl replied without further comment, directly lifting the seal on Vay’s mouth, then flew out from his pocket, signaling Vay to seek out the group from earlier alone.

Vay, still in his delightful reverie, gave Angel a grateful glance before advancing, reluctantly turning back every few steps into the passage.

The Black Earl flew up with the stone slab: ”I’ll take a look around first, contact through the Mind Ribbon if you find anything.”

With that, a Mind Ribbon connecting everyone quietly established.

The Black Earl’s goal was clear, flying straight to the top, seemingly making some discovery.

Angel then looked at Dox, ”Shall we go together?”

Dox hesitated for a moment, ”Why?”

Angel: ”There isn’t much space here to begin with, splitting into three groups is enough. Besides, your inspiration is strong; perhaps there might be clues on the way. If you miss anything, I’m here.”

Dox: ”...The second sentence is the actual reason, right.”

Dox couldn’t care less now, as his intuition still hadn’t surfaced.

However, since Angel offered to accompany him, going together was acceptable, giving him a chance to both earn favor and study why his inspiration diverged whenever it involved Angel.

”Then let’s start looking around this hall,” Dox said, heading toward the podium.

Angel didn’t follow immediately, as the hall was small anyway, and first decided to check the surroundings for any Extraordinary traces.

Angel walked to the side, extending his hand to touch the somewhat broken yet still cold wall, slowly closing his eyes as his spiritual power began to spread out.

In less than a few seconds, Angel retracted his external spiritual power.

”Tough job, huh? I tried when I first arrived, you can’t get the spiritual power to penetrate here at all, forcing it will only backfire.” Dox said, standing on the podium, with a gleeful expression looking at Angel.

Angel remarked calmly, ”Since you tried as soon as you arrived, did you have no discoveries at all?”

Dox let out an ”Ah”, looking puzzled: ”I, do I need to discover something?”

Angel said indifferently, ”The result after projecting spiritual power, I anticipated it. I was just testing the penetration degree of the spiritual power. From the current feedback, there should be a considerably large Magical Energy Array surrounding this area. But it’s noteworthy that although this array is quite large, possibly beyond our imagination, it doesn’t encompass this place.”

”In other words, this underground building is built right next to the Magical Energy Array. Moreover, the position is extremely close to it, otherwise, except for the exit, walls facing other directions wouldn’t give a similar spiritual feedback.”

Dox frowned slightly, ”I know there’s a Magical Energy Array outside, but what does that signify?”

Angel: ”It signifies that we’re not far from the deeper layers of the Underground Aqueduct, which is truly the maze.”

The surface of Naraku City’s Underground Aqueduct even has residential areas, with very few transcendent facilities; hence the collapse incidents. But the deeper areas are different, they even have Magical Energy Arrays operational. If we can sense the Magical Energy Array underground here, it means the real underground maze is right next door.

Dox also realized Angel’s point: ”This building is deliberately constructed beside the real underground maze, surrounded on multiple sides, such proximity is surely not coincidental.”

Since it’s not unintentional, it must be deliberate. Why did the original builder deliberately construct it next to the underground maze? Is there some kind of conspiracy? Perhaps they plan to secretly enter the underground maze from here?

”Seems like exploring here first was indeed the right choice.” Dox murmured softly, ”This place should not be as peaceful as it appears; there must be secrets.”

As Dox was pondering, Angel too silently acknowledged: It wasn’t that we chose right, but that you chose right.

This further proves that bringing Dox along to clear the path was a very wise decision.

After confirming that there might be hidden secrets here, Angel didn’t linger, he continued to search for clues in the hall.

The hall contained many items from the Hero Squad, most being daily necessities with some weapons. Generally speaking, they were of little value.

Angel didn’t touch their supplies; instead, he used spiritual power to peer through these mundane objects, examining the floor and walls, searching for any supernatural traces or hidden patterns.

However, possibly due to the passage of time, all supernatural traces had disappeared. Only the life remnants left by the Hero Squad remained.

As for hidden patterns... there were none. But he did find that the flooring and walls also included some extraordinary materials of a level similar to dense copper, contributing to the building’s resistance to being worn down by time.

Honestly, looking at the burn marks left by the Hero Squad on the floor, along with the sword marks on the walls, Angel couldn’t help but sigh a bit. Although these extraordinary materials seem worthless to him, they are indeed more valuable than the pile of scrap and could fetch some gold coins if a few bricks were brought to some alchemy shops, even if they can’t be exchanged for Magic Crystals.

And what the people of Hero Squad seek is precisely money, isn’t it?

However, one cannot entirely blame them for not recognizing the value, since the world of transcendents is far beyond their reach. Besides, if they had indeed carried out a few floor bricks, they might not even find a suitable alchemy shop to sell them.

Angel shook his head, dismissing further thoughts.

He searched the hall again, still without success, and looked up to see that Dox remained on the podium. He silently wondered if Dox had discovered anything.

Just as Angel was about to check the podium, a slab of stone flew down from above.

”Earl, have you found anything?” Angel stopped and asked.

Black Earl: ”Found a little gadget, but it’s useless; I didn’t take it. Although it’s worth some Magic Crystals, feel free to take it if you’re interested.”

During their conversation, it became clear why Black Earl headed directly to the top of the building earlier: he noticed smoke wafting up from the second and third floor rooms, gathering at the top.

With only his nose remaining, Black Earl’s sense of smell was unparalleled. He was the first to detect something amiss: despite the visible traces of campfire in the hall and the smell of cooked food in the lodgings, the air in the building was remarkably clean and transparent. Black Earl then speculated whether there was a pipe venting the smoke, and if this pipe was connected to the depths of the underground maze.

Ultimately, it proved to be Black Earl overthinking.

On the very top of the building, he found a card embedded in a sculpture.

The card had remained uncorrupted over the years, naturally qualifying as a transcendent item.

It was an Inscription Card.

The card’s inscription depicted a graceful lady clad in thin gauze, pouring a continuous stream of water from a jug.

This Inscription Card’s imagery was quite classic, signifying ”Purification of the Goddess” capable of cleansing impurities in the air.

Yet, purification cannot operate unilaterally. Once absorbed, the impurities would gradually materialize, forming an outer sculpture resembling the Goddess.

The larger the sculpture, the more impurities were absorbed, eventually engulfing the card entirely, at which point the card’s function begins to diminish, its effect weakening with increased encasement.

With the passage of time, the card had been fully enveloped by the sculpture, rendering its effect minimal, only capable of subsuming ordinary smoke particles.

Nonetheless, by dismantling the outer sculpture and retrieving the card, a skilled inscriber could mend it to nearly pristine condition. So, in Black Earl’s opinion, it holds some monetary value, though he disdainfully dismissed it.

Angel wasn’t inclined to keep it either. Inscription-related items, though scarce due to suppression by extreme sects in the Southern Domain, aren’t rare in other parts of the Wizards’ Realm. He could cross the Continent of Yuantan to other parts of the Wizards’ Realm, thus he was indifferent about a low value Inscription Card.

Dox likewise declined, given that the bloodline side possessed the strongest purification techniques, why would he need this? Moreover, selling it required finding someone knowledgeable in inscriptions, where to find such expertise he didn’t know. Even if repaired, it couldn’t be openly sold, as he’s merely a wandering wizard and dares not provoke the extreme sects without backing.

As for the other two, Kaier was already upstairs, and Vay hadn’t returned; without exchanging via Mind Ribbon, they were unaware of the situation.

The matter of the Purification Card was thus set aside.

”Anything from your side?” Black Earl inquired.

Angel shook his head: ”The power of time leaves not a trace of the supernatural.”

Black Earl: ”What about him?”

Black Earl was naturally referring to Dox with his mention of ”him”.

Angel: ”Unsure, he’s been standing up there for a while, unknown what he’s doing. Maybe he’s already discovered something but hasn’t realized it yet. Since you’re here, why not check together?”

Black Earl was naturally open to the suggestion; evidence had shown Dox’s talent for inspiration was strong indeed. Their progress this far might not have been possible without Dox’s guidance, perhaps they would have been wandering outside.

Of course, Dox himself was unaware of his significance.

Once he realizes it, perhaps it will mark the manifestation of his talent.