Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2858: Chapter 2859: Flower of the Abyss

”Wait a moment, I will go and wake her up.” The Wise Sovereign finished speaking, stood up, and left the lounge.

The door to the lounge was open, and Angel could see the Wise Sovereign did not walk towards the great hall but ventured deeper, towards the bedroom he had mentioned... the place where he rested after transforming into his true form, the Triclops Blue Demon.

In less than half a minute, Angel heard the footsteps of the Wise Sovereign returning.

Upon returning to the lounge, Angel noticed that the Wise Sovereign had a palm-sized statue in his hand.

Perhaps because he noticed where Angel’s gaze landed, the Wise Sovereign placed the statue on the table while laughing: ”This is where my old friend rests; I sculpted this statue based on her appearance.”

The overall color of the statue was a heavy white, with slight beige hues in the pure white. Under the light source, the reflected light wasn’t glaring, somewhat like refined milk, smooth and soft.

And this close-to-skin white color wasn’t modified after; it was the material’s original color.

This was truly rare.

To know, the material used for this statue was the Soul Soothing Stone, which typically came in grey or black. White Soul Soothing Stones are exceedingly scarce.

Nonetheless, the color of the Soul Soothing Stone actually doesn’t affect its function. However, the color extremes black and white both influence the stone’s duration.

Among them, the lifespan of white Soul Soothing Stones is roughly double that of black ones.

Meaning, if a soul is placed in a black Soul Soothing Stone, it can maintain peace for five hundred years. Placed in a white Soul Soothing Stone, it can maintain peace for a thousand years.

According to the purity of the color, this number might be higher.

Judging by the quality of this white Soul Soothing Stone, Angel estimated that the soul within would show no signs of decay for at least two to three thousand years.

Of course, the premise is that the soul is in a peaceful state, which means a dormant state. If the soul is awakened and its consciousness leans towards extremity, even in the Soul Soothing Stone, it might still decay into the undead, although the chances of decay would certainly be lower than outside.

Though the white Soul Soothing Stone lasts longer, its effect is similar to that of the black one. Using black Soul Soothing Stones consistently and replacing them when the effect is insufficient is perfectly feasible.

This highest cost-effectiveness.

But the Wise Sovereign did not choose to do so; instead, he placed his old friend in a white Soul Soothing Stone, showing one aspect of his importance towards the friend; on the other hand, perhaps also due to his own uncertainty about his lifespan.

Apart from materials, the craftsmanship of the statue itself was quite exquisite.

A serene girl quietly sat on a large rock, the hood of her cloak naturally draping down, revealing the bun inside.

Details and divine charm were captured, from the statue one could tell that the girl likely belonged to the serene and gentle type of personality. This also demonstrated the Wise Sovereign’s commendable sculpting skills.

This style of sculpting clearly belonged to the Academy Faction. It was orderly, neither messy nor chaotic.

It’s likely the Wise Sovereign once studied at an arts institution run by mortals.

The sculpting of the Academy Faction is often uniformly exquisite, generally surpassing the Free Faction. However, top-tier sculpting pieces are rarer compared to the Free Faction.

Angel himself belonged to the Academy Faction in sculptural arts, but he was fortunate as his work combined the characteristics of Wizard Civilization and Earth’s civilization, allowing him to stand on the shoulders of giants to create works superior to masterpieces.

But, relying solely on himself to craft top-tier sculptures... Angel has yet to achieve.

However, compared to other Alchemists in the Wizards’ Realm, Angel does have a considerable advantage in this regard.

At least, personally, he felt he could complete this statue better than the Wise Sovereign.

Meanwhile, the Wise Sovereign, upon seeing Angel continuously gazing at the statue and exhibiting signs of contemplation, couldn’t help but ask, ”Why, do you recognize my old friend?”

”Ah?” Angel was surprised for a moment before realizing he had been staring at the statue, leading to a misunderstanding.

He coughed twice to cover up, then replied, ”No, I don’t recognize her. I’m just surprised to see a white Soul Soothing Stone for the first time...”

”I thought you knew my old friend for a moment.” The Wise Sovereign: ”But then again, if you genuinely knew her, I wouldn’t be surprised. After all, your arrival is already reminiscent of a legend. You might even claim to know the Naraku City Lord, and I would gladly accept it.”

Angel: ”...” Was this a compliment, mockery, or a probe?

Angel didn’t bother pondering over complexities and decided to take it as a compliment.

Wise Sovereign: ”I have already called my old friend, she should wake up soon. Before she awakens, I will tell you about her.”

”She is a...”

Before the Wise Sovereign could finish, a piercing female voice suddenly resounded throughout the lounge, completely overtaking his voice.

”Ah—”

The Wise Sovereign clutched his ears, constantly shouting, ”Stop, stop.”

No idea how many times the Wise Sovereign called for it to stop, but the shrill scream finally ceased. Before the Wise Sovereign could speak, a torrent of curses overwhelmingly assaulted him.

The expletives from the female voice never repeated themselves, cursing for a while, until the Wise Sovereign’s eyes swirled like mosquito coils, did the noise finally subside.

”...Cursed, cursed. Why do I see you, this pretending old man, upon awakening? Naraku, where’s Naraku?”

”Didn’t you say you’d call me when Naraku arrived? Where’s Naraku now? Tell me where Naraku is?”

”Don’t tell me this little wizard is Naraku?” After a pause, the female voice seemed hesitated: ”Don’t tell me he’s Naraku’s descendant?”

It took a while for the Wise Sovereign to snap back from bewilderment.

”Caroline, can’t you be a bit restrained?”

The previously softened voice of the woman escalated again upon hearing the Wise Sovereign: ”What did you say?! Restraint? I don’t possess such a thing.”

”Okay, okay, you don’t, you don’t.” Wise Sovereign: ”Then can you quiet down a bit, at least let me finish speaking.”

Caroline: ”What do you want to say? I won’t listen to any explanation!”

Wise Sovereign: ”...”

Caroline: ”Now tell me, who is this little wizard? Is he Naraku’s descendant?!”

Wise Sovereign: ”...didn’t you say you wouldn’t listen to any explanation?”

Caroline: ”Except for this.”

The Wise Sovereign resisted the urge to curse, continuously telling himself: she is dead, she is dead, I should treat her calmly, yes, calmly.

After subduing his inner agitation, the Wise Sovereign finally spoke, ”Rest assured, he is not Naraku’s descendant. But after ten thousand years, I believe Naraku might have descendants...”

”Shut up!” Caroline: ”I won’t allow you to slander my Lord Naraku!”

It was clearly the truth, how was it slander, the Wise Sovereign felt somewhat at a loss...

But when faced with Naraku’s number one fan—”Flower of the Abyss” Caroline, he could only endure it.

Wise Sovereign: ”As long as you’re happy. But, can you really bear to see your Lord Naraku single for thousands of years?”

Caroline snorted coldly: ”Women are the deadliest poison. My Lord Naraku absolutely cannot, and will not, be tainted by such poison!”

Wise Sovereign: ”...Aren’t you a woman?”

Caroline: ”I am a woman, so I am also a poison. But my poison won’t harm Lord Naraku, only other men, especially those pretending to be young like you.”

Wise Sovereign sighed helplessly in his heart. The ones he had the hardest time dealing with were women like Caroline—others saw her as unruly, but she found her own logic self-consistent.

Also, it had been too long since he last argued with Caroline. Her scathing words were still sharp, while he had grown much weaker... It seems that occasionally letting Caroline out is a good idea, just to bring a bit of liveliness to the quiet underground aqueduct.

Angel watched quietly as Wise Sovereign and Caroline debated.

Meanwhile, he reconsidered Wise Sovereign’s sculpting skills.

Earlier, he thought Wise Sovereign was Academy Faction, perfectly portraying the personality of the sculpted figure. Now, it seemed he misunderstood; Wise Sovereign might not be Academy Faction or Liberal Faction, but... Visionary Faction.

To sculpt a woman with a bold personality into a serene and tranquil lady—this is simply the work of a visionary.

Angel sighed silently, and his gaze towards Wise Sovereign grew more admiring.

Wise Sovereign noticed Angel’s gaze. Although he didn’t understand why Angel showed such an expression, he didn’t forget his main task.

”By the way, Caroline, let me introduce someone to you...”

Caroline: ”I have no interest in unrelated people. Don’t bother me. I want to continue sleeping. This time, until Lord Naraku appears, I won’t wake up again!”

Wise Sovereign: ”Wait, if not for my sake, you must consider Book Elder’s sake, right?”

Suddenly, the air became silent.

After a long pause, Caroline finally spoke: ”Book Elder? What does Book Elder have to do with him?”

Wise Sovereign: ”He comes from Barbarian Cave and has a rather good relationship with Book Elder. Didn’t you once receive a favor from Book Elder? For Book Elder’s sake, you can’t just turn and leave, right?”

Caroline: ”Hmph, just because he’s from Barbarian Cave doesn’t necessarily mean he has a good relationship with Book Elder.”

Though she said this, Caroline still asked Angel: ”Hey, little Wizard, do you have a good relationship with Book Elder?”

Angel: ”I don’t know what qualifies as a good relationship. If you consider harmonious interaction as good, then my relationship with Book Elder is okay. But if you mean close friends, then... no.”

Angel spoke truthfully, but after he finished, Wise Sovereign and Caroline both fell silent.

After a long time, Caroline finally spoke: ”Have you met Book Elder?”

Angel: ”Yes.”

”Have you met him alone?” Caroline asked again.

Angel nodded: ”Yes.”

The air fell silent once more, but this time the silence was quickly broken by a glow.

A statue on the table emitted a faint light, and then a human-shaped soul shadow slowly floated out of the statue, finally settling next to Wise Sovereign.

The soul was Caroline.

Previously, Caroline spoke from within the Soul Soothing Stone statue without manifesting herself. It was only upon hearing that Angel had met Book Elder that she showed herself.

It must be said that although Wise Sovereign was visionary in sculpting Caroline’s demeanor into a tranquil woman, he did not let his imagination run wild regarding facial features.

Caroline looked exactly like the statue, only proportionally enlarged.

And her demeanor was similar to her bold way of speaking; even without a physical body, her soul’s expression still carried a sense of unyielding independence.

After Caroline appeared, Wise Sovereign gave Angel a deep look and introduced: ”This is my old friend, Flower of the Abyss Caroline.”

After a pause, Wise Sovereign added: ”Flower of the Abyss means a flower of Naraku City. Oh, this nickname was adopted after Naraku left.”

Caroline rolled her eyes at Wise Sovereign: ”If you don’t speak, no one would think you’re mute.”

Angel smiled and didn’t comment. However, adopting a new nickname immediately after Naraku left... that does feel oddly familiar.

Isabella of the Black Castle also did something similar.

But Isabella took it a step further than Caroline.

After Isabel left, as Isabel’s disciple, she immediately changed her name to Isabella. She also changed her nickname to ”Twilight Queen.”

Isabel’s nickname, by contrast, was ”Twilight King.”

This move caused a sensation throughout much of the Wizards’ Realm at the time, turning the ”Twilight Queen” into the subject of conversation in Black Castle for years.

So when Wise Sovereign said Caroline had changed her nickname, he wasn’t too surprised.

At least ”Flower of the Abyss” could be explained as a flower of Naraku City, while the connection between Twilight Queen and Twilight King was one that could not be easily separated.

Wise Sovereign wasn’t bothered by Caroline’s attitude. After introducing her to Angel, he turned to Caroline again: ”This is Angel. As I mentioned, he’s from Barbarian Cave. I’m sure you don’t care about his other information, but he helped me greatly while he was in the underground aqueduct.”

”He’s an anomaly, the first anomaly the underground aqueduct has seen in a millennium.”

Caroline: ”So? What does that have to do with me?”

Wise Sovereign: ”He has a few questions about the Pan-Dimensional Plane that I couldn’t answer, so I recommended you to him.”

Caroline frowned: ”So you woke me up for such a trivial matter?”

Wise Sovereign nodded.

Caroline rolled her eyes again, turning her head aside, not wanting to deal with Wise Sovereign.

However, towards Angel, Caroline’s attitude was a bit more gentle than before.

”Since you’re from Barbarian Cave, you can always ask Book Elder any questions,” Caroline said coolly.

Angel: ”Just as Ms. Caroline mentioned, the questions about the Pan-Dimensional Plane are trivial. If I bothered Book Elder with such questions, he would probably chase me out...”

”That’s true.” Caroline changed her posture, crossed her arms, and said to Angel: ”I once had an encounter with Book Elder, solving some long-standing puzzles. I respect Book Elder a lot.”

”Since you have some connection to Book Elder, I can listen to what you want to ask.”