Seeing the familiar scene, Lucien immediately recalled the identity of the sphinx mummy before him. It was Finks, the King of Sphinxes, whom he met when he completed Rhein's quest!
At that time, it was sealed in a coffin. After a brief resurrection, it was executed by him with Pale Justice and fell into a deep sleep again. When he escaped, he left through the gap of the World of Souls. Then, he saw the black, white, and gray projection of its mausoleum, the rust-colored light ball that was stained with blood, and the weird reddish-brown 'spider threads'. He realized that it was really sealed in the World of Souls.
However, right now, its real body had been executed by the Sword of Truth through the projection. There was no need to worry about being sealed anymore, because a completely dead being could not be sealed.
"Is this a projection? Sacrificing its wisdom to gain its original strength? No wonder my 'Fateful Meteor' could not really destroy it. " Douglas speculated. When 'Fateful Meteor' was used on the real body, it would destroy all the life-saving preparations, but it could not damage the real body through the projection or the clone. It could only cause some damage.
Lucien said solemnly, "Perhaps it was not just because of the sacrifice of its wisdom. I suspect that it was sealed in the World of Souls because someone wanted to extract the power of its godhood. Right. It was Finks, the King of Sphinxes."
"Finks, the legend who died ten thousand years ago?" Douglas was very familiar with the ancient civilization. Also, Finks' mausoleum was still located in the southern desert of the Gusta Empire.
Fernando, on the other hand, grasped the key point in Lucien's words. "Godhood?"
Lucien nodded and described all the details that he saw in Finks' mausoleum and the reflection in the World of Souls.
If it were a few years ago, Douglas, Fernando, Vicente and the rest of them wouldn't have known what it was. But right now, they were absolutely certain that it was a cluster of godhood!
After a moment of silence, Douglas said solemnly, "So to speak, Finks might not have been really dead ten thousand years ago. He was captured by the World of Souls and sealed in a specific place. Then, a ball of godhood was condensed with him as the core, and the projection that guarded the Temple of Spirits was only a side effect."
"Hehe. No wonder there were barely any false gods in the main material world before the War of Dawn! I browsed through all the ancient records. Except for the Age of Myths, I did not find a single false god! I've always been curious about it. Since so many false gods emerged in the War of Dawn, it suggested that the main material world had the conditions to condense godhood too. But why were there so many false gods in the newly-discovered alternate dimension but none in the main material world? It turns out that the people from the World of Souls have been spying on us. "Fernando snorted.
Erica frowned. "Are you suggesting that every legendary or powerful creature who might condense a ball of godhood has been targeted by the World of Souls? Let them die 'naturally' when they are about to succeed? "
"Something like that. According to the report submitted by Evans, the mysterious existence of the World of Souls recovered a lot by devouring the light balls of godhood of the same nature. Perhaps, the legends and their vassals of the World of Souls captured the King of Sphinxes and sealed him in order to extract and transform his godhood," said Vicente in a gloomy voice.
For a legend such as Finks, although he would not collect godhood on his own, after being worshipped by all the sphinxes, the light of godhood must've been condensed naturally as time passed. Therefore, he was noticed by the World of Souls.
Since he was not really dead, the spontaneous power of faith would still gather at the place where he was sealed. Therefore, it was impossible for the latecomers to become "gods". Amboula, the Lord of the Ocean worshipped by the Kuo-toans, should've been the same. Even though the emperor of the Kuo-toans was stronger than him later, he could not sense the power of faith at all.
On one hand, it was because he was behind the scenes, and on the other hand, the "sealed" monopolized the channels of faith, which led to the weird situation that no false gods appeared after the Age of Myths. It was not until the War of Dawn that a large batch of people emerged to spread religion and collect faith.
After a brief conversation, the six legendary sorcerers had basically reconstructed the scheme that had lasted tens of thousands of years.
The World of Souls had always been spying on and threatening the main material world. It was definitely not harmless!
The exploration operation was more valuable than expected!
"However, the sealing ritual of the World of Souls is not bad. It can make the King of Sphinxes sleep for ten thousand years without completely 'decaying'." Klaus shook his head and smiled, dissolving the atmosphere with humor.
Lucien smiled. "When you are about to reach the end of your life, you can apply for a seal from the legendary spectres of the World of Souls. Then, after tens of thousands of years, when your dream is fulfilled, you will be able to wake up and enjoy it for once."
"Well, that's a great idea." Klaus chuckled. "But we can't be careless right now. I still have a long life to enjoy, and many alchemical puppets are waiting for me to return. I can't be sealed in a gloomy mausoleum and project a disgusting face to guard the Temple of Spirits."
Douglas took a deep breath and pointed at the secret entrance not far away. "There may be more horrifying things waiting to be discovered. Everybody, be careful."
The rotten body of the King of Sphinxes on the ground had completely stopped wriggling because of the destruction of its original body. The black beetles that were like tides all turned their bellies to the sky, losing the feeling of life and death. Then, they quickly turned into gray pus and melted into the black mud.
… …
The pure black gate was decorated with old-fashioned and dark patterns. Coldness flashed on it, making it intimidating.
The entrance seemed to have been specially made for the Cloud Giants. It was dozens of meters tall, and according to Adol's description, it should be the smallest gate in the palace complex.
A lot of senior-rank spectres similar to Adol were floating inside and outside the gate. They were all wearing loose black hooded robes that were painted with weird and complicated white patterns, guarding the channel closely.
Douglas slightly frowned. "The Temple of Spirits blocks spiritual power. The magic eyes I released will be cut off as soon as they enter. It seems that we can only sneak in by stealth."
"Perhaps, the Temple of Spirits is part of the projection of the mysterious existence of the World of Souls." The Lord of the Undead suddenly opened his mouth.
"Very likely." Fernando agreed with Vicente, which was rare for him.
Therefore, under the protection of illusions, the six legendary sorcerers walked to the gate.
It seemed that Finks was the legend who guarded the entrance. Therefore, Lucien and the rest of them did not run into any other experts. Under the gaze of dozens of senior-rank spectres, they entered naturally and naturally as if they had returned to their own home. Those senior-rank spectres, on the other hand, turned a blind eye to them.
All the palaces were pure black, cold, and silent. All the gardens had pale, creepy faces. All the corridors were completely sealed. It was impossible for spiritual power to spread out. Everywhere was full of spectres and smelly … After moving forward carefully for a long time, Douglas said, "The temple up ahead is no longer the 'Lake of Ghosts' in Adol's memory, which means that the location has changed. We have to count on ourselves now."
Thankfully, there were the coordinate changes left by Maskelyne and Viken, and the place where they went missing was confirmed to be behind the Furnace of Souls. Therefore, as long as they moved forward according to the calculated coordinates, they would certainly reach the Furnace of Souls that separated the inside from the outside.
After calculating the coordinates according to the parameters of the environment, Lucien and the rest of them moved on and recalculated every once in a while.
"I feel that the time and space in the Temple of Spirits is not normal." Before a temple, Douglas suddenly stopped. "It seems that we have come to a different world."
Lucien took out the silver 'Moon Timer' and looked at it. "Yes. The time and space are not normal. The second hand, the minute hand, and the hour hand are all jumping crazily. It seems that the time and space will change after every step we take."
"Also, the deeper we go, the slower the flow of time will be. One day here is probably five days outside." Douglas recorded the changes on his magic notebook. It was the responsibility of a 'reclaimer'.
Fernando calculated the coordinates where Maskelyne went missing and the current coordinates. "Perhaps it won't be long before we see the Furnace of Souls."
On their way, Lucien and the rest of them encountered four unintelligent legendary spectres. With the cooperation of Vicente and Erica, they successfully fooled them.
"Let's hope that we will find our target after we pass through this palace." Douglas turned into gas and crawled into the palace through the gap of the gate without disturbing any magic circles.
Inside the palace, there were rows of bookshelves. On top of them were dark yellow books that emitted a strong rotten smell. On each shelf, there were three white candles that emitted a weak pale light. Together with the black and cold bricks around them, they created a gloomy and terrifying atmosphere.
"A library?" Klaus was somewhat surprised. "There's a library in the Temple of Spirits?"
None of those spectres would study hard and make progress every day!
Silver brilliance beamed out of Fernando's red eyes. He looked at the contents of the books through the covers of the bookshelves, but he was not affected at all.
After a long time, Fernando said in a low voice, "They are precious books from different eras. They contain the records of many lost civilizations, such as the Age of Mythology that we are unaware of."
For sorcerers, books were one of the best trophies!
Douglas put on a smile. "Remember the coordinates of this place and move forward. We will take the books away when we return."
If they took the books away now, it would be easy to alarm the legendary spectres and cause unnecessary changes, which would delay the exploration of the Furnace of Souls. But they wouldn't have to worry about it when they returned. Also, this place was at the periphery, which fit the pattern of coordinates in Adol's memory. There was no need to crack it.
In the flickering candlelight, Vicente's skinny face that only had one layer of skin looked extremely terrifying. Deep in thought, he said, "Something seems to have changed?"
Fernando's face turned grave, and he sensed something in his spiritual power. "Where's Erica?"
It was not until this moment that Lucien realized that Erica, "Master of Transformation", had gone missing! There was no telling when she went missing!
In the windless library, the white candlelight flickered as if it were a pair of eerie eyes.
A transparent crystal ball suddenly appeared in Douglas's hand. After a faint glow, he stretched out his right hand and opened an invisible door with a creak.
The time and space around changed, and a secret chamber appeared in the library.
Inside the secret chamber, a weird man with black hair and red lips was grabbing Erica and holding her in his arms. His sharp teeth pierced into her neck deeply. Erica's flaxen eyes seemed to have lost their brilliance, and her face was frozen.
Sensing that the door of the secret chamber was opened, the weird man in a glamorous robe turned around abruptly. His unusually pale face and his red mouth were a shocking contrast. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth drop by drop. He laughed crazily.
"It's been a long time since I tasted such delicious blood!"
He thought that Douglas, Lucien and the rest of them would be scared and lose their rationality temporarily, but what he saw was nothing but mockery — except for Vicente, who barely had a normal expression anymore.
In his surprise, he clutched his neck in pain, as if something inside was burning his soul. The blood on his mouth emitted sacred brilliance.
Erica had returned to normal at some point. She pushed his hand away and wiped her neck with a handkerchief. She sneered, "Didn't your mother tell you not to drink other people's blood randomly? Especially a master of transformation. "
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
