"… The path to 'immortality' has been unfolded before us. If the 'experiment' goes well, we will break the limits of human beings …"
"… During the experiment, I accidentally discovered a weird and interesting world. It was full of spectres, and everything in the main material world was reflected chaotically except for life … After a few explorations, I discovered a cluster of magnificent palaces deep inside the World of Souls, which was guarded by spectres that were more than the legendary spectres of the three magic empires. Thankfully, most of them were not intelligent. That was how I snuck in and saw the 'curtain' that indicated the most fundamental mysteries of the soul. Or rather, you can call it 'furnace' …"
"… When I was studying the soul curtain, a primeval mummy wearing a gold crown discovered me. Its defense was truly unbelievable. Unable to break out, I could only hide in the grey pathway behind the soul curtain. I did not dare approach the entrance on the other side because I sensed great danger from it. Believing in one's intuition is the foundation for the survival of a prophet … "
"… This place is almost a 'Realm of Gates'. The grey halls and the black gates seem infinite. Thankfully, behind some of the gates are all kinds of weird worlds with weird monsters and precious materials …"
"… I discovered some familiar and strange magic patterns, as well as a world that I found unbelievable. How could it exist in this place? I couldn't have dreamed of it even in my dreams … My studies and experiments have made breakthroughs, but this place is giving me more and more of a sense of danger. Perhaps, I should ask a few old friends to explore it together. The primeval mummies outside must've been lax …"
"… After a long communication, Viken, McLeod, Solins, Ebert, Eloise, Eugenia, and the other eight old friends understood the value of the World of Souls and joined the adventure team that I organized. Wilfrid, on the other hand, had something to do and could only wait for the next operation …"
"… The nine of us were from different empires. When we gathered, we were equal to one third of the entire magic society. However, I had intense uneasiness before I set off. So, I performed a divination with the Mirror of Fate and saw my possible fate and the 'faithless who walked between light and darkness' …"
The content at the beginning was similar to the notes that Lucien read in the lock of the Grand Cross, but it was more detailed and filled in many details. It also made Lucien understand that there were nine legendary sorcerers who explored the World of Souls at that time, five of them were level-three legendary, and four of them were level-two legendary. The number of legendary sorcerers was perhaps less than one third of the total number of legendary sorcerers at that time, but their strength was more than enough. No wonder their disappearance caused the collapse of the three magic empires.
"Nine legendary sorcerers have gone missing in this place. The Realm of Gates is truly a terrifying place." Rhein and Lucien were close to each other. While staying alert at the door, they read the notes. "However, they were not as strong as your team in general. There were no more than ten top legendary sorcerers even in the entire history of magic."
Lucien nodded his head and did not say anything. He continued reading the notes while he tried to crack the crown of the primordial mummy.
"On the third day in the Realm of Gates, we found some weird ghost creatures that were similar to the results of our experiments. Had it not been for that, it would've been impossible for us to discover them … I believe that our studies on them will help us make further breakthroughs in our experiments …"
"On the fifth day in the Realm of Gates, Viken discovered some relics. Somebody had been here!"
"… The 'Chamber of Immortality' that was mentioned in the relics was confirmed to be the entrance enshrouded in illusionary waves, because that was the only place that fit the description. The secrets of immortality. I did not expect that we would get in touch with the secrets of immortality! Before, I was only trying to break the limits of life and become, to some extent, immortal! Viken, McLeod, and Eugenia, the three guys who rarely smiled, were also too excited. It was needless to mention the rest of them … Had the owner of the relics gone to the Chamber of Immortality and truly become immortal? "
"The discovery made us so excited that we could not do experiments in peace. Therefore, we decided to explore the 'Chamber of Immortality' first …"
"On the ninth day in the Realm of Gates, the pathway leading to the 'Chamber of Immortality' was beyond our imagination. We watched Solins and Eugenia disintegrate and disappear there … They had been through many dangers, but they died in such a daze … No! We were not convinced! They must've been full of regret and regret when they died. Perhaps they needed a special way to pass the pathway? "
Lucien took a deep breath. It seemed that two legendary sorcerers had been killed in the pathway on the other side.
"On the tenth day in the Realm of Gates, we studied the relics in peace. After consuming the 'Mirror of Fate' again, we finally discovered the hidden enormous laboratory …"
"So, it was Mr. Thanos who came in earlier than us, studied the weird ghost creatures, and searched for a way to enter the 'Chamber of Immortality'!"
Lucien's fingers couldn't help but twitch. 'Sun King' Thanos was truly the toughest person in the last years of the ancient Magic Empire. Even the 'World of Souls' and the 'Chamber of Immortality' were discovered by him first!
He was known as the strongest sorcerer in the history of the school of astrology, and he was praised to be the closest to a demigod. Yet, he perished at the peak of his life, making the history readers feel sorry for him.
In the history books, the fall of the Sun King was regarded as a symbol of the decline of the magic society.
"So, the Sun King did not perish but went missing in this place. The ancient Sylvanas Magic Empire must've announced that he perished in an experiment to pacify the people." Lucien had a weird satisfaction as if he had solved a historical mystery.
The Sun King Thanos went missing in this place … Suddenly, the sentence flashed across Lucien's head like a lightning. The previous feelings of familiarity congregated into a crazy tide and broke the gate of memories.
"Yes, the Sun King Thanos' 'devil' experiment! Those who are projected by the devil will be stronger than themselves! For the middle-rank and low-rank sorcerers, the improvement brought by the projection may be several levels higher, but for the high-level sorcerers, the improvement is often only two levels, one level, or even half a level. It should be the same in the realm of legends! No wonder I felt that the 'monster', which happened to be one level higher than the target, was so familiar! "
"However, the projection of the 'devil' is inside one's own heart, and it is one's own strength that is improved. The monster in the Realm of Gates, on the other hand, is real on the outside, and it is its own strength that is improved. That's why I didn't think of it earlier!"
Noticing Lucien's shock, Rhein asked, "What's wrong?"
Through the telepathic bond, Lucien told him his speculations in full.
Rhein's casual smile was gone. Deep in thought, he said, "The seven primeval devils … I once explored the primeval relics in the deepest part of hell. Now that I think about it, they are rather similar to this monster. They are also not demigods, they are equally difficult to be destroyed, and they are adept at prying into minds and memories. However, this monster does not affect our mind and personality, nor does it 'improve' our strength. Instead, it weirdly separates the two from each other. They are fundamentally different."
"Perhaps it is because it cannot be projected into the heart of the legendary experts and can only deceive and fight externally. From that perspective, I can understand why the scattered words left by the legendary sorcerers were so desperate, crazy, and hysterical. It's because they were gradually influenced by the monster when they were not strong enough. Their mind was invaded, and their personality was twisted." Lucien continued his speculation.
Rhein nodded. "Fair enough. But why did it not destroy the notes and the pieces? Why did we find the relics so easily?"
He asked about Lucien's previous question.
"To create panic?" Lucien frowned. "Let's keep reading the notes. Maybe we can figure out the puzzle."
"On the eleventh day inside the Realm of Gates, Viken proposed that everybody delete all the records about the laboratory in their magic notebooks without leaving any possibility of accidental leakage. We could only read the files in the laboratory. I agreed with that very much. So, I deleted some of the things that I recorded earlier, and I could only skip certain things in the future … In the end, please allow me to pay tribute to Mr. Thanos. Although he failed, he illuminated the path forward for us. He deserved to be called the greatest sorcerer. His demise is the greatest loss in the history of magic …"
"On the fifteenth day inside the Realm of Gates, we collected all the 'weird ghosts' and began to create mediums according to Mr. Thanos' approach. We explored the ways to use them on ourselves so that we could enter the 'Chamber of Immortality' …"
"On the twenty-sixth day inside the Realm of Gates, something seemed to have gone wrong with the experiment. The 'medium' that we created turned into a terrible devil that wandered inside the Realm of Gates! We didn't defeat it until we joined our hands … "
"On the twenty-ninth day inside the Realm of Gates, Viken was scared and wanted to leave. He claimed crazily that the devil was more horrible than we imagined …"
"On the thirtieth day inside the Realm of Gates, Viken 'went missing'. What a coward …"
"On the thirty-first day inside the Realm of Gates, Abbott went missing. Did he run away too?"
"On the thirty-second day inside the Realm of Gates, Heloise went missing too. Things might be more troublesome than we thought. I suggest that we leave the Realm of Gates first …"
"On the afternoon of the thirty-second day inside the Realm of Gates, we were deceived by the monster … It was truly horrifying, and it could disguise itself as someone else … McLeod went missing too …"
"On the thirty-fourth day inside the Realm of Gates, we were blocked by the monster. In the meantime, we found the puppet components that McLeod left by accident. Perhaps he was trying to express something … I believe that the 'Mirror of Fate' can predict the monster's weakness, can't it?"
"… The two of them went missing too. The 'Mirror of Fate' gave me vague hints. Combined with what I know, I think I've figured something out. It's not a monster, not a ghost, not a primeval devil that we're worried about. It's …"
That was the end of Maskelyne's diary. The most critical part had a long trail of ink. Something seemed to have happened that made him leave the secret chamber in a hurry and never return.
The critical part was gone! Lucien almost threw the magic notebook to the ground. Mr. Maskelyne, would it kill you to write a few more words?
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