Ch. 4 - The Sleeping Land

Right now, only a loud bang could be heard inside the secret underground passage. The engraved seal in Francis' hand instantly transformed into a dazzling ball of light and smashed into the gap that had just opened with a whoosh. The dense sequences of runes that were floating around the stone's periphery suddenly stopped moving. Francis took a small crystal ball from his sleeve and held it tightly in his palm.

Seeing that, Paladin's pupils shrank. Despite the distance between them, he could feel powerful energy swinging back and forth between the runes. It was as if sharp knives lightly grazed his cheeks!

"It’s an Arcane Wave!" Francis yelled. Before he finished yelling, a puff of blue smoke overflowed from the middle of the runes that had previously stopped moving. It rapidly began to merge, forming large waves. It rushed like a tsunami towards Francis and Feng Li Er, who were just standing there nervously

Paladin tightly clenched his fists. Thin sweat began to form on his forehead. Although he knew the destructive power of arcane waves shouldn’t be that powerful, this sealing formation was laid by hundreds of the continent’s top alchemists. The seal had a total of 40,000 sequences of runes! Even for a great formation, having twenty sequences of runes was already remarkable. Then, what about the arcane waves released by a formation with 40,000 sequence runes? Paladin doubted it would be harmless.

When that wave-like smoke was about to pounce on Francis, the crystal ball in his hand suddenly emitted white light, forming a shield that covered his whole body. The waves rushed to him without any delay….

There was no sound of something crashing nor tearing! It was silent, very silent. Paladin only saw a flash of light and the next thing he knew, the smoke waves had already vanished. Just when Paladin pondered if his knowledge about arcane waves was wrong, the sound of something crashing could be heard from two different sources located in front of him. Following that, a large amount of stone that had been crushed into powder fell, immediately covering the ground with gray powder.

Feng Li Er, who was taken aback by this spectacle, stood up while shaking all over. At this moment, her normally sweet voice trembled a little.

"Professor… Professor! Francis!"

Feng Li Er felt a little bit scared when she saw Francis remained motionless. Although she was also an alchemy instructor, she was far behind Francis in terms of special research on alchemy and experience in studying the Ripley Scroll. Once Francis was dead, let alone facing the problems that were bound to arise after entering the seal, it’d be difficult for her to successfully enter the seal. Right at that moment, Francis suddenly moved.

"Ahhh…. I’m dying of pain…." Francis turned his body with difficulty. Droplets of blood could be seen seeping from the skin of his arm. The crystal ball in his palm had lost its dazzling radiance and had turned into powder that was scattered on the ground.

"My great Enos! Professor, you scared me to death!" Feng Li Er noticed that despite the fact that Francis was bleeding, it was nothing but mere cuts. The smile of a winner bloomed on his face. Feng Li Er couldn't help but sigh with relief, pat her plump chest, and smile coquettishly.

Unexpectedly, Francis turned and reprimanded her angrily, "Feng Li Er, pay attention to your words and actions! We are alchemists, freemasons who pursue the truth. How can we use the name of the God of Light, Enos…. Tsk tsk tsk, this really hurts. The Guardian of Bamir’s crystal ball is destroyed, what a waste.”

Francis' reprimand was automatically ignored by Feng Li Er. She looked at the remnants of the crystal ball that had turned into powder on the ground in surprise. She then covered her mouth and exclaimed, "The Guardian of Bamir’s crystal ball? Professor, where did you get such a high-quality magical item?"

“Don’t worry about that! Come on, the seal is completely fine now... We don't have much time left, so let's go.” Francis obviously didn't want to tell her where he got the magical item. So, without hesitation, he pulled Feng Li Er towards the gap in the stone.

Paladin, who was still hiding in the distance, had just finished confirming that he was unharmed. When he went back to observe them, Francis and Feng Li Er became one with the seal and disappeared. Paladin licked his lips. He decided not to follow them right away. He was going to wait for a moment.

Francis and Feng Li Er's relationship, in Paladin's opinion, was not as good as it appeared to be. For him, his greed for the power that could enter God’s domain was indescribably strong. If he were either one of those two, he’d definitely find an opportunity to get rid of the other party. After all, the temptation was too great! Everyone would naturally lose the constraints and norms formed by morality in the face of power that could rival God's. Think about it! Once such power was obtained, the moral values that kept oneself in check would be nothing more than a ridiculous toy! After all, gods were above morality!

"It's time!" Paladin had been staring at the seal for a whole ten minutes. Waiting for ten minutes was such a waste of time when time was so precious, just like the situation right now. Paladin stood up and charged forward without hesitation. He ran into the seal with a confident expression on his face. His entire body began to blend with the seal.

"Ugh..."

Paladin fell from a very high altitude. His entire body suffered from the intense sensation of weightlessness. When Paladin’s feet touched the ground, Paladin—who was at his limit—immediately fell to his knees and vomited, which was embarrassing.

As soon as he came to his senses though, Paladin was taken aback by the spectacle in front of him. The cave was so huge that the end could hardly be seen. Massive mushrooms covered the ground and walls. Strangely enough, these mushrooms emitted a soft blue glow. As a result, this massive, previously dark cave was lit up by a stunning coral blue light.

Astonished, Paladin slowly stood up. He noticed many blue particles floating near the mushroom head when he looked at the huge mushroom that was a head taller than himself. These countless particles emitted blue rays of light. Paladin dazedly looked up. The 100-meter-high stone ceiling above his head was covered with these strange mushrooms. The bursts of blue light made this cave look so beautiful and mysterious. As he was silently admiring the beautiful scenery, the sound of arrogant laughter immediately brought him back to reality.

"Francis, I bet you weren’t expecting this at all. I avoided the large corrosion scroll you spent a lot of money on, and instead, it fell on yourself! Hahahaha! Old pervert, how does it feel to be struck by your own spell?"

Paladin, who was caught off guard, immediately lowered his body. He moved quickly and quietly towards the sound. Hiding behind a clump of mushrooms, he saw Feng Li Er, with a bleeding wound on her shoulder, standing proudly in front of Francis, who was lying on the ground. Francis’ entire body was green, his flesh was festering, and his face was filled with pain!

Paladin unconsciously sneered, but his attention was immediately drawn towards the things behind them. A small altar stood nearby, as did four human-shaped stone statues that knelt on the ground and hands raised above their heads. The statues seemed to be devout servants of God. In the hand of one of those stone statues, there was an old and ragged scroll placed inside a simple iron box. That should be the Ripley Scroll!

The look in Paladin’s eyes instantly changed to ecstatic and greedy. He stared at the scroll in the iron box, wishing he could fly and snatch it away. Even so, he knew now wasn’t the right timing, so he had to be patient. Neither Francis nor Feng Li Er were people he could confront head-on. He had to be like a poisonous snake waiting for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow. A merciless fatal blow!

"Ripley Scroll, just wait a minute. You’ll be in my hands in a few minutes!" Paladin muttered frantically. He tightened his grip on the knife in his hand and lowered his body even more.

Comments