“Damn it! What have you done to Randall?” Locke glared angrily at Fanta.
“No, no, no, we haven’t done anything to him, this is Randall’s own choice. Haven’t you noticed that his aura is approaching that of a Level 2 Sorcerer? When I say he’s getting ready to advance to Level 2, I’m not lying.” Fanta shook his head with a faint smile, unmoved by his anger.
“But he has turned from a normal sorcerer to this strange appearance.” Locke said gravely, displaying the indignation that a student should have.
“This is just normal insectification, not a single Insect Control Master can avoid it.” Fanta gestured towards the others in the square, who without exception were severely insectified, then continued,
“You’re lucky, you’ll soon witness Randall’s advancement to a Level 2 Sorcerer, as well as his becoming an intermediate Insect Master.”
“You bastards, you’d better not have done anything bad to Randall, otherwise, I’ll never forgive you in the future.” Locke’s gaze turned cold as he stared at him.
“Mind your words, apprentice Insect Master Ivan. I bring you good news kindly, not for you to act recklessly.” Seeing his repeated rudeness, Fanta couldn’t help but scowl.
As the two argued, more people arrived at the square, with quite a few Level 2 Sorcerers, and also three Level 3 Sorcerers.
The foundation of the Black God Society was finally revealed, perhaps not in its entirety but enough to make Locke momentarily hold back, his expression inexplicably shifting as he watched Randall, then sat down on the other side of the square as directed by Fanta.
Of course, not without Fanta’s mockery and scolding.
“Hold it in, hold it in. The more information we find out, the more it will help with the rescue later on,” the Silkworm Queen couldn’t stop muttering in his ear, afraid Locke couldn’t restrain himself.
“Listen, I shall kill this man,” Locke emphasized firmly.
In a short while, everyone had taken their seats in the square.
Outside the square, the mists of the Black God Abyss changed unpredictably. As time passed, the mist expanded upward bit by bit, soon enveloping the square, and the atmosphere on the square grew bizarre.
“Apprentice Insect Master Ivan, remember to pray with us.”
Fanta reminded him once again, and as soon as he finished speaking, the members of the Black God Society began to chant ancient verses.
In unison, the tone fervent.
Locke recognized it, this was the content from the first layer of the Black Beard Chapter, ‘Insect Language Breath’, which after the impassioned chanting of these people, became strange prayers.
The power inside him started to misbehave again, so he had no choice but to half-heartedly join in the chant, with more than a few shortcuts and errors.
He wanted to see what tricks the Black God Society still had up their sleeves.
“Careful, something’s coming.”
“I know.”
About half a minute later, Locke and the Silkworm Queen sensed a great disturbance in the Black God Abyss; an odd aura was pressing towards the square, making their hearts lift.
In the dim square, the strange yet impassioned chanting continued unabated, almost echoing through the entire Black God Abyss.
Along with the chanting, swarms of ink-black mist floated out from the Black God Abyss, sweeping toward the square, quickly covering everyone below.
Locke’s eyes widened; this wasn’t just some mist but incredibly tiny insects.
The number of insects was immeasurable, identical in appearance to the tiny versions of the wall carvings, complete with black wings and tentacles.
What puzzled him was that the aura of these tiny insects was unified, inseparable, giving him the impression that it was part of some creature, overall sinister and terrifying.
Based on this discovery, numerous ideas surfaced in his mind, such as summoning or resurrecting an Evil God.
“Do not make any hasty moves.”
“Sure, with the entire rapid wood silkworm clan supporting me, there won’t be any problem. It’s you—”
“What could go wrong with me?”
Locke and the Silkworm Queen exchanged a few comforting words, and the swarm of insects drew closer, engulfing them as well as everyone on the square.
The surrounding aura grew even more peculiar, and Locke felt as if he had entered the body of some creature.
As the creature began to digest, his power and lifeforce were slowly draining away, and the Silkworm Queen was no different, with the Black Beard Chapter once again becoming some kind of conduit.
With the qualities of a Spiritual Body, Locke was always sensitive to various emotions.
At this moment, there were members of the Black God Society surrounding him, not far to his left, right, front, and rear. Naturally, they became the subject of his observations.
In the darkness, things that were beyond expectation revealed themselves.
He observed the various expressions of these people, some struggling as their power and lifeforce were voraciously drained, some obsequiously volunteering contributions, and some shifting from zeal to fear, their expressions twisted in reluctance—
Their emotions were incredibly rich and varied.
He could also sense that the aura of Fantas was weakening at a distinctly visible rate, the magnitude of which was astonishing, and the look of terror was beyond words to describe.
So it turned out, all that apparent enthusiasm was nothing but a pretense.
“Originally, I thought they were devout followers, but from their expressions, it’s not difficult to see they resemble slaves who could be stripped of their will at any moment. Could the Black Beard Chapter be used by alien creatures to breed slaves?”
Combining this with the full content of the Black Beard Chapter, Locke suddenly realized this and the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was likely.
Insects dominate, humans serve.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but worry for his boss.
“From this perspective, the Black God Society is very deep, so deep that forces beyond Level 4 might emerge. This won’t do, I have to find a way to send the information to the boss. I can’t let the boss come here and face danger.”
Locke didn’t care about his own drained power; he realized that the Black God Society was a huge trap, and he must send out what he had seen and heard.
Before he could think of a method, he found the restraining power inside his body was increasing, and his concerns grew worse.
After about a quarter of an hour, the mist-like swarm of minute insects finally receded, and many breathed a silent sigh of relief. The chanting, however, grew louder, as if seeing off the swarm.
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It wasn’t until the swarm receded completely like a tide that the chanting slowly ceased.
“Senior Insect Master Fantas, are you alright?” Locke asked in a low voice.
“Don’t stick your nose in others’ business. Right now, immediately, come back with me to where you belong, got it? Lowly Insect Master Ivan.” Fantas was pale, his eyes glaring fiercely at him.
It was not difficult to notice that the so-called Senior Insect Master had the most power drained; Fantas was almost reduced to the apprentice stage.
In contrast, Locke himself only lost less than ten percent of his power, and a small portion of his lifeforce. This further convinced him that the so-called Senior Insect Masters were the real insect slaves, wholly subservient to the insect lords of these people.
“I must ask clearly, how often do such gatherings occur?”
“Every six months.”
Under Fantas’s urging, Locke took a glance at Randall, whose situation was unknown, and left the plaza to return once more to the narrow residence.
…
Meanwhile, Ivan and his companions were travelling at full speed, continuing day and night, and had entered the southern region of the Chanay Continent.
“How much longer until we reach the Blood Ring Mountains?” Ivan came out of his deep thoughts while riding on the back of a swamp ant.
“One week is all we need,” Jannie answered his question.
“Remember to remind me when we’re close,” Ivan nodded lightly and immediately sank back into his thoughts.
These past days, he was not only hurrying on their journey but also fully exploring the Meditation Method to fulfill his longstanding wish.
However, exploring the Meditation Method was not an easy task; he had to continue the properties of the Black Beard Chapter to infer a meditation technique that could accommodate his own power.
The more he explored, the more he discovered the profundity of the Black Beard Chapter.
Fortunately, he had many reference materials, including String Control Sacred Heart, Pure White Star, One Body Three Manifestations meditation techniques, Ode to Spring and Summer, and other various meditation methods.
He also had the support of numerous Lights of Wisdom and Lights of Great Wisdom.
Along the way, he expended two units of Light of Wisdom and two units of Light of Great Wisdom, and the new meditation technique finally showed some preliminary results.
But there was a clear drawback; it was too biased towards String Control Sacred Heart.
There was no way around it. Since String Control Sacred Heart was complete and offered the richest insights, his thoughts were drawn toward it unconsciously.
Considering he was nearing the Black God Society, Ivan could not afford to care too much at that moment. He decided to switch to the new meditation technique for now and would adjust the rest gradually in the future.