The three people left behind in the relic each only had a few personal items representing memories. The ring was related to Karis's youthful love.
"These three people are indeed worthy of respect," Xia De whispered, then suddenly froze and turned to look at the corner behind him. The silver Moonlight in his hand illuminated the spot, but there was nothing there.
"I just felt like someone was watching me there?"
"I felt it too, but it was very blurry, I don't know what it was."
"Is anyone there?"
Xia De called out softly, but received no response. After confirming that whatever had been peeking at him had disappeared, he continued to examine the contents of the coffin.
He did not touch the urn, nor did he touch the ring, but instead carefully studied the map in the letter in his hand. The map was drawn in great detail, and he easily found the room where the gargoyles and mirrors were stored, which his group had passed through. Following the direction, he located the room where the labyrinth candle was.
That room originally had traps; if anyone had rashly intruded, the relic would release deadly alchemical poison mist. But it seemed to have been modified by Mercury Blood, using a more secure relic as a guard.
Xia De could not return to that room, otherwise he would fall into the labyrinth again, but this time there would probably be no butterfly to help him.
Fortunately, although the current tomb room only had one door, there was also a secret passage. The secret passage led to the room where the corpse tree was suppressed. At the same time, the room not only contained the dangerous large tree, but also the holy emblem, statue, and god's gift box of an old god.
Xia De's mouth twitched:
"As expected, the most dangerous things are always put together. However, now is not the time to hesitate. I must quickly find the god's gift box so I can help them."
Following the map's instructions, Xia De found an inconspicuous stone brick carved with a holy emblem on the wall of the tomb. He pushed hard inward, and then the stone wall beside him suddenly rotated, revealing a dark passage.
He proceeded along the passage. It wasn't a straight path, constantly turning. Even with quick steps, it took a full five minutes to reach the end. The silver Moonlight illuminated the stone wall in front of him. Xia De hesitated for a moment, first dabbing the diluted weathervane bluegrass extract on his tongue, then lighting the few remaining labyrinth candles, before finding the stone faintly carved with a holy emblem.
After pressing hard, the stone wall in front of him opened again, and outside the stone wall, there was a strange, twinkling blue light.
Climbing out of the secret passage and looking around, the new relic room was more than three times larger than the room with the gargoyles, like a giant underground cavern. The ground was uneven, with countless tree roots crawling beneath the floor. A giant tree stood in the center of the room, its canopy covering the entire ceiling of the room, its branches forced to bend because the rock ceiling above was not high enough.
Vines hung down from the canopy. These vines themselves glowed with a faint blue light, which illuminated the area, but also made it appear incredibly eerie.
"You've come into contact with 'whisper'."
"Is this tree the relic?"
The tree itself had no reaction to Xia De's appearance. It stood quietly in this underground space, which was relatively small for the tree itself, as if it had been this way from ancient times until now.
Perhaps because of the tree's existence, the musty smell in the relic finally disappeared. But this meant that the tree was still "alive"; a thousand years had not starved it.
Looking into the depths of the room, a three-tiered platform stood in the corner. On the wall above the platform hung a metal holy emblem, and on the platform beneath the holy emblem was a faceless, robed statue, holding a box in its hand.
The statue and holy emblem seemed to have no power, illuminated by the twinkling blue light of the tree vines. Even from a distance, Xia De could still see the delicate linear patterns spreading across the six faces of the cubic bronze box, like a circuit diagram, containing a unique order within the chaos.
Flashing seven-colored gems were embedded at the nodes of those straight lines. A mysterious impulse made Xia De want to pass over the tree canopy and touch the box, but he still held back.
"There's a Ring術士 nearby."
"Where?"
"Ahead, in the shadow on the left."
Xia De squinted in the direction "she" indicated, and indeed saw a figure standing in the shadow under the tree in the dim light, motionless, looking up at the canopy.
From his build, it was a man, so it couldn't be Miss Bei Ya Si or Miss Annette. Xia De calculated the time until the 47 seconds ended, and quickly walked to the man's side. He didn't dare to get too close, fearing that an unreasonable "sixth sense" would make the other party aware of him.
Holding his breath, the Moonlight in his palm lit up, and as the labyrinth candle extinguished, it slashed towards the man with his back to Xia De.
That Moonlight made no sound in the air, appearing silently. When it struck the stranger's back, it made a sound like hitting a metal plate.
The cautious Xia De had already used the labyrinth candle in his hand to conceal himself again, ready for a spatial leap at any moment. He saw liquid Mercury Blood flowing from the wound on the stranger's back, but he still remained motionless.
The eerie situation made Xia De retreat a few steps. He turned to look at the room's exit, but unexpectedly, the person under the tree stiffly turned around at that moment. The pile of silver eyes startled Xia De:
"You're the fellow who broke in here?"
His voice was extremely hoarse and weak, and his face was as pale as a ghost.
The labyrinth candle was still burning, but he actually looked directly into Xia De's eyes. Xia De knew he couldn't hide any longer, so he actively extinguished the labyrinth candle:
"Who are you?"
He reminded his other self to be ready to burn divinity at any time, while his left hand clutched the charm in his pocket, provided by Miss Bei Ya Si, which could resist the demonic eye, "greed's Silver."
"The Silver-Eyed One, Diak."
With his voice, a rustling sound came from the canopy above. Some vines slowly drooped, and the faint blue light illuminated the two people standing opposite each other under the tree.
Only then did Xia De finally see seven or eight thick, non-glowing vines hanging from the canopy, deeply embedded in the Silver-Eyed One's back. Under those faint blue lights, the Silver-Eyed One, this Nine Ring Warlock whom the three considered a great enemy, now looked like a stooped, dejected middle-aged man.
He looked to be in a very bad state. The vines pierced his back, connecting him to the large tree behind him. This tree seemed to be "absorbing" him, in the literal sense of the word.
He looked at Xia De, his dim pupils appearing to be soulless:
"Who are you? The Orthodox Church? Or a Ring術士 who came simply for that sage-level relic?"
The hoarse voice asked. Xia De shook his head:
"Neither."
"It doesn't matter who you are. Why don't you stay and keep me company?"
His mouth opened, and Mercury Blood shot out of his mouth like an arrow, heading straight for Xia De's face. But Xia De, who was already prepared, easily dodged by moving to the side. At the same time, a silver mist rose up, enveloping him.
The Silver-Eyed One did not continue his attack. His throat continued to emit a hoarse sound:
"It's useless. No one can escape."
The faint blue light shone on his face, making him look terrifying, like a ghost. Xia De, in the silver mist, then noticed that the other party was actually only touching the ground with his tiptoes; his entire body was actually lifted by the tree vines.
Xia De did not continue to speak with the other party. He held the golden necklace around his neck, controlling the area of the illusion to continuously expand. To reach the box held by the statue, he would inevitably have to pass under the canopy. It was difficult to determine the Silver-Eyed One's current condition, but this tree definitely had a problem.
He wanted to expand the illusion's range sufficiently, then combine it with Raglai's Leap, to reach the high platform where the statue was placed without disturbing the corpse tree.
"Do you know the Blood Spirit School? You all think I'm crazy, but they are the crazy ones. That fellow who was sent here, for the ancient Ring術士's corpse swallowed by the tree, activated this tree. Haha, no one can escape. Even if you escape, what then? The Evil God is about to descend, and you won't survive outside."
"Do you think the Orthodox Church has no preparations?" Xia De retorted from within the silver mist, but unexpectedly, the other party laughed, his silver eyes scanning the mist:
"Lawrence, the Church discovered Lawrence is a vessel for divine descent. But that was the vessel we prepared for the Blood Feast Lord's Cultists. Do you really think that group of Cultists didn't have a second plan?"
Xia De, controlling the illusion, frowned:
"There's another mortal body for divine descent, etc."
His eyes widened slightly, and countless clues were connected at this moment. The doctor's back, leaving the banquet, seemed to appear before his eyes:
"Could it be the doctor's two Gluttony patients?"
He closed his mouth and stopped bothering the Silver-Eyed One. He finally understood the reason for his unease tonight. Now the Silver-Eyed One was injured by a relic, and the Blood Spirit School's Ring術士 was outside fighting the two ladies. His unease was not due to the relic expedition, but because of the Evil God.
However, having an additional vessel for divine descent did not necessarily mean an accident would occur. After all, the Church also controlled that banquet, and without the Blood Feast as the basis for the summoning ritual, the Blood Feast Lord could not possibly appear.
"I need to quickly resolve the situation underground and have Miss Bei Ya Si inform the Church of this news, to prevent further complications."
Xia De thought to himself, holding the golden necklace and controlling the silver mist to continuously expand around him.
Under the faint blue light, neither of them spoke again. The Silver-Eyed One even closed his eyes voluntarily. Only the tree vines behind him kept wriggling, as if absorbing something from him.
A few minutes later, the Silver-Eyed One reopened his eyes and looked at the larger mist:
"I understand."
The metallic luster of Mercury Blood floated on his body, finally converging on his back. In his silver pupils, a look of madness finally appeared:
"The Blood Spirit School people abandoned me to this tree for the ancient Ring術士's remains. I'm going to die, so no one here will live."
A humanoid figure made of Mercury Blood appeared clinging to his back, vaguely overlapping with his body. The Silver-Eyed One had once summoned a giant Mercury Blood giant in Lakeview Manor to fight against the Church's Ring術士 squad. Now his power had further declined, so he could only summon a life-sized Mercury Blood humanoid:
"Stay and keep me company."
The Mercury Blood humanoid, with the exact same appearance as the Silver-Eyed One, detached from his body. The faint blue light of the tree vines made the Mercury Blood shimmering on its surface glow.
The Mercury Blood humanoid looked at the silver mist.
Thump~
A nearly spherical metal ball was thrown from the silver mist, landed on the ground, emitted steam, and spun wildly.
The Silver-Eyed One looked down at his feet.
Boom~
The steam bomb exploded at the feet of the Silver-Eyed One and the Mercury Blood humanoid.