Eyes fixed forward, Xia De, who was running, suddenly vanished and reappeared 30 feet away. As he used Laleg's Leap once more, more cracks appeared around him. The tree canopy above remained still, also fearing those cracks.
His figure vanished again. After three consecutive leaps, the number of cracks around Xia De was completely uncountable.
But this was enough; he had finally reached the high platform where the idol and holy emblem were placed. The light from his fingertips illuminated more details in front of him, revealing the text on the metal cube box:
“This is a gift for the children.”
The idol held this box, so Mercury Blood must have tried many times but simply couldn't take this sage-level relic from the idol's hand.
But Xia De and the Old God wearing a clown hat were quite familiar. Understanding the text on the relic, he immediately understood, in his current panic, what kind of ritual was needed to take the box from the idol's hand:
“Only a child can take the gift box from the hand of God.”
So, he held the box with both hands, lifted it gently, and the box was immediately embraced by him:
“Ha, as expected.”
And just as Xia De paused to hold the box, behind him, the cracks had already surrounded him. They seemed to be wary of the idol, not daring to approach the high platform, but they only paused for a few seconds before moving towards Xia De.
The ethereal figure of the woman who had given Xia De the candle reappeared. She stood behind Xia De, temporarily blocking those terrifying gaps.
Xia De also wasted no time. He picked up the sage-level relic, god's gift box, and turned to face the dark cracks in the space behind him.
“Hmm?”
He saw the woman who was helping to temporarily block the gaps, but he didn't have time to say anything more, because black mist was already pouring out of the almost three-digit number of cracks. The roars and howls made Xia De's head ache terribly, and he almost couldn't hold the box. Strange starlight appeared in the deepest part of the darkness; something was really about to come out.
Holding the box with his right hand and pressing the lid with his left, he gently pushed, and the sliding lid moved, creating a gap between the lid and the box. At the edge of the giant tree's canopy, leaning against the Old God statue, after a second that made Xia De's heart stop, golden light overflowed from the gap.
He stared wide-eyed at the scene before him.
The dazzling light, the sacred light, the light of order, was not overbearing but extraordinarily solemn, not blinding but exceptionally gentle.
Xia De even faintly heard children's singing at this moment. As the lid was fully pushed open, the golden light illuminated his face and the transparent woman beside him.
The light illuminated everything in front of him, and it also illuminated the increasing number of dark cracks in the space before him. In that sacred golden radiance that seemed to overwhelm everything, the expansion speed of the cracks stopped.
In the light, Xia De saw the ethereal figure of a giant eye flash across behind one of the cracks. Subsequently, they slowly contracted until they completely disappeared.
“Ha~”
Xia De closed the lid and collapsed to the ground, leaning against the base of the idol. Only then did he feel his back was drenched, sweat soaking through the front of his clothes. The transparent woman in the robe stood quietly beside him, respectfully looking at the powerless idol.
The dizzy sensation arrived belatedly. Even with his eyes closed, Xia De still felt the world spinning.
“This gift really is... truly, thank It, thank...”
He muttered to himself, listening to the comforting voice of the woman in his heart, and it was a long while before he gasped and opened his eyes.
If the contents of the box were also useless, he would really have to use that drop of divinity in his soul.
He opened the lid of the box in his hand again. In the dazzling golden light erupting towards the top, he reached his hand into the box. There was only one item inside. He grasped it and took it out.
The lid of the gift box then closed automatically.
“What could the gift be?”
She was also looking forward to it.
After the item left the box, the light gradually weakened, becoming only as bright as a gas lamp. Xia De opened his palm and saw a puppet, a glowing, lifelike puppet in the image of Xia De · Su Lun · Han Mi Er Dun.
Inside the puppet's chest, there was a faint golden glow; all the light just now came from here.
“This is...”
“...A drop of sealed divinity existing in the material world.”
He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
He staggered to his feet. Only after the danger had passed did he feel his body weak, and his legs were even trembling from excessive use of Miracle.
He heard voices conversing under a distant tree; it seemed the two ladies had also brought the Silver-Eyed One under control.
He looked at the transparent woman praying with her head bowed beside the idol. At this close distance, he finally realized that it was a soul from the past. Then he looked at the idol again, thanked it softly, and slowly brought the puppet in his own image, which he held in his hand, close to his heart.
His skin felt the pulsation within the puppet, and that pulsation gradually synchronized with his heart's rhythm. Then, the puppet transformed into golden specks of light, dissipating in Xia De's hand, and those golden specks of light fluttered around Xia De.
His Destiny Ring automatically appeared behind him. As the specks of light entered his body and soul from different angles, the sensation of abundant power made him sigh involuntarily.
“Why didn't you appear? Wasn't I absorbing divinity?”
“This is a gift for you; there's no danger, so I don't need to appear.”
Her whisper carried a hint of a smile; she seemed quite pleased with the gift as well.
Xia De nodded, watching the specks of light continuously flow into his body. Then he looked up at the idol again. For an instant, the faceless statue seemed to gain a face and smiled at him.
But with a blink of an eye, the idol was just a powerless idol.
He said nothing more, but instead looked up at the giant tree that dared not move a single inch. A quiet blue light illuminated his face, and he heard a voice in his ear:
“In the town where hope vanished, It is researching the most authentic method of Toy Manufacturing. In the very end, It will meet you again.”
“relic - god's gift box, grants you new power.”
“Did contact with this relic give me a Miracle? Or a spell?”
The specks of light gradually disappeared. Xia De took one last deep breath, and all the remaining golden specks were absorbed into his body. The brass-colored wheel behind him was almost dyed golden. Black iron-colored Ling Rune gathered; this was the power of the whisper obtained from the relic.
“Outsider, you have inscribed the Black Iron whisper Ling Rune - Toy Manufacturer.”
“Outsider, you have gained the Miracle - Toy Manufacturing. Using any fabric as a casting material, you can transform objects into toys.”
Above the Destiny Ring, a new black Ling Rune appeared. But this wasn't all; the power overflowing from the second drop of divinity caused the four Ling Runes of the First-Ring to resonate, and the four-colored Ling Rune intertwined—
A wind began to blow in the enclosed underground space. Xia De closed his eyes, his feet lifted from the ground, and his body floated in the air.
And the two ladies, supporting each other as they walked over, happened to witness this scene before them. This abnormal scene was reflected in their two pairs of eyes:
Miracle - Echo, the golden Ling Rune detached from the ring and appeared to Xia De's left. Faintly, the ethereal figure of an ancient tree overlapped with his body.
“The appearance of the Outsider makes stable time Echo backward.”
blasphemy - Gluttony, the silver Ling Rune detached from the ring and appeared to Xia De's right. Faintly, the ethereal figure of a blood-red formal-suited man overlapped with his body;
“Not everyone can devour the power of the feast's host.”
inspiration - the little match girl, the brass-colored Ling Rune detached from the ring and appeared in front of Xia De. Faintly, the ethereal figure of a barefoot little girl with a basket overlapped with his body;
“A kind heart is not power, but helping others is also helping yourself.”
whisper - Toy Manufacturer, the black iron Ling Rune detached from the ring and appeared behind Xia De. Faintly, the ethereal figure of a young man wearing a clown hat overlapped with his body.
“This is a gift given to you.”
The overflowing divine power caused the four Ling Runes to resonate, which in turn made the Destiny Ring behind him rotate at an even faster speed. In the eyes of Miss Annette and Miss Bei Ya Si, the four-colored Ling Runes surrounded Xia De in a square shape and gradually contracted inwards. Four strange illusions overlapped with his body; what was about to happen was a true Sublimation.
Steam mist drifted from an unknown place, completely enveloping Xia De. Bells chimed, steam billowed, whistles shrieked, and hymns began to play.
A giant hammer head descended from high above, ready to strike the rapidly spinning blank ring behind Xia De.
“Guide a drop of divinity to infuse the Ling Rune prepared for “Sublimation Words.”
She reminded him softly.
The golden divine light that re-emanated from the rotating Destiny Ring, all its color converged on Echo on the left. Immediately, the giant hammer fell. The abnormal advancement method almost made the entire ground vibrate.
The tree canopy above rustled; it was afraid. The two ladies, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on at the moment.
Two drops of divinity turned into one again. At the same time, the surrounding white mist dissipated, and Xia De's body slowly descended. He opened his eyes and looked behind him; the two-sided brass Destiny Ring of a Second-Circle Arcanist slowly rotated behind him. Among the four Ling Runes of the First-Ring, Echo, which he had washed with a drop of divinity, now illuminated its surroundings with a bright golden Ling Rune.
When he possesses twelve divine Ling Runes, he will complete the final Sublimation. At this point, it can only be considered the starting point.
The power of the overflowing divinity alone pushed him to the Second-Ring without any rituals or material assistance. The light gradually converged, and all anomalies disappeared. His feet touched the ground again. At this moment, the sensation of abundant power in his body gave Xia De the illusion that he could punch through the ground.
“Detective, have you advanced to the Second-Ring?”
Miss Bei Ya Si's surprised voice finally came, but more with confusion:
“Even a Middle-Ring advancing to a High-Ring doesn't have such an anomaly... Diviner.”
“Hmm? I'm here.”
Miss Annette, who hadn't quite recovered, looked at her:
“What's wrong?”
The young Sorceress looked at her with considerable anticipation:
“He's really amazing. So, when I become The Chosen, will my ritual also have such a, well... such an impressive scene?”
This question stumped the purple-eyed Diviner. She looked Xia De up and down, who was smiling broadly at the moment, and then looked at the woman's soul praying to the idol, and said hesitantly:
“I'm not sure either.”