At Saint Delan Square, in his home, Xia De's disappearing yaobian gate dropped to the floor, but Xia De didn't feel himself move.
After he extended his finger into the white mist of the hanging yaobian gate, he believed he was standing still. The yaobian gate in his hand vanished, and the surrounding white mist instantly and completely engulfed the living room on the second floor of Saint Delan Square.
He looked at the small cat-shaped cloth doll in his hand; it had indeed been brought in, and he heard "her" voice in his ear.
【Outsider, you have stepped into the Time Corridor.】
【Message from the Old God, Father of Infinite Trees:】
【fifth epoch, Autumn 3002, West Continent, Thousand Tree Forest.】
【Event: God Summoning Ritual - Contacting the Old God "yaobian gate".】
【Duration: Thirty minutes (1/3).】
"Sure enough, this key can be used multiple times again. Not only did it specify the number of uses the first time, but a single use lasts even longer!"
Xia De's eyes widened, because the next piece of information was the key:
"Does the Old God of Time have a mission for me?"
【You have gained additional Knowledge.】
【The Father of Infinite Trees's figure watches you.】
【The Old God of Time gives you a trial.】
【Assist mortals in completing the God Summoning Ritual - Contacting the Old God "yaobian gate".】
【The Father of Infinite Trees will give you a reward: a truth of history (the Witches' War at the end of the fifth epoch), Miracle - Space Stabilization Aura.】
The voice stopped, and Xia De stood in the white mist, frowning:
"Rewarding a truth of history? Hmm... is there such a good thing?"
Although there were no Ling Runes this time, a truth of history granted by an Old God, no matter how one thought about it, was bound to be of great value. Moreover, the Witches' War at the end of the fifth epoch itself was related to the whispering chapters and the secret of the end of the epoch. Even if it was truly useless to Xia De, Miss Jialinna would surely not mind spending money to obtain some hidden history from Xia De.
He looked at the surrounding white mist, his expression still as serious:
"But this time's mission is to assist mortals in contacting a deity, which means I can only possibly see the Old God if I complete the mission... This is troublesome."
He had originally thought that this time, he would also directly meet a deity. If he encountered a benevolent deity like The Innocent Creator last time, he would gain enough Knowledge to use divinity.
This time, it was to help mortals summon a deity, and one time travel trip would most likely not be enough to complete it. But looking on the bright side, such a mission was better than dealing with past Evil Gods, and he also gained an extra 30 minutes to think about what to do after he returned.
"However, I have never heard of the Old God 'yaobian gate'. Is it another unknown Old God?"
Thinking this, he did not continue to waste Time, but stepped forward.
The surrounding white mist dispersed, and the sound of cicadas grew louder in the silence, followed by the even harder-to-detect sound of wind blowing through the treetops. He stepped into the night forest, where all sounds were hushed, as if everything had fallen into Sleep.
Without changing Mia back from her doll state, Xia De stood in the forest, looking around. In any of his lives, this was his first Time in a true primeval forest.
The light of the three moons cast dappled shadows onto the ground through the dense, overlapping canopy overhead. Those shadows swayed slightly as the wind blew through the tree branches. It was truly very dark all around, as if something was peering at him from the darkness between the trees and weeds.
Once he thought this, a feeling of panic involuntarily arose in his heart. This emotion was completely abnormal; compared to being watched by an Evil God a few minutes ago, the unfamiliar environment at this moment should not have frightened him.
"Thousand Tree Forest, like Hope Town, has a problem."
The wind was gently blowing, and the rustling sound in his ears was like countless whispers overlapping. A feeling of nausea gradually emerged, making Xia De instinctively raise his hand to cover his head. At the same time, double vision and hallucinations appeared before his eyes, but perhaps they were not hallucinations at all. He saw that the trees surrounding him had eyes opening on them.
Those eyes were watching him, and the headache grew even more intense.
"The first Time I went to Hope Town, I was also surrounded by strange scenes. Why is it always like this every Time?"
There was a faint light in the bushes ahead, so he endured the headache and ran forward. After pushing aside the grass in front of him, a warm, bright light immediately shone on his face.
He stumbled out of the grass completely, and the damp, decaying smell of the forest vanished. The air was clear and dry, and he could even faintly smell a high-end fragrance.
Xia De had only smelled a similar scent on Miss Jialinna.
After running out of the bushes, a towering giant tree stood before his eyes. Compared to the tree currently before him, the corpse tree he had seen not long ago seemed as small as a weed.
This was a truly towering giant tree. There were no other trees beneath its tall canopy, and Xia De was currently standing in the clearing beneath the canopy.
A bonfire was lit near the base of the tree trunk, and the flames were a dazzling reddish-gold. It was this firelight that dispelled the eerie sounds and atmosphere around, making this clearing not as dangerous as the forest behind it, but rather somewhat cozy.
Beside the bonfire were two simple cloth tents, with water bottles, small mirrors, wooden bowls, wooden boxes, basins of soaking clothes, and other miscellaneous items placed beside them.
Three hooded Witches sat by the bonfire, like still statues. Hearing Xia De emerge from the bushes, the Witches removed their hoods and looked up.
【Have you forgotten something?】
The whispering voice in his ear asked softly.
Xia De stood at the edge of the clearing, which was also the edge of the bonfire's light. His shadow, cast by the flickering firelight, swayed and projected onto the person-high grass behind him.
The crackling of firewood in the fire, Xia De's face showed an ugly expression:
"Oh no!"
Last Time, he encountered a deity in the fifth epoch, but this Time, he encountered mortals in the fifth epoch. The characteristic of the fifth epoch was that only Witches could use extraordinary power, and Witches had a special aversion to men. Since they could perform a god-summoning ritual, the three Witches before him must be Witches.
"How am I going to explain why I appeared?"
He was a bit troubled.
The three Witches by the bonfire had already stood up. The young Witch on the far left said:
"Teacher, someone has come over. Oh, it seems to be a man. Something's not right, I don't feel anything unusual about him. Is it an illusion?"
It was a language he had never heard before, but fortunately, Xia De understood it.
The young Witch on the far right said:
"Teacher, he actually dares to enter the depths of Thousand Tree Forest at night; even we don't dare to do that. Teacher, I understand, this is a monster formed by the forest's malice, this is not human."
The Witch in the middle, holding a book, looked at Xia De. She appeared to be twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with skin as fair as milk, exceptionally dazzling golden long hair, and truly glowing golden pupils. The bonfire was nearby, and the Witches' shadows were cast onto the giant tree behind them.
Somehow, Xia De actually felt that the face of the Witch in the middle, who was called "Teacher," seemed somewhat familiar.
This Witch appeared exceptionally calm:
"I've said many times, don't look at appearances, look at the essence. I see the aura of life on him, a normal aura, which means he is a normal human. I also see the weak but exceptionally dazzling Aether flowing within his body, which means he is a mortal who can use extraordinary power. There are no traces of illusion, and Witches are not allowed to perform gender transformations, so, this is a normal man who can use extraordinary power."
Xia De did not speak. He met the gaze of the Witch standing in the middle, intending to hear what she wanted to say.
Since the Old God asked him to help mortals complete the god-summoning ritual, then the difficulty would certainly not be gaining their trust, otherwise three half-hour trips would definitely not be enough. But even if the other party was a benevolent stranger, it did not mean he could relax his guard.
"Teacher, is this normal?"
The young Witch on the far left asked inquisitively. The Witch called "Teacher" asked her students:
"What else did you see on him?"
"The light of the Silver Moon."
The Witch on the right replied.
"The aura of the tree."
The Witch on the left replied.
The "Teacher" shook her head:
"His Aether does not exist in the same form as ours, but in a peculiar form I once saw in the South Continent. Ring術士, this man is not a Witch; he is an extraordinary being from a very mature Ring術士 system, he —"
The Witch's golden eyes met Xia De's, and Xia De understood what the other party wanted to say. A Witch capable of holding a god-summoning ritual, and even having an Old God - Father of Infinite Trees - send a helper, was indeed extraordinary:
"Comes from the future."
His identity was seen through so easily, but for Xia De, this was actually more convenient; he wouldn't have to painstakingly explain his identity.
Moreover, the other party's extensive Knowledge and powerful strength also indicated that their god-summoning ritual was very likely to succeed, and not something Xia De had to build from scratch.
"Yes, I do come from the future."
He didn't argue, but then he saw the Witches show puzzled expressions. Only then did he realize that they completely did not understand the sixth epoch lingua franca he was using.
He was about to gesticulate to express himself, but then he saw the Witch called "Teacher" quietly say something to the young Witch beside her. The latter went into the tent behind her and took out a small box.
"If you trust us and bear no malice, come a little closer."
The Witch said. Xia De nodded, cautiously approaching the bonfire. He noticed that around the bonfire, the clearing was sprinkled with circles of golden dust. Every Time Xia De crossed a line, the dust would emit a sharp whistling sound or glow brightly; this should be some kind of warning mechanism.
He came to the bonfire, and the Witch called "Teacher" handed him the box, which contained a brooch. It was silver, and its design depicted the ancient Ling Rune for "language." After touching the brooch, confirming it was a relic, Xia De pinned it to his chest:
"What is this for?"
"We understood what you said."
The Witch on the right said, then introduced:
"This is the relic 【Translation Brooch】, I didn't expect it to be useful for future languages as well. There should still be a relic system in the future, right? You should know what I'm talking about."
They gestured for Xia De to sit down and talk. They seemed to have completely accepted that the man before them was from the future.
The three Witches must have witnessed more miraculous things, so Xia De nodded and sat down with them.
Even though he didn't directly contact a benevolent deity this Time, this kind of beginning was not bad.