Chapter 52: Sublime Gift
Upon landing, Li Wen immediately sensed intense danger. A chilling aura enveloped her, and a powerful force struck her from behind. Caught off guard, Li Wen could only roll to deflect the remaining impact.
Remaining Life: 71%.
This sneak attack dealt 29% damage to Li Wen. If not for the Emerald Star Cloak’s innate defensive capabilities, Li Wen’s life likely would have dropped below 60%.
This was a dimly lit basement. The attacker might have been preparing to attack upon hearing the commotion.
She glanced at the attacker, a bald man with dark skin covered in tattoos. His eyes were fierce, and he muttered strange languages, holding a cracked scarlet eyeball in his hand.
The man was speaking in the Sea of Hell language, sometimes called the Jabbeh language. That was the border between the East and West of the inner continent, a neutral territory with numerous religions and mixed beliefs. Even organizations feared by all, like churches serving Darkness or Decay, were not uncommon.
It was said that passing through the Sea of Hell would lead to Canaan, so the churches of the Dark Lineage were particularly active there.
Li Wen raised her short sword and spoke in fluent Sea of Hell, “Take me to meet your leader. Tell him, ‘Who knows, everything under Glor is Darkness’.”
“Dark Dawn?” The bald man’s ferocity slightly receded, but his eyes remained wary. “Have you found the goods?”
“I will discuss the details of the goods with your leader, not you. Or… are you qualified to represent all of you?”
The other party stiffened, his face turning pale. It seemed Li Wen had hit the mark. After all, if he were someone of importance, he wouldn’t have been sent to guard the door.
He was merely a believer who had learned some minor arcane occult knowledge from the church’s elders, and had not embarked on the path. He could only attempt a sneak attack using the treasures in his hand. If he were to confront transcendent experts from other factions head-on, he would be defeated immediately.
Thus, facing the Bone-Corroding Short Sword in Li Wen’s hand, which was clearly no ordinary weapon, the bald tattooed man immediately surrendered. Since he was the contact person for Dark Dawn, superiors would not severely blame him for dereliction of duty.
“I will… take you… to the weapon, put it down…” the other party began speaking in broken Terran.
Li Wen naturally ignored him and directly motioned for him to lead the way.
These Chong Yue faction members had no intention of establishing a long-term base in Ark Town. The basement under this dilapidated house was not large, but there was another level below. The bald tattooed man did something to open another hidden door. Behind the hidden door stood a tattooed, burly man. This man merely glanced at the two of them, then moved aside without saying a word.
Thus, Li Wen arrived at the second floor of the dilapidated house’s basement. Here, an old man wearing a black robe and with his eyes covered by white cloth had already been waiting.
He sat in the deepest shadow, muttering ancient incantations and secrets of the night. A scrawny, malnourished black cat by his feet had its fur on end, its eerie pupils fixed on Li Wen.
The bald tattooed man had already left. The white-cloth-covered old man coughed and asked in fluent Terran, “Where’s the merchandise?”
It seemed he was fully aware of what had happened and the conversations above.
“That Fire Mage was pushed to a desperate situation and used it himself.”
The old man sighed.
“Three of our brethren died transporting it across the border.” He didn’t blame anyone, merely stating facts.
Li Wen blinked. She seemed to have guessed which specific church this Chong Yue faction belonged to. The main members are predominantly from Sea of Hell, eyes covered with white cloth, raising familiars, and referring to fellow believers as brethren. There was only one Deep Darkness church that fit all these characteristics: the Order of the Sublime Gift, which served the Lunar Twin Gods and the Hag Death Witch.
Their believers firmly believed they were great descendants of the Forgotten Kingdom, hence they called fellow believers brethren. Their eyes were covered with white cloth because the people of the Forgotten Kingdom could not directly look upon the light and darkness of the mortal realm, lest they become defiled.
Besides the Sea of Hell, the most active region for this order was Arthur’s neighboring country, the Kingdom of Iris “Roland,” which had engaged in countless wars with Arthur. The recent renowned Fence Wood Battle was fought between Arthur and Roland.
This meant that these people from the Order of the Sublime Gift were attempting to transport the Moonlight Potion from Roland to Arthur. What was their goal?
Li Wen couldn’t understand.
“Since the potion is lost, forgotten spirits’ urn can only be delivered to you later.”
Forgotten Spirits’ Urn?
Li Wen’s heart skipped a beat. It was the mysterious treasure of the Order of the Sublime Gift used to control demons. It was said they could use the urn to corrupt any life into a demon.
Corruption was one of the paths of Darkness. Almost all churches and organizations of the Dark Lineage, and even unrelated organizations or individuals, would employ methods of controlling demons or summoning familiars. The ritual of transforming life into demons was also not uncommon.
However, the Forgotten Spirits’ Urn, which could directly corrupt any life into a demon, was one of the very few such treasures.
What did Dark Dawn want with this item? Why would the Order of the Sublime Gift hand over their church’s treasure? The conspiracy between these two church organizations was indeed not simple.
Li Wen suppressed her curiosity and said directly, “That’s fine. There’s another extremely important matter we need your help with. It concerns the success and honor of our plans, and yours as well.”
The blind old man did not ask further. He seemed indifferent to Li Wen’s words, saying, “As long as it’s a small effort.”
“We are preparing offerings for a ritual and need twelve materials: the light after death, the first whisper of the deceased, blind knowledge, radiant darkness, closed eyeballs, rusted iron crown, flesh without desire, broken furnace, origin of the circle, true illusion, and shattered amber. We hope it’s a small effort from you.”
The elder of the Order of the Sublime Gift was stunned, though he had no eyes. He opened his mouth, unable to say anything for a moment.
What in the world are these things?
“What blasphemy…” Even as an elder priest of the Order of the Sublime Gift, one who commanded familiars and harmed countless lives, he subconsciously uttered this.
The twelve materials Li Wen requested were not overly precious or difficult to obtain. Well, they were indeed very difficult to obtain, but the most crucial point was that these materials represented certain Pillar Gods while simultaneously blaspheming their symbols.
What kind of terrifying ritual required these twelve materials? As expected of Dark Dawn, their madness was far more terrifying than that of Glor fanatics!
This elder priest of the Order of the Sublime Gift secretly decided that once the final cooperation ended, they would have no further dealings with Dark Dawn.
“Our people will deliver the items to you at the first quarter of midnight.” After pondering for a long time, he agreed.
These materials were not specific objects, but rather abstract concepts. Mortals could only obtain them passively through the influence of the gods. Skilled transcendent experts would create them through rituals. More powerful beings would travel directly to the abodes of the gods to seek them.
And coincidentally, he was a powerful being capable of using familiars to travel to a certain sublime abode.
