Chapter 252: The Curtain Rises

Hags are the representatives of evil and cruelty.

This kind of creature originated from the Feywild, yet became a disaster on the Material Outer Planes.

Hags are extremely arrogant and conceited; it can be said they always feel they alone are the most cunning in the world, and everyone else are lowly inferior creatures.

Some even arrogantly believe their magic can challenge the gods, treating divine spirits with utter disdain, even mocking and defiling them.

It is hard to imagine just what kind of courage and paean this is.

However, one undeniable point is that a hag's knowledge is indeed very valuable.

Because in their long lifespans, no matter how much of a salty fish they might be, they inevitably accumulate a vast amount of intelligence from what they see and hear.

Moreover, hags maintain contact with each other and share knowledge, which results in the scope of information they grasp being extremely broad—

Including local anecdotes, information on dark creatures, even all sorts of magical knowledge……

——These are precisely what Xia Zhi needs.

The old hag thought she had found suitable prey, little knowing the other party was actually the hunter……

If this weren't a druid's territory, she would have long since had her soul extracted and decomposed by a Grey Goo Storm.

Utterly unaware she had walked a round before the gates of hell, Ethel Auntie still diligently performed her old trade.

"I know a few little tricks, and I learned some alchemy before, able to configure some not-too-difficult potions……"

The old hag spoke while carefully paying attention to the young man's expression before her eyes.

Noticing a Mors Flash of disdainful emotion in the other's pupils, she also hurriedly adjusted her subsequent pitch:

"……Of course, these might still not be enough, but don't worry, I also have some spell scrolls……"

"Oh?" Xia Zhi raised an eyebrow, "Spell scrolls?"

Indeed, the prey took the bait.

The old hag rejoiced secretly in her heart; although the other party was somewhat picky, also somewhat greedy.

She could no longer be fobbed off with just some magic potions, but this was even better; she liked this kind of greedy yet overreaching fellow.

Because this meant a better hook……

Not even needing to lure him much, the other party would sink deeper and deeper for power, step by step, ultimately letting her harvest a fallen soul.

"What kind of spell scrolls are those?" The Magic User asked directly.

"Don't rush, young man have some patience…… these things are very precious, this old body of Auntie's only happened to obtain a few sheets these years, of course they must be kept well."

The old hag grinned her bloody maw, smiling amiably, even putting on a show of sighing and groaning.

"If not for a bit of disaster happening today, I wouldn't want to take out these coffin savings to sell off, truly there was no other way."

But setting aside her putting on a show, these words did appear reasonable and well-founded.

In this world, Law Grandpas are undoubtedly noble, and anything related to Law Grandpas is indeed terrifyingly expensive.

Be it magic equipment or spell scrolls, these are all hard currency, all rare goods; truly laying them out casually would instead be suspicious.

The old hag secretly calculated, next she would use this routine to hook the other party.

Just a few low-level spell scrolls would be enough.

This young man at a glance is the type who doesn't know the heights of heaven and earth, thinking the Mage Path is so easy to walk, completely fantastical.

But this is good too; the more confident now, the more severely he will be struck by setbacks later……

Then with a slight bewitchment, he will inevitably walk the road she designed for him.

The old hag schemed evil plans to herself in her heart, while the Magic User was also satisfied with such a development; it seems just as he predicted——

This thing barely still has some residual value……

Not simply just unrecoverable garbage……

Since that's the case, then it can be utilized.

He needs spell scrolls right now; this is a proper magic item, its value lies in the spells recorded on it.

Also don't know how Law Grandpas in this world learn spells, whether they can directly master new spells through spell scrolls or the like……

Thinking carefully, perhaps it's possible, but estimated it won't be that simple.

As long as reality is still reality, and not game rules, then it's impossible for there to exist such clearly demarcated values and mechanisms——

Won't say consume a spell scroll, and the wizard's spells directly +1 or the like……

Learning requires talent, items have consumption, the usage process even more inevitably has failure probability……

All added up, this cost is somewhat high.

But for the Magic User, that's not a question of can or can't, but he has sufficient confidence, especially in learning ability regarding "Technique".

It's inherently like having a cheat, plus with the improvement of realm and growth of Dao Conduct, learning ability this kind of thing would originally greatly improve.

Like those thousand-year-old monsters, ten-thousand-year-old great evils, they totally couldn't possibly learn a few low-level spells and still be stuck like the initial apprentice stage when they first entered the door, right?

This is naturally impossible.

Plus there's also "Gray Wind" this personal terminal, even if same as him it's just an avatar, after all the mainframe and total database aren't here, but it's enough to handle a lot of calculation work.

So……

This world's Weave should also be time to open its mysteries to him.

——————

——————

Time hurriedly passed.

The Faerun Continent was still peaceful as always.

Or perhaps it can't be counted as peaceful, but at least no too great crises occurred, no conspiracies and schemes enveloping the entire Material Outer Planes or the like.

Looking at it this way, it indeed counts as peaceful.

As for those local troubles, such as cult activities, dark sacrifices, monsters rampaging, otherworld summoning…… etc etc, these all only count as the daily life of Faerun people, not worth mentioning.

This continent has always been like this since ancient times — a land of outstanding people and spiritual grace, producing heroes in droves.

Even if dark currents surge beneath the surface, as long as surface tranquility can be maintained, that is already cause for profound gratitude.

And the Sword Coast region likewise saw no major incidents.

At least none on the surface.

Until this night, the night sky was torn open, a burning nautiloid streaked across the horizon, plummeting crookedly from high altitude.

It crashed onto the Emerald Plains without any warning.

"Terrible, that's the direction of the seaside……"

A female tiefling raised her eyes, staring in shock at the horizon's end beneath the night sky.

A monocular telescope still stood before her; because she liked watching stars at night, she had always kept this habit, yet never expected to witness this scene from afar.

"Must hurry and notify everyone."

Taking a deep breath, the female tiefling turned and ran in a flustered rush.

She had a very bad premonition — it seemed this brief peaceful time was about to end, some upheaval was about to arrive.

Since the Druid's Woodland could see it, then the nearby largest Supreme True God Sect headquarters naturally saw it too.

Even more so because the trajectory the nautiloid carved as it fell passed closer to the latter, so they could see it comparatively clearly without even needing a telescope.

The goblin on the watchtower also grew alert in an instant, then hurried back to report to the female priest in the camp.

"I must go notify the President immediately."

The female priest also immediately perceived the matter's importance, and on top of directly receiving a transmission from the Mind Flayer Tadpole, she immediately rose to seek out Mingsala——

Although she was parachuted in, a priest designated by the Supreme True God.

But in this region's camp, that female drow is clearly the absolute boss right now.

Even if the process of rising to the top was somewhat bloody.

But still, just as Mingsala anticipated, the sect acknowledged the final result.

After all, reality is this cruel — as long as she has enough value, who would pursue responsibility for a bunch of losers — even dead losers?

Even in an orthodox god's church, some sordid affairs are unavoidable.

Expecting a cult to have correct values is truly asking too much.

Precisely because she clearly grasped this point, Mingsala cleverly used an acceptable minor stain to cover up her own major problem.

Even the sect side never imagined——

This True Soul chose to ruthlessly kill her colleagues both to prevent her own exposure as an undercover agent and to complete her undercover mission.

They still thought this was merely an ordinary drama of power struggle.

For cultists, this is utterly normal — after all, the entire sect has such unhealthy customs.

Moreover, for a cult to develop rapidly, it mostly relies on all sorts of crooked methods and unspeakable benefit promises to win over the vast majority of members……

So naturally there's no way to put the brakes on this aspect, let alone suppress her using this as a reason.

Precisely because of this, Mingsala naturally came to control the Supreme True God forces in the Emerald Plains and surrounding areas, becoming the local spokesperson.

Along with this female drow's power rising again and again, her prestige in the headquarters also deepened day by day.

Normally, that area in the camp's deepest part is her own territory — anyone entering must go through layers of notification; no one knows what she does inside.

Normally the female priest would also abide by this rule, and would never suspect a colleague who likewise has a bug in her head could do anything detrimental to the sect.

But now the situation is clearly urgent — the Divine Oracle demands immediate handling of the current emergency.

So the female priest didn't think that much, directly forcing her way in.

"……Our Lord is everything, is authority, is mighty power, is all existence, is one and also all……"

"……He is the true and real Star Sea Supreme, below as above, above as below, thereby achieving the Miracle of the Great One……"

"……The Supreme True God is merely our Lord's incarnation descending to the mortal world, but even as an incarnation, He possesses seven kinds of radiance, is endowed with thirty-two marks of excellence, forty-eight fine qualities……"

The female drow fanatically proclaimed to the cult members bowing respectfully before her what she saw as a truth growing more sacred by the day, conscientiously carrying out a second round of proselytizing.

Next moment.

Bang!

The tightly shut door was violently blasted open; the female priest glared furiously at the scene inside, rage nearly spurting from her eyes——

"Mingsala! What audacity, you actually dare betray the Supreme True God?!"

"……"

"……"

The female priest's sudden intrusion left the female drow seemingly caught off guard as well.

But she quickly reacted, coldly laughing: "What do you mean betrayal, utterly foolish — I am setting right what was wrong, teaching them to know our Lord's true doctrine and majesty!"

(Chapter End)