Chapter 1184: Abyssal Scenes, Demon Aura

In a state of extreme focus, Xia Duo quickly entered his soul perspective, where a vast amount of intangible force, otherwise imperceptible, was continuously striking his soul itself.

However, the tactile sensation of the soul is completely different from that of the physical body; Xia Duo did not feel the slightest pain from these soul-striking impacts, nor did he even feel much of anything at all.

He could be certain that such impacts were not harmful to him, and were perhaps even beneficial.

At the same time, the circles of hazy radiance triggered by the intangible force striking his soul illuminated a small space around it.

Xia Duo performs Meditation Training every day, but he does not delve deep into his soul every day; the last time he perceived his soul was nearly half a month ago.

Now, perceiving his soul once again, Xia Duo immediately discovered a scene completely different from what he had perceived last time!

That small space around his soul, which had originally been empty, occasionally showed only strange human figures suspected to be the souls of Reincarnators, as well as flashes of scenes of a Netheril Village in the Boundless Wilderness of the Outer Planes.

Since his most recent Bloodline Awakening, the scenes concerning the Netheril Village in the Boundless Wilderness of the Outer Planes have become more frequent and more stable.

At the same time, Xia Duo gained the ability for his soul to travel to the Outer Planes! And the location where his soul arrives in the Outer Planes is right near that Netheril Village!

But now, in this small space around his soul, there have appeared some patterns extremely similar to the mysterious patterns left behind after the Arena monsters died.

These patterns, just like the ones Xia Duo had just seen while tracing his memories, were emitting a hazy, grey-black radiance, and occasionally, some scenes would flash by.

The scenes were not like the Boundless Wilderness—which, despite having no sun, still possesses light, vegetation, life, and areas that can be cultivated—but rather a swamp filled with a gloomy aura.

Mud, humus, and strange bubbles rising from the swamp from time to time; what's more, Xia Duo even saw in these scenes some vines covered in strange, malignant tumors, constantly twisting and churning.

Just seeing this scene caused a chill to arise in Xia Duo's heart.

For some reason, he had a strong premonition that if he were to use his Bloodline Ability to travel to the Outer Planes at this moment, there was a high probability he would appear in that strange swamp.

The moment this thought arose, he was startled out of his state of extreme focus, and his mood remained unsettled for a long time.

……

Sitting quietly in his room for a while, Xia Duo gradually sorted out his thoughts; he knew that the kind of monster he had just seen in the Arena was definitely not just an ordinary summoned creature!

Ordinary summoned creatures would never leave behind such bizarre patterns upon death, nor would they have any connection to the Outer Planes.

Xia Duo suspected that if any Spellcaster were to study these patterns in depth, they might also be able to summon that kind of monster, and without having to use the self-detonation method like the Drow Assassin.

What kind of monster is this, anyway?

Xia Duo actually already had a guess in his heart, and after asking Iolum, his guess was confirmed: the monster was, as expected, a demon!

Then, the scene he saw in that small space around his soul, if nothing went wrong, should be some corner of the Abyss!

"In this day and age, how did things suddenly fast-forward to fighting demons?"

Iolum's reply not only contained the origin of the monster that appeared in the Arena but also some news from the Underdark.

According to him, after the birth of the new god, the Drow, under the Indication of that new god, had begun a continuous campaign of conquest in the Underdark, and in this process, summoning demons played a vital role!

If the Drow were to attack the Surface in the future, they might repeat this operation.

At the thought of the scene where demons would be running rampant on the Surface of the Main Plane, Xia Duo could not help but feel a chill in his heart.

However, the most urgent task at hand was to first clear away the Demon Aura contaminated at the Arena; Iolum specifically mentioned in his reply that demons form a curse-like aura infection after death, which, if not cleared in time, would lead to some bad results.

Iolum did not mention what specific results, but Xia Duo guessed it might attract the gaze of demons, provoking a demonic descent in some future actions, similar to how he actively descended to the Outer Planes.

As for how to clear the Demon Aura, that was actually very simple: one only needed to ask a Priest to provide a blessing with Holy Power; any kind of Holy Power would do.

And in Seventon, there was actually an even simpler way.

……

After replying to Iolum with thanks, Xia Duo hurriedly called Niya to go out and head to the Great Temple of the Lord of Radiance in the East District of the New City District of Seventon.

On the way, Xia Duo explained to her some basic information about demons, to which Niya was greatly puzzled: "Aren't those demons already dead? What can the aura left after death do to us?"

"I'm not sure either, Lord Iolum didn't say, but I think it won't hurt to go; at least it will put my mind at ease!"

Although he said so, Xia Duo was still somewhat uneasy in his heart, especially regarding the mysterious patterns in the small space around his soul and the scene of the swamp in the Abyss; he didn't know if they could be cleared away as well.

……

Arriving at the East District, the imposing Great Temple was like a magnificent giant, looming closer step by step.

Come to think of it, Xia Duo had been to Seventon many times, but this was his first time coming to the Great Temple; previously, he had mostly just looked at its pure gold spire from afar.

The closest he had ever been was just going to the Arcane Temple beneath the Great Temple to attend a magic exchange meeting.

Of course, it was also that time that he and Niya, along with many other Spellcasters including the Great Arcanist Lander, witnessed the birth of a Chang Sheng Zhe with their own eyes.

Now, approaching the Great Temple bit by bit from the ground, Xia Duo had originally thought that such a majestic building, no less grand than the Seven Towers, would at least bring a sense of oppression.

But in fact, it did not.

On the way from the Arcane Plaza to the Great Temple, Xia Duo only felt an aura as warm as the rising sun becoming increasingly dense.

When he arrived at the plaza in front of the Great Temple, that warm aura had become almost tangible, and in his Magic Vision, the plaza was brilliant with radiance.

An almost endless stream of Holy Power flowed down from the top of the Great Temple like water, and when it flowed to the outer edge of the plaza, it became as thin as mist and kept rising upward.

In a strange form, it created a special field within the plaza and even a large space centered on the Great Temple.

Once a person arrives here, as long as they do not harbor resistance, it is equivalent to receiving a blessing of Holy Power!

Of course, compared to the active blessing of an official Priest, the effect of this passive blessing radiated by the environment is actually not ideal, and the consumption of Holy Power is not great.

Otherwise, since the plaza is not enclosed and people are coming and going, wouldn't it be very easy for the expenditure to exceed the income!

But even with this level of faint blessing, Xia Duo felt a sense of peace, and the slight discomfort caused by those mysterious patterns earlier quickly vanished into thin air.

……