Chapter 1815: Instant Ashes, Abyssal Projection

Following closely behind Taide were the remaining nine Divine Envoy team members under his command; there was not a single one missing from the group Xia Duo had seen last time in the Outer Planes, and not a single new face had been added.

It was evident that Taide had likely completed his mission successfully during the last trip to the Abyss; of course, it was also possible that the other party had already died once, only to be resurrected in the Kingdom of Radiance, just as Taide had previously mentioned.

Xia Duo had worried for him before, but seeing him alive and well now, he could finally set his mind at ease; otherwise, he would have been troubled by whether he needed to send the Holy Seal to the Kingdom of Radiance.

After all the Divine Envoys emerged from the light gate, the gate gradually retracted but still remained in the form of a mass of condensed radiance at the dome of the hall, like a retreat path ready to be used at any time.

"Judgment!"

After Taide and the other Divine Envoys appeared, they did not look for Xia Duo immediately; instead, they looked down at the strange Elf in the Purple Qi Pool below and raised the greatswords in their hands.

And so, the scene Xia Duo had witnessed in the Outer Planes appeared once again: a Holy Light Giant Sword manifested out of thin air and pierced straight toward the Purple Qi Pool on the ground.

In the Purple Qi Pool, the strange Elf looked terrified, but the surroundings had long been blocked off by layers of Force Barrier; as the Holy Light Giant Sword descended, he had no way to dodge, so he could only desperately ignite the purple mist steaming up from the surrounding Purple Qi Pool, hoping to use it to withstand the blow.

But in Xia Duo's eyes, as the Holy Light Giant Sword descended, those rising purple mist barriers were like soap bubbles meeting light and heat, shattering instantly.

Along with the Purple Qi Pool that was the source of the purple mist, the strange Elf inside the pool was also wiped out of existence.

While shocked, Xia Duo also felt a sense of relief; perhaps there was the factor of Divine Envoys countering demons, but the power of the Divine Envoy Taide in the Main Plane was still no less than in the Outer Planes. With them here, this operation could be considered stable.

With the disappearance of the Purple Qi Pool, the strange atmosphere in the hall was instantly cleared, and even the air seemed to become fresh and peaceful.

When Taide's team landed on the ground and saw the base guards that Puman had separated into different areas with a Force Barrier, golden light shone from their eyes, gathering the holy aura that had not fully dissipated from the previous Holy Light Giant Sword, and they charged toward those guards.

The next moment, a layer of Holy Flame ignited on the bodies of the dozen or so remaining guards; perhaps because the right fuel was found, the fire grew larger and larger, and within a few breaths, it burned those dozen guards into ashes.

During this process, Xia Duo also saw the true appearance of these guards: they were almost all Elves with demonic features, and the vast majority were Gold Elves.

However, compared to the strange Elf Spellcaster from before, these guards had more demonic features; if this were the first time seeing their true appearance, Xia Duo might not have been able to connect them to Elves at all.

They were demons, plain and simple.

But there was one point: they were very similar to that strange Elf from before in that the Demon Aura on their bodies was pitifully small, which was the most baffling thing to Xia Duo.

If these Elves had all become like this due to infection by Demon Aura or, in other words, Abyssal Power, there should have been a large amount of Demon Aura leaking from them, rather than being almost imperceptible as it was now.

But their existence must be real, otherwise they would not have been ignited by the Holy Flame of the Divine Envoy Taide; it could only be said that they had special concealment techniques.

……

With the strange Elf eliminated, at Xia Duo's signal, Puman went to the second floor to attempt to rescue Xierdalanna, while Xia Duo walked toward Taide and the other Divine Envoys.

"Divine Envoy Taide, we meet again. I wonder if your group's last trip to the Dream Abyss went smoothly?"

"It went quite smoothly; the boundary-crossers have been completely purified. It is just that we had only just left the Dream Abyss when we encountered the power of the Dream Abyss here again!"

Speaking of this, Taide's expression became exceptionally serious. "Mage Xia Duo, your summoning this time was very timely. If it had been any later, this place might very well have become a part of the Dream Abyss."

"It—it's that serious?"

Xia Duo looked at the surrounding closed rooms that had not yet been explored one by one, feeling somewhat puzzled, but he did not have much doubt; after all, when it came to understanding the Abyss, Taide was more of an expert.

"Could Divine Envoy Taide explain in detail?"

"Of course, even if you didn't ask, I would have warned you!"

As Divine Envoy Taide spoke, he signaled his subordinates to check the closed rooms nearby, while he himself continued to explain to Xia Duo:

"The Purple Qi Pool here just now was a Projection of the Dream Abyss. Although it was only a Projection, it contained a trace of the essence of the Dream Abyss. If time were to drag on, as the purple mist spread, this place would become a true Shenyuan Zhidi."

"A true Shenyuan Zhidi?"

Xia Duo was lost in thought, but felt something was not quite right, so he asked again: "What would happen if it became a true Shenyuan Zhidi?"

"Demons would be born! And most importantly, this place would become a part of the Dream Abyss, and those large numbers of demons that originally existed in the Dream Abyss would also appear here in an endless stream!"

"It's actually like this?!"

Xia Duo was greatly shocked. He did not doubt Taide's judgment, but what he had not expected was that the so-called mysterious organization actually had such a huge hidden landmine!

This Main Plane was truly disaster-ridden; first there was the Dragon Madness Mythallar that could destroy the world at any time, and then there were these traitors who defected to the Abyss wanting to demonize the land.

"Then were the Elves you just eliminated infected bodies or demons?" Xia Duo asked again.

"Neither."

Taide shook his head, and for the first time, a trace of confusion appeared in his steady and solemn expression. "This is my first time seeing such an existence. They don't look like they were infected by Abyssal Power, but rather like they have mastered Abyssal Power themselves."

"Do demons not count as having mastered Abyssal Power?"

"Some powerful demons can, but the vast majority of demons are merely puppets of Abyssal Power. They appear to possess a self, but the only meaning of their existence is to constantly strengthen Abyssal Power."

It was clear that the existence just eliminated was not powerful, which was why Taide had these confusions; and besides confusion, there was a trace of worry in his heart.

If these weak beings who had mastered Abyssal Power were allowed to go to the Abyss, it was almost certain that they would become very powerful in a short period of time.

For the Kingdom of Radiance, which had always regarded demons and the Abyss as mortal enemies, this was certainly not good news!

Just as Xia Duo wanted to ask Divine Envoy Taide for more information about Abyssal Power, a slightly anxious voice came from one of the rooms around the hall:

"Captain, come and see! Look at what I've found!"

Xia Duo noticed that the source of the voice was a room connected to the Purple Qi Pool by pipes. A Divine Envoy under Taide had just entered to check it, and now it was clear that he had discovered something astonishing.

"Mage Xia Duo, let's go over and take a look together."

"Alright."

……