Chapter 305: Meeting an Old Friend in the Outer Void (22)

Nawate was not wealthy to begin with, and the war consumed a great deal of wealth.

Even the capital of the Sky Republic is in a state of shortage of supplies.

So, the backyard of Naya Private Manor is tiny, with no flowers planted—just an open patch of mud overgrown with some weeds.

In one corner of the muddy ground stands a small rain‑shelter pavilion, and inside the pavilion there is no one.

But Luosen faintly felt that the pavilion was shrouded by a layer of extremely hidden and highly condensed power; inside what looked like a somewhat desolate pavilion, there must certainly be another world.

It might even conceal danger.

Taking a deep breath, he raised the alert level of the Heart of the War God to its maximum, and simultaneously imbued both the spellcraft and soul layers with a layer of power‑condensing, large‑scale defensive spell.

Power condensation occurs because Luosen has focused his strength to the legendary limit, roughly level 19.999.

If he continues forward, condensing to twelve nines would break the limit and allow him to breakthrough into the high‑energy spellcraft realm.

Upon reaching that realm, mana and soul would re‑unify into a single force and begin to solidify into a very strange high‑energy‑like element.

Also because of power condensation, even if the spellcraft scale is enormously large—reaching ten thousand Luosen—its outward appearance remains quite ordinary.

The only difference is a thin layer of condensed light about one millimeter thick on the surface, making it look as if it were plated with a metallic sheen.

Preparations complete, Luosen stepped into the pavilion.

As he passed through the pavilion, he could feel a faint power brushing over his body.

Although behind him lay a somewhat desolate garden, ahead it had transformed into a magnificent observatory hall built atop an endless snowy peak.

In the center of the hall stood a huge rune telescope; beside its exquisite, massive tube stood a woman in white robes, with black hair and black eyes, her skin as white as snow.

Around the woman in the air hovered countless jade‑like runes, flickering in and out of sight, exuding an astonishing aura of power.

She was no one else—the Goddess of Life, Adela.

Upon seeing Luosen, she said nothing, lifted her left hand and flicked him lightly; her porcelain‑fine middle finger instantly shot out a jade‑colored leaf.

The leaf flew out and instantly turned into myriad fragments, becoming a storm of shredded leaves that swept toward Luosen.

The speed was truly too fast for Luosen's mortal soul to react, but the Heart of the War God instantly condensed a sword that was solid as substance and splendidly golden‑runed.

This was the Soul Oath Sword, an attack spell that Luosen had refined many times.

The golden sword thrust forward, and halfway through it turned into countless golden sword shadows.

"Ding ding ding ding~~"

A burst of extremely dense soul‑shaking sound arose, while threads of power ripples spread outward in all directions—but all were contained by the field barrier surrounding the pavilion.

After a fierce clash, the myriad sword shadows re‑condensed into a single blade, whose tip pressed exactly against a jade‑colored leaf.

The sword and the leaf continued their fierce clash, neither yielding.

In the clash, Laifu concluded: "Target power intensity 19.999, our side expends more power than the opponent."

That is to say, Adela has not reached the high‑energy spellcraft realm either, but she has progressed further than Luosen.

"Pop~"

Adela snapped her fingers, and the jade leaf turned into scattered starlight that vanished.

Luosen also did not attack; he casually flicked a sword flourish, and within it the golden rune sword dissolved into light and shadow.

He secretly felt a bit lucky: "Fortunately Adela didn't use any special technique against me, otherwise Laifu might not be able to cope."

Laifu's Heart of the War God is certainly extremely fast, but its mind doesn't adapt; facing an unfamiliar, untrained technique it might glitch.

This is probably the second serious flaw left by Luosen's mortal soul driving such great power.

Therefore, against powerful gods he can overwhelm them with strength, but when facing a great god of level 15 or higher he still maintains a very cautious attitude.

Anyway, time is on his side; if given time to develop, he will soon be able to fully enter the high‑energy spellcraft realm.

So, if he can avoid a desperate fight, he will.

Adela spoke: "Luosen, I never expected you to grasp the method of forging divine artifacts so quickly."

Luosen smiled and looked up and down the observatory hall: "I also didn't expect you to be able to compress power directly into the magic ring."

He could feel that he was still in the pavilion, or rather still in the elemental plane, but not a normal elemental plane—it was an elemental plane lacking the protection of a magic ring.

This is because Adela, relying on her vast soul, forcibly distorted the plane's magic ring, forming an indented void bubble.

Thus, Luosen now stands directly in the outer void unprotected by a magic ring.

If an ordinary person were in this situation, their soul would instantly shatter and they would die.

But a legendary powerhouse can link eleven magic rings and draw power from them, naturally keeping his soul immortal.

Adela laughed: "My method isn't special at all—I rely on sheer strength, and also because the magic rings in this region are relatively fragile."

"As for you, your rate of progress is truly astonishing."

Luosen smiled: "This isn't my personal ability, but the result of countless learned mages of the Empire working together."

This is true.

If we divide the causes into ten parts, Laifu accounts for three, the Empire's mages' new knowledge from various experiments accounts for at least six, and Luosen's personal inspiration accounts for one.

Adela continued to size up Luosen: "You already possess power comparable to mine; I have no confidence I could defeat you."

Luosen immediately replied: "I am even less confident of opposing you, Lady Adela."

He faintly felt that this visitor was probably still Adela's avatar, but even as an avatar its power scale is not much different from her main body.

Speaking solely of soul scale, the opponent's is nearly ten times larger than his own.

If they truly engaged in a fight to the death, he would most likely lose.

So he will not fight to the death; instead he will immediately turn and run back to the magic ring.

As long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood.

But it is obvious that Adela also has no intention of fighting Luosen to the death.

She waved her hand and said: "All right, all right, we can consider ourselves friends—let's not talk about fighting as soon as we meet."

"Do you know why I came to find you?"

Luosen shrugged: "You want me to custom-make a divine artifact?"

Adela nodded: "You guessed half right; I do have that idea, but I think your current ability might not be enough."

Luosen nodded: "You're not wrong; it's indeed not enough."

Although he had achieved many high-energy spell results, the development time was too short, and to this day he still hasn't mastered the method of crafting Life Tree Branches aside from nuclear explosions.

Let alone crafting other divine artifacts.

Adela raised two fingers: "I have two matters."

"First, I want to tell you that the Light God Clan are actually servants of the Supreme God Gao Mi Lei Er."

Luosen's eyes flashed: "So, back then the Light God Clan drove Gao Mi Lei Er away not out of mercy, but because they discovered that Na Wa Te already had the possibility to defeat him."

Adela shook her head: "Not defeat, but wounding, and possibly a serious wound."

"Faced with the terrifying oppression of Gao Mi Lei Er, Na Wa Te was forced to make a desperate last stand."

"They have already ignited the Soul-Burning Grand Formation, with nearly three million mortal warriors ready to burn their souls."

"If truly activated, even Gao Mi Lei Er would struggle to fully resist, so he grew reluctant to retreat, but as a Supreme God he had to save face."

"Thus he sent the Light God Clan out to give both sides a way out."

Luosen immediately asked: "Why does Gao Mi Lei Er fear injury? Is he worried you Great Gods will take advantage to attack him?" "Not worried about us, but about the witch Parolomena Si."

"This witch's origins are extremely mysterious, her temperament also very eccentric, but one thing is certain."

"She is Gao Mi Lei Er's nemesis; once she discovers his injury, she will surely not let this rare opportunity pass."

Luosen truly didn't know these secrets; hearing them now, he felt the relationship among the Great Gods must be extremely intricate.

After all, these Great Gods have existed for countless ages.

Adela continued: "Gao Mi Lei Er is still sleeping now, but if you kill his servants, he will surely wake up and come after you."

"That is certainly not a good thing."

Luosen gave a hehe laugh: "Then I'll fight him to the death; even if I don't win, I will surely wound him severely, and then let the witch go after him."

Adela slightly furrowed her brows: "In the future you will fully have the ability to defeat him head-on; there's no need to rush."

"I think the best approach is to step back, defeat those Light Gods, but let them go."

Luosen thought for a moment: "Alright, if I get the chance to capture them, I won't kill them, but I will keep them imprisoned."

This answer didn't satisfy Adela, but she conceded: "You're an arrogant emperor, but as long as you don't let the Light Holy Ones awaken Gao Mi Lei Er, do as you wish."

Then she pressed down her second finger: "Second matter: in about two years, the Creation Gate of the Lost Plane will open; I hope you can join my expedition team."

"If we obtain a divine artifact, I will give it to you to study first; once you understand it, I'll take it back."

Luosen's heart stirred slightly, he gave a hehe laugh: "Madam, I am honored to receive your invitation."

"But I heard you have in hand two divine artifacts, the Endless Compass and the Annihilation Spear; why not lend them to me for research now?"

"If I figure it out, I will return the originals, and later I will also forge two divine artifacts for you free of charge."

Adela laughed upon hearing this, but her jet-black eyes held no trace of amusement.

"That won't do; if you keep the divine artifact and don't return it, I have no way to make you give it back."

Luosen spread his hands, looking disappointed: "I originally thought that, given our friendship, you should have at least basic trust in me."

Having said that, he raised his hand and lightly grasped the void, and a Natural Scepter concealing a Life Tree Branch appeared in his hand.

With a thought, soul power poured into the Natural Scepter, and its tip condensed a point of emerald 'condensed dew'.

"Madam, how about an exchange?"

"Once I control the Na Wa Te plane, I will pledge this item as collateral to you."

With Adela's eyesight, she could naturally see the true nature of the Natural Scepter.

Even with her vast and tenacious soul, a hint of surprise could not help appearing on her face.

"This is a Life Tree Branch—how can it be? Isn't it in De Rui Tan's hands?"

Luosen retracted the Natural Scepter, hehe-ing: "The one in De Rui Tan's hand is the mother branch; mine is the father branch, and mine is far stronger than his."

Adela certainly wouldn't believe that nonsense; she immediately said: "You have mastered the method of crafting Life Tree Branches."

"Indeed, who let me research this the longest?"

Luosen continued: "How about it, shall we exchange?"

He now greatly wants a divine artifact, but divine artifacts are very hard to forge.

Of course he could explore on his own, but that would take a very long time and entail a huge cost; the best way is to find an existing sample to imitate.

So he truly coveted Adela's two divine artifacts.

Naturally, he dared to propose the exchange mainly because he now has the confidence to do so.

With his current power, as long as he hides inside the magic ring, even the Great Gods can do nothing to him.

On the other side, Adela was not particularly surprised that Luosen could forge divine artifacts, since this was exactly what she had expected.

The reason for her surprise was merely that she felt his speed was much faster than anticipated.

She was also moved by Luosen's proposal; after a few seconds of silence, she said: "I agree to the exchange, but you must forge three divine artifacts for me free of charge."

"Lastly, I like the Erudite Arcane Device you crafted for your holy ones; I need you to give me the method to forge it."

Luosen couldn't help spreading his hands: "Madam, your price is too high."

Adela smiled faintly, raised her hand to gesture at herself: "What if I add myself as a gift?"

Luosen found those words a bit hard to understand.

Adela then said more clearly: "The souls of the Great Gods are composed of quasi-elemental spiritual essence."

She walked over to Luosen, took his hand, and pressed it against her porcelain-white, snow-like cheek: "Do you feel it?"

Luosen nodded: "The skin feels exactly like that of a living person."

Adela said: "Not just the skin, everything is the same. For this soul-body of mine is essentially a projection of a quasi-elemental corporeal form."

Having said this much, it's already clear enough.

But Luosen shook his head, speaking frankly: "Miss, I'd like to, but I don't dare."

Adela covered her mouth and lightly laughed: "Everyone says you're a playboy, but in my view you're just a coward."

Luosen didn't care at all: "Better than being a lecherous dead man."

Adela then changed the exchange condition: "The secret method to break the Sun Domain?"

Luosen thought for a moment, nodded in agreement: "Deal."

The Sun Lord is a 14th‑level mighty deity; his Sun Domain is still quite formidable. It is said that within the domain, the Sun Lord can turn sunlight into substance, creating the so‑called Sun Legion.

In short, Luosen isn't quite confident about this move, and he's also very curious about the means of the 'Light‑transformation Legion'.

Thus, the two completed their knowledge exchange in the small pavilion.

After the exchange, Adela chuckled: "Young man, then I'll be waiting for your public tree branch."

Having said that, she turned and left.

As she departed, the compressed magic ring returned to its original state, and the illusion in the Stargazing Hall vanished without a trace.

The small pavilion also returned to the mortal realm.

Luosen silently sighed: "The methods of a great deity are still impressive."

Returning to his guest room, he found the mess on the bed already cleaned up spotless; after a brief rest, the servant called Luosen to enjoy dinner.

At the dinner table, the atmosphere appeared perfectly normal on the surface.

But Naya's cheek still retained a hint of rosiness, and when Mage Sibin faced himself, his eyes held a complex mix of emotions.

A little jealousy, a little irritation, but the vast majority was longing and admiration.

It must be said, human nature is truly complex.

Over the next few days, Luosen made preparations while waiting for Azuna, and meanwhile he dallied with Naya for two nights, almost plowing the fields over.

On the morning of the third day, Azuna returned.

He wasn't alone; he brought back eighteen holy disciples.

They were all Judgment Holy Disciples; it's said the Lord of Judgment has only twenty disciples in total, and he brought nearly all of them.

Luosen felt that Azuna was really a fine talent.

(End of chapter)