Chapter 382: Two Temporal Artifacts (22)

Luosen is currently in a region called the Proud Frost Kingdom.

Blue Stone City is one of the few major cities in the Proud Frost Kingdom, second in size only to the capital, White Marsh City.

Geographically, Blue Stone City is also one of the three main satellite cities of White Marsh City.

The Proud Frost Kingdom imposes heavy restrictions on population movement between its territories.

Commoners who wish to travel across territories must obtain identity papers issued by the local lord.

Otherwise they will be regarded by other lords as unprotected vagrants and be captured as slaves.

Fortunately, Luosen has a connection to the Baron of Lyon Town.

The Baron's family happens to be traveling to Blue Stone City for the triennial knights' tournament, so Luosen and Tira Lylin join them as attendants.

The Baron's family, well aware of Luosen's strength, is eager to have them.

"Clank~~ Clank~~~"

At this moment, three wagons and a guard unit of 200 elite warriors travel along the northbound road.

The Baron and his wife's wagon rides in the middle, and it is by far the largest and most luxurious.

At the front is a plain wagon belonging to a trusted confidant, while the rear wagon belongs to Luosen and Tira Lylin.

"Whoosh~~ Whoosh~~"

Suddenly a black crow flies in from afar, perches on the window ledge of Luosen's wagon, pecks gently at the glass, and fixes its dark red eyes on Luosen.

A familiar magical aura emanates from the crow; it is Adaela's spell messenger.

Luosen opens the window, and the crow immediately hops inside.

After Luosen shuts the window, the crow speaks in human words, its voice identical to Adaela's.

"There are two important pieces of news."

"First, the Dark Brotherhood is searching for you everywhere and has dispatched at least thirty Bloodhand Assassins, each possessing at least 12‑ring power and carrying Eternal Essence; their leader is the former chief Imperial Sage of the Dawn Empire, Xisai Luo."

"You must be extremely careful, and pay close attention to the usage restrictions of the Extinction Law Sword."

"Second, at the knights' tournament in Blue Stone City, you should disguise yourself as a wandering knight from the Cologne Kingdom and rescue someone at the appointed spot; a powerful figure will then take notice of you and usher you into the upper echelons of the Proud Frost Kingdom's high society."

"Try to blend in as much as possible; it shouldn't be difficult for you."

After delivering the news, the crow fixes its gaze on Luosen and asks, "Did you receive it?"

Luosen nods, "Message received."

He then, as usual, feeds the crow messenger water and food; after a brief rest, it pats its wings and flies away from the wagon.

Inside the wagon, Luosen whispers to his Imperial Sage, "Xisai Luo actually joined the Abyss. Do you think he did so voluntarily or was forced?"

Tira Lylin replies with confidence, "Xisai Luo is a staunch radical, deeply hostile to the Abyss, and has always thought Ao Lai Tes is too weak."

"He could never have joined the Abyss of his own accord."

In other words, it's highly likely he was forced.

That makes sense; after all, he entered such a cursed place alone. Even if he carried some solar essence and could wield time‑space spells, his combat level would only be comparable to the Adaela sisters, far insufficient to stand against the Dark Brotherhood.

In unfamiliar lands, a single slip can lead to capture.

At that point, if he doesn't join the Brotherhood, death is the only option.

And Xisai Luo certainly does not want to die.

"So, the Dark Brotherhood now has a Dawn guide."

That's certainly not a good thing.

Tira Lylin corrects, "It should be a guide with ulterior motives."

"Xisai Luo was once a 22‑ring pinnacle strongman who almost broke through to the 23‑ring; he would never willingly become a servant."

That counts as a good piece of news among the bad.

Next, Luosen begins preparing to disguise himself as a wandering knight.

He doesn't know much about the Cologne Kingdom, but the good news is that among Baron Elliot's guards there are a few Cologne natives.

Luosen starts learning from those Cologne men.

He studies the Cologne language, various common knowledge of the Cologne Kingdom, and the typical traits shared by its people.

He asks openly, observes covertly, and tries to learn to imitate them as closely as possible.

In this demi‑plane, even within the kingdom, vast semi‑civilized wildernesses remain, occupied by beasts, bandits, and some indescribable entities.

For safety, even the fully armed baronial contingent moves cautiously, so their pace cannot be fast.

According to the itinerary, the roughly 800‑kilometre journey will take at least more than half a month.

In the blink of an eye, three days pass.

The party has traveled about a hundred kilometres and entered a wasteland called the Howling Cry Desert.

Walking along a weed‑laden mud road until three p. m., dark clouds gather overhead and the wind begins to blow.

"Whooo~~ Whooo~~"

The gale rushes across the endless desert like a wild horse unbridled, the wind howling fiercely as if a phantom were wailing in the sky. Baron Elliot bellows orders.

"Rain is coming; judging by the situation, it won't stop soon."

"Cease movement and set up camp on high ground!"

The accompanying knights, their retainers, elite guards, and attendants promptly arrange a swift encampment.

Soon, a temporary camp is erected on a rise.

Before long, drizzle turns into a raging storm, violently battering everything in the Howling Cry Desert, including the newly‑built tents.

"What a dreadful weather."

Luosen and Tira Lylin have a separate tent.

He hands the magically warmed meat‑filled bun to her, "Here you go."

Thank you.

Tilalin took the food from Luosen with one hand, stuffing it bite by bite into her mouth like a machine, while the other hand held a ball-shaped magical device the size of an adult's fist, turning it over and over, playing with it, unable to put it down.

Luosen reminded: "Lilin, the bread is about to go up your nose, finish eating before looking."

Tilalin smiled embarrassedly, put down the magical device.

Your crafted magical device is truly beautiful, the craftsmanship is very high, almost able to match the refining level of the Royal Artifacts Bureau.

To be honest, if I hadn't seen you craft it with my own eyes, I could hardly believe that human strength could reach such a height.

Luosen took a sip of wine, swallowed the smoked meat in his mouth: "The best tools in the world are always made by people, aren't they?"

Although that's said, the biggest characteristic of human power is its instability: when high, it's very high; when low, it's terribly bad. Small numbers are fine, but once scaled up, it's hardly comparable to industrial puppets.

You're right, so I can only reach this level when I'm fully focused.

Luosen picked up the magical device and tossed it up and down: "Even with a powerful divine body, I can at most persist in crafting more than ten; the eleventh would see a great drop in quality."

Actually, this magical device is a product controlled by Laifu, a total of four were made, usually used as a lighting lamp.

Relying on himself, he could also make one, but absolutely not with such precision.

While speaking, he picked up the ball-shaped magical device and shook it hard a few times; the device emitted a soft, steady light, illuminating the tent's interior as clearly as daylight.

Strangely, this light has a very distinct boundary; once it goes beyond the tent's range, it cannot be felt at all, and even looking from outside into the tent, one cannot sense the presence of the light; only upon entering the tent does one suddenly feel brightness.

It's just like a light ball wrapped in a layer of 'soap bubble'.

This is the Radiant Law Sphere crafted by Luosen under Tilalin's guidance, using the element he masters of the Indestructible Light.

Looks ordinary, but it is actually a very powerful spacetime artifact; the light it emits not only can define boundaries, but also can pierce all darkness.

Besides the Radiant Law Sphere, using the same principle, borrowing Tilalin's element of Mass Mastery, several cubic spacetime artifacts were crafted, called Mighty God.

Its function is to make an object as light as a feather become as heavy as a thousand jin, or vice versa.

Of course, although it is a divine artifact, the law of conservation of energy still applies; energy cannot come from nothing, so the Mighty God artifact still has many usage limitations.

But however, it is still much better than having none.

Returning to the main topic.

The two enjoyed a delicious simple meal while discussing the details of the techniques, and soon filled their stomachs.

They also didn't idle, continuing to begin cultivation.

The wilderness rain grew heavier and heavier, the sky grew darker and darker, gradually turning completely black.

Considering there were over 200 elite warriors guarding the camp's perimeter, and he himself had set up many detection sigils and protective spells around the camp, Luosen felt relaxed, treating this journey as a leisurely outing.

After finishing cultivation, he ignored Tilalin's soft objections and embraced her warm body to play everyday games.

In the midst of playing, Luosen's heart suddenly jolted; he immediately stopped moving: "Something doesn't feel right."

Tilalin blinked: "Is there? I don't feel anything."

Her soul strength had already approached 15 rings, and she possessed a very strong temporal talent; if there really were danger, she would immediately feel the vibration of the threads of time.

But she also dared not ignore Luosen's words, because his temporal talent far surpassed hers.

She immediately asked: "Have the threads of time vibrated?"

Luosen trembled the water-soaked divine spear: "No. It's an abnormality detected by the detection spell. The surroundings are simply too quiet, quiet to an excessive degree."

The ears couldn't distinguish it; it was Laifu's Heart of the War God sounding the alarm.

Tilalin, annoyed, slapped Luosen's arm and chided: "Even at this time you're still making a fuss!"

She then perked up her ears to listen: "I only hear the wind and rain."

Large drops of rain continuously struck the tent, making a 'patter-patter' sound; besides that, nothing else could be heard clearly.

The result of the super-high perception of this 14-ring divine body is that, if changed to an ordinary mortal, even less could be heard.

Luosen, however, dared not be the slightest bit contemptuous, because Laifu basically never makes mistakes.

He quickly put on his clothes, raised his hand to grasp the Extinction Law Sword and the Godfall Dagger, and also tucked a Radiant Law Sphere and a Mighty God into his clothing pocket.

Being careful is never wrong; you stay safely in the tent, I'll go outside for a round to check the situation.

(End of chapter)