Chapter 399: You Picked Up a Divine Seal

"Little Black, little Black, don't be afraid, we've come to save you." Tina's face was filled with sorrow as she leaned beside the black horse, hugging its neck to soothe it.

The black horse shook its neck but ignored her.

"What's wrong? Why won't you answer me? It's me, your master. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry—I ran off just now, I was too scared. I'll make it up to you when we get back: soybeans with cooled alfalfa, how's that?" Tina pleaded.

The black horse still paid no attention.

Ang leapt into the pit and stared at the horse's broken leg.

Phantom Face said to Du Luo Ken: "You didn't do it? A skeleton? Holy light magic?"

Du Luo Ken asked calmly: "Is there a problem?"

They still understood too little about this world, so they had to seize every opportunity to glean more useful intelligence indirectly.

For instance, Phantom Face's reaction could indirectly confirm Albert's claim—how common are Holy Skeletons in this world?

Phantom Face's reaction clearly indicated they were rare, yet his words confirmed he had at least heard of them: "That's a Holy Skeleton? How did you end up with the Church of Light? Aren't you a sorcerer?"

Du Luo Ken asked: "Is that not allowed?"

Phantom Face replied: "It's not forbidden, but the Church of Light is extremely exclusive—they label all who don't believe in Light as heretics and apostates. That you're mixed up with them surprises me."

Du Luo Ken's mind stirred, and he changed the subject: "What about you? Which side are you on?"

"Us? We have no side. I'm a follower of Miss Tina, a rogue. Miss Tina is an eighth-level mage of the Fire Carnelian Magic Tower." Phantom Face said.

After some casual chatter, Du Luo Ken gleaned a fair amount of intelligence from the side.

This world is now dominated by the Undead Empire; the Sorcerer Alliance has been driven into the Starburst Array in the sky, and the Church of Light has retreated to remote corners.

But the Undead Empire's governance is too lax—even negligent. Though enemies with the Sorcerer Alliance, they impose no restrictions on sorcery itself: anyone can learn it, and no undead being bothers to interfere.

Instead, some human administrators in certain regions occasionally took measures to please the high-ranking officials of the Undead Empire, but as they soon realized that cracking down on sorcerers brought them no benefits, such measures became increasingly rare.

Not only sorcerers, but all open and inclusive professions and religions can flourish within the Undead Empire's territories—only exclusionary organizations like the Church of Light face severe suppression.

The Undead Empire rejects them, and sorcerers reject them too—so Phantom Face was puzzled why Du Luo Ken, a sorcerer, was associating with a Holy Skeleton of the Church of Light.

"After being suppressed so often, their Holy Skeletons simply stopped resurrecting—they roam around as mere bone frames, calling themselves Holy Skeletons, so they won't attract attacks from low-level undead." Phantom Face said.

By this time, Ang had already healed the black horse's broken leg. The process was simple: sever the nerves, realign the fracture, then cast Holy Light.

The black horse snorted, stood up with a thud, stamped its hooves, and its eyes filled with surprise.

Du Luo Ken couldn't help saying: "Your mistress's horse is quite sentient?"

Phantom Face said proudly: "Of course—it carries dragon blood, a dragon beast with considerable intelligence."

Du Luo Ken gave him a strange look.

"What? Did I smear my face?" Phantom Face patted his cheeks in confusion.

"What's wrong with dragon blood? Hmph." Du Luo Ken shook his head.

After confirming its hooves were fine, the black horse affectionately nudged Ang, leaning its head to lick him.

Ang pushed it away in disgust.

Tina stared in astonishment at the horse and Ang. Her Little Black was usually aloof—never this affectionate with strangers. Even she, who had fed it since birth, never received such treatment. Had this skeleton saved it?

"Little Black, Little Black, come back." Tina called.

The black horse glanced at her, then trotted in a small circle to Ang's other side, adopting an air of "I don't know you."

"Little Black? Little Black! Little Black, if you don't come over, I'm abandoning you!" Tina stamped her foot in anger.

The black horse stared at the sky, pretending not to hear—if Tina tried to grab it, it dodged around Ang.

Everyone understood the horse's meaning. Phantom Face stepped forward to advise: "Miss Tina, it seems from the moment you abandoned it and ran, it made up its mind. Let it go."

"No! I raised it! It's my dragon beast! Today, no matter what, it's coming back with me!" Tina snapped, her magic surging.

Ang's gaze locked onto her immediately.

Again, Phantom Face clamped his hand over her mouth and dragged her away.

"How dare you cover my mouth? How dare you offend me?"

"Oh, Miss Tina, use your head! Don't you see they don't care about you at all? They've seen you cast an eighth-level Meteor Fall—they know your power. They don't even fear an eighth-level mage. Don't stir up trouble, or we might not make it back alive."

"W-Will they… kill me?"

"Miss Tina, how can you call it killing? No body, no trace—just disappearance. Don't provoke them. I can't read their strength. Just last night, when Mr. Du Luo Ken locked onto me—I couldn't even use my rogue skills in front of him."

"But… but… my Little Black."

"Sigh, maybe you broke its heart. It doesn't recognize you anymore. What now? Try talking to it again? Promise it more mares? Or even a dragon beast? Convince it back—but no violence."

"Fine." Tina reluctantly accepted reality, walked over, made promises, and paid the price of finding her a beautiful dragon beast—finally coaxing it back.

Phantom Face reluctantly pulled out his private savings to pay for the healing.

Tina mounted Little Black, turned to Du Luo Ken, and said: "Regardless, thank you for your help. I don't know what you have to do with the Church of Light, but you might be interested in this: forty kilometers in this direction lies the Godfall Site—it's recently undergone strange changes."

The Godfall Site was where the Starburst Array had struck the ground, shattering all the gods.

Some gods exploded into fragments; for centuries afterward, people still occasionally found equipment, divine bodies, and shards of divine essence, drawing treasure hunters and fortune-seekers.

Tina had come here because she heard of the Godfall Site's anomaly.

But after speaking, she noticed Du Luo Ken showed no reaction, and couldn't help asking: "The Godfall Site has changed—aren't you curious?"

Du Luo Ken realized his reaction had been too flat and quickly feigned astonishment: "I'm so shocked, I didn't react at first! Really? It's changed? Thank you for the tip—we'll head there immediately."

Once Tina rode off satisfied, Du Luo Ken grumbled: "What's so interesting about the Godfall Site? I could pull out several living divine essences just by opening my Little Yellow Book."

The Little Yellow Book, silent until now, grumbled: "Maybe you should go. Didn't you hear it was 'recently' changed? It's definitely connected to our arrival."

…

Not long after Tina left, the residents who had fled the Desert Town began returning—but found the area occupied by undead, and were at a loss.

Undead that didn't form a flood wouldn't attack ordinary people, but when their numbers grew too large, death aura accumulated, slowly making the land unsuitable for living beings.

The death-impregnated soil accelerated dehydration and toughening of flesh and skin, turning people stiff and zombie-like.

The residents sighed and hurriedly gathered usable items onto wooden planks, preparing to drag them away.

Du Luo Ken approached and asked: "Where are you going?"

"Where else? Forty kilometers away is Godfall Town—the nearest settlement. Hope they'll take us in," an elderly resident sighed.

Du Luo Ken's mind stirred. He stepped back and whispered: "Perfect—we'll follow them. If possible, buy materials to build a teleportation array—see if we can link it to the Prime Plane. Oh, my lord, give me another handful of soul crystals—I'll restore my full strength."

Ang reached out and grabbed a handful of soul crystals and handed them to him.

Du Luo Ken had come via his phylactery—his soul was unharmed; only his body's strength was depleted. But he was an alchemist—he didn't rely on physical strength.

As long as his soul strength returned, his alchemy wouldn't be affected.

Hearing Du Luo Ken's words, Negrilis quietly exhaled in relief. Ang's power projection could only cast first-level spells for now.

He couldn't unleash his ultimate transformation. If they encountered a powerful enemy, Ang could retreat into his body—but Negrilis, as a book, had nowhere to flee.

Du Luo Ken regaining full strength meant they now had an Alchemy King watching their backs—perfect.

Du Luo Ken took the soul crystals, then suddenly recoiled, shaking his hand: "Eww~" A mist of water flew from his palm.

The mist spun dazedly, drifting left and right, until Ang gathered it into his palm. The mist emitted the voice of the Water God Tom: "Where… where is this… ah? So far… far away…"

"Sss—Tom, can you sense this from the Prime Plane?" Negrilis exclaimed.

Tom had the ability to sense pure water and transfer his consciousness through it. If the pure water had once merged with him and later separated, his sensing became easier.

But this only worked over short distances. How could Tom sense this far?

"So far… so blurry… wait, I'm transferring now. Ehh? Why so little water? Master, give me more water," Tom's voice grew clearer, as if he had arrived.

Ang condensed a water sphere, purified it, and turned Tom's mist into a solid water ball.

Seizing the chance, Negrilis asked: "Why did you come?"

"Ugh, I'm so tired! The little angel and the little zombie keep pestering me for you. If I don't find you, they pee on me—so I came." Tom complained.

Ang's consciousness retreated into his body, sent a thought to the little angel and little zombie, then projected back.

Free from the threat of being peed on, Tom sighed in relief and took interest in the surroundings: "My sensing says this place is incredibly far—where is this?"

Negrilis replied: "Red Star. The place where the Red Star once was. The Starburst and Faith Storm originated here."

"Oh, I see. Let me check." As Tom spoke, the surface of the water ball quivered, erupting countless tiny water columns, rippling outward as if struck by subsonic magic.

After a long while, it stopped and said: "I sense many pure waters—the most are up there."

A tiny hand formed within the water ball, pointing toward the Starburst Array in the sky.

Du Luo Ken's eyes lit up. Negrilis had the same expression—but as a book, it had no eyes to "light up."

"Can you transfer there? That's the enemy's stronghold—go see what's happening." Negrilis said.

Tom shook his head: "No. Too many wards. I almost got caught."

"Ugh, you're so weak! Always getting caught!" Negrilis said.

Got spotted in the Tomb of Rest, barely escaped only to be found by Ang, and now barely surfaced and almost caught again.

Once, his ability to move through pure water, ignoring dimensional barriers, seemed impressive. Now it looked pathetic.

"Come on, come on, Ang, let's head to Godfall Town. Oh, Du Luo Ken—you said you'd buy materials to build a teleportation array—can you really link it to the Prime Plane?" Negrilis asked.

Du Luo Ken said: "I had no confidence before, but now I do. Tom sensed and transferred here—so a teleportation array should work. The question is: how big? Best to make it a world transit hub scale."

Negrilis immediately said: "That's too much work. Better to have Ang grab pieces one by one—he'd be faster."

The group followed the former Desert Town residents, walking along the desert's edge until they reached a river, then followed its course upstream. Soon they arrived at a lake—Godfall Town sat beside it.

As they neared Godfall Town, Ang sensed something. When he saw the lake, he suddenly crouched, pressed his hand to the ground, and pulled outward—a radiant light sphere was torn from the earth.

As the light sphere solidified, countless invisible light points from all directions surged toward him. Finally, the light formed an emblem: a sword thrust diagonally into a shield.

"Uh… you're not telling me you picked up a divine seal, are you?"

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