Chapter 252: A Divine Artifact

Anxiwodasi's expression quickly recovered, as calmly as ever before.

"Everyone, get moving," he shouted. "Weizelan still has many tasks awaiting us. I've raised everyone's permissions; within three days you can all draw Fu Kong Cheng's energy for spellcasting, for healing or rebuilding homes. Go."

Then he assigned the tasks, with several Speakers leading, each person responsible for a portion: tallying casualties, treating injured residents, clearing rubble, and so on.

"Yes, GrandSpeaker."

The Wizards bowed and dispersed from the plaza, busily moving about Fu Kong Cheng.

Lei En also joined with the Extreme Warriors.

While he was busy rescuing people from beneath the rubble, he heard a massive flapping sound, turned his head toward the western sky, and saw a huge flock of Griffin Riders flying toward Fu Kong Cheng—at least five hundred griffins forming a shadow that blocked the sun.

Each griffin bore a fully armed rider on its back, the fine armor glinting in the sunlight.

Ahead of the Griffin Riders flew a green dragon.

The green dragon was over twenty meters long, its dark‑green scales forming a smooth armor; its clawed limbs were tucked beneath its belly, its snarling head, and at the junction of neck and torso rode a man in black armor.

It was a Dragon Rider!

The Dragon Rider appeared just over thirty, with an ordinary face, calm eyes, and a head of black hair blown back by the wind.

A bright silver spear hung at his side, a sword at his waist, giving him a majestic bearing.

Lei En squinted.

He had never seen this Dragon Rider before, but could guess his identity: Yalian Mosugrin, commander of the Storm Legion.

The Storm Legion is a direct Imperial force, stationed between Mo Du and Ancient Tree City.

The Empire's eastern coastal region is defended by the Storm Legion; under normal circumstances the garrison would be near the area's central city, Mo Du. However, Mo Du was granted to various lords, leaving Imperial troops without legal access, so the Storm Legion could only set up camp near Ancient Tree City.

Ancient Tree City is the second‑largest city on the eastern coast, over a hundred li from Mo Du.

From Naxas Floating City's arrival to the end of the battle took less than half an hour; the Storm Legion reaching Weizelan so quickly was already an extremely rapid response.

But they still missed the fight.

Lei En's gaze fell on Yalian; the commander is a Legendary High-rank Dragon Rider who, before changing vocation, was a Great Swordsman.

His green dragon mount has entered its prime, its strength robust, equivalent to Legendary Mid-stage.

The Dragon Rider's arrival drew everyone's attention.

Yalian quickly led the Griffin Riders out to the exterior of Fu Kong Cheng; Anxiwodasi waved, and a passage opened in the shield.

The green dragon landed on Ruin Plaza, and the Griffin Riders descended as well.

Because the buildings blocked his view, Lei En couldn't see the plaza's situation, so he stopped watching and continued rescuing with the Extreme Warriors.

Soon after, the green dragon took off again, carrying the Griffin Riders out of Fu Kong Cheng, disappearing quickly into the western sky.

The Storm Legion stayed for less than five minutes in total.

But it left a very strong impression on Lei En; such an aerial unit, swift and fleeting, regardless of its actual combat power, already poses a considerable deterrent to foes.

"If I were to build an air force..."

Lei En couldn't help but think.

Gela Morgan's domain's main armed force remains the Dragonstone Mercenary Corps, but they cannot be hired forever; eventually a private army belonging to the Augustus family must be raised.

The Extreme Warriors are powerful, but too few in number.

Lei En also has no interest in ordinary regular forces; the recruited superhumans are a mixed lot, and without years of training it's hard to forge elite combat power.

His first thought was the Griffin Riders; the Stoinde family has a group of about three hundred, which is the basis of their standing in Mo Du.

But training Griffin Riders takes many years, and the required funds are incalculable.

The Stoinde family is wealthy enough to rival nations, yet can barely sustain three hundred Griffin Riders; more would be unaffordable.

Lei En's thoughts drifted, but yielded little direction.

Half a day later, darkness fell.

The crystal streetlights in Fu Kong Cheng lit up like a city that never sleeps; the Wizards busied themselves all afternoon, casting spells without regard to energy, quickly repairing most damaged buildings and facilities, restoring the residents' daily order.

Seeing nothing left for himself, Lei En opened a portal to return to the castle, when the teacher's voice sounded beside his ear:

"Lei En, come to the tower top."

"Alright, teacher."

Lei En replied, letting the Extreme Warriors enter the portal first to rest, while he teleported to the high tower, appearing inside Anxiwodasi's study.

Other people had already arrived in the study.

Lei En looked around and saw that present were the three remaining Speakers of the Six‑Person Council, and Ao Xiliya.

He gave a slight nod to several Legendary Wizards, then turned to Anxiwodasi, noticing the teacher's complexion was a bit gaunt, showing signs of fatigue.

Lei En felt a sudden thump in his heart.

Holy Soul Wizards are among the world's most powerful spellcasters; their souls and bodies have long transcended the mundane, essentially a higher‑level existence, and unless gravely injured, their appearance hardly changes.

Not to mention, the teacher has reclaimed control of Fu Kong Cheng, with Iola Core continuously supplying energy, effectively limitless soul power.

Yet under these conditions his state is poor, indicating the seriousness of the problem.

The other Speakers also sensed the abnormality, each bearing a heavy expression, and Ao Xiliya's eyes were full of worry.

"Everyone is present."

Anxiwodasi rose from behind the desk, his face solemn, and said, "I have two pieces of bad news for you."

Bad news... still two!

At once, everyone's gaze fixed on Anxiwodasi.

He waved his hand, the surrounding space shifted, and in an instant the bright, open study turned into a closed, dim chamber; the chamber was small, only a few dozen square meters, its interior spacious, with rune sigils etched on the floor and walls, and a half‑human‑high stone platform at the center of the array.

Lei En turned his head and glanced twice.

The chamber should be for storing important items; previously something had been placed on the stone platform at the array's center, but now there was nothing.

The sigil connecting to the platform had been damaged, rendering it inoperable.

"This place originally sealed the Book of the Dead, and it has already disappeared," Anxiwodasi said, pointing at the stone platform, his gaze complicated. "The energy protecting the secret chamber comes from the Iola Core; Lu Yin cut off the energy source, the formation's protection weakened, and someone took advantage of the opening to enter."

Kai De Jia Speaker couldn't help but ask, "What about Sa Zha Si Tan?"

"Besides that, I can't think of any other possibility," Anxiwodasi nodded slowly.

This is an obvious matter.

Lei En also thought so: Sa Zha Si Tan is the chief Lich of the Death Knot Seal, having controlled this evil force for centuries; he may be the world's most powerful and notorious Lich.

This Holy Soul Lich is as renowned as the Death Lord, and the two hold comparable status.

One controls the Death Knot Seal, the other leads the Cataclysm Legion; they are the Lord of the Dead's right and left arms in the Prime Material Plane.

The fall of Ke Er Si Tai De, and its ritual of transforming a Lich into a Holy Soul, surely had Sa Zha Si Tan's backing.

Lei En had previously doubted why Sa Zha Si Tan didn't act from the start but hid in the shadows to strike; if he joined the battle alongside Death Lord Er Sa Zi and Ke Er Si Tai De, the three Holy Soul‑ranked transcendents would be hard for even the teacher to resist.

Now it is known that Sa Zha Si Tan was scheming for the Book of the Dead.

Thinking of this, Lei En suddenly broke out in cold sweat.

Fortunately, the secret chamber is atop the tower and not connected to its base. Otherwise, Sa Zha Si Tan could seize the Book of the Dead, then destroy the Iola Core, with unimaginable consequences.

"Teacher, what exactly is the Book of the Dead used for?"

Lei En couldn't help but ask.

He had searched his personal library; the results were few, only a handful of books mentioned the Book of the Dead, and only by name, with no detailed description.

From those books, the Book of the Dead appears to be a taboo, not even to be mentioned.

In fact, not only Lei En, several Speakers besides Red Dragon Kelaoaosi were also very curious; evidently they too did not know the truth of the Book of the Dead.

"The Book of the Dead is an artifact," Anxiwodasi whispered in reply.

"Artifact!"

Kai De Jia shouted in surprise.

Lei En was also immensely surprised; an artifact is a tier above legendary weapons—normally only deities can forge artifacts, hence the name.

The weapons of deities can, of course, slay gods!

Any artifact that falls into the mortal realm brings blood‑rain and carnage; artifacts possess supreme terrifying power and symbolize both natural and man‑made calamities.

Anxiwodasi continued: "The Book of the Dead is a blasphemous tome penned by the Lord of the Dead himself; it records the true essence of death's power, and it also bears a trace of divinity."

"Through the Book of the Dead, one can communicate directly with the Lord of the Dead."

"By mastering the Book of the Dead, one can enslave and command all undead creatures, summoning the strongest from the Abyssal Underworld into battle."

"Fusing with the Book of the Dead to obtain its divinity offers a chance to achieve apotheosis!"

Anxiwodasi's words were like successive thunderclaps, leaving everyone stunned.

Apotheosis!

This is the supreme ultimate ideal for every sentient being in the Ai Lun E Si world, and it is no idle fantasy, for among today's deities several ascended from mortals.

Yet from antiquity to the present, only a handful of mortals have succeeded in apotheosis.

Even for Holy Soul Wizards, apotheosis is a distant dream, with almost no chance of success, let alone for legendary wizards.

Lei En is not even a legend, so he never contemplated apotheosis.

He merely marveled at the Book of the Dead's power, and lamented that he had not seen an artifact with his own eyes.

Ao Xi Li Ya asked oddly, "Teacher, how did the Book of the Dead end up in Weizelan?"

"Over a hundred years ago, Mei Di Fu obtained the Book of the Dead during a planar voyage; after years of fruitless study and not wanting his research exposed to the Lord of the Dead's minions, he sent it to Weizelan for safekeeping," Anxiwodasi replied.

Mei Di Fu is the Holy Soul Wizard known as the 'Prophet.'

It was he who prophesied the crisis of the Weizelan Fu Kong Cheng.

This Holy Soul Wizard had no floating city, only a Wizard Tower in a remote desolate valley, and he often traveled abroad, his whereabouts unknown; storing an artifact there was unsafe.

"Mei Di Fu placed the Book of the Dead here for preservation; I have no interest in it, and I only mentioned it to Ke Er Si Tai De alone, who at the time had perused the Book of the Dead several times."

Regret flickered in Anxiwodasi's eyes.

Lei En shook his head silently.

Clearly, Ke Er Si Tai De's fall was caused by the Book of the Dead, ultimately bringing this disaster to the Weizelan Fu Kong Cheng.

"Indeed, worthy of an artifact, once it appears in the world, it triggers terrible calamities."

Lei En thought to himself.

Red Kelaoaosi said anxiously, "If Sa Zha Si Tan obtains the Book of the Dead and succeeds in apotheosis, it will bring even greater disaster to Ai Lun E Si."

The others all sighed.

Lei En, however, did not think that far; apotheosis is not that easy.

Moreover, Sa Zha Si Tan does have opponents; Death Lord Er Sa Zi would certainly not allow Sa Zha Si Tan to achieve apotheosis, and perhaps the two evil forces would clash internally and fight first.

He was more concerned about another matter.

"Teacher, what is the second bad news?"

Anxiwodasi was silent for a few seconds, and under everyone's concerned gaze finally said, "Sa Zha Si Tan's Death Finger is nine rings and carries the effect of Disintegrate; I did not fully protect against this spell."

For a moment, the secret chamber became so still that a needle could be heard falling.

The faces of several Speakers turned very grim; Lei En and Ao Xi Li Ya were also extremely worried.

Although they had long been mentally prepared, actually hearing the teacher admit that he had not fully withstood the Death Finger attack still shocked them.

The Death Finger is seven rings, Disintegrate is six rings.

Both are instant‑death spells; Sa Zha Si Tan combined them and elevated them to nine rings, showing this Holy Soul Lich's extraordinary casting talent.

"GrandSpeaker," Kai De Jia said anxiously and worriedly, "how are you now?"

"You all rest assured, I will not die."

Anxiwodasi's words gave everyone a sigh of relief, but what he said next was even more distressing: "I shielded against Sa Zha Si Tan's Death Finger, so my soul is fine, but my body was severely damaged by Disintegrate and could collapse at any moment."

Lei En was at a loss for words.

The soul is the essence of all sentient beings, but the soul must rely on a body to exist; without a body, a Holy Soul Wizard might endure for a while, but after a long time the soul will dissipate.

Anxiwodasi continued, "I have already mobilized the energy of the Iola Core, constantly sustaining my body."

"As long as I don't leave Weizelan, nothing will happen."

Lei En and several Chairman stared at each other, meaning that until this problem is solved, the teacher can never leave Fu Kong Cheng.

(End of chapter)