Chapter 1274

"What? This kind of Relic can move?"

The Witch voiced the same question as Xia De, but after only a moment of surprise, she commanded her summoned creature to pummel the pitch-black stone statue. After all, for a stone statue, piercing through the chest was not a fatal wound.

Battles involving supernatural beings, of course, did not rely solely on brute force to attack the opponent. It was unknown what kind of power the Witch had imbued the stone statue with, but flames actually erupted from the fists of the statue as it struck.

At this moment, everyone by the lake stared in astonishment at the struggle in the center of the great lake. One giant statue had hands erupting with fire, while the other held solid ice. Although their movements appeared somewhat sluggish, the struggle between such colossal entities remained shocking and incredible to normal-sized humans.

"It's a follower of the Evil God, Stone Heart Demon!"

Luweiya shook the newly acquired pendulum and suddenly said to Xia De:

"The tricks they played were indeed not to summon the Relic, but to grant the stone statue the ability to move! Followers of the Stone Heart Demon specialize in this type of power; it is indeed possible for them to influence a Relic. Oh, but what kind of method could directly influence a Keeper-level Relic?"

This question could not be answered in the short term. The two giant statues fought wantonly above the dark, snowy lake. Although Miss Miss Beiya's summoned creature had a size advantage and was more adept at fighting due to her command, it was a pity that this was, after all, a technique mastered for only a week, and the hardness of a Relic was absolutely incomparable to ordinary stone.

The battle between the two sides lasted for three minutes. During this period, in the camp on the opposite shore of the lake, high-level Ringed Ringed Shushi used techniques several times to repair the damaged parts of Miss Miss Beiya's giant statue, and even used unknown techniques to directly add a bone-like armor to the giant statue. However, after the rumbling battle, the giant summoned creature called forth by "Earth Power: Summon Stone Statue" unfortunately fell, turning into rubble and sinking into the lake water that had been almost completely dyed black.

But this was not without meaning. Since it possessed the "Earth Power" prefix, the giant statue seemed to have absorbed some of the black mud from the lake bottom during the battle, and that black mud disappeared along with the giant statue after it was defeated.

Although such purification was extremely inefficient, it ultimately played some role.

"However, how did Schluch Lake know about this? He still has contact with the cultists... could it be..."

He frowned slightly and said to Miss Miss Beiya and Luweiya:

"You two be careful, something else might appear in a while."

Luweiya had already put on that beautiful holy white unicorn hairband, and Xia De had just noticed Miss Miss Beiya looking at that hairband several times. Considering the Witch's safety, Xia De temporarily lent his unicorn amulet to her, which left the Witch very puzzled.

"The scale of this incident is too large; it's not something we can handle. We can only let the Church solve it."

Xia De said, his eyes looking at the giant statue that held an ice spear and stood still in the wind and snow once again:

"However, we certainly cannot just leave like this. I am going to the center of the lake to use 【Earth Power: Healing Aura】 with all my might. After that, no matter what happens, we must retreat immediately. This will delay the time it takes for the mad earth to spread, and the Church's support should be able to catch up."

"I will go with you. Although you are minimally affected by the mad earth, you are still affected after all. I am maintaining the Abundance Domain and can help you."

Luweiya said immediately, and Miss Miss Beiya, of course, would not let the two of them take risks:

"I will also go with..."

"No, you stay by the lake and summon the stone statue again to fight the 【Rain-Praying Golem】. Otherwise, once we approach the center of the lake, we will definitely be attacked by the Relic."

Xia De interrupted her. The Witch knew Xia De's arrangement was correct, but she was worried about only the two of them entering the lake:

"Call Schluch Lake and the others over; my followers will protect you."

"No, they don't have Earth Power. Following us would only consume Luweiya's Qi."

Xia De shook his head in refusal, shook the snowflakes off his shoulders, and said

as he spoke, the white smoke from his mouth was blown away by the night wind like a long dragon; the temperature was dropping rapidly:

"We cannot delay any longer. We are leaving now."

"No, I cannot let you two go over there. You two are only at the Fifth Ring."

The blonde Witch grabbed Xia De's wrist, the expression in her eyes very determined:

"I know you are very capable, but you cannot take risks casually."

Luweiya stood to the side without expressing an opinion, then suddenly, as if sensing something, turned to look behind her.

The earth wall that had just been summoned had already disappeared, the blizzard had arrived, and the starry sky and the moon were completely obscured behind dark clouds. Those purple eyes saw through the darkness and saw the person walking through the dark forest:

"Stop arguing, let him go with us."

"Who?"

Xia De and Miss Miss Beiya also turned their heads together to look behind them, noticing a transparent, glowing soul walking toward them.

It was not accurate to say he was walking; every time the strange man took a step, his soul would appear more than three meters ahead. Therefore, although he seemed far away at first glance, in the time it took for five or six steps, he had arrived in front of the three of them in the snow and nodded slightly toward them:

"Let me introduce myself, Johnson Fleming."

"One of the founders of the Stonemason Society."

Luweiya added, looking him up and down.

"The Guardian of the Schluch Lake Valley?"

Xia De raised an eyebrow, and then a new question arose. He certainly knew this name; it was this gentleman who left the trials in the Stonemason Society, as well as 【Earth Power: Summon Stone Statue】 and those original share documents. But his soul becoming a Guardian was something that happened hundreds of years ago when the society was first established. According to Xia De's thinking, because these Guardians had to cast spells frequently, their souls would be constantly consumed; therefore, it required generations of Guardians to pass the mantle to each other so that the group of "Guardians" could continue to exist.

But the appearance of Johnson Fleming was clearly inconsistent with Xia De's thinking. His soul was not weak; on the contrary, it was as powerful as Mr. Schluch Lake and Mr. Toby Julian, whom Xia De had first encountered. This ancient wandering soul had not even undergone non-human changes due to the erosion of time; he still possessed reason just as he did when he had just stepped into death.

However, after witnessing the third Guardian of the Schluch Lake Valley, Xia De finally discovered the anomaly in them. Compared to normal undead, their power was simply too strong...

"I will go to the center of the lake with you. Using 【Healing Aura】 with the power of the two of us should be able to purify this area."

The soul, glowing slightly in the snow, said to Xia De. Xia De noticed that the snowflakes that were gradually being dyed black would not touch him at all.

"You Guardians, does everyone have Healing Aura? Is this your standard equipment?"

Xia De asked, but the latter just smiled and did not answer.

"Then can you explain to us what exactly is going on with you?"

So Xia De asked again. This time, the soul did speak, and that rather handsome face showed a look of worry:

"Everyone has their own mission, and we have only discovered our own. Powerful soul, both you and I have our own enemies. For my own safety, I cannot reveal our situation for the time being, but we are not enemies either."

"Who is your enemy?"

Xia De asked again. Johnson Fleming pointed to the center of the great lake:

"Tonight is actually a trap set by my enemy, aimed at me, but I have no choice but to come. Soon, you will know who my enemy is; you are not unfamiliar with that opponent. Powerful soul, if we don't act now, it will really be too late. For the sake of this city, for the sake of the Schluch Lake Valley, let's set off now."

The light from the Church's divine ritual continued to contain the giant statue in the lake, and at the same time, there were sporadic battles on the shore of the lake, clearly indicating that the Church had also discovered the presence of cultists.

The blizzard was getting stronger, and because the polluted mud water could temporarily be frozen at the bottom of the lake, only a small part seeped out,

so the black parts in the snowflakes were very few. But if this continued for a long time, the entire Schluch Lake Valley city would probably fall into madness by tomorrow morning.

Seeing that Mr. Fleming was simply unwilling to speak, Xia De could only go do the important work first. With Miss Miss Beiya remaining on the shore to summon the giant statue again at the appropriate time, Xia De, Luweiya, and the Guardian Fleming went together to the center of Eldron Lake.

And before leaving, Miss Miss Beiya threw a ring to Xia De:

"Be careful."

That ring was none other than one of the Witch's jewelry, the Sage-level Relic 【Witch's Gold Ring Left One】, which could enhance Xia De's power.

Xia De took the ring, was surprised for a moment, and then put it on his left hand.

Now the entire lake area could be regarded as a polluted area of the "Mad Earth." Although two living people and one soul all had the ability to walk on water, for the sake of safety, Xia De still sprinkled bone powder to summon that dilapidated small wooden boat.

Normal wood would rot in seconds upon touching such lake water, but this wooden boat, which could even travel through true death, would of course not be affected by this.

However, Mr. Fleming, in his soul state, looked incredibly surprised when he saw this boat. This soul, who had not yet truly departed, probably saw something from the wooden boat. He glanced at Xia De, who was giving instructions to Miss Miss Beiya, and then took the initiative to step onto the wooden boat.

Although this small boat had oars and a lantern with a faint light placed at the bow, it actually did not need to be rowed. It carried two living people and one soul, moving forward in the blizzard according to Xia De's thoughts.

At this time, Luweiya had already used 【Earth Power: Abundance Domain】. The purple-eyed girl sat at the stern of the boat, fiddling with the newly acquired obsidian pendulum, unable to put it down. Xia De sat on the side of the bow, while Mr. Fleming stood at the bow, looking out at the giant statue. The wind and snow blew toward the soul and then passed directly through it.

In the dark great lake, the small boat sailed silently toward the center.