Chapter 1711

After sending off Luweiya and Yin Luna, Xia De took the key he had just obtained yesterday and came to the bedroom door. He didn't know which year this key corresponded to, only that it was the Fifth Era. But actually, there was no necessity for investigation; after all, no matter which year it was, he couldn't know in advance what exactly he would encounter.

"Meow~"

"This is the first time using this key, I can't take you. Wait for me at home, I'll be back soon."

He said to the cat that was spinning around at his feet. Seeing that it really couldn't persuade Xia De, Mia had no choice but to lower her little head, standing there with a wronged face watching him take out the key. Xia De, who already knew the habits of this cat, wouldn't feel heartache at all; anyway, he would be back in three seconds.

"May the World Tree protect me in the infinite time."

Click~ With a sound, the bedroom door opened, and Xia De stepped into the thick fog:

"The travel story of the Lost Forest is, after all, a bit sad; I hope this time everyone can have a good ending."

【Outsider, you have stepped into the "Corridor of Time".】 【Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":】

【Summer, 1576, Fifth Era, Western Continent, Black Fog Camp.】 【Event: Transaction with the Old God—"Golden Sovereign".】 【Duration: 20 minutes (1/3).】

"20 minutes, so short?"

500 years before the time point of 1578, Fifth Era, which is 1068, Xia De met the Old God "Innocent Creator" and three children at a toy store in Hope Town, which influenced his life trajectory; 200 years after 1578, which is 1784, Xia De met Mr. Riddle, the "luckiest mortal," at Terror Castle, and played a card game with the god using that ordinary man's life.

In other words, theoretically, at the time point of "1578, Fifth Era," Xia De shouldn't encounter any acquaintances. However, he wasn't disappointed at all; after all, time in the Fifth Era was so long, if he encountered familiar witches every time, that would be something to be vigilant about.

"Old God—Golden Sovereign... isn't that the famous God of Commerce and Wealth?"

"Golden Sovereign" is one of the most famous Old Gods of the Fifth Era, and also a god who, even though He has already left, can still find numerous believers in the Sixth Era today. It can even be said that this god is one of the most powerful Old Gods of the Fifth Era; even the Orthodox Churches admit this in their scriptures.

Xia De remembered seeing in textbooks that the Old God—Golden Sovereign left around 5300, Fifth Era. That was already the late Fifth Era, and this Old God's influence radiated throughout the entire era.

And what this "God of Commerce and Wealth" is most known for is actually the divine art exclusive to His believers—Midas Touch.

The effect of the sorcery is to convert any substance touched with a unit price lower than gold into gold. Although this conversion consumes a large amount of spirit and the effect on supernatural materials is not good, and the converted gold needs complex processing to be circulated because it has a strong element reaction, this doesn't prevent this sorcery from becoming an ability that Ring Mages talk about with relish.

"I remember this Old God's reputation is quite good, and He completely respects the principle of fair trade and equivalent exchange; that's good news... Oh, you continue."

【You have obtained additional information.】

【The figure of the Father of the Infinite Tree is watching you.】 【The Ancient God of Time gives you a test.】

【Assist mortals in completing their respective transactions.】

【The Father of the Infinite Tree will give you a reward: Sorcery—Oath Binding, a piece of real information—Silver Moon Library.】 "What? Silver Moon Library?"

Xia De in the white fog was already prepared to step forward, but froze at the last piece of information.

Although the Tree Father had given information about the "Dark Dungeon" before, this time he was just wanting to enter the library again to try to touch the moon, not expecting the Tree Father to really give information about the library immediately.

Although the information given by the Tree Father might not necessarily help him immediately enter the library with sufficient permission, at least this information was absolutely useful. He didn't know what to say, so he could only prepare himself, and then stepped forward in the fog.

The white fog dissipated like a curtain to both sides, displaying the "stage" in front of Xia De. After the glowing white fog receded, it was a dark world.

Even though Xia De had dark vision, it took him at least two seconds to fully see the situation around him.

The sky was shrouded in black fog, and the surroundings were an endless plain. It was completely pitch black here, without even a trace of light. The lightless world seemed as if everything was static; fortunately, the land around was still growing twisted, low weeds and unknown black wildflowers, allowing this region to still show a strange vitality.

Although the places he went to after opening the Time Key in the past were also dark, it was the first time it was completely pitch black like this. Looking carefully, under his feet was a small path submerged in wild plants, and he was facing a...

direction. Thus, Xia De, who already had sufficient experience in time exploration, took a step forward and appeared twenty meters away as the surrounding plants began to squirm and grow, and then ran quickly toward the distance of the small path.

This at least proved that this time exploration location did not prohibit space-type abilities.

The original wild grass and black small flowers were strange enough; the twisted, intertwined wild grass was like swirling, interwoven tentacles, and the flower discs of those unknown black small flowers were like human faces. When they became active, that kind of deformity and malicious form became even more undisguised.

Xia De had been chased by different things in different scenes; the one that left the deepest impression on him so far was being chased by a swarm of insects in the Worm Cave, so this time was nothing. He didn't think about anything, didn't listen to anything, just kept running forward along that small path in the darkness.

It was completely lightless here, so there was no such thing as light gradually decreasing, but during the running process, he gradually felt the "darkness" behind him becoming heavier, and even felt the ground beginning to vibrate slightly.

Fortunately, the Tree Father didn't throw him too far away. Soon he noticed that the small path under his feet had become an upward slope, and at the same time, there was some black fog in the air that was originally empty—it was quite difficult to distinguish them in a completely lightless situation.

The plants behind that had become active and resembled a "sea tide" didn't seem to like these black mists. When Xia De entered the black fog area, the pursuit of the plants clearly slowed down. And as Xia De went deeper into the position where the black fog was thicker along that upward small path, the malice of the entire plain toward him completely disappeared.

The black fog would not affect Xia De's body—at least he didn't feel it—but the black fog completely blocked his vision and perception. This obstruction was even more severe than the fog on the central island of Green Lake, and even "High-Efficiency Space Perception" could not take effect at all.

"Silver Moon."

While continuing to walk forward in the fog, he whispered and extended his finger, but the moonlight at his fingertip could only spread a very short distance, not enough to help Xia De obtain a larger field of vision. It was as if the act of "perception" itself was prohibited in this exploration.

"Blood Echo, Vision Demon."

Sure enough, both perception-type sorceries did not take effect; Xia De's judgment was correct.

However, he wasn't panicked. After entering the black fog, he hadn't walked more than twenty steps when he saw a firelight the size of a grain of rice in the distance. Then continuing forward, the firelight became brighter with every step. After walking less than five steps, Xia De saw that it was actually a campfire by the side of the road. The light of the campfire could actually disperse the black fog that even Xia De's moonlight couldn't disperse.

Surrounding the campfire was an extremely crude camp, and three people holding torches seemed to be waiting for something. Although the torches in their hands were slightly weaker in light, they could also disperse the black fog.

By the side of the small path was a large rock, and an elderly woman with graying hair was sitting on the rock; this was an ordinary person. A young girl looking bored at the surroundings stood beside the elderly woman holding a torch; this was a witch, but she should have just broken through to the high tier. The last person stood on the other side of the campfire, a bit further away from the rock, but also didn't leave the side of the road; he looked like a boy of only ten or so.

Compared to the calm elderly woman and the young witch who didn't seem worried about the situation around, the boy holding his own torch looked terrified.

Also because of this, he was the first to see Xia De walking out of the black fog when he looked around. As the boy subconsciously took a small step back, the elderly woman and the young witch also looked at him.

Noticing that Xia De didn't have a torch in his hand, both women showed puzzled expressions. Then the witch left the side of the campfire, walked up, and stopped Xia De:

"Wait a moment, lady, who are you?"

She didn't show hostility, just puzzlement. While speaking, she held the torch in her hand forward. The firelight flickered, dispersing the black fog around Xia De. Seeing that Xia De didn't show any abnormality when facing the firelight, the young red-haired witch relaxed slightly.

She shouldn't be very old, and she praised in a frivolous tone:

"Your transformation sorcery is quite powerful, but it could also be because these black mists have caused my senses to degenerate too severely; I have to admit you really look like a man. But I see, you shouldn't have anything down there; witches can't transform that thing out."

"Hmm... I didn't use any transformation sorcery, I am a man."

Xia De corrected, and then walked two more steps before pointing to his face:

"Although this fog affects perception, we are so close, you should be able to perceive that this is a real face, right?"

The young red-haired witch hesitated blankly for a moment, then widened her eyes: "Wait, you really are... how is this possible?"

This wasn't the first time Xia De had encountered such a thing, but he was more concerned about another matter: "We can actually understand each other's language?"

Saying this, he took the initiative to extend his right hand. The young witch subconsciously grabbed his wrist, and after letting go, looked at her own palm, then realized the action Xia De had taken:

"How are you so skilled... It seems you must have encountered other witches before."

Compared to other witches Xia De had seen in the Fifth Era, the young girl in front of him showed the most calm attitude toward "men":

"You don't need to think too much about the language problem; since we are going to a market specifically for trade, of course, we must let everyone who comes here understand other people's language."

She said lightly, didn't continue to ask about Xia De's identity, but signaled Xia De to come to the campfire with her. The firelight became brighter; the flame of the torch in the witch's hand clearly came from this campfire. Xia De's body was completely exposed to the firelight. Seeing that he still had no abnormality, the elderly woman and the boy were no longer so nervous.

The witch signaled Xia De to pick up a wooden stick himself:

"Regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, it seems you are the last trader to participate in the market this time. Clearly, everyone has arrived, let's set off."

Xia De picked up a burning wooden stick from the campfire at will, then noticed that although there was a flame burning above the wood, the flame didn't consume the wood.

His hand was very close to the flame; "She" said softly:

【This flame is only specifically for dispersing black fog, it has no other characteristics.】

Xia De didn't even feel any sign of the "Primal Fire" in his body stirring, indicating that this flame wasn't worth the Primal Fire to swallow.

"I'm actually not a trader participating in the market."

Xia De signaled the young witch who was preparing to leave the campfire to wait a moment, then said vaguely:

"I just accidentally came here, and then saw you all. Can you introduce what the situation is now?" Saying this, he raised his right hand, and bright silver moonlight appeared in his palm:

"I still have some abilities. If you are willing to let me accompany you, I can also help with some things." The witch looked at his palm, then at his face, then turned to look at the elderly woman by the rock. After the elderly woman nodded, she said:

"You can. In such a dangerous place, having one more companion is safer. As for you saying you are an accidental arrival... I'll believe it for now. Let me introduce myself; I am Leah Higgins, hired by this lady..." She pointed to the elderly woman:

"Accompanying her here. Helping her complete a transaction, and I will be able to obtain a very large commission; the amount is really large."

She didn't know what she thought of, but the corners of her mouth curled up, revealing a smile. The elderly lady also spoke:

"Hello, I am Sarah Myers, here at the market to do some trading. Very happy to meet you."

Her speaking speed was very slow, but she had affinity; this was the speaking characteristic of an elderly great noble with status.

"By the way, this Ms. Myers is the cousin of the Desert Witch Empress, Her Majesty Faris Myers. My commission was paid by that Majesty."

The young witch winked at Xia De: "You understand what I mean."

"Yes, I understand. I will help you take good care of this lady. However, since you were hired by that Majesty, why didn't she hire a stronger witch... I don't mean that you are weak, but..."

Ms. Leah Higgins didn't care about what Xia De said, but instead said proudly:

"Her Majesty personally performed divination, letting me accompany Mrs. Myers here; the probability of success is very high. Sir, you can not trust me, but you cannot not trust the divination of the Witch Empress."