Chapter 1743

When Xia De saw the nun at the entrance of the sacrificial site, which was shaded by spring trees sprouting green leaves, a strange question occurred to him. As it happened, he rarely made an appointment in advance when coming to see her, yet he was always able to find her.

"This is 'Gilar Stone'; even in the Fifth Era, it is a very precious material."

On the second-to-last stone step beside the open space at the lowest level of the sacrificial site, the nun wearing a silver blindfold sat and rubbed seven "stones" in turn with her fingers:

"In the Fifth Era, Gilar Stone was one of the core materials for making spatial alchemical items. Yes, the kind you are thinking of—a small pouch that can hold the cargo of a carriage."

Xia De's eyes widened instantly:

"Then, are you..."

"Such alchemical items no longer exist in the Sixth Era today. It is not because the manufacturing method has been lost, nor because the materials have completely vanished, and certainly not because alchemical items from the past era have not been passed down. It is simply because space in the Sixth Era is more unstable than in the Fifth. Therefore, apart from special items like relics, any other act of opening an independent space is equivalent to creating a bomb that could explode at any time."

The nun said softly, her voice echoing clearly through the sacrificial site:

"Although one cannot create alchemical items, using these stones to participate in spellcasting makes it more convenient to use 'spatial opening' type abilities. For example, a Misuo."

She handed the string of stones back to Xia De. Xia De nodded in realization; in this way, the value of this gift was even greater than he had imagined. As for the weekly task after receiving the gift, it was to personally clean his own room.

The room here was limited to the bedroom, and it was not a thorough deep clean, but rather the minimum requirement of tidying up clothes, the bed, and sweeping and mopping the floor.

However, Xia De had not made the special trip just to identify materials. After putting away the stones, he said to the nun very seriously:

"Sister Daifulin, I would like to ask you to help me take a look at two cards—no, not Luo De cards, but very special cards. Just, please do not tell anyone about this."

Last night, while adventuring in the past, the First Fire had taken the initiative to appear and force back Mrs. Yulian, so Xia De, who originally had not intended to tell anyone about anything from the "past," had thought of asking the nun.

He handed over 【Twin Lovers】 and 【Shadow of the Deep Sea】. The nun's movements paused noticeably after she took the cards. She did not look down at them—after all, she had no vision at all—but instead kept her sitting posture, placed the cards on her lap covered by her gray nun's robe, and stroked the cards one by one with both hands:

"Doomsday. The calamity of space and darkness. It is hard to imagine that the power of calamity, which still existed after everything ended, is so terrifying."

Sure enough, Sister Daifulin could tell what these were.

"Nun, can these two cards be burned as firewood?"

Xia De asked, and Sister Daifulin actually nodded:

"Yes, but it is not recommended to do so. These do not belong to the present; burning them would only trigger the power of the calamity ahead of time."

On her fingers, which were covered with slight burn marks, sparks of fire appeared. The firelight touched the surface of the cards along with the nun's fingertips, but it did not cause any damage to the cards:

"Just by touching these two cards, I can 'see' exactly how much despair and pain there is in the coming doomsday era of world destruction. Fortunately, the fact that the world must head toward an end will not change, but at least the future represented by these two cards does not necessarily have to happen."

She did not ask about the origin of the cards, which made Xia De breathe a slight sigh of relief:

"I can use these two cards to cast spells to seal and release the powerful Xiewu within them. The First Fire seems to have an extraordinary damaging effect on the Xiewu in these two cards."

He asked again, and the nun nodded slightly. Xia De really wanted to know what kind of expression was hidden beneath that silver blindfold:

"I once said that the Primordial Fire comes from the very beginning of the beginning, and it will surely burn until the very end of the end. Even if the world falls into complete darkness, the fire will surely burn, so it has a special effect on the monsters of the calamity era, especially those that symbolize darkness."

After a slight pause:

"When the Chosen of Darkness, Xiao En, appeared, I once led a team to Kexi because I was worried. At that time, it was because the First Fire could restrain the darkness."

The nun did not immediately return the two cards to Xia De, but continued to examine them carefully. She soon understood that if Xia De were to manipulate these sealed calamity Xiewu to fight, it would trigger disasters in the material world ahead of time.

However, in Xia De's view, the calamity cards, which only had one method of use—"releasing sealed objects to fight"—had actually been found by the nun to have other ways of being used:

"The power exists within the cards; do not release it all. You can try to guide only a portion of the power. The text on the cards you described also indicates what kind of power they possess."

She stood up, held the "Twin Lovers" between the index and middle fingers of her fair right hand, and gave a light flick. The card actually spun around its central axis and stayed in the air—it was unclear whether it was a clever trick or the power of a curse. Subsequently, the nun's right index finger was coated with the firelight of the First Fire, and her finger pointed forward gently, but then suddenly paused:

"Hero who carries the fire, please allow me to use the power of this card."

This should not have been the nun being polite to Xia De, but rather that the cards were sealed by Xia De, so others could not use them:

"No problem, I allow you to use the power of these two cards." The nun's finger touched the spinning card, and the card stopped spinning, remaining still in the air facing the nun, precisely touched at the center by her finger.

The card glowed slightly, and then the nun took a step forward, and then actually appeared instantly beside the brazier where the 【Ash】 longsword was inserted. This was equivalent to going from the edge of the sacrificial site to the center of the sacrificial site in an instant.

Xia De's eyes widened:

"Spatial jump!"

Although Sister Daifulin was quite formidable, Xia De was certain that she had absolutely not possessed this ability before.

The nun walked back and nodded gently:

"The power that can be guided from each card is different; this card is a spatial jump."

As she spoke, she threw 【Shadow of the Deep Sea】 in front of her again, and her finger, which had the afterglow of the First Fire, tapped it again.

In the ancient sacrificial site, only the brazier with the 【Ash】 longsword inserted diagonally in the center had firelight. At this moment, except for the cluster of flames itself, all light in other areas disappeared, and even Xia De and Sister Daifulin were plunged into darkness.

"Darkness Art. Absorbs all surrounding light to create a completely lightless domain."

The nun said softly, moved her finger away, and handed the two cards to Xia De:

"Using the cards this way, although still not too frequently, will not trigger the power of the calamity. However, currently only I can do this. Hero who carries the fire, the power of the First Fire is not yet sufficient. Unless you can find a new spark of the Primordial Fire again, you will temporarily be unable to use the power of these two cards at will."

Xia De nodded to show he understood:

"But this is just equivalent to adding two types of Qishu with very low consumption for me; this actually isn't a big enhancement."

The nun, however, shook her head:

"No, the form in which these powers from the doomsday calamity influence the material world has a very high priority. Powers cast through these cards are extremely difficult to be offset by other powers, even when facing relics—or rather, they are relics themselves."

Xia De suddenly realized:

"But this time I only found one demon that could be burned, and found no clues to the First Fire. Klein Laplace Howard collected many strange things; perhaps there is also Primordial Fire in his collection?"

"I have a premonition."

Sister Daifulin lowered her head slightly:

"This trip to Green Lake will surely have clues to the First Fire. When that time comes, these calamity cards will become your new power."

She was the nun who guarded the fire; her premonition would certainly not be wrong.

Xia De intended to discuss with Sister Daifulin the so-called "end" that this world was about to welcome; after all, apart from the doomsday theorists of the Light-Guiding Yinxiu Society, only the 【Lingxiu Sect】 had firmly believed in this point from the beginning.

But when the words reached his lips, he did not know what else to say. The nun also saw Xia De's hesitation:

"Hero who carries the fire, there is no need to worry about the future that is destined to come. You are already on the right path; the 【Lingxiu Sect】 is with you."

"Nun, since your eyes can see the past of a soul and the secrets deep within memories, then when you look at me, what can you see? I know when we first met, you tried this, but this time I want you to tell me as the 'Chosen of Death' what you actually saw in me."

The nun folded her hands and let them hang in front of her. This time Xia De definitely did not see wrong; she actually revealed a smile and then shook her head, subsequently walking toward the center of the underground sacrificial site and grasping the Angel-level relic 【Ash】.

The flames in the brazier licking the longsword flowed onto her arms, subsequently igniting her whole body in a burst of flames. The fire-red flame embers were branded onto the nun's skin and robe, and she signaled for Xia De to draw his sword and spar with her.

Xia De then also took the holy silver 【Moonlight Greatsword】 from the void. The sword body, which was as transparent as glaze and crystal, was now inscribed with more ancient runes than ever before:

"Nun, on the night of the lunar eclipse, I received the blessing of the moon; this time you must be a little careful."

Although he knew he definitely still couldn't beat the nun, Xia De still said this.

The nun did not speak, but pointed her sword at Xia De. Thus, in the two hours before lunch, Xia De felt once again the power of Sister Daifulin, which was at the limit of the Twelve Rings.

It was not even necessarily required to absorb the next spark of First Fire; Sister Daifulin could advance at any time. After all, slightly different from the Doctor and the Priest, although Sister Daifulin coexisted with the Primordial Fire, her talent and power were definitely not limited to this.

(End of chapter)