Chapter 1896

"A series of mistakes..."

Xia De felt this phrasing was somewhat familiar, and then realized that this was part of the answer given when he used the "Summer 1576, Fifth Era - Black Fog Camp" time key for the second time, when the God of Wealth, disguised as a black shadow, used the Unknowable-level relic "Pedestal of Fate" to divine for him in response to his question, "Why did I come to this world?"

The full answer at that time was, "You appeared because of an accident that absolutely could not have occurred, you appeared because of the chaos of the collapse of time and space, you appeared because of someone's desperate prayer, and you appeared because of a series of mistakes." Xia De did not know if it was a coincidence that the diviner said this sentence at this moment.

Having promised Maria Edwards to protect her grandchildren, he would not break his word. Although taking a detour here could avoid trouble, it was definitely not Xia De's way of doing things. So he took a step forward, and the humanoid root system retreated to the side to clear the path, watching as Xia De arrived beneath the cross:

"This is the choice you made yourself."

Xia De looked up at the unconscious brother and sister. Even if the townspeople did not speak again at this moment, Xia De could guess that the diviner was waiting to see if he was truly willing to offer his own blood for the Green siblings.

But of course, he would not do that. Cutting his own hand was a small matter, but rashly handing over blood to an enemy was the most foolish behavior possible.

"Liquid containing vast amounts of spirit, is it?"

He reached into his pocket and took out the pink perfume bottle.

Glancing at the glowing liquid emitting an ambiguous pink color in the fog, Xia De pulled out the stopper and slowly poured the liquid onto the roots at the bottom of the cross.

Because adventures in the Green Lake area did not require frequent use of high-consumption miraculous arts like "Earth Power: Healing Aura," Xia De had actually not consumed much of the liquid in the perfume bottle over the past two months. The fact that the pink liquid in the perfume bottle could now even glow was the best evidence of this.

This item was the best recovery potion Xia De had prepared for his final adventure in the Green Lake area, and he had originally thought he might drink it all only at the very end. But unfortunately, this perfume would not last until the end.

The pink perfume touched the air and turned into a pink stream of light in the rainy night, continuously flowing downward. The tree roots, which had originally only been trembling slightly, immediately began to move like real animals after coming into contact with the liquid.

An earthquake occurred again, but the slightly shaking ground still failed to elicit any reaction from the townspeople in the houses or those kneeling at the intersection.

The coiled tree roots tore at each other, trying to get more contact with the essence. The force with which the roots sucked up the liquid became greater, and the roots wrapped around the Green siblings therefore retreated bit by bit.

It seemed that the essence's ability to stimulate desire was also useful for these tree roots, which absolutely had no souls. They tangled and tore at each other, becoming increasingly disgusting, like a group of mating snakes.

The greedy tree roots finally absorbed all the liquid in the small perfume bottle, not leaving Xia De a single drop. When, for the first time in two months, no perfume could be seen in the small bottle, the coiled and tangled tree roots continued to squirm and retreated back into the ground together.

The Green siblings fell from the cross. Xia De reached out to catch them, but saw thick fog surge in, and they, like the Edwards brothers, disappeared into thin air from where they were.

The cross collapsed, and blood-red trees drilled out from the ground just as they had in the cemetery. In the blink of an eye, a lush, blood-colored tree stood in the center of the intersection. This once again confirmed to Xia De that the diviner wanted to use his hands to complete the final part of the ritual.

Looking around again, although those townspeople wearing black rain capes were still there, the avatar of the diviner composed of root systems had also disappeared without a trace at some point.

Just as before in the cemetery, Xia De once again perceived that power which could not be observed by any senses. And as he reached out to touch the trunk of the blood-colored tree again, "She" in his ear gave a prompt once more:

【Outsider, you have sensed miracles, blasphemy, enlightenment, and whispers.】

【Outsider, you have come into contact with the "Edwards Ascension Technique," and you have extracted the power symbolizing "pious soul."】

【Your field of vision on the island has further expanded; the suppression you receive from the island's power has weakened; the probability of being attacked by the island's creatures has decreased.】

Xia De frowned slightly, looked left and right, and used the sword in his hand to pick up a small root tentacle squirming on the ground. Then he took out a return charm again, folded it, and disappeared into the fog.

Opening his eyes, the light of the bonfire illuminated the first-floor lobby of the Green Lake Hotel. Seeing Xia De return again, and looking not disheveled this time, Dorothy and Princess Lei Qianya, who were waiting for him by the bonfire, immediately walked over.

"I'm fine."

Xia De said. This time he had been gone for more than ten minutes, and the number of girls who could move on the first floor of the hotel had increased. However, a small number of people were resting after the battle; it seemed that during Xia De's absence, the girls in the hotel had experienced another battle.

"There was an abnormal earthquake just now, and the hotel's ritual failed for half a minute."

Difa walked over and said, while Miss Hailey Aurora dried Xia De's clothes again.

A larger empty glass test tube was brought over for Xia De to put the root segment that was still trembling slightly into it. However, before he could explain the reason for his return this time, he was told a piece of good news by Difa:

"A few minutes ago, Miss Aurora contacted us through the Society, and she has already rendezvoused with Grandma Cassandra and Miss Beiya on the shore."

She handed Xia De a small box that had been placed on the table by the bonfire, inside which was a gray stone. The stone was irregular in shape, but three of its larger faces were exceptionally smooth.

"Currently, we still cannot enter the Society from here, but through this, we can establish contact with the Great Witch on the shore one more time. Miss Aurora asked us to leave this for you."

"How do I use this?"

Since they had specially sent this over, there must have been new progress.

"Hold this in one hand, hold any piece of witch jewelry in the other, and then praise that First Witch."

Difa said, so Xia De took out Megan's earrings as well. After the girls around them temporarily retreated to the side, he clasped his hands tightly and said softly:

"Praise the Chaos Witch, may the glory of the witch last forever."

The earring in his right hand glowed slightly, while the stone in his left hand turned directly into stone powder. That stone powder drifted out from between Xia De's fingers, and then, in front of him, formed the exceptionally blurry figure of Miss Aurora:

"Xia De! It's really great to see you're okay~"

Her figure flickered constantly like the "Mirror-Hiding Person" from just now, and her voice was quite unclear. Miss Aurora herself knew that this connection was not stable, so she didn't give Xia De a chance to speak. She reached forward as if wanting to grab Xia De's hand, but their hands passed through each other. The witch shook her head regretfully and explained the things she wanted to tell Xia De at a rapid pace:

"First, the Speaker in the Society has made a special alchemical item. We will contact you again in twenty minutes, and we will find a way to get that item into your hands; second, the divinations of the Diviner Society have made major progress. Remember to go investigate the waters outside the island; there is a major clue on a ship stranded on the reef; third, currently, no one can enter the island you are on within an hour, but the Church has already thought of other ways, projection, the Church intends to project..."

Her figure became misaligned and distorted, and then the figure composed of dust disappeared completely.

"Projection?"

Xia De had heard of this plan from the note given by Sister Daifulin when he returned last time. Miss Decke, who was on the side, said:

"Yes, since it is impossible to use spatial transfer to make one's physical body appear on the island, then one can make one's illusory figure appear here."

"But how can this be done?"

Princess Lei Qianya asked. Difa, who was good at sealing and summoning, had an idea:

"Although the Church and the Academy cannot come here, they should still be able to enter the island in reality."

Now even the writer understood:

"Holding a ritual at the same location, if it can succeed, it is indeed possible to project a part of oneself onto the island where we are. But this requires coordination on our side, and the projection is probably not stable either."

Just now, Miss Aurora only wanted to talk to Xia De, and her voice and figure were already very unstable.

"But it is also a way."

Xia De said, handing the test tube containing the tree roots to Difa:

"There are several huge tree roots under this island, and this is a part of them. If the witches can contact here again in a while, find a way to send this outside the island and try to see if it can be analyzed to find out what this is."

The maid took the test tube and asked worriedly:

"The reason you came back this time is..."

So Xia De described what he had just seen and heard. Regarding why the diviner wanted to build and maintain that town that had already entered the steam age, Dorothy gave Xia De a new idea:

"Xia De, according to what you said, the ultimate goal of that diviner is to imitate the Thirteen Chosen Ritual of the 'Whispering Poetry.' Since the thirteen keys correspond to the Chosen, then does that town represent civilization?"

She was worthy of being a writer; her train of thought was quite active:

"The ritual is imitating an epic involving the Sixth Era. An epic cannot only have heroes; it must also have a background. Moreover, for the ring-warlock system, the elements of miracles, blasphemy, and whispers can be symbolized by searching for divine items and powerful relics respectively, but only 'enlightenment' requires the power of civilization. This kind of ritual is the most complex ritual I have ever come into contact with. Perhaps, the town really represents civilization, representing the soil of the family root system you mentioned."