Chapter 2283: Power of the Earth · Blessing All Things

In an ancient age lost to time, people struggling to survive in the darkness found their final settlement in a vast desert. But before long, monsters chasing the souls of the living followed in their wake.

It did not slaughter the people here directly; instead, it kept them in captivity, demanding that the people of the settlement offer up flesh and soul at regular intervals, provided the population could still grow.

This situation persisted for a long time, until a knight arrived from afar and rallied the last of the settlement's resistance forces to charge at that "devil."

This battle lasted for a long time. When the old men and children of the settlement finally mustered the courage to approach the battlefield, they saw only a land filled with corpses, a heavily wounded devil, and a knight on the verge of death.

Xia De pressed one hand against the coffin lid and read the final ending of the story:

"The knight said he was a believer of the ancient Earth Deity. After the Earth Mother Goddess departed, he still followed the traditions of the old days, traversing the earth on his own two feet.

With only his final breath remaining, he resolved to use the 'Power of the Earth · Blessing All Things,' the most core divine art of the 【Mother Goddess Church】—also the lost Earth Sect—to permanently alter the topography and nature of this land at the cost of turning his own soul and flesh into a stone statue, thereby sealing the devil."

Miss Nite listened intently:

"This is a true knight."

Xia De nodded:

"And so, supported by the people, the knight stood up and turned into a stone statue in a gesture of waving farewell. The people followed his final wish, building a church to store the sealed devil and the knight's personal belongings. And the knight's statue has stood before the church door ever since."

The female knight immediately looked toward the door in astonishment:

"Mr. Hamilton, are you saying that the statue outside is..."

"Yes, it is the flesh and soul of that nameless knight."

"He is not dead."

Miss Mester, standing beneath the high platform where the sarcophagus was placed, suddenly said:

"The definition of death is the soul returning to its final destination, but his soul has not departed; it is still here, watching over all of this."

"Truly an admirable knight."

Miss Nite said once more, bowing toward the door.

Xia De looked hesitantly at the sarcophagus, his brow furrowed:

"But if what is written here is correct, then the devil sealed by the divine art back then, as well as the thing we are looking for, are both inside the sarcophagus now.

I investigated that the 'Heart of the Oasis' is the materialized blessing of the Ancient God—the Earth Mother Goddess. It is normal for this knight to have a fragment of the compass used to find the blessing."

The lightly dressed, brown-skinned lady naturally understood what Xia De was hesitating about. With her left arm crossed over her chest, her right hand, painted with red nail polish, pointed forward:

"You are worried that once you open the sarcophagus, you will let loose the thing that was sealed."

"Yes."

Xia De nodded gently:

"Although the statue is still there and the power of the seal remains, I cannot be sure what the situation is inside the sarcophagus now. I am not even sure what the described 'devil' actually is. In this language, the word 'devil' is used to describe an evil existence, not a specific species."

Fortunately, less than half of the forty minutes remained, and this "church mausoleum" was quite cool, so he had time to continue considering.

"Make your own decision. Miss Nite and I are only here to lead the way for you."

Miss Mester sat down on the front-row chair to rest on her own, while Xia De instructed Miss Nite to join him in checking this mausoleum once more.

Although the knight's "corpse" was outside, it did not prevent this church from being decorated to the standards of a mausoleum, so naturally, there were some "funerary items." Perhaps due to the influence of this desert, most of the mundane objects that should have long since turned to dust were merely decayed or worn, while most of the items with supernatural power, though Xia De could not identify their uses, were still functional.

Seen this way, in the lost era when the story took place, the prevalence of supernatural power was far higher than in the Sixth Era. These funerary items would all be treasures in later ages. This also matched Xia De's speculation about the First to Sixth Eras; after the First Era, which spanned millions and tens of millions of years, ended, the world had indeed begun to collapse.

Of course, their most important discovery was not the funerary items, but new text Xia De found on the side of the stone platform beneath the sarcophagus.

Those words were not meant to be hidden; they were simply in a low position, and the indoor light was dim. Xia De only discovered them while maneuvering his ball of light around.

"This is..."

"Is it a new story? About the story of that ancient knight after his death?"

The gray-haired female knight asked. Xia De shook his head:

"No. It says at the beginning that before the knight turned into a stone statue, he dictated the method for using the Ancient God's divine art, 'Power of the Earth · Blessing All Things,' so the ancients carved these contents here as well. They knew that no power could reach eternity, so they hoped later generations could reseal this place."

He carefully read the contents recorded above again:

"I also understand the divine arts of the Earth Power series, but the divine art here is completely different from the ones I have mastered. It does not even need to be learned deliberately; it looks entirely like a ritual of sacrifice or offering—

First, and most importantly, one must inherit this power from another master of 'Power of the Earth · Blessing All Things,' or at least have a stone statue left behind by a predecessor; either will do.

Subsequently, one must stand upon the earth, chant the incantation, and hold high-level alchemical materials used to shape life, such as Philosopher's Stone, Blood of Mercury, or Blood Essence of All Things.

Finally, provided one believes in any one of the thirteen Ancient Gods, any naturally growing intelligent life can, at the cost of turning their flesh and soul into a statue, borrow the power of the earth to realize a certain 'miracle' that does not harm the earth itself. Generally speaking, the stronger one's own soul, the more powerful the miracle that can be realized."

He pursed his lips and read these contents again:

"According to the knight's final words, this was a power mastered by everyone in the Earth Sect when the Earth Mother Goddess had not yet departed. When believers in the sect were about to die, they would use this method to let themselves nourish the earth. Of course, at that time, their petrified souls would be guided away by angels, rather than remaining behind."

Miss Nite then asked very seriously:

"Then would this work? Mr. Hamilton, tell me the incantation. After opening the sarcophagus, if that terrifying thing is truly released, I will recreate this ritual to reseal that demon.

I know I am certainly not stronger than that ancient hero, but I believe that as long as my sacrifice can hold it back for even two seconds, you will be able to take the compass. Just please, after you find the 'Heart of the Oasis,' go to my homeland and help Her Majesty the Queen... Like my father, I believe in the God of Justice, that ancient dragon god who symbolizes light, so I meet the conditions you mentioned."

Miss Mester, sitting below, watched with a smile as the two under the strange white light seemed to be acting in a play, while Xia De looked at the female knight with some surprise:

"Even if you say so, while we have the stone statue, we do not have those precious alchemical materials mentioned here."

In reality, he did have a 【Philosopher's Stone】, but that was a relic that could not be brought over. 【Blood of Mercury】 was a precious relic that the illegal ring-warlock group the Outsider first encountered had failed to find even after exhausting two eras of time, and Xia De had never even heard of 【Blood Essence of All Things】.

"Perhaps they are among the knight's relics."

The female knight looked at the sarcophagus:

"Regardless, we cannot not open the sarcophagus. Please tell me the incantation, Mr. Hamilton. This is one of the few things I can do."

Xia De straightened his back:

"You seem to have a self-destructive tendency?"

"No."

The female knight holding her helmet shook her head seriously:

"I know that compared to you, I am just a useless ordinary person. If I relied only on myself, there would be no possibility of finding the Heart of the Oasis. But if my sacrifice can be exchanged for you to continue moving forward, I believe that after you find that wonder, you will go to help Her Majesty the Queen... You are all good people."

"You got one thing wrong."

Xia De pointed out:

"Although ordinary people are indeed weak, they are not entirely useless. Don't look down on yourself so much. As for that incantation..."

He looked at Miss Mester, who was sitting there with her feet crossed, keeping her bare feet off the ground, looking quite childlike. The latter simply nodded with a smile.

"I can tell you, but I will not help you move the statue outside in, so don't think about self-sacrifice; that is meaningless."

The short incantation was read out by Xia De. Miss Nite memorized it without a word. In fact, Xia De highly doubted whether she could really remember those strange pronunciations.

Subsequently, Xia De handed the cat on his shoulder to Miss Nite, and after letting her step back, he intended to open the sarcophagus. The light-brown-skinned lady remained sitting there without moving, and Xia De did not call for the help of this deity.

The sarcophagus was not locked at all, and there were no other protective measures. Perhaps the ancients felt that those who came here could not be stopped by locks and mechanisms alone. That ancient knight's 【Power of the Earth · Blessing All Things】 only sealed the devil here; he did not use his power to prevent people from opening the seal. The reason for this was not something the Outsider could know now.

Perhaps it was the long passage of time and this sea of sand that had destroyed the power of the Ancient God's divine art.

In any case, after Xia De was prepared, he pushed open the sarcophagus lid with great effort. The black smoke that rushed out from within dispersed directly into the interior of the entire enclosed building.

The sarcophagus disappeared before Xia De's eyes. He turned around in the darkness to look back, and Miss Mester, Miss Nite, and the cat with its tail on fire also disappeared into the black smoke.

After frowning slightly, he reached his hand to the side, and the magnificent silver moonlight greatsword was grasped in Xia De's hand. Xia De stood ready for danger to appear, but after waiting for a few seconds, he only heard the familiar sound of "Meow~". ===== CHAPTER 2284 =====