Chapter 2347: The Ancient Witch's Seal

Xia De actually felt that his set of "Lion Armor of Light" should also be able to help Miss Knight resist the influence of the abnormal power. Unfortunately, the armor was sized as if it had been custom-made for him, and as Miss Knight was an ordinary woman, the difference in height and weight between her and Xia De was too great; once worn, it would severely hinder her movement, so he did not say much more.

The "Five-Person Ritual" left behind by the ancient witch was invented specifically for penetrating deep into the worm's body. The ritual content was quite simple, and although the various rare materials the group had obtained from the desert were not enough to fully match the requirements, the Philosopher's Stone discovered last time in the coffin that sealed the demon could play a major role.

The 【Philosopher's Stone】 was a universal substitute material for rituals, and even though some of the Philosopher's Stone had been consumed for the ritual, the remaining amount was still quite large.

"I never thought I would use the 'Philosopher's Stone' so wastefully. No, I never thought I would ever use the 'Philosopher's Stone' one day."

Miss Sander whispered while making the final preparations.

Once everything was ready and they had each drunk their respective potions, Xia De raised a torch, Miss Sander held up a bright blue water sphere, Granny Xinnuode let vines attach to her relic cane, and Miss Mester burned a handful of sand with flames, letting the remaining crystals float beside her.

As for Miss Knight, Xia De and Granny Xinnuode had originally wanted to enchant her knight sword, but after Miss Mester inspected it, she believed that the fragile sword could not withstand the power.

Although forging a temporary sword was possible, it would be an extreme waste of time, and Xia De later discovered that the petrified longsword used by the ancient hero's soul to pass on 【Power of the Earth · Blessing All Things】 to him before departing also met the ritual requirements.

Thus, Miss Knight held the petrified longsword, put her helmet back on, and walked with the others deep into the mouth of the giant head that was wide open.

The inside of the worm was indeed able to isolate the abnormal light from the outside, and because Xia De had actually only opened the seal rather than destroying the ancient witch's seal, under the effect of the seal, the power of spatial movement could not be used inside the worm.

The torch in his hand provided light for the group and also allowed everyone to see clearly that there was no longer any flesh and blood structure inside the worm; it was completely like a stone cave. It was just that there were some sticky black substance residues on the ground, and since no one could recognize what this was, no one dared to touch it.

The further they walked toward the interior of the worm's corpse, the more they could feel the surrounding side walls becoming smooth, even somewhat like tunnels dug by human hands. The five-pointed star ritual, composed of the red of the flame, the blue of the water sphere, the yellow of the sand crystals, the green of the vines, and the metallic color revealed after the longsword was enchanted, resisted the heavy feeling as if their bodies were about to turn into sand.

But even with the help of the ritual, the power of the worm's corpse still manifested its existence. While there was no manifestation on Xia De, Granny Xinnuode, and Miss Mester, every time Miss Sander and Miss Knight took a step, sand and gravel would rustle down from their bodies.

The invisible mental pressure even made Xia De feel dizzy, but since even Miss Knight could continue to walk forward, he certainly wouldn't say he needed to rest.

Fortunately, the ancient witch's seal was truly secure; even though the entrance had been opened, the power inside the worm could not immediately become restless. When the silent group saw light appear ahead, everyone except Miss Mester became excited:

"Found it!"

The gravity inside the worm was also affected by the abnormal power; the further inward they went, the greater the gravity became. Because they had to take care of Miss Knight, even though they had seen the destination, the walking speed of the group remained unchanged after the excitement.

Xia De's physical strength was perfectly fine to withstand this immense gravity, but apart from him, the speed of the other four was slowing down. Of course, Miss Mester was definitely faking it, Granny Xinnuode was not in her prime due to aging, and as for the mermaid girl, she performed about the same as Granny Xinnuode, or even slightly better, which might be related to the immense water pressure of the deep-sea environment she lived in.

But regardless, taking one step at a time, they eventually succeeded in reaching the glowing location. According to Xia De's estimation, this location was not the tail of the worm, but a position slightly toward the back of the middle.

And when they saw the scene at the light source clearly, everyone noticed that last piece of the compass at the first moment.

The glowing light source presented a huge spherical shape as a whole, but in reality, the light came from three circular rings that were concentric, tilted 60 degrees to each other, and rotating in an interlaced manner. Each ring was inlaid with thirteen different items, and the last compass fragment needed to find the "Heart of the Oasis" was prominently inlaid on one of the rings.

In the very center of these three hollow rings, which was the center of the golden light, a long snake-like monster with its body curled up was imprisoned. That thing was clearly alive, its pitch-black body almost identical to the giant worm, and the head of this snake-sized worm was also prominently in the shape of a human.

It looked very weak; even though it noticed the arrival of the group, it only trembled a few times.

Even Miss Knight, who knew the least about mysticism, could see that this was the core of the seal. And it was clear that what was imprisoned by the three rotating and interlaced golden rings should be the remaining power of this giant worm's corpse.

"If we take away the compass fragment, won't it destroy this seal?"

Miss Sander asked with concern, and Granny Xinnuode hesitated for a moment:

"From the current situation, the power of this worm is already much weaker than when it was sealed by the ancient witch. It is also possible that taking away the compass fragment will not cause too much impact... Of course, this is just a guess."

Saying this, she looked at Xia De, and Xia De asked the lady with light brown skin:

"Miss Mester, what do you think?"

He had originally thought this lady would say something like "I don't know either," but unexpectedly, she actually stepped forward to carefully observe the situation of the seal and then gave a conclusion:

"From the ether flow situation of this set of seals, just taking off the compass fragment will indeed not directly destroy the entire seal; the ancient witch's methods are not that fragile.

But that ancient earth witch should have also left behind a response method for the seal being artificially destroyed: if we try to destroy the seal from the inside, perhaps the seal will be fully reactivated again. By then, once we cannot leave immediately, we will be trapped inside this worm's corpse forever. Of course, if there is a way to weaken the remaining power of this corpse, the speed at which the ancient witch's seal is reactivated will also be slower."

Although Miss Mester's tone implied a guess, Xia De had already taken this as a fact:

"In other words, we can take away the compass, but after taking it, we must leave at a very fast speed."

The other three did not question this "speculation." Although Xia De knew that this deity was perfectly capable of solving this trouble directly, it was clear that she would not take action again.

"My speed is the slowest; if necessary, you don't have to worry about my safety."

Miss Knight said immediately, and Miss Sander beside her opened her mouth, but did not say that there was no need to worry about her own safety.

Granny Xinnuode, however, shook her head:

"Without the protection of the five-person ritual, none of us can walk out; now is not the time to talk about sacrifice."

She did not mention that the "five-person" ritual could be maintained by four people, and judging from the situation when they just came in, at least at a position very close to the "exit," Xia De, Miss Mester, and Granny Xinnuode could all pass safely on their own.

"Let's not rush to prepare to escape; I'll try to see if we can weaken the power of this thing."

Xia De said with a frown, came to the ball of light, and tried to reach his hand into it.

After his hands touched the light produced by the three golden rings, he had thought he would be repelled by power immediately, but in reality, he only paused for a moment before his right hand successfully entered it.

【Outsider, the number of "Witch Echoes" you possess meets the standard; the ancient earth witch's sealing ritual defaults you as a witch with a seat in the council.】

"She" by his ear explained the information obtained from that power in a low voice, and Xia De did not care, continuing to reach his hand inward.

The miniature worm, which had only been trembling, suddenly lunged and bit at Xia De's finger when his hand was about to reach the core of the seal.

It was just that under the suppression of the seal, its movements were truly too slow. Xia De dodged the worm very nimbly and even touched it before retracting his hand.

Granny Xinnuode, who had also come to the front of the seal, immediately saw that the surface of Xia De's entire right index finger was covered with a layer of sand. But before more transformation could occur, the "pollution" faded away on its own, allowing Xia De's finger to return to normal:

"My petrification resistance is very high."

He explained, then informed his companions of the results obtained from the investigation just now:

"It's very troublesome; the worm inside here is not a physical entity at all; it is a concrete image representing the concept of 'worm corpse power' under the ancient witch's sealing technique. This thing is extremely polluting; we have no possibility of destroying it."

Others of course also knew it was impossible; except for Miss Mester, the other four people combined were probably not a match for that ancient earth witch. Trouble that even the ancient witch could not thoroughly solve, they certainly could not either.

"We cannot hesitate here for too long; how about this, I will try to find a way to weaken it. Regardless of whether it succeeds, we will take away that compass fragment and then escape immediately. Whether it succeeds in the end depends on the arrangement of fate. Of course, if you have other methods, you can also propose them now." ===== CHAPTER 2348 =====