Chapter 3996: Miss Bladevi

Lady Gustav warned Xia De very earnestly:

"Although I am not clear on what exactly an 'abnormal life spark' is, do not easily dabble in the power of 'Wither' just to counter this. The latter is likewise not a good thing; only in the Mythical Era, when that world was at its most prosperous, could such a form of life force be permitted to exist."

Miss Bladevi immediately stated:

"I have only heard of 'Wither'; I have never come into contact with such power."

Xia De also said:

"It is already the Fifth Era now; these stories can only be viewed as myths. Rest assured, Lady Gustav, I will be cautious."

But in reality, Xia De was thinking that he could investigate what this so-called "Anti-Life/Wither" power actually was later on. If it were merely dangerous and strange, but not another manifestation of Calamity, Xia De could actually try to learn about it.

Of course, that would be a matter for after returning to the Sixth Era. Although the flesh-and-blood aberrations in the 【Filthy Blood Factory】 were also strange and terrifying, the life force of the flesh here was normal and not a Calamity, so at least here, Xia De did not need to worry about such things.

Although the flesh-and-blood aberration of Gina's tail was somewhat severe, it was not particularly complicated to treat. In fact, with the protection of the blood-colored cloak given by that skeleton tailor last time, the influence they received while traveling through this factory had been greatly reduced.

Because this problem was more severe than the last, Lady Gustav put forward her own conjecture:

"Perhaps every time we open a furnace, the factory itself undergoes changes; the factory will manifest different forms according to the process of new life being born."

This was the most reasonable guess for now, but it also meant that they had to dispose of the next two furnaces as quickly as possible; the more they delayed, the more danger there would be.

"Additionally, there is one more thing you need to know."

Lady Gustav finally said:

"After we completed the previous furnace and set off again, we found some things left behind by predecessors. The one who left items this time was a researcher in the field of flesh and blood, and in all likelihood, they were proficient in human body alchemy. According to the other party's account, staying in this factory for a long time would permanently increase the physical strength of any flesh-and-blood life form. And the flesh required by the Life Furnace—which is the flesh-and-blood organs emitting red light that we see—is the essence of flesh and blood, containing the root mysteries of flesh-and-blood creation."

"These dangerous flesh-and-blood organs, besides being used to ignite the furnace, can also allow us outsiders to deeply experience the mysteries of flesh-and-blood creation."

"How do we do that? Eat them?"

Xia De asked, and then seeing everyone looking at him with astonishment, Xia De explained:

"Just a joke, my lady, please continue."

"The notebook mentioned two methods. One method is to directly use the things found to replace our existing organs. I strongly oppose doing this; the danger of this method is extreme, and the possibility of turning oneself completely into an aberration is almost one hundred percent."

"I have no intention of replacing my own organs with someone else's."

Xia De then said, and the witches clearly thought the same.

"The second method is relatively safer, but only relatively. Placing the found flesh-and-blood organs together, they will spontaneously gather to form a human shape. And in this process, by observing the writhing, merging, and assimilation of the flesh, one can know the mysteries of creation."

"This is somewhat like reading a book on mysticism, only this time the 'book' is made of flesh-and-blood material."

The old witch said, and Xia De asked them:

"That doesn't sound particularly dangerous; have you tried it?"

The three shook their heads together:

"No. Although we don't mind gaining power, we still wanted to hear your opinion. Four furnaces have been ignited, and two have been lit; what we need now is caution, not risk."

"Then let's wait until we find the third furnace before making plans."

Xia De exchanged a few more words with them, and then the group packed their luggage and prepared to set off. The witches did not have much luggage to bring; the most important of which was the small bucket containing various flesh-and-blood organs, which Miss Bladevi still carried.

As for the small metal shield inlaid with the magic eye 【Ghost Face Eye】, the halfling girl also still carried it. While everyone was packing up and dismantling the shelter to recover useful materials, she also carefully fused the 【Active Metal】 into that metal shield.

Seeing Xia De cast a curious gaze, Miss Bladevi explained to him:

"【Active Metal】 is a very special relic. According to the knowledge I inherited from my great-grandfather, this kind of relic has a very good limiting effect on magic eyes, and can even allow magic eyes to exert their characteristics beyond their limits while ensuring the safety of the magic eye."

Xia De certainly had not forgotten his suspicion of this witch, but he chose not to say what he had learned in public:

"The information your great-grandfather found is truly comprehensive. I have also come into contact with some experts who house magic eyes; besides calling themselves believers of the Ancient Gods, they refuse to say any information."

Miss Bladevi's complexion changed immediately; she did not look like someone with much guile.

And Gina, who was packing a small amount of luggage, although she didn't know what Xia De was trying to do, the dragon maid who was very good at reading expressions decided to help Xia De:

"Miss Feilian, the principal of Saint Byrons, takes good care of us dragon maids, and she has also discussed the topic of magic eyes with us."

She recalled:

"Principal Feilian said that because magic eyes have a great similarity to the holy emblem of that ancient God of Creation, any relic of the eye category must be treated well; no one knows how far back that eye can be traced."

Miss Bladevi's complexion changed again, while the elderly Lady Gustav looked at Xia De and Gina, and then at the halfling girl whose expression was somewhat stiff.

Unlike Xia De's guess, this old witch from the church had actually noticed Miss Bladevi's wrongness long ago. But she had only been suspicious before, and she didn't want to cause infighting, so she had never shown it.

Seeing Xia De leave and then return, as if he knew something, Lady Gustav understood that Xia De must have heard specific information. An elderly person always has their own unique life wisdom; she did not continue to mention the magic eye, but said softly:

"I have read some literature; the halfling god, the 'Guardian of Food and Hearth', 【Lord of the Hearth Fire】, seems to have some connection with that ancient God of Creation."

Miss Bladevi's face turned pale; she looked very much like a child who had done something wrong, at a loss after being exposed by an adult.

Xia De had expected her to defend herself, or to pretend to be calm and say nothing. But unexpectedly, the short girl's eyes turned red, her nose twitched, and she knelt down and covered her face and began to cry.

This made Xia De and the other two feel bad, as if they were bullying a child. The kind-hearted pink dragon girl went over to comfort her, while Lady Gustav and Xia De looked at each other, both seeing the helplessness in the other's eyes.

However, Gina was really very good at taking care of children—even if the other party was young in appearance but actually an adult. Under her persuasion, Miss Bladevi finally stopped crying, and then told everyone the truth in a tone like a criminal confessing:

"I'm sorry to everyone, I lied to everyone—the information about magic eyes and machinery was not left to me by my great-grandfather; it was given to me by my sister. My sister wouldn't let me tell others, so I lied to you."

Xia De recalled the self-introduction of this witch when he came last time:

"Your sister is a witch of the 【Lord of the Hearth Fire】 church?"

"Yes. When I said I wanted to be a mechanic when I was a child, my sister gave me those materials. She told me to look at them secretly and not tell anyone the source of that knowledge and power."

She sniffed; she had really cried very hard just now. Halflings are a very pure-hearted race; she probably regarded lying as a very serious matter:

"Later I discovered that part of the knowledge in that material required specific faith to be transformed into power. So my sister told me again that our race's god, the Great 【Lord of the Hearth Fire】, had a great relationship with that ancient 【Twilight Creator】."

"So I gradually mastered that knowledge involving magic eyes and machinery. I didn't want to lie to you; I had to keep my promise to my sister."

Lady Gustav looked at Xia De again, and Xia De nodded:

"After I left, I heard of a group of people who specialize in collecting magic eyes. They are descendants of a branch of the ancient 【Creator Sect】, and they have mastered unique techniques for stimulating magic eyes with machinery; this technique requires the user to be a believer of the Ancient Gods."

"That is why I felt Miss Bladevi was not telling the truth when she introduced herself."

The small-statured witch looked up at Xia De:

"Besides this, I didn't lie... I didn't want to lie to you; I really just wanted to keep my promise to my sister. Back then, we pinky-promised."

Then she began to sob softly again. Although she was a Ninth-Tier witch, this halfling girl mainly worked as a baker and mechanic; her high level was purely due to innate talent. Before this adventure, although she had experienced some dangerous things, she had actually never left the small halfling town where she lived.

All three could see that Miss Bladevi was not lying this time; although she had hidden some things, she had no malice. Thus, the small hidden danger was easily resolved. Although this ensured the unity of the team, Xia De had originally thought he could learn more intelligence about this strange place, but now it seemed that hope had also fallen through. ===== CHAPTER 3997 =====