Chapter 550: The Door of Darkness

"It's a pity, the special coins, only the blood money in my hand is left."

Xia De reminded.

"It doesn't matter. I made a great contribution this time. It should be no problem to apply for a relic from the church."

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na said very happily.

Afterward, the three set off for the basement. Xia De first put the relics used this time back behind the hidden wall in the basement. As for the gains of ordinary items, which was the 【Future Person】 card made of unknown metal, after Luweiya's inspection confirmed it was indeed an ordinary item, it was clipped by Xia De into Miss Feilian's notebook to be used as a bookmark.

In the circular space behind the hidden wall, after confirming that this place where the space ancient god 【Primordial Crack】 stood couldn't hold that door, Xia De officially determined the location of the entrance to the 【Dark Dungeon】.

The entrance to the basement was behind the stairs on the first floor, the steps were located in the west of the basement, and the hidden wall was on the opposite east side. At this time, Xia De, holding 【Origin·Darkness】, stood in front of the north wall of the basement. Under the gaze of the cat on his shoulder and the two young ladies beside him, he threw the card into the air.

The newly installed gas lamp was very bright, but under this brightness, the card was not affected by gravity and fell; instead, it drifted toward the wall in front, until the back of the card was completely stuck to the wall.

Xia De reached out his finger and pointed at the card surface, and at the same time said softly:

"Darkness!"

Strange halos radiated from the surface of the card as his fingertips touched the card. At the same time, thin white mist drifted out from the gap where the back of the card and the wall were in contact, climbing along the wall.

Xia De took 【Origin·Darkness】 away from the wall, but the white mist didn't disappear; instead, it became denser and denser, until it completely turned into a white mist door where the wall behind couldn't be seen. A few seconds later, because no one entered, the white mist disappeared, and the wall returned to normal.

"It's fine now. Here is the entrance to the special area 【Dark Dungeon】 left by the ancient god 【Lurking Darkness】."

Xia De patted the wall, which looked normal.

"Unlike the normal entrance, entering this door doesn't require the 【Darkness】 spiritual rune; you only need to stick your hand on the wall and then recite the spell. The spell is like this—"

Xia De coughed:

"May darkness protect me in the shadows."

The white mist door formed again between his palm and the wall.

Leaving Mia outside, the three walked in together. The space behind the white mist door was indeed completely shrouded in white mist.

【Outlander, you have stepped into the "Dark Dungeon."】

"Taking a step here, you can enter the 【Dark Dungeon】. It is a special area with near-infinite area opened up by the Great One, and can even be directly called the 'Shadow Realm.' The interior of the dungeon is similar to a maze, imprisoning the shadows of any creature except gods and gods in saint form."

Xia De recalled the information he obtained from the leaves and waved his hand in the air. The mist wrapped around his hand:

"The correct entry condition is to find the location of the door and possess 【Darkness】. The correct way to use it requires a relic called 'Black Robe Fragment.' But because of the special nature of this door, we don't need it."

Luweiya looked at the surroundings curiously. Yin Yi Yi Lu Na had entered the 【Judge's Court】, and Xia De had experienced many similar places. Only she was coming to the white mist for the first time:

"What's the use of this place?"

"Under normal circumstances, we can only see our own shadows through the dungeon."

As Xia De spoke, the white mist around them dispersed slightly, and three bronze trapdoors appeared on the ground. On the trapdoors, their names were written in the common language of Delarion. This was easy to distinguish.

"Because we entered together, we can see everyone's dungeon, but in reality, we can only open the door that belongs to ourselves."

"Our shadows? In the dungeon behind the door, is it another us?"

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na asked curiously. Only Xia De, who knew the information about the 【Dark Dungeon】 through the Father of the Infinite Tree, could give such detailed knowledge.

Their "other me" was far from as convenient as the voice in Xia De's ear. Even if they entered here, they could only know that this was the 【Dark Dungeon】, and knew nothing else.

"No, no, you can think of it as... mm... this is very difficult to describe. It's probably like us in a mirror. Completely consistent, but not real."

Xia De explained. Yin Yi Yi Lu Na still didn't understand, but Luweiya revealed an expression of understanding:

"Us recorded by darkness."

"That's about what it means. Going deep into the dungeon to face yourself, even talking or fighting with yourself, can help people who enter here see themselves better, which is helpful for learning some sorcery that requires inner strength. But most importantly, even for a Ringed Shushi who has lost control, as long as they haven't completely lost their reason, seeing themselves in the dungeon can gradually improve them from the process of losing control."

"Reversing losing control that can be used multiple times? This is truly interesting."

Luweiya evaluated.

Actually, this was no longer just interesting. Among the three spaces Xia De could fully use at present, namely the Corridor of Time, the Maze of Space, and the Dark Dungeon, the Dark Dungeon, which reverses the state of losing control, could be ranked second.

"Of course, this is just seeing yourself. By mastering someone's hair, blood, part of their soul, and real name, you can also open someone's dungeon. Talking to him to obtain information, or defeating him to obtain his part of memories, even sorcery and spells, are all possible. But if you do this, you will also inherit the other party's negative emotions. This influence is very great, and generally speaking, for the sake of power, it is not worth doing so."

"Listening to this, the dungeon left by the ancient god is like a specimen room in the darkness, recording the specimens of all living things that have appeared."

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na gave an inappropriate example, but frowned suspiciously again:

"However, how come I seem to have heard of a similar place."

"What?"

Xia De and Luweiya both looked at her. Yin Yi Yi Lu Na smiled embarrassedly:

"When I was training in the church, I heard old priests talking about the 【Dawn Church】, which is the 【Church of Light and Darkness】. I seem to have heard such a statement: the 【Dawn Church】 masters the way to make a Ringed Shushi who has lost control normal, but the conditions are very harsh. If there is no specific spiritual rune, a complex ritual is needed."

"The Dawn Church also masters the way to enter the 【Dark Dungeon】!"

Luweiya understood immediately:

"Xia De said that the 【Blood Spirit School】 has almost found the 【Creation Maternity Ward】, so the spaces left by the thirteen ancient gods don't necessarily have to be discovered with the appearance of the Chosen Ones. Those Ringed Shushi organizations with ancient traditions might have already mastered some of them... Speaking of which, the Diviner's Association seems to have a strange statement."

Luweiya frowned slightly, not knowing what she thought of. And Xia De thought of more. He confirmed some time ago that most of the power of the Old Gods came from the departed Ancient Gods. Then, the power of the Orthodox Gods might also come from the Ancient Gods. Therefore, 【Mr. Dawn】, which is the 【God of Light and Darkness】, very likely inherited the power of the Ancient God 【Lurking Darkness】, so the church could enter the 【Dark Dungeon】.

Thinking about it this way, the divine positions of the Five Orthodox Gods seem to be able to correspond to the main divine positions of the Ancient Gods.

"Regarding this place, that's about it. We don't have anyone we want to see now. Why don't we see ourselves? Maybe there will be gains. The time here is synchronized with the outside, and there is a door to leave in the depths of the dungeon."

Xia De said to the two young ladies, and then took the lead to squat down, wanting to open the door with his name engraved on it.

But he didn't expect that as soon as his hand grasped the handle, the door actually collapsed into gray dust in the white mist.

He looked dumbfounded at the metal door handle left in his hand, and then the door handle also dissipated into dust bit by bit, dissipating in the white mist.

"How come I don't feel surprised at all when any accident happens to you?"

Luweiya said with a smile, squatting down to open her own door. Under the trapdoor were deep stairs. Although the white mist drifted down, it wasn't as dense as the ground, so she could see some murals carved on both sides of the wall. It seemed to be a woman holding a baby.

Yin Yi Yi Lu Na also opened her door, and below were also deep stairs. The mural adjacent to the door was also a woman holding a baby.

"Look, we are all normal."

The seventeen-year-old young lady said.

"Mm... ladies, who is willing to give me some hair and blood? I also want to go down and see."

He looked at Luweiya, who smiled:

"Xia De, don't even think about it."

He looked at Yin Yi Yi Lu Na again, who shook her head slightly:

"This won't do, Xia De. Young ladies always have their own secrets."

They both walked into their own dark stairs, and the trapdoors closed behind them. Xia De couldn't get close to those two trapdoors and could only watch them melt into this mist.

"Really, how could my door crumble?"

He was very dissatisfied.

【It probably has something to do with you using divinity.】

Her voice said in a low voice.

"It's indeed possible."

Xia De looked at the white mist in front of him:

"Compared to the white mist left by time, space, balance, and witches, the role here is equally interesting. The self in the darkness, the specimen room of mortals, the dungeon... I think you should have some extra information there, right?"

【Outlander, when you touched the door handle, you obtained extra information.】

【Sacrifice one drop of divinity to obtain the opportunity to go deep into the dungeon once a month.】

【Sacrifice a powerful soul contaminated with darkness to obtain the opportunity to go deep into the dungeon once.】

Xia De didn't know what a "powerful soul" was, but soul trading was strictly prohibited. Whether it was in the black market, the Academy, or any other channel, once soul-related trading was discovered, the church had unlimited law enforcement and killing power.

Moreover, in the Ringed Shushi system of the Sixth Era, sorcery and spells that simply use souls are already quite rare, which belongs to things you can't buy even if you want to.

"However, what is the opportunity to go deep into the dungeon?"

【The Dark Dungeon is composed of a vast space; under normal circumstances, one only enters the shallow layers of the dungeon. The deep layers of the dungeon hold some terrifying things. Those demons of the Third Era, the even more ancient evil spirits, monsters that exist only in the subspace, and the shadows of unknowable-level humanoid relics are all in the deeper layers. Besides this, the deeper layers of the dungeon also bury secrets of ancient eras. After each sacrifice, you have three hours to conduct exploration. Knowledge, power, relics, wealth—as long as you come out alive, you will surely have gains.】

"Dungeon exploration? Ancient evil spirits? That sounds very dangerous."

Xia De said, looked left and right, then took a step back, walked out of the wall, and returned to his basement:

"Sacrificing someone else's soul, this kind of thing, no matter how I listen to it, it's not something I can do... unless I really encounter a bad person."

He picked up the cat that was sniffing around on the ground:

"I don't know if the 【Dawn Church】 would do this... oh, the church at most only knows about sacrificing divinity and won't get information about sacrificing dark souls. However, divinity can actually make people explore the 【Dark Dungeon】 once a month... If a lucky person really opens the 【Dark Dungeon】 once a month by accident, that would probably be very interesting.

Right, Mia?"

She was laughing softly for some reason again.

Holding the lazy, squirming cat, he walked out of the basement. But when he stood on the steps, Xia De suddenly turned to look at the basement wall again:

"According to this trend, St. Deran Square?"

No one answered his question.

"However, fortunately, my house is big enough. Even if there are really thirteen—cough, cough—twelve doors, it is completely enough to accommodate them."

Thinking in his heart, Xia De left the basement and prepared to close the window. It seemed to be raining outside. But when closing the window, he was very careful not to stand by the window, for fear of being struck by lightning. ===== CHAPTER 551 =====