Chapter 702: Leisure

For the rest of the week, Xia De had nothing to do in Midhillburg, so he spent all of Friday and Saturday morning on the preparation work for the sealing ritual.

Sister Delyth gave the entire process of the ritual. The materials were purchased by Xia De in Coldwater Harbor, and the alchemical items were sought from Old John. As for holding the ritual, it would be assisted by Dorothy, Luweiya, and Dr. Schneider, but the ritual would probably have to wait until next week.

Taking advantage of the time, Xia De, in addition to reading the Book of Pink at home and trying to learn useful spells, also took Mia to the lighthouse outside Coldwater Harbor to visit Mr. Edmond, who lived there and belonged to the 【Light-Guiding Hermit Society】.

Xia De had been here once a few days ago to ask this gentleman to help search for knowledge about the Old God 【Gray-Robed Sage】. Knowledge of the Hermit Society cost money, but out of friendship, Mr. Edmond only symbolically charged Xia De for the cost and transportation, totaling 1 pound.

This formed a sharp contrast with Old John, who also belonged to the 【Light-Guiding Hermit Society】.

"Yes, we also know that the third Chosen One is in Midhillburg."

The sea breeze blew on the sea cliff, and Mia narrowed her eyes, looking at the sea surface. During the casual chat, Xia De mentioned Midhillburg. Because he had asked Mr. Edmond about the knowledge of the life-death Interstice before, the old man who lived there knew that Xia De was messing around in Midhillburg.

Mr. Edmond liked fishing very much. Xia De even thought that he didn't move into the city but lived here all the time, besides being the local black market, also because fishing here was really convenient.

"The Hermit Society has already sent people there, but we are not a church or an academy, and we have no ability or intention to let the Chosen One join us. So, the Hermit Society just wants to know who will obtain this qualification."

The old man stood up from beside the campfire and divided the fish soup sprinkled with special seasoning to Xia De, who was standing on the sea cliff looking at the distant sea view.

Mia the ginger cat at Xia De's feet smelled the fish soup and immediately became restless.

"You should be careful in that city recently; maybe at some point, the whole city will be gone."

The old man also stood beside Xia De holding a bowl and warned. The sound of the waves made their conversation have to be louder.

"I trust the Five Gods Church very much. Since they could stop the 【Scarlet Cult】 from flooding Coldwater Harbor, they can also stop Midhillburg from returning to death."

"This is different. The former was just mortals making trouble; the latter is a natural phenomenon. The world is collapsing, and abnormal natural phenomena will become more and more frequent and dense."

He started to talk about the Hermit Society's views on doomsday theory again. Although Xia De didn't quite believe it, he still chatted a few more words:

"Perhaps the Interstice itself is a natural phenomenon to balance life and death."

"You actually think so?"

The old man asked in surprise, and then asked:

"Although the change of eras has led to the loss of a lot of data, it can be determined that there were five main continents in the material world of the Fifth Era. In our era, not counting that weird new continent, there is only one main continent, the Old Continent, in the current material world, which corresponds to the Middle Continent recorded in the Fifth Era. May I ask, young man, where do you think the other four continents went?"

Xia De looked at the distant sea surface. In late autumn, ships were coming and going in Coldwater Harbor; this was the most important seaport on the West Coast:

"... Merged with the current Old Continent?"

"No, no, no. The Old Continent under our feet is almost identical to the Middle Continent of the Fifth Era, and both history and natural environment can correspond. The three major academies will not open such data to correspondence Ringed Shushi, and even in the Five Gods Church, such data is completely banned. The fact is that the other four continents have likely collapsed. This is also evidence that the world is heading toward decay."

But Xia De thought that it might also be that the wars at the end of the era shattered the continental shelf, or terrible relics tore the land apart. However, he didn't want to debate on such a question without an answer, so he changed the topic:

"Speaking of which, Mr. Edmond, do you know about 【Primordial Fire】? I encountered fire worship in Midhillburg recently and saw this when I was looking up information in books."

This was the fire mastered by Sister Delyth. To keep the secret, Xia De had not inquired about the information of this kind of relic from any acquaintances around him. And Mr. Edmond had no intersection with the nun in Midhillburg and didn't know that Xia De knew the nun, so Xia De threw out this question.

"Of course I know."

Looking at the sea view, the old man nodded slightly:

"That flame symbolizes the power of the world, the Primordial Fire. Legend has it that before the beginning of the First Era, the thirteen ancient gods held this flame and illuminated the endless void."

This sentence raised the status of 【Primordial Fire】 a bit more.

"It was already a relic in a very ancient era, and its rating is Unknowable-level..."

But the nun said it was Angel-level.

"The Hermit Society has been looking for it for many years, many, many years, because the prosperity and scale of this flame can allow us to infer how far away the end of the world is."

He seemed to be able to link anything to doomsday theory.

Xia De recalled the flame he saw. That flame was very vigorous and showed no signs of going out. Sister Delyth was looking after it very well.

"Is that flame very powerful?"

He asked curiously, took a sip of fish soup, and the taste was very delicious.

"Very powerful? Oh, young man, you have no idea what that represents."

Mr. Edmond laughed:

"Only a few people are qualified to look at the Primordial Fire, and even fewer are qualified to look after that flame. Looking after it is an ancient honor in itself. Although the Ringed Shushi of this era have almost forgotten the history of the past, the Primordial Fire still has an extraordinary status. It is said that it was divided into several parts, but the Hermit Society believes that in this era, there are still guardians passing it down from generation to generation."

Perhaps the Primordial Fire being divided into several parts was the reason why it changed from Unknowable-level to Angel-level.

Mr. Edmond thought for a moment:

"The churches of the thirteen ancient gods, the modern branches of Death, Sun, and Light, all have the possibility of mastering it, but no one knows exactly where it is. Oh, those crazy women in the Witch Council may also master the Primordial Fire, and it may even be in the council."

"Sounds like a truly extraordinary flame."

Xia De nodded, finished the fish soup, and said goodbye to the old man. Today was Saturday, and he still had to go to the doctor's place for a meeting in the afternoon.

Mr. Edmond tidied up the soup bowls and the campfire, preparing to go into the city to pick up goods at the pier in a while. As a Ringed Shushi of the 【Light-Guiding Hermit Society】 stationed locally, he had the task of purchasing materials.

Just when extinguishing the fire, the old man thought of the records of the predecessors he saw when he was young:

"At the end of the Fourth Era, the predecessors of the Hermit Society saw that flame that had not yet split for the last time. The scale of the Primordial Fire was... There have been so many strange things since this summer; perhaps that flame is also about to appear."

(Little Mia is running...)

It is now the middle of the Withered Leaf Moon. Although not much time has passed since the summer exam week, for correspondence Ringed Shushi who are far away from the academy, it is also time to consider the winter exam at the end of the year.

In particular, Dorothy, Luweiya, Xia De, and Dr. Schneider all planned to enter the next grade through the winter exam week.

Apparently, no one had mentioned the winter exam for a while, but once others took action, the Ringed Shushi in the same group all felt nervous. The four people borrowed some books from the academy library this week. Dorothy, because her royalties were abundant, even planned to use the winter time to take a course called "Alien Fairy Tales (Intermediate Class)."

This course would tell famous fairy tales among alien races, and the course requirement was that correspondence Ringed Shushi needed to pass the academy's mental stability test. According to Dorothy, the stories involved in this course themselves were terrifying powers sufficient to act as incantations.

Xia De's energy had been focused on Midhillburg for the past few weeks, so he had no experience to share. Luweiya was busy stargazing at night, waiting for the arrival of the Star Sea Whale. Dorothy's new book's first edition was about to be printed and published, and she was busy with the final proofreading with the editorial department these days.

Only Dr. Schneider had plenty of free time to "adventure" in this city recently. This time, he also shared his story.

It was not a novel story. Everything started two weeks ago when the doctor received a sixteen-year-old boy with suicidal tendencies. And in the conversation that lasted for an hour every day for a week, the doctor gradually discovered that he seemed to suffer from split personality.

But after another week of in-depth treatment, the doctor gradually discovered that something was wrong. Because he dreamed of the terrifying monster described by the boy in his dream and was chased.

Thus, the doctor, who was good at dream power, killed the monster in the dream and took advantage of the deep night to sneak into his patient's home, thoroughly searching the house. Then he made the patient fall into a deep sleep with potions, took him to the cemetery in the suburbs to hold a ritual, and finally communicated with the evil spirit attached to the boy's body, and fought a fierce battle with it in the cemetery.

"That was really not easy."

Sitting on the sofa and talking about this, the doctor felt a bit emotional:

"That evil spirit was actually the patient's twin brother. But when they were born, one was a live fetus and one was a dead fetus. The souls were entangled together. Sixteen years of resentment, coupled with the influence of Whispering Elements they didn't know where they came into contact with, created a terrifying undead."

"Doctor, the theft at the Wilde family mentioned in Thursday's news, it wouldn't be done by you, right?"

The blonde writer lady suddenly asked with a smile:

"I heard that the police at the Ridgeway Field treated this matter as a major loophole in the autumn capital's security management."

"That was also a last resort."

The doctor explained, his voice a little lower.

"Then on Thursday night, the public cemetery outside the city was destroyed, and that was also done by you? The church transferred this matter to the society, asking the society to investigate whether this matter involved Ringed Shushi, but the divination yielded nothing, and it is currently transferred back to Ridgeway Field as an ordinary case."

Luweiya also asked with a smile.

"That was also a last resort."

The doctor emphasized again and tried to avoid further questioning by shifting the topic to Xia De.

Bill Schneider was only a Middle-Ring, but to ordinary people, he was already a powerhouse that could almost not be stopped. Even in the steam age, the civilization created by ordinary people's hands covered the light of extraordinary people under the dust of history. But the world was still very dangerous for ordinary people who did not come into contact with mystery. Not all Ringed Shushi were as kind as Dr. Schneider... even if there was a demon living in his heart.