Half an hour later, Luvia, who had returned to the second floor, finally learned from Xia De about the ancient god statue and all his experiences in Coldwater Port City.
Of course, regarding the young woman who adventured with him, Xia De, to protect Dorothy’s privacy, only said she was a friend he met during his last visit to Coldwater Port.
“Although there might have been other incidents in the past six months that matched the prophecies of the whispering chapters, your inexplicable appearance there makes it clear something is amiss.
Xia De, even without divination, I can almost certainly say that the new fragment of the whispering chapters discovered in the New World refers to the incident you encountered.”
Luvia seemed a little anxious:
“But how could it be? How could you coincidentally run into it?”
“Thinking about these things now is useless; the key is to confirm the other party’s identity.”
Xia De picked up the small bag containing the coins and shook it:
“Actually, I have other things I want you to divine for me, but given the current situation, the matter of the second Chosen One is equally urgent.
Luvia, I want to ask you to divine a god-summoning ritual; can you estimate how many coins it will cost?”
“It’s hard to say; divination pointing to a god will certainly not be simple.
Moreover, the efficiency of different coins also varies.”
“Alright then.”
Xia De thought for a moment and made up his mind, handing her the all-purpose currency:
“First, help me divine when the apocalyptic academic organization I entrusted Professor Manning to help me find can be located, and whether I can find the Guiding Light Hermitage through it, and if the latter has the information I need.”
Luvia didn’t know Professor Manning or the Guiding Light Hermitage, but she vaguely guessed that it was related to Xia De’s time travel:
“Every coin spent is one less; are you sure you don’t want to use all the coins to directly get the answer?”
She was very worried:
“These relics were found by you; you are free to choose what to do with them.”
“There is more than one way to get the answer; please divine.”
Xia De said.
Strictly speaking, the third time in 3002 was not urgent at all; Xia De could even spend his entire life searching for the answer.
Therefore, he took the risk of first wasting a coin to divine the outcome from Professor Manning, and then deciding how to allocate the remaining 10 coins.
“Okay, then I’ll begin.”
The purple-eyed Diviner closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then suddenly flicked the coin in her hand.
As the coin flew to its apex, it quickly rusted and decayed until it dispersed into a pile of Ashes in the air.
And before all the Ashes fell, they had already dissolved into the air.
This time, Xia De did not see the more mature but physically incomplete figure behind Luvia when she was divining.
“How was it?”
Luvia opened her eyes, her purple pupils seeming to flash for a moment:
“Very smoothly; although this all-purpose currency is not highly rated, its usage efficiency is even higher than blood money.
Your professor friend has a wide network and will find the person you’re looking for within this week and bring you the answers you want to know.
Although there might be some minor troubles, overall, you will get everything you want to know.”
This answer greatly relieved Xia De; although Professor Manning’s hobbies were a bit unique, this experienced archaeology professor was very reliable, and Xia De was certainly right to ask him for help.
“Since that’s the case, let’s first see what the remaining ten coins are.”
He pointed to the small cloth bag on the table again:
“Put on gloves and try not to touch them; once you find a problem, immediately put them into god's gift box for containment.”
“No problem, I’ll check.
Xia De, no need to refuse; I am a three-ring and you are a two-ring, there’s no reason for you to do it.
And even if I get some curse, as long as it’s consumed, the curse will naturally be lifted.”
Xia De controlled his cat, and Luvia, wearing gloves, carefully untied the grass rope on the cloth bag.
The bag was just an ordinary item, essentially a piece of rag; when opened, ten coins appeared, of three different types.
The most familiar to both of them was the pirate's blood money, of which there were three, and it was these three coins that gave Xia De a premonition before the pirate ship appeared.
Xia De didn’t recognize the other two types, but Luvia did; she had consulted many materials to raise coins for divination:
“Don’t worry, the other two types of coins don’t have curses.”
Although she said that, Luvia did not take off her gloves.
First, she picked up the smallest black coin.
The radius of this coin was only about two-thirds the size of a small one-penny copper coin.
But the coin itself was very cold; even without direct contact, Xia De had felt that bone-chilling cold through the bag.
“This is a Poet Grade relic, the death God’s Atonement Coin.
Don’t be scared by the name; its effect is very minor.
For people who are about to die naturally, holding the coin, each coin can extend their life by 1 week.
And during that week, the coin cannot leave the skin, and each person can use a maximum of 5 coins.”
“What? Isn’t that very useful?”
Xia De asked in confusion:
“How is it only Poet Grade?”
“Useful?”
Luvia shook her head, her brown short hair swaying with the movement:
“Xia De, how many people in our era do you think can live to die naturally?
The definition of natural death is when bodily functions naturally reach their end, not dying from illness.
Think carefully, Xia De, how many people do you think can die naturally?”
Xia De paused, then slowly leaned back, resting against the sofa.
Even in his hometown, dying naturally was very difficult.
And in this world, the lives of the lower classes meant they basically wouldn’t live past 50, while the upper-class nobles and wealthy merchants were limited by the scarce medical resources of this era and affected by the environmental problems brought by the development of steam industry.
It was even harder for a Ring術士 to die naturally; this was not a safe profession.
“The negative characteristic of the death God’s Atonement Coin is that prolonged contact by living people will accelerate their own aging and worsen their luck, so we’ll consume this first; keeping this thing is no good.
I’ve always believed that instead of preparing for death, it’s better to think more about the present.”
She handed the coin to Xia De for inspection, and Xia De found tiny engravings on the side of the coin:
“Atone to the death God, and perhaps you can receive pity.”
There were three pirate's blood money coins in total, and five death God’s Atonement Coins.
The last two were gold coins, about the same size as a 1-shilling silver coin.
Compared to the simple designs of the first two types of coins, the last two gold coins had extremely complex patterns on both sides.
What Xia De considered the obverse was a cluster of flowers, and what he considered the reverse was a portrait of an unfamiliar big-nosed man.
Luvia still casually picked up one, indicating that this one also had no curse:
“I recognize this one too; it’s a Document-level relic, the Kolmor Empire Civilization Gold Coin.”
“What is the Kolmor Empire? A kingdom from the fifth epoch? Or even earlier?”
Xia De had only studied one history book and was not familiar with pre-epoch history.
“I can’t answer you.
When these gold coins were discovered, a document referred to them by that name.
No records from the Church or the Academy mention this Kolmor Empire.
Based on the analysis of that document, this might have been a human kingdom from the fourth epoch, but all traces and information of the entire kingdom were erased by a great power.”
Xia De shifted uncomfortably on the sofa and asked again:
“What’s its specific use?”
“Unlike the death God’s Atonement Coin, whose quantity is unknown, the Kolmor Empire Gold Coin is confirmed to have a total of 285 coins.
Each one has the same effect: blow on the gold coin and hold it to your ear, and you can hear some strange sounds.
Listening for a long time at high frequency will grant you some peculiar Knowledge.
The Academy has always believed that it is the lost Knowledge of the Kolmor Empire.
That kingdom and civilization, along with it, were cast into 285 gold coins by some existence.”
This explanation made Xia De feel even more uncomfortable.
Luvia stacked the three types of 10 coins into three piles on the table, her purple eyes looking at Xia De:
“So, what do you want to divine?”
“Luvia, if you use so many coins for divination, can your body handle it?”
Xia De asked this question first, and the purple-eyed Diviner smiled:
“It’s fine; it’s not permanent damage, just a bit mentally draining.”
“Alright, I’ve kept one blood money here, so you should also have one blood money for continued searching.”
Xia De took one from the table and pushed it to Luvia, leaving only nine.
“There are two things that need to be divined now.
Although Professor Manning can find the person I’m looking for, we also need to guard against other situations.
And, in our daily lives, we might encounter other things that need divination.”
Xia De put one Kolmor Empire Gold Coin and one death God’s Atonement Coin into the box.
Now seven remained, which were two blood money coins, one gold coin, and four Atonement Coins.
“Okay, we’ll use these for divination.
First, confirm whether the pirate incident mentioned in the newly discovered stone slab is indeed the one I encountered.”
Xia De said, while Luvia picked up an Atonement Coin.
The coin was tossed into the air, and as it fell, it scattered into Ashes and disappeared:
“The divination efficiency of the Atonement Coin is much worse than blood money.
However, you’ve already given specific information, so the divination is simpler.
Yes, it was the one you encountered.
Xia De, you’ve now encountered The Chosen twice in a row.”
She teased him, and Xia De shook his head:
“Next, determine the gender of The Chosen One.
There were more than ten people who jumped ship and escaped; we’ll filter them one by one.”
“No problem.”
She picked up another Atonement Coin, but nothing happened after it was tossed; it seemed that a single coin couldn’t provide an answer for specific information about The Chosen.
Two coins still yielded no result, and only after spending three did they finally see the coin turn into flying Ashes in the air:
“A very definite answer: male.”
Xia De breathed a sigh of relief; this meant it couldn’t be Princess Leia.
But he immediately realized something and hesitantly pointed to himself:
“Luvia, is it possible…”
“Although you are also male and were on that ship, it’s absolutely impossible for it to be you, Xia De; I’ve said it many times.
You can think carefully, do you have any special abilities related to ‘darkness’?
Special powers that can rival Iluna’s ‘Balance’.”
Her tone was very gentle, as if Xia De was a child who kept saying foolish things.
Xia De thought for a moment:
“Does my ability to glow in the dark count?”
At this, Luvia looked at him as if he were a foolish child.
