As Sister Devlin gave her final blessing, the bonfire behind them flared up. The flames, centered on the bonfire, flowed along the ritual markings previously laid out on the ground. In a few breaths, the fiery red lines had already illuminated the entire courtyard.
The winding patterns and ancient runes danced under the starlit sky. The flickering firelight made them appear more three-dimensional and real.
At the same time, the flames flowing on the ground also moved from both sides of Xia De and Sister Devlin, along the grooves on both sides of the path, towards the mansion in front. But at the steps of the mansion, they turned, and two streams of fire extended to both sides, encircling the entire building.
The Sister by the path shook her bell, held up a porcelain bottle, and gently waved a white banner. Meanwhile, the two High-Ring Sisters at the main entrance simultaneously pulled open the mansion's large doors.
In the moment, white mist, representing the boundary between two worlds, surged out like a roaring beast, but as it moved away from the doorway, it became increasingly faint, stopping its spread precisely at the edge of the courtyard. The firelight in the courtyard danced within the mist, keeping the boundary stably in place.
Underfoot was still the land of the material world, but the world of the dead had also permeated it.
Xia De said nothing more, walking forward along the path. The white mist seemed densest on the path. Walking through it, Xia De couldn't even see the Sisters on either side.
But he could still hear the Sisters' soft murmurs. They were praying to death itself, in archaic language and old grammar, as if time had been pulled back to the old era, a time when everyone revered death.
"Outsider, you have felt the Miracle."
"Outsider, you have felt the blasphemy."
"Outsider, you have felt the inspiration."
"Outsider, you have felt the whisper."
"Her" voice in his ear was incessant, and as Xia De moved forward, he vaguely felt that the world had become somewhat different. It wasn't just the cold wind and some strange whispers, but the entire world had changed.
By the time he reached the mansion's entrance, he could barely see the Sisters standing on either side. Ahead was the main door, and Xia De stepped through without hesitation.
The white mist still lingered inside, but the mansion before him was no longer as it had been when he first entered. There was no foyer; only a straight corridor stretched before him, leading to the deepest part of the mansion, and at the end of the corridor was that door.
"That's good. I don't need to waste any more time."
The wind carried the scent of decay and rot. From the white mist continuously pouring out from ahead, the subtle sounds grew more numerous, and none of them sounded like living beings. Xia De held his breath, feeling the power of the abnormal space, approaching the end of the corridor step by step.
At the source of the white mist, the wall that originally represented the "fissure" was no longer the swirling black vortex. It was now a dilapidated wooden door. Xia De paused in front of the door for a moment, then reached out and pushed it open.
Behind the door was darkness. Cold air currents mixed with white mist assailed his body and soul. The thin thread on his wrist emitted a crimson glow and provided him warmth, while the leaf in his mouth continuously replenished his body with vitality.
"Praise the Father of Infinite Trees, may Time-Space be with me."
"Praise the Silver Moon Sage, may the Moonlight forever illuminate me."
"Praise Mr. Dawn, light illuminates shadows, shadows follow dawn."
"Is there more?"
"She" asked softly after Xia De's three praises.
"Praise the ancient death god, may death protect me, an Outsider."
He stepped across.
"Crossing Between Life and Death, the blurred boundary allows you to touch the deepest secrets of the soul."
"Outsider, you have gained insight into 'death'."
This phrase had also appeared before he obtained the "greed" Ling Rune, indicating that while Xia De had some perception of the power of 【death】, it was not yet enough to construct a Ling Rune in his Destiny Ring. This was the second time he had heard this phrase; the first was when Priest Augustus gave him his last words.
"death, Outsider, you have left the world of the living."
"Even you cannot stay in this world for long."
"Her" reminder came from his ear, and after crossing the door, the biting wind suddenly disappeared.
The spatial shift caused no discomfort to Xia De, who was already accustomed to spatial leaps. But the feeling of physical repulsion around him made him truly understand what "Between Life and Death" meant.
Outside the door was still a world filled with white mist, only here the mist did not flow but remained static in the air. And before him was still the corridor deep within Baron Russell's manor, but everything here looked as if it had faded, turning into shades of gray, white, and black, and it looked as if it had undergone a hundred years of weathering, becoming exceptionally dilapidated.
The cold, damp mist was extremely similar to what Xia De encountered when he descended Sicar Mountain in the afternoon, and it was even more unfriendly to the living.
"A low-Ring術士 like the Priest can stay in a place like this for a maximum of a week, so what about me?"
"Provided you continuously hold that leaf in your mouth, you must leave within a thousand days."
"Understood."
Xia De nodded and raised his hand to look at it. In this world devoid of color and life, his skin and clothes still retained their hues. However, when he moved his limbs, he distinctly felt a sense of power different from that of his physical body.
This Level 0 relic was very different from other relics Xia De had encountered. The omnipresent four elements did not cause him negative feelings like headaches, as the whisper element was effectively balanced by the other three elements.
Although physical strength was not prominent here, with the soul being external and the body internal, it was clear that a soul containing divinity was stronger than a mortal body. Because the Ring術士 system unifies body and soul, he was still a three-ring, but the abundant Ling, and the feeling that he could almost punch through walls with a wave of his hand, were things a normal body did not possess.
He even felt that in this place, he could barely use a Mystic Lock once. But Sister Devlin had said that in this world, a gap Between Life and Death, a Ring術士's Ling and stamina recovered extremely slowly. Therefore, if Xia De dared to use a Mystic Lock here, he would have to endure complete exhaustion for several hours and be unable to use any Miracle or spell.
"It's not too bad."
The ground was covered with gray moss, and the walls were adorned with dark traces. Turning around, the door he had come through was gone.
But the thin thread wrapped around his wrist still glowed a burning crimson. When Xia De wanted to return, he could return to this position, and this thread would guide him out.
Instead of immediately setting off, he squatted down to examine the moss by the wall, then barely recognized it as a special plant called 【Corpse Grass】. In the material world, this plant grew from corpses, was not only highly poisonous but merely carrying it would accelerate the carrier's aging, while in this world, it seemed like a very common plant.
"This place is even stranger than I imagined."
Standing up, he looked at the pendant on his chest, gently stroking it. The holy emblem of the righteous god 【Mr. Dawn】 emitted a golden light, then floated forward, but being tethered by a rope, it merely hovered in front of his chest.
This place, which should not exist, this world on the Edge of Life and Death, is perpetually shrouded in white mist. Xia De, possessing the 【Time-Space】 Ling Rune, could clearly feel that this was not a stable, normal space, but more like an illusory dream or something else.
The terrain within it was basically a replica of Sicar Mountain and the City of Middlesburg at its foot. Only here there was no other life, only wandering souls.
The entire world was utterly silent. Even the sounds caused by Xia De's footsteps were attenuated to the point where he could barely hear them himself.
And upon leaving the mansion and stepping outside, he was surprised to find that the sky was not black as he had imagined, but a bizarre gray. There was no sun, no Moon, and no stars; everything seemed to have died.
Xia De also did not wish to linger in such a world, so he followed the guidance of the holy emblem, left the manor, and walked towards the City.
A silent world was particularly terrifying. Occasionally, spirits with gruesome deathly appearances would suddenly emerge beside him. Although they merely brushed past Xia De, it still made his already oppressive mood even worse.
Before Xia De truly entered the City, he encountered an evil spirit in the forest that attempted to attack him. It was a knight's undead, holding its own head, riding on horseback, with its chest caved in, looking like a soul that had died long ago.
The Spiritual Cultivation Order's ritual should have protected Xia De from being noticed by evil spirits, but perhaps due to the unfortunate's hair, the headless knight's evil spirit still looked at Xia De after he approached.
"As expected, the ritual can indeed weaken evil spirits' perception of me, but if I get too close..."
Silently, the knight, holding a long spear, charged towards Xia De on horseback. In the instant the evil spirit and Xia De intersected, a silver Moonlight flashed across this colorless world.
Then Xia De continued to walk forward, while the evil spirit was silently split into two halves, then dissipated into the air:
"I am a true knight."
This was its dying wish.
On the boundary Between Life and Death, Xia De was truly strong.
Although the manor was far from the City, when Xia De crossed the forest, he surprisingly found himself already standing in the quiet suburbs of Middlesburg.
Walking one more street, crossing the intersection, he stepped directly into the City. Although it indeed resembled a reflection of the real world, it was similar yet not quite, and not entirely the same.
"This makes it easier to save time, but is Priest Augustus in the City? Is he in the church?"
Xia De speculated.
The white mist was hazy, and shadowy souls drifted everywhere. Xia De saw more souls today than the total number of souls he had seen since coming to this world. It seemed that the souls of people who died in Middlesburg and the surrounding areas all had a chance to come to this abnormal place.
This was a violation of the rules of death; after a normal death, souls should leave directly.
"How did this ambiguous place Between Life and Death, this erroneous place, come into being?"
He truly couldn't understand, but if all the souls existing here surged into the real world, even if only a few were evil spirits, they would surely annihilate the entire central and eastern Old Continent.
"Does the Church not have a way to resolve such places once and for all? If it's just endless sealing, bigger problems will surely arise in the future."
As he thought, he suddenly heard a faint cry for help. Xia De hesitated and stopped, because this world diminished some sounds, so the source of the sound must be very close.
"Are there other living people here?"
He recalled that the information from the academy had mentioned an unusually high number of missing persons this autumn.
